Shiduo, the Prince of the late Qing Dynasty, served as the leading minister of military aircraft for more than ten years, and was one of the most powerless "prime ministers" in the Qing Dynasty. Shiduo personally experienced major events such as the Sino-French War, the Sino-Japanese War, the Boshu coup, and the Gengzi Incident, and had nothing to offer, because he did not flee west with Cixi and left his post, and died in Beijing in 1913. In the "Qing History Manuscript", the small biography of Shiduo is only listed after the "Legend of Kings" Prince Li Jieshu, which is very brief, and this article is the first more detailed biography of Shiduo.
Liwangfu
Help Cixi resolve the crisis of "Tongzhi Lihei"
Regarding the relationship between "imperial power" and "phase power", there are many discussions in the historians, and generally believe that "phase power" has been continuously weakened, but there are still many exceptions. The rise and fall of "phase power" varies according to specific political situations and specific people. The period when Prince Li Shiduo was the "leading military aircraft minister" may have been the period when "Xiang's power" was at its lowest, and after him, Ronglu and Yixi both had greater power.
Prince Li was the head of the eight "iron hat kings" in the early Qing Dynasty. The first Prince of Li, Daishan, the second son of the Qing Emperor Nur Hachi, and the second brother of Emperor Taizong Taiji, made great contributions to the Qing court to fight the world, and it was his operation that enabled Emperor Taiji to inherit the throne, so the Prince Li family had an honorable position in the Qing Dynasty. The sixth Prince of Li, Zhaozhi, wrote books such as "Xiaoting Miscellaneous Records" and sequels, recording the Qing Dynasty's dynasty and state death, which is of great historical value, and Jiaqing was stripped of his prince for insulting ministers and abusing Zhuangtou for 20 years, confined for three years, and Daoguang ended in depression for nine years. Zhao was taken away from the knighthood, and the title was inherited by his brother Lintoe. Lin Toe died, and Sun Quanling became a knight.
Shiduo (1843-1913), born on July 1, the 23rd year of Daoguang, the third son of the whole age, the ninth grandson of Daishan, the thirtieth year of Daoguang (1850), was the twelfth prince of Li, and was awarded the Minister of Internal Affairs during the Tongzhi period, the right Zongzheng and Zongzheng of Zongrenfu. From 1884 to 1894 and from 1898 to 1901, he served twice as the leading minister of military aircraft, and died on December 13, the second year of the Republic of China. Shiduo is accustomed to self-humility, which is precisely what Cixi and Prince Yizhen of Alcohol valued. Woqiu Zhongzi (Fei Xingjian) said that Shiduo "received people humbly, never spoke harshly, and was especially respectful to internal attendants." Li Lianying bowed to it, and bowed his knee to repay it, and the kings treated them as enemies, as never before." (Modern Biographies, p. 61)
In 1875, the 19-year-old Tongzhi Emperor died, and Cixi chose to take the throne as the son of Yizhen the Prince of Alcohol, and remained obedient to the government as the empress dowager. According to the etiquette law, the "Pu" character should have been chosen to inherit the throne, and at the same time establish an heir for the Tongzhi Emperor, and the matter of succession and heir should be solved at the same time. However, if the "Pu" generation succeeded to the throne, Cixi would become the "Empress Dowager", lacking a legal basis for continuing to hold power. In order to remain in power, Cixi chose to succeed to the throne by his peers of the Tongzhi Emperor, leaving hidden dangers.
Wu Kewen, the head of the bureau, believed that Cixi established the Xianfeng Emperor's nephew Zai Mang to succeed to the throne, and did not give the Tongzhi Emperor an heir. In March of the fifth year of Guangxu, the Tongzhi Emperor Zigong was enshrined in the Anshan Mausoleum, and Wu Kexu, who was 68 years old, invited himself to go to Xiangli, and committed suicide by taking medicine after the ceremony. People found a note on him, which read: "The Empress Dowager of the Two Palaces made mistakes again and again, and established a son for Emperor Wenzong, not for Emperor Daxing." If he did not establish an heir for the Daxing Emperor, the great rule inherited by the current emperor is the Wenzong who received it on the orders of the Empress Dowager of the Two Palaces, not the Daxing Emperor. However, it is needless to say that the future will be attributed to the heirs. The minister thought otherwise, although there is no objection today, the future will be unpredictable..." This was the sensational "Wu Ke Read Corpse Advice" incident.
