November 1, 1915, was a major turning point for the Republic of China. Yuan Shikai formally ascended the throne and proclaimed himself emperor in the Qinzheng Hall of Xinhua Palace. He changed the name of the country to the Empire of China and set the reign name as "Hongxian".
After two years of back and forth, and more than a month of actual preparations and arrangements, Yuan Shikai finally ascended the throne of the coveted emperor. Now he is no longer in his prime, although the joy brought by proclaiming the emperor has made him
He felt refreshed, but his physical condition was deteriorating.
In the preparations for the enthronement of the previous month, the northern provinces first made governance and related arrangements. The three provinces of Shanxi, Shandong, Henan, Zhili, and Dongbei, which were most closely controlled by the Beiyang government, were the first to hang up banners and flags celebrating the imperial system.
.The administrative units and official positions of these provinces also follow the wishes of the central government, even if they are updated.
According to Yuan Shikai's personal vision, the highest civil affairs officer of each province in the Chinese Empire was the chief envoy, and the military officer was the general.
Several provinces controlled by the Beiyang government were the first to announce that they would be changed to the Chief Envoy's Office, and all the Governor's Offices would be changed to General Offices. The provincial councils made unified adjustments and stipulated the detailed number of members and parliamentary rules, which to a certain extent standardized the local
It is a parliamentary system, but in fact it indirectly weakened the authority of local councils. Therefore, the name of the council was changed to the Council Bureau.
In the afternoon of the same day, Xinhua Palace issued a commendation order, appointing old friends, Qishuo, and old friends, and rewarded more than a hundred princes, princes, and princes. Among them, Li Yuanhong was the Prince of Wuyi, and Feng Guozhang was the first-class Benevolent Huai Gong.
, Yuan Su is the second-class Duke Zhaolie. Duan Qirui, who was also originally planned to be the prince, had his name removed from the officially announced order.[
At the same time as the order was issued, the "New Royal Regulations" were immediately issued, including: "Princes and princes can serve as navy and army officers, but they are not allowed to organize political parties and serve as important political officials; the eunuch system is permanently abolished; the selection of palace maids is permanently abolished
System; the system of tribute from all parties shall be abolished forever; no relatives of the royal family shall engage in business or compete for profits with the common people.”
But another thing that is hotly discussed in the outside world is whether the president's nephew Yuan Su is considered a member of the royal family. If he is considered a member of the royal family, most of the Yuan family's children are named crown princes, princes, and county princes. However, Yuan Su is just a member of the royal family.
He is just a second-class prince. In terms of closeness, he is not even as close as Li Yuanhong. If he is not counted as a member of the royal family, it means that he has officially established a kinship relationship with Yuan Su, which will inevitably arouse a wave of criticism.
Of course, the speculations about Yuan Su were just some entertainment discussions, and the Beiyang government did not really take this matter seriously.
On the next day, Hubei, Jiangsu, Shanghai, Fujian, Guangdong, Guangxi and other provinces reluctantly responded to the central government's order and began to announce that they would accept the latest political reform order. All official positions, structures, etc. should be handled in accordance with imperial norms.
. Even so, the voices against the imperial system in these provinces are still undecided, and there are even "thugs" openly destroying the imperial flags and objects. In the past two days alone, riot cases were reported in each province.
There were as few as five or six cases in one province, and as many as more than 20 cases. The total damage caused to public property and casualties exceeded hundreds of thousands of yuan.
Relatively speaking, these provinces can more or less implement the orders of the imperial system. In Yunnan, Sichuan, Hunan, Guizhou, and some towns in Guangdong and Fujian, from main officials to lower parliamentary groups, and even many businessmen, workers and
Celebrities in society firmly opposed it to the end, simply refusing to accept the central government's decree on imperialism.
The Chinese Revolutionary Party's public criticism reached its peak, and some local branches even dispatched death squads without authorization to assassinate some local officials who supported the monarchy. However, most of these assassination operations ended in failure, and all the people involved were involved.
Even if there were a few successful ones who were arrested and imprisoned, the targets they assassinated were all small characters. Several people were stabbed and injured, and only a few unlucky ones died on the spot.
Sun Yat-sen published two editorials in succession on November 2, one of which was "A Letter of Justice for the People to Cry Against the National Traitors" and the second was an "Oath to Defend the Republic". Soon these two editorials caused great controversy
In response, warlords in the southwestern provinces took advantage of the situation to express support for Sun Yat-sen, and many overseas Chinese were also mobilized to donate 800,000 yuan in one go to defend the republican system.
Although the restless momentum in the country was slightly beyond Yuan Shikai's expectations, it could still be said that everything was under his control. A few days later, in the name of the emperor, he reported to several provinces that had not yet complied with the imperial order,
An ultimatum was issued in the urban areas, ordering a deadline to suppress the riots and implement imperial orders, otherwise they would be treated as treason. At the same time, the Beiyang Army stationed in the incident area was ordered to take appropriate military actions to punish them once the order period was exceeded.
