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Is Cixi a sinner in China? No matter how much we look at it from the core or on the surface, Cixi's accusations are confirmed. Her many measures made the late Qing Dynasty face a more severe situation in the stormy situation.
But let's think about it from another angle, no matter how powerful Cixi is, she is also a woman in feudal society, and she can use thunder to rule the Manchu Qing Dynasty for 47 years.
Could no one in the Manchu Qing be able to cure her?
(Cixi)
1. Remove the eight ministers to see the advantages and disadvantages
Looking back on Cixi's life, the first wave of enemies she faced after taking power was the eight ministers left by Emperor Xianfeng as an auxiliary to Emperor Tongzhi.
A "Xinyou coup" made the eight ministers completely go to the end of history. Among them, the representatives Zaiyuan and Duanhua committed suicide in the Zongren Mansion, and their verbal attitude was directly beheaded as a wild Sushun, and the rest were either dismissed or exiled to the distant end.
You must know that Cixi at this time was only 26 years old, and according to the current statement, she was still a young girl, but if you look at this coup d'état from the perspective of later generations, you will find that Cixi is really not simple! Cixi is a person who can analyze the advantages and disadvantages, and she is also a character who can find a camp.
(Photo of the Empress Dowager Cixi)
Let's talk about the advantages and disadvantages first, the advantage is that she is the emperor's mother, the queen mother, the emperor is young, and she is the representative of imperial power. From the perspective of life and death, the eight ministers can shout at themselves in the court, but they don't dare to do it to themselves anyway, not to mention that they don't have military power in their hands.
Her identity as the queen mother is her most perfect shield and biggest advantage.
The second advantage is that he became a palace maid from the 17-year-old draft, and now he has become the queen mother, and there are many small characters in the court who can obey their own deployment and create public opinion.
(Emperor Xianfeng)
The third advantage is that he has the "Imperial Reward" seal left by Xianfeng in his hand, and Xianfeng also gave a "Tongdaotang" seal to the current emperor Zaichun. The emperor's edict must have these two seals to be effective, and his son can control it himself, so from the perspective of decision-making power, he doesn't have to worry about the threat of the eight ministers, the key is, how to take the initiative!
What were Cixi's disadvantages? First of all, she had just come to power, and she was perhaps ambitious but inexperienced in this area. As the queen mother, even if she quarrels with these ministers in the court, she can't come out and scrape each other's ears behind the curtain.
(Stills of Emperor Xianfeng)
2. Uniting Targets, Creating Contradictions and Public Opinion, and "Killing with One Sword"
After analyzing the advantages and disadvantages, Cixi began to take the second step, she needs to find allies, she needs someone to help her, so who is this person? As mentioned earlier, Cixi is a person who will choose a camp, not only herself, but also the Empress Dowager Ci'an, she must be her ally, from the perspective of relationship, the eight ministers are all outsiders, they are their own family.
Two women, two seals, and a young emperor, facing the eight ministers who control the Rehe Palace, it is not enough to see, they need a truly capable character. In terms of emotions, this person must have been dissatisfied with the Eight Ministers! Cixi's choice was Prince Gong.
(Stills of the Empress Dowager Ci'an)
First of all, he is Xianfeng's own younger brother, and secondly, he is talented and a younger brother who makes Xianfeng feel jealous. It is because of his strength that in order to protect his rights, Xianfeng will not let his younger brother participate in politics, and give you the status of a prince is almost okay.
Prince Gong, who has no real power, has been holding back the fire in his heart.
(Prince Gong Yi Yi old photo)
From this point of view, Cixi is a ruthless character who is very good at employing people, and has chosen a prince Gong Yiyi, who is capable, emotional, with historical hatred, and emotions can also drive positive action, which is perfect! The second step is over, so what is the third step?
Cixi is a person who is good at controlling the emotions of others and thus creating room for himself to operate. Is it for nothing to quarrel with Su Shun and his party in the court these days? No, the frenzier the eight ministers, the more rumors there are about the eight ministers' disrespect for the imperial power.
As Di Sushun after Xianfeng's death howled a high note in his throat one day in the court, the little emperor successfully scared the pee. This incident is recorded in great detail in the historical book "Yuemantang State Diary": "Su Shun and others roared wantonly, the sound shook His Majesty, the Son of Heaven was terrified, and as for the tears, he drowned his clothes."
