Speaking of Ai Xin Jue Luo Zaifeng, I think everyone is no stranger, as the last regent in China's feudal dynasty, his life is still quite legendary.
Zaifeng was not only the titular nephew of the famous Empress Dowager Cixi in the history of the Manchu Qing Dynasty, but also the biological father of Puyi, the last feudal emperor in China. Usually, the ancients paid attention to the mother relying on the son, but when it came to him, it became the father and the son. If, just from the perspective of his personal ability, this person is not very outstanding in a group of Manchu nobles, whether in terms of talent or knowledge. If he had not been related to Empress Dowager Cixi and at the same time had given birth to a son like Puyi who had entered the eyes of Cixi, then he would probably have been like many unscrupulous members of the clan.
However, fate was a very wonderful thing, and in the year when he was twenty-five years old, his life changed dramatically. In that year, the Guangxu Emperor, who had been ill for a long time, suddenly died, and the emperor who died young did not leave any heirs. Therefore, his sudden departure means that the Qing Dynasty's Jiangshan will soon have no successor, just as the so-called:"The country cannot be without a monarch for a day", although the Guangxu Emperor has long been in name only, and his existence is just a flower shelf that looks good, but after his death, Cixi in order to consolidate the power in his hands, he must still choose the right heir to the throne from among the members of the clan.
Of course, with the experience of the Guangxu Emperor, Cixi inevitably had a little more caution when choosing the heir to the throne.
In Cixi's view, this new emperor must not be too old, and if he is too old, he will inevitably have a rebellious mind against himself. At the same time, he had to choose a person who was related to him by blood, and if he didn't, even if he helped him ascend to the throne, he wouldn't be too close to him. After many comparisons, Puyi, who is only three years old, has undoubtedly become the best candidate in her eyes. In this way, in November 1908, Puyi ascended to the throne of the Manchu Qing Dynasty, which symbolized supreme power. As the saying goes: "It is easy to open a country and it is difficult to govern the country", and it is not as easy to govern a country as we think.
What's more, at this time, the Manchu Qing Dynasty was already thinning out. It must not only face its own internal problems, but also beware of foreign powers that are eyeing the tiger. How can such a complicated and chaotic situation be easily handled by a three-year-old child? If Cixi is healthy, then she can still control the overall situation behind her. However, she knew that she was afraid that time was running out, and once she gave up, the Qing Dynasty's country and mountains would probably be in danger. Although there were many talented ministers in the court to assist the new emperor, she also knew that the lord's weak subjects and strong subjects had been a big taboo since ancient times.
So, how can an ignorant child suppress those old foxes who have been immersed in the officialdom for decades?
At this time, of course, it was her own people who were the most reliable, so she ordered: "Crown her biological father Zaifeng as the regent and order her commanders and officials to assist the new emperor." Since then, Zaifeng has officially entered the peak of power in the Qing Dynasty, and his legendary life is about to begin.
As the saying goes, "thirty and standing", but zaifeng became a regent above ten thousand people under one person in his twenties, which is probably a height that many people will never reach in their lifetime. Although it was because of his son's relationship that he easily reached such a height. However, at that time, Zaifeng did not care much about the eyes of the outside world, he had the unique vigor and vigor of young people, and at this time, he was full of ambition.
As regent, Zaifeng devoted himself to reform, hoping that through reform, the crumbling Manchu Qing Dynasty would take on a ZTE posture in his hands. Perhaps, his intentions were good, but it backfired. Zaifeng not only failed to save the Qing Dynasty from the time when the building was about to fall with his full pride. What's more, some people believe that it is his series of measures that have buried the foundation of the Qing Dynasty for a hundred years.
In the rolling wheels of the times, the power of the individual may really be too small. Prosperity and decline are eternal iron laws throughout the ages, and history always advances in the alternation of the old and the new. Whether it is a country or a nation, from prosperity to decline is the only way for it to pass. At this time, Zaifeng was full of pride, intending to give the Manchu Qing Dynasty, which had long been terminally ill, a strong dose of medicine, so that it could rise again.
However, the end result was that instead of saving the troubled dynasty, he personally pushed it into the abyss of destruction. Perhaps everyone will blame Zaifeng for his ignorance and incompetence, which has buried the great river and mountain of Aisin Kyora. However, in my opinion, this statement is too arbitrary, and the torrent of history is not something that any one person can easily stop. As far as the social situation at that time was concerned, the collapse of the Qing Empire was already an inevitable trend of history.
