Page:Eminent Chinese Of The Ch’ing Period - Hummel - 1943 - Vol. 2.pdf/350

 and concurrently a Grand Councilor-a promotion really designed to deprive him of his military power. For similar reasons, and about the same time, was removed from Wuchang; the forces which these two Chinese had trained were transferred to the Ministry of War, then headed by the Manchu, T'ieh-liang 鐵良, assisted by two other Manchus, Yin-ch'ang 廕昌  and Liangpi 良弼. The last-named was a grandson of and had graduated from a military school in Japan.

Deprived thus of his military power, Yüan Shih-k'ai became more active in politics. He continued in favor with the Empress Dowager, and entered into a close partnership with I-k'uang in the ill-concealed disposal of offices. The latter was interested in these political intrigues for mercenary reasons, and Yüan for the power it gave him. Had Emperor Tê-tsung outlived the Empress Dowager and thus been able to resume his power, Yüan's fate might well have been different; for it is not likely that his betrayal of the Reform Movement in 1898 would have gone unavênged. The sudden, and possibly unnatural, death of the Emperor within a day or so of the death of the Empress Dowager aroused suspicions in the minds of many, but there the matter rests. Not long after the deceased Emperor's younger brother, Tsai-fêng (see under ), became Regent, a censor, named Chao Ping-lin 趙病霖, charged Yüan in a memorial with having unduly furthered his own interests, and with having incurred the disapproval of the deceased Emperor. Being a weakling, the Regent did not press his case against Yüan, but did issue, on January 2, 1909, an edict ordering him to retire, on the ground that he was incapacitated by an ailment in his foot. Though shorn thus of his power, he escaped nevertheless with his life, and lived for most of the ensuing three years in a country villa at Wei-hui, Honan.

On October 10, 1911 the anti-Manchu Revolution broke out at Wuchang and yüan had an opportunity to retaliate against the Regent. The latter Legged him (October 14) to emerge from retirement and serve as governor-general at Wuchang, but he replied that the "ailment" in his foot had not yet been cured. The Regent, pressed by ever-increasing revolts, and urged by pro-Yüan officers of the army, repeated his requests for Yüan's help, agreeing at the same time to nearly all his demands. On October 22 Yüan consented to assume the post of governor-general, and five days later displaced the Manchu, Yin-ch'ang, as commander-in-chief of all the armies in North China then fighting the revolutionists. On November 1 he was named concurrently Premier, replacing the aged Prince Ch'ing. Fifteen days later he formed a cabinet whose members were, for the most part, his own followers. To demonstrate his military strêngth he ordered the imperial army at Hankow, commanded by Fêng Kuo-chang, to win a battle as soon as possible. After some severe fighting the imperial army defeated the revolutionists commanded by Li Yüan-hung 黎元洪 and Huang Hsing (see under ). By November 27 Hanyang was recovered and the revolutionists were dislodged from their positions north of the Yangtze River. For this victory Fêng Kuo-chang was created a baron; but the imperial army failed to press on, and there was virtually no more fighting in the Wuhan area. Elsewhere, however, the revolution spread rapidly and by the end of November most of the provinces had declared their independence of Manchu rule. On December 6 the Regent retired, leaving the final decision of the future of the Empire to Empress Hsiao-ting and her adopted son, the child Emperor P'u-i (for both see under ). The Empress decided to make peace with the revolutionists and on December 7 gave Yüan full authority to conduct negotiations with them. In the meantime Yüan used his immense political and military powers to promote his own interests.

During the peace negotiations, the leader of the Revolution, Sun Yat-sen (see under ), was elected by the National Assembly at Nanking to be President of the Provisional Government of the Chinese Republic—taking the oath of office on January 1, 1912. This government resolutely demanded the abdication of the Manchu Emperor. Some Manchus strongly protested this abrogation of their power, but when one of their leaders, the above-mentioned Liang-pi, was mortally wounded by an assassin on January 26 they became alarmed and lapsed into silence. Empress Hsiao-ting tried for a time to win Yüan's loyal support by offering him the hereditary rank of a marquis, but he declined the honor. Finally she agreed for her adopted son to abdicate on February 12, designating Yüan as the head of the new government. By labyrinthine methods he reached a bargain with the government at Nanking whereby, on 952