in the parts they were to play, when he had
noticed the absence of the Korean Lady--a consort he had won, it is
said, in his Seoul days in competition against the Japanese Envoy
accredited to Korea, thereby precipitating the war of 1894-95.[19] The
Korean Lady had refused to enter the Throne-room, he was told, because
she was dissatisfied with the rank he proposed to confer on her. Sternly
he sent for her and told her to take her place in the circle. But no
sooner had she arrived than hysterically she screamed, "You told me when
you wedded me that no wife would be my superior: now I am counted only a
secondary consort." With that she hurled herself at the eldest wife who
was occupying the post of honour and assailed her bitterly. Amidst the
general confusion the would-be-Emperor hastily descended from his Throne
and vainly intervened, but the women were not to be parted until their
robes were in tatters.

In such childishnesses did Peking indulge when a great disaster was
preparing. To explain what had occurred in Yunnan it is necessary to go
back and tell the story of a remarkable young Chinese--General Tsao-ao,
the soul of the new revolt.

In the revolution of 1911 each province had acted on the assumption that
it possessed inherent autonomous rights and could assume sovereignty as
soon as local arrangements had allowed the organization of a complete
provisional government. Yunnan had been one of the earliest provinces to
follow the lead of the Wuchang rebels and had virtually erected itself
into a separate republic, which attracted much attention because of the
iron discipline which was preserved. Possessing a fairly well-organized
military system, largely owing to the proximity of the French frontier
and the efforts which a succession of Viceroys had made to provide
adequate frontier defence, it was amply able to guarantee its newly won
autonomy. General Tsao-ao, then in command of a division of troops had
been elected Generalissimo of the province; and bending himself to his
task in very few weeks he had driven into exile all officials who
adhered to the Imperialist cause and made all local institutions
completely self-supporting. Even in 1911 it had been reported that this
young man dreamed of founding a dynasty for himself in the mountains of
South China--an ambition by no means impossible of realization since he
had received a first-class military education in the Tokio Military
Schools and was thoroughly up-to