In September 1913, in order to consolidate his position, Yuan Shikai frequently made overtures to a military big man, and in order to win over this big man Yuan Shikai, he took his family to Beijing, of course, there was inevitably a bit of blackmail.
This big man was the famous Governor of Yunnan, Cai Yi.
Most people should know about Cai Yi through film and television works, especially his love story with an unknown prostitute in Beijing, Xiao Fengxian, which is a household name and has been put on the screen countless times.
So what kind of story is there between Cai Yi and Xiao Fengxian in real history? It is said that after the success of the Yunnan uprising, Cai Yi first ousted the former governor of Yunnan, Li Yuanhong, from power and took power alone.
Subsequently, Cai Yi straightened out military affairs in Yunnan, reformed finances, set up education, and vigorously developed industry. Yunnan's economy is booming under the management of Cai Yi, and its strength has been greatly improved. This alarmed the then president, the super celebrity Yuan Shikai.
In fact, Yuan Shikai has long noticed the talent of Cai E, according to rumors that Cai E once went to Japan to study, Yuan Shikai also funded him 1,000 oceans.
At this time, Yuan Shikai saw that Cai Yi was doing well in Yunnan, and gradually had the capital to oppose him, and he began to have suspicion of Cai Yi in his heart.
In order to reassure Yuan Shikai, Cai Yi had to come to Beijing to take up his post, and at this time Cai Yi did not oppose Yuan Shikai's thoughts, and he always advocated a peaceful way to resolve the dispute.
There is still a passage about the first meeting between Yuan Shikai and Cai Yi.
Saying that it was cai yi and Yuan Shikai's first meeting in Beijing, dressed in a military uniform and meticulous, Yuan Shikai of course showed great enthusiasm and asked for warmth.
When they were about to part ways, Yuan Shikai gave Cai Yi a large piece of the dagger and said to him: "Mr. Songpa, in the future, we will meet and dress more casually, there is no need to be so formal." ”
Some time later, Yuan Shikai summoned Cai Yi and a group of his subordinates again, and he had already privately told his subordinates to wear military uniforms to attend, but did not inform Cai Yi.
Originally, I expected Cai Yi to wear casual clothes to attend the meeting, and I took the opportunity to reprimand Cai Yi to give him a dismount, but I did not expect that when Cai Yi appeared, it was as many military uniform ribbons, and did not give him the opportunity to borrow the topic to play.
In January 1915, Yuan Shikai gave Cai Yi an idle post as the superintendent of the National Economic and Boundary Bureau.
Even so, Cai Yi is also a conscientious worker, he admires Yuan Shikai very much, believes that throughout the whole of China, only he can lead China to rise again, and he hopes to cooperate sincerely with Yuan Shikai to save this country where the building will fall.
However, Yuan Shikai never really trusted Cai Yi, the reason is that he is too clean, not greedy, not corrupt, not to form a party for personal gain, his various performances in Yuan Shikai's eyes, this is obviously not the same kind of person as himself.
Later, Cai Yi also found that Yuan Shikai did not seem to be what he imagined, in the face of Yuan Shikai's various perverse acts, Cai Yi did not have any extreme behavior, and even persuaded Huang Xing, who wanted to engage in a second revolution, to exercise as much restraint as possible.
However, Yuan Shikai finally disappointed him, first signing the Twenty-one Articles of Mourning Power and Humiliating the Country, and then wanting to reverse the wheel of history and restore himself as emperor.
At this time, Cai Yi could not bear it, and he decided to find an opportunity to return to Yunnan and raise the banner of rebellion against Yuan Shikai.
Cai Yi's idea is good, but it is not easy to leave Beijing, Yuan Shikai has always sent people to monitor his every move, if Cai Yi changes slightly, don't say it is him, I am afraid that even his family will face disaster.
As the days passed, Cai Yi never thought of a way to leave Beijing, and the time came to August 1915, when Yuan Shikai's ambitions to claim that the emperor had been completely exposed, and in order to appear to be justified, his think tank produced a so-called letter of persuasion, asking the generals of the whole country to sign it.
Just when everyone was watching and undecided, something unexpected happened.
Cai Yi, a defending general who has always been upright and upright, was the first to sign it in support of Yuan Shikai's claim to the title of emperor, and it was this letter of persuasion that made Yuan Shikai finally make up his mind to become emperor.
