The news of Duan Qirui's resignation caused a commotion within the Beiyang government. In particular, some of Duan Qirui's disciples and followers belonging to the Anhui clique, including Xu Shuzheng, Fu Liangzuo, Ni Sichong, etc., were all worried about the sudden change.
Very surprised. Even though the previous conflicts between Yuan Shikai and Duan Qirui were more or less foreshadowing, no one expected that the two would break up so quickly.
After hearing the news, Fu Liangzuo in Beijing couldn't help but sigh to others: "It is always a hurdle for a president to ascend the throne and proclaim himself emperor. Even if Mr. Duan gets emotional, the president should have repeatedly persuaded him to stay, but he didn't expect it to happen after all.
Let the tea cool down when you leave."
Some people naturally expected that Duan Qirui would resolutely oppose Yuan Shikai's proclaimed emperor, but they also expected that Yuan Shikai would definitely not take action against Duan Qirui during the time when he proclaimed himself emperor. After all, it was necessary to ensure that if the monarchy failed, public opinion and momentum would be certain
It still needs to be done properly. Moreover, Yuan Su resigned from the post of Deputy Minister of the War Department only last year. Now the domestic anti-Yuan and anti-imperialist momentum is rising again. When it is most necessary to do a good job in appearance, the president naturally
Things should not be done hastily.
For the Anhui generals, it was not a happy thing to lose a backbone in the central government and to deal with the pressure brought by Yuan Shikai's proclaimed emperor.
But even so, Duan Qirui had already submitted his resignation, and he resolutely started to pack his luggage and prepare to leave Beijing. Even during this period, because of his emotions, anyone who came to visit was turned away. Those disciples and Anhui politicians
Everyone sighed, even if they wanted to see the old officer off.[
It is precisely because of this incident that the capital city, which was already undercurrent, was privately shaken even more.
Many old bureaucrats within the Beiyang government couldn't help but become suspicious. The previous resignation of Yuan Su could not be taken seriously. Anyway, it was Yuan Shikai who did not trust his nephew. That was a problem with Yuan Shikai's character. But now even the most important veteran of Beiyang
Duan Qirui resigned brazenly and broke with Yuan Shikai with extremely strong emotions. Doesn't this explain a problem?
What's more, Duan Qirui is not the only one who has chosen to leave politics because of his opposition to the monarchy. There are also Xu Shichang, Feng Guozhang and others. After Xu Shichang noticed something was wrong earlier, he tactfully offered to retire and return to his hometown. Although Feng Guozhang is not like Duan Qi
Rui and Xu Shichang were like this, but they also chose to stay away from Beijing and sit in the local area, pretending to be indifferent to the affairs of the capital. This shows that many people in Beiyang are actually cautious about the imperial system.
This caused some people who had been blindly supporting the monarchy to start to reflect. Even those with senior qualifications and real power were so worried about the monarchy. Shouldn't they also be more cautious?
Ideas like this are not groundless. As Yuan Shikai announced the start of the national referendum, there was originally a wave of enthusiastic support in the country, but in the blink of an eye there was a wave of opposition. This naturally surprised many political activists who support the imperial system. The reason why
Supporting the monarchy is not just a matter of following others' opinions and thinking that it is the general trend of the country. Moreover, the opposition from the southern revolutionary camp was extremely weak in the early days, almost to the point of being ignored. However, the sudden outbreak after a long period of silence has more or less created a situation that makes people think.
Surprised and surprised.
Duan Qirui's resignation was just a trigger at this time, which suddenly brought out the worries lurking in the hearts of many bureaucrats within Beiyang.
The worries that emerged from these bureaucrats soon aroused the warlords of various factions in Beiyang who were ready to take action.
There have always been several warlords who have been "suppressed" or "controlled" by Yuan Shikai, and they are all looking for opportunities to break the current deadlock and establish a new Beiyang order. Before, these people only complained or made plans in private, and they had plans.
Taking advantage of the moment when the southern revolutionary camp launched an anti-imperialist and anti-Yuan military campaign, they made a "defection" to coerce Yuan Shikai into submission. It's a pity that those in the southern revolutionary camp really didn't live up to expectations. After going back and forth for so long, there was only a little movement.
That’s all.
Now I finally see a new plan, that is, many bureaucrats within the Beiyang Group have become suspicious and insecure because of Duan Qirui's resignation. Even if this is just a small-scale emotion among a few people, it is still a rare opportunity.
People follow what they say, and it is spread from ten to ten. As long as someone deliberately causes trouble, this kind of emotion will soon become more and more intense.
