< h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" > introduction</h1>
In the late Qing Dynasty, politics was corrupt, and there were countless people in the imperial court from top to bottom who perverted the law, and in such an environment, it was difficult to appear two great Qing officials, one was Qu Hongji and the other was Cen Chunxuan, and finally both stepped down in the political struggle with Yuan Shikai, known in history as "Ding Wei's political tide". Yesterday we talked about Cen Chunxuan being brought down by Yuan Shikai because of a photo, and today we will talk about how Qu Hongji fell.
Rather than saying that Qu Hongji was designed by Yuan Shikai to be overthrown, it is better to say that he himself came out of his mouth and led to his demise, and Yuan Shikai just picked up the leak at this time and took the opportunity to defeat the political enemies.
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" > Qu Hongji</h1>
Qu Hongji, a native of Shanhua (present-day Changsha), Hunan, was one of the rare Qing officials of the late Qing Dynasty.
According to the historical records of the Qing Dynasty, Qu Hongji returned to his hometown to keep filial piety because of his mother's remorse, and returned to Beijing to resume his duties a few years later, but he did not have to be entangled, so he had to sell his family's old mansion in exchange for travel expenses. Qu Hongji, however, was a clean and honest official and had a world-renowned reputation.
Qu Hongji was a meritorious escort in the Battle of Gengzi, and was promoted to military minister by Empress Dowager Cixi, when Qu Hongji was fifty-two years old. Qu Hongji, who had a reputation for being honest and honest in the world, naturally became two hostile forces in the court with yuan shikai, a powerful minister.
<h1 class= "pgc-h-arrow-right" > curse comes out of the mouth</h1>
Although the evidence in the "Yang Cuixi" case was insufficient, Empress Dowager Cixi was a door in her heart, and she knew that the father and son of Prince Yili of Qing must have accepted bribes from them, so she had the intention of replacing the chief military minister Yi Li. This was a matter of private discussion with Qu Hongji, and the implication was self-evident, Qu Hongji was the only one who knew that Empress Dowager Cixi had this kind of heart, so he must be the only candidate who could be trusted in the empress dowager's heart and could be qualified for this position.
Yi Li, a big corrupt official and political opponent, was finally about to step down, and Qu Hongji was overjoyed, not to mention that he still had to be promoted and banned Yi Li from being the head of the military aircraft minister, this joy could not be hidden in Qu Hongji's heart, and he could not help but share this good news with his wife.
Mrs. Qu was happier and more excited than her husband after hearing this, but the woman's mouth could not hide things. Lady Qu then told a little sister about this great joy, and the husband of this little sister happened to be Wang Kangnian, the founder of the Beijing News and Qu Hongji's protégé. As a journalist, Wang Kangnian immediately knew the newsworthiness of this matter, and soon the news spread ten or ten hundred times, making it known all over the city.
Even the "Times" quickly published the news, and the British minister also asked his wife to inquire about the matter with the empress dowager at the reception of Empress Dowager Cixi's garden, and the empress dowager was shocked and denied it, and her heart was very angry: Qu Hongji actually told foreigners about political secrets, which is really disgusting!
Qu Hongji was uncertain in his heart, and took advantage of the momentary quickness to cut off the road to promotion, and at the same time, he was disliked by Empress Dowager Cixi and beat the grass to scare the snake. At this time, Yi Li was trying his best to deal with him, so as not to really damage himself, so Yi Li and Yuan Shikai decided to preemptively attack and defeat the enemy with one move while the empress dowager was still dissatisfied with Qu Hongji.
< h1 class= "pgc-h-arrow-right" > nowhere to argue</h1>
Yuan Shikai sent Yang Shiqi to bribe a yushi named Yun Yuding for 18,000 taels, and asked him to impeach Qu Hongji for the four crimes of "secretly informing the museum, instructing officials, shading foreign aid, and distributing party henchmen."
After the "Yang Cuixi case," the Beijing Daily often published articles denouncing Yi Xi's father and son, and the imperial court often had the ability to impeach the father and son, yi li's father and son were originally corrupt and perverted the law, and even Empress Dowager Cixi knew it in her heart, so she had the idea of replacing Yi Li, and it is reasonable to say that everyone knows everything, even if there is no "instruction" from Qu Hongji, naturally someone will impeach the father and son. However, at this time, these articles and recitals actually became the instructions of Qu Hongji, and Empress Dowager Cixi was actually convinced and suspected that Qu Hongji had gained power, so she immediately dismissed Qu Hongji and dismissed him from his post.
< h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" > concluding remarks</h1>
The reasons for Qu Hongji's downfall are the helplessness of life and death as a feudal society courtier, and there are also yili and Yuan Shikai's fall into the well and unscrupulous means, but the source is qu Hongji's own mouth.
Such an important secret Qu Hongji could say casually, although the object was his wife, but such secrets should have been kept silent before the dust settled. It can be seen from this that Qu Hongji's mastery and vigilance of human nature are far inferior to those of the treacherous Yuan Shikai.
Yuan Shikai was still able to find a lustful Yun Yuding in the imperial history team controlled by Qu Hongji and opposed Yuan Shikai's dictatorship, and bribed him with money to make him defect, which was the real reason why he could not go on in the official field.
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