After the death of the Empress Dowager Cixi and the Guangxu Emperor one after another, the three-year-old Emperor Xuantong ascended the throne and became the twelfth emperor of the Qing Empire. In the ensuing political battle, a group of young Manchurian nobles gained unprecedented political power and held the political lifeblood of the last three years of the Qing Empire.
Emperor Xuantong's biological father, the 26-year-old Prince Zaifeng, served as the regent, and his two uncles, Zaitao and Zaixun, were both crowned with the title of county king. Soon, the 21-year-old Zai Tao was in charge of the Praetorian Guard, and the 22-year-old Zai Xun was given the post of Minister of the Navy. Prior to this, the 40-year-old Zhenguo Gong Zaize was appointed as the secretary of the Du branch and controlled the financial power of the Great Qing State, and the 42-year-old Prince Su Shanqi became the secretary of the Ministry of Civil Affairs and obtained the police power of the Great Qing State.
Almost all the departments of power were in the hands of the imperial relatives, and at the same time, Yuan Shikai returned to his hometown, Zhang Zhidong drove west, and the imperial cabinet was born. It seemed that no one could stop the Manchurian nobles from seizing power, but less than half a year after the establishment of the imperial cabinet, the gunfire of the Wuchang Uprising crossed the night sky.
Could it be that these princes, princes, and grandchildren are just a bunch of wine bags and rice bags? In fact, this aristocratic political team, with an average age of only 34 years old, is not only full of talents, but also has no compromise in its willingness to reform.
The leader of the "word-carrying generation".
If it is said that the "generation of words" can enter the center of power just because of their blood, it is not necessarily. The Qing Empire came to 1908 and had spent more than 260 years. There are a lot of phoenixes and dragons, and those who can be on the top are a bit really talented. Let's just say that this regent Zaifeng can be regarded as having experience.
In 1900, the Eight-Nation Alliance invaded China, and the Empress Dowager Cixi went hunting. In the second year, the Qing Dynasty signed the "Xinchou Treaty", the first paragraph of the "Xinchou Treaty" is that the Qing court sent Prince Alcohol Zaifeng to Germany to apologize, and built a stone archway of the same grade at the site of Klinder's murder to "cleanse the dirt and snow insults" for the Germans. This is obviously a thankless job: it can't be hard, it can't be soft, and if you don't do it well, you will be scolded as a traitor. As the first prince of the Great Qing Dynasty to visit the West, the 18-year-old Zaifeng showed maturity that did not match his age, reasonable, powerful, and restrained, which made the Kaiser, who wanted to insult China, praise him for it. The Germans considered him "prudent diplomacy and not dishonoring the king's life". This time he went abroad, Zaifeng also paid great attention to "style construction", and took the initiative to refuse the high-standard greeting and send-off etiquette prepared by domestic officials at all levels, and his simple style won the praise of public opinion at home and abroad.
Zaifeng successfully turned a trip to apologize for his sins into a study tour for an 18-year-old young man, and everywhere he went, whether it was a military academy, an arms enterprise, a museum, an electrical machine factory, or a shipyard, "he paid close attention to the customs and customs of foreign countries and visited them at any time and place."
Zaifeng, who was famous at home and abroad for going abroad, was valued by the Empress Dowager Cixi after returning to China. In the spring of 1903, Zaifeng, who had just turned 20, was appointed Minister of Followers. In the spring of 1906, he was ordered to manage the Jianrui Battalion, which had important responsibilities for guarding the capital. On June 19, 1907, at the age of 24, Zaifeng was ordered to learn to walk on the Minister of Military Aircraft. From then on, he became a leading member of the top-secret organ that "was in charge of the major affairs of the military state and praised the affairs of the aircraft" and "was in charge of the major plans of the military state."
It is precisely because of the experience of "overseas travel" that Zaifeng has a preliminary sense of a modern power. At the end of 1910, he even sent the "Haiqi" to the Americas to express condolences to overseas Chinese and resolve the anti-Chinese turmoil that broke out in Cuba and Mexico. Among the old and young remnants of the Qing Dynasty, Zaifeng was the first to cut off braids, install electric lights and telephones, wear suits, and buy cars.
Zaifeng can pat his chest and say: "My growth is the result of my own efforts step by step. Maybe he can also say confidently: "A person born in a good family, if he doesn't have his own efforts, only relying on the influence of his parents, even if he gives you this position, he can't support Adou!
