Yuan Shikai had one wife and nine concubines, who gave birth to 17 sons and 15 daughters.
Three of Yuan Shikai's nine concubines were Koreans. Yuan once served as the Governor-General of the Qing Dynasty in North Korea. He stayed in North Korea for 12 years and married his second concubine, third concubine and fourth concubine. He also has three concubines who were prostitutes, namely the eldest concubine, the sixth concubine, and the eighth concubine. Among them, the eldest aunt and the eighth aunt were famous prostitutes in Suzhou, and the sixth aunt was a famous prostitute in Nanjing. Among these wives and concubines, Yuan Shikai's favorite was his aunt.
When Yuan Shikai became emperor, his fourth concubine had passed away. During his tenure as governor of Zhili, his fourth aunt gave birth to his seventh daughter, Yuan Fuzhen, and died of "confinement disease" after taking Western medicine by mistake.
During Yuan Shikai's reign as emperor, these wives, concubines and children had different reactions.
1. The eldest son Yuan Keding
In December 1878, Mrs. Yu gave birth to a son, the eldest son Yuan Keding. Yuan Shikai liked him very much and cultivated him deliberately. After Yuan Shikai became president, Yuan Keding took care of his hometown in Zhangde.
Once, when he was traveling from Huanshang Village (the name Yuan Shikai named his hometown) to Zhangde, his horse was suddenly frightened. Yuan Keding fell from the horse, his left foot was caught in the pedal, and his right leg was dragged and fractured. It was severely dislocated, and the bones in the palm of my hand were scratched. Although he went to Germany for medical treatment, he was still disabled for life and was nicknamed "Yuan Da Cripple". Yuan Shikai once said to him: "How can you be a prince if you have six imperfections?" After hearing this, Yuan Keding always felt grudges and was deeply wary of his second brother Yuan Kewen.
Yuan Keding acted decisively. In order to keep his father in Beijing and prevent him from going to Nanjing to take office as president, on February 29, 1912, he and Cao Kun planned the "Renzi Mutiny". After Yuan Shikai became emperor, he still made his eldest son Yuan Keding the prince.
In 1915, the "Shuntian Times" sent to Yuan Shikai's home published news that people approved of Yuan Shikai's proclaimed emperor from time to time. Yuan Shikai was often happy to see it and kept saying "God's will, God's will" to his family.
Once, Xiao Cang, the girl of Miss Jingxue (the third daughter of Yuan Shikai, Yuan Shuzhen), went home to visit her parents. When she returned home, she brought two kilograms of Deshunzhai black-skinned five-spice crisp broad beans. When the third lady was eating broad beans, she accidentally saw that the "Sunchon Times" containing broad beans was different from the one at home, so she found the same day's newspaper at home. It turned out that the date was the same, but the content was different. The third young lady and her second brother Yuan Kewen were the best friends, so I told him, Yuan Kewen, I had known about it for a long time and didn't dare to tell him.
In the evening, the third lady showed Yuan Shikai the "Shuntian Times". Yuan Shikai asked where it came from, and the third lady told the truth. The next day, Yuan Shikai went to find Yuan Keding and asked about the situation. It turned out that all the "Shuntian Times" in the government had been reprinted by Yuan Keding according to his wishes. Yuan Keding was whipped several times, and Yuan Shikai scolded him as "evil son" while whipping him. From then on, he alienated Yuan Keding until his death.
2. Second son Yuan Kewen
The most famous among Yuan Shikai’s sons is the second son Yuan Kewen. His biological mother is the third aunt, Mrs. Jin, who is Korean. Yuan Kewen was born in Seoul. After his birth, his aunt Yuan Shikai was unable to have children, so he was adopted by his aunt. Yuan Kewen is both a Qing Gang leader and a famous Kun Opera master. He was known as one of the Four Young Masters of the Republic of China because of his poetry and wine.
Once, Yuan Shikai asked Yuan Kewen what he thought of him becoming emperor. Yuan Kewen excused himself to think about it and submitted a poem the next day, as follows:
In the poem, he advised Yuan Shikai not to proclaim himself emperor. Yuan Shikai ignored it and ordered the steward to put Yuan Kewen under house arrest in Hanyuan Hall. until death.
3. Farce preview of the enthronement ceremony
After Yuan Shikai proclaimed himself emperor, he named the eldest lady the queen, the second, third, and fifth concubines, and the sixth, eighth, and ninth concubines. As a result, everyone The wives and concubines kept quarreling, and the sixth concubine even refused to let Yuan Shikai enter the room.
On January 13, 1916, Yuan Shikai held a preview of the enthronement ceremony at Huairen Hall. Yuan Shikai wore a crown and sat on the dragon throne. The eldest lady will take the concubines to kowtow to Yuan Shikai. Mrs. Yu usually had a bad relationship with Yuan Shikai, but now she turned against him. She said, "I am asked to take the lead in kowtowing. I can't kowtow. I have given him children and raised a daughter, and I still have to kowtow to him? He has got so many little wives. What's the matter?" Who did you kowtow to? My hair turned gray and I became the emperor again!" After that, he walked away.
Although the aunt Shen was a famous prostitute, she had a deep love for Yuan Shikai and was usually the most favored. At this time, she came in dressed up, kowtowed, and sat down in her seat.
At this time, the second concubine Wu, who was from Korea, came over. After waiting for a long time, there was no sign of anyone. Yuan Shikai sent someone to urge him, and then he came slowly. She refused to sit down, saying that Yuan Shikai had promised her to be equal to the empress. Mr. Shen immediately jumped down from his seat and pounced on Mr. Wu, and the two struggled with each other.
Wang Gannian, who was in charge of the ceremony, was helpless and could not step forward to start a fight. Yuan Shikai had no choice but to stumble down from the throne and take matters into his own hands to separate the two people who were twisted into a ball.
When something like this happened, the rehearsal for the coronation had to be postponed.
4. Lament in front of the Fifth Concubine
The Fifth Concubine Yang is the housekeeper of the Yuan Mansion.
In 1916, the last year of Yuan Shikai’s life, on the evening of March 19, he said to Yang: “It’s over, it’s over, dragons, tigers, and dogs (Wang Shizhen, Feng Guozhang, Duan Qirui) are all here. On the contrary. Last night, I was looking at the sky from the Yulan Pavilion in Nanhai and saw a giant star falling from the sky. This was the second time I had seen it in my life.
The first time Wen Zhonggong (Li Hongzhang) died, the star was smaller than this one. This time it is probably my turn! "
Then he said to himself: "The toad is really sad about the Dragon Boat Festival. "Folk legend says that Yuan Shikai was born to a toad, with a thick neck, short legs, and a splayed foot.
But Yuan Shikai still survived the Dragon Boat Festival.
The second day of the Dragon Boat Festival, June 1916 On August 6, the sixth day of the fifth lunar month, Yuan Shikai died of uremia.
Before his death, there was a sentence written by him on his desk: "Destroy a big enemy for Japan and watch China rebuild Japan." and".
After Yuan Shikai's death, his family left Zhongnanhai. According to his will, each son was given 150,000 yuan, and one aunt and one building.