After the ceremony to commemorate Confucius, the focus of the Beiyang government began to shift to the last attempt to persuade people to move in.
For Yuan Shikai, the imperial road in front of him was not only completely paved, but also decorated in a seemingly gorgeous way. All he had to do next was to hold his head high and walk all the way to the throne of the emperor.
So at the end of August, after another round of "national delegations from all walks of life" came to the gate of the Presidential Palace to sing their praises, Yuan Shikai very modestly issued a government order, first describing his situation as "forced" and
"Nai", and then quoted some "scientific" remarks from foreign advocates of imperialism. Then, in the spirit of respecting the Constitution, he asked the Congress to immediately initiate a nationwide vote on the state system. He solemnly stated that all people in the world would
Only when they unanimously agree can we consider changing the state structure in line with the people's wishes.
As Yuan Shikai ordered a national referendum, the call for imperialism immediately set off a thousand waves, and its momentum soon escalated to the most enthusiastic level in the past two years. The mouthpiece of the Beiyang government, the Security Council, and the old bureaucrats of the monarchist faction in other places,
Each and every one of them seemed to have been injected with stimulants, working harder and harder to build momentum.[
The local people, led by the Beijing-Tianjin area, have also become irrational under the inducement of rounds of public opinion. Even some gentry, celebrities, and scholars who had maintained a neutral attitude before are inexplicably acting now.
Unable to hold their position, they began to follow the voices of the people and cheer for the monarchy. Perhaps it was because the monarchy became more and more popular every time, and in order to gain more social status and reputation in the future, everyone could only quickly throw out their chips and place bets.
At the same time, the southern revolutionaries, who had been planning for a long time, together with the military and political chiefs of the three southwestern provinces, launched the first round of offensive against Yuan and the imperialism. For the revolutionary camp, which had faced many difficulties in the initial stage, their first round of offensive
Naturally, we still have to compete with the Beiyang government to seize the momentum of public opinion. Even if this step is still very difficult or even impossible to achieve the expected results, at least it can pave the way for the next actions.
As a result, articles criticizing the imperial system began to appear intensively and one after another in some newspapers in the south. Not only the revolutionaries vigorously opposed it, but also some Qing Dynasty veterans who had been enemies of the revolutionary party were unwilling to be alone and criticized the imperial system. Including Liang Qichao,
Kang Youwei, and even several princes from the former Qing Dynasty, did their best to ridicule, ridicule, and scold.
For the long-dormant anti-Yuan forces, this nearly explosive attack has had some effect. More and more young people in the provinces south of the Yangtze River support the anti-Yuan revolution, especially students.
Groups are inherently susceptible to the influence of Western democratic culture, and if they are spread among the schools, even if there are individual students with different opinions, they can only go with the crowd in front of the public.
But even if it has such an effect, it still seems a bit weak compared to the people who support Yuan Shikai and the Beiyang government. It can only be said that it has provided a certain amount of support to the Chinese Revolutionary Party and the southwestern provinces, at least
This ensured that there would not be such a large-scale and blindly stubborn pro-Yuan force in the south.
Just in early September, representatives of the Chinese Revolutionary Party and the anti-Yuan warlords in southwest China held their first joint meeting in Macau, and officially began to discuss the details of cooperation in anti-monarchy and anti-Yuan. Previously, the Chinese Revolutionary Party had basically unilaterally negotiated with Yunnan.
When in contact, the topic of contact is not considered formal. It can only be said that both parties express their positions and intentions, and exchange intelligence information incidentally.
As the Macau Conference kicked off in full swing, it marked that the Chinese Revolutionary Party and the Southwest Warlords had reached a unified camp against Yuan and the imperial system. It also meant that the Chinese Revolutionary Party had regained a "revolutionary force" since the failure of the second revolution.
Armed". Of course, as to whether this revolutionary armed force truly supports the "revolution", everything is still unknown.
However, even though the anti-imperialist and anti-Yuan forces in the south had formed a certain scale, they still failed to cause any obstruction to the Beiyang government's imperialism. For Yuan Shikai, he had long been wary of the restless governor in the south, and Sichuan
, Changsha, Guangdong, Guangxi and Jiangsu have all deployed heavy troops to take strict precautions. Before this, the Military Council Office of the Presidential Office also made an assessment of the armed forces of the southwestern provinces and the Chinese Revolutionary Party. Except for Yunnan, it still has certain military strength.
Outside of China, Sichuan, Guizhou, Hunan and other places are basically a piece of loose sand.
Lu Rongting, who was in charge of Guangdong and Guangxi, had already sent secret messages to support the imperial system, and also took the opportunity to ask Yuan Shikai for a military expenditure to prevent rebellion in Guangdong and Guangxi. Yuan Shikai still thought highly of Lu Rongting, but he did not place all his hopes on this local warlord.
, even if Lu Rongting goes against his will, as long as he can confirm that he will not participate in the revolutionary movement, the Beiyang government can also deploy troops from Changsha, Fujian, and Jiangxi provinces to intimidate Guangdong and Guangxi.
As a result, the national referendum initiated by the Congress was held as scheduled. However, the voting method completely violated the procedures stipulated in the Constitution. It actually started with the provincial councils of each province and then reduced to the local councils. It was like an inverted pyramid.
vote. In this way, not only does the Basic Law reflect grassroots public opinion, but it also gives the provincial council a misleading start. Once the provincial council makes a decision, the following local councils will naturally have to make the same decision.