Two political stars created by "overseas investigations".
In 1905, the Great Qing Kingdom gradually came out of the blow of the "Gengzi National Change" and relieved itself. At the same time, constitutional Japan defeated the autocratic Tsarist Russia, which deeply irritated the rulers of the Qing Dynasty. Immediately, the New Deal entered the "deep water zone", and the reform of the political system was put on the agenda.
In this year, the Qing government took the first step in political reform and sent the "five ministers" to study the politics of various countries. Among the "five ministers" who went abroad, 37-year-old Zai Ze and 44-year-old Duan Fang are particularly dazzling.
The first of the five ministers is Zai Ze, who is a member of the royal family. He was also the youngest of the five ministers. Immediately after returning to China, Zai Ze became an advocate of a constitutional monarchy.
During his visit to Japan, Zaizawa was deeply impressed. In addition to the Emperor's reception, Hirobumi Ito, the former prime minister of Japan and a veteran of the Meiji Restoration, also came to meet with the Chinese delegation, and they had a long conversation before.
The two sides exchanged views on major issues such as the similarities and differences between constitutional states and autocrats, and the core priorities of the Qing reform. Ito Hirobumi answered the conversation entirely in English and was interpreted by Bai Rui, an attaché in the Chinese delegation. Zhenguo Gong Zaize was hit by this "old friend" of the Chinese people. After returning to China, Zai Ze asked for a constitution and put forward the three major advantages of constitutionalism: "The throne will be permanent, the external troubles will gradually lighten, and the internal strife can be eliminated." However, he also pointed out: "Constitutionalism is good for the country and the people, and it is not good for the officials." ”
Zai Ze's three major advantages of a constitutional monarchy impressed the Empress Dowager Cixi, the supreme ruler of the Qing Empire.
In August 1906, the center of power of the Qing Empire convened the first meeting to study the constitution, which was attended by Prince Zaifeng, all the ministers of military aircraft, ministers of administrative affairs, and Yuan Shikai, the governor of Zhili. Since then, "constitutionalism" has become the top priority in the political life of the Qing Dynasty.
Another striking figure among the five ministers is Duan Fang. At that time, there was a saying of "its three talents", and the so-called "three talents" referred to Darong (Rongqing), Xiao Na (Natong), and Duan Laosi (Duanfang), all three of whom were young cadres trained by the emperor. Throughout Duan Fang's life, almost all of the shining points were constantly leading troops to pacify the "chaotic parties" in various places, which can be described as a nemesis of revolutionaries.
In fact, Duanfang was a reformist. It is recorded in the "Qing Historical Manuscript" that when Wuxu changed the law, he played the "Song of Persuasion" that advertised the Restoration, which was appreciated by Emperor Guangxu. However, Duanfang was not marginalized because of the Wuxu coup, but rose from a Taoist to the acting governor of Shaanxi in just two or three years.
After the Eight-Nation Coalition captured Beijing, Cixi fled to Xi'an, and was well prepared by the Duanfang to defend Zhou, which won Cixi's favor. In the year of Gengzi, the Boxers in various places made a lot of trouble, but Shaanxi was very peaceful under the rule of Duanfang. The Boxers did not rise up to make trouble, and the church was more restrained, which shows the ability of the end side. This point, the Queen Mother Lafayette saw in her eyes. After the situation stabilized, Duan Fang served as the governor of Hubei and teamed up with Zhang Zhidong.
Zhang Zhidong's reform has a lot of flowers, and the end side is more pragmatic and does not engage in superficial engineering. His reforms also surpassed that of Jang Zhidong, and he was even more politically liberal. He once withstood Zhang Zhidong's pressure to help Hubei students studying in Japan to run a newspaper, and also funded a typical revolutionary figure - Cai Yi. These are also only the relatives of Gen Hongmiaozheng, and no one will doubt his political motives. Therefore, Duanfang is known as an enlightened person, "working hard, especially in domestic and foreign affairs".
In 1905, Duan Fang was recalled to Beijing and served as the governor of Fujian and Zhejiang. In 1908, he served as the commander-in-chief of the Taihu Lake Autumn Exercise, and used hot air balloons for aerial reconnaissance and artillery firing for the first time during the exercise.
