Mengshan Army

Yuan Shikai, courtesy name Weiting, was born in Xiangcheng, Henan.He was 41 years old when the story we told took place, and he was at the golden age of a man.Yuan Shikai, who had just passed his forty years, became famous in his career and became the imperial court's frontier official, winning glory for the Yuan family in Henan Province who had been wearing hairpins for generations.Due to his outstanding performance in North Korea, this five-short military rising star has long been famous all over the world.

Yuan Shikai's job was to act as governor of Shandong, but he hadn't given it to him. Of course he understood what the court meant, and it depended on his performance after coming to Shandong.

Looking at Yuan Shikai's appearance for the first time, it gives people a sense of honesty.This person is short in stature, with a blessed face, often smiling, generous, and indifferent to the world.Moreover, Yuan Shikai was unkempt, and his most famous move was to wipe his mouth with his sleeve, which made the cuffs of his military uniform always greasy.All this not only did not reduce his prestige in the new army, but made the generals of the new army, which are mostly warriors, more loyal.

However, walking into his heart is an out-and-out heroic heart.

Yuan Shikai was born in Xiangcheng, Henan, and the Yuan family in Xiangcheng is also considered a famous family, with hairpin tassels for generations.

A famous minister of the Xianfeng Dynasty, who was posthumously named "Duanmin" by Emperor Tongzhi, was Yuan Shikai's uncle and grandfather.He is also the first son of the Yuan family in Xiangcheng to become an official with the honor of the imperial examination.

Yuan Shikai's biological father was Yuan Baozhong, a well-known gentry in Henan. His uncle Yuan Baoqing once led troops in Yuan Jia's three armies, and was an officer in the Jiangnan salt patrol.Yuan Shikai is not the son of Yuan Baozhong, but a concubine.Not valued by Yuan Baozhong, who has many sons.At the age of seven, he was adopted by his uncle Yuan Baoqing as a son, and was taken to Nanjing and Jinan by his heir parents.

Yuan Shikai was not very interested in reading sage books when he was young, but he was quite enthusiastic about being an official, and Yuan Baoqing also shared his experience in leading soldiers for eunuchs.It is said that Yuan Shikai wrote a couplet when he was 13 years old: the dragon in the wild is stinging, and the deer in the Central Plains is fat.However, this matter is a bit unreliable, and I am afraid that it will be rumored.Because the connotation of the couplet is obvious, the imperial court has decided on the Central Plains for a long time. Didn’t he say that Lu Zhengfei in the Central Plains wants to take over the Qing court?Therefore, this couplet is either a work created by Yuan Shikai after the new army took over the military power, or it is "planted" by evildoers.

But Yuan Shikai's surname is indeed somewhat similar to that of Xiang Yu 2000 years ago. He likes to read military books so that he can be the enemy of thousands of people.

When Yuan Shikai was 15 years old, his stepfather died and he lost his support.Fortunately, my uncle Yuan Baoheng (Yuan Jia's third son) returned to his hometown and saw Yuan Shikai's ability to be cultivated, so he took him to Yanjing to supervise his studies and let him get in touch with officialdom to increase his experience and knowledge.When Yuan Baoheng served as the Minister of Criminal Affairs, he deliberately cultivated Yuan Shikai, and often gave him some chores that were not easy to handle. Yuan Shikai showed sophisticated interpersonal skills, which made Yuan Baoheng deeply satisfied.Yuan Baoheng took him with him when he was in Henan for disaster relief.But what I didn't expect was that Yuan Baoheng died in the disaster relief job at the age of 51.It seems that none of the male members of the Yuan family lived past the age of 60. Yuan Jiasan, who made the Yuan family prosperous, only lived to be 57 years old. His biological father, Yuan Baozhong, was 51 years old, and his stepfather, Yuan Baoqing, was only 48 years old.Yuan Shikai did not escape this curse-like strange phenomenon, but that is for another story.

The Yuan family was deeply afraid of this.After listening to Mr. Feng Shui's words, we made a family separation.So at the age of 19, Yuan Shikai left Yuan's mansion and moved to Chenzhou, where he inherited his stepfather's rich inheritance and began a pleasant time of literati, poetry and wine.He funded and organized two literary societies in Chenzhou, where he met Xu Shichang who was of great help to his career.The two were like-minded and talked very happily. They both hated the imperial examination, so they became brothers with different surnames.When Yuan Shikai learned that Xu Shichang lacked funds from Sichuan for his scientific research in Beijing, he generously funded him. Xu Shichang won the imperial examination first and then became a Jinshi.

