In fact, everyone should know that if he was tougher, Eight-Nation Alliance wouldn't be so rampant. How many soldiers and horses did Yuan Shikai have at that time? We don't have specific figures, but if he really tried to fight Eight-Nation Alliance at that time, he could easily fight thousands of people in Eight-Nation Alliance. After all, he was the only one with a large number of regular troops and advanced weapons at that time.
And if nothing else, at that time, if someone can lead the people to fight Eight-Nation Alliance and have sufficient supplies, it would be easy for so many people in China, just a few thousand. Eight-Nation Alliance called it the G8, which looked terrible. In fact, anyone who has studied history should know that there are only a few thousand people in Eight-Nation Alliance, and they are thousands of insatiable people left over from the Eight Countries. Why didn't Yuan Shikai take the lead in beating Eight-Nation Alliance at that time, with thousands of people? In fact, I think there are two main reasons.
First of all, the first reason is that he dare not, because the people behind Eight-Nation Alliance are not to be taunted by him. Although the person who stays in the eight countries may not have the support of insiders in the host country, he dare not gamble. The second reason involves personal interests. Without Eight-Nation Alliance, he was just a famous person in China, but after Eight-Nation Alliance, who was he? He can be said to be the emperor in China, so he won't take the lead against Eight-Nation Alliance for any reason.