In his lifetime, Yuan Shikai had a large number of wives and concubines, and many children, including 17 sons alone. If you want to say which son he likes the most, it has to be Yuan Kewen, why do you say so?
(Yuan Kewen old photo)
Yuan Kewen was the second son of Yuan Shikai, and his birth mother was Yuan Shikai's third aunt, Taijin.
After Yuan Kewen was born, because the eldest aunt Tai Shen had no heirs, Yuan Shikai passed him on to the great aunt Tai Shen.
At that time, Yuan Shikai was recommended by Li Hongzhang, and his career was on a steady track, and it was the time when he had made great achievements.
Yuan Kewen was born in such a family of officials and eunuchs, living a worry-free life. And because he was born with a beautiful appearance and exceptional intelligence, he became more and more doted on by Yuan's parents. In particular, Shen Shi was even more responsive to his needs, lest he be wronged.
Yuan Kewen is greedy and not good at reading, but he has the ability to "never forget". Although he only spent three points of thought on reading, he did not practice the Eight Classics according to the requirements of the teacher. However, whether he writes or writes, he has a very high talent, and people have admired it when they read it.
Yuan Shikai had the heart to cultivate Yuan Kewen, so he asked him to help him write official documents, and sometimes took him to the palace to walk, so that he could familiarize himself with the officialdom.
When Yuan Kewen was 15 years old, Yuan Shikai was already a favorite of Cixi's side.
Once, Yuan Shikai took Yuan Kewenyun to Cixi to pay homage to him.
When Cixi first saw Yuan Kewen, she saw that he was not only born a gentleman, but also talked well, so she told Yuan Shikai that she would marry her niece to Yuan Kewen.
It is said that it is a great honor to be able to climb up with Cixi and be related.
But Yuan Shikai was sophisticated, worried that if he promoted this marriage, he let Cixi install an eyeliner around him, which would be greater than his own disadvantage. Therefore, he lied that Yuan Kewen had a marriage contract and politely refused Cixi's kindness.
(Yuan Shikai's old photo)
From this point of view, although Yuan Kewen is said to be a shuzi, Yuan Shikai still has high hopes for him.
After Yuan Shikai became the president of the Republic of China, yuan Keding, the eldest son of Yuan Keding, always wanted to be emperor, so he did his best to encourage Yuan Shikai to restore himself as emperor.
Although Yuan Keding is a little clever, when it comes to talent, it is definitely not as good as Yuan Kewen. In addition, he had been lame on horseback, and his appearance was incomparable with the personable Yuan Kewen. Therefore, he was greatly jealous of Yuan Kewen.
Yuan Kewen did not approve of Yuan Shikai's title of emperor, and seeing that Yuan Keding was jealous of him, he simply went to Shanghai.
Without the discipline of his family, Yuan Kewen lived happily in Shanghai, making friends, staying overnight in the Qinglou, and spending money to become the eldest brother of the "big" generation of the Qinggang.
Yuan Kewen is the big brother of the gang, which is different from others. Others rely on fighting and killing, but he is Sven, and when someone asks him to do something, he also helps.
Once, he was approached by the owner of a theater that Yuan Kewen frequented, saying that there were several hooligans who had made trouble and threatened to blow up the theater.
Yuan Kewen didn't say a word and followed him to the theater.
As soon as the other party saw Yuan Kewen single-handedly coming to the meeting, he could not help but have great respect for his boldness. When I heard that he was Second Master Yuan, I didn't say anything and left directly.
Yuan Kewen also likes to sing Kunqu opera, and is very familiar with Liyuan master Cheng Yanqiu and others, often together to practice music, and sometimes he also makes cameos on stage.
After Yuan Shikai's death, Yuan Kewen became more addicted to performing on stage. Once, when he was planning to sing on stage at the Xinmin Theater, the news reached Yuan Keding's ears, and Yuan Keding thought that his practice was insulting to the family style, so he called the police chief Xue Songping and asked him to arrest Yuan Kewen.
(Yuan Kewen fixed makeup photo)
Xue Songping was helpless and hurried to the theater to find Yuan Kewen. I never thought that the three floors outside the theater were all Qinggang disciples.
It turned out that Yuan Kewen had heard about this and was worried that it would spoil his addiction to drama, so he asked the Qinggang disciples to hold the front and back doors and not let Xue Songping come in.
After the play was finished, Xue Songping had a hard time finding the backstage and persuading Yuan Kewen for a while.
While removing his makeup, Yuan Kewen said to Xue Songping, Cheng, I will not sing it tomorrow after Singing.
After Yuan Shikai's death, Yuan Dingwen also received more than 100,000 silver dollars, plus some literary play with calligraphy and painting, and his life was still good. But he spent money like flowing water, did not know how to make a living, and was proud of people, and the result was soon embarrassing.
Yuan Shikai's former former ministry heard about his recent situation, and many people invited him to be a consultant. But he said he couldn't wait for anyone, and he refused.
The Japanese also asked him to be an official, but he felt humiliated, went away in anger, and paid no attention to others.
The only thing Yuan Kewen inherited from Yuan Shikai was lustful.
When Yuan Kewen was a teenager, he slept outside in the willow. Because the elders spoiled him, as long as he did not cause trouble, they would turn a blind eye and not discipline him.
Yuan Kewen's wife, Liu Meizhen, was born into a family of eunuchs. What is valuable is that she not only knows ink and ink, knows the rhythm of music, but also writes beautiful brush words. Coupled with the fact that she was born dignified and beautiful, Yuan Kewen was very satisfied with her.
However, soon after the marriage, Yuan Kewen did not change his old habits, and he lingered in the brothel of the restaurant for a long time, and did not stay at home at all.
Liu Meizhen had a lot of quarrels with him about this. Yuan Kewen did not argue with her, just smiled. But I didn't stay at home for long and went out again.
Liu Meizhen was helpless and complained to Yuan Shikai. However, Yuan Shikai said that men with ability are not three wives and four concubines. Since then, Liu Meizhen can only open one eye and close his eyes to Yuan Kewen's peach history, and he will never ask again.
Who knows, this hobby will eventually kill Yuan Kewen.
According to Yuan Jingxue's record in "My Second Brother Yuan Hanyun", in 1931, Yuan Kewen suffered from scarlet fever, and under the conditioning of his family, his condition was alleviated. Yuan Kewen went to the brothel again to understand the boredom, and when he returned, he developed a high fever and died of illness soon after.
After Yuan Kewen's death, the family could not even find the money for his burial, and in the end, it was the disciples of the Qing Gang who pooled the money to hold a funeral for him.
(Reference historical materials: "My Second Brother Yuan Hanyun", "Yuan Kewen Biography")