With this one thing, the existence of these eight ministers is a kind of threat to the existence of the eyes. At this time, it was reasonable and well-founded, but Cixi was still very patient and waited for 19 days before launching a coup d'état with Prince Gong.
(Stills of Emperor Tongzhi)
At this time, all Cixi Ci'an had to do was to give some charges, and the eight ministers finally paid the price for their wild attitude. This is the opportunity that Cixi has taken control of their emotions, opened the rift, and found an opportunity! The charges given by Cixi are still very inflammatory. First: the invasion of Beijing by the British and French forces, as well as the burning of the Old Summer Palace, on their heads.
The second is to roar at the court and be disrespectful to the imperial power. One fiction and one reality, under the operation of Cixi, became true. The eight ministers were destroyed, and Cixi's next enemy was now her own ally - Prince Gong Yiyi!
(Prince Gong Yiyi)
3. Prince Gong who is turning
In the 47 years that Cixi was in power, there were eight ministers, the Empress Dowager Ci'an, Prince Gong Yi, and Emperor Guangxu. The eight ministers were eliminated, the Empress Dowager Ci'an and Cixi were also enemies and friends, the high and low were their own family, Ci'an was also the umbrella behind Cixi, from the analysis of official historical classics, Cixi and Ci'an were in power together, which was a teammate that Cixi could not get rid of, and it was also a teammate that must be relied on.
Prince Gong and Emperor Guangxu after his ambitions were wearing a pair of pants, so Cixi knew that getting rid of Prince Gong was equivalent to getting the supreme right in the world! So what trick did Cixi use to greet Prince Gong?
Prince Gong really almost won this duel, but there is indeed an unbridgeable gap in front of him, that is, his identity, just the prince. Cixi needs to worry about that problem, how to do it.
(Prince Gong Yi Yi old photo)
With the outbreak of the Taiping Rebellion, the entire military and government fell into chaos, and the anger of the rebel army was like a dragon formed by flames, devouring the territory of the Manchu Dynasty. However, this group of leaders of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom eventually became the most disgusted role of the rebel soldiers back then.
With the suppression of the Taiping Rebellion in the third year of Tongzhi, Zeng Guofan went to the altar, and Cixi also made a great contribution in the middle, after all, it was she who took the decision to reuse Hanchen. Of course, the author believes that this may be a last resort, because the soldiers of the Eight Banners at this time are all "waste people" who walk birds and smoke big cigarettes every day.
At this time, he had already sat on the throne of the king of parliament and presided over the military administration of the Manchu Qing Dynasty, after all, he had the ability, and when the country was in danger, the enemies would still be forced to cooperate with each other.
(Taiping Rebellion)
Now that the war is over, the contradictions have opened again, and Prince Gong is at the peak of his life. Cixi began to analyze the situation, and her advantages were still the old advantages of the past, with seals, identities, and methods of creating public opinion. The disadvantage is that Prince Gong has gained too much because of this war.
The advantage of status, the relationship with foreigners, and the display of ability. Many ministers in the court began to feel that only Prince Gong could save the Qing Dynasty, and many foreigners only knew Prince Gong and did not know Cixi of the Manchu court.
（慈禧太后）
Cixi is definitely entering a headwind situation at this time, what did she do? First, waiting for an opportunity, this is Cixi's extremely strong ability to dialysis human nature. A once unknown prince, because of the National Salvation War to the peak of his life, he does not know whether he will drift, but there must be people who scold him.
As Cixi expected, the governors and governors of various places began to find Prince Gong, and their contacts with him became extremely close. This is the opportunity that Cixi is waiting for, the opportunity for her to shed tears. With tears in her eyes, she told many influential scholars and squires in the court that this king had begun to interfere with the imperial power, and the imperial power was already crumbling under his blow!
It's true that he has contribution, but he is a minister after all, and now that the battle is over, the power in his hands should also be released. If he is a loyal minister, he will delegate power, and if he wants to usurp the throne, he will inevitably be stubborn! The storm of public opinion created by Cixi directly ignited the government and the opposition, and Prince Gong was dismissed from all his posts.
(Cixi photo)
However, Cixi made a mistake at this time, that is, to tell the world the news. You must know that there were already regulations in the Yongzheng period, and if it was an edict, it had to be promulgated and announced through the Military Aircraft Department. This led to another part of the government and the opposition beginning to speak for Prince Gong. Cixi suffered a lot of mental pressure because of this step, and finally let Prince Gong return to his original position.
