Before Emperor Guangxu died, he learned that Pu Yi had ascended the throne, and he wept a few words, which was heartbreaking
Emperor Guangxu, the eleventh emperor of the Qing Dynasty, tried to revitalize the country with the Wuxu Reform, but in the end failed, and was imprisoned by Cixi in the Yingtai Hanyuan Hall in Zhongnanhai until his death.
After learning that the next emperor chosen by Cixi was Pu Yi, he left two sentences that still sound poignant and tearful today. So, what exactly did he say, and why did he say it?
The miserable life of the puppet emperor, you may think that the life of the emperor is lucky, but have you ever thought that the life of some emperors is full of misfortune, take the Guangxu Emperor as an example, when he was in power, the Qing court was already in a state of decay, and the great powers were eyeing up to carve up China, and such an international environment made his life more difficult.
Zai Xiang was not the legal heir of the Tongzhi Emperor, his father was the seventh son of the Daoguang Emperor, Prince Yiyun. However, the turning point in history occurred in 1874, when Emperor Tongzhi died, leaving behind an orphan and widowed Qing Dynasty, and Emperor Tongzhi was the only son of Emperor Xianfeng, which meant that the succession to the throne of the Xianfeng line was severed.
This is undoubtedly a huge challenge and opportunity for Zaiyan.
After discussion among the princes, the Empress Dowager Cixi decided to make her nephew Zai Xiang the new emperor. Zai Xiang was young and easy to control, and the Empress Dowager Cixi wanted to take this opportunity to continue to control the government.
When Prince Alcohol learned the news, he was devastated, but he was unable to change the fate of Jae-yan. Soon, Zai Yan ascended the throne, and the two empress dowagers, Ci'an and Cixi, continued to hold power.
In the second year, the year name was changed to Guangxu. However, everyone knows how a four-year-old child can understand the affairs of the state, and the Empress Dowager Cixi is actually the real person in power.
Thus, Jae-chan began his life as a puppet emperor.
Although Cixi often praised herself for taking care of Zaiyan, it is not difficult to see from her behavior that her manipulation and restraint of Zai Xiang are more obvious. Jae-yan is often forced to sit there and report to unintelligible adults, and this strict control makes it difficult for him to stretch his lively nature.
Cixi just regarded Zai Xiang as her doll and needed him to obey her commands.
When Guangxu was young, he was ignorant and ignorant, and everything was arranged by Cixi, but with Zaiyan's growth and academic success, Cixi still did not delegate power, and continued to be in charge of the government in the way of "discipline and government", and set up his niece Yehenala as the empress, intending to better control Zaiyan.
Even if Guangxu began to pro-government, most of the ministers in the court were still important ministers in the Cixi period, Guangxu still had to go to the Summer Palace every day to ask Cixi for peace, and any major events in the court had to be reported to Cixi first, obviously, Guangxu never really grasped the power of the court.
However, by this time, Zai Xiang had grown into a teenager eager to realize his political ambitions, and he did not want to become a puppet emperor who was manipulated, so the conflict with Cixi gradually became public.
In 1894, when the First Sino-Japanese Peasant War broke out, Japan deliberately invaded China under the pretext of protecting its diaspora in Korea. In this regard, Emperor Guangxu felt that the danger was lurking, and resolutely opposed Li Hongzhang's request for mediation from the foreign powers, and he made it clear that he would actively resist the war for the interests of the country and prepare for war and defense.
Although this resistance ended in failure, this effort to save the country undoubtedly demonstrated the determination and courage of the Chinese.
Emperor Guangxu repeatedly ordered to prevent Cixi from misappropriating naval funds to build the Summer Palace, and demanded that the military be strengthened to prepare for the war against Japan. However, Li Hongzhang did not follow the emperor's wishes, and the Summer Palace was eventually built, while the Sino-Japanese War ended in failure.