This is the referendum trap that Yuan Shikai had prepared long ago. Even if the public support for the monarchy is not weak now, in order to 100% ensure that the voting stage goes smoothly, some tricks must be done secretly.
However, Yuan Shikai did not expect that precisely because of his too cautious move, some people in the "pan-democratic camp" in the local council were very dissatisfied. There were many people in the "pan-democratic camp" who supported the imperial system, but
What they expected was for Yuan Shikai to establish a complete and strict constitutional monarchy after he proclaimed himself emperor. When the Preparatory Security Council lobbied this group of people before, they also made similar promises to them, but they did not expect that the monarchy would not yet exist.
Completely implemented, Yuan Shikai has been exposed to manipulate the parliament and blatantly violate the constitution. How can people believe that there will be a real monarchy and democracy?
The entire national referendum lasted for eight days, and each province quickly compiled statistics on the relevant voting results, which were announced to the provinces and sent to Congress for verification. During these eight days, the public opinion against the imperial system and Yuan Shikai was generally speaking.
There have been increases and decreases, and even in the Beijing and Tianjin areas where the most enthusiastic support for the imperial system has occurred, some strange voices have emerged.
However, Yuan Shikai was still in a happy mood. Among the provincial referendum results announced by Congress, even Guangdong and Guangxi, which were the most opposed to the imperial system, finally passed the state reform. Although he knew very well that this was a job that was obtained under his control.
The result was, but the result is the result. Finally, the last door in front of the Dabao Seat was opened.
On September 22, Yuan Shikai invited envoys from various countries and reporters from major domestic newspapers to hold a press conference in the Yingtai Banquet Hall of the Presidential Palace. The press conference first announced the results of the previous national referendum by Prime Minister Zhao Bingjun, and then briefly read out the results of the Beiyang government officials
Congratulations on the successful transformation from a republic to a constitutional monarchy system. After Zhao Bingjun, Vice President Li Yuanhong, Finance Minister Liang Shiyi, Director of the State Affairs Office Sun Yujun, and Preparatory Council Prime Minister Yang Du each gave speeches in support of the monarchy and spared no effort to praise Yuan Shikai.
I am very pleased that the imperial system is successfully implemented in China.
At that time, some reporters specifically raised questions about Yuan Shikai's solemn oath to defend the Republic during his inauguration ceremony as the President of the Republic of China.
Sun Yuyun seemed to be well prepared and immediately responded, saying: "The previous oath contained the wish to promote the republic. These words, which were the customary words of the head of state of the Republic of China, were only one of the inauguration rituals at that time. The oath of that day was rooted in the head of state.
The status of the head of state, and the status of the head of state, is rooted in the state structure of the Republic of China. The state structure is actually determined by the will of the people, and the head of state should follow the will of the people. If the public opinion is republican, the oath will be valid along with the state structure; if the public opinion is monarchical, the oath will also be valid with the state structure.
Changes in physical strength. Today, if the people abandon the republic and move towards the monarchy, the public opinion has changed, the state system has changed, the status of the head of the Republic of China is no longer preserved, and the oath of the head of the Republic of China will of course be extinguished. All these are the actions of the people.
He has nothing to do with the emperor."
Obviously, the guests invited to this press conference have been carefully selected, and there will definitely not be any ignorant people mixed in. The reporters who asked questions before were just following the instructions in advance to ask questions, and their purpose was to raise questions about Yuan Shikai's possible future after he became emperor.
Erase all the places where oral instructions are given.
After the previous government officials and social sages completed the prelude, Yuan Shikai showed an extremely heavy and complicated expression, stepped onto the rostrum, and spoke in a very sincere tone: "Every man is responsible for the rise and fall of the world.
Is it patriotism that should be left behind? But with billions of dollars, the responsibility is huge. How should we benefit the people's livelihood, how should we revitalize the country, how should we reform politics and advance into civilization? All kinds of measures are beyond the power of a weak morality!
This is a sincere statement, not for the sake of humility, but because I am wary of those who are unable to do what I want. The people's accusations become more severe, and their expectations become more intense, so that they can excuse themselves and avoid it."[
The implication is that he was originally extremely reluctant to step down as president and ascend the throne as emperor. It was only because of the expectations of the people and in order to seek a better way to govern the country that he reluctantly accepted Dai as emperor.
At the end of the reception, Yuan Shikai officially appointed Yang Du as the "Restructuring Envoy", who was fully responsible for all matters related to the transition of the state system, and organized the enthronement ceremony. As for the date of the official enthronement, it will be announced after discussion.
After the press conference, Yuan Shikai returned to Huairentang with satisfaction. Yuan Keding and a group of close officials from the Internal Affairs Office of the Presidential Palace had already gathered in the front hall. When Yuan Shikai walked in through the door, they all came forward to congratulate him. Although he had already entered
In his own room, Yuan Shikai still showed a look of resignation and humility on his face. He said some high-sounding self-deprecating words to everyone, and waved his hands to ask everyone not to talk more about this matter.
Returning to the study room in the backyard, Yuan Shikai was not in the mood to rest and began to think about the rewards he would receive after he ascended the throne and became emperor.
However, not long after, there was a knock on the door, and then the attendant Chang Yinchang asked for instructions: "President."