On October 10, 1911, the Wuchang Uprising broke out. Just twenty days later, Yuan Shikai, who was trusted by the Qing court, was pushed to the forefront and became the last prime minister of the Qing government. Three months later, Yuan Shikai had a discussion with the major Beiyang generals. When the southern revolutionary government gave assurances to Yuan Shikai as president, Yuan Shikai began to promote the abdication of the Qing Emperor.
In Yuan Shikai's view, although Empress Longyu, who was in charge at that time, was only a woman who did not understand the art of power, at this critical juncture of the destruction of the country and the death of the family, this woman who was the mother of the country still had a certain deterrent. To this end, Yuan Shikai did not take tough measures, but used huairou methods, with a deep expression, ran to Empress Longyu with great pain, and knelt in front of the empress dowager in tears.
After seeing Yuan Shikai, Empress Longyu said sadly: "In fact, I am not against republicanism, but if you want to abdicate the Qing Dynasty, the pressure you will face at present is too great." I don't know Premier Yuan, is there any way to have it both ways? "Where is Yuan Shikai's method of double perfection, he came this time, just singing a bitter meat plan." The meeting between the two was described in more detail in the book "The First Half of My Life" written by Puyi before his death.
At that time, Puyi was still a naughty boy who did not do anything more, that day in the winter warm pavilion of the Yangxin Hall, the empress dowager sat on the kang, constantly wiping her tears with a handkerchief, and there was a "thick old man" kneeling in front of her, who was also crying a lot. Of course, this "thick old man" is talking about Yuan Shikai.
Yuan Shikai's wishful thinking was very good, and he hoped that he could steal the fruits of the victory of the Xinhai Revolution without spending a single soldier. The idea of the revolutionaries is very simple, that is, to promote the republic at an early date and to accomplish the purpose of the revolution, and that is all. After deliberations and agreements between the two sides, three conditions were drawn up:
The first is the abdication of Emperor Xuantong;
The second is the establishment of a republican form of government;
Finally, the Manchu Qing royal family gave preferential treatment to the abdicated throne.
In the whole incident, Longyu was like a duckweed, and could only be at the mercy of the waves. Although, in these short months, Longyu was pushed onto the stage of history, she did not have the slightest right to choose. As a woman, all she could do was transfer the great politics of the military state to Yuan Shikai, and strive for preferential treatment policies for the Qing Dynasty as much as possible.
In the course of the peace talks between the two sides, Yuan Shikai ostensibly gave Longyu great respect, and every time he revised the terms of the negotiations, he began to play Empress Longyu and ask for a decision. Yuan Shikai's approach, like a blunt knife cutting flesh, made Empress Longyu retreat step by step to the limit. In the process of drafting the content of the collegial discussion, it was Wang Jingwei, the later traitor, who was responsible for the preferential treatment conditions.
This tug-of-war negotiation lasted until December 25, the third year of xuanun, when Empress Longyu officially announced the abdication of the Qing Dynasty at the Yangxin Hall. This edict was the last edict issued by the Manchu Qing Dynasty. When the people of the capital heard about this incident, there was an uproar. The next day, the streets and alleys were hung with flags symbolizing the Republic of China, and everyone could not believe that the Manchu Qing Dynasty, which had ruled China for nearly three hundred years, had finally collapsed, and a new era had arrived. The common people were immersed in the joy of their new life, and cheers and firecrackers could be heard everywhere.
In fact, when Yuan Shikai coerced Qingfu to abdicate with Huairou's method, Empress Longyu's heart was still relatively sober. As the last ruler of the Qing Dynasty, how could she bear to see the foundation of the two hundred and seventy-six years ruined in her hands? However, in addition to personally dispatching horses, Yuan Shikai also arranged for various ministers to take turns to intimidate Empress Longyu, and even threatened the lives of Longyu and Puyi. Empress Longyu was a female stream after all, and she had to make a compromise when her life was at stake. Therefore, Empress Longyu confessed to Yuan Shikai the final bottom line, that is, to protect the lives of their mother and son.
Until the edict of abdication was promulgated, Yuan Shikai finally revealed his true face, and his last bit of respect for the Manchu Qing imperial family was gone. Once, Yuan Shikai said to his subordinates: "If Longyu is a few years younger, I will consider letting her fill the house!" ”
Then, why did Yuan Shikai have such thoughts about this empress dowager of the last dynasty, and even risk the world to accept her as a concubine?
According to legend, Yuan Shikai in his early years was still relatively conservative in the relationship between men and women. Yuan Shikai's original wife, Yu Shi, was dignified in appearance and gentle and virtuous, and her married life with Yuan Shikai was also happy and harmonious. However, as Yuan Shikai's power grew, especially after he became the pillar of the Qing Dynasty's extremely popular subjects, he gradually lost his "sexual interest" in the old Zhu Huang's wife, and his greed for women became more and more intense.
