In 1900, Zhang Zhidong planned to move the capital to Jingmen Prefecture in Hubei Province, and set up the embassy district in Shashi. At that time, during Cixi's flight to the west, the great powers forced the empress dowager to return to Beijing for negotiations, and Zhang Zhidong resolutely opposed it, proposing to build a new capital in Hubei to get rid of the Russian threat to the Chinese capital, which he called the "overall situation of ten thousand years". With Cixi's return to Beijing in the winter of 1901, this far-sighted plan came to naught.
Zhang Zhidong poses with British officers
The issue of the establishment of a capital after noon
The Formation of the Chinese State is very early, there are many theories about the establishment of the capital, the relocation of the capital, and the establishment of the capital, each with its own incisiveness and inadequacies, if listed one by one, it is inevitable that it will be cumbersome, and here only a brief review will be made with jia wu as the starting point.
Wen Tingshi, the backbone of the "Imperial Party", was a close friend of Zhenfei's brother Zhi Rui, who in 1890 was an official who served as a bachelor's degree in The Hanlin Academy, and in 1896 was dismissed from his post by Cixi and expelled back to his hometown. He wrote in his book "The Tale of the Dust Puppets": When Jia Wu was defeated, zhang Zhidong, the governor of Huguang, and Li Wentian, the attendant of the Ministry of Rites, both advocated "western hunting", that is, the empress dowager and the central institutions left Beijing and moved west; Shen Zengzhi and Ku Guangdian advocated "temporarily avoiding Xiangyang". The "central authorities" moving into the interior can avoid signing an alliance under the threat of the Japanese army, and can lead the military and people of the whole country to continue the war of resistance, and Japan's national strength is limited and it is difficult to support it for a long time, and it is expected to "force peace by war." These proposals were highly reasonable, and if they had been implemented at that time, or the compensation for the cession of land under the Maguan Treaty could have been avoided, at least the amount of compensation would not have reached a whopping 200 million yuan.
Hearing the news of the relocation of the capital, "the bannermen of the inner city were fierce and fearful", Shangshu Sun Jianai wrote to Li Wentian: "Do not play please move the capital, if you advocate the relocation proposal, there will be strange disasters." Li Wentian was an important geographer in the late Qing Dynasty, who was studying the gains and losses of moving the capital in successive dynasties, preparing to make suggestions, and when he heard Sun Jianai's advice, he immediately gave up.
The "imperial party" is the backbone of the court style
Why is there a "miracle" just by proposing to move the capital? On the one hand, it is the "Inner City BannerMen" who resolutely oppose that once the empress dowager and the central institutions move inland, the city of Beijing may fall into the hands of the enemy, and the stable and leisurely life of the Manchus will not be able to maintain, and the fleeing people will be displaced, and those who remain may not be able to survive. But more importantly, Empress Dowager Cixi herself did not want to leave, and she had to organize the sixtieth birthday in the capital. It is said that the empress dowager once said to the courtiers: "Whoever makes me unhappy today will also make him unhappy for life." ”
The "Maguan Treaty" signed under Cixi's extremely selfish decision made the Western powers realize the Qing court's "concession policy" to the outside world, and sent warships to China to show off their force, which was gained, so in 1897 Germany forcibly occupied Jiaozhou Bay, Tsarist Russia forcibly occupied Lushun, in 1898 France forcibly leased Guangzhou Bay, Britain forcibly leased Weihaiwei and expanded the Hong Kong boundary site.
In the face of this "frenzy of partition," people of insight in the DPRK have proposed various plans for establishing a capital. Scholar Wang Hongbin once wrote an article entitled "Investigation on the Issue of building a capital in the Qing court before and after the invasion of the Eight-Power Alliance", which examined various plans.
Dai Hongci, the son of Zuo Shu, believed that since the five ports of commerce, Beijing and Tianjin had no danger to defend, and advocated the establishment of an additional capital in Xi'an. Hong Liangpin advocated building the capital in Taiyuan. Interestingly, in 1900, Cixi fled west, first to Taiyuan, and then continued west to Xi'an.
