Zai Fenggui is the regent, the biological father of the Son of Heaven, why did he not choose to be the emperor in the end?
On December 2, 1908, the Qing Dynasty, which had entered its last years, ushered in its last emperor, Puyi.
At this time, Pu Yi, who had just turned three, was still in his infancy, and he cried and listened to the kneeling of the Qing officials.
And his father Zaifeng became the second regent in the history of the Qing Dynasty.
PS: The first regent of the Qing Dynasty was Dorgon, the de facto ruler who ultimately laid the foundation of the Qing Dynasty.
As regent, it was clear that Zaifeng's political tactics were far inferior to those of his predecessor, Dorgon.
But compared with Pu Yi, who was only three years old, Zaifeng's political means are undoubtedly much stronger.
At this time, the Qing Dynasty was on the verge of collapse.
With the help of "Lafayette" Cixi, the progressive forces led by Emperor Guangxu were nipped in the bud.
After Cixi's death, Zaifeng became the de facto ruler of the Qing Dynasty, but his political level was also extremely limited.
However, compared to Pu Yi, who was still in infancy, Zaifeng was undoubtedly much stronger.
So why didn't this "Father of Heaven" think about seizing the throne in the end?
Before interpreting this question, the author will explain a premise to you.
Although Zaifeng has no skills, he actually has advantages, such as he is honest and capable, diligent and hard-working, and very down-to-earth.
It is precisely because of Zaifeng's "honest man" character that he was taken by Cixi who wanted to remain in power.
And most importantly, in the international community, Zaifeng's reputation is also good.
In 1894, the Boxer Rebellion broke out, and the German minister Klinder was "unlucky" to lie down.
Relying on its own national strength, Germany not only asked the Qing Dynasty to build a stone monument for Klinder, but also asked them to go to Germany to "bear the guilt".
And Zaifeng, as Cixi's nephew and the younger brother of Emperor Guangxu, is naturally the most suitable candidate.
After arriving in Germany, the domineering German emperor, relying on his strong national strength, even put forward the humiliating condition of "kneeling and apologizing".
In the face of criticism, Zaifeng, who has always been modest, chose to be tough, and even decided to return to China immediately.
Seeing this, the German emperor had no choice but to loosen his tone and change "bow and apologize" to "bow and salute".
This incident caused an uproar in the international community, and Zaifeng was widely praised for it, and even won the reputation of "China's Virtuous King".
Seeing that Zaifeng was so good, Cixi naturally valued him more, and also gave Zaifeng the opportunity to "soar" in the future.
A year later, at the age of 25, Zaifeng was successfully shortlisted for the military aircraft department, the political power organ, and became the youngest political core cadre in the Qing Dynasty.
On November 14, 1908, Emperor Guangxu (suspected of being poisoned by Cixi) died.
The picture shows Guangxu. Emperor Guangxu had no queen, so that the issue of the transfer of power in the Qing Dynasty also surfaced.
At this time, the Qing Dynasty was already in ruins, and at this critical moment of survival, in order to take power again, Cixi chose to make Puyi, who was only three years old, the last emperor of the Qing Dynasty.
At the behest of Cixi, Pu Yi was succeeded to Guangxu, and at the same time, he inherited the son of Tongzhi and became the next helmsman of the Qing Dynasty.
And Zaifeng, who was deeply trusted by Cixi, also became the second regent of the Qing Dynasty.
The first point: Cixi has a strong desire for power
As we have already mentioned above, Cixi was a woman with a very strong desire for power.
It is precisely because of this that she can control the government of the Qing Dynasty with her status as the Queen Mother and make a mess of the Qing Dynasty.
Cixi did not expect that she would die so suddenly, so she still wanted to keep the power firmly in her hands.
And Pu Yi is only three years old, very easy to control, and closest to his own blood, so he naturally became Cixi's best choice.
The second point: Zaifeng is a natural "worker".
Here, the author wants to state one thing, the reason why Zaifeng has risen to prominence is not because he is "talented", let alone because he is well versed in politics, but because he is "honest".
Zaifeng's ability to do things is not bad, but his leadership ability is extremely poor, and he is a natural "worker".
It was precisely because of his attribute that he later planted a heel with Yuan Shikai.
Cixi also understood that Zaifeng was not a "national leader" from the beginning.
The third point: Zaifeng was born in Cixi and was naturally close
Zaifeng is the son of Prince Alcohol, who originally had seven sons, but due to natural and man-made disasters, three of them unfortunately died.
