In 1906, after the Qing court announced the implementation of the "preparatory constitution", Duan Fang successfully completed the task of constitutional investigation, and then promoted the official to a higher level, and became the governor of Liangjiang (second only to the directly subordinate governor). At the end of 1908, the Guangxu Emperor and Empress Dowager Cixi died one after another, and the regent Zaifeng came to power, and his new term of office began with the name of "foot disease" Yuan Shikai, while Duan Fang took over as the viceroy of Liangjiang for three years, and soon took over as the viceroy of Zhili (the former governor of Zhili, Yang Shijun, suddenly died), and climbed to the peak of his personal career in one fell swoop.
End-side
With Yuan Shikai's talent, his role in the political situation at the end of the Qing Dynasty is certainly difficult for others to replace, but if Zaifeng intends to let Duan Fang replace Yuan Shikai's position, it is also a sub-optimal choice. Unfortunately, Zaifeng was not a ruler who was able to use his talents well, and less than a year after the deposing of Yuan Shikai, Duanfang, whose prestige was second only to Yuan at that time, was also ousted from power, and the reason for his downfall was even more ironic than Yuan Shikai's case.
Yuan Shikai
In October 1909, Duan Fang, who had undertaken many royal wedding and funeral celebrations and mausoleum projects, was ordered to organize the relocation of the tomb and related matters of empress dowager Cixi's Zi Palace. It is said that this kind of thing should have been familiar to duanfang, but in the process of moving the tomb, there was a "small accident", and this "small accident" was fatal.
The origin of the matter was such that Duan Fang arranged for two photographers to photograph the burial process of Empress Dowager Cixi, thinking that later researchers left valuable video materials, but as soon as the funeral was over, the matter was impeached by a certain imperial historian, saying that "when the Zi Palace was in peace, the courtiers grabbed the land and called the sky, and the number was out of reach, but they took pictures along the way, without any scruples, but they were disrespectful, and they really had no heart and liver"; in addition, the wanton erection of wires in the mausoleum area and the destruction of feng shui were actually "contrary to the way of the people and subjects".
Empress Dowager Cixi
What is astonishing is that the imperial history of "great righteousness is awe-inspiring" and "righteous and righteous" is actually Li Guojie, the grandson of Li Hongzhang. To be fair, even if Li Hongzhang is alive, I am afraid that he may not be so unenlightened, and as a photography enthusiast, Duan Fang is also well aware that Empress Dowager Cixi was quite fond of taking pictures before she died, and the crime of blasphemy is really taking advantage of the opportunity to cause trouble; as for the erection of wires (telephone lines) in the mausoleum area, mainly for the convenience of communication, the hat of "great disrespect" is probably too big.
Loaded
Of course, the root cause of the problem is not here, because the purpose of this impeachment is essentially a political struggle between the conservatives and reformists, and Li Guojie's departure is largely a personal grudge, because he has asked DuanFang, who was the governor of Liangjiang, for an official position and failed to do so. If it was just Li Guojie and others stirring up trouble, the problem might not have been so serious, but the regent Zaifeng was "very impressed" with this, and as a result, the young and powerful Duan Yi had to be expelled from the position of governor directly subordinate.
Although Zaifeng is young and not more troublesome, he may not be stubborn to this point. The reason why Duan Fang did not attract the favor of the regent was probably because he had repeatedly folded up and advised the center when he first took office as the governor of the direct subordination, and this "excessive positiveness" became "pointing fingers" and "posing old qualifications" in the eyes of some people. Therefore, after deposing Yuan Shikai, it is probably not impossible to depose another Duan Fang and kill the monkey to show the chicken, this is just one of zaifeng's tricks.
Duanfang, who had fallen from a high position, fell silent for a while, and during this time, he focused his energy on his hobbies. At the end of the Qing Dynasty, there was a saying in the official field, called "Cen Chunxuan does not learn no technique, Yuan Shikai does not learn to have a technique, Zhang Zhidong has no technique, and Duanfang has learned a technique." Although "having learned and having skills" is too prestigious, Duan Fang has been fond of gold stone calligraphy and painting all his life, and his achievements are quite extraordinary, and it is not improper to call him a gold and stone scholar. Duan Fang was once a collector of Mao Gongding, and the bronzes, stone carvings, seals, etc. he collected were all collections of high cultural relics value. Later, with the help of his staff, Duan Fang wrote five books, "The Record of The Golden Record of The Ji ji of The Zoji", "The Record of the Hidden Stones of the Zaozhai", "The Record of the Bricks of the Zangzhai of the Zaozhai", and the "Seal of the Tibetan Seal of the Zangzhai", which have high reference value for the cultural relics and the collection community.
End square monument extension
A year and a half later, Duanfang's low-key life was interrupted by the railway trend that swept through the four provinces of Hubei, Hunan, Guangdong, and Sichuan, and the Qing court ordered him to serve as a waiter to serve as the minister of Sichuan and Han, and the guangdong-Han railway superintendent, thus being involved in this life-threatening movement.
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