Zhang Rumei, the governor of Shandong, was bitter about the great powers' struggle for spheres of influence along the coast, and proposed that "Luoyang lives in the middle of the world, and the four plugs are dangerous and solid,...... The soil is thick and the water is deep, and the fertile field is thousands of miles. Its back to the river surface Luo, the waterway is smooth, the east is flying, and the transfer is very convenient. Outside the middle system, sincerely for the Tianfu Olympic District", it is recommended to build a capital in Luoyang. After several requests, the Guangxu Emperor received Zhang Rumei for consultation. After the coup d'état, Zhang Rumei once again made suggestions to the empress dowager, and issued a serious warning: "Now the Beijing Division has no way to be ashamed of both land and water, and the frost is gradual, and there is no danger of accumulating salaries and ambushing crossbows." And this picture, it is not too late. If it is postponed, it will not be reached. It should be said that the location Zhang Rumei chose may not be the best, but his prediction of another invasion by the great powers is very accurate.
After a period of hesitation, Cixi finally adopted Zhang Rumei's plan, and summoned the Governor of Henan five times from March to May 1899, "in the name of repairing the Wanshou Palace, Cixi finally adopted the foundations and built a palace to prepare for the blessings." After Yu Chang returned to Kaifeng, he quickly instructed the governor of Henan Province, Wen Ti, to organize the preliminary investigation work. Fearing that people would be swayed by the misconception that the capital would be moved, the entire preparatory work was carried out in the name of building a temporary palace. By January 12, 1900, the Wen Ti team had drawn up six maps and written them well, and Yu Chang played the imperial court, and the empress dowager did not seem to give further instructions, and the entire Luoyang escort was planned to drag down. Wen Ti also wrote a volume of "The Proposed Capital Luoyang Prefect Wen Ti Survey After Review".
Cover of "Overridden"
The great powers forced Cixi to "return to Luang"
In 1900, the Gengzi Incident occurred, the coalition army entered Beijing, on August 15 Cixi threatened the Guangxu Emperor to flee west, arrived in Taiyuan on September 10, found that the telegraph line was not open and difficult to handle government affairs, so he continued westward, arriving in Xi'an on October 26. On her way to escape, Cixi successively appointed Yi Li the Prince of Qing and Li Hongzhang, the governor of Liangguang, as plenipotentiaries and entered Beijing to negotiate with the coalition forces.
Soon after Cixi set out from Taiyuan, the great powers offered to start negotiations with the "return" to Beijing, a request that harbored evil intentions in order to get Cixi to agree to various humiliating conditions under the bayonet of the coalition forces. Out of an impatient mentality of restoring order as soon as possible, many southeastern governors, including the railway superintendent Sheng Xuanhuai, also favored exerting pressure to prevent Cixi from entering Shaanxi and returning to Beijing as soon as possible to preside over the negotiations. Zhang Zhidong, the governor of Huguang, who was always paying close attention to the development of the situation, was very sober-minded and forcefully refuted the proposition that the empress dowager immediately "return" to Beijing:
Hui Luanwan is not feasible, fortunately Shaanxi Wan cannot be stopped, in fact, whether it is broken or not, it is not here. If we can quickly handle the things that countries have repeatedly made clear and forceful, it is fortunate that Shaanxi bi does not care. If you refuse to do so, it will not be beneficial to allow luang to return. At this time, it was not convenient to return to Taiyuan, and both Ping and Pu were poor and empty cities, and if they did not reach Shaanxi, they would be stationed in Ho. In the case of Shaanxi Electricity, it is also convenient to discuss. Qingdi went to Beijing, searched for swords and weapons, and foreign soldiers guarded it. Fu Xiang arrived in Tianjin, the foreigners guarded, and the subordinates were not allowed to wear clothes. If the two palaces return to Beijing, try to think about what a scene it is, I will not bear to do this. (Zhao Dexin edited the Complete Works of Zhang Zhidong, vol. 10, p. 179)
