Sun Yat-sen
Beiyang government

Yuan Shikai, who was in control of the Beiyang Army, had been promised the position of president of the Republic of China if he could get the Qing court to abdicate. On 12 February 1912, the Emperor did abdicate the throne. Sun stepped down as president, and Yuan became the new provisional president in Beijing on 10 March 1912. The provisional government did not have any military forces of its own. Its control over elements of the new army that had mutinied was limited, and significant forces still had not declared against the Qing.

Sun Yat-sen sent telegrams to the leaders of all provinces to request them to elect and to establish the National Assembly of the Republic of China in 1912. In May 1912, the legislative assembly moved from Nanjing to Beijing, with its 120 members divided between members of the Tongmenghui and a republican party that supported Yuan Shikai. Many revolutionary members were already alarmed by Yuan's ambitions and the northern-based Beiyang government.
keywords:existence