What is history: it is the echo of the past to the future, the reflection of the future on the past. - Hugo
To say that the favorite historical stage is still the Republic of China period, although the Republic of China warlords are fighting, the country is often in danger, but this is also our rebirth period, especially in this period of the emergence of benevolent people, but also show this period of history is passionate.
If I want to say that the person I most admire during the Republic of China period is General Cai Yi, for the development of the country, regardless of personal glory and wealth, he embraced illness and threw himself into the revolution, although he died young, his deeds will be remembered forever.
General Cai Yi was born in Baoqing Province, Hunan Province, a tailor family, very poor, but did not hinder Cai E's vision, Cai Yi in his early years in the private school hard study, at the age of 12 he was admitted to the Xiucai, after the Sino-Japanese War, the Qing court actively sought the road to modernization, in 1898 16-year-old Cai Yi was admitted to the Changsha Shiwu School, under the tutelage of Liang Qichao and Tan Sitong, the leaders of the Penghu Reform Law.
Because during the school period, he studied hard and was appreciated by Liang Qichao, the chief teacher of the Chinese, which had a very significant impact on Cai Yi's life. Shortly thereafter, Cai was admitted to Shanghai Nanyang College, the predecessor of today's Shanghai Jiaotong University and Xi'an Jiaotong University.
After the defeat of the Sino-Japanese War, China sent a large number of students to Japan to study, setting off a wave of Chinese school days, which affected Cai Yi went to Japan in 1899 to seek the road to a strong country, and successively studied at Tokyo Datong High School and Yokohama East Asia Business School.
During his time in Japan, Cai Yi accepted advanced ideas and was extremely resentful of the decadent rule of the Qing government, once writing in a poem that "shed blood to save the people and my generations, a thousand autumns of liver and gallbladder self-rotting bacteria", and after the failure of the Pengshu Reform Law, his mentor Tan Sitong's dying sentence "I smile from the horizontal knife to the sky, to leave the liver and gallbladder for two Kunlun" quite echoed.
After the Xinhai Revolution, imperialism set off a wave of partitioning up China, and Cai Yi, who studied in Japan, could no longer watch it, returned to China to participate in the uprising of the Self-Reliant Army, faced with the fact that Tsarist Russia invaded northeast China, and organized the "Rebel Army against Russia", but unfortunately all ended in failure.
This time the uprising failed quickly, combined with the experience of the failure of the Penghu Reform Law, let Cai Ye understand that there is no strong armed force, want to carry out changes is a fool's dream, after returning to Japan again, Cai Yi was first admitted to the Chengcheng School, and then admitted to the Japanese Army Non-Commissioned Officer School, specializing in military knowledge.
In 1902, Cai Yi published in the "Xinmin Cong Bao" founded by Liang Qichao, in which he said that China's backwardness in all aspects of the factors, and strongly advocated that to change this situation, it is necessary to implement "military nationalism."
It can be seen that Cai Yi's thinking at this time was deeply influenced by Japanese militarist education, and because of his active performance during the Lu Shi period, he was known as one of the "Three Masters of Chinese Non-Commissioned Officers" at that time.
In 1904, as one of the first batch of international students to graduate from the Japanese Lushi, Cai Yi was influenced by the wave of promoting the New Deal at the end of the Qing Dynasty after returning to China, and successively coached the new army in Hunan, Guangxi and other places, because of his solid military skills and incisive explanations, he was deeply admired by his colleagues and soldiers.
Shortly thereafter, when the governor of Yunnan and Guizhou, Li Jingxi, was preparing for the establishment of the Yunnan Lecture Hall, he hired Cai Yi to Yunnan to give him a heavy responsibility, and because Li Jingxi had sympathy for the revolutionaries, the Yunnan Army Lecture Hall and the Yunnan New Army became the base camp of the revolutionary forces.
In 1911, after the Wuchang Uprising, Cai Yi responded positively and launched the Kunming Xinhai Uprising, which overthrew the Qing government's rule in Yunnan and established the Yunnan Military Government as the governor.
This uprising had a major impact on the promotion of revolutionary activities throughout the country and ultimately on the end of the Qing government's rule over the whole country.
After the overthrow of the qing government's rule, it was a new beginning for Cai E, during Cai E's tenure as the governor of Yunnan, he vigorously promoted the new policy, improved the development of the economy and people's livelihood, made the idea of democracy and republicanism deeply rooted in the hearts of the people, and built Yunnan from the border land of the country into a democratic and republican homeland.
After the Xinhai Revolution, Yuan Shikai served as the president of the Republic of China, and this "democratic thorn" in Yunnan was quite a headache for Yuan Shikai, and in order to disintegrate Cai E's military and political influence, in 1913, Cai E was transferred to Beijing and granted the post of superintendent of the National Economic and Boundary Bureau, ostensibly enveloping it, but secretly monitoring Cai E.
Many of the ideas of Yuan Shikai and Cai E coincided, and Yuan Shikai also particularly admired Cai E, and Cai E also had a certain trust in Yuan Shikai, for example, Cai E had always hoped to establish a modern national defense army, while Yuan Shikai was famous for forming a new army.
The most outstanding work of Yuan Shikai's life was the formation of the Beiyang New Army, and at this point, Cai Yi was well aware of this, and during his time in Beijing, Cai Yi repeatedly gave Yuan Shikai advice and suggestions, hoping that Yuan Shikai could strengthen national defense construction.
However, when Yuan Shikai signed the Twenty-One Articles with Japan and acted perversely, wanting to establish a dictatorial government or even restore the imperial system, Cai Yi really could not conspire with Yuan Shikai.
While Yuan Shikai was planning to restore the imperial system, Cai Yi traveled east to Japan on the pretext of seeing a doctor, and arrived in Kunming on December 19 after a journey through Taiwan, Hong Kong, and Vietnam, seven days after Yuan Shikai declared himself emperor on December 12.
After Arriving in Kunming, Cai Yi immediately began to organize an armed uprising against Yuan in Yunnan, declared the independence of Yunnan on December 25, and organized the Defending Army to fire the first shot against Yuan and the soldiers to beg Yuan in three ways.
Although Cai E's defenders were not superior to the Beiyang government, Cai Yi repeatedly defeated Yuan Shikai's armies on the basis of yunnan armed forces, and was supported by anti-Yuan forces in various provinces.
Due to the long-term fighting in harsh conditions, Cai Yi, who was not in good physical condition, finally became ill with overwork, and his condition deteriorated in 1916, and although he went to Japan for active treatment, he died at the age of 34.
However, in General Cai Yi's last will, he still did not forget the revolutionary matters, asked his subordinates to apply for pensions for the fallen soldiers, and said that he "had a short life, failed to do his best for the Republic of China, and should be buried thinly." ”
At the memorial service, his mentor Liang Qichao praised Cai Yi as "fighting for the personality of the people", and deplored it, and soon after Cai Yi's death, the Beiyang government held the first state funeral for him in the history of the Republic of China.
In his career of eight years of devotion to the revolution, although it was short-lived, it was wonderful, especially in the Xinhai Uprising and the Patriotic War in Yunnan, Cai Yi rushed to the forefront with the posture of revolutionary vanguard, which is worthy of admiration.