Zhang Zhidong's gist was that at this time, he absolutely could not return to Beijing, and his courtiers could not prevent the empress from avoiding Shaanxi. If some of the requirements of various countries on punishing the "culprits" can be fulfilled, shaanxi will not obstruct the negotiations; if the "culprits" are not punished, then it is also useless to return to Beijing. At that time, the so-called "scourge" referred to the princes and ministers who caused trouble with their fists, such as Wang Zaiyi of Duanjun (the father of the eldest brother), Zaixun the Prince of Zhuang, Zailan the Fuguo Gong, Gang Yi of the University, Yuxian, the Inspector of Shanxi, dong Fuxiang, the governor of Gansu, and others. Zhang Zhidong gave an example: After the two plenipotentiaries Prince Qing and Li Hongzhang arrived in Beijing, their residences were guarded by foreign soldiers, and if the empress returned to Beijing, what would it be like? Under the bayonets of foreign soldiers, how did the empress dowager and the Guangxu Emperor preside over the negotiations? Zhang Zhidong's biggest fear in his heart was that the coalition forces would depose the empress dowager by force, restore Guangxu to the throne, or establish a new monarch, and did not dare to say it directly in the letter, calling it "something that cannot be done." Always thinking about the empress dowager, this is the most important reason why Zhang Zhidong has stood for decades as an official.
Zhang Zhidong was known for having a powerful shogunate, one of whom was named Qian Gong (錢恂), a native of Gui'an, Zhejiang, who was born in Gongsheng, and served as an attaché of envoys stationed abroad for many years, and after returning to China in 1895, he entered zhangzhidong and handled foreign affairs, and in 1899 he became the superintendent of Japanese students in Hubei Province. He was a figure from an old fortress who embraced new ideas, and he was deeply dissatisfied with Cixi's cause of this national catastrophe, and there were many indignant remarks. (Dai Haibin: "Late Qing Dynasty Characters Cong Kao Preliminary Edition") On November 9, he overlaid Zhang Zhidong from Tokyo, Japan, saying that "no new one can change it." These six words seem ordinary, but in fact they contain very profound thoughts: As far as China's calamity is concerned, only by establishing a new capital in a new place can we get rid of the obstruction of the old forces and carry out thorough reforms.
Qian Ke's simple sentence caused Great resonance with Zhang Zhidong: "Non-new cannot be changed, it is in line with contempt, and the foot is truly understanding people." Whether the Japanese government has the same intention, please indicate. Xiangyang is ugly, and it is difficult to stay in Xiangyang..." (Zhao Dexin edited the Complete Works of Zhang Zhidong, vol. 10, p. 209) Originally, Zhang Zhidong germinated the idea of building a "new capital" in Hubei and asked Qian Ke's opinion, Qian Ke thought that Xiangyang could be used as an option, and Zhang Zhidong thought that "Xiangyang is ugly, and it is difficult to stay in Xiangyang". As can be seen from the following article, the main reason why Xiangyang does not enter Zhang Zhidong's eyes is that it is too far away from the Yangtze River, not some "narrow and ugly". So, where is the ideal location for Zhang Zhidong to build a new capital in Hubei?
Zhang Zhidong was an official, and his starting point was superior to many people. He entered Hanlin with a flower, and half of the people in the Hanyuan belonged to the teachers and friends, and there were many clansmen, in-laws, fellow villagers, and the same year among the high-ranking officials. In his early years, he enjoyed a high reputation, which was not unrelated to the push of Li Hongzao, a minister directly subordinate to his hometown and military aviation minister. In 1884, he was promoted from the Inspector of Shanxi to the Governor of Liangguang, and his brother Zhang Zhiwan, the Minister of Military Aircraft, should be helpful; this time Cixi Hunted West, and his brother-in-law Lu Chuanlin was on duty, allowing him to detect the central movements at any time. The situation at that time was that Cixi was reluctant to return to Beijing to negotiate, and the coalition forces were attacking Shanxi, posing as a threat to march into Xi'an.
