In the eleventh year of Qing Tongzhi, the 17-year-old "elderly" young man, the Tongzhi Emperor, officially held a big wedding, and the empress was not the Fucha clan that Empress Dowager Cixi liked, but the Arut clan that Empress Dowager Ci'an strongly recommended. According to the ancestral rules of the Qing Dynasty, the emperor's big wedding means that he has reached adulthood and can come to the dynasty to govern himself.
In the first month of the twelfth year of Tongzhi, the 18-year-old Tongzhi Emperor personally issued an edict declaring that he would "abide by the teachings of mercy, respect the heavens and the ancestors, and be diligent in government and love the people", officially starting his pro-government career under the "guidance" of the empress dowager of the two palaces.
Although the Tongzhi Emperor was relatively late in pro-government, and there was also direct intervention behind the two palace empresses during the actual pro-government period, he was after all the biological son of Empress Dowager Cixi, and was fundamentally different from the Guangxu Emperor, who was a complete "puppet". Coupled with Empress Dowager Ci'an's absolute support for the Tongzhi Emperor, the pro-government Tongzhi Emperor still held a certain amount of real power and had a considerable part of the right to speak.
However, after having supreme power, the Tongzhi Emperor made a decision alone, but it almost brought the fall of the Qing Dynasty to an early stage!
<h3 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" > rebuild the Yuanmingyuan</h3>
The pro-government of the Tongzhi Emperor means that the empress dowager of the two palaces, who "listens to the government" to perform the emperor's duties, must retreat to the second line. Even if it was the nominal "removal of the curtain and return to the government", the empress dowager of the two palaces who had meritorious service in Sheji had to find a decent place to raise her life, so the Tongzhi Emperor thought of the "Heaven and Earth Family Spring" where Empress Dowager Cixi once lived.
"Heaven and Earth Family Spring", located in the Yuanmingyuan, the place where Empress Dowager Cixi won the favor of the Xianfeng Emperor in one fell swoop when she was a concubine. However, the Yuanmingyuan had been burned down by the British and French coalition forces as early as the Xianfeng years, and the "Heaven and Earth Family Spring" had long been burned to ashes. Therefore, the first major event that the Tongzhi Emperor did alone after he pro-government was to order the reconstruction of the Yuanmingyuan in the name of supporting the empress dowager of the two palaces.
"Heaven and Earth One Spring" model
Although the Qing Dynasty at that time was in a brief period of revival of "Tongguang Zhongxing", the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom Movement had just been put down; the Twister Rebellion had just passed; the imperial court still had to deal with huge indemnities from the great powers; and the huge investment required to deal with the "foreign affairs movement"; in short, the Qing court at that time had no money! Moreover, the restoration of the Yuanmingyuan, which has become a scorched earth, is not a project that can be completed by hundreds of thousands or even millions of taels, but a major project that will cost tens of millions of taels.
Therefore, the Tongzhi Emperor issued an edict asking officials inside and outside the capital to "assist in repairs according to their ability" and complete the project of rebuilding the Yuanmingyuan in the form of donations from courtiers in the world. The emperor decreed that the two empresses of Ci'an and Cixi would acquiesce, and which of the courtiers in the world would dare not donate, Prince Gong Yixun took the lead in donating 20,000 taels to support the Tongzhi Emperor, who had just taken the throne, to "practice filial piety". However, the imperial court had no money, and the officials were naturally not rich, and after the whole donation process, the Tongzhi Emperor received 300,000 taels of silver.
This little money is a drop in the bucket for the huge project of rebuilding the Yuanmingyuan. Seeing this situation, the imperial historians of the imperial court went up one after another, requesting the Tongzhi Emperor to suspend the Yuanmingyuan project on the grounds that the imperial court was financially constrained. Even Prince Gong Yixuan, after gradually realizing the seriousness of the problem, joined forces with the imperial court officials to try to dissuade the Tongzhi Emperor's Yuanmingyuan project.
The performance of Prince Gong Yixuan and many courtiers greatly angered the young Tongzhi Emperor, and in addition to dismissing many officials, he also punished the top pillar of the imperial court, Prince Gong Yixuan, with extremely severe punishment.
The Chronology of YiXuan records the punishment suffered by Prince Gong Yixuan:
Yi Zhi and the other ten ministers advised in person, and the Tongzhi Emperor was furious and rebuked Yi Zhi: "What is this concession? "On the twenty-ninth day, he advised the Tongzhi Emperor again, and the Tongzhi Emperor issued Zhu Zhige his prince hereditary resignation as the king of the county, still walking on the military aircraft minister, and issued it the next day.
