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Show CHINA'S REVOLUTION 3 a series of demands, backed up by a threat, which forced from the Court an edict yielding to the chief demands and confessing in surprising language the weakness and incompetence of the past administration. A few days later General Wu Lu Chen, an intimate friend of both General Chang in Lanchou and General Li in Wu Chang, commander of the Sixth Division and newly appointed Governor of Shansi, was murdered by Manchu troops near Cheng Ting Fu. Great mystery surrounded this event at the time but subsequently the belief gained wide credence that General Wu had been cooperating with General Chang at Lanchou, and that his death had been instigated by someone high in authority. Had it not been for his untimely death the trend of events in the North would doubtless have been different. 4. The Nineteen Articles and the Emperor's Oath.-About October 20th a '' Magna Charta'' of Nineteen Articles was hastily promulgated by the throne and a representative of the young Emperor went to the ancestral temples and took solemn oath to observe these articles as the fundamentals of constitutional government. 5. The Fall of Nanking, the Truce, and a Provisional Government.-The end of November brought to the revolutionary forces serious reverses at Hankow, but Nanking, the last city south of the Yang Tse to be held by Manchu authority, was captured by the revolutionary forces on December 2nd. The position of Nanking, historically and geographically considered, made this a victor}- of great significance. It was followed by a truce. Peace Commissioners, Wu Ting Fang representing the revolutionary forces and Tang Shao Yi representing the Peking Government, were soon appointed and commenced their negotiations in Shanghai. Meanwhile the Provisional Government of the revolutionaries, temporarily organized in Shanghai, was transferred to Nanking, and greatly strengthened by the election of Dr. Sun Wen (just returned from Europe) as provisional President. About the same time the Prince Regent was forced to retire from the government in Peking, his resignation being formally accepted by the Empress Dowager. 6. The Submission of the Court to the People.-On December 28th. another edict of great significance was issued by the declining Manchu Court. According to this edict the form |