On November 25, Zhang Zhidong called Lu Chuanlin: "Will you return to Luan in the future?" If they will not return to Luang, the contemptible person will have a strategy, pray for the secret and then worship Chen. In the cable, Zhang Zhidong revealed the message of the British consul in Hankou, and the British had no plans to depose the empress. After three days, he sent a telegram to Lu Chuanlin: "Is the intention of ci sheng to veto the intention to return to Beijing, or to decide not to return to Beijing,...... Whether or not to return to Beijing, pray for a secret and confirmed instructions, so as to prepare a method. He asked Lu Chuanlin to inquire about Cixi's tone, and if he decided not to return to Beijing, he had another set of countermeasures, saying that it was mysterious and mysterious, in fact, he had a big plan to move the capital to Hubei.
Zhang Zhidong's brother-in-law Lu Chuanlin
Moved the capital to Jingmen
On December 30, Zhang Zhidong sent a telegram to xi'an xing at the military plane, initially proposing the reasons and ideas for moving the capital:
For several months, the national secretaries, external ministers, and ministers of various countries have all asked for hui luang... The total number of foreign soldiers, land and water must be tens of thousands,...... The envoys will inevitably ask for more and more frequent requests at the time of their visits, and the provisions will be added one after another, and the pressure will become tighter and tighter day by day, and from then on China will have no right to be independent and cannot serve the country. ...... It is necessary to plan a way for each other to always be at peace with each other and for China not to be in danger. ...... And he also felt that the land route in Shaanxi Province was too far away, and it was inconvenient for the embassy, so it seemed that he could consult with various countries, and choose another two convenient places for each other, or in the upper reaches of the Yangtze River, where the small soldiers could only be transported, and tens or hundreds of miles inward on the river bank, so as to make a temporary capital, and the capital and the embassy would be stable. If the Garrison of Beijing and Tianjin has agreed on a proper plan, it is also a last resort to return to Beijing. (Manuscripts of Qing Dynasty Celebrity Manuscripts Collected in Modern History, Vol. II, Vol. 18, pp. 317-323)
According to the demands of the great powers in the negotiations, there were nearly 10,000 foreign troops stationed in the Beijing-Tianjin area, and if envoys from various countries threatened the imperial court with this, it would seriously undermine China's autonomy. Instead of returning to Beijing to be held hostage, the empress dowager and the emperor should choose a place in the upper reaches of the Yangtze River and set up a capital about a hundred miles from the riverbank.
On January 3, 1901 (13 November of Gengzi), Zhang Zhidong elaborated further ideas in a telegram to Li Shengduo, minister stationed in Japan:
It is proposed to temporarily move to the upper reaches of the Yangtze River, such as the temporary capital of Jingzhou, the capital city must be a hundred miles or tens of miles away from the river, the embassy will set up a riverside sand city, the general office will also set up a sand city, in case of visit, half a day can arrive. The original escort ships and the embassy were also very stable, but it was agreed that the land troops would not be allowed to land, and the Yangtze River Battery would remain the same. Two years later, the Luhan Railway was completed and returned to Luang to avoid the trouble of supplying hundreds of millions of people in the disaster area. The results of the New Deal naturally lead to the belief that foreign soldiers can also be left behind, and the withdrawal of Taiwan can also be slowed down. This is the capital for the time being, and it will eventually return to Beijing, and the capital still hopes that all countries will return it. Looking forward to the external affairs of the merchants and the Marquis of Itō, entrusted him to secretly consult Britain and the United States, such as Britain and the United States, and then entrusted him to consult Russia, Germany and France. The proposal to move Wuchang and Jingxiang was sent by the Viceroy of Ying and the consul. Driving in the southeast, the British will wish, and japan will also be free from Russian system. This section is related to the overall situation of China in the next ten thousand years. (Manuscripts of Qing Dynasty Celebrity Manuscripts Collected in Modern History, Vol. II, Vol. 4, pp. 494-502)
Jingzhou City and moat
At this point, the idea begins to materialize. In order to prevent the empress from returning to Beijing and being held hostage by the garrisons of the great powers, it is planned to set up a capital in the Area of Jingzhou, the location of the capital city is a hundred miles or dozens of miles away from the Yangtze River, and the embassy districts of various countries and the Prime Minister Yamen are located in Shashi, so that if the minister visits the emperor, it can be reached in half a day, but foreign troops who require the protection of the embassy are not allowed to land. Zhang Zhidong's telegram also revealed that this idea first came from the British admiral and consul in Hankou.