Li Hongzhang initialed the Treaty of Shimonoseki with Japan. However, Guangxu believed that the ceded land was too much and was reluctant to sign, and he also hoped to negotiate with Japan by moving the capital, but the Empress Dowager Cixi rejected his request and ordered that he must ratify the peace treaty.
In desperation, Guangxu was forced to sign the Treaty of Shimonoseki, which marked the beginning of the Qing court's history of difficult land reparations. However, Guangxu did not give up, and in order to seek change and strength, he carried out the only real rebellion in his life, which was the Wuxu Reform.
1.Weng Tongyi presented Kang Youwei's concept of law change to Emperor Guangxu, so that Guangxu determined to carry out the law change. Subsequently, Guangxu fully supported the reformers and promulgated the "Edict on the Establishment of the Country", thus opening the "Hundred Days Restoration".
The current reform includes reforms in the cultural, educational, economic, military, social, and political fields, and is aimed at learning from the advanced experience of the West. For example, in terms of education, the reformers advocated the abolition of the Baguwen text, the promotion of Western studies, and the sending of foreign students to study abroad. On the military side, they advocated the adoption of Western military training methods, no longer training archery and cavalry, but focusing on gun training.
In the economic aspect, Kang Youwei emphasized the establishment of the country through industry and commerce, encouraged the development of non-governmental enterprises, and advocated the establishment of industries. On the political front, Guangxu opened up his speech, streamlined his organization, promoted new people, and attempted to confront the diehards.
2.In the twenty-fourth year of Guangxu, Weng Tongyi reported Kang Youwei's idea of changing the law to Emperor Guangxu, which strengthened Guangxu's determination to change the law. After that, Guangxu fully supported the reformers, and promulgated the "Decree of Dingguo", which began the so-called "Hundred Days Restoration".
This reform covers a wide range of reforms, mainly learning from the advanced points of the West. In terms of education, the reformers advocated the abolition of the Baguwen, the promotion of Western studies, and the sending of foreign students to study abroad. On the military side, they advocated the adoption of Western military training methods, no longer training archery and cavalry, but focusing on gun training.
In the economic aspect, Kang Youwei emphasized the establishment of the country through industry and commerce, encouraged the development of non-governmental enterprises, and advocated the establishment of industries. On the political front, Guangxu opened up his speech, streamlined his organization, promoted new people, and attempted to confront the diehards.
Although the efforts of the Guangxu Emperor and the reformers showed a kind of progress and innovation, they tried to attack the old school, promote the new school, and promote economic modernization, but due to the puppet status of the Guangxu Emperor and the weak position of the reformers, they could not win the confrontation with the conservative forces led by the Empress Dowager Cixi.
At first, the Empress Dowager Cixi took a "wait and see" attitude towards this, but when she realized that the reform could weaken her power and affect her own interests, she began to take action to suppress and contain the change.
In addition, the Wuxu Reform touched the interests of many princes and ministers, who opposed the implementation of the new policies and openly obstructed the implementation of the new policies, making it difficult to implement the policies of the reformers.
Despite this, Emperor Guangxu resisted as best he could, and expelled Li Hongzhang, who had obstructed the new policy, from the prime minister's yamen, but these actions only made the Empress Dowager Cixi more disgusted with him, and she began plotting to depose him.
Due to the reluctance of foreign ministers to interfere in the internal affairs of the Qing court, the Guangxu Emperor and the reformers pinned their hopes on Yuan Shikai, who held a new army, and secretly planned to assassinate the Empress Dowager Cixi to help the Guangxu Emperor regain power.
However, Yuan Shikai eventually betrayed them and told the Empress Dowager Cixi that he had revealed the entire plan of the Restorationists to her.
Upon learning of this incident, Cixi immediately returned to the palace and resumed the discipline. Her decision was immediately enthusiastically supported by the diehards. Subsequently, Cixi imprisoned the Guangxu Emperor in the Hanyuan Hall of Yingtai, Zhongnanhai, and killed the six gentlemen of Wuxu, including Tan Sitong.
