Zheng Xiaoxu (1860-1938), also spelled Su Jie (苏戡), was born in Xumen, Suzhou. In the previous generation of scholars, there were 10 lifters, 5 jinshi, and 3 Hanlin in the four generations. His father, Zheng Shoulian, was a jinshi. He successively served as the chief of Fengchi and the head of the zhizhi Academy (i.e., the principal). In 1882, the 23-year-old Zheng Xiaoxu was lifted and won the first place in the Fujian Provincial Township Trial.
In the spring of 1898, Zheng Xiaoxu participated in the "Pengshu Reform Law" headed by Kang Youwei. Under the protection of Zhang Zhidong, he was summoned by the Guangxu Emperor. This was a great honor at the time, and he was so excited that he swore allegiance to the Qing court from then on. From this year on, the official fortunes were prosperous, and he successively served as the prime minister of state affairs, Yamen Zhangjing, and the superintendent of Guangxi's border affairs.
Before the fall of the Qing Dynasty, Zheng Xiaoxu was promoted to the post of envoy to Hunan Province. After the gunshots of the Wuchang Uprising rang out, Zheng Xiaoxu, on his way to office, heard that Changsha had fallen into the hands of the revolutionary party, so he fled to Shanghai to become a yugong. Zheng Xiaoxu is not only a poet, but also a famous calligrapher. In the early years, he studied Yan Zhenqing and Su Shi, and later learned Wei Bei, forming a style of qinggang, vigor and condensation. Its each word is worth twelve silver, so life is worry-free, "annual income of twenty thousand gold", but also a good wandering.
However, Zheng Xiaoxu was attached to the temple in the jianghu, still loyal to the Qing Dynasty and not to the Republic of China, looking forward to the day of restoration. This was heard by Emperor Puyi of the Sun Dynasty, and Zheng Xiaoxu was specially given a four-character plaque of "Zhen Feng Ling" to show praise.
In 1923, Zheng Xiaoxu was recommended to Emperor Sun by Chen Baochen, a fellow fuzhou native and Puyi's master. Hearing the emperor's call, Zheng Xiaoxu quickly rushed to Beijing. Zheng Xiaoxu, who was in his sixties and had a beard, quickly won Puyi's trust and became the prime minister's minister of internal affairs. In the same year, Feng Yuxiang launched the "Beijing Coup" and forced the palace to expel Puyi from the Forbidden City. Zheng Xiaoxu escorted Puyi to avoid datsu together. In 1928, Zheng Xiaoxu went to Japan to secretly plan Puyi's restoration of the imperial system.
After the "918" incident in 1931, Zheng Xiaoxu was responsible for drafting the pseudo-Manchukuo national anthem and the founding declaration, and actively instigated Puyi to defect to the Japanese. A calligrapher, poet, and official with patriotic ideas has thus degenerated into an out-and-out traitor and a lackey.
However, only half a month later, on September 3, Zheng Xiaoxu proposed his resignation to Puyi. It turned out that the chief executive of the State Council, Tokuzo Komai, regarded Zheng as a puppet and became the de facto "prime minister of the state." Zheng Xiaoxu, who fantasized about realizing the royal politics advocated by Confucius in "Manchukuo", was unwilling.
It was precisely at this time that, according to the Plan of the Japanese side, the new Commander of the Kwantung Army and Ambassador Plenipotentiary to "Manchukuo" Muto Nobuyoshi was to sign a package agreement with Zheng Xiaoxu. That is, the Nichiman Protocol, the recognition of Japan's special status and the right to garrison troops. This protocol has enabled Japan's attempt to seize China's rights and interests in northeast China to be fully realized, and the fertile northeast will become a base for Japan's military and material supply base for expanding its war of aggression, and minerals and grain will be continuously exported to the outside world.
Although whether he signed it or not, Zheng Xiaoxu only obeyed orders. But in his heart, this is a huge gamble: one step forward, will completely go to the abyss of traitor; And the refusal to sign is a threat. In exchange for greater political rights. It is possible to realize their political ambitions. After much thought, he chose the latter. In order to appease Zheng, the Japanese side had to remove the chief executive. Zheng Xiaoxu also withdrew his resignation.
On September 15, the Protocol was signed as scheduled. In the speech before the signing of the contract, Zheng Xiaoxu moved his mouth, unable to speak for half a day, and the muscles of his face trembled violently. A look of mourning. Because he is deeply aware. This signing will betray the interests of the Chinese nation. He is a sin that cannot be escaped, and he will never be able to turn over.