On January 5, Zhang Zhidong called Yi Shunding, an aide to Rong Lu, the foreman of the military aircraft minister, and further elaborated: Xiangyang is too far from Hankou, it is 700 miles by land and 900 miles by water, if there is a capital, all countries will still have to send troops to protect the embassy, and there will be more military stations along the way than in Beijing and Tianjin, which is even more uneconomical. The British loved Wuchang the most, but the Wuchang River was too wide for warships to drive under the city, and there was only one land route through Xianning, which was not suitable. The capital city of Jingzhou is low-lying, "dyke-oriented, perennial danger". Only Dangyang County, which is one hundred miles away from Jingzhou, or Jingmen Prefecture, which is one hundred and eighty miles away from Jingzhou, is more suitable for "high dryness and flatness". (Manuscripts of Qing Dynasty Celebrity Manuscripts Collected in Modern History, Vol. 2, Vol. 4, pp. 509-511) At this time, Dangyang was still a county of Jingmen Prefecture, and was later assigned to Yichang.
Map of Hubei Province, 1905
In order to concretize this idea as soon as possible and to listen to opinions, Zhang Zhidong sent several telegrams to Qian Ke, a staff member who was far away in Tokyo, Japan, asking him to hand over the supervision work of students studying in Japan and return to China as soon as possible. On January 3, Zhang Zhidong urged: "The matter is urgent, qian shou is not informal, it can be suspended, do not delay." What a day, quick recovery. "Qian Ke has handled diplomacy for many years, stationed in many European countries, and has an active mind, and he needs more ideas to create a new career in the capital." Who knows, Qian Ke is not at all interested in returning to China, I think he is extremely dissatisfied with the empress dowager's still in power, and he does not hope for the so-called "reform" of the details. Three days later, Zhang Zhidong telegraphed again, and his tone was already a little angry: "Therefore, those who urge your excellency to return to Hubei, because the negotiation of the agreement is extremely difficult, the opportunity is urgent, and I am afraid that I will not have any trouble,...... This move is really related to the security of the country and the interests of China for ten thousand years, is it not heavier than the supervision of students in a province? "In the end, Qian Ke did not respond to the recall of the country. Zhang Zhidong wrote to Li Shengduo that he was "the overall situation of ten thousand years", and what was written to Qian Ke was "ten thousand years of interests", with different wordings and one meaning, both emphasizing that the plan to move the capital to Hubei was in the contemporary era and the benefits were in the thousand autumns.
Jingmen Prefecture Civilization Lake
Ruins of the Long Ban Bridge in Dangyang
Waves are back
Under the pressure of the great powers, the empress dowager publicly promised to return to Beijing on June 7, 1901, and the departure time was initially set at September 1, and then changed to October 6, and Zhang Zhidong's plan was dissolved. Who knows, because of the issue of Tsarist Russia occupying the three eastern provinces, the relocation of the capital to Hubei has once again been put on the agenda, and this time the person who proposed it is very key, but Yang Ru, the minister in Russia.
