Reconciliation and Transformation
Prince Gong is the beloved son of Emperor Daoguang and is ranked sixth. He competed for the throne with his half-brother and later Emperor Xianfeng, and finally, according to Daoguang's edict, in 1850, Yi Su inherited the throne, and the more talented Yi was named "Prince Heshuo Gong".
In 1853, at the age of 20, Yi served as the Minister of Military Aircraft, and two years later, the young Yi paid the price for his rashness, he took the liberty of the decree, and obtained the title of the Queen Mother for his biological mother, but this angered Emperor Xianfeng, was dismissed from all positions, returned to the study to study, and tasted the deposed for the first time.
In 1860, the Anglo-French army defeated the Qing army at Bali Bridge and approached the Beijing Division, and Emperor Xianfeng fled to Rehe with his wife and concubine in a hurry with the Old Summer Palace. Before he fled, he was appointed as "Minister Plenipotentiary for Cheap Action." In the face of the critical situation, Yi had to take on the great task of supervising and coordinating the peace bureau, and no one expected that this drudgery would provide him with a platform to display his talents.
In the early days of the peace talks, Yi was still fighting on the basis of reason through a note, but in the face of the artillery fire and arrogance of the coalition forces, Yi was forced to fully accept the demands of Britain and France for reparations, trade, apologies, and land cession. The negotiations left the 27-year-old Yi humiliated and frightened. On October 24, Yi finally waited for the signing of the contract with the British envoy Ergin. However, Ergin was deliberately late, making Yi and hundreds of Chinese ** wait for two and a half hours. And when Yi took the initiative to step forward and salute Ergin, who was late, Ergin deliberately showed a "proud and contemptuous glance". Ergin also arrogantly demanded that Yi go ahead of him. Eventually, with great reluctance, Yi signed an unequal treaty with the British. "It was noted that Prince Gong threw a hateful glance at him as he said goodbye to Ergin. ”
As a "nobleman", Yi also has a strong concept of "Yixia", and his heart is full of contempt and rejection for the foreign powers, as well as fear and hatred. However, after the peace treaty was signed, seeing that the British and French forces could abide by the agreement and withdraw their troops to return south, he gradually dispelled his doubts about the British and French forces, and learned that these foreign countries only wanted trade and reciprocal diplomatic relations, and did not want to overthrow the dynasty, and could be used to encircle with "faithfulness".
As he came into contact with Westerners more and more, he began to appreciate the work spirit and dedication of Westerners. Later, he agreed to have the Briton Li Tai reorganize and rebuild China's customs, and fully trusted the Briton Hurd as the chief tax officer, which is enough to prove that his view of the West and the world has undergone a fundamental change.
New Deal and setbacks
At the beginning of 1861, after learning from the painful experience, Yi, together with Wenxiang, Gui Liang and others, published a book such as "Six Articles of Statute for the Overall Consideration of the Overall Situation", putting forward the slogan of "self-improvement", and the Westernization Movement was launched.
Emperor Xianfeng approved Prince Gong's proposal to set up the "Prime Minister's National Affairs Yamen" in Beijing, which became the center of the implementation of the new policy. At the same time, ministers were set up at the southern and northern treaty ports, and China's passage to the world was gradually opened.
In this year, Emperor Xianfeng died of illness. Prince Gong and Empress Dowager Cixi joined forces to launch a coup d'état in Xinyou, arresting eight ministers including Zaiyuan and Sushun. Subsequently, the Tongzhi Emperor succeeded to the throne, and the Empress Dowager of the two palaces listened to the government, and Yi became the regent, and the pattern of "uncle and sister-in-law Tongzhi" unique to the politics of the late Qing Dynasty began. Three young men in their 20s have taken over an empire that is plagued by internal and external troubles, and they have no choice but to step up reforms.
With the opportunity to show his talents, Yi naturally would not let go, he first boldly used Western forces to reuse Zeng Guofan, Zuo Zongtang, Li Hongzhang and other Han ministers, ending the 14-year Taiping Heavenly Kingdom turmoil. At the same time, he carried out new-style military training, set up a military industry, organized and trained a modern army, and prepared for the construction of a modern navy. In just 30 years, the Fuzhou Shipbuilding Bureau, the Jiangnan Manufacturing Bureau, the Kaiping Coal Mine, and the railways that have influenced the development of later generations have all been gradually born in the era of Prince Gong, and a new era that is completely different from the tradition has quietly emerged. Yi was also ridiculed by conservatives as "devil six" because he presided over foreign affairs and dealt with foreigners.
According to scholars' research, by around 1890, China's national economy once again ranked first in Asia and second in the world. Although the overall national strength and military strength cannot be compared with that of the old capitalist powers, the central position and the momentum of a great power in Asia have been restored to a considerable extent.
