Emperors, deposed emperors, yugongs, puppets, captives, prisoners, ordinary citizens... The life of Puyi, the last emperor of China, has played too many roles. When he abdicated, he was only 6 years old, did not understand the sophistication of human feelings, still playing in the Forbidden City, there were palace eunuchs waiting around, Yuan Shikai also promised to give him 4 million silver dollars a year as a subsidy, so the childhood Puyi was still carefree, there was not much setback, and the world's major events did not seem to have much to do with him.
In the thirteenth year of the Republic of China, the northwest warlord Feng Yuxiang broke into the Forbidden City and drove Puyi out of the palace. Puyi initially hid in the Gong Palace, and when the Japanese Emperor heard the news that Puyi had left the palace, he felt that he could use it. So he was escorted to Tianjin. In the September 18 Incident, the Japanese Kwantung Army blew up the South Manchuria Railway, and Zhang Xueliang ordered the Northeast Army not to resist, so it lost the three northeastern provinces and fell a million lands. The Japanese supported Puyi in the northeast to establish a "puppet state of Manchukuo" and re-ascended the throne as emperor.
Since then, Puyi has become a puppet of the Japanese, without any real power in his hands, and when he needs to show his face, he is pulled out by the Japanese for an exhibition, and when he is not needed, he is placed under house arrest in the puppet Manchu Palace, and there is no personal freedom. It was a real failure to be an emperor to Puyi, in his own words later: "During the period of being emperor in the puppet state of Manchukuo, it was like a monkey show!" ”
After the end of World War II, Puyi was first taken away and imprisoned by the Soviets. In August 1946, the Far Eastern Military Tribunal tried Japan in Tokyo, but Japan destroyed a large number of war documents, and Joseph Giannan, chief prosecutor and director of the International Prosecutor's Office at the Allied Headquarters, had no choice but to use witnesses. What is incomprehensible, however, is that the witnesses sought by the Far Eastern Military Tribunal were all Japanese. Can the Japanese prove themselves to be war criminals? Of course not.
At this time, Joseph thought of Puyi. Puyi, as the emperor of China, Japan invaded China, as a victim, can he not say anything favorable to China? As a result, Puyi was led by the Soviet Union to attend the International Military Tribunal as a tainted witness. The experience of the first half of his life was already very bloody, and now he has even gone to the International Court of Justice. Puyi's attendance at the International Tribunal for the Far East lasted 8 days, and he testified for more than 6 hours a day.
In the early stages of the trial, the seven Class A war criminals did not instigate at all, because according to the jurisprudence of the Far Eastern Tribunal, theoretically, the Class A war criminals in the defendant's seat could not be considered guilty until the final verdict was pronounced, and if they had the advantage in the confrontation between the prosecution and the defense, there was even a possibility of being acquitted. So when there were no direct witnesses in the early stages, the seven of them didn't care at all. When facing Puyi, they began to panic, because Puyi was the most direct witness of the crimes they were accused of.
This trial can be seen as a correction between the two prisoners and the separation of responsibilities. As soon as Puyi appeared in court, the defense lawyer of the Japanese war criminal Ban Huan Zhengshilang was full of firepower and pushed all the responsibility on Puyi, saying that Puyi invited the Japanese army to come forward to maintain social order in the three eastern provinces in order to restore the imperial system. Puyi was so angry with the Japanese in court, as if Puyi had invited them to invade China.
The japanese people's consistent shameless style has forced the honest man Puyi to be anxious. Puyi retorted emotionally and stated one thing. "You Japanese people used to think hard to raise me up as the emperor of Manchukuo, in order to cover people's eyes and ears and plunder China's wealth, I was too embarrassed as an emperor, and they Japanese actually found an ancestor for me." Presiding Judge Kennan felt strange and asked, "What's going on?" ”
Puyi continued: "During 1940, when I visited Japan for the second time under the arrangement of the Japanese, the Japanese Emperor asked me to welcome the "Amaterasu God" to Manchukuo, to set up a temple to worship, three prostrations and nine prayers, twice a month. Puyi explained: "Amaterasu is one of the three noble sons in Japanese mythology, and she is revered as the ancestor of the Japanese emperor. Although the Great Qing Dynasty is gone, I am also the last emperor of the Great Qing Kingdom, and when my ancestors were brilliant, your little Japanese son was still bouncing on the island! ”
Speaking of this stubble, Puyi's emotions were completely out of control, and he said excitedly: "When I returned home with these "things", everyone in the family cried. This is the shame of my generation, I am sorry for the ancestors, is this not to find an ancestor for yourself? At this time, the defense lawyer of the Japanese war criminals in the courtroom immediately accused Puyi of attacking the ancestors of the Japanese emperor. The Japanese lawyer said, "How can you say "something" to the god Amaterasu as disrespectful?" What is "taking"? It should be called "please"! ”
Puyi roared back: "I didn't force them to take my ancestors as their ancestors!" This sentence caused the whole court to laugh. The Japanese originally did not admit to restricting Puyi's crimes, nor did they admit that Puyi was forced to worship the Japanese god of Amaterasu, but the Japanese lawyers all missed every sentence and admitted all the crimes that they did not admit. As a result, people began to laugh at the Japanese for lifting stones and dropping them on their feet, and the Japanese lost face and made things worse and worse.
After the first testimony, Puyi said that "I am still too honest" and decided to "say more" when she appeared in court for the second time. During the trial, Puyi cried and complained: "My beloved wife Tan Yuling was killed by Lieutenant General Yoshioka. Tan Yuling was Puyi's "auspicious nobleman" in the "puppet manchukuo", and died in an inexplicable illness. At that time, Puyi was intimidated by the obscenity of the Japanese and did not dare to request an autopsy on his wife, and Tan Yuling's death became an unsolved mystery. It was not until the Tokyo trial that Puyi dared to tell the truth.
During the eight days of testifying in court, Puyi sat straight, harder than the dragon chair. The aura did not fail the Japanese debate team, and a fluent English numbered the crimes of Japan. At that time, when it came to the establishment of the puppet state of Manchukuo, the Japanese emperor heard that he had left this matter clean, put his hat on the head of Japan, and angrily scolded Puyi in court, and Puyi also scolded "you don't want your face."
Because Puyi, as the emperor of the puppet state of Manchukuo, participated in the formulation of many Japanese aggression policies in the northeast and even In China, many criminal facts of the Japanese invasion of China were exposed at the Military Tribunal for the Far East. In the end, seven war criminals, Hideki Tojo, Itachi Seiji, Kenji Doihara, Ishigen Matsui, Akira Muto, Hirota Hiroshi, and Kimura Shotaro, were sentenced to death by hanging, and it can be said that Puyi's testimony played a certain role in convicting the war criminals. This time, he really did a Chinese.
In August 1950, Puyi boarded a train bound for China and reformed it at the Fushun War Criminals Management Center. In December 1959, Puyi was released as one of the first batch of amnesty war criminals, and a generation of emperors finally became an ordinary person.