So why would Cai Yi be the first to show loyalty to Yuan Shikai and unusually do such a flattering thing? Now it seems that this should be a means used by Cai Yi to paralyze Yuan Shikai, so that Yuan Shikai can trust him more and have a chance to return to Yunnan.
Interestingly, there is a record in ye history that this letter of persuasion was actually written by Cai Yi, and it is said that Yuan Shikai at that time was still very conflicted about whether to be called emperor, and he did not make everything prepared.
And Cai Yi realized the great ambition of Yuan Shikai, early and early morning there will be a day to be called emperor, if he waits until he is ready to stop and then ascend to the throne, then I am afraid that no one in the world will be invincible.
Instead of this, it is better to push him now and let him ascend the throne in advance, once Yuan Shikai declares himself emperor, the world will inevitably rise up and attack him, and in the case of insufficient preparation, Yuan Shikai will inevitably fail.
Thus came the advent of this exhortation book, the essence of which is proper killing.
However, whether this is the case or not, we have no way to verify, the only certain point is that through this persuasion incident, Yuan Shikai did have a little more trust in Cai Yi.
But this only allowed Cai Yi to gain the initial trust of Yuan Shikai, far from being introduced as a confidant to cancel the surveillance, every day General Cai Yi was anxious about his own situation, this day Cai Yi was really upset, so he walked out of the General's Mansion in civilian clothes, planning to go out to relax.
But where can Yuan Shikai's eyeliner go? Cai Yi wandered around casually while thinking about his thoughts, and unconsciously walked to the famous red light district in Beijing at that time: Bada Hutong.
Looking up at the warbler and swallow in front of me, General Cai Yi's eyes lit up, why don't I pretend to be indulgent, in order to tell Yuan Shikai that Cai Yi is just a layman with no great ambition and coveting pleasure, and I think that such a person should no longer be taken care of by Yuan Shikai's attention.
Thinking of doing it, Cai Yi raised his legs and walked into the nearest YunJiban.
After going in, Cai Yi was embarrassed, after all, it was the first time to come to this kind of place without experience, and his performance was in the eyes of the old bustard, which was clearly a turtle who had never seen the world.
For this kind of guest, the snobbish old bustard naturally did not give a good face, pretended to be polite, and arranged a prostitute who was the most unpopular in Yunjiban, Xiao Fengxian.
Here we have to admire the wonder of fate, if General Cai Yi had revealed his identity at that time, or appeared in Yunjiban wearing his official clothes, I am afraid that xiao Fengxian would not have been able to wait for this nobleman in any case.
They are a pair of people destined to meet.
Xiao Fengxian was born in Hangzhou, and his father was a descendant of the fallen Eight Flags. Xiao Fengxian was born out of the house, and lost her mother at a young age, and her stepmother basically ignored her. Later, when her father passed away, her life was even more embarrassing.
The 13-year-old Xiao Fengxian has been lost in the wind and dust, and it can be said that he has seen all the cold and warm in the world. Therefore, she has always been dismissive and indifferent to her guests, and over time no one wants to look for her again.
This time, Xiao Fengxian was attracted by Cai Yi, a handsome and elegant guest, Xiao Fengxian was unusual this time, not only did not raise his eyebrows as coldly as before, but took the initiative to confide in Cai Yi and put forward his past and disk.
The maverick Little Fengxian also aroused Cai Yi's interest, and he felt pity for this strange woman with a distinct personality, and even left a poem that "since ancient times, the beauty of many Ying, never a heroine has come out of the wind and dust".
From then on, as soon as Cai Yi had time, he went to Yunjiban to find Xiao Fengxian to "drink and have fun", and ignored his wife at home, as if he had really become a negative person who was dizzy.
And Yuan Shikai's henchmen are mostly sound and color dogs and horses, seeing that Cai Yi and them are a hill of raccoons, they gradually let down their guard against him, even Yuan Shikai felt that he had seen Cai Yi wrong before, this guy is clearly the same kind of person as us.
In the process of exchange between the two, Xiao Fengxian is undoubtedly true love to Cai Yi, but it is difficult to say how sincere Cai Yi has for Xiao Fengxian, after all, his acquaintance with Xiao Fengxian was an accident, and the glue-like paint after that is probably more about using Xiao Fengxian to confuse the public and paralyze Yuan Shikai.
