In ancient China, in order to safeguard the interests of the family, the rich families often adopted the method of marriage, and through the formation of blood relations, these families allied with each other, thus having the great energy to influence the situation.
But it is often not a fortunate thing for those who marry, who are victims of family interests and unable to control their own destiny under the pressure of those in power.
Such was the case with the daughter of Li Yuanhong, who had been the president of the Republic of China, who was forced by her father to marry Yuan Shikai's son, but eventually ended up in a madhouse.
The sinister betrothed event
In 1914, Yuan Shikai used his influence over the Qing court and the military power in his hands to successfully force the emperor to abdicate, and due to the agreement reached with the Kuomintang in advance, Yuan Shikai stole the victory of the revolution and ascended to the presidency of the Republic of China.
However, Yuan Shikai, who was a very popular courtier, was still not satisfied, and he always dreamed of one day sitting on the emperor's throne, so he took action and assassinated many revolutionaries who opposed him, preparing to restore the imperial system.
Lacking effective helpers, Yuan Shikai transferred his old subordinate, Li Yuanhong, who had been put on the throne by soldiers during the Wuchang Uprising, to his stronghold of Beijing.
Li Yuanhong also had a huge influence at the time, and when the Republic of China was founded, he was elected vice president of the country, second only to sun yat-sen, the father of the country.
Such an important official of the Republic of China, no matter what his actual ability is, Li Yuanhong has tremendous political energy. After arriving in Beijing, Li Yuanhong was highly valued by Yuan Shikai and was appointed as the president of the Senate, with a monthly salary of tens of thousands of oceans, and various preferential treatments were innumerable, which could be described as one person below and above ten thousand people.
But for such a figure who has a huge influence between his hands and feet, Yuan Shikai cannot be completely assured of Li Yuanhong, and once he defects, Yuan Shikai will face great trouble.
In order to tie Li Yuanhong tightly to his own boat, Yuan Shikai thought of the idea of marrying.
Yuan Shikai married a total of sixteen wives and concubines, and they gave birth to a full twenty-nine children for Yuan Shikai, and if they gave up one child, they could tie Li Yuanhong tightly to his camp, which was simply a "deal" of "a million profits".
Yuan Shikai sent his confidant Tang Hualong to the door to say that this Tang Hualong had no other skills, that is, he had a clever mouth. In Li Yuanhong's palace, Tang Hualong said that once he married Yuan Shikai, Li Yuanhong's life would no longer worry, not only could he be rich for a lifetime, but he could also hold heavy power under Yuan Shikai, and his future was unlimited.
Under Tang Hualong's rhetoric, Li Yuanhong was not only moved, but after all, he had also been in the political arena for so many years, and did not agree to the marriage on the spot, but said that he should first "consult with his wife".
At the "Hongmen Banquet", the two finalized the marriage
Yuan Shikai saw that Li Yuanhong was hesitant, so he planned to personally go to battle, and he had to promote the affair between the two families.
One day, Yuan Shikai set up a family banquet and invited Li Yuanhong to the presidential palace as a guest, and Li Yuanhong naturally did not dare to refuse the invitation of the president and obediently came to Yuan Shikai's home.
The two had enough to eat and drink, and Yuan Shikai mentioned the marriage of the two families at the table, and Li Yuanhong understood that this table banquet was a "Hongmen banquet", and today's topic could not be hidden.
Yuan Shikai proposed to Li Yuanhong that the two families each marry a daughter to the other family as a daughter-in-law, so that no one will suffer losses.
Li Yuanhong fell into a dilemma, he understood that he could not get off Yuan Shikai's boat again, but at this time he was already serving in the presidential palace, how could he twist Yuan Shikai's thigh with this arm? Besides, Yuan Shikai's assassination of revolutionaries is no secret for a long time, and once he is suspected by Yuan Shikai, he is likely to lose his life.
After intense thinking, Li Yuanhong made up his mind and said to Yuan Shikai:
"I will marry my daughter into the president's family first, and as for the president's thousands of dollars, this matter will be slowly discussed."
It turned out that in order to seduce Yuan Shikai, Li Yuanhong simply did things to the end, only marrying his daughter to the Yuan family, completely winning the favor of Yuan Shikai.
Yuan Shikai was very satisfied, and agreed with Li Yuanhong on the spot on the marriage of the two families.
The eight-year-old bride-to-be married into the Yuan family
Li Yuanhong had two sons and two daughters, and after consulting with his wife Wu Jingjun, the two decided to take it
Li Shaofang, the youngest daughter of only 8 years old, married into the Yuan family,
The son of the Yuan family who decided to marry was Yuan Kejiu, the ninth son who was only 11 years old.
The two families exchanged birthdays and dowries, and soon set up a wedding for the children, but the young couple, who were only 11 and 8 years old, still did not understand how it would affect their fate.
In this way, the 8-year-old bride-to-be Li Shaofang entered the door of the Yuan family.
In the Yuan family, Li Shaofang is very popular, she is not only very filial to her in-laws, but also gets along well with her husband's brothers and sisters.
But only one thing,
Li Shaofang has suffered from mental illness since childhood
This set the stage for her later tragic fate.
What Li Yuanhong did not expect was that only three years after his daughter married into the Yuan family, Yuan Shikai died of illness due to the failure of the restoration, ending a ridiculous life.
At this time, his youngest daughter Li Shaofang was only 11 years old, li Yuanhong could have quit this family affair, but he insisted on going his own way, without the slightest intention of changing his mind, just like this, Li Shaofang lost the last glimmer of hope in life.
Yuan Kejiu abandoned his wife and concubine, and Li Shaofang developed mental illness
In 1934, Yuan Kejiu and Li Shaofang were officially married, and on the day of the marriage, Yuan Kejiu's birth mother Yang Found that the dowry sent by the Li family did not meet her expectations at all, and she was furious, and has been treating Li Shaofang coldly ever since.
Yuan Kejiu also did not have deep feelings for this wife arranged by his parents, plus Li Shaofang had never been pregnant, so he was at ease to include the concubine, and spent every day outside drinking, and since then he has paid no attention to this wife.
Li Shaofang originally suffered from mentally debilitated diseases, and after getting married, she was treated coldly by her mother-in-law, and her husband did not pay any attention to herself, which led to Li Shaofang washing her face with tears all day, and her illness became more and more serious.
The Yuan family was very disgusted with this sick seedling who had not been able to give birth to a son and a half daughter.
In the end, Li Shaofang was simply sent to a mental hospital, and she no longer cared about her life or death.
In the mental hospital, Li Shaofang suffered inhuman torture, and those so-called "doctors" were actually no different from the jailers, but only prevented these "patients" from escaping.
In this way, Li Shaofang lived in a mental hospital for nearly a decade, and finally left this cruel world in deep despair.
brief summary:
Li Shaofang was undoubtedly a victim of political marriage, and his father, Li Yuanhong, for his own rights and status, pushed his own daughter into the fire pit, which eventually led to Li Shaofang being tortured to death in a mental hospital. These warlords, who see only interests in their eyes, have lost their most basic humanity, and their final fate can only be swept into the garbage heap of history.