<h1 class= "pgc-h-arrow-right" > Xin You's coup: analyze the actions of Xianfeng, Yi bi, Cixi, and Sushun with the most detailed combing</h1>
< h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" > clearly combing through the Coup d'état of Xin You: Why is it actually just a matter for these four people? Who is the culprit? </h1>
On July 16, the eleventh year of The Xianfeng Dynasty, Emperor Wenzong (i.e., the Xianfeng Emperor) collapsed at Rehe, and left behind the order that "Emperor Zaichun, the eldest son of the Emperor, be made crown prince", and sent Eight people, including Zaiyuan the Prince of Yi, to "devote themselves to assisting and praising all government affairs". This is the "life-taking" system in the Qing Dynasty's family law.
Empress Dowager Cixi, the young emperor's biological mother, was dissatisfied with the fact that the chancellor "had no eyes on the throne" and "presided over" the government without authorization, so she and Prince Gong carefully planned and carefully arranged, and on September 30, Xin You, prince Zaiyuan, Prince Zheng, and Sushun were arrested and imprisoned, smashing the "Gu Order" system in one fell swoop, and then replacing it with the system of "listening to the government with the curtain down", and Empress Dowager Cixi seized the highest power of the country, which is the famous "Xin You coup" in modern history.
The two sides of the "Xin You's coup" struggle were represented by Empress Dowager Cixi and Prince Gong Yishi on the one hand, and Sushun, the Fuguo Duke, on the other. To understand the causes of the conflict between the two sides, it is necessary to first trace the relationship between Emperor Wenzong and Prince Gong Yishi.
<h1 class= "pgc-h-arrow-right" >, Emperor Wenzong of Qing and Prince Gong</h1>
Emperor Xuanzong of Qing had three sons and nine sons, the first, second and third sons all died prematurely, the fourth son of the Emperor Yixuan was Emperor Wenzong, the fifth son of the Emperor Yixuan was the Prince of Chun, the sixth son of the Emperor Yishu was the Prince of Gong, and the birth mother of Yixuan, Empress Xiaoquan, died in Daoguang for twenty years, and since then Yixuan was raised by Emperor Xiaojing, the biological mother of Yixi. Yi Xi and Yi Bi grew up under the guidance of a mother, and the two were similar in age, reading in the same study, which was tantamount to "brothers".
According to the tradition of the imperial family of the Qing Dynasty, they have always had strict requirements for the crown prince, and the throne should be passed to the talents and superiors of the princes. Yi Xi's talent was above Yi Xi, and there was no doubt that he would get the throne, but unexpectedly, the throne eventually returned to Yi Xi. Why? It is said that once, when Emperor Xuanzong led the princes on a hunt, Yi Xi deliberately failed to shoot a single arrow, and the emperor asked him, and Yi Xi said to him: "Shi Fang Chun, birds and beasts breed, can't bear to hurt life to dry heaven and peace." Emperor Xuanzong listened to Da Yue, "This true emperor's words!" Therefore, the matter of establishing the reserve was secretly decided. (Qing History Manuscript "Du Shoutian Biography")
These words spoken by Yi Xi were actually taught by his teacher Du Shoutian in advance. According to the Qing Dynasty' pen, one day, Xuanzong said that he was old and ill and would soon be here. At that time, Yi Yi was weeping heavily, as a sign of admiration. "Emperor Dayue, the fourth son of the Emperor, Ren Xiaoxiao, the throne is determined", Yi Xuan's move is actually Du Shutian's instruction. Originally, Du Shoutian knew that Yi Xi's intellect was "invincible" Yi Bi and could not win with the rule of Chen Shizheng, so he made up this plan to please Emperor Xuanzong with a heart of benevolence and filial piety.
The above two texts are self-evident, and Emperor Wenzong's position is suspected of being clever. It is conceivable that Yi Bi may not be convinced by his brother's move. As a result, the two gradually developed a suspicion of discord. In the fifth year of Xianfeng, Prince Gong's biological mother, Emperor Xiaojing' concubine, collapsed. Emperor Wenzong went to empress dowager, but did not follow the Ming Dynasty story based on the family law of this dynasty, and "reduced the funeral rites of the empress dowager" to avoid concubines, and it is not difficult to imagine that Prince Gong deeply regretted this. Since then, brothers have lost harmony and superficiality. Prince Gong took the "reason" of "handling the funeral of the empress dowager" and was ordered to "strike the military plane and go back to the study to study."
Su Shun's favor came after Prince Gong withdrew from the military plane. It can be seen that without the discord between Emperor Wenzong and Prince Gong, there would have been no Prince Gong Yi who withdrew from the military plane in Xianfeng for five years; and without Yi Bi's withdrawal from the military plane, there might not have been a matter of SuShun being reused in Xianfeng for six years. It can be seen from this that the discord between Sushun and Yi Bi actually stemmed from the narrow thinking of the Xianfeng Emperor.
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" > second, Prince Sushun and Prince Gong</h1>
Su Shun's arrogant and sharp personality offended many people during his reign in power; but on the other hand, his ability to do things is also a fact. SuShun had this advantage and strength, so he was well received by Qing, and was highly valued by Emperor Wenzong, so he became a close confidant of the emperor, an auxiliary duke, a co-founder of the university, a minister of internal affairs, a minister of internal affairs, and a hubu shangshu and in charge of the seal key. The emperor's reuse, in turn, naturally also contributed to SuShun's arrogance, even overriding the Manchu ministers, and even the Prince of Qia Zaiyuan and the Prince of Zheng Duanhua, who were above him, also took the initiative to contact him.
