Two days after this telegram had been dispatched the long-feared
action on the part of Japan had been taken and a new situation had
been created. The Japanese "advice" of the 28th October was in
fact a veritable bombshell playing havoc with the house of cards
which had been so carefully erected. But the intrigue had gone so
far, and the prizes to be won by the monarchical supporters were
so great that nothing could induce them to retrace their
footsteps. For a week and more a desperate struggle went on behind
the scenes in the Presidential Palace, since Yuan Shih-kai was too
astute a man not to understand that a most perilous situation was
being rapidly created and that if things went wrong he would be
the chief victim. But family influences and the voice of the
intriguers proved too strong for him, and in the end he gave his
reluctant consent to a further step. The monarchists, boldly
acting on the principle that possession is nine points of the law,
called upon the provinces to anticipate the vote and to substitute
the title of Emperor for that of President in all government
documents and petitions so that morally the question would be
chose jugee.
CODE TELEGRAM DATED NOVEMBER 7, 1915, FROM CHU CHI-CHUN, MINISTER.
OF THE INTERIOR, ET ALIA, ENJOINING A STRONG ATTITUDE TOWARDS
INTERFERENCE ON THE PART OF A CERTAIN FOREIGN POWER
To the Military and Civil Governors of the Provinces:--
(To be deciphered personally with the Council of State Code)
A certain foreign power, under the pretext that the Chinese people
are not of one mind and that troubles are to be apprehended, has
lately forced England and Russia to take part in tendering advice
to China.
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