In June 1917, Zhang Xun, the braided marshal, took advantage of the contradiction between Li Yuanhong and Duan Qirui to lead 5,000 "braided troops" into Beijing on June 14 in the name of "mediation". After entering the Beijing Division, Zhang Xun's attitude took a one hundred and eighty-degree turn, and he issued a telegram to summon the Manchu Qing dynasty elders into Beijing, "Xiang praises the great cause of restoration." ”
On July 1, the thirteenth day of the fifth month of the lunar calendar, Puyi was carried out. At first, Puyi still looked confused, until Chen Baochen shouted: "Please the emperor must promise Zhang Xun, this is for the people's life, the heavens and the people return." Puyi was very excited, and it seemed that the ancestral inheritance of the Great Qing Dynasty was about to be restored again.
In this way, Puyi was restored, and in the face of the Manchu Qing dynasty elders, he "rewarded meritorious deeds" one by one, and issued eight "upper edicts" in a row, the content of which was to promote people who had contributed to the restoration. The people who were sealed were very happy, but Kang Youwei, vice president of the Bide Academy, was unhappy.
Here's a word about what kind of institution the Tokutoku-in Temple is. The Bide Academy is a special institution established in the late Qing Dynasty in May of the third year of Xuanun. Due to a series of failures in the late Qing Dynasty, the Qing court, out of its own considerations, promised to achieve constitutional enactment. In this context, the Tokutoku-in Academy was established, with one vice president each, 32 advisory ministers, and 10 senators.
Kang Youwei was unhappy because he thought he should be promoted to "prime minister." As we all know, after the failure of the Penghu Reform Law in 1898, Kang Youwei went into exile overseas, and because he obtained a lot of money by relying on the "Royalist Society", he also became the first person to travel around the world in the late Qing Dynasty.
In December 1913, Kang Youwei returned to China after 16 years in exile, and he was a hardcore royalist. Before Zhang Xun's restoration, Kang Youwei had lived in Zhang Xun's house for more than half a year, and he gave Zhang Xun a lot of "bad ideas". Of course, Kang Youwei was not willing to do this, and he also had conditions, that is, after the success of the restoration, he would be able to hold an important position.
When Zhang Xun led the "Braid Army" into Beijing, Kang Youwei also entered Beijing in disguise. Then, how did Kang Youwei, who was originally full of ambition, not become the "prime minister"? It's also hilarious to say, because Kang Youwei doesn't have braids. The braid is the symbol of the Manchu Qing, when Puyi is discussing the merits and rewards, the Manchu Qing old man standing in front of him has a long braid on the back of his head.
Only Kang Youwei's braids are very short, hanging down less than 10 inches, and they are put down like fluffy grass. When everyone accused him of not being a reformist, Kang Youwei brazenly defended, "I have been living abroad since the beginning of the Year of Penghu, and I have had to cut my hair and change clothes." Since the change of xinhai country, this has returned to the motherland and re-grown hair, more than five years ago, so it is not long. Zhang Xun's restoration failed in just 12 days, and as Zhang Xun fled in defeat, Kang Youwei also fled.
Reference: The Restoration of Zhang Xun