Yuan Shikai

Yuan Shikai (September 16, 1859 - June 6, 1916), whose courtesy name was Weiting, Weiting or Weiting, and whose name was Rong'an, was also known as Yuan Gongbao, Yuan Dapao, Yuan Laosi and Yuan Dashuai. He was also called Yuan Xiangcheng because he was born in Xiangcheng, Henan. He served as governor-general of the Qing Dynasty, minister of military aircraft, prime minister of the cabinet, the second interim president of the Republic of China, the first president of the Republic of China, etc. He was once proposed to be the emperor of the Chinese Empire (he was not enthroned, but was later cancelled). He is also the supreme leader of the Beiyang government and the leader of the Beiyang Army. Yuan Shikai failed in the imperial examination in his early years, abandoned literature and joined the Huai Army. In 1882, he followed Wu Changqing to North Korea. In 1884, he led the Qing army to put down the Jiashen coup in North Korea. In 1895, he trained the "New Army" in Xiaozhan, Tianjin with the rank of Taoist priest. He participated in the reform group to strengthen the society and assisted in the Westernization Movement and the New Deal in the late Qing Dynasty. However, the reformers accused him of betrayal, which led to the failure of the Reform Movement of 1898. After the Wuchang Uprising, Yuan used the Beiyang Army to serve as the Prime Minister of the Qing Cabinet, negotiated peace with the Revolutionary Party north and south, and forced Sun Yat-sen to abdicate on the condition of forcing the Qing Emperor to abdicate. He was elected as the interim president of the Republic of China and established the Beiyang Government. In 1913, the civil war was triggered by the Song Jiaoren case and the large amount of loans taken for the aftermath. After suppressing the second revolution led by Sun Yat-sen, the National Assembly was dissolved and the "Provisional Constitution of the Republic of China" was promulgated to replace the "Provisional Constitution". During the preparations for the restoration of the monarchy in 1915, the country accepted Japan's "Twenty-One Articles" and announced in December of the same year that the following year would be changed to the first year of Hongxian. It was known as the "Hongxian Monarchy" in history, which triggered Cai E and others to launch a war to protect the country. In March 1916, he announced the abolition of the imperial system and still claimed the title of President. He died of illness in June, and China fell into a warlord war. Yuan Shikai is a negative figure in the historical evaluations of both the Kuomintang and the Communist Party. The general view is that he informed Ronglu of the reformers' plan to assassinate Cixi, stole the fruits of the Revolution of 1911, sent people to assassinate Song Jiaoren, and signed the regulations of losing power and humiliating the country. However, there are also views that he was not the culprit of the failure of the reform or the assassination of Song Jiaoren, and affirmed his contribution to China's modernization.