Li Yuanhong ordered the arrest of the eight top monarchists, he returned in 1918 and became premier after resignation of Jin Yunpeng.
In 1910, he attempted to break up revolutionary rings that infiltrated his 21st Mixed Brigade. He did not arrest anyone caught in subversive activities, but simply dismissed them. He organized the "Able Men Cabinet" consisting of prestigious experts but it became undone when he arrested the finance minister for graft after examining rumours and circumstantial evidence; a court threw out the charges. 