Wu Ke read was worried that the Tongzhi Emperor had no heirs, which could be described as a lonely loyalty, which actually caused problems for Cixi. Cixi ordered Shiduo the Prince of Cixili to convene a meeting of ministers Wang, university scholars, six ministries and nine secretaries, and Han Zhan Kedao to "put Wu Ke reading the original fold together with a proper discussion." (Guangxu Dynasty Edict, Book 5, page 132) Shiduo then handed over a fold in the name of "public discussion", arguing: "Wu Ke read Chen Yuding Dian, this is not feasible. I will go to the family law, and do not build a reserve ,...... In short, Yuanliang of Shao Dabao is the holy son who inherits Emperor Mu Zongyi. (Declaration, June 27, 1879) Shiduo, adhering to Cixi's intentions, led the concert, believing that "Yuanliang", who would inherit the Guangxu Emperor's great treasure in the future, would automatically become the heir of the Tongzhi Emperor, negating Wu Keyan's opinion and paving the way for Cixi to remain in power. At this time, Shiduo was in charge of the "Zongren Mansion", and he was equivalent to endorsing Cixi as the representative of the sect.
"Kashin Yishu"
After the death of the Xianfeng Emperor in 1860, and the Gengshen Incident followed, Prince Gong Yixun cooperated with the Empress Dowager of the Two Palaces to clear the Sushun clique, with Yixun as the "Prince of Discussion". One explanation for the new emperor's reign was that the Empress Dowager of the Two Palaces and the Near Branch clan and Manchu elites headed by Yixun jointly governed the country. Yi Xun led the military aircraft department as the king of the council, and the Manchu military aircraft such as Wen Xiang and Baofeng were all close followers of Yi Xuan. Yi Xun wielded considerable power, close to the real prime minister in history. With the concerted efforts of both sides, the Qing ruling clique overcame various difficulties, signed a number of peace treaties with Western powers, quelled the Taiping Rebellion, and achieved the good result of "Tongzhi Zhongxing". However, as the situation improved, Cixi was unwilling to remain at the mercy of Prince Gong, so he took advantage of the poor performance of civilian and military officials in dealing with the Sino-French war to oust Yixun and his team.
Guangxu 10th year (1884), aged in Jiashen. On 12 March, Cixi issued an edict to dismiss the military aircraft minister of the entire class, and Yi Xun "drove away all the envoys, and removed the Enga Shuangli to recuperate his illness at home"; Baofeng "took the original product to rest"; Li Hongzao and Jing Lian "drove all the errands and demoted them to the second level"; Weng Tongyong "dismissed from his post and remained in office, withdrew from the military aircraft department, and still walked in Yuqing Palace". (Guangxu Dynasty Edict Files, vol. 10, p. 61) This great change in the dynasty was known in history as "Jiashen Yishu".
Since the Gengshen Incident, Empress Dowager Cixi relied on the assistance of Prince Gong Yixun to purge the Sushun party, which controlled the imperial government, and rebelled internally and consolidated her position. However, since the beginning of the Sino-French War, the Military Aircraft Department led by Yixun and the Prime Minister Yamen did make mistakes in ordering generals to be sent out and in diplomacy with France, and these mistakes were also related to Cixi's advance and retreat, and the Qing court was in a very passive position in relations with France. Cixi used this as an excuse to dismiss the entire Military Aircraft Department.