On September 30, the Xinhuamen Presidential Palace once again held a press conference on the progress of the imperial system, announcing the formal establishment of the Preparatory Office for the Enthronement Ceremony. The preparatory office was located in Central Park not far from the Presidential Palace. Yuan Shikai appointed Sun Yuyun as the chairman of the Preparatory Office.
Zhu Qiling is the chief organizer. In the afternoon of the same day, the Preparatory Office for the Enthronement held an inaugural meeting in Central Park. More than 200 people attended the meeting, including Zhou Ziqi, Liang Shiyi, Yang Du and the directors of the Political Affairs Hall. After a tedious process, each of the preparatory offices
The department's personnel arrangements have been put in place, and the actual number of clerks arranged has exceeded 400.
In the following month, the Preparatory Office was busy with Yuan Shikai's enthronement ceremony with great fanfare. Since it was related to the "unprecedented ceremony", the office had sufficient funds, the gorgeous office buildings, and the exquisite food, even the most luxurious Ministry of Communications could not compare.
.And this kind of extensive and almost wasteful preparation method soon aroused many voices of doubt.
So Yuan Shikai immediately instructed the ministry and requested: "Maintain simplicity and frugality" and "return to simplicity and remember the true meaning of people's livelihood." However, the budget for the entire coronation ceremony still exceeded 5 million yuan, including the ceremony fee.
260,000 yuan, 1.05 million yuan for repairing the main hall, 1.17 million yuan for scheduling, 200,000 yuan for banquets, more than 500,000 yuan for various receptions, and nearly 700 yuan for rewards.
Ten thousand, the gift relationship fee is one hundred and sixty-six million.
Among the budget of more than 5 million yuan, many expenses basically fell into the pockets of the relatives and clerks of the Preparatory Office. Chairman of the Preparatory Committee Yang Du, Sun Yujun, Liang Shiyi and others all successively submitted liquidation proposals to Yuan Shikai.
Originally, the maximum number of additional clerks in the Preparatory Office was no more than 300, but now there are more than 100 idlers. What makes people even more suspicious is that these more than 100 idlers are either the younger brother of a certain minister,
Either he is a relative of the presidential palace, or someone from a certain military governor.
All clerks receive additional allowances from the Preparatory Office on the basis of their original departmental salaries. However, those redundant clerks enjoy more subsidies than other clerks’ original salaries plus allowances.
In this "Liquidation Proposal", Yang Du, Liang Shiyi and other three people still retained a bit of kindness and did not speak too directly or too obviously. On the one hand, they were naturally afraid of offending these important officials; on the other hand, they also
I hope this preparation will not be embarrassing both internally and externally, so I only mentioned the subsidy part.
In fact, in the budget for preparations for the coronation ceremony, many public funds were arbitrarily misappropriated or false accounts were listed. This is the real reason why the budget is too high. Instead, it was mentioned in the "Liquidation Proposal"
Not a word is mentioned in the book.
Although Yuan Shikai is now immersed in the joy of ascending to the throne of emperor, after reading this "Liquidation Proposal", it is not because he was carried away by the joy that he failed to see through the real interests. China is currently able to
The actual national tax revenue that is put into the treasury is not as much as five million, but it is really unbelievable that it costs five million just because of a ceremony. There must be countless extravagance, waste, and shady things involved.
It's just that Yuan Shikai still did not seriously carry out rectification in the end. In addition to ensuring that the ceremony went smoothly and allowing the officials and family members who supported the imperial system to taste the sweetness, the more important point was that he did not want to make the matter a big deal. Once the outside world followed up and reported on this incident,
It was a happy and ceremonial event, but in the end it turned into a major corruption incident, and the consequences are self-evident. By mid-October, the Zhengshi Hall Etiquette Hall had already enthroned the emperor, and his ministers congratulated him, offered sacrifices to heaven, and worshiped Confucius.
The imperial guard of ceremony and other systems were drawn up. Many of the etiquette systems were based on the Zhou Dynasty and the Qin and Han Dynasties. However, after suggestions from the councilors and advisors, Yuan Shikai added an order to exempt his ministers from kneeling when they came to the court. A few days later
After that, Yuan Shikai ordered that the Presidential Palace be renamed Xinhua Palace. At the same time, commemorative gold coins were issued. On the front of the gold coins, he was patterned with his head in the navy and army generals uniform, with the characters "Chinese Empire" and "Hongxian Era". People were also sent to
Jingdezhen burns "Hongxian" porcelain. In addition, royal affairs such as the canonization of the queen and concubines, the establishment of the crown prince, and the selection of female officials are all in progress. The only thing left to do is to choose an auspicious day to be crowned and enthroned.