But Yuan Shikai's own road to the imperial examination was not smooth.In the second year of Guangxu (1876) and the fifth year of Guangxu (1879), Sunshan failed in the two provincial examinations. In a rage, he burned all the poems and articles he had written in the past, and decided to learn from Ban Chao and Fu Jiezi. It's just a matter of finding sentences.

Yuan Shikai's first wife, surnamed Yu, was the daughter of a big landlord in Henan and gave birth to Yuan Shikai's eldest son, Yuan Keding.But Yu's wrong sentence offended Yuan Shikai, and Yuan Shikai never entered Yu's bedroom for life, which shows how ruthless he is.

Yuan Shikai's official career began with Wu Changqing, a famous general of the Huai Army. Wu Changqing was the brother of Yuan Shikai's stepfather Yuan Baoqing. In the seventh year of Guangxu (1881), 23-year-old Yuan Shikai took refuge in Wu Changqing. Japan coveted North Korea and sent Wu Changqing to lead the Sixth Battalion (about 3000 people) to North Korea to suppress the rebellion.Yuan Shikai was courageous and resourceful in rectifying military discipline and planning to arrest Dayuanjun, which won Wu Changqing's appreciation and praised him as the son of a general.Wu Changqing quelled the civil strife in North Korea within seven days and bankrupted Japan's conspiracy to interfere in North Korea. Thought-of.

If Yuan Shikai's first bole was Wu Changqing, then the second and more important bole was Li Hongzhang, the founder of the Huai Army and an important court official.In the tenth year of Guangxu (1884), the Sino-French war broke out, and Li Hongzhang ordered Wu Changqing to lead three battalions back to China and stationed in the northeast.The left-behind North Korean troops were handed over to Yuan Shikai, the "Prime Minister's Camp Affairs Office, who will handle North Korea's defense". Yuan Shikai was only 26 years old.In the winter of that year, civil strife broke out again in North Korea. The pro-Japanese faction imprisoned the king, organized the pro-Japanese government to expel the Qing army.Yuan Shikai observed calmly and reported to the country in time. After Li Hongzhang fully authorized him, Yuan Shikai led his army to attack the Korean palace, and had a fierce conflict with the Japanese army stationed in the palace. The pro-Japanese faction brought North Korea back under the rule of Qing Dynasty again.Li Hongzhang was very satisfied with Yuan Shikai's performance in North Korea, saying that he "has excellent courage and strategy, and can hold the general idea." Later, he will be promoted as a Taoist priest, with a third-rank title."

Yuan Shikai's cultivation of his own power originated from military training at Xiaozhan.The experience of North Korea, especially the lessons of the Sino-Japanese War made Yuan Shikai correctly understand the incomparable importance of military power.After getting through the military aircraft department and Li Lianying's network and obtaining the right to train troops, Yuan Shikai made great preparations and worked hard.

During the military training at Xiaozhan, Yuan Shikai not only showed far-reaching vision, but also had a deep understanding of how to control his subordinates. He used various tactics to win the support and loyalty of Wang Shizhen, Duan Qirui, Feng Guozhang and others.Yuan Shikai naturally regarded this army soaked with his painstaking efforts as his heart and soul.

Yuan Shikai's real prosperity should be attributed to the Reform Movement of [-].Regarding the Reform Movement of [-] that happened last year, Yuan Shikai's mood was extremely complicated.Yuan Shikai knew that his reputation had been tainted since last autumn.The reason, of course, was because of the thrilling events that happened in the capital in August and September last year, which pushed me into a situation that the scholar-bureaucrats hated.

Although it had been a long time, at least several months, that heroic face still appeared in Yuan Shikai's memory from time to time, and that person was Tan Sitong.

"Wangmen went to Zhizhi to think of Zhang Jian, and I endured death to wait for Dugan. I smiled to the sky, and went to save my heart and gall in Kunlun." The Qijue poem inscribed by the Hunan scholar on the prison wall with charcoal has long been spread all over the world. While creating Tan Sitong's immortal fame among scholars in the empire, he also nailed Yuan Shikai to the pillar of shame.

Yuan Shikai was not a conservative.He doesn't even belong to the circle of Rong Lu, the representative of the conservative faction, although his policy on the formation and training of the new army was appreciated by Rong Lu and he said good things in front of Cixi.Yuan Shikai has always been inclined to reform in thought. He was also one of the initiators of the Strong Society, and he personally wrote a letter to Emperor Guangxu, calling for reform and strengthening.Yuan Shikai and Kang Youwei not only knew each other, but also had a good relationship. In the summer of 1895, Kang Youwei submitted the letter for the fourth time, and faced the difficulty of not submitting it. The Metropolitan Procuratorate and the Ministry of Industry (Kang Youwei was the head of the Ministry of Industry at the time, equivalent to the director of the central ministries and commissions of later generations) refused to pass it on. In the end, Yuan Shikai Delivered through the Supervising Military Affairs Office!