At this time, Duanfang, like Zai Ze, became an active member of the Manchurian aristocracy to promote the constitution. At the same time, these two political stars have also received huge attention from the Western media. After 1905, the New York Times continued to report on these two men.
An official who was dismissed for clandestine filming
In 1909, Duan Fang became the governor of Zhili. On November 15 of this year, the Cixi Feng'an Ceremony was solemnly held. As one of the members of the imperial court, Duanfang, the governor of Zhili, attended the funeral. As a rule, an official could bring several servants with him. Among the servants brought by the end were three photographers. Their use of smoking cameras and alternative behavior quickly attracted the attention of the funeral officer. The photographer who came to capture the headlines became the headlines of the day.
As a result, Duan Fang was pulled out. As a result, two of the most were recorded: the shortest-lived governor of Zhili, and the first official to be dismissed due to the clandestine photography incident.
This helped Yuan Shikai and the revolutionary party a lot, because Duanfang was very good at military affairs, and if he controlled Zhili, he might be able to digest Yuan Shikai's Beiyang Army. Moreover, when Duanfang and Zhang Zhidong teamed up, they single-handedly created the Southern New Army, and if Duanfang was in the court, the new army might not be chaotic.
It's a pity that Duanfang returned to the stage of history again in May 1911, and he was appointed as the minister of the Sichuan-Hanzhou and Guangdong-Hanzhou railways. At this time, the "Road Protection Movement" was in full swing. As a result, Zhao Erfeng, the governor of Sichuan, was dismissed, and Duanfang, acting governor of Sichuan, led the 31st and 32nd bids of the 16th Association of the 8th Town of the Hubei New Army to suppress it. After Duanfang arrived in Sichuan, the Wuchang uprising had been successful, so much so that the military pay was not good. Duanfang's subordinate officers instigated a mutiny in the army, and Duanfang and his younger brother Duanjin were killed by the mutinous soldiers.
The "Iron Hat King"
At the beginning of the founding of the Qing Dynasty, there were eight "iron hat kings", including the famous Prince Su Haoge. Haoge is the eldest son of Huang Taiji, and it is very likely that he will become the first Qing emperor to enter the Central Plains. In the end, Hauge and Dorgon were at a stalemate, and were succeeded by six-year-old Fulin.
Counting from Haoge, the title of Prince Su has been passed down to Shanqi's generation, which is already the ninth generation. However, Shanqi, the iron hat king, has long been away from politics, although he is a prince, he is actually a political treatment and enjoys this level.
He is capable, open-minded, bold and witty. During the "Gengzi National Change", the Empress Dowager Cixi and the Guangxu Emperor fled in a hurry, and at the same time as the arrival of the Emperor, the Empress Dowager ordered Shanqi to return to Beijing, and handled the aftermath with Prince Qing Yixuan and scholar Li Hongzhang. At this time, Shanqi got acquainted with Kawashima Naniwa, who served as a translator in the Japanese army, and the two met late, and later worshiped their brothers. With the support of Kawashima Naniwa and others, Shanqi formed a patrol team according to the Japanese police law and the current situation of Beijing City, and established the earliest police system in China.
In 1902, Shanqi was appointed commander of the infantry army and minister of the Industrial Patrol Bureau, leading the newly established patrol police. After Shanqi became the secretary of the Ministry of Civil Affairs, he also carried out the construction of police, household registration, health, and municipal administration throughout the country. Once, the good old Fujin did not obey the traffic rules, and Xu Shiying ordered him to be fined ten yuan in silver. Xu Shiying's move was not only not criminalized, but was appreciated.
Shanqi held the power of policing in the Qing Dynasty, and his duty was to eliminate the revolutionary party. However, the Manchu prince was quite interested in the revolutionary party, and once the League held a meeting, Shanqi sent 10,000 taels of silver, and the League had a debate on whether the money could be collected, and finally accepted it.
In 1911, Wang Jingwei attempted to assassinate the regent, and after being arrested, Shanqi personally interceded for him, spared him from death, and treated him preferentially. It is said that the two talked to each other in prison, and they got along very well, and finally admired each other. Shanqi's move enabled the revolutionaries to gain an in-depth understanding of the Manchurian nobles and laid an emotional foundation for the compromise of the Xinhai Revolution.
Hold military power and talk about reform
When it comes to who can lead troops in the late Qing Dynasty, in addition to Duanfang, it should be Tie Liang and Liang Bi.