It is not difficult to see from some photos left by Xiao Fengxian that this person has a plain appearance, but only a mid-to-low posture. Moreover, according to records, Xiao Fengxian had a strange temperament and was untamed.
On the other hand, Cai Yi is in a high position and has a dignified appearance. He also has a wife and a concubine, not to mention that his concubine is not only beautiful, but also has a family background and reads poetry, and has a very good relationship with Cai E, which can be seen from the letters written by Cai Yi to her.
It is hard to believe that such a person would be infatuated with an obscure prostitute like Xiao Fengxian.
All in all, whether it is true love or not, Cai Yi is really good to Xiao Fengxian during this time.
Not only did he often take her in and out of high-end places, but he also redeemed herself and declared that he wanted to marry her as a concubine, because of this incident, Cai Yi and his wife and mother had a very unpleasant quarrel, and finally simply moved out of the mansion and lived with Xiao Fengxian.
Of course, these should have been the intentions of General Cai Yi, and according to his eldest son Cai Duan, who later recalled that when he was in Beijing, the family knew of Xiao Fengxian's existence. His birth mother, Lady Pan, once told him that once Cai Yi took her family to watch a play, and specifically pointed to a woman sitting in the box and said, "She is Xiao Fengxian." ”
This shows that from the very beginning, Cai Yi did not intend to hide from his wife when he interacted with Xiao Fengxian, so how could his wife lose peace with Cai Yi for this matter? The only reasonable explanation is that all this was deliberately done by General Cai for someone to see.
Just as Cai Yi expected, all this was seen by the people who monitored him, and when the secret agent reported to Yuan Shikai that Cai Yi had staged a family war with his wife because of a prostitute, Yuan Shikai said with great relief: "I thought Songpo was a person with lofty ambitions, but it seems that I misread him." ”
Soon after, Cai Yi sent his family out of Beijing under the pretext of returning home to give birth to a child, and Yuan Shikai, who was greatly wary of him, did not stop him. Now that there was no worries, Cai Yi had to consider how to let Yuan Shikai let him leave Beijing.
Speaking of which, some people may say that Cai Yi did not flee Beijing with the help of Xiao Fengxian? How could Yuan Shikai nod his head and let him go? What I want to say about this is that a prostitute who has no reputation in Beijing really has the ability to hide the power of Yuan Shikai and help Cai Yi escape?
Yuan Shikai is a madman, the ambitionist is not false, but he is not stupid, on the contrary, Yuan Shikai is absolutely worthy of the title of heroic, how can a little trick be hidden from him.
Taking ten thousand steps back, even if Xiao Fengxian could help Cai Yi get on the train to Tianjin, wouldn't Tianjin be Yuan Shikai's sphere of influence? At that time, it took three hours for the train to drive from Beijing to Tianjin, and Yuan Shikai, even if he was slow, had plenty of time to arrange for someone to intercept Cai Yi at Tianjin Station.
Besides, if Xiao Fengxian helped Cai Yi escape, could Yuan Shikai spare her? In fact, after Cai Yi left Beijing, Xiao Fengxian still did her old business, and no one bothered her.
It's just that due to the propaganda of some people, Xiao Fengxian has become a chivalrous prostitute with heavy feelings, which makes her fiercely brush a wave of popularity.
So how exactly did Cai Ye leave Beijing?
On October 14, 1915, Yuan Shikai suddenly sent people to search Cai Yi's mansion because not long ago, secret agents in Yunnan sent a message to Yuan Shikai, saying that someone in the National Bureau of Economic Boundaries in Beijing had sent a telegram to Yunnan, asking Yunnan to oppose Yuan Shikai's claim to emperor.
As the head of the Economic Boundary Bureau and the former governor of Yunnan, Cai Yi was naturally the most suspicious one, and there was nothing wrong with searching his mansion, but in the end he did not find anything useful.
After this time, Cai Yi knew that he had to leave Beijing as soon as possible, and it was at this time that his lung disease attacked, so Cai Yi calculated that under the pretext of going to Tianjin to see a doctor, he asked Yuan Shikai for leave at both ends of the three days.
As early as a year ago, Cai Yi had been to Tianjin because of a lung attack, and Yuan Shikai did not doubt that he had him, and all of them were on leave, until November 18, Cai Yi, who was recuperating in Tianjin, quietly boarded a cruise ship bound for Japan.