Therefore, although Zaifeng should bear part of the responsibility for the demise of the Manchu Qing Dynasty, we should definitely not blame him for all the faults.
Next, let's take a look at what role he played in the fall of the Manchu Qing Dynasty:
As a prince who represented the Qing Dynasty on behalf of the Qing Dynasty at the age of 18 on behalf of Germany, he himself was undoubtedly relatively good. Although his mission was of a humiliating nature to a certain extent, to a certain extent, the experience of going to Germany was tantamount to broadening his horizons and increasing his life experience. This mission not only exposed him to the advanced ideas of the West, but also allowed him to see the hope of the revival of the Manchu Qing Dynasty.
Perhaps, it was precisely because of this mission that he witnessed the prosperity and strength of the West, so he always believed that only by effectively imitating the West for reform could the Qing Dynasty get rid of the current lifeless situation. So the first thing he did when he became regent was to implement reforms. During his reign, he vigorously engaged in "preparatory constitutionalism" to promote the responsible cabinet, and he knew very well that if the imperial power of a dynasty was to be eternally revitalized, it was necessary to firmly control the military and political power of the country in his own hands.
In this way, Yuan Shikai, who holds heavy power in his hands, became the first person he wanted to get rid of. Not to mention that it was precisely because of this person's betrayal that his brother The Guangxu Emperor experienced a ten-year prison life, and finally, he was depressed. With such new hatred and old hatred combined, Yuan Shikai naturally became a thorn in his eye.
When it comes to Yuan Shikai, he still has some skills.
At that time, he was not only able to judge the situation and save his life through whistle-blowing, but later, under the support of Cixi, he was able to pass the official luck all the way. Although, during the New Deal, he also did a lot of practical things, but the so-called "wood shows in the forest, the wind will destroy it." Probably the scenery had been too long, so that he was a little fluttery. During the New Deal, he greatly expanded his own strength, and most of the generals of the Beiyang New Army at that time obeyed him, and in the dprk, he could also be called "a protégé of the old world".
Just as the so-called "one son of heaven and one courtier", although Zaifeng did not ascend to the throne of God, at this time, he could also be regarded as an extremely human subject. How could he, who was bent on doing something great, allow Yuan Shikai, an old Cixi courtier with many henchmen, to point fingers at himself? What's more, the two of them still have old grudges, so he has to overthrow Yuan Shikai in public and private.
However, at that time, he may have overlooked the problem that Yuan Shikai represented not only the strength of the Beiyang warlords, but also the many Han forces in the imperial court that could be called the mainstay.
Therefore, Zaifeng's single-minded act of "killing Yuan" inevitably made the Han people at that time have a sense of rabbit death and fox sorrow. At the same time, this move of his, in fact, to some extent, also intensified the contradiction between the members of the royal family headed by him and the newly emerging Han forces. The country was already in jeopardy, and his move to exclude Han officials was nothing less than worse for the country.
So, on this basis, he made a second mistake that should not be made, that is, he promoted his brothers and nephews to important positions in the DPRK, without considering whether this group of people had the ability to match them. I think he probably made this choice because his foundation in the DPRK was not strong enough.
Before coming to power, Zaifeng did not have much of his own connections in the dynasty, and after being driven to the shelves as regent, it was inevitably too late for him to re-cultivate his connections. Therefore, the only people he could contact and trust were probably his brothers and nephews and other Manchu relatives. In fact, most of the Chinese have such a common problem, that is, they always think that their families are often more credible than outsiders, so most of them are prone to cronyism.
Strictly speaking, this is not too much of a problem, but zaifeng's mistake is that he is too anxious. He was bent on cultivating his own forces as soon as possible, so as to complete his great cause of reform. However, he ignored the character and talents of these people. Most of his brothers were stupid children, so where did they know how to do practical things? Therefore, he entrusted these people with heavy responsibilities, not only did not bring himself help, but on the contrary, he also allocated more energy to clean up the mess for these people.
Moreover, his nepotism made those capable old ministers feel extremely chilled. This also, to some extent, laid the hidden danger for his future failure.
What's worse is that he thinks that as long as he firmly grasps the military power, he can sit back and relax. Therefore, his action in grasping military power can be described as quite decisive, and his action is also quite rapid. After just over a month in power, he ordered the selection of strong and brave soldiers from the army and some idle members of the clan to form the Janissaries, which was responsible for protecting the emperor and the arch guard. Later, in the name of Emperor Xuantong, he ordered that the military power of the sea and army armies be taken into his own hands.
