Yuan Shikai had a total of nine wives and nine concubines in his lifetime. Except for the earliest original wife, Yu Shi, the others basically married into the door after arriving in Korea. Yu shi only gave birth to one child for Yuan Shikai, and this child was Yuan Keding. Yuan Shikai has always been particularly optimistic about Yuan Keding, whether during his time in Korea or when he was training troops at Xiaozhan, he always took Yuan Keding with him.
(Yuan Keding)
At the beginning, Yuan Keding had vigorously promoted Yuan Shikai to be proclaimed emperor. So after Yuan Shikai's death, what kind of fate did Yuan Keding have?
Speaking of which, Yuan Keding was actually not as outstanding as Yuan Kewen, who was later known as the "Fourth Prince of the Republic of China", but Yuan Shikai has always looked at him differently. Although Yuan Shikai had seventeen sons and fifteen daughters, the second son, Yuan Kewen, was twelve years younger than Yuan Keding, so Yuan Keding, who was of the right age, was expected by his father from an early age.
Yuan Keding did not disappoint his father. In terms of appearance, Yuan Shikai belongs to the image of a mediocre warrior with no special skills. When he was a child, Yuan Keding was very good-looking and talented. After growing up, Yuan Keding served in the Ministry of Agriculture, Industry and Commerce of the Qing Court, and won over many officials for Yuan Shikai, which was very appreciated by his father.
In 1912, Yuan Keding accidentally fell while riding a horse in his hometown in Henan. Due to the lack of timely treatment, Yuan Keding fell behind and could no longer walk like a normal person. Yuan Shikai was very sad in his heart, and he sent Yuan Keding to Germany the following year, hoping that Western medicine would restore Yuan Keding to normal.
The German Emperor Wilhelm II heard that Yuan Shikai's eldest son had come to seek medical treatment and specially arranged for the best doctor to treat him. In addition to the treatment, Wilhelm II entertained Yuan Keding at a permanent banquet, saying to Yuan Keding: "China's republican system is not suitable for the national conditions. If you want to develop, you must learn the German imperial system. After returning home, the Grand Duke told the Grand President that if China wanted to restore the imperial system, Germany would definitely do its best to help. ”
In the beginning, Yuan Keding was only polite and perfunctory, and did not really take it seriously. But as he learned about German technology, Yuan came to agree with Wilhelm II.
This trip to Germany did not cure Yuan Keding's lame leg, but it made Yuan Keding firm in a heart to restore the imperial system.
After returning to China, Yuan Keding vigorously promoted the imperial system and Germany in the Yuan family, and he even referred to the clothing style of the German nobility and made a set of prince general uniforms for himself and his brothers.
(Yuan Shikai in the middle)
When the children of the Yuan family were full of expectations for the imperial system, only Yuan Shikai did not think much of the imperial system.
After becoming president, Yuan Shikai deliberately did not assign important posts to the children of the Yuan family in order to avoid suspicion. Like Yuan Keding, who once served as an official in the Qing court, he was only assigned an idle post as the superintendent of the Kailuan Mining Bureau.
However, with the passage of time, Yuan Shikai found that the Beiyang warlords had many factions within them, and their subordinates were no longer easy to control. In order to regain control of the military, Yuan Shikai put forward the requirement of organizing and training the model regiment according to Jiang Baili's suggestion.
After training, the corps of the Model Regiment would be assigned to the various units of the Beiyang government and become the backbone of their loyalty to Yuan Shikai.
Yuan Keding volunteered and took the initiative to request the training of the model regiment. At first, Yuan Shikai felt that it was inappropriate, but Yuan Keding told him that although the German imperial family did not engage in politics at home, they all held military positions, which was particularly worth emulating. After thinking about it, Yuan Shikai felt that it made sense, so he let Yuan Keding serve as the leader of the model regiment.
Under the influence of Yuan Keding, Yuan Shikai began to reconsider the plan to restore the imperial system.
However, Yuan Shikai's claim to be empress dowager was met with a lot of opposition, and he died not long after.
Under the auspices of Yuan Keding, the Yuan family divided up the family property and began to look for a way out. Yuan Keding soon moved to the German concession in Tianjin after receiving his family property.
(Yuan Shikai's Restoration)
In the following ten years, Yuan Keding has been very low-key. By 1928, he had even resigned from his post as superintendent of the Kailuan Mining Bureau and was no longer in charge of the world. But Yuan Keding was accustomed to the life of a grandfather and had always spent a lot of money. By the early 1930s, Yuan Keding had been completely impoverished. According to folklore, Yuan Keding could only rely on an old servant who was loyal to him to go out on the street to pick up vegetable leaves and make some nests on credit to fill his hunger. But every time the old servant served the meal, Yuan Keding would still use a Western knife and fork to cut open the nest head and swallow the pickles.
In 1935, Yuan Keding moved to Baoqian Hutong in Beijing. After the fall of Peiping after the outbreak of the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression, the Japanese sent people to visit Yuan Keding and lured them with heavy gold and high-ranking officials. But although Yuan Keding was poor, he always refused to cooperate. Later, he simply pretended to be ill and stayed at home all day, finally making the Japanese die.
In 1948, Yuan Keding's life became more and more difficult. He expressed his intention to surrender to his cousin Zhang Boju. Zhang Boju had always been reluctant to encourage Yuan Shikai to be emperor. However, due to Yuan Keding's firm will and his refusal to be a traitor, Zhang Boju changed his mind and took him to Chengze Garden.
According to Zhang Chuancai, Zhang Boju's daughter, Yuan Keding walked with a limp, never smoked, and communicated with people very kindly. He spends most of his time reading books and sometimes translating Articles in German, and is a popular old man.
Yuan Keding died in Beijing in 1955.
(Reference: The Yuan Family)