In China's feudal society, imperial power can be described as supreme. As the center of power, the emperor is the supreme representative of a dynasty, and his words and deeds often reflect the integrity and height of the entire imperial court.
Therefore, throughout the ages, "King's Death Society" has always been the most basic and strictest requirement for the emperor. That is to say, when faced with danger, the emperor must have the national integrity to resist the enemy to the death, even at the expense of martyrdom. But looking back at nearly 2400 years of feudal history, not every emperor can meet this requirement.
Among them, there were also many emperors who chose to flee in the face of danger, the most famous of which were Song Gaozong Zhao Shuo, who was forced to run away four times by jin soldiers and even exiled at sea for three months, and finally achieved "spiritual escape" by abdicating the throne, as well as the Xianfeng Emperor, who colluded with foreign forces to encircle and suppress the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom Movement and was forced by the Eighth Route Army to invade Beijing and flee to Rehe and die in the name of "Northern Hunting".
Before the latter decided to escape, he was also dissuaded by Cixi, who was still a concubine at the time. At that time, Cixi showed extraordinary feelings of home and country, believing that the capital of the Great Qing Dynasty could not be tarnished by barbarians, and urged the Xianfeng Emperor to stay and swear to die with the officers and soldiers to resist the foreigners and defend the capital. However, she was unable to persuade Emperor Xianfeng, but was severely reprimanded by the other side, and finally Cixi and Emperor Xianfeng went to Rehe for refuge.
But only 40 years later, when the invaders attacked Beijing again, Cixi, as the de facto ruler, did not take much time to make the same decision as the Xianfeng Emperor.
This time, she pulled the fig leaf of the "Western Hunt" and fled with a group of more than a dozen people, including the Guangxu Emperor and the Empress. And when they fled west in a small group of only a dozen people, why did Cixi and the Guangxu Emperor not be like the Han Xiandi emperor of the Eastern Han Dynasty, who was "blackmailed by the son of heaven to order the princes" by ambitionists like Cao Cao?
Inner struggle and preparation before the "West Hunt"
Before and after the ancient rulers made actions that were inconsistent with their identity, such as fleeing in the face of danger, or being captured by the enemy, they often found various words and excuses for themselves to cover up their incompetence and weakness. Among them, "hunting" is their most common excuse.
Just like the Northern Song Dynasty emblem and the Second Emperor of Qin, who were once abducted during the Jingkang Revolution, it is the banner of the "Northern Hunt". Later, Ming Yingzong, who was abducted in the tumu fort, also used this kind of statement.
In addition to the captive emperors, the Xianfeng Emperor, who fled in a hurry during the Second Opium War, also learned from the practices of the Northern Song Dynasty and the Ming Dynasty and ran to the north to "hunt in the north". Cixi, who had later become the de facto ruler, learned to be flexible and chose to cover up his escape under the pretext of "hunting in the west".
But before Cixi made this decision, she also experienced a lot of ideological struggles.
Just as when The Xianfeng Emperor was on the throne and chose to flee north, Cixi dissuaded the Xianfeng Emperor as he said: "The emperor can shock everything in Beijing, and if the holy driver does it, he is afraid that the Temple of the Sect will have no owner, and he will be destroyed by the people." The former Zhou Room moved east, and the Son of Heaven was dusted and forever ashamed of future generations. If you abandon the capital now, you will be humiliated. ”
In Cixi's view, staying in the capital can play a deterrent and incentive role, and it can also preserve major buildings such as the Zongmiao Temple and imperial property, and will not be recorded in history.
Because of these considerations, Cixi did not dare to escape after it was her turn to be the master. However, the proposition of "whether to escape or not to escape" did not disappear from Cixi's heart, but was encouraged in her heart from time to time. It was not until the year 1900 that Cixi gradually made up her mind after years of hesitation.
In late May of that year, the Eight-Power Alliance attacked The Dagu Fort, and the Qing government declared war on various countries four days later. At that time, Cixi believed that even if the Eight-Nation Alliance could not be defeated, the Qing army and the Boxers would not lose too badly in the end. But later facts also proved that Cixi's thinking was completely wrong.
In just over a month, the Eight-Power Coalition attacked the city of Beijing from the Dagu Fort, catching Cixi off guard. At that time, Cixi, as usual, was ready to start eating breakfast. As a result, a shell of the Eight-Nation Alliance fell on the roof of the West Hall of Leshou Hall, frightening Cixi so much that she almost jumped.