After Zheng Xiaoxu's various traitorous acts before and after his false manchu premiership were reported, the literati who had been friends in the old days, such as Chen Yan and Mao Guangsheng, broke off contact with him one after another to show their disdain. His handwritten signboard was also easily replaced by Shanghai merchants.
After the establishment of the puppet state of Manchukuo. The call for the qing court's widows, represented by Zheng Xiaoxu and Xi Qia, who aspired to implement the imperial system, swelled sharply. In order to appease this political force and satisfy Puyi's desire to become emperor, in late 1933, Ling Liulong, who was then the commander of the Kwantung Army, officially notified Zheng Xiaoxu. The Japanese government has agreed to Puyi as emperor of "Manchukuo".
On March 1, 1934, Puyi held an enthronement ceremony in "Xinjing" (i.e., Changchun) and became the emperor of the puppet state of Manchukuo. This move allowed Zheng Xiaoxu to see the possibility of realizing political ambitions. He was full of joy, looking back on the reality of the two years of being suspended, and rekindled his "ambition".
In order to thank Japan for its "love", in May Zheng Xiaoxu and Xi Qiadong crossed to Japan to thank you. Momentarily oblivious, I photographed a lot of Japanese, which was disgusting. One day in the hotel, Zheng Xiaoxu received a large paper bag, which was opened to see two pairs of couplets, one for "confessing to the thief as a father, leading the beast to eat people.". Yokozuna is the "Owner of Haizang Building". The first is "one two three four five six seven, filial piety, loyalty, benevolence, righteousness and honesty", and horizontal criticism of "night up nunnery". His face turned pale, which was scolding him for "forgetting the eight shamelessness." The owner of the Haizang Building and the Night Rising Nunnery are all other names of Zheng Xiaoxu.
Even though he was sneaking around and seeking perfection, Zheng Xiaoxu still could not exchange the autonomy of the puppet state of Manchukuo and his own independent governance. Imperial refresh. Failed to change the status of the puppet. The fact that it is empty is still the same, and it is becoming more and more stringent. He found that the Japanese did not take Puyi seriously at all, and treated Puyi's "subjects" differently--they were just objects of use, tools of service, and barking dogs.
In the spring of 1935, when the japanese House of Representatives delegation visited "Manchukuo," Zheng Xiaoxu was momentarily emotional and dissatisfied. Subsequently, at the celebration ceremony to commemorate the third anniversary of the establishment of puppet Manchukuo, Zheng Xiaoxu again mentioned the "theory of letting go" and was published in the Shengjing Times, the most influential puppet Manchu.
The spirit of these remarks, which clearly ran counter to Japan's political aims, made the Japanese masters extremely dissatisfied, so on May 21, they forced Zheng Xiaoxu to resign as prime minister. He also said with care: he is tired and thinking about retirement, needs to retire, and automatically resigns. From this point of view, he suffered this fate because he was "not obedient enough".
After losing power, Zheng Xiaoxu was physically and mentally exhausted. Spend all day rejoicing, writing and writing poetry to survive the years. He also founded the Wang Dao Academy and personally taught Wang Dao Thought. After the hegemonic nature of the Japanese invasion of China was exposed, this move was undoubtedly a bitter satire on its choice to surrender to the enemy. In the spring of 1938, the 79-year-old Zheng Xiaoxu accidentally contracted a minor illness and died violently on March 28. There are rumors that they have been harmed by the Japanese.
Zheng Xiaoxu was loyal to the "Great Qing" all his life and failed to walk with the times, which is another matter. A pure scholar, full of moral indoctrination and reasonableness. Knowing honesty and shame, we should have been honored. At the time of the survival of the nation, although there is no strength to bind the chicken, it is impossible to fight with a gun, but also to cut the ambition of the invention, or to martyr the country with death, so as to show the national integrity that can be killed and cannot be wanted. No more, or moved elsewhere, or lived in seclusion in the city.
However, Zheng Xiaoxu pursued fame and profit, and even carried his master behind his back and listened to the call of the Japanese. To exchange a secret treaty for the "prime minister of Manchukuo" and to betray the country and seek glory is an unknowable crime. Embarking on the road of the traitors who will never be recovered, he also made Ling not forget the idea of the royal way. In addition to the absurdity, it is regrettable and abhorrent.