Tie Liang's grandfather was the prefect of Ji'an, Jiangxi, but with the death of his grandfather and father one after another, the family was in decline, and he was once out of cooking when he was the poorest. In desperation, Tie Liang had to give up the imperial examination. Starting from the "bookkeeper" with a monthly salary of one or two in the Shenji Battalion, he successively served as the counselor of the General Political Department, the Shaoqing of Dali Temple, and the head of the household department, etc., and achieved the highest level of the Ministry of War Shangshu, which can be described as one step at a time.
Tie Liang was one of the few talents among the late Qing aristocracy, and during his tenure as Minister of War, he paid great attention to the training of troops, which enabled China to build a warlike army. In 1903, Tie Liang went to Japan to inspect the military, and after returning to China, the Qing court set up the Prime Minister's Training Office and unified the new army. Prince Qing Yixuan was the prime minister, Yuan Shikai was the minister of military training, and Tie Liang was the Xiangban, and secretly monitored Yuan Shikai.
In 1906, the official system was reformed, and the Ministry of War, the Military Training Department and the Taifu Temple were unified into the Ministry of War. Tie Liang served as Minister of War full-time. Cixi was afraid that Yuan Shikai's tail would not be lost, so she assigned all the first, third, fifth, and sixth towns of the six towns in Beiyang to Tie Liang's command, resulting in a "balance of power" between Tie Liang and Yuan Shikai.
In fact, as early as 1905, when Tie Liang was appointed as the secretary of the household department, he began to "hook and audit" the Beiyang Army financially, which made the Beiyang grain and salary stretched. At the same time, Tie Liang began to cultivate his own power in the army, and he relied on Liang Bi, who had returned from studying in Japan, to contact non-commissioned officers and students, and to fight with Yuan Shikai. Not only that, Tie Liang was eclectic in employing people, and later the military talents Wu Luzhen and Jiang Baili among the revolutionaries were all promoted by this prince.
At the turn of the spring and summer of 1906, the five ministers who had gone abroad to inspect the constitution returned to China one after another. On August 26, the Qing court convened a pre-imperial meeting to discuss constitutional matters, and at this meeting, there was another debate between Tie Liang and Yuan Shikai about the urgency of constitutional enactment. In his view, Yuan Shikai, who advocates the establishment of a "responsible cabinet" with sole power and wants to serve as vice premier, has already made his ambitions clear. Yuan Shikai then met with Cixi and joined Yiliang to participate in Tie Liang's book: "If you don't go to Tie, the new deal will be obstructed." As a result, it was self-defeating, and the Empress Dowager Xi had already drafted a decree not to allow Tie Liang and other "oppositionists" to participate in the imperial meeting, but Yuan Shikai's performance made her immediately change her mind and "stay in the middle of the country".
In November 1906, the Qing court issued an edict to establish the Ministry of War and put all military affairs under its jurisdiction, and appointed Tie Liang as the secretary of the ministry. Yuan Shikai had gone to the general trend, so he had to take the initiative to hand over four of the six towns in Beiyang. The following year, Yuan Shikai was appointed Minister of Military Aircraft and Secretary of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. In 1908, the Empress Dowager Cixi and Emperor Guangxu died, and Tie Liang was expelled from Beijing and transferred to Jiangning General because he persuaded the Empress Dowager Longyu to train the government in an attempt to exclude the regent Zaifeng.
Despite this, Tie Liang's performance in the Xinhai Revolution was still quite eye-catching. He and Zhang Renjun, the governor of Liangjiang, defended Jiangning. After the fall of Jiangning, he went to Shaanxi to organize a troop, experienced dozens of battles, conquered more than a dozen counties and towns, and controlled almost all of Shaanxi. At this moment, the Qing Emperor announced his abdication, and the loyal Iron Lord had no choice but to lay down his arms.
The last defender of imperial power
Another person with military talent in the late Qing clan was Liangbi. Liangbi, surnamed Aixin Jueluo, although he was born in the Manchu Qing Dynasty, but the bloodline is estranged, his distant ancestor is the younger brother of Nurhachi, the branch was later reformed because of the old family membership, and it was not until the Jiaqing period that he was able to return to the sect, and it was only a "red belt", and his identity was lower than the real emperor's "yellow belt". Liangbi is still "from a bitter background": he lost his father at a young age, and his family business declined prematurely, and he was raised by his mother.
