The history of any country is written by countless people and events, and among these people, in addition to the famous national heroes of the ages, of course, there are also some mediocre people who are timid and afraid of things. Today, I will discuss with you the Xianfeng Emperor of the Qing Dynasty, an emperor who has been called "three mistakes and four nothings" by historians.
Portrait of Xianfeng
The Xianfeng Emperor, whose real name was YiXuan, was the fourth son of the Daoguang Emperor. The meaning of the two words Xianfeng is to hope that the people under the whole world will be able to have enough food and clothing. However, under Xianfeng's rule, the social situation is really difficult to say, and it cannot be said that it runs counter to the word "Xianfeng", but it is not much different. After understanding some of the basic information of Xianfeng, let's explain what is called "three mistakes and four nothings".
The first mistake refers to Xianfeng's mistaken sitting on the emperor's throne. In fact, the social situation of the Qing Dynasty has gone downhill since the beginning of Qianlong, and Daoguang is an emperor who has no great achievements, in his later years, his criteria for choosing an heir have undergone some changes, originally the crown prince should have both moral integrity and ability, but Daoguang chose Yixuan, who only had virtue, but excluded Prince Gong Yixuan, who had both moral integrity and ability. As a result, Xianfeng became emperor in this way.
The second mistake refers to Xianfeng's mistaken escape from the city of Beijing. To tell the truth, the political situation left by Daoguang to Xianfeng was not too good, and when Xianfeng succeeded to the throne, the entire Qing Dynasty was already troubled at home and abroad, with the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom Movement at home and the invasion of the British and French coalition forces. When the offensive of the Anglo-French coalition army became more and more fierce, Xianfeng not only did not call on the army and the people to actively resist together, but instead left the people of Li min and fled with the ministers and concubines. This practice was undoubtedly a blow to the morale of the army, and further contributed to the arrogance of the Anglo-French coalition. This mistake doomed the Qing army to a complete defeat in the battle against the Anglo-French coalition.
Anglo-French coalition
The third mistake refers to the wrong choice of the Minister of Orders. Xian Feng loved to make mistakes, and did not change them until he was about to die. Xian Feng, who was seriously ill in the Rehe Palace, as the next successor, began to elect gu ming ministers, and gave some of the power to the empress dowager in the harem, and those who were selected in the harem, who had power, could also veto any resolution of the gu ming chancellor by one vote, thinking that this would prevent some ministers in the court from having too much power and consolidating the imperial power.
However, history tells us that it was precisely because of this mistake of his that the situation of the later dictatorship of Cixi emerged. What was even more infuriating was that because he and Prince Gong Yixun had some conflicts of interest over the establishment of the Crown Prince, it was really a big mistake that in his edict he did not give Prince Gong Yixun too much power.
Empress
After the three mistakes of the Xianfeng Emperor, we will talk about why he is called the "Four Emperors without" by historians. What do these four nothings refer to? Inaction, no talent, no vision, no courage. Throughout the life of the Xianfeng Emperor, we only hope that he will make fewer mistakes, and who dares to ask him for any political deeds? Moreover, he himself did not have any special skills that could be used, Wen Tao was ignorant, and Wu Luo was even more unnoticed, and even basic horse archery could not be done well.
During the days when he hid in the Rehe Palace, Xian Feng not only did not think of making progress, but instead lingered in the land of fireworks every day, and finally he was infected with the abominable opium, and even did not even call it the ointment of longevity. He fled the Forbidden City and could not hold on to the Gyeonggi Stronghold, which showed that he had no vision. In the face of the British and French allies did not dare to fight a battle, only dared to flee into the wilderness, it can be seen that he has no courage.
Rehe Palace
Therefore, the decline of each dynasty is not without reason, most of the decision-makers made the wrong decisions at the wrong time, and Xianfeng happened to take on this role. Xianfeng made a series of wrong decisions, pushing the Qing Dynasty to the precipice step by step, pushing it onto the road of no return. So, the prosperity and decline of a dynasty, the decision-making of decision-makers plays a large part of the role. I hope that through this history, we can bring some thinking in our growth, and let us know how to choose the best choice when encountering difficulties.
Reference: "Kiyoshi History Manuscript", etc.