On this day, 113 years ago, on February 29, 1912 (January 12, 1912, the lunar calendar), Yuan Shikai ordered Cao Kun's subordinates to create the "Beijing Mutiny." Beijing Mutiny The Beijing Mutiny, also known as the "Beijing-Baojin Mutiny", took place on February 29, 1912 in Beijing, where the Qing Dynasty had just announced its abdication. The mutiny by the troops subordinate to Cao Kun's third town (division) of the Beiyang Army was generally said to be carried out under Yuan Shikai's planning and specific deployment, but Xu Yongchang, the military order chief of the Nanjing Provisional Government, said in his memoirs that this was slander. Peking University professor Shang Xiaoming said that Yuan Shikai planned the "Beijing Mutiny" is simply untenable. The result of this mutiny was that the Southern Revolutionaries accepted Yuan Shikai's inauguration in his base area of Beijing. Yuan Shikai announced his support for the revolution and the Republic of China established Beijing as the capital. On February 15, the first year of the Republic of China (1912), the Nanjing Provisional Senate officially elected Yuan Shikai as provisional president. When Mr. Sun Yat-sen resigned as interim president, he considered that Nanjing, located in the Yangtze River Basin, was more developed than Beijing in terms of politics, economy, and culture. Ideologically, the concept of democracy and freedom began to be deeply rooted in the hearts of the people. Jiangsu, Shanghai, Jiangxi, Anhui and other provinces and regions adjacent to Nanjing are all under the direct control of the revolutionary armed forces. Forcing Yuan Shikai to leave the Beiyang Army and the old bureaucratic system and take office as interim president in Nanjing was conducive to the implementation of the interim treaty, and the country would not easily deviate from the track of democratic republic. On January 1, 1912, Sun Yat-sen was sworn in as interim president of the Republic of China in Nanjing. At that time, the revolutionaries advocated establishing the capital of Nanjing, on the one hand, as a commemoration of the victory of the revolution and on the other hand to prevent the country from being controlled by the northern warlords. At that time, Sun Yat-sen also promised to relinquish the position of president to Yuan Shikai after he persuaded the Qing Emperor to abdicate. Establishing the capital of Nanjing would also allow Yuan Shikai to leave his base and be supervised by the revolutionaries. However, Yuan Shikai was unwilling to leave Beijing. On the surface, he promised Sun Yat-sen to go south, but then temporarily stayed in Beijing on the grounds of rectifying military affairs. On February 16, Yuan Shikai called Sun Yat-sen and formally refused to go south. The reason was that "the military and civilians in the north are still divided and there are many hidden dangers. The royal family has been fooled by outsiders and its roots are growing. The Beijing diplomatic team has been worried about leaving this place and has repeatedly mentioned it. The two provinces of Feng and Jiang are constantly wavering. Various alliances from outside Mongolia have come to warn each other. They have internal conflicts and external conflicts, and they have led each other to draw each other. If we leave because of Kai, everything will change, which is not the original intention of patriotism and salvation. If we lift people to replace ourselves, there will be no one who can handle all aspects. However, if we cannot unify this in the long run, outsiders will have no way to recognize it. Danger will gather, and the overall situation will become more dangerous." On February 15, 1912, Sun Yat-sen resigned as interim president. On February 25 of that year, the Nanjing Provisional Senate officially elected Yuan Shikai as provisional president. On the 27th, the Provisional Senate and Provisional Government sent Cai Yuanpei as special envoy and Song Jiaoren and Wang Jingwei as commissioners to Beijing to welcome Yuan Shikai to take office south. Cai Yuanpei and his party arrived in Beijing on February 27. They met with Yuan Shikai that afternoon to express their intention. Yuan Shikai expressed his willingness to go south. On February 29, Yuan Shikai held a tea party with the delegation of envoys. On the day when the envoy arrived in Beijing, five-color national flags were hung all over the city. Colorful archways have been erected at the main intersections, and the Zhonghua Gate is wide open. Please enter through the middle gate. Zhonghua Gate was the "Qing Gate" of the Qing Dynasty. The middle gate was usually closed and only opened when the emperor entered and exited. Yuan