Sushun not only had the vigor to rectify the government and the courage to honor the sages, which was not comparable to that of ordinary ministers. He did not distinguish between manchus and Han, employed meritocracy, and tried to protect Zeng Guofan, Zuo Zongtang, Hu Linyi and Xiang Jun. The Qing army's suppression of the Taiping Army had some success, and its military progress naturally had the "credit" of Subun to sponsor talents. Xianfeng eight years of PengWu Ke field case. Because of his insistence, he killed the fraudulent examiner Shi Baibao and reversed the evil atmosphere of the science field. After Su Shun took over as Hubu Shangshu, he ruthlessly investigated and handled the case of collusion and fraud between the Hubu officials and the official Qianhao, and he was eager to mint new money in order to stabilize the prices of the Capital Division, and the speed of action was unexpected. Despite the tight financial revenue, through his many tightening, he actually ensured the supply of military expenses.
Su Shun was self-conscious, and regarded the Manchu dynasty relatives as a wine bag and rice bag, but he did not dare to take Prince Gong Yi Bi lightly. Prince Gong was not only in a prominent position, but also shrewd and capable, and was a potential threat to Su Shun's seizure of power. Therefore, in order to consolidate his position of power, Sushun desperately made enemies with Prince Gong. The British and French forces advanced into the Beijing Division, and Emperor Wenzong, on the pretext of "Qiu Ki Ki Mulan", hurriedly avoided rehe, and ordered Prince Gong to stay in Beijing to negotiate peace, which was called "handling the situation". Emperor Wenzong secretly calculated whether the peace was false or not, and bought time to deploy troops for truth, he did not expect that Prince Gong had actually dealt with the foreigners, and Emperor Wenzong was very dissatisfied with this. Su Shun took the opportunity to slander Yi Bi, and the conservative faction followed suit, rumors that Prince Gong would rebel with the help of the power of foreigners, which further aggravated Emperor Wenzong's suspicions about Prince Gong.
The most serious incident was Emperor Wenzong's exclusion of Prince Gong from the ranks of gu chancellors, which deepened the contradiction between Prince Gong and Sushun. The Family Law of the Qing Dynasty paid special attention to the four words of "pro-kinship and respect for the sages", and the selection of ministers who took care of their orders should especially be handled according to this rule. Of the ten princes, seven were inherited, two were enfeoffed by the king of the county, and only Prince Yi of Heshuo Gong, unlike the kings, was personally sealed by Emperor Xuanzong Zhubi, and was particularly honored. Moreover, Prince Gong and Emperor Wenzong's brothers and sisters, Nai Ru was born of a mother, which can be described as a relative of relatives. Obviously, with Prince Gong's identity and talents, if there is no deep suspicion and solemn provocation, then the eight ministers selected by Emperor Wenzong should be headed by Prince Gong. If this is the case, then the status of Prince Gong is enough to suppress Su Shun's seizure of power, and there will be no subsequent events.
<h1 class= "pgc-h-arrow-right" > third, Sushun and Empress Dowager Cixi</h1>
The relationship between Sushun and Yi Guifei (Cixi) has a long history. Princess Yi Guifei knew in her heart that the Xianfeng Emperor was terminally ill and that her six-year-old son, the emperor's eldest son Zaichun, would inherit the throne, and she had the responsibility to help his son handle military affairs. To this end, on the one hand, she strictly demanded her son, and on the other hand, she tried to deal with the government affairs. The Xianfeng Emperor ordered her to do the recitation on her behalf, which provided her with a good opportunity to learn. She could understand the internal and external situation from the compromises, observe the words and deeds of the ministers, and become familiar with the system of imperial rules; and then know the handling methods of government affairs from the emperor's approvals, from which she could understand the way of commanding the subordinates and study the style of the precepts. Therefore, SuShun said in front of the emperor that Concubine Yi guifei seized power and liked to interfere in the government affairs. Yi Guifei was annoyed by this, and it was conceivable.
Cixi and Sushun, the two sworn enemies, fought back and forth for about four rounds.
After the young lord Zaichun succeeded to the throne, according to the family law of the Qing Dynasty, the mother was noble to the son, and the concubine of Yi Gui should be honored as the empress dowager. However, Su Shun ignored the reminders of others and still treated her like other concubines and regarded her as a "concubine". When the empress corrected it, Su Shun used the excuse to delay for a day, intending to separate the two palace empresses into high and low. The first round was won. The two palaces are both respected, but they are not the same day, and Yi Guifei was only crowned empress dowager a day late after all. Because she lived in the Xi Nuan Pavilion of the Smoke Wave Zhi Shuang Temple, she was naturally called "West Empress". In this way, another empress dowager who lives in Dongnuan Pavilion should be the "Eastern Empress". "Eastern Empress" was called "Empress Dowager Mother", soon on the micro number "Ci'an", "Western Empress" was called "Empress Dowager", and the upper emblem was "Cixi".