At that time, most of the ministers of the imperial court were conservative and did not agree with Prince Gong's approach, for example, the university scholar Wo Ren opposed almost all of Prince Gong's reform measures, and the biggest conflict was the establishment of the Tongbunkan. In order to take care of the overall situation, Prince Gong also had very soft means, and asked Woren to preside over it to ensure that the direction was correct, but Woren had to retreat because of his lack of practical experience. From the late Tongzhi period to the early Guangxu period, the activities of the Qing court's "Qingliu" speech officials reached their peak, although objectively played a role in "rectifying the accumulated malpractices" and urging the administration, but many of them were also "selling fame and reputation" and "talking on paper", which was very stressful for Prince Gong, who presided over the daily affairs of the first day. All this was basically dealt with and resolved by soft means that took into account the overall situation.
The courtiers were easy to deal with, but the Empress Dowager Cixi, who was once "in the same boat", was not so easy to serve. In addition, Yi often insisted on going his own way, did not pay attention to the subtleties, and many things were not played by the empress dowager of the two palaces and were arbitrary, which made Cixi increasingly dissatisfied. As Cixi's experience in power continued to grow, Yi, who was the king of the government, became an obstacle to Cixi's autocratic power, although the contradiction between the two did not lie in policy, and there was no objection to the new policy of self-improvement.
In March 1865, the Empress Dowager Cixi took advantage of a break from the official to issue a decree to depose Yi, saying that Prince Gong was arrogant and had no king's eyes, so he dismissed all envoys and was not allowed to interfere in official affairs. After pleading guilty and being reinstated, he lost his "political agenda."
King", but he was still the head of the court, and many decrees still depended on him. Cixi only punished King Gong this time, and didn't want to move seriously.
However, in March of the seventh year of Guangxu (1881), the sudden death of the Empress Dowager Ci'an, who was above Cixi, completely broke the balance between Cixi and Prince Gong.
In 1884, the Sino-French War broke out. The military aircraft under the command of Yi were disappointed, and the battle was uncertain, and finally the Qing army was defeated and retreated. On March 13, the Empress Dowager Cixi dismissed Prince Gong from all his posts under the pretext of "following the rules", and ordered him to recuperate at home. In just a few days, the fledgling Empress Dowager Cixi completed a major adjustment to the central organs of the Qing Dynasty, and her wrist was clean and neat. It is no wonder that King Gong once wrote a sentimental poem after the resignation, and there is a sentence that says: "Hand clap the railing to think about the past, only worry about the spring and do not distinguish clearly", the feeling of confusion is overflowing.
After that, Prince Gong thought about it behind closed doors and did not enter the inner court for ten years, until after the defeat of the First Sino-Japanese War, he was appointed as the Minister of Military Aircraft. At this time, King Gong's position and power were no longer as good as they were at the beginning, and he was more cautious and fearful.
Prince Gong's Mansion in Beijing.
"Conservative and radical".
Prince Gong worked hard to advocate the implementation of the "New Deal", but his expectations for the country's "self-improvement" did not come true. In 1894, the Sino-Japanese War in the Yellow Sea collapsed the Beiyang Navy, which had been built up over the past 30 years. Immediately afterwards, Ma Guan negotiated peace, ceded land and paid compensation, and the Qing Dynasty fell into an unprecedented political crisis.
The reflection of the new policy of foreign affairs of "only changing the end and not changing the root" was quickly recognized by all walks of life in the government and the opposition. At this time, Prince Gong, who has returned to the helm of the military aircraft, also looks forward to carrying out reforms under the new historical conditions and rebuilding an efficient and honest government. Helplessly, Qing ** has too many shortcomings, and Yi is really old, and he is struggling to maintain the endgame.
At the end of 1897, Germany, which had been friendly with China, suddenly sent troops to occupy Jiaozhou Bay without declaring war, and Chinese nationalist sentiment rose again.
Kang Youwei's appeal gradually won the applause of all sectors of society, and Emperor Guangxu ordered Yi to seriously study these proposals. As a moderate politician, Yi certainly could not agree with Kang Youwei's political ideas, let alone advocate the adoption of radical changes that would change the inherent political system of the Qing Dynasty.
In his later years, he always took it as his responsibility to keep the situation in order, believing that the country was now extremely weak and that it was not appropriate to make any changes, first of all, he promoted the signing of the Treaty of Shimonoseki against Guangxu's intentions, and then on the grounds that "this dynasty is a precedent, and non-senior officials above the fourth rank are not allowed to summon them", he did not allow Guangxu to have a direct dialogue with Kang Youwei. Because he understands that Guangxu is young and vigorous, impulsive and lacks political experience, if there is another face-to-face meeting and advocacy from Kang Youwei, there may be some kind of chaos.
