The Beijing coup, a name we may not have heard of, but before and after, a man rose, a woman also rose,
These two men profoundly influenced the political situation in the late Qing Dynasty
As soon as they spoke, the whole of China trembled!
The Great Change of Manhan
We all know that the Qing Dynasty was founded by the Manchus, but there was also the cooperation of the Han landlords, that is to say, it was actually the Manchu nobles and the Han landlords who ruled China together, but for a long time, it was the Manchu nobles who held the military and political power and dominated, while the Han officials were restricted. But
The Taiping Heavenly Kingdom Movement changed that!
After the Taiping Rebellion broke out, the momentum along the way was like a bamboo, and the flames of war quickly burned most of China.
The cowardice and incompetence of the Eight Banners and Manchu officials were exposed, and they were simply vulnerable, and the rule of the Qing Dynasty was in jeopardy. Under such circumstances, some Manchu officials suggested reusing Han officials, recruiting Han soldiers with Han Chinese, and suppressing Han rebels
Because they are more effective in combat and are familiar with local conditions. The Xianfeng Emperor thought it was very reasonable and adopted this suggestion, and from then on, the status of Han landlords increased rapidly, and the Qing Dynasty relied more and more on them to maintain its rule.
That man, here he comes!
In such a historical background, a generation of macho men fell from the sky!
He recruited township heroes, created the Xiang Army, and supported the Huai Army, and the Xianghuai forces rose strongly under his leadership, and for a time they even grasped the military and political power throughout the country, so Zeng Guofan became the uncrowned king.
In 1860, the Xianfeng Emperor appointed Zeng Guofan as the governor of Liangjiang and the minister of Chincha, and entrusted him with the task of suppressing the Taiping Army and his Xiang army.
This news excited the generals of the Xiang Army, and from then on the Xiang Army and the Taiping Army became enemies for life, and the Xiang Army was also relied on by the imperial court for resisting the Taiping Army, until the power fell to the world.
It seems that the Taiping Army completed the Xiang Army, which reminds me of the last years of the Eastern Han Dynasty, the Yellow Turban Army failed, but it completed a large number of princes who divided the territory, so there were those so-called heroes, but in my opinion, it was just some sharers...
That woman, she also came...
During the Second Opium War, the Anglo-French forces captured Beijing, and the Xianfeng Emperor fled Tohe, leaving his younger brother Yi Bi to stay in Beijing to negotiate peace with the Anglo-French forces.
Yi Bi made a lot of noise in Beijing, not only co-opting the princes and ministers who remained in Beijing, but also establishing good relations with foreigners
So after the foreigners withdrew from Beijing, Yi Bi became the boss of Beijing.
On the other side of The Rehe River, the Xianfeng Emperor fell ill and died, and Zaichun, who was only six years old, succeeded to the throne, and was assisted by eight ministers, excluding Yi Bi in Beijing and Cixi on this side.
Empress Dowager Cixi, a concubine of the Xianfeng Emperor, was favored by the Xianfeng Emperor and often read the chapter on her behalf. After her son Zaichun succeeded to the throne, she was honored as the Empress Dowager of the Virgin Mary, with the emblem Cixi, and also known as the Western Empress Dowager because she lived in Xi'an Pavilion.
This woman was extremely power-hungry and wanted to seize power while her son was still young, so she secretly contacted Yi Bi in Beijing to plot a coup d'état.
On November 1, 1861, Cixi and others arrived in Beijing and staged a coup the next day.
Four of the eight ministers were killed, four were deposed, and Yi Bi was appointed king of the council. After Cixi installed a group of cronies into the military aircraft department, he changed his era name to "Tongzhi", which is a sign that the world has changed masters.
Cixi has since seized the central power of the Qing Dynasty! The history of this coup is called the Beijing coup, also known as the "Xin You coup".
Warlord division first started from the Xiang Army?
On November 20, 1861, less than 20 days after the coup, the Qing court appointed Zeng Guofan to command the military affairs of Jiangsu, Anhui, Jiangxi, and Zhejiang provinces, which was the greatest favor Zeng Guofan had received since his departure.
From then on, he combined local military and political power, excluded dissidents, and installed cronies, so that the power of the Xiang Army rapidly expanded.
At the same time, he also sent his proud protégé Li Hongzhang to Anhui to organize the Huai army, which accepted assistance from foreigners and became another important landlord warlord armed force.
from now on
The Xianghuai Army replaced the Eight Banners as the main force of the Qing Army. As the Xianghuai army turned to the north and south, most of the military and political power in various places fell into the hands of the Xianghuai forces, and tens of thousands of people with more than three grades of official and military positions were up to tens of thousands!
Just from 1864 statistics, the vast majority of China's governors are from the Xianghuai system!
The Xianghuai Army was a private army recruited by the generals themselves, and since the Xiang Army, the situation of returning soldiers to the state has become a situation in which soldiers return to the generals, and even the salaries of the soldiers have been obtained by the generals " on the spot" of the generals.
These generals were given the status of governor and inspector, and they also used the military power in their hands to monopolize local power, dividing the central power from the top to the bottom and the politics of the subordinate party, resulting in a situation of dictatorship and dictatorship, and each supervisor
Treating the locality as its own private force, clinging to the territory, and not knowing that there is a country, actually opened a precedent for the Beiyang warlords to divide and dispute.
Cixi's rule depended entirely on Han Chinese and foreigners?
The answer is yes, although Cixi is not a person who many people like, but I have to say that the first-hand power technique is really good. The Beijing coup she launched not only won the support of most of the ministers of culture and military affairs, but also adopted a wise policy of not being stubborn.
The transfer of power was completed without major political upheavals.
After Cixi and Yi Bi came to power,
Internally, it continued to rely on Zeng Guofan's Xiang Army, suppressed the Taiping Army, changed the policy of previous wars and uncertainties, and was full of doubts and fears, and implemented a new policy of maintaining a "peace situation" between China and foreign countries with peace as the mainstay.
In fact, the contracts that Li Hongzhang signed later were all due to this policy, but he did not have any wrongs in carrying these black pots, Cixi admitted that you Xianghuai forces, you always have to cooperate with the foreign policy of others. When Cixi was dealing with the Eight Ministers,
In particular, "inability to fulfill one's heart and righteousness" is listed as a crime, and it deliberately currys favor with foreign invaders
There is no shame at all.
The Western aggressors also expressed satisfaction with the results of this coup:
"The turn of this crisis is conducive to our interests in China and has a great impact on our route." (Letter from Pruss to Russell)
"More than ever, we need to support the existing government of the Empire." (North China Victory Daily)
Paintings dedicated by foreigners to Cixi
How can the enemy be so satisfied with our administration? I don't think I need to cite more evidence, because
The support of the enemy is certainly not good for us
。 Cixi and Yi Bi left-handed internal affairs and right-handed diplomacy played us stunned, and the skillful cooperation of the Xianghuai forces was also very in place, which we can slowly discover in later history.
In short, now, their own life is very good, the power is in their hands, the world I have, they all just want to walk sideways,
As for what happens to the people below, and what happens to future generations, it is not a question for them to consider
Maybe this is called historical limitation! Am I using the word too gently?