At the same time, Cai Yi's secretary returned to Beijing to explain to Yuan Shikai the reason for his going to Japan, because of his serious illness, the doctor suggested going to Japan for treatment, hoping to take a leave of absence for three months, until this time Yuan Shikai still did not realize that Cai Yi wanted to create his rebellion, not only granted his leave, but also hoped that Cai Yi would recover as soon as possible and join him in the grand event.
In this way, Cai Yi left Beijing with dignity, returned to Yunnan through Japan, and raised the banner of anti-Yuan and anti-imperialism.
Let's talk about Xiao Fengxian who stayed in Beijing.
When the news of Yunnan's announcement of independence reached Beijing, Yuan Shikai knew that he had fallen for Cai E, and because Xiao Fengxian usually had close contact with Cai E, he was still implicated in some matters, but the investigation found that this woman really knew nothing about Cai E's rebellion, and no one wasted her energy on her anymore.
Xiao Fengxian who left Cai Yi started his old business again, but because of Cai Yi's relationship, Xiao Fengxian's value has risen a lot, and his life is still relatively moist.
Until many years later, when she was older, she had to marry a brigade commander of the Northeast Army, this person's surname was Liang, which was not bad for Xiao Fengxian, and if she continued like this, it would be a good home for her.
Unfortunately, the weather was unpredictable, the brigade commander surnamed Liang could not accompany Xiao Fengxian to his old age, and after the death of her husband, Xiao Fengxian relied on the family property to survive until she married again in 1949, and she was married to an ordinary boilermaker, Li Zhenhai.
In 1951, Mei Lanfang went to Shenyang to perform, xiao Fengxian learned of this news, excitedly found Mei Lanfang, Mei Lanfang had heard about Xiao Fengxian, and also bought her paintings, but at that time did not know that the person who sold the paintings was Xiao Fengxian.
Because of the loss of xiao Fengxian, Mei Lanfang felt very sorry at that time.
This time, Xiao Fengxian took the initiative to find Mei Lanfang very happy, and immediately asked Xu Chuanji to invite Xiao Fengxian to come in, Xiao Fengxian was very excited to see Mei Lanfang, and told him about his experience over the years.
The kind Master Mei was full of sympathy for this ill-fated woman, and when he left Shenyang, he deliberately arranged a job for Xiao Fengxian.
In 1952, Xiao Fengxian's third husband died of illness, and since then her health has deteriorated, and she was later diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease.
Two years later, the 54-year-old Xiao Fengxian quietly passed away, clutching Cai Yi's photo in his hand, and with the death of the two protagonists, the love-hate entanglement between them also came to an end.
However, The matter of Xiao Fengxian actually had a negative impact on Cai E, because cai e was once known as the General of the Wind, and Cai E's descendants did not have any good feelings about Xiao Fengxian, and his son once said: "Father has no feelings for her." ”
There is even a saying that the reason why Cai Yi died young has something to do with Xiao Fengxian, saying that when Cai Yi was seriously ill, he invited the German doctor Asmi, and it happened that this German doctor had heard about Cai Yi and Xiao Fengxian.
Of course, the story he heard must have been a derivative version, and the result was that this half-understood hearing made the doctor make a wrong judgment about Cai Yi's condition.
Since Cai Yi's condition was somewhat similar to syphilis, Asmi simply gave him a new drug to treat syphilis 606.
This time Cai Yi can be miserable, to know that although 606 is the nemesis of syphilis, but its own toxicity is not small, if it is the right medicine, it is better to say, but where is the syphilis on General Cai Yi's body.
As a result, his condition became more and more serious under the side effects of the drug, and it is said that when the warship arrived in Shanghai, General Cai had lost his mobility, and after being admitted to the hospital, the attending physician continued to do his own thing, and continued to use drugs for the treatment of syphilis while treating laryngeal tuberculosis.
In this way, under the misoperation of the doctor, the young General Cai Yi died in his hospital bed on November 8, 1918, at the age of 34.
The past is like smoke, whether there is real love between Cai Yi and Xiao Fengxian, and whether Cai Yi left Beijing Xiao Fengxian is the most important, I am afraid that no one can say clearly.
But their story undoubtedly added a rare touch to that dark era, and the truth or falsity of the story no longer seems to matter, as long as it can bring a glimmer of hope to the suffering people.