We read all the lead to present a different history.
After the change of the law, Cixi hated the Guangxu Emperor so much that she originally wanted to delegate power to let him carry out reform and reform, but in the end it was the interests of the party headed by her that was damaged, and if it were not for Yuan Shikai's whistle-blowing and Rong Lu's escort, it was estimated that the tragedy of "killing the queen of the garden" would become a reality.
Therefore, the thorn in Guangxu's eye must be unplugged. Soon after, Cixi launched a coup d'état, wiping out the backbone members of the imperial party led by the Guangxu Emperor, and also issued a decree to abolish Guangxu above the court. Originally, this matter should have been done naturally, but Rong Lu stood up to express opposition, and local governors such as Li Hongzhang, Zhang Zhidong, and Liu Kun also came forward to protest. What is more serious is that the great powers of various countries have also sided with Guangxu.
The words have been spoken, the resistance to doing it is too great, and it is a loss of face not to do it. At this time, it was still Rong Lu who was the most considerate person, and he came up with a way to save Cixi's face and satisfy the interests of all parties, and the idea was to select a child from the near branch of the clan to be established as the eldest brother, who was not only the heir of the emperor, but also inherited the Tongzhi Emperor, and then cultivated in the palace, and gradually inherited the unification later.
This is the famous "Yihai Jianchu". On January 24, 1890, Cixi summoned the Prince of The Near Branch, the Imperial Minister, the Minister of internal affairs, the University Scholar, and the Shangshu of the Ministry of Justice to the Yiluan Hall. Subsequently, in the name of Guangxu, Cixi ordered The second son of King Duan to be crown prince, succeeding Emperor Tongzhi as the eldest brother, and at the same time sending the eldest brother to the Great High Hall, the Fengxian Hall, and the Shou Emperor Hall in the first month of the second year to perform ceremonies on behalf of the emperor.
"Yihai Jianchu" is Cixi, Ronglu and others finding a compromise method in a complex situation. Cixi was reluctant to allow Guangxu to continue to rule, fearing that abolishing Guangxu would bring about an unmanageable situation. Li Pu's appointment as the eldest brother was undoubtedly an important step towards deposing Guangxu.
Cixi's cleverness lies in the fact that this method of hers can not only meet the requirements of conservatives such as Gang Yi, Xu Tong, and Chongqi, but will not attract opposition from the outside world. In other words, Cixi's step can be attacked and retreated.
On the surface, Cixi's handling of this matter is quite methodical. But judging from the later development of the situation, Cixi and Ronglu really made a bad move. After the promulgation of the edict of Yihai Jianchu, it did not set off too much turmoil in the official arena, but on the contrary caused a huge noise in the cultural and business circles. Ye Han, Zhang Binglin, Cai Yuanpei, Tang Caichang, Huang Yanpei and 1231 other Shanghai gentry jointly called The Prime Minister Yamen and pleaded with the emperor not to abdicate.
Cixi was furious when she received the telegram, not because it was not all the contents of the telegram, but because she was surprised that the gentry in Shanghai were bold enough to interfere in the government. You must know that since the founding of the Qing Dynasty, the abolition of the state is a major state affair, let alone a gentry, even the bureaucracy does not dare to take a stand easily, and now that it has reached this point, it is no wonder that Cixi is angry.
In addition, according to the custom, the imperial court promulgated such an important will, and the great powers of various countries were to enter the palace to celebrate. However, Cixi found that none of these foreign ministers had appeared, which also proved that her establishment of the reserve was not approved. As a result, Cixi's pressure was great.
Putting aside various political factors, in terms of Pu Juan's personal qualities alone, Yihai Jianchu is also a bad move. Pu Juan is quite similar to his father, the whole is not a serious lord, he urinates and is stubborn. After entering the palace, Pu Juan thought that he was the future emperor, and his actions and speeches were extremely arrogant.
Since he had not yet been deposed, Guangxu was still the nominal emperor of the Qing Dynasty, but after Pu Juan entered the palace, he had great disrespect for Guangxu and even fought hard. The matter of the prince beating the emperor is fresh, the Qing Dynasty has been established for more than two hundred years, this is the first time. One day, the Guangxu Emperor was standing in the pavilion watching the scenery, and Pu Juan suddenly punched each other from behind, and a chaotic fist knocked Guangxu to the ground. But the Guangxu Emperor was helpless, an empty shell emperor had no power in his hands, he had to complain to Cixi, and eventually Pu Yan was beaten with 20 sticks with family law.
After Pu Juan entered the palace, he had no interest in reading and learning words, but was very attentive to music, horseback riding, and boxing sticks, and he took several eunuchs to the theater every day to watch plays, doing nothing all day. Officials in the DPRK and China despised Pu Yu extremely, believing that such an act would not be able to inherit the importance of the clan society. Later, Pu Juan's notoriety spread outside the palace, causing an uproar.
In the end, Pu Juan, the eldest brother, was also renamed, and Yihai Jianchu was declared a failure. It can be said that Cixi did not gain any political benefits in the end, but offended the great powers of various countries, which also led to the change of Gengzi and the fundamental reason for the eight-nation alliance to invade the city of Beijing.