However, compared to the common people, the nobles can get more opportunities to change their fate after all. At the age of 22, Liangbi was selected by Hubei Province to study in Japan and entered Chengcheng School and the Japanese Army Non-commissioned Officer School. Four years later, he returned to China after graduating from the second phase of the Infantry Section of the Japanese Army Non-commissioned Officer School and joined the training department. He became the commander of the eighth standard of the army. In the first year of Xuantong, the Qing court "followed the advice of Liangbi and others", imitated the Japanese General Staff Headquarters to set up a military advisory office to coordinate the country's army and navy affairs.
Or thanks to the hardships of the early years, Liangbi did not have the habit of the children of the Eight Banners, he was simple and progressive, paid attention to loyalty and filial piety, and had real talent and learning, "Qing History Manuscript" said that he "usually knew the name of the soldiers, changed the military system, trained the new army, established military studies, and was the master of the plot", in addition to the advantages of honesty, knowing people and being good at doing anything, in the collective degenerate late Qing bureaucracy, especially in the clan, can be called a standout.
On January 12, 1912, Liangbi, Pu Wei, Tie Liang and others organized the "Constitutional Monarchy Maintenance Association" (commonly known as the "Zongshe Party") to oppose the north-south peace and the abdication of the Qing Emperor; on the 26th, when he returned home after the discussion, he was thrown a bomb at the door of the Beijing-Tianjin-Bao branch of the League at the door of the Guangming Temple Hutong, and was injured in the left leg and died. According to the "Qing Historical Manuscript", when Liangbi was dying, he praised Peng Jiazhen, who assassinated him, as "a strange man, and a person who really knows me", and sighed, "My own soldier, it is not a pity to die, why should it be destroyed like the Zongshe?"
The mainstream of the children of the Eight Banners
If you are not afraid of god-like opponents, you are afraid of pig-like teammates. In the political arena of the late Qing Dynasty, people such as Zai Ze, Duan Fang, Tie Liang, and Liang Bi were not the mainstream after all. They are the best representatives of the "Children of the Eight Banners", but unfortunately there are too few such people. The mainstream of the "children of the Eight Banners" is still the "second generation of nobles" like Zaizhen. Zai Zhen is the eldest son of Prime Minister Yixuan and the fifth grandson of Emperor Qianlong. In 1902, he went to England to attend the coronation of King Edward VII on behalf of the Qing court. In 1903, he went to Japan to inspect the Fifth Quanye Exposition. After returning to China, he petitioned for the establishment of the Ministry of Commerce and served as Shangshu. In 1906, the Ministry of Agriculture and Industry was established and he served as the minister. It can also be regarded as a "remarkable achievement". In fact, Zai Zhen's thinking is the mainstream thinking of the "Eight Banners". With the help of the power of the ancestors, hurry up and get rich! It is said that the current "second generation of officials" are cheating fathers, and the "noble second generation" of the late Qing Dynasty are not only cheating fathers, they are cheating ancestors. Their high-profile and ostentatious became the lace news that all the newspapers in the concession vied to report, and it became the best proof of the incompetence of the imperial court, the corruption of the powerful, and the justification of the rebellion.
The efforts of a small group of Manchurian nobles could not stop the profligacy of another large number of Manchurian nobles. These people are squandering not money, but political trust.
In 1907, Zai Zhen, the son of Prince Qing Yixuan, visited Tianjin, and Duan Zhigui, a soldier of the Beiyang Department, bought the famous actor Yang Cuixi with a huge amount of money, dedicated it to Zai Zhen, and got the post of governor of Heilongjiang. The celebrities at that time were today's film and television stars. The incident was disclosed by Wang Kangnian of the "Beijing Daily", which caused a sensation in Beijing. Zhao Qilin, the imperial historian, impeached Duan Zhigui for "offering Tianjin courtesan Yang Cuixi to Zaizhen, and taking 100,000 gold as a birthday gift, so he was appointed governor of Heilongjiang". The Empress Dowager Cixi ordered Prince Zaifeng and scholar Sun Jianai to investigate thoroughly. In order to preserve the dignity of the royal family, Zaifeng and Sun Jianai returned to the investigation without evidence. Zhao Qilin was dismissed for "false impeachment". Public opinion was in an uproar, and the dignity of the imperial court was even more shattered.
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