The next day, Cixi appointed a new military aircraft department, and ordered Prince Shiduo to "walk on the military aircraft minister", and later became the foreman; Hube Shangshu Erle Hebu, Yan Jingming, and Criminal Department Shangshu Zhang Zhiwan "walked on the Minister of Military Aircraft"; Sun Yuwen, an attendant of the Ministry of Work, "learned to walk on the Minister of Military Aircraft." "When there is a critical incident in the Military Aircraft Department, it will be discussed with Prince Yi of Alcohol." Later, feeling that there were not enough staff to handle the work, he added Xu Geng, the right attendant of the Criminal Department, to "learn to walk in the military aircraft." Cixi also ordered King Yixi of Qingjun to preside over the prime minister's Hengmen, which was the first time that King Qing entered the center of power. This measure separated the Military Aircraft Department, which had been one and the other, from the Prime Minister's Office, and further weakened the powers of the Military Aircraft Department. According to the "Qing History Manuscript", it was the idea of Prince Yizhen of Alcohol to put Shiduo in this key position.
The famous scribe Li Ciming ridiculed this large-scale change of the Military Aircraft Department as "Yi Zhongxi with a horse", which means that although Prince Gong's team was not a horse, it was still somewhat capable, and now it was replaced by a herd of inferior horses. Prince Li Shiduo was a cowardly and incompetent person, with the highest "generation" among the kings, and this was exactly what Cixi and Yizhen fancy. Shiduo is the foreman of the military aircraft department, only to take on the task of uploading and ordering, not to let him take ideas. The actual person in charge of this military aircraft department was Yizhen the Prince of Guangxu, the father of the Guangxu Emperor. One of the reasons why Yizhen is inconvenient to directly lead the military aircraft department is that the emperor's biological father cannot be too high-profile, and another technical reason is that the military aircraft minister must kneel every morning to perform things, but according to the etiquette law, the father cannot kneel. Shiduo is cautious and mediocre, which is just suitable as an agent of the remote control military aircraft department.
After the formation of the new Military Aircraft Department, Sun Yuwen, the fifth military aircraft minister, was a close confidant of Prince Yizheng, and his actual power was above that of Prince Li Shiduo. Many of the chapters were sent by Sun Yuwen to the Alcohol Prince Mansion for instructions before processing, causing Sun Yuwen's power to expand.
Xu Gengshen and Sun Yuwen
In 1890, the poet Fan Zengxiang went to Beijing to do business, and wrote a secret letter to Zhang Zhidong to report the bribery of public banks in Beijing, and the information disclosed was very interesting:
Recently, a person introduced to Beijing, giving 600 to the Great Sage (the Great Sage does not thank him when he meets), Xiangwang Banzhi (saying thank you without meeting), 200 to Chang (meeting to thank him), Beichi 100 (meeting and thanking him repeatedly), and those who wear their waist skirts do not ask, and people think that they have the law. However, recently, the government still promotes the king as the ruler, and the great saint praises the king, and the rest is only promised. (Huang Huan, Li Jikui, "Memories of the Flower Suiren Sheng'an", page 386)
The letter used a lot of hidden words, including the amount of bribes paid by the local officials introduced by Beijing, giving Sun Yuwen (using the allusion to "Sun Dasheng") 600, Prince Li Shiduo 300, Xu Gengshen (using the allusion of Xu Shen, the author of "Shuowen Jiezi"), 100 Zhang Zhiwan (who lived in Beichizi), and Erle Hebu ("waist tied battle skirt") not having any money, indicating that this person did not hold power in the military aircraft department. Shiduo led the military aircraft ("Xiangwang") as the prince, and was only half the value of Sun Yuwen, the junior military minister.
