In the late Qing Dynasty, the Eight-Nation Alliance entered Beijing, not only burning and looting, but also proposing brazen treaties such as land cutting and compensation to the Qing government, while Cixi fled to Xi'an with Guangxu and the empresses and concubines of the harem. So a curious friend put forward an idea, when Cixi and Guangxu fled west, if someone took advantage of the chaos to seize power, could they bring the Great Qing back to life?
The answer is naturally no, let us analyze the political situation in the world at that time and the actual situation of the Qing Dynasty government.
The Boxer Rebellion arose
After the failure of the Wushu Reformation, the Boxer Rebellion took advantage of the situation, and at first Cixi sent a large number of troops to suppress it, but all of them ended in failure. After all, the Boxers belonged to a contingent with strong mobility and mobility, and although they were inferior to the regular army of the Qing government in terms of military strength, they could not stand the flexibility of combat.
In the state of the Boxers at that time, that is, to use the form of rebellion to seek some "welfare" for the common people and improve the previous "treatment", it is obvious that the Boxers did not have too "lofty" intentions. In particular, the members of this team are mainly peasants, who have been ruled by feudal emperors for generations, and some ideas have been deeply rooted in their minds.
When the Boxers developed and entered Beijing, if this group of people seized power by taking advantage of the situation, in addition to the internal group that had been stable, they would have to face the suppression of the Qing government and the suppression of the Eight-Power Alliance. No matter how rapidly the Boxer Rebellion developed, they did not have the strength to confront the Qing government and the Eight-Nation Alliance.
Therefore, the Boxers could take advantage of the chaos to revolt, but they were absolutely not qualified to seize power, and even if they seized power, they would soon be subverted, and the Great Qing would not forget to come back to life, but would accelerate its demise, and if it was not good, it would be ceded to more land and bear more compensation terms.
The strength of the Qing government still exists
When the Eight-Power Coalition army attacked Beijing, it only showed that the defensive and enemy resistance capabilities around Beijing were relatively weak, and with the territory of the Qing Dynasty at that time, there were strong troops stationed in many parts of the country, but the eight-nation coalition army was too rapid to capture, and with the communication facilities and traffic conditions at that time, it was too late to call foreign aid.
However, it was one thing for the Eight-Power Alliance to invade the city of Beijing, and it was another thing to seize power. At that time, local representative figures included Li Hongzhang, Zhang Zhidong, Zeng Guofan, Zuo Zongtang and other Xianghuai cliques, in addition to Chonghou, Shen Baozhen, Liu Kunyi, Tang Tingshu, Zhang Xiao, etc. Behind each figure and group, it meant that they had local military strength.
No matter which force seized power when Cixi and Guangxu fled, there would be opposing forces that would stand up and "shout" and "qingjun side" as a righteous identity. Don't look at the outside, some people may not have the momentum of fighting, but in the "infighting", they will immediately show passionate pride and ambition, which is not uncommon in many war-torn years.
Therefore, if someone seizes power at this time, the first thing to face is to resist the warlord forces throughout the country, which will only make the Qing government more and more chaotic, and will not play any auxiliary appointment, let alone come back to life. You know, the government of the late Qing Dynasty was already terminally ill, just a hundred-footed worm dead and not stiff.
Reproduction of the "Division of the Domain"
Let's suppose that a certain force suddenly sprung up and seized power in a chaotic manner, with the intention of reviving the imperial program, such as a heavy figure like Li Hongzhang, who was very authoritative at that time, and when Cixi fled, he just pushed the negotiation matters with the Eight-Nation Alliance to Li Hongzhang and other ministers.
But will the facts really bring the Great Qing back to life? The answer is no. Because the warlord forces throughout the country will take advantage of the rise of the trend, at most there will be the reappearance of the "division of the town", so that the Great Qing will enter a situation of division, and absolutely will not let the Great Qing rise from the dead, and the warlord melee during the Republic of China period is the best illustration.
Because of the above many impossibilities, no one would be willing to take up this "mess", so Cixi and Guangxu "vacationed" outside for three months, and then safely returned to Beijing to continue to run the government.
History cannot accelerate or change its course, but it will certainly present the final results to future generations in accordance with the laws of development, so that those "ifs" do not exist.