As the old saying goes, "Power is the most effective aphrodisiac", as Yuan Shikai's desire for power grew, his lust gradually became unconstrained. In this way, Yuan Shikai gradually drifted away on the road of greed and lust, and became more and more unscrupulous on the woman's belly. According to legend, Yuan Shikai put all the women he loved into bed, filled in the rooms with the women he was satisfied with, and directly sent a sum of money to send away those who were not satisfied.
As Yuan Shikai's private life became more and more unrestrained, his "harem" also carried out a "resignation of the old and welcome to the new". When he coerced Longyu to abdicate, Yuan Shikai already had a group of warblers and swallows in his home. According to legend, in Yuan Shikai's "harem", in addition to his original wife Zhishu Dali and Xianhui, his other concubines, although each of them were beautiful and immortal, had no quality to speak of.
For example, Yuan Shikai's second wife, Huang Shi, was once the daughter of a tofu stall owner. Yuan Shikai's fourth wife, fifth wife, and thirteenth lady were all prostitutes from the dust. Yuan Shikai's seventh wife, Fan Shi, was the daughter of his mother.com. Yuan Shikai's eighth and ninth wives were all servants of other people's families. Yuan Shikai's twelfth wife, who was once the daughter of a boatman.
From here, we can see that in the relationship between men and women, Yuan Shikai is quite open and "hungry and does not choose to eat". Therefore, wanting to take a last empress dowager as a concubine is nothing to Yuan Shikai, but just a little bit of his life.
In fact, although Empress Longyu was in the right position of the harem, her appearance was not outstanding, and her personality was relatively weak. When she was young, Empress Longyu was not welcomed by the emperor or Lafayette Cixi, and her sense of presence among the female relatives of the Qing Dynasty was relatively low, and she basically had no prestige. However, since Longyu had been an empress and an empress dowager for a while, she naturally had a certain vision and insight. Judging from her ability to raise the young Puyi and her ruling career with the regent Zaifeng, she was not an incompetent woman. Although it is far from the image of "strong woman", Longyu is by no means comparable to ordinary women.
According to the records of the literature, Empress Longyu's style of handling affairs was relatively capable, and she was well-behaved and had the ability to handle affairs. Due to the influence of family learning, Empress Longyu read through literature and history since childhood, and also dabbled in the history of other countries. In the old society of ideological feudalism, this was undoubtedly an extremely challenging thing for a woman who lived in the old and pedantic Manchu Qing imperial family, who was influenced by the traditional concept of female morality and later directly entered the core of feudal rule.
Through the literature, we can see that most of the concubines and female relatives who accompanied Cixi were closed-minded, and they were not at all aware of the current events happening outside the Forbidden City, and they knew very little about the Western world far overseas. However, as the lord of the harem, Empress Longyu was able to shine her eyes on the world, which was rare and precious.
The female official Deling once recorded in her own writings: The four grids of Prince Qing's family once asked me: "Does Britain also have a female emperor?" I always thought that the empress dowager was the empress of the world! Empress Longyu listened and said, "You are simply ignorant, as far as I know, every country has a ruler, but some countries have a different form of government than ours, and are republicans, such as the United States.
The Americans are very friendly, but unfortunately until now, the people who have been able to go to the United States are just ordinary people, and perhaps in the eyes of the Americans Chinese are just civilians. I hope that in the future, more Manchurian nobles will go to the United States and let them have a good look at Chinese. Subsequently, Empress Longyu told me that she had recently been reading some history books from other countries. Of course, these history books are translated.
Empress Longyu was not only well-informed, but also had her own views on foreign politics and history. Therefore, she will never blindly resist the change. Although Empress Longyu's political ability cannot be compared with Cixi's, in terms of vision, Empress Longyu is undoubtedly the most progressive.
Perhaps, this kind of vision that was broader than that of ordinary women and even many advanced people at that time was the main reason why Empress Longyu attracted Yuan Shikai.
Of course, I think there is another reason that is more important, Empress Longyu was the last ruler of the Qing Dynasty. Her political performance is in line with the requirements of China's traditional morality for women, and from her we can see the qualities of forbearance and forgiveness, and it can be said that Empress Longyu is very much in line with the highest requirements of women in the old society. Although Yuan Shikai's family has a large number of wives and concubines, his big and small wives do not have this excellent quality. In addition, Yuan Shikai had different thoughts about Empress Longyu, and may have certain political goals. If he could marry the widowed empress dowager back home, he would be able to lay the foundation for ascending the throne and sitting on the dragon chair in the future, which also coincided with Yuan Shikai's later dream of being an emperor.
At the end of 1915, Yuan Shikai suddenly braved the world's great disobedience, changed the name of the country to Hong Xian, and ascended the throne as emperor. Obviously, Yuan Shikai's desire for power has reached its peak, and he finally revealed the fox's tail and began to realize his dream of being an emperor. However, it was not long before Yuan Shikai was forced to step down under pressure from many sides, and died depressed, at the age of fifty-seven.
Resources:
【Draft History of the Qing Dynasty" and "Guangxu Chaodong Hualu"]