The living environment in which Guangxu was imprisoned was indeed very miserable and miserable! But it is a bit exaggerated to say that it is not as good as the people's cattle shed, after all, before the food and clothing, eating and sleeping were served, living in a luxurious palace, sleeping on the dragon bed. As a result, after being imprisoned, the living environment is very different, life is hard, the furniture in the house is very simple, there is only a hard board bed, not even a futon, a rough diet, cleaning by yourself, and removing spider webs. What is more tragic than life is that it is mentally tortured, the heart is melancholy and lonely, and the body is also tortured in many ways. Every day, he also accompanied Cixi to the early dynasty, and after playing the role of a puppet, he was escorted back to this place, and this life lasted for ten years, which was simply miserable.
Why Guangxu was imprisoned
With the development of the reform law and the intensification of the contradictions between the empress and the empress, the "autumn military parade" became a tight curse set on the head of the restoration faction.
Since announcing the change of law and the attempt to become stronger, the Guangxu Emperor, with the assistance of the restoration forces, has formulated a package plan and issued nearly 200 edicts in more than three months.
The breadth and depth of the reforms he wanted under the auspices of the Guangxu Emperor surprised Cixi at the time, and what disgusted Cixi was that Guangxu actually appointed new people in the reforms, leaving aside her cronies, which undoubtedly challenged her authority.
The Guangxu Emperor decided to severely punish bureaucrats who obstructed the New Deal because the officials of the Ministry of Society obstructed the New Deal. For the first time, he used the power of recall of officials since his pro-government period, and deposed the Six Halls of The Rebbe. At once, so many senior officials were deposed, and some minor ministers were appointed to take charge of the major affairs of the military state, and they did not ask the empress dowager beforehand.
Cixi, who had initially been cold-hearted about the change of law, could no longer tolerate it and severely reprimanded the Guangxu Emperor: Those were all important ministers in the court, and there was no major change, and it was impossible to dismiss them without saying anything. You arbitrarily wantonly replace the old with the new, and mess with the family law by one person, what did the ancestors call me?
For Cixi's reprimand, the strong Guangxu refused to give in. For the first time, he plucked up the courage to disobey, saying that he was also thinking about the country and the people, and if he did not take measures and lost the land of his ancestors, wouldn't he let the world and future generations criticize him?
On the same day, Cixi immediately sent people to Tianjin to discuss with Rong Lu how to deal with Guangxu's strategy. In fact, with Cixi's power, it was enough to abolish Guangxu in the palace, and there was no need to send people to Tianjin to go to Great Lengths, and what she needed was a favorable time and excuse for the division to be famous.
At this time, some of the conservative forces that opposed the change of law took the opportunity to stir up dissension in it, and rumors about it were secretly circulated in the capital: "In September, Tianjin military parade, the empress dowager will abolish the establishment."
However, the unarmed Guangxu Emperor and the Restoration Faction were disturbed by rumors. The day of the military parade is approaching, and the reformists feel that things are urgent, and they are thinking of quickly recruiting people with military power to deal with the unexpected.
At this time, Yuan Shikai, who was training a new army in Tianjin, broke into the vision of the restoration faction. Believing that Yuan Shikai had been stationed in a foreign country, knew the situation in foreign countries, and was an active participant in the restoration faction, he suggested that Guangxu promote Yuan Shikai for his own use.
Yuan Shikai was a close confidant of Cixi, Rong Lu, and was closely related to him on weekdays, and it was undoubtedly a big adventure for the reformists to entrust such a major mission to Yuan Shikai, but what good strategy was there for the Guangxu Emperor and the restoration faction he relied on to have no foundation in the dynasty and did not hold real power?
The Guangxu Emperor then ordered Yuan Shikai to meet his majesty in the capital. After Yuan Shikai came to Beijing, the Guangxu Emperor promoted Yuan as an alternate waiter and implied that Yuan Shikai and Rong Lu could do their own things in the future.
