CHINA: Republic, AR medal (16.7g), ND (1917), commemorating the defeat of the short-lived royalist restoration in 1917, crossed Wuchang Uprising and Five-colored flags // xi lù silìng cáo kun "Cao Kun, Commander of the Western Division" with jì niàn "commemorative" at center, graded Genuine by GBCA Grading Company, original mount removed, very rare, AU. Cao Kun (1862-1938), or Tsao Kun, was a Chinese warlord and politician. In 1917, he led the western division of the Army for the Suppression of Rebels (tâo nì jun) and crushed a royalist attempt to restore the former Xuantong Emperor to the throne. He later became the leader of the Zhili Clique of the Beiyang Army and infamously won the presidential office in 1923 by openly bribing each assembly member with 5000 silver dollars.
