Wherein then is there need of doubt or fear? Others may even
suggest that since the proposal was initiated by military men, the
tie that has hitherto bound the latter to the Great President may
be snapped in case the pear fails to ripen. But in the humble
opinion of Ch'i-chao, the troops are now all fully inspired with a
sense of obedience to the Chief Executive. Who then can claim the
right to drag our Great President into unrighteousness for the
sake of vanity and vainglory? Who will dare disobey the behests of
the Great President if he should elect to open his heart and
follow the path of honour and unbroken vows? If today, as Head of
the nation, he is powerless to silence the riotous clamour of the
soldiery as happened at Chen-chiao in ancient time, then be sure
in the capacity of an Emperor he will not be able to suppress an
outbreak of troops even as it happened once at Yuyang in the Tang
dynasty. [Footnote: The incident of Chen-chiao is very celebrated
in Chinese annals. A yellow robe, the symbol of Imperial
authority, was thrown around General Chao Kuang-ying, at a place
called Chen-chiao, by his soldiers and officers when he commanded
a force ordered to the front. Chao returned to the Capital
immediately to assume the Imperial Throne, and was thus
"compelled" to become the founder of the famous Sung dynasty. The
"incident of Yuyang" refers to the execution of Yang Kuei-fei, the
favourite concubine of Emperor Yuan Tsung of the Tang dynasty.
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