One day in 1915, a servant in Yuan Shikai's mansion went out to buy snacks, and not long after, he brought back a bag of spiced broad beans, wrapped in a whole newspaper.
Yuan Shikai's third daughter, Shu Zhen, was flipping through this snack-packed "Shuntian Times" and inadvertently found that the news in the newspaper was not the same as her usual reading. She was suspicious of Dou Dunsheng, and hurriedly went to find the "Shuntian Times" on the same day in the palace, and checked with the one brought back from outside, only to find that although the dates of the two newspapers were the same, the contents were very different, especially the tone of public opinion about Yuan Shikai's "claim to the emperor" was completely opposite.
It turned out that Yuan Fu's "ShunTian Times" turned out to be a fake newspaper with a "special" version. The initiator was none other than Yuan Keding, the grand duke of the Yuan family.
Yuan Shikai's eldest son, Yuan Keding, was a staunch supporter of the imperial system and looked forward to Yuan Shikai's claim to emperor every day. In order to create an illusion, he paid 30,000 silver dollars to buy printing equipment, printed the "Great President Special Edition" every day according to the layout of the "Shuntian Times", and then sent this cottage newspaper to the Yuan Mansion to steal the beams and change the pillars.
"Suncheon Times" is a Chinese newspaper founded by the Japanese government in Tianjin, which belongs to Japan's official media against China. Yuan Shikai often read this newspaper, and he used the "Shuntian Times" to grasp the Japanese government's tone in time, after all, japan was very powerful in China at that time, and Yuan Shikai had to spend a lot of energy to deal with the Japanese.
Before Yuan Shikai premeditated to ascend the throne in 1915, he had to read the "Shuntian Times" almost every day, and he was very concerned about Japan's attitude towards himself as emperor, but unfortunately, what he saw was the fake news that Yuan Keding wanted him to see.
Yuan Keding once studied in Germany, and also treated horseback riding injuries in Germany, deeply influenced by German Emperor Wilhelm II, usually vigorously advocating the implementation of the imperial system in China, since Yuan Shikai became the president, he was even more active in promoting the matter of claiming the emperor.
Yuan Keding
Yuan Shikai once trusted his eldest son very much, and usually did not leave his left and right, so Yuan Keding was also more able to figure out his father's intentions. Yuan Keding knew that the spell in his father's heart that "the men of the Yuan family will not live to be sixty years old" has always been a barrier. So he grasped this psychology and constantly made it clear and hinted to Yuan Shikai through various ways, saying that the family's fate could only be broken by being a "true son of heaven".
Yuan Keding also came up with various methods to create all kinds of "auspicious rui" to make Yuan Shikai believe that it was completely providential to claim the title of emperor. This can also be seen from the side that Yuan Shikai, who claimed to be the emperor, also had heavy concerns and weighed them repeatedly, otherwise the grand duke would not have needed to knock on the side like this.
In order to create the illusion that the people of the whole country supported Yuan Shikai as emperor, Yuan Keding opened his mind and even went so far as to forge the "Shuncheon Times" at any cost; he not only changed all the anti-imperialist remarks in the newspaper to praise merit and praise, but also deleted all the advice of the symmetrical emperors in Japan, Britain, and so on.
These scams created by Yuan Keding with his special identity subtly misled Yuan Shikai's judgment of the current situation, so he has always been grumpy and unwilling to forgive this eldest son. According to Yuan Jiabin, the son of Yuan Shikai's fourth son, Yuan Kerui, Yuan Shikai said before his death: "Ke Ding mistook me."
In fact, this Grand Duke Yuan was originally also the key training object of Yuan Shikai.
Yuan Shikai had one wife and nine concubines and 32 children in his lifetime. Yuan Keding was his eldest son, born in 1878, and has followed Yuan Shikai to Korea, Shandong, and Zhili since childhood. He has a foreign background of studying in Germany and is also very familiar with the Chinese officialdom, so he has no small political ambitions.
