In 1861, Xian Feng died of illness in the Rehe Palace, Xian Feng died before his death, Su Shun headed the "Eight Ministers of Gu Feng" to assist the Little Emperor, in order to restrain the Eight Ministers, he gave Ci'an a "Royal Reward" seal, and gave the Tongzhi Emperor a "Tongdaotang" seal, the Tongzhi Emperor was only six years old at the time, the seal was kept by Empress Dowager Cixi, and the edict issued by the emperor after that could only take effect with two seals. Cixi launched the "Xin You Coup" in conjunction with Prince Gong Yixuan, and there were three main reasons for its success.
The first reason is to win the support of the princes and nobles to win the hearts and minds of the people
In 1860, the Anglo-French coalition invaded Beijing, and occupied the Temple of Heaven, burning the Yuanmingyuan, causing public indignation, in order to calm the people's anger, the empress dowager of the two palaces and Prince Gong put the blame on the eight ministers, mainly because Duanhua they lured Pasha Li and expanded the situation, resulting in the Anglo-French coalition army to hit the city of Beijing. In the face of the invasion of the Anglo-French army, gu ordered the eight ministers not to persuade the Xianfeng Emperor to resist, causing the Xianfeng Emperor to talk about the summer resort, when the Xianfeng Emperor wanted to return, they also obstructed the return.
(Empress Dowager Cixi)
After all the responsibility was transferred to the eight ministers of Gu Ming, the dissatisfaction of the military and the people's hearts at that time was resolved, Cixi and Prince Gong Yixun gained the initiative politically, and the eight ministers became the object of everyone's hatred, in addition to winning the hearts and minds of the people, Cixi and Prince Gong Yixuan also won the support of the princes and nobles, which was also a contest between the "Chengde Group" and the "Beijing Group", two forces. The Chengde Group is dominated by the eight household names, and the Beijing Group is dominated by Prince Gong Yixuan, Prince Shuo and other princes and ministers.
(Empress Dowager Cixi)
At that time, there was Wen Xiang stationed in Beijing, Wen Xiang was a military aircraft minister, and the relationship with Prince Gong Yixuan was particularly good, when the Xianfeng Emperor fled to Rehe, Wen Xiang did not agree, Wen Xiang let Xian Feng stay in Beijing, at this time Su Shun did not agree, at that time five military aircraft ministers, four arrived in Chengde, Wen Xiang stayed alone in Beijing, when the Xianfeng Emperor died of illness, the four military aircraft ministers who went to Chengde were all "ZanXiang Assist", once again throwing Wen Xiang away, Wen Xiang was dissatisfied in his heart, and he had mustard in his heart.
There was also Guiliang who stayed in Beijing, Guiliang was the father-in-law of Prince Gong Yixuan, and there was also Baoxun who stayed in Beijing, when Baoxun was a Hubu Waiter before the coup, and his immediate boss was Sushun, before they fled, Sushun was like Baoxun asking for money and decorating the summer resort. Bao Zheng said no, so he let Bao Zheng stay in Beijing. There was also Weng Xincun who stayed in Beijing, and Weng Xincun was not satisfied with Sushun, and Because of one thing, Sushun demoted Weng Xincun to five levels in a row, and Weng Xincun also stayed in Beijing. Staying in Beijing was an emperor's teacher, Jia Zhen.
It is because there are Wen Xiang, Gui Liang, Bao Zheng, Weng Xincun, Jia Zhen, etc., because they are not satisfied with the eight ministers, so they all side with Yi Chen, so that yi Chen's balance has increased the weight, and gradually formed the "Beijing Group" headed by Yi Chen. After punishing the eight ministers, the "Beijing Group" these people were very satisfied. It is also because of the political struggle that unites them.
(Prince Gong)
The second reason is to hold imperial power
After the death of The Xianfeng Emperor, the eight ministers of Gu Ming were blindly arrogant and thought that they had mastered power, but in the society of imperial power, the power of the emperor was supreme, although the Tongzhi Emperor was small, but the two seals were in the hands of the empress dowager, and these two seals were the actual power, because the edict was stamped with two seals, which played a key role in the appointment and dismissal of officials, and the two palace empresses and Yi Chen firmly grasped this imperial power, and used this imperial power to crush the eight ministers in one fell swoop.
The third reason is to seize the opportunity
After the death of The Xianfeng Emperor, the eight ministers of Gu Ming also had their own ideas, "after returning to Beijing to depose the empress dowager of the two palaces" really held real power, but when the eight ministers of Gu Feng were in Rehe and were dealing with the funeral of the Xianfeng Emperor, Yi Xun had already made preparations for a coup when he returned to Beijing, and when Su Shun escorted the Xianfeng Emperor Zi Palace, he arrested Su Shun, and after the arrest was completed, a decision was made quickly, three very important ministers of praise, two committed suicide, one was beheaded, and the other five were dismissed.
Summary: It is precisely because of the support of the "Beijing clique" that Cixi and Sushun were able to smoothly launch the "Xin You coup", and the whole coup was originally unfavorable to Cixi's side, but Cixi and Yixun retreated into advance, but instead occupied the time, place, and people, and the success of the "Xin You's coup" had a lot to do with the blind arrogance of Sushun and others, and no one in sight. Gu Ming's eight ministers eventually failed, and Empress Dowager Cixi officially took the stage for the first time to "bow the curtain and listen to the government".