The 15th Division of the Central Army in Chongqing and the 12th Division of the Central Army in Yueyang immediately put into preparation posture after receiving the order. However, whether it was Tang Xiangming or Chen Huan, or the following Wu Peifu, Wu Guangxin and others
, everyone has their own thoughts, and unless they make a superficial appearance first, they will still wait for opportunities to act.
As Yuan Shikai issued the ultimatum and related military orders, both the Southwest Warlords and the Chinese Revolutionary Party realized that the situation before them was becoming more and more serious. They could not continue to wait, delay or expect other more favorable conditions.
The opportunity appeared. Especially the warlords in Sichuan, Hunan and other places kept sending telegrams to Yunnan and Hong Kong, urging an early determination of countermeasures, otherwise they would have no choice but to surrender to the Beiyang Army without assistance.
Two days later, Cai E secretly arrived in Yunnan from Hong Kong and convened an important meeting at the Governor's Mansion in Kunming.
Participating in this meeting were not only military leaders from the southwestern provinces, but also representatives from the Chinese Revolutionary Party and other anti-imperialist groups. The Chinese Revolutionary Party directly sent Liao Zhongkai to attend the meeting, with full authority to represent the party in all military affairs in the southwest.
The leaders reached an agreement on the details of cooperation. Due to the current tight situation, the entire meeting did not last too long, and all agendas discussed were focused on the most important priorities.
The meeting lasted for three days, and every agenda item was discussed and implemented immediately.
Under Cai E's initiative, he first established the policy of armed anti-imperialism and anti-Yuan Shikai, and then planned to establish a unified anti-imperialist and anti-Yuan Shikai military command system, that is, to unite the troops of all southwestern warlords to form the National Defense Army.
Under Liao Zhongkai's suggestion, while the southwestern provinces formed the National Defense Army, they also established the National Defense Military Government to ensure that they could occupy a political position and provide guidance and support to all anti-imperialist regions.
All relevant details and document preparation are completed during the meeting.
By the end of the meeting, much of the basic work had been basically completed. Several large merchants in Kunming donated a building to be used as the office and garrison of the National Protectorate Military Government. Among them were Tang Jiyao, Liu Xianshi, Ren Kecheng, Sun Yat-sen, and Liao Zhongkai.
Under the initiative of others, Cai E was appointed as the general of the National Protectorate Military Government and was in charge of all military affairs of the National Protectorate Army.
Cai E immediately began to reorganize the armies of the southwestern provinces and customize the relevant regulations and numbers of the National Defense Army.
While Cai E was busy with military affairs, the Protectorate Military Government immediately held an election meeting and decided to determine the leader of the military government as soon as possible. For the southwest warlords, the person they preferred was Tang Jiyao, not only because
Tang Jiyao is closer to their interests. Moreover, Yunnan is currently the most powerful among the entire southwestern provinces. Tang Jiyao and Cai E are both labeled as such. Naturally, these two people have to bear more responsibilities and invest more.
of capital.
However, most of the Chinese Revolutionary Party and the bourgeois revolutionaries in the southwestern provinces, as well as some social sages, hope to support Sun Yat-sen as the head of the military government. Cai E is in charge of military affairs and Sun Yat-sen is in charge of civil affairs. Both sides can maximize their mobilization and exertion.
The anti-Yuan and anti-imperialist momentum is simply perfect.[
On the contrary, if Tang Jiyao is allowed to serve as the head of the military government, then the entire Protectorate Army and the Protectorate Military Government will be controlled by the Yunnan clique. Even if there are no complaints from other provinces, it will definitely lack a certain degree of enthusiasm in terms of the overall situation. What's more,
, not all the southwestern warlords supported Tang Jiyao. Xiong Kewu from Sichuan and Tan Yankai from Hunan were quite dissatisfied with Tang Jiyao, so they naturally supported Sun Yat-sen in terms of momentum.
The military government had some disputes over this matter, which brought the originally efficient situation to a deadlock.
Precisely on November 8, Chinese revolutionary Chen Qimei led a revolutionary army to plan and launch an uprising in Shanghai, which was the "Zhaohe Ship" uprising that was highly touted by the Kuomintang in later generations.
In fact, the "Zhaohe" uprising was only a small-scale operation. Even the "Zhaohe" was a very backward model gunboat stationed in the Shanghai Navy at that time. However, its tonnage was 2,600 tons, which was among the modern Chinese navy.
It was a relatively large warship. But it was really because Chiang Kai-shek was involved in this operation that it was exaggerated by later official mouthpieces and turned into an uprising that "seems to be very influential".
Today, history has changed, and the situation of the "Zhaohe Ship" uprising has also changed. Because during the operation, the revolutionaries accidentally ignited the warship's drug store, causing a violent explosion in the hull and causing serious damage.
Also because of this explosion, more than a dozen revolutionaries and more than 20 naval officers and soldiers were killed. The incident immediately aroused widespread discussion in Jiangsu and Zhejiang, and thus contributed to the spread of the reputation and influence of the Chinese Revolutionary Party more widely.