But Yi is by no means an old antique that has just been unearthed, but tends to support, or at least condone the new trend of reform.
As a matter of fact, in the three years after the First Sino-Japanese War, Yi still had a positive attitude toward the new measures of reform, such as agreeing to Guizhou's proposal to establish a special department to recruit a wide range of talents, agreeing to Rong Lu's proposal to increase the training of the new army to consolidate the country's foundation, and setting up a martial arts department to train new-style officers. Even though the government and the opposition demanded that the Qiang Society founded by Kang Youwei and others be severely shut down, Yi's handling of the Qiang Society was relatively low-key, and to a certain extent protected patriotic fervor.
In 1898, when the call for reform was rising, Prince Gong's illness became more and more serious, and he was basically bedridden in May.
On May 26th and 27th, the Empress Dowager Cixi and Emperor Guangxu visited Prince Gong many times, and conducted extensive and frank consultations and ** on the state affairs behind him. Prince Gong hoped that the young emperor would respect the Empress Dowager Cixi well, be extra careful in employing people and administration, abide by the constitution, maintain the hearts of the people, consult with those loyal ministers, govern the country, reorganize the army through military force, and enrich the country and strengthen the army. As for Weng Tongyi, who was the master of the Guangxu Emperor, Yi believed that he was "ill-intentioned and sloppy in power", and if he did not take precautions, once he joined forces with Kang Youwei and others in the future, it would definitely harm the Qing Dynasty.
Prince Gong's deathbed confession aroused great attention from the Queen Mother and the Emperor. Half a month after the death of Prince Gong, Guangxu categorically dismissed Weng Tongyi from all positions, but he accepted Kang Youwei's suggestion.
Death and imbalance
The core forces on which Kang Liang relied to change the law mainly came from the imperial party headed by Emperor Guangxu and Weng Tongyi. However, the emperor, who had ostensibly been in power for nearly 10 years, was still unable to overcome the huge authority barrier of the Empress Dowager Cixi. And the Queen Mother herself, like Prince Gong, did not advocate a change that was too radical, too fast, and too wide.
However, when Yi was alive, she didn't need to go out in person, after all, Prince Gong at this time was no longer the hot-blooded young man who dared to confront her 30 years ago, but an old man who was old, reconciled with all parties, and had a steady style. She believes that the situation can be controlled. At the same time, Prince Gong's attitude towards Kang's reform made Guangxu have to be hesitant when making decisions.
However, Prince Gong died on May 29, and the center of the Qing court lost a special force that had a containment and deterrent effect on Emperor Guangxu and the Empress Dowager Cixi, as well as on various factions in **. Before Cixi could consider taking coercive measures, Guangxu issued an edict on June 11, the 13th day after Yi's death. In his opinion, as soon as Prince Gong died, the resistance decreased. And to a certain extent, the Queen Mother acquiesced in his change of law, but Guangxu misunderstood and even exaggerated this acquiescence.
In fact, the Empress Dowager Cixi's tolerance for changing the law was far less than that of King Gong, and the ruthlessness and coolness of her methods were beyond King Gong's reach. After Yi's death, she will not tolerate the change of law to go further and further. So, in the midst of a cry begging the Empress Dowager to save her life and take back her life, she quickly took measures to end the reform movement by imprisoning Guangxu in Yingtai on September 21, arresting all the people with aspirants in the Restoration, and reforming the law.
In the whole process of the Wuxu Restoration, Yi acted as a ruler to coordinate the balanced existence of all aspects, so that the old school and the reform school coexisted to a certain extent. With his death, the balance that had been static lost its stability, and the frenzy of the Fa Reform Movement broke out in an instant, and then extinguished in an instant.
The Guangxu Emperor cultivated by Cixi disagreed with herself, coupled with personnel entanglements, and the Wuxu Reform Law finally led to a coup d'état. Afterwards, Cixi wanted to abolish Guangxu and turned to hate foreign intervention, so that she blindly connived at the Boxers, causing a catastrophe, and finally declared war with the foreign powers, which was completely her decision, which was the biggest failure in Cixi's life.
However, the problem is that the Westernists led by Prince Gong have not explained the path of development to the intellectual elite, and perhaps they themselves do not understand what kind of goal they want to achieve after economic development. The Chinese intellectual elite also lacked rational consciousness, so when China lost to Japan, a small neighboring country to the east, in the First Sino-Japanese War after 30 years of development, psychological discomfort was inevitable and fell into overall confusion, but at this time, Prince Gong could still grasp the overall situation and did not let the big ship of China lose its way. However, only 13 days after Prince Gong's death, a political change that transcended the "Chinese style and Western application" suddenly occurred, and China embarked on an extremely bumpy and tortuous road.