Li Lianying, who was familiar with Cixi's disposition, immediately handed over the steps, knelt down and begged, "Lafayette get up and drive quickly, it is too late."
But Cixi, as the actual ruler, even if she was frightened, she wanted to put on a fig leaf for herself and go away. So she summoned Wang Wenshao and other ministers from the Military Aircraft Department five times in a day, and finally only Wang Wenshao, Gang Yi, and Zhao Shuqiao were summoned to the palace.
Cixi also made the decision to leave Beijing as a "temporary retreat" after "discussing" with them.
Flee to the west
Therefore, at 6 o'clock in the morning of the next day, when the sky was light, Cixi began to prepare to flee with the Guangxu Emperor, the empress, the eldest brother and others. However, before leaving, Zailan spread the bad news that the Eight-Nation Alliance had captured Dongzhimen and Qihuamen into the palace, and Cixi, who felt that the matter had reached the last moment, almost committed suicide by diving.
However, after being stopped, Cixi immediately tearfully led the Guangxu Emperor and several other major figures out of the palace from the Shenwu Gate and began to flee west.
In order to hide the identity of the group, Cixi ruthlessly cut her cherished nails and changed into the clothes of a rural old lady, while Guangxu also took off his yellow robe and coat and dressed up as a running hall boy.
Out of the need to cover up their identities, and because the escape was too panicked, Cixi and Guangxu's entourage was not many, except for the empress, concubines, brothers, Gege and other members of the royal family, there were only some personal servants and a little bodyguard.
Therefore, the team of Cixi and Guangxu "Western Hunting" was only three horse-drawn carriages. Among them, Cixi and his bodyguard were driven by the eldest brother, the Guangxu Emperor was sitting in the middle, driven by Puyi, and the last one was filled with empresses, concubines and Gege, driven by eunuchs.
The rest of the guards also changed into plain clothes and trotted all the way to keep up with the carriage. Overall, at the time of their departure, Cixi and Guangxu were only surrounded by dozens of people.
Due to the panic of the escape, they did not bring much supplies with them, and Cixi and Guangxu suffered a lot along the way. Cixi even thought that she was no different from the old lady of the peasant family.
Why is no one "blackmailing the Son of Heaven to order the princes"
Cixi and Guangxu fled in a hurry, and at first there were only a few dozen people in the team. In this case, as long as there is a heart, all the forces on the westward escape route of Cixi and Guangxu have the possibility of becoming "Cao Cao". But in the end, Cixi and the Guangxu Emperor did not encounter the encounter of the Han Xiandi, but more because of the completely different social backgrounds of the late Qing Dynasty and the late Han Dynasty.
In the Eastern Han Dynasty, where Emperor Xian of Han was located, although the society was already in turmoil, there were no major external troubles. The people of the world still recognized the Han Dynasty, which led to the fact that forces in various places did not dare to openly argue with the imperial court. Therefore, Cao Cao would choose to blackmail tianzi to order the princes, also because the emperor was still relatively easy to use at that time.
By the end of the Qing Dynasty, the Eight-Nation Alliance had already approached the city, and even if Cixi ordered the local officials to enter the capital and qin wang, no one paid any attention to her. The royal family has lost all its prestige and status in this crisis of national annihilation. In this way, no one will be willing to be "Cao Cao" to hold this "emperor" who no one obeys.
In addition to the fact that the emperor is no longer good at making this reason, the reason why no one is willing to "blackmail the son of heaven to order the princes" is that there is no reason to "order".
At that time, foreign tribes invaded and were bent on taking the land of China, and Cixi and Guangxu, who were the actual and nominal rulers of the Qing government, were the targets of their attention, and the officials in other places only wanted to avoid them far away, rather than go near them to seek their own death.
Moreover, at that time, even the Qing army and the Boxers could not resist, and other places did not have the strength to resist the Eight-Nation Alliance, so they were more willing to bend to a corner and save themselves than to take action.
brief summary:
After the Eight-Power Alliance invaded Beijing, Cixi and Emperor Guangxu fled. Although there were only a few dozen people in the entourage at the beginning, under the serious national crisis, the imperial power had lost its authority, status and attractiveness, and there was no phenomenon of "holding the son of heaven hostage to order the princes" along the way.
Although they were relatively embarrassed at first, Cixi and Guangxu were later received by local officials along the way, and gradually settled down, and were able to continue to let Li Hongzhang enter Beijing for negotiations.