Kang Youwei and Liang Qichao fled abroad. The change was a complete failure after only 103 days. On the eighth day of August 1898, Cixi held a ceremony to discipline the government, marking the complete failure of Emperor Guangxu's only rebellion.
From then on, Emperor Guangxu became a marionette in the hands of Cixi.
Cixi was uneasy on her deathbed, but despite this, she tried to replace Zaiyan by establishing Pu Jun, the son of Zaiyi, the king of Duanjun, as the "eldest brother" in 1900, probably due to her concern that Guangxu would not be able to have children.
When Cixi issued an edict in the name of Emperor Guangxu, the whole country was in an uproar, and the whole country did not agree with this decision, and threatened to strike the city, demanding that Guangxu give up the idea of abdication.
In addition, the Great Powers also objected to this and even issued warnings. In the end, Cixi was forced to revoke the title of "Great Elder Brother" and confirm Zai Yan as emperor. Soon after, the Eight-Nation Coalition invaded China and breached Beijing, and Cixi and Guangxu fled to Xi'an, where they did not return until the signing of the Treaty of Xincho.
From then on, although Guangxu was no longer imprisoned, his political life seemed to be a mere formality, and even when the ministers reported to him, he rarely expressed his opinions, and even when Cixi asked him to express his position, he could only respond briefly, as if he had completely abandoned his pursuit of politics.
Under pressure from Cixi, Guangxu seemed to have little interest in the implementation of the decrees during the Wuxu Reform. The first reason is that before issuing the edict, he needs to conduct self-criticism according to Cixi's wishes; The second reason is that he cannot decide for himself whether he changes the law or conservates the old ways, and he once told Princess Deling that he has the desire to revitalize China, but he has no right to make decisions.
For Guangxu, the only thing that makes him happy seems to be studying the laws of various countries and reading the law books of various countries, but this does not change anything. A long period of depression and discouragement eventually led him to fall ill in the winter of 1908.
However, even though Guangxu was seriously ill, Cixi did not show any mercy and immediately began to search for the next heir to the throne, even though Cixi herself was seriously ill.
The Empress Dowager Cixi finally chose Pu Yi, the grandson of Prince Yixun and the son of the regent Zaifeng. This year, Pu Yi was only three years old, younger than Emperor Guangxu at that time. He was carried into the palace by his own nurse and began his life in the palace.
When this matter reached Guangxu's ears, his physical condition was already very bad, and he couldn't change any of Cixi's decisions, so he could only say sadly and helplessly: "Wouldn't it be better if you found an older one?" ”
The other sentence is: "Who can disobey the will of the Queen Mother?" ”
Although Guangxu and Puyi's beginnings were similar, their fates were very different. Guangxu collapsed at the age of 38, and the Empress Dowager Cixi chose the young Puyi to inherit the throne, but Cixi's dream of control was eventually shattered.
These two short sentences seem to be not only Pu Yi, but also the bitterness and helplessness of Guangxu's life. His fate was at the mercy of Cixi, and neither the international environment nor the stubborn conservative forces at home allowed him to fulfill his ambitions.
In the end, he could only finish his "solitary confinement" life in desperation. Emperor Guangxu's life was untimely, so that although he was "above ten thousand people", he failed to do anything, leaving only two bitter words.
In 1911, the Xinhai Revolution was in full swing, and the rule of the Qing Dynasty came to an end. Although Pu Yi was briefly restored with the support of the Japanese army, he was eventually escorted by the Soviet Red Army and ended his career as a puppet emperor.
After the founding of the People's Republic of China, he was brought back to China and reformed in the Fushun War Criminals Management Center.
In 1959, Pu Yi was pardoned and became a member of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, and his unique and dramatic experience was adapted into various film and television works, which were widely circulated.
Although Pu Yi was not the emperor for a long time, his life was more exciting than that of Emperor Guangxu.