After the Guangxu Emperor got married, it was customary to practice "pro-government", that is, the empress dowager must "return to government" to the emperor. In 1886, Shiduo asked Cixi to continue "training the government". This leading military aircraft minister did not show anything in office, and his only consideration was to try his best to curry favor with Cixi. In the first month of the nineteenth year of Guangxu, Shiduo led the military aircraft department to hand over the fold, and the Empress Dowager had a long life in her sixties, and requested that the emblem number be increased from fourteen to sixteen characters, which was drafted by the cabinet. (Guangxu Dynasty in the Palace, Volume 7, pp. 719-720) As a result, the Cixi emblem became the inscription "Cixi Duanyou Kangyi Zhaoyu Zhuangcheng Shou Gong Qin Tribute Chongxi". As the "prime minister" of the DPRK, Shiduo can only do this kind of window dressing. At the same time, after the Sino-French War, the whole country was in crisis from time to time, and the foreman military aircraft minister did not see a word of strategy to improve national governance and deal with the aggression of foreign powers.
What is less known is that Shiduo had a family relationship with the successor military aircraft minister Rong Lu, and Rong Lu's eldest daughter married Shiduo Shizi Chenghou. In the seventeenth year of Guangxu (1891), Zeng Jiqu, a nephew of Zeng Guofan, was appointed to the Guangdong Huichao Jiadaotai through Ronglu's path to the world, which was revealed by Li Hongzhang in a secret letter to his brother Li Hanzhang, the governor of Liangguang. (Shanghai Library, ed., Historical Documents, 11th Series, page 110) If a hero wants to be promoted later, he must also curry favor with his relatives.
According to wild history, Shiduo knew almost nothing about the countries of the world. One year, when his son and nephew returned from a trip to Europe, Shiduo asked, "Does it snow in the country of foreign devils?" The nephews and nephews all hid their laughter and replied, "China and foreign countries are the same heaven and earth, wind, frost, rain and snow." (Chen Canyi, "New Language Forest") This "son and nephew" who traveled to Europe should be Shiduo's nephew Cheng Bochun. In 1887, Cheng Bochun went to Europe with Hong Jun as an attaché of the legation in Germany, and returned to China with diplomat Zhang Deyi in 1890. The suitable poet Huang Zunxian went to Europe and presented the poem "Sending the Pure Officials of Chengbo to the East". This wild history note satirizes Shiduo, as the leading military aircraft minister, lacks a minimum understanding of Western countries, does not have basic geographical knowledge, satirizes the ignorance of the prime minister, and whether it is true is secondary.
Yuan Shikai's "snitch" object
In the treacherous political arena of the late Qing Dynasty, Shiduo was at the center of power and knew that his ability was insufficient, and he often resorted to sick leave to avoid getting involved in the whirlpool, and in the end, there was no danger. On the 4th day of the first month of February of the Peng year, "Prince Li Shiduo, who has not recovered from his illness at the end of his vacation, respectfully rewarded the leave and asked the dispatcher to sign a discount." Prince Li took a one-month leave to recuperate. Zongrenfu Zongrenfu ordered Prince Gong to be deputy, and Zhenghuangqi Manchurian was under the charge of Yixi." (Guangxu Dynasty Edict, Book 24, page 39) The order of the Zongren Mansion, equivalent to the "patriarch" of the Aisin Gyoro family, manages the internal affairs of the clan and has a high status. Prince Gong was deposed for ten years, and after the outbreak of the Sino-Japanese War, he returned to the military aircraft department at the appeal of the ministers, and died on the 10th day of April 24. On the 14th, the Guangxu Emperor issued an edict: "Now that current affairs are in order, Prince Li Shiduo will take marketing leave when he recovers from illness, and there is no need to detain holidays." (Guangxu Dynasty Edict, Book 24, page 167) The Guangxu Emperor urged Shiduo to cancel his leave because after Prince Gong's death, there was a shortage of foremen in the military aircraft department. "Weng Tongyong's Diary" commented on this: "According to the courtesy of the residence, the gift can be sold fake." In a word, Shiduo took sick leave purely to make way for Prince Gong.