Yuan Shikai also attached great importance to his eldest son, and many things were entrusted to Yuan Keding to handle personally. After the Wuchang Uprising, Yuan Keding frequently traveled back and forth between his hometown in Henan and Beijing, communicating with the revolutionary party on behalf of Yuan Shikai and actively subverting the Qing government.
Unlike the eldest son, who was deliberate, the second son, Yuan Kewen, was very repulsive to "claiming the title of emperor".
Yuan Kewen's biological mother, a Korean of the Kim clan, was originally married when Yuan Shikai was serving as a commercial representative in Korea, and was born into a famous Korean nobleman. Later, Yuan Shikai simply took the two girls who married the Jin family as concubines.
Kevin Yuan
These two sons of Yuan Shikai were both born with great appearance, handsome and handsome, but their interests were completely different.
Yuan Kewen is not as obsessed with politics as his brother, he prefers poetry, painting, Kunqu opera, Peking Opera, and Zhang Boju has similar interests, and the two are not only relatives, but also close friends. Later, some people referred to Zhang Boju, Yuan Kewen, Zhang Xueliang, and Puyi's brother Pu Dong as the four princes of the Republic of China.
Soon after Yuan Kewen was born, he was passed on to Yuan Shikai's favored aunt Tai Shen. Shen himself has no children, so he dotes on Yuan Kewen and is obedient. Arrogant yuan Kewen has been stubborn since childhood, he has never read seriously, but he is smart by nature, and once he reads seriously, he can also never forget it.
Since the age of fifteen or sixteen, Yuan Kewen has lived a ridiculous life, often living outside all night without returning home. In order to avoid Yuan Shikai's knowledge, the eldest aunt hid it for this son every time, and even said to others: Whoever dares to tell his father, I will fight with whomever I want.
Yuan Kewen is not only intelligent, but also artistically talented. Usually, he sang Kunqu opera, collected ancient gold coins, befriended literati, and wrote well. He once said to himself that he would be a celebrity.
Yuan Shikai became emperor, and Yuan Kewen was strongly opposed. He also made a poem to express his chest. Later, his poem spread to the outside world, and many people learned that the Yuan family also had sons who did not support the title of emperor.
This incident made the eldest brother Yuan Keding very angry, and he went to Yuan Shikai with a poem to complain, saying that the younger brother was obviously singing the opposite tone. Enraged, Yuan Shikai placed Yuan Kewen under house arrest in Beihai and ordered him not to be allowed to communicate with celebrities again.
Editor In 1916, Yuan Shikai imitated the popular style of the British court and customized a set of "imperial clothes" for each of his dozen sons. This ceremonial dress is made of black nizi, and the chest is embroidered with gold thread and ornate ornamentation, which is extremely luxurious. After the dress was made, Yuan Shikai's dozen sons rushed to try it on with great interest, and also took photos to commemorate it, only Yuan Kewen was maverick, and did not try it or wear it.
After Yuan Shikai's death, Yuan Kewen lived a life of profligacy and debauchery. It is said that he went to Shanghai to play, and spent 600,000 oceans in one go. Xu Shichang, the successor president who had been "entrusted by Yuan Shikai", hated that iron was not made of steel, and wanted to take a crutch to break Yuan Kewen's leg.
In 1916, the Yuan family moved to Tianjin.
Grand Duke Yuan Keding bought a bungalow and lived at No. 85 Wilson Road (now Jiefang South Road) in the German Concession. In 1935, he moved to his former residence at No. 63 Baoqian Hutong in Beijing.
Although Yuan Shikai left a huge amount of property to his children, Yuan Keding sat on the mountain and ate the air, usually loved face and was used to being extravagant, so he was also cheated out of a lot of money. After the Japanese occupation of Beijing, Yuan Keding moved with his family, personal doctors, and cooks to Qinghua Xuanli, a courtyard in the Summer Palace.
Throughout the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression, Yuan Keding's life became tighter and tighter, and he declined day by day. He had asked Chiang Kai-shek to return the Yuan family's confiscated family property in Henan, but this was refused.
However, despite the difficulties of life, Yuan Keding never cooperated with the Japanese. Once, Cao Rulin persuaded Yuan Keding to sell a garden in Henan to the Japanese, but he resolutely refused to sell it. In addition, he is resolute not to be a traitor, which is impressive.