At this sensitive moment, Yuan Shikai's entry into Beijing and the fight against grass and snakes aroused the high vigilance of Cixi and Rong Lu and others. Rong Lu immediately dispatched troops and generals, transferred Nie Shicheng into an army to defend Tianjin, cut off the way for Yuan's army to enter Beijing, and transferred Dong Fuxiang's army into the capital to prepare for major events. Based on the situation at that time and the comparison of the forces of the two sides, even if Yuan Shikai sincerely supported the Guangxu Emperor and the Restoration Faction, it would be difficult to escape the heavenly net laid down by Cixi and Rong Lu.
After that, the Guangxu Emperor went to the Summer Palace to ask for peace, Cixi had a cold face, and the Guangxu Emperor knew that there was a change, and after returning to the palace, he urgently summoned Yang Rui to issue a secret edict, so that Kang Youwei, Tan Si and others could try to save the situation.
Who knew that Yang Rui had read the secret edict, and he had actually messed up the square inches and confusedly suppressed the 100,000 fiery secret edicts for 5 days. The Guangxu Emperor was very anxious, and took the risk of issuing a Ming edict asking Kang Youwei to go to Shanghai to run a newspaper, and asked Lin Xu to bring out another secret edict urging Kang Youwei to leave the capital quickly.
Kang Youwei and the others, who had received three edicts, knelt down and wept bitterly, and decided to send Tan Sitong to persuade Yuan Shikai to serve the king that night.
At this time, after weighing the comparison of the forces of the Later Emperor, Yuan Shi decided to secretly protect himself and defect to the Cixi faction. After pretending to accept Tan Sitong, he rushed to Tianjin and reported to Rong Lu. Rong Lu felt that the time was ripe to launch a coup d'état and immediately relayed the inside story to Cixi. On the day after Yuan Shikai arrived in Tianjin, Cixi returned to the palace from the Summer Palace and launched a coup d'état that shocked China and foreign countries.
The restorationists Kang Guangren, Tan Sitong, Yang Rui, and others were arrested and killed, and the other implicated were either exiled, imprisoned, or dismissed from their posts; except for Kang Youwei, Liang Qichao, and a few others who were exiled abroad, the restoration faction was basically swept away by Cixi.
Just as the Guangxu Emperor was still beating the spirit in the Zhonghe Hall, suddenly, he broke into a group of eunuchs who were guarding the eunuchs, claiming to be under the will of Empress Dowager Yi, saying that the empress dowager had summoned Guangxu to interrogate him. In the face of the sudden return of Cixi to the palace, the Guangxu Emperor felt that the threat was immediately coming.
Sure enough, Cixi summoned King Yili of Qing, Zaiyi of Duanwang, and the military ministers of the Imperial Front, and set up bamboo rods in front of the palace to publicly interrogate the Guangxu Emperor.
Cixi rebuked Guangxu: The world is the world of the ancestors, how dare you act arbitrarily, the ministers have been with me for many years, left to assist you, but you do not use it at will, appoint Kang Youwei, Kang Youwei can be better than the person I choose? You're too dim-witted, too unsightly!
Then he reprimanded the other courtiers, why not stop them, and let the emperor perish and lose the country. After saying that, he shifted his sharp gaze to Guangxu and asked, "What is the crime of changing the ancestral law and the sins of your subordinates?" I ask you if your ancestors are heavy, or Kang Youwei is important, why did you betray your ancestors and practice Kang Fa? ”
Guangxu trembled, claiming that he was purely trying to preserve the national pulse, and in a hurry, he used Western law before he listened to Kang Youwei's method.
When Cixi saw that Guangxu dared to defend himself, she was even more annoyed: Is the ancestral law inferior to the Western law, and Kang Youwei wants to harm me, don't you know?
In Cixi's eyes, the change of law could not challenge her authority and power, and if it endangered her status as empress dowager, no matter how reasonable the new law was and how time-making it was, she would all be knocked to the ground.
The emperor was so frightened that he trembled and did not know how to respond. Cixi is desperately pursuing, you are complicit in doing this, don't you know?