His actions, although to a large extent, regained control of the army, but they caused dissatisfaction among the local governors. Even the generals within the imperial family complained about his practice. Originally, these people all had a certain right to mobilize troops, but his practice completely restrained these people's actions. In this way, if these people want to mobilize a single soldier, they must consult the Military Advisory Office. Not only is this very cumbersome, but it also makes these people feel that their power is constrained.
Although these people were very dissatisfied with Zaifeng's approach, it would be a good thing if he could take this opportunity to firmly control the army. However, at this time, he made another trick: he actually let such military experts as Tie Liang and Liang Bi not use it, and handed over the military power of the navy and the army to his two younger brothers, Zaitao and Zaixun, respectively. These two people are just stupid children who can only eat, drink and have fun, so where will they command any army?
After the two men gained power, they were not busy training the army and the other was not busy strengthening coastal defense. On the contrary, those who have the intention to eliminate dissidents and suppress the talents, over time, the good army, they have made a miasma. And the hearts of those who were originally loyal to the old courtiers were getting colder and colder under their series of absurd behaviors.
Therefore, the loss of people's hearts in the end is only an inevitable result.
At the same time, the New Beiyang forces he represented were not only in contradiction with han officials, but also constantly contradicted the old aristocratic forces headed by Yi Li. Therefore, after he came to power, he not only had to be busy with his own reform cause, but also busy with the struggle for power and profit with various forces. In this way, he naturally did not have extra energy to cut out the ills of the Qing Dynasty for many years one by one.
After more than two years of fighting, although, on the surface, Zaifeng has the upper hand, his reform path has not been smooth. Especially in the localities, especially in the army, the young and strong relatives and nobles were still far from uprooting Yuan Shikai's forces, so that Yuan could make a comeback after the outbreak of the revolution.
On October 10, the third year of xuanun (1911), the Wuchang Uprising broke out, and the revolutionary storm immediately spread throughout the country, and the Qing court was already in danger. When Zaifeng was cornered, he had to re-evaluate the situation, saying: "Yuan Shikai can die without Yuan Shikai, if yuan shikai is used, it may not be used." On October 14, Zaifeng appointed Yuan Shikai as the governor of Huguang and asked him to lead the Beiyang Army to suppress the revolution.
The ambitious Yuan Shikai was not satisfied with this, and he refused to leave the mountain on the grounds that "the foot disease was not cured". On October 27, the Qing court appointed Yuan Shikai as the minister of Chincha to control the water and land armies in Hubei. At the same time, after the deception of "preparing for the constitution" was exposed, the constitutionalists began to divide within themselves. At the same time, the centralization of power in the imperial cabinet also caused division within the ruling clique and caused the centrifugation of the Han bureaucracy.
Since then, the Qing government has been in an unprecedented isolation. On November 1, Zaifeng had to announce the dissolution of the imperial cabinet and appoint Yuan Shikai as prime minister. By this time, Zaifeng had ceded all of his political power to Yuan Shikai, who had been deposed by him and returned home. After that, Yuan Shikai immediately sent troops to attack the Wuhan Revolutionary Army and captured Hankou.
Soon, zaifeng, the former regent of the former jianguo state, retired to the imperial palace in the name of prince alcohol, ending his short and tortured three-year career in the country, and from then on, completely withdrew from the stage of history. Soon after, all the self-defense fortresses of the Qing court were dismantled by themselves, leaving only an orphan and a widow, who were no longer able to resist Yuan Shikai's manipulation and fraud.
In fact, this has a lot to do with his character, in other words, that is, he lacks one of the most important qualities of a reformer -- not being vigorous enough. To be a successful reformer, you must be decisive in what you do. His weak character doomed him to constant compromise, in other words, he was not a qualified ruler.
If, in the prosperous world of Taiping, Zaifeng may be able to be a Prince of Taiping in peace and stability, and his life may not be so magnificent but it will not have too many flaws. However, he is in a chaotic world, so that a loyal person like him is doomed to not be able to take on great responsibilities in such an era.
Therefore, the fall of the Manchu Qing Dynasty was not actually the fault of Zaifeng alone, he had already done his best to save it, but he was just unable to catch it.
Resources:
[General History of China, Volume XI, Pre-Modern Edition, "Sincere Reform Measures Are Improper: The Relationship between the Fall of the Qing Dynasty and Zaifeng"]