Yuan Shikai was emperor for a total of 83 days. He proclaimed himself emperor on December 12, 1915, but because the era name he used was officially used on January 1, 1916, history believes that he was officially proclaimed emperor on January 1, 1916.
Until he announced his abdication on March 22, 1916, abolishing the imperial system, Yuan Shikai was emperor for a total of 83 days.
In these 83 days, Yuan Shikai, in accordance with the system of the feudal dynasty, was given a lot of titles, the most representative of which was that he was canonized with a prince and six dukes.
In addition, he was also knighted with many marquises, counts, and barons. Let's focus on the one prince and six dukes that Yuan Shikai has been canonized.
The prince was given the title of Prince Li Yuanhong, who was crowned prince of Wuyi. But this was just Yuan Shikai's wishful thinking, because Li Yuanhong did not accept this title from beginning to end.
If Yuan Shikai was promoted by Li Hongzhang, then Li Yuanhong was promoted by Zhang Zhidong. Of course, Li Yuanhong also has the background of Li Hongzhang, because Li Yuanhong graduated from the Beiyang Water Division School founded by Li Hongzhang and served in the Beiyang Water Division founded by Li Hongzhang for twelve years.
After the Battle of the Yellow Sea, the Beiyang Marine Division was completely destroyed, and Li Yuanhong, who jumped into the sea, ran to Nanjing to defect to Zhang Zhidong, who was then the governor of Liangjiang.
At that time, Zhang Zhidong was training a self-strengthening army in Nanjing, and the shrewd and capable Li Yuanhong was soon noticed by Zhang Zhidong, so when Zhang Zhidong went to Wuhan to serve as the governor of Huguang, he also took Li Yuanhong with him and let Li Yuanhong be responsible for training the new army in Hubei.
With his own strong strength and the recommendation of Zhang Zhidong, Li Yuanhong's official position is naturally getting higher and higher. By the time of the Wuchang Uprising in 1911, Li Yuanhong was already the 21st Mixed Association of the New Army, and he was an important figure in Hubei.
Compared with the old stubborns of the Qing Dynasty, Li Yuanhong was more advanced in his thinking, otherwise he would not have been elected as the governor of the central military government. At this time, he was nominally the commander of the various rebel armies.
After Sun Yat-sen returned to China, the Provisional Government of the Republic of China was established, and Li Yuanhong became vice president. At this time, Li Yuanhong's feudal ideology came up, and he vigorously suppressed the revolutionaries in the provisional government, arranged his cronies in a big way, and thought of overthrowing Sun Yat-sen and taking power alone. Later, he simply joined forces with Yuan Shikai to deal with Sun Yat-sen.
However, the final result was that Sun Yat-sen gave up the position of provisional president to Yuan Shikai, and Li Yuanhong, under the coercion and inducement of Yuan Shikai, surrendered his military and political power and went to Beijing, and began his life of eating and waiting for death.
That is to say, Li Yuanhong did not gain any benefits, but lost the power and army he already had.
By wheel means, Li Yuanhong was inferior to Yuan Shikai, so he simply confessed his fate and did not understand the world. In the matter of Yuan Shikai's claim to the throne, Li Yuanhong adopted a method of neither opposing nor agreeing with it, so as to protect himself.
However, when Yuan Shikai claimed that the empress dowager had given him the title of Prince of Wuyi, Li Yuanhong resolutely refused to accept it. After all, once he accepts this title, it means that he supports Yuan Shikai, and he will also be spurned by the world. Therefore, in this matter, no matter how Yuan Shikai plays tricks, Li Yuanhong just won't agree.
Li Yuanhong, who had been suppressed by Yuan Shikai, finally hardened his temper in this matter.
The six dukes who were canonized by Yuan Shikai were: Long Jiguang, Zhang Xun, Feng Guozhang, Jiang Guiti, Duan Zhigui, and Ni Sichong.
As early as 1908, Long Jiguang served as the viceroy of Guangxi, commanding the Qing army in Guangxi. In Guangxi, Long Jiguang was a fierce repression of revolutionaries, in other words, he was a loyal supporter of the feudal dynasty.
After the Huanghuagang Uprising in 1911, the Qing Dynasty ordered Long Jiguang to lead an army into Guangdong to suppress the revolutionaries, and Long Jiguang was given the opportunity to infiltrate and even control Guangdong.
After Yuan Shikai became the president, Long Jiguang was appointed deputy envoy of the Guangdong Protector. At this time, Long Jiguang had completely fallen to Yuan Shikai, and in Guangdong he was working for Yuan Shikai everywhere and suppressing the revolutionaries everywhere, so it is no wonder why Yuan Shikai called himself empress dowager and crowned Long Jiguang as a duke.
Of course, Yuan Shikai's restoration did not last long, and Long Jiguang's days in Guangdong did not last long. In October 1916, Long Jiguang was driven to Hainan Island by the revolutionaries, and in April 1918 he could not even stay on Hainan Island, so he had to flee to Beijing and take up a post under Duan Qirui.