According to scholar Jiang Ming's research, Shiduo played a key role in the coup. After the coup d'état, Cixi summoned Ronglu to Beijing and ordered Yuan Shikai to "take care" of the governor directly. The directly subordinate governor was in charge of the Gongwei Jing Division and held the power to command the Beiyang armies, and Yuan Shikai must have "snitched" at the first time to gain the high trust of the Empress Dowager. "Nursing" is a Qing dynasty system in which lower-level officials temporarily act for a high-ranking position. Yuan Shikai "snitched" as soon as Tan Sitong came to visit, and the object was Prince Li Shiduo, the leading minister of military aircraft.
At the end of July of the same year, Yuan Shikai, a direct subordinate inspector who was training troops at the small station, was summoned to Jinjing to see him. In the early morning of the first day of August, the Guangxu Emperor summoned him, and immediately after retiring from the dynasty, he ordered Yuan Shikai to "open a vacancy to fill in the waiter". Yuan "did not meet in the afternoon at the ceremonial residence", and the first thing he wanted to see was Prince Li Shiduo, but he could not see it. On the third night of the first month of August, Kang Youwei instructed Tan Sitong to visit the house and persuade Yuan Shikai to lead his troops into Beijing, surround the Summer Palace, and imprison the Empress Dowager. According to tradition, it is believed that Yuan Shikai returned to Tianjin on August 5 before "whistleblowing" to Ronglu, the directly subordinate governor. This is a pedantic statement. Kang Youwei and Tan Sitong's plan was almost rebellion, and if Yuan Shikai had no intention of cooperating with the implementation of this plan, he should urgently report to the Beijing central and high-level officials in the shortest possible time, rather than acting after returning to Tianjin.
Jiang Ming noticed that Sheng Xuanhuai's file contained a copy of the "Hufang Rumors", which was the information provided to Sheng Xuanhuai by well-informed people in Beijing. The intelligence said: "After Yuan Xie'en, he made a secret message to the king, so he was ordered to take care of (direct governor) again." "Yuan Shikai thanked Yuan Shikai on the second day of the first month of August, Tan Si saw Yuan Shikai on the evening of the third day of the first month of August, and Yuan Shikai asked for training on the morning of the fifth day of the first month of August (His Majesty asked the emperor for training before leaving Beijing), and after the training, he left Beijing by train for Tianjin, and the most suitable time for "whistleblowing" should be late at night on the third day of August or on the fourth day of the first month of August, and the object was Prince Li Shiduo.
Yuan Shikai
Shiduo is not only the leading military aircraft minister, but also the in-laws of Ronglu's sons and daughters, both of whom rely on the power of the Empress Dowager to soar, and Yuan Shikai trains troops at a small station, and the main supporter is Ronglu. Yuan Shikai was in Beijing, and he wanted to find a high-level person who could report directly to the Empress Dowager, and Shiduo was the best choice. As the king of the iron hat, Shiduo has the qualification to "call" at any time. The so-called "calling" is a Qing Dynasty court term, which refers to the prince's initiative to ask for the emperor or the empress dowager, and "calling" is not summoning, but the prince asking for a meeting, and those who have the qualification to "call" are limited to the prince. This can reasonably explain why after Yuan Shikai arrived in Tianjin, the Empress Dowager summoned Ronglu to Beijing and arranged for Yuan Shikai to take care of the governor directly under him.
Previously, scholars speculated that Yuan Shikai's "informant" object was Wang Yixi of Qingjun, which is relatively unlikely. King Qing Yixi is actually a competitor of Ronglu. Prince Li Shiduo is different, he and Ronglu are sons and daughters, and Yuan Shikai chose to "snitch" to Shiduo, which should also take into account the special relationship between King Li and Ronglu. Jiang Ming believes that "Hufang Scandal" "reveals the true path of whistleblowing". Yuan Shikai started mainly by relying on Ronglu to carry him, and only after Ronglu's death did he turn to Yixi.
