Amongst the Chinese Yuan has come to be regarded as a man of doubtful advantage to his side. They remember that his arbitrary conduct of affairs when Resident of Korea had much to do with the bringing in of that disastrous conflict with Japan, they speak of his action in betraying the cause of Reform, and point to the fact that all his great schemes have, sooner or later, brought disaster with them and plunged his country into disgrace. Yuan might or might not have been guilty of these things. It is difficult for an onlooker to understand the game of Court intrigue as played by the Chinese diplomats. He sees not the things that count, or if he sees them reckons them as but sidelights, and sees them out of their true proportions. Nevertheless when calamity overtook the Empire Yuan's was the strong hand that held it, that kept the country from going altogether. From the time of the return to power of the Empress-Dowager and her corrupt eunuch-controlled Court, Yuan's star was in the ascendant. Specially named in the Imperial Edict which announced to all China the settlement of the Boxer troubles, promoted to the Viceregal blue-ribbon--that of Viceroy of Chihli and Guardian of the {226} Imperial Capital--granted the Order of the Yellow Jacket and sundry other distinctions--Yuan Shih K'ai became the first man of the Empire. For the part he had played in stemming the Boxer tide and in saving the lives of many foreigners, Yuan commanded the respect and admiration of the Legations in Peking, and through them, of the civilised world.