Shikai "opened the middle gate to welcome guests", which can be said to have given the special envoy extremely high courtesy. At the banquet to welcome the special envoy, Yuan Shikai "sincerely" said: "As soon as the situation in Beijing stabilizes, immediately take office in the south." But at six o'clock on the evening of February 29, a mutiny broke out in Peking. As a result of the mutiny, more than 4,000 merchants and civilians were robbed, and the Jingfeng and Beijing-Han Railway Bureaus, the three banks of the Qing Dynasty, Communications and Chihli, and the Coin Factory were also looted, losing more than nine million taels of silver. The residence of the special envoy was looted, Cai Yuanpei and others escaped into the Six Nations Hotel in Dongjiaomin Lane, only to escape. In accordance with the Xinchou Treaty, envoys from imperialist countries stationed in China mobilized troops to enter Beijing to protect the "security" of the embassy. Beijing's political situation is likely to face both internal and external troubles. Therefore, business people urged Yuan Shikai to "never go south", and the Beiyang generals telephoned the whole country to advocate that "the president should take office in Beijing." Under these circumstances, Nanjing was forced to give in and agree to Yuan Shikai's appointment as interim president in Beijing on March 10. At 8 p.m. on the 29th, the Third Town of the Beiyang Army launched a mutiny in the name of demanding wages. The rebel troops attacked the residence of the special envoy group. Cai Yuanpei and others fled after declaring their identities invalid and hid in the Liuguo Hotel in Dongjiaomin Lane. In the middle of the night, riots also broke out in the west and north cities, with bandits and some patrol officers joining the robbery. That night, Yuan Shikai's cronies did not stop the mutiny, and Lu Jianzhang's law enforcement department did not intervene. Zhao Bingjun, who was in charge of police affairs, ordered all patrol officers in the city to withdraw their posts that night. In accordance with the Treaty of Xin Chou, envoys from various countries stationed in China mobilized troops into Beijing to protect the security of the embassy, and threatened Yuan Shikai to mobilize more troops into Beijing if the situation was not stabilized as soon as possible. The mutiny also spread to Baoding and Tianjin. According to Tang Shaoyi's recollections, Cai Yuanpei's special envoy approached him to discuss with Yuan Shikai when there was no way out. When he arrived at Yuan Shikai's house, Cao Kun, the commander of the Third Town of the Beiyang Army, came to report,"Reporting to the President, I received a secret order from the President last night that the mutiny has been completed." Yuan Shikai said: "Nonsense, get out!" Tang Shaoyi's personal memories were the only isolated evidence and were questioned. Xu Yongchang, the military order minister of the Nanjing National Government, stated in his memoirs that "the mutiny in the third town of Beijing on the 12th of the first lunar month was not instigated by Yuan Shikai at first. Some people claimed that it was instigated by Yuan Shikai to protest against the southern representatives 'request to move the capital to Nanjing. This was actually a false rumor. After the event, statistics showed that the Beijing-Feng and Beijing-Han Railway Bureau, the Qing Dynasty, Communications, and Zhili Banks, and the coin making factory were looted, and more than 4,000 merchants and civilians were looted. The "Beijing Mutiny" that Shikai proclaimed himself emperor was carried out under Yuan Shikai's careful planning and specific deployment. The troops involved in the "mutiny" were Yuan Shikai's direct and pro-army, the Third Town (Division) of Beiyang. The overall plan of the mutiny was that if Nanjing made concessions after the "mutiny" began, the "mutiny" would end abruptly. If Nanjing still insisted that Yuan Shikai had to go south to take office, it would expand the "mutiny". The "mutiny" entered the Forbidden City and killed Xuantong and Longyu, and then claimed that the "mutiny" was instigated by the special envoy. As a result, the imperial edict of the Qing Emperor's abdication naturally became invalid. Yuan Shikai supported Zai Zhen, the son of Prince Qing Yi, as emperor, and united all reactionary forces in the north to fight against the Nanjing Provisional Government. If the revolution was suppressed, Yuan Shikai would "come on stage to accept Zen" as a recreator of the Qing Dynasty and change the "Qing Dynasty" into the "Great Yuan Dynasty." Yuan Shikai had already peeped into the emperor's throne before he ascended the presidential throne.