Zhang Zhidong's reputation in many Hanlin was due to the promotion of his fellow emperor Li Hongzao. After Li Hongzao's death in 1897, Zhang Zhidong maintained close contact with his son Li Kunying. In early July 1901, Li Kunying wrote a letter from Xi'an informing him that "xingdu was built in Hubei, and Dingxing was deeply impressed." According to the Russian envoy, he will first make this layer, and then try to block the northward movement. Yang envoys could not control the southeast of the Jingxiang area in the upper reaches of the Jianghan Dynasty; if Qin was in favor of peace. The intention is quite moving. (Boxer Historical Materials, vol. 1, p. 264) "Dingxing" refers to Lu Chuanlin, and "Russian envoy" refers to Yang Ru, minister stationed in Russia.
Yang Ru was stationed in the Russian capital and presided over the negotiations with Russia, and the most difficult thing at this time was to demand that the Tsarist-Russian diplomatic relations were still forcibly occupied by the three eastern provinces at the height of the Boxer Rebellion. Taking advantage of the chaotic situation in China to gain benefits is a common trick used by Tsarist Russia. The Russian side used all kinds of despicable means to force Yang Ru to sign the treaty they unilaterally drafted, with the purpose of allowing Tsarist Russia to continue to monopolize the interests of the three eastern provinces. The Russian occupation of the three eastern provinces posed a great threat to Beijing, and Yang Ru, proceeding from the stand of safeguarding China's sovereignty, once again proposed to the imperial court that the construction of a capital in the Jingxiang area of Hubei Province was tantamount to withdrawing the original "Huiluan" commitment, which was a major proposal related to the national fortunes.
Minister to Russia Yang Ru
It should have been before Li Kunying wrote his letter in July (the date recorded in the Qing Dynasty Diplomatic Historical Materials seems to be wrong), Yang Ru submitted to the imperial court a long piece of "adapting to the law to remedy the difficulties of the times" and arrived in Xi'an. He proposed that in view of the fact that the Russian "Manchuria Railway" had expanded to the south and the fence had been lost, "Dagu withdrew its defenses, Beijing and Tianjin set up cards, and from then on Kyoto was in the hands of the people." The strategy of moving the capital cannot be delayed any longer; the "accompanying capital" should be in the upper reaches of Jingxiang, with the Yangtze River for transfer and transportation, and the Sichuan and Shu provinces thinking that they are retreating. The Luhan and Cantonese-Han railways are formed and the north and south are concentrated, with essence and flexible breathing. If there is a problem, the river is dangerous for thousands of miles, the iron ship does not enter the shallow water, and the river can be heavily defended, and its geographical advantage is enough. (Qing Ji Diplomatic Historical Materials, vol. IX, p. 2837) It should be said that Yang Ru's thinking was more thorough than Zhang Zhidong's, but the time for submitting the recital was a little too late.
Weighing the pros and cons, the empress dowager again announced on August 14 that she would return to Beijing. In fact, Cixi himself had pushed three times and blocked four times before, but he was afraid of being deposed by the coalition forces, and the ground in the capital was difficult to recover, and after receiving assurances from all sides, he had long forgotten the proposal to move the capital to Hubei. Yang Ru's performance was very reasonable, but it could not change Cixi's determination to return to Beijing. What cannot be ignored is that the Manchu officials, led by Rong Lu, the military minister in charge, also vigorously advocated returning to Beijing.
It can also be seen from a small matter that Zhang Zhidong and Yang Ru's proposal to move the capital is bound to be unpopular. The empress dowager was not accustomed to eating Xi'an rice noodles, and missed the "old rice" of Jingcang day and night. On November 7, 1900, 12 days after the empress arrived in Xi'an, she really couldn't stand it, and asked Cen Chunxuan, the inspector of Shaanxi, to send an urgent telegram to Li Hongzhang: "Transport two or three hundred pounds of old rice to Shaanxi on the top of the Beijing warehouse." (The Complete Works of Li Hongzhang, vol. 27, p. 238) As the empress dowager, who is the weight of the world, does not have the determination of a strong man to break his wrist and move the capital to reform, he only wants to return to Beijing's comfortable nest as soon as possible, back to the incomparably familiar life track of the past few decades, Zhang Zhidong's plan to move the capital is destined to be just a spring dream.