The last emperor Puyi, we should also be very clear, as the last emperor of the Qing Dynasty, Puyi's life is indeed full of legends, or it is most appropriate to describe it with ups and downs.
But the problem is, at that time, Puyi was also willing to become a puppet of the Japanese, and also committed many sins, it is reasonable to say that such a sinner should be sentenced to death after being tried, but the fact is that New China has taken great care of Puyi, after extraditing from the Soviet Union to China, he was imprisoned in Gongdelin Prison for reform, and after being released from prison, he was also arranged to work, and finally got Chairman Mao's banquet.
Although Puyi said that he was ousted from power, his heart still longed for the restoration of the Qing Dynasty, which is why the Japanese wanted to support him, after all, Puyi was once the emperor of the Qing Dynasty, so if he could submit to Japan, it would undoubtedly be a great lever for Japan to confuse our Chinese people in the future.
And Puyi naturally also hopes to restore the Qing Dynasty with the help of the strength of the Japanese, of course, this is only Puyi's yellow sorghum dream, but who can think of the defeat of Japan in 1945 and the choice of surrender, for Puyi is indeed unable to imagine such an ending, and he naturally knows what his fate will be next?
Soon Puyi was arrested by the Soviet Union, and after that, he repeatedly proposed to the Soviet Union that he hoped to settle in the Soviet Union, and proposed to join the Communist Party of the Soviet Union, in fact, hoping to get the protection of the Soviet Union and escape trial and punishment.
Not long after the founding of the People's Republic of China, Chairman Mao was invited by Stalin to visit the Soviet Union, and after arriving in the Soviet Union, he also negotiated the extradition of Puyi, Japanese war criminals and others, so in 1950, Puyi was successfully extradited back to China, and then detained in the famous Gongdelin Prison in Beijing.
As for the question of Puyi and other war criminals, in fact, Chairman Mao also held talks with many leaders, and indeed some people felt that Puyi should be shot, but Chairman Mao actually did not agree, and also made important instructions:
"What kind of person can not kill?" People like Hu Feng, Pan Hannian, and Rao Shushi can be left unslaimed, as can people like Puyi and Kang Ze, the captured war criminals of Xuantong Emperor. But not to kill them is not to be guilty of killing, but to kill them will be detrimental to the current situation. ”
In fact, Chairman Mao's consideration is indeed far-sighted, after all, Puyi is not just a war criminal, he is the number one counter-revolutionary in the old feudal period, after such a person is killed, there will be a second and a third, for a newly established new China, this is undoubtedly extremely unfavorable, it is likely to give New China a bad reputation of killing prisoners.
And if Puyi is given proper preferential treatment, it is undoubtedly an indication to some counter-revolutionaries that as long as you sincerely accept socialist transformation, the state is still willing to accept you.
In 1959, Puyi became the first batch of amnesty war criminals in New China, and indeed even he himself could not have imagined that New China would treat him so favorably, which also made Puyi feel very regretful about what he had done before, and at the same time sincerely repent.
Later, Puyi worked as a worker in the botanical garden, and later transferred to the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference on Literature and History Research, and a year later Puyi and nurse Li Shuxian married.
On October 17, 1967, Puyi died of uremia in Beijing at the age of 61.