In November of the 34th year of Guangxu (1908), the Empress Dowager Cixi and the Guangxu Emperor fell seriously ill at the same time. On the sickbed, Cixi summoned the ministers of military aircraft, Zhang Zhidong, Shi Xu, and Zaifeng, to discuss the issue of the heir after the death of Emperor Guangxu.
Eventually, they decided to make Pu Yi emperor and Pu Yi's father, Zaifeng, regent. Considering Zaifeng's cowardly character, Cixi also issued an edict on her deathbed.
Soon, Guangxu and Cixi died one after another, and Zaifeng helped the three-year-old Puyi to ascend the throne and become the new master of this declining empire. The first thing he did was to get rid of Yuan Shikai, who had a grudge against him.
After Cixi's death, the contradiction between Zaifeng and Yuan Shikai intensified. Although Yuan Shikai was the leader of the Beiyang group, the Beiyang Army was not absolutely loyal to him. The relationship between Yuan Shikai and the Beiyang generals was more like a group of common interests than a friend of life and death.
Therefore, the regent Zaifeng, who had no foundation, could easily kill Yuan Shikai, but the old minister Zhang Zhidong was resolutely opposed. He believes that in the period when the state has just been mourned, it is not appropriate to immediately kill the old ministers.
In the end, Zaifeng only let Yuan Shikai go home to retire, and Yuan Shikai also knew that the Beiyang generals would not stand up for themselves. After receiving the order, Yuan Shikai left in disgrace.
Under the patronage of Cixi, Yuan Shikai had already occupied an important position in the Sixth Town of Beiyang before the Xinhai Revolution. Cixi's two major priorities in her life were the Wuxu Reform and the Gengzi Revolution, and she focused on the stability of the political environment, believing that without a turbulent environment, potential heroes would not be able to display their talents, nor would they be able to cultivate or stabilize their own power, so that the imperial court could gradually eliminate any forces that might threaten them.
Cixi's control of power can be described as unique. With the help of the military exploits of the Hunan army, she controlled the southeastern region, but through ten years of stable development, she weakened the strength of the Hunan army, so that it could not become a monolith.
In terms of political balance, Cixi, although not outstanding, remained at a mediocre level. Whether it is Yi or Xiangjun, whether it is the Westernists or the Qing school, she can skillfully use various forces to balance each other and maintain the balance of power.
After Cixi trained the new army in Li Hongzhang, she maintained the stability of the imperial court through the mutual checks and balances between Nie Shicheng, Dong Fuxiang and Yuan Shikai. However, in the Gengzi Revolution, Nie Shicheng, Dong Fuxiang and others were either killed in battle or collapsed, in order to continue to maintain the balance of the imperial court, Cixi introduced Qu Hongji, Cen Chunxuan, Yixuan, Yuan Shikai to check and balance.
Throughout her life, Cixi has always played the role of a referee, checking and balancing each other to prevent any side from growing into an opponent of the imperial court. Although Cixi was relieved of her role as a counterweight to Yuan Shikai in her later years, her policy of checks and balances continued until the end of her reign.
On her deathbed, Cixi set up a political plan for Zaifeng, exploiting the contradictions within the constitutionalists to maintain the stability of the Qing Dynasty and suppress the revolutionary party. However, Zaifeng failed to properly handle it after taking over, which led to the intensification of contradictions within the constitutionalists and caused widespread dissatisfaction among the Beiyang generals.
Tieliang's actions caused many Beiyang generals to lose their loyalty to the Qing Dynasty. Although the Beiyang group had a strong dependence on the Qing Dynasty before the outbreak of the Wuchang Uprising, Tie Liang and Zaifeng's iron determination to seize military power could not be easily realized.
The foundation of the armament system has been formed and is difficult to shake, but the ability of the Manchurian nobles is very poor and cannot handle things. Eventually, these people were pushed over the side of the revolutionary party.
In order to conceal the centralization of power by the imperial family, Jae-bong took action to establish a constitution in March 1909, and although he reaffirmed the preparation for the constitution, he played with a fake constitution. On May 8, the Qing court announced a new cabinet candidate.
Although the imperial cabinet received the emperor's resolute support, under the impact of the Wuchang uprising, Zaifeng's decision-making appeared weak. On October 10, 1911, the uprising broke out, and Zaifeng ordered Yin Chang to lead the Beiyang New Army south to suppress it.
However, the Qing court lacked the ability and time to consume Yuan Shikai's power, and eventually had to use him again. Realizing that the fall of the Qing Dynasty was only a matter of time, Zaifeng issued an edict on October 30, dissolving the imperial cabinet, ending his position as regent and returning to the domain as Prince Alcohol.
Finally, on February 12, 1912, the Empress Dowager Longyu issued the edict of abdication of the Qing Emperor, Puyi abdicated, and the Qing Dynasty came to an end.
The Qing Dynasty collapsed just three years after Cixi's death, largely due to Zaifeng's incomprehension and ignorance. He didn't understand that constitutionalism was the trend of the times, and feudalism could no longer be maintained; Nor does he understand that power comes from bottom-up approval, not divine authority.
Therefore, he believed that once he was in power, he could do whatever he wanted, which eventually led to the collapse of the Qing Dynasty. Zaifeng has a chance to keep the Qing Dynasty, and the key lies in Yuan Shikai. After Cixi's death, Yuan Shikai's power was not so strong, and the Beiyang generals would not protect him.
When the news of Zaifeng becoming the regent came, Yuan Shikai immediately fled to the Tianjin Concession with part of his family, and none of the generals of the Beiyang New Army publicly ** or came to see him off.
Even after Yuan Shikai returned to his hometown worriedly, he was still in fear day and night, and was frightened by the young man Zaifeng. Therefore, there is no so-called "Yuan Party" inside and outside the imperial court, and Zaifeng can use Yuan Shikai boldly with confidence.
This is exactly what Cixi has always wanted Zaifeng to do.
Zaifeng needed the help of others to deal with the relationship with the foreigners, and Cixi left Yuan Shikai as Zaifeng's political legacy. Cixi expected Longyu to surpass herself and become the final judge of the imperial court, which was the secret of Cixi's last edict.
However, none of them were able to understand the situation, which ultimately led to failure.