Since the Boxer Rebellion, the power of the Military Aircraft Department was actually held by Prince Duan Zaiyi, University Shi Gangyi and others, and Shiduo understood that no matter how he expressed his position, there were risks, and he remained silent. On the eve of the invasion of Beijing by the Eighth Army in the summer of 1900, Empress Dowager Cixi took the Guangxu Emperor "Xigari", and Shiduo did not join the fleeing team. Later, the edict urged Shiduo and others to "go quickly", but Shiduo did not obey. Shiduo is probably accustomed to the comfortable life in Beijing and is reluctant to make arduous journeys.
On the third day of the first month of July in the 27th year of Guangxu (1901), he issued an edict that "Prince Li Shiduo sent an envoy to the Minister of Military Aircraft, and still made up the former imperial minister." (Guangxu Dynasty Edict Files, vol. 27, p. 139) After the signing of the Xinxiu Treaty, the Qing court needed military aircraft ministers who understood foreign affairs, and the military aircraft department was successively led by Ronglu and Prince Qing Yixi, in order to meet the needs of the Western powers and initiate the reform of the New Deal. Shiduo had limited knowledge and no foreign affairs, and Cixi was no longer used.
The present appearance of the Liwangfu
Descendants of Shiduo
Shiduo Shizi Chenghou (1864-1917), born on August 25, the third year of Tongzhi, married Ronglu's eldest daughter on September 15, the fifth year of Guangxu (1879), and was awarded by the imperial court for ten years that he could not be given the title of eighth auxiliary duke, and was selected to walk in Qianqingmen, and Guangxu was selected to walk in front of the imperial court in the fifteenth year. Sincerity is rich in habits, playthings are lost, and he likes to raise worms (snakes), hedgehogs, owls, etc. In 1913, Shiduo died, and Puyi's small imperial court let Chenghou inherit the title of "Prince Li", known as "Mad Wangye" by the people, and died on the 13th day of the first month in 1917 (the sixth year of the Republic of China).
Makoto has no son, and is attacked by Makoto. Cheng Kun (1886-1929) was the son of Yuding (grandson of Quan Chang, the elder brother of Quan Chang), and in 1917 he "decreed" to pass to Shiduo as heir, inheriting the title of "Prince Li". Makoto's eldest son, Junkai, was born in 1918 and returned to his branch in 1926 as Yuding's grandson. In 1919, Cheng Kun's second son Junming passed to Cheng Hou. In 1929, Cheng Kun died, and Junming became a knight. According to the "Aisin Kyoro Genealogy", Junming was born in the seventh year of the Republic of China, that is, in 1918. ("Ai Xin Gyoro Genealogy, Yi IV", Xueyuan Press, 1998, pp. 3993-3994) Beijing scholar Feng Qili conducted in-depth investigation and research on the situation of the descendants of Shiduo, and Jin Junming died in 1951 of an allergy to penicillin injections at the age of 34 and was buried in Mentou Village, Haidian. (Feng Qili, "Jin Junming's Sect Branch, Wife's Room, and Cemetery", in "Selected Compilations of Haidian Literary History", 12th series) At this point, Prince Li Shiduo's sons, heirs, and grandchildren have no surviving children.
There is a scholar in Taiwan, "Aisin Juelo Yuzheng", who opened Fengyuan Academy in Taipei to give lectures, and there are many disciples. His early disciple Xu Rentu wrote a biography of "Aisin Kyoro Yu Gang", claiming that Yu Feng was born in 1906 in Prince Li's palace, implying that he was the grandson of Prince Li Shiduo and the son of Chenghou, which is not recorded in the "Genealogy of Aisin Kyoro", which is very suspicious. If Makoto had a son born in 1906, he would not have been knighted by Makoto in 1917. Another disciple of Yu Feng and a well-known expert on Ming and Qing dynasty history openly said on social networks that Yu Feng was the "Prince of Xunqing Li", and it is not appropriate to make such rootless remarks in his capacity. If Yu Feng is really a descendant of Prince Li's mansion, it is most likely a side branch, that is, a branch that is not qualified to attack the knight. What exactly was Yu Zheng's relationship with Prince Li's house, and his righteous son and close disciples were obliged to disclose reliable documents to clarify.