After the fall of North China, Kenji Doihara, the head of Japanese intelligence, wanted to enlist Yuan Keding and invited him to join the puppet regime in North China, hoping to use his identity to exert influence on the old Beiyang Department.
At that time, Yuan Keding's economy was already very difficult, and when he mentioned this matter to Zhang Boju, he said that if he held a false post, he would certainly be richly rewarded, but I could not become a traitor because of this.
In order to make the Japanese die, he published a public statement in the newspaper, saying that he did not pay attention to anything because of his illness and refused to see all guests. Later, someone framed the newspaper that carried the statement, accompanied by a poem, in recognition of the integrity of the Grand Duke yuan.
After the victory of the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression, Yuan Keding had entered his old age, and his economy was even more embarrassing, and he had been relying on his cousin Zhang Boju for help. When Zhang Boju's family moved to Chengze Garden outside the city, Yuan Keding lived with Zhang Boju's family all the time.
Zhang Boju's daughter recalled:
Our family of four lives in the house at the end of Chengze Garden, and Yuan Keding and his wife live in the east courtyard in front of Chengze Garden. Yuan Keding's niece, Yuan Keyou, the daughter of the seventeenth elder (Yuan Shikai's 17th son), lived with them and took care of the old couple's living.
Yuan Keding was already an old man at that time, usually not very talkative, giving people the feeling that his temper was a little strange, and he would go into his study to read a book. He is fluent in German and English, reads mostly in German, and sometimes translates articles. To the children, his accent is a little strange, perhaps in the early years to follow Yuan Shikai around, his accent is a bit mixed, can not hear whether it is Henan, Tianjin or Beijing.
He never smokes, and is very polite and kind to meet guests, always nodding his head in greeting, and the same is true for children.
In 1948, Zhang Shizhao, who was the director of the Central Museum of Culture and History, assigned Yuan Ke a job as a librarian, with an income of fifty or sixty yuan per month.
After Yuan Keding received a monthly salary, he would take the money and want to give it to Zhang Boju's wife. But Zhang Boju never let his wife accept Yuan Keding's money, saying: "Since you have already taken him to the family, you can't worry about money anymore." ”
In 1953, Zhang Boju sold Chengzeyuan to Peking University, and the family moved to the vicinity of Houhai. He also bought a house for Yuan Keding in Xicheng, let them move in, and continued to help him. After Yuan Keding's death in 1958, relatives who usually did not show up came from Henan and sold the house.
Compared with Yuan Keding, who was depressed in his later years, the bohemian Yuan Kewen only lived for 42 years.
Yuan Kewen usually eats, drinks, gambles and gambles, spending money like flowing water. Not long after Yuan Shikai's death, he also ran out of family wealth and had no rice to cook. However, because of his profound calligraphy, many people came to him for words, so he wrote a few words to exchange money when he had no money to spend.
However, this prince is different from the others, because the family has been rich, and he has never been bound by money. When he has money to spend, he often does not write seriously, and only when he really has no money and cannot write, he selects those contract manuscripts that are paid more to write a few pieces, and then sends them to the "Beiyang Pictorial" to exchange for the ocean.
At that time, as long as Yuan Kewen's words were sent out, someone would buy them immediately, and Zhang Zongchang had asked Yuan Kewen to write a pair of middle halls and bid 1,000 yuan. However, even if Yuan Kewen only had 10 yuan in his hand, he would not write for money. He also spent a huge amount of money into the Green Gang, often mixing with gang figures.
In the winter of 1931, Yuan Kewen fell ill with scarlet fever, and before he could recover, he ran to a brothel to fool around, causing his illness to worsen, and he died within a few days. He died penniless and found only $20 in the pen holder on his desk.
Yuan Shikai left behind a huge family, he had 32 children, three generations of 22 grandchildren, 25 granddaughters. After the fall of Yuan Shikai, this once large family has been torn apart and is now scattered everywhere.
Among his many sons, the only ones who are most often remembered are Yuan Keding and Yuan Kewen.