Yuan Shikai's closeness to the reformers was not only out of ideological closeness, but also out of consideration for his own development.At that time, Emperor Guangxu strongly supported the reform, and the reformers were greatly trusted.Whether it is out of loyalty to the emperor or seeking personal development, it is only natural for Yuan Shikai and the reformers to mix together.

When it comes to the Reformation, we must mention the 1895 bus letter.

The defeat of Sino-Japanese War and the signing of the Treaty of Shimonoseki ruined Li Hongzhang's half-life fame.It also brought about profound changes in the empire.

It was Kang Youwei's letter to the public that caused the first change.

Bus, refers to the official car in ancient times.As early as the Han Dynasty, literati went to Beijing to take exams, and the transportation was provided by the state.Later, the bus was used to refer to Juren to Beijing.

In the Qing Empire, Juren did not have the right to directly submit a statement to the emperor. To submit a statement, it must be forwarded by the Metropolitan Procuratorate.The Metropolitan Procuratorate is the highest-level procuratorial, impeachment and recommendation agency in the country, and it is also the highest government agency that accepts petitions from the people.As an institution with such great power in the imperial government, it has the duty to send the petition up, and also has the privilege to withhold it and handle it by itself.Especially when Juren's petitions not only discussed important state affairs but were written directly to the emperor, officials had to be very careful in handling them.

Therefore, the officials of the Metropolitan Procuratorate chose the safe method of suppressing the petition.

But Kang Liang obviously didn't want to let it go.Under their instigation, the "buses" began to join forces on a large scale. More than 1000 scholars signed the petition, and almost all of them from Guangdong and Hunan participated in the battle.In modern times, the two provinces of Guangdong and Hunan are very special, and they have almost become the birthplace of rebellion. The scholars of Hunan, the merchants of Guangdong, the strong and powerful of Hunan, and the rich and prosperous of Guangdong.Driven by Guangdong and Hunan, all provinces followed suit. They must write to the emperor before the signing of the Treaty of Shimonoseki to save the country.

Kang Youwei's letter did not receive immediate results.They were not reconciled. In the days that followed, they organized the Strong Society and the National Security Council in Yenching. Many high-ranking officials supported and joined these organizations.Kang Youwei's propaganda work was effective, and more and more people in the upper echelons of the imperial court supported the idea of ​​the reform, which led to Emperor Guangxu promulgating the reform on April 1500, 1898.

An event that profoundly affected history happened.

Guangxu was made emperor at the age of four, and power was not returned to him until 1889 when his wife Empress Dowager Cixi.But that was a return in name, and Empress Dowager Cixi still had to nod for important personnel appointments. The specific regulations were that officials with a second rank or above had to be appointed for decision.In order to carry out the New Deal, Emperor Guangxu had to build his own team. Fearing that Cixi would disagree, he could only promote Yang Rui, Liu Guangdi, Lin Xu, and Tan Sitong of the Kang Party to the fourth-rank military aircraft Zhangjing.

Since the Yongzheng Dynasty of the Qing court, the highest decision-making body has been the Military Aircraft Department.The military ministers are naturally mainly Manchu, and the Han ministers are just decorations and cannot really participate in the decision-making of military affairs.Since Emperor Guangxu set up four military aircraft Zhangjing in the military aircraft department, this situation has been changed.With four military aircraft Zhang Jing who are like the emperor's confidential secretary, the military minister has become the embellishment of the military aircraft department.This naturally affects the power of the old ministers, and further affects the status of the old ministers.In this way, with the progress of the New Deal, the contradiction between the emperor and the Han reformers behind him and the Empress Dowager Cixi and the Manchu relatives and noble ministers gradually became prominent.

This is only one side of the problem. The other side of the problem is that the emperor promotes only talents of the Han nationality, and the dispute between the old and the new is followed by the dispute between Manchu and Han.Since the summer of that year, people have been writing letters to Cixi. The Manchu ministers seized on Cixi's prejudice and vigilance against the Han people, and continued to stimulate Cixi with the emperor's words that Han people discriminated against the nation. The history book Cixi hopes that Cixi will take action to take back the emperor's power and stop the emperor's "nonsense".