Although this result was not the most perfect, Cixi's goal of striking Prince Gong had actually been achieved, and she herself reflected on it. After the success of the public opinion offensive, what did Cixi do next? She patiently observed the dynamics of Prince Gong. She knows that people's revenge psychology is very strong, and Prince Gong hated Su Shun to the bone back then, and he must be the same for himself.
(AI restores Cixi's appearance when she was young)
Hatred will make a person lose his cool and show his feet. In the seventh year of Tongzhi, Cixi's chief eunuch An Dehai left Beijing without authorization and was caught by the governor of Shandong, and Prince Gong appeared at this time. As a eunuch, who let you return to Beijing without permission! In order to be able to behead An Dehai, he also found the Empress Dowager Ci'an and won her support.
This surprised Cixi a little, firstly, she did not expect that Prince Gong would take a eunuch, and secondly, Ci'an became an outsider at this time. When the contradiction breaks out, then Cixi's counterattack is about to begin. With the pro-government of Emperor Tongzhi, Cixi took the opportunity to say that otherwise the Old Summer Palace would be restored.
Prince Gong stood up for the first time and disagreed. Most of our annual income from our treasury is given to the descendants and nobles of the Eight Banners, where is the money to rebuild the Old Summer Palace. Remember, at this time, Emperor Tongzhi was already in power, and Cixi was his mother, but Prince Gong was still the same Prince Gong.
(Cixi photo)
In front of the pro-government emperor, he and the emperor's mother scolded loudly in the court, what did the emperor who had just become pro-government think? In this way, Prince Gong lost his status as a hereditary prince because of his language gaffe, and was demoted to the rank of county king. This is another wave of poor emotions that Cixi seized, and at the critical moment, the more patient she must be, waiting for her opponent to show her feet.
After this matter, Prince Gong served, although he was reinstated again, but his peak was gone, his body began to decline, and the role of being able to compete with Cixi in the court no longer existed. As for Ci'an, she didn't live as long as Cixi.
(Prince Gong Yili photo)
Fourth, Cixi's means of power
Throughout the text, Cixi's methods are really too powerful. She knew how to find reliable teammates, and in the face of the Eight Ministers, she chose Prince Gong, and also developed a group of loyal Hanchen in the process. In the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom period, she put down her posture and cooperated with Prince Gong, and in the process, she allowed these Hanchen to accumulate experience, Zeng Guofan is the most typical example.
When facing Prince Gong directly, she was able to find Emperor Tongzhi as her teammate, and directly used the relationship of identity to deal the most fatal blow to him. No matter how you are, you are just a prince, facing the emperor, facing the queen, you should be honest.
Secondly, she is a master of controlling emotions, arguing with Su Shun in the court, playing against Prince Gong, and at the peak of Prince Gong, inflating his mentality and exposing his feet. Under her offensive, it is difficult for opponents to control their emotions, and one impulse is enough to turn their entire layout into a plate of loose sand.
(Portrait of Zeng Guofan)
Cixi is also a character who is good at cultivating talents, and every move is actually developing her own talents. After Prince Gong, no one could threaten Cixi? Don't say it, it's really like this, in the late Qing Dynasty, whether it was Zeng Guofan, Zuo Zongtang, Zhang Zhidong and Li Hongzhang, Cixi was raised step by step.
Cixi not only knows how to choose teammates, but also knows how to cultivate her own talents to bite opponents, her core is the position of the queen mother, as long as she sits firmly in this identity, she creates the motivation and opportunity to take the initiative, and the rest is that she only needs to keep summoning orders, and as for the rest of the matter, her subordinates will do it.
A palace maid who entered the palace at the age of 17 was able to become the queen mother and be in charge of the Manchu court for 47 years, which is a miracle in itself. Her ability, her means, and her identity determined that in that stormy Manchu period, no one could indeed cure her!
(Stills of the Empress Dowager Cixi)
Resources:
Gao Xiaoying.From Xinyou Coup to Jiashen Yishu——A Study of the Political Situation of the Late Qing Dynasty[D].Liaoning Normal University[2023-12-26].
WANG Zhaohui. "The Xinyou Coup d'état and the Political Pattern of the Late Qing Dynasty from the Perspective of Game Theory." Journal of Yanshan University:Philosophy and Social Science 8.3(2007):5.