Zhang Xun was the commander of the Braided Army, serving as the viceroy of Jiangnan in 1909, and after the Wuchang Uprising, he was firmly in Nanjing, determined not to surrender to the revolutionaries. Even after the Qing Emperor abdicated, he ordered his subordinates not to cut their braids as a way to show his loyalty to the Manchus.
I really don't know what he, a Han Chinese, thinks.
With heavy troops in his hands and a supporter of the feudal etiquette system, Yuan Shikai naturally tried his best to win him over, and even made Zhang Xun a duke after he called the emperor. But this was only a stopgap measure for Zhang Xun, who had been thinking about how to maintain the Qing court from beginning to end, which was why Zhang Xun did not contribute much in the patriotic movement. Because he had to preserve his strength and find an opportunity to restore the Qing Dynasty.
However, under the trend of the times, Zhang Xun was a mantis arm as a car, and not long after the restoration, he was defeated by Duan Qirui, and his troops were also scattered, and Zhang Xun had to flee to the Dutch embassy for refuge.
Feng Guozhang was Yuan Shikai's hardcore confidant, and he was also able to have later achievements under Yuan Shikai's vigorous promotion. When Yuan Shikai was training troops at Xiaozhan Station, Feng Guozhang was Yuan Shikai's instructor, and many of Yuan Shikai's subordinates were trained by Feng Guozhang.
Before Yuan Shikai became emperor, Feng Guozhang was a horse in front of the saddle and made great contributions to Yuan Shikai. However, in the matter of claiming the title of emperor, Feng Guozhang was strongly opposed, and for this reason, he did not hesitate to stand against Yuan Shikai. The reason why Feng Guozhang was crowned duke was actually to win Feng Guozhang over.
But in the end, It disappointed Yuan Shikai, and Feng Guozhang not only did not accept this title, but also joined forces with other generals to pressure Yuan Shikai to abdicate the throne as soon as possible.
In the matter of forcing Yuan Shikai to abdicate, Feng Guozhang played a very important role. Of course, while forcing Yuan Shikai to abdicate, he also hoped that he could become the president, and he also had his own selfish intentions.
Jiang Guiti was born in the Twist Army, but he later betrayed the Twist Army and joined the Qing Army, forgetting all about the Qing Army's killing of his father.
Not only that, after joining the Qing army, he tried every means and used all means to suppress the Twist Army, and it has to be said that he was really ungrateful.
In 1895, he joined the Beiyang Army at the invitation of Yuan Shikai. After the Wuchang Uprising, he, together with many generals, forced the Qing Emperor to abdicate. However, in the matter of Yuan Shikai's claim to the throne, he also told Duan Zhigui, Ni Sichong, and others to persuade Yuan Shikai that he must be called emperor. It can be said that one of the reasons why Yuan Shikai chose to be called emperor was the flickering of Jiang Guiti, Duan Zhigui, and Ni Sichong.
Duan Zhigui was able to climb the relationship of Yuan Shikai, used a lot of beauty plans, and often sent beautiful women to Yuan Shikai when there was nothing wrong. Over time, Yuan Shikai began to reuse Duan Zhigui. Of course, Duan Zhigui's ability is also good, otherwise Yuan Shikai would not have crowned him as a duke.
Ni Sichong's father was Yuan Shikai's subordinate, so Ni Sichong knew Yuan Shikai when he was young. It is precisely because of climbing the big tree of Yuan Shikai that Ni Sichong was able to become the governor of Anhui step by step.
To Yuan Shikai, Ni Sichong was loyal, and Yuan Shikai also used Ni Sichong very much. Ni Sichong, who was stationed in Anhui, had to monitor Zhang Xun in Xuzhou on the one hand, and henan on the other, which was enough to see Ni Sichong's status.
In the matter of Yuan Shikai's claim to the title of emperor, Ni Sichong was very much in favor of it, so Yuan Shikai later crowned him as a duke.
In fact, among the six dukes and dukes who were crowned by Yuan Shikai, Li Yuanhong and Feng Guozhang opposed Yuan Shikai's claim to the throne, and Zhang Xun was loyal to the Manchu Qing, although there was no opposition on the surface, but he would not support it. That is to say, those who supportEd Yuan Shikai's claim to the throne were Long Jiguang, Jiang Guiti, Duan Zhigui, and Ni Sichong.
In addition to the seven of them, Yuan Shikai also made many marquises, counts, and barons. Like Tang Qianming, Li Chun, Zhu Rui, Lu Rongting, Zhao Qian, Chen Mi, Tang Jiyao, Yan Xishan, and Wang Zhanyuan are marquises, and Zhang Xiluan, Zhu Jiabao, Zhang Mingqi, Tian Wenlie, Jin Yunpeng, Yang Zengxin, Lu Jianzhang, Meng Enyuan, Qu Yingguang, Qi Yaolin, Cao Kun, and Yang Shande are counts. In addition, there are hundreds of barons, viscounts, and lieutenants of light vehicles.
It seems to be a scenery, but it is a perverse act after all. Under the opposition of the people of the whole country, Yuan Shikai's claim to the emperor eventually became a farce, and even Yuan Shikai died of illness on June 6, 1916.