Guangxu whispered, "I know." ”
Cixi: Do you know that you still conspired with him and let him go?
Under Cixi's sharp questioning, the cowardly Guangxu completely collapsed, and against his will, he said that he would order Kang Youwei to be arrested.
But for Guangxu's dishonesty, Cixi no longer had any patience. Immediately, he ordered Guangxu to be imprisoned in Yingtai, and Guangxu, who had no real power, had to tie his hands and be deprived of his power, and began his 10-year-long lonely and depressed puppet life.
After Guangxu was imprisoned, not only was his living environment miserable, but his spirit and body and mind were also tormented and tortured
Yingtai was originally a resort for the imperial family to escape the summer and visit, surrounded by water on all sides, and the only Banqiao that led directly to the shore was also removed by Cixi's orders, and she was worried that Guangxu would walk out of Yingtai Island.
The Guangxu Emperor was imprisoned in Yingtai, not only losing his freedom, but also being tortured in many ways. Cixi sent his close eunuchs to monitor Guangxu, and reported to Cixi every day. Moreover, after accompanying Cixi in the early dynasty every day, after playing a puppet role, he was escorted to the Hanyuan Hall.
The furniture in the Hanyuan Hall house is very simple, only a table, a chair, a worn-out hard bed, not even a futon, the house is full of spider webs, the winter is cold; the diet is rough, not to mention, or some leftovers, leftover steamed buns, simply more miserable than ordinary people.
What caused the Guangxu Emperor to suffer mentally was also Zhenfei, who had lost news. Zhenfei, who had always been loved by him, was also tortured by Cixi. Soon after the change of law, Cixi imposed a staff on Concubine Zhen and imprisoned her in a small dark room in the remote Zhong Pu Palace, where she was not allowed to see the Guangxu Emperor. Daily meals were stuffed through a small hole in the doorway, and clothes were worn in rags. She often leaned against the door and looked out, hoping to one day meet the emperor.
According to legend, Guangxu, with the help of the little eunuch, finally found out the whereabouts of Zhenfei, and had engaged in several "smuggling" and met with Zhenfei, and the two looked at each other through the window, wanting to cry without tears, and the scene was desolate. It doesn't matter whether this legend is reliable or not, it reflects the longing of a loving couple to see each other after the coup d'état.
Cixi for this emperor who is not related by blood, almost inappropriate, those dog slaves are also like a kind of learning, many people play with Guangxu on weekdays, Guangxu's mood is very melancholy, often sitting alone on the terrace in a daze, hands on his knees, full of sorrow, once lamented: "Shuo is not as good as Emperor Xian of Han!" ”
Guangxu secretly kept a diary in order to pass the time, and it is said that a small eunuch surnamed Huang was very sympathetic to Guangxu, often cared for Guangxu, and communicated with Guangxu before reporting, and where Guangxu felt inappropriate, he would not report. Moreover, the Eunuch Huang acquiesced to Guangxu's diary and kept it on his behalf in case it was discovered by others.
He ended up in such a situation, and his heart may think that it was caused by Yuan Shikai's betrayal during the Penghu Reformation, which made Cixi Shi famous, and it was logical to imprison him. It is said that Guangxu hated Yuan Shikai to the bone, and when he was bored, he drew a turtle and wrote Down Yuan Shikai's name, pasted it on the wall to see a poke once, poked it badly and then repainted and poked it again.
The Guangxu Emperor who was trapped in Yingtai made him more miserable than the hardships of the living environment, and let him suffer in pain, when he was still young, just 28 years old, and was tortured for ten years, which was too sad!
epilogue
Although Guangxu was the loser of the struggle after the empress, he firmly changed the law during the restoration period and issued a series of edicts aimed at strengthening, which not only won the hearts of the people, but also opened up the wisdom of the people, so the image in people's minds was very enlightened. After Guangxu was imprisoned, the wheel of history carried the resentment of the Guangxu Emperor and the blood and tears of the reformers, and once again entered the third period of Empress Dowager Cixi's dictatorship.
—End—