The reason why the Tongzhi Emperor was so angry, in addition to his feeling that the emperor's authority was being challenged, was also an extremely crucial reason, and that was the real reason why the Tongzhi Emperor rebuilt the Yuanmingyuan.
<h3 class = "pgc-h-arrow-right" > the real purpose of the Tongzhi Emperor to rebuild the Yuanmingyuan</h3>
The Tongzhi Emperor, who ascended the throne at the age of 6, received an early enlightenment education in men and women as early as when he lived alone in the Qianqing Palace, so that he had all the characteristics of an absurd monarch long before he was pro-government. In the notes of many people and the records of the wild history of the times, the relevant information of Wang Qingqi, who was the attendant of the Hanlin Academy at that time, can be found.
This Hanlin Academy attendant, who was responsible for guiding the young monarch to be positive and studious, "beautiful and fengyi, gongduqu, and good at flattery", often brought folk obscene albums and erotic novels to the Tongzhi Emperor to win the favor and lay the ladder of career climbing. Facts proved that this method of obtaining the emperor's favor was very effective, and Wang Qingqi soon "walked with five pin officials plus two pin titles, Walking in Yuqing Palace, favoring peers, unparalleled", and even once developed to the absurd point of "the emperor actually slept with the king, such as the story of Dong Xian of Han Mourning".
The story of Han Lament dongxian
After the marriage of the Tongzhi Emperor, he saw that Empress Arut was "dignified and condensed, not smiling", and always paid great respect to him, and developed a rare and valuable true feeling with him. However, Empress Dowager Cixi, who did not like the Arut clan, did not want to see the deep love between the emperor and the empress, and even advised the Tongzhi Emperor several times that "the empress is young and not polite." The emperor did not go to the palace to obstruct government affairs", and forcibly asked the Tongzhi Emperor to favor his favorite concubine Fucha.
Empress Dowager Cixi's wanton interference in the life of the harem made the Tongzhi Emperor extremely disgusted but helpless, so he simply abandoned the entire harem, and under the leadership of Zai Cheng, the eldest son of Prince Gong Yixuan, began the absurd life of "often stepping out of the inner city, making a narrow evil tour, and staying in the secret shop of the liquor store".
After all, the Tongzhi Emperor was the king of a country, and lingering in the land of smoke and willows was not a long-term solution after all; and the imperial palace, which had many ancestral family law constraints and the interference of Empress Dowager Cixi, did not allow the Tongzhi Emperor to live an absurd and unscrupulous "happy life"; therefore, the Tongzhi Emperor thought of the Emperors of the Qing Dynasty, especially his father, the Xianfeng Emperor, who used to avoid many ancestral constraints and could enjoy the indulgent life without any worries - the Yuanmingyuan.
Therefore, the Tongzhi Emperor disregarded the financial constraints of the imperial court, did not hesitate to let the courtiers of the world "help with the repair", and even did not hesitate to remove the imperial court team and self-destruct the foundation of the rule of the reconstruction of the Yuanmingyuan project. Thanks to the fact that the empress dowager of the two palaces realized the seriousness of the problem, she promptly intervened to stop the tongzhi emperor's obstinate behavior, and restored the official titles of Prince Gong Yixuan and Yigan courtiers, otherwise the time for the fall of the Qing Dynasty would surely come early.
< h3 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" > postscript</h3>
The Tongzhi Emperor, who ascended the throne at the age of 6, reigned for 13 years, but he only had a brief pro-government career of two years. However, in the two years of pro-government time, the Tongzhi Emperor did not exert great efforts to govern, work diligently and love the people, but did his best to learn from Zhu Yousong, the founding emperor of the Southern Ming Dynasty. What does internal and external troubles and the erosion of the world have to do with me? Being able to enjoy the indulgence and absurdity of the monarch of a country at will is the ultimate dream of the Tongzhi Emperor.
As scholars of Qing history commented on the Tongzhi Emperor, "Zaichun was a naughty boy who did not do anything more when he was young, and after he became pro-government, as a young emperor, he really failed to live up to the ardent expectations of the government and the public." With the King like this, the Great Qing Dynasty has the reason of immortality!
References: "Qing Shilu Muzong Shilu", "Yi Zhi Chronology", "Qing Dynasty Wild History Grand View", "Qing Dynasty General History"