Left with Zaifeng and his three brothers.
Among them, Zai Yan was passed to Emperor Xianfeng very early.
That's right, that is, the well-known Guangxu Emperor.
In addition to Zaifeng and Guangxu, the other two brothers were also passed on to others.
Therefore, Zaifeng has become a lone seedling of Prince Alcohol.
Prince Alcohol is a die-hard supporter of Cixi, and he has done a lot of power in the coup, so Cixi will not do this kind of thing that will make him lose his children and grandchildren.
Therefore, Zaifeng was not suitable to be emperor from the beginning.
Cixi originally wanted to let the three-year-old Pu Yi ascend the throne and continue to be in power.
But she herself didn't expect that she was already about to die, and she would die in a few hours.
It stands to reason that Pu Yi is young, and the Empress Dowager Yulong is a woman with no skills, so she can't pose any threat to Zaifeng at all.
The first point: Zaifeng is a person with no political ambitions.
Zaifeng is a person with a very low political desire, and he wants to go home and hold his children and live for a long time than power.
You can find the answer to this point in "The First Half of My Life" written by Pu Yi.
There is a passage in the article: "Although my father (Zaifeng) is the supreme owner of the state, he is actually an honest man, and his personality is similar to that of his grandfather, and he is a person with a very low desire for power. ”
Therefore, after publicly breaking with Yuan Shikai and resigning, Zaifeng happily went home to hold the child, regardless of the life or death of the orphans and widows in the Forbidden City.
The second point: Zaifeng has no need to usurp the throne at all
Although they are both regents, Jaefeng and Dorgon face very different situations.
Compared to the childless Dolgon, Zaifeng's situation was much better.
At least Emperor Puyi was his own son, and he didn't need to worry about the emperor taking revenge on him after he took office.
After Pu Yi came into power, Zaifeng was the actual emperor, and there would be no problem with this.
The third point: Zaifeng also has many troubles.
After really grasping the state power, Zaifeng realized how deep the water was.
The first is his sworn enemy Yuan Shikai, Yuan Shikai holds the Beiyang Naval Division at this time, which is the biggest stumbling block on the road to centralizing power.
In his eyes, Guangxu was killed by Yuan Shikai in the final analysis, so Zaifeng naturally hated him to the core.
In order to avenge Guangxu and consolidate his power, Zaifeng decided to turn his face with Yuan Shikai.
In order to increase the feasibility of the plan, Zaifeng also deliberately found Zhang Zhidong and Yixuan and others to give him advice.
But I didn't expect Zaifeng, who wanted to make a big difference, to be frightened by Yixuan's words.
After Yuan Shikai's death, what should I do if the Beiyang Army mutinied?”
At that time, the Beiyang Army was already Yuan Shikai's private army, and if Zaifeng killed Yuan Shikai, the Beiyang Army would riot and only send the Qing Dynasty away in advance.
Zaifeng naturally understood the truth, so in the end he only chose to remove Yuan Shikai's position.
This is indeed feasible, on the one hand, it can stabilize the Beiyang Army, and on the other hand, it can also overthrow Yuan Shikai.
It's a pity that Yuan Shikai is already full-fledged at this time, and how can Zaifeng be able to compete.
Due to the ridiculous perverse behavior of the imperial cabinet and other people, the Xinhai Revolution eventually broke out.
The Beiyang Army, which was in charge of suppression, only obeyed Yuan Shikai's orders and disdained Zaifeng's orders.
Zaifeng had no choice but to take the blame and resign, compromised with Yuan Shikai, not only dissolved the imperial cabinet he founded, but also reappointed Yuan Shikai as the prime minister.
From here, we can also see that Zaifeng really has no leadership ability.
But we can say that Zaifeng has no political ability, and we can also say that he does not have a keen eye.
But at least he had no selfish intentions.
If he clings to power like Cixi, it will only lead to the sinking of the Qing ** ship with him.
From this point of view, Zaifeng, who is politically mediocre but easily nervous and stammering, can be regarded as able to recognize himself.
Welcome to leave valuable comments at the bottom of the screen, the waste green studio will be with you in the next issue, part** from the Internet collection, invasion and deletion. Text: Xiao Zhao Review: Mengyu Editor.
Literature references: "Twenty-four History", "Historical Records", "Book of Han", "Book of the Later Han", "Warring States Policy", "Zuo Chuan", "Spring and Autumn", "Lü's Spring and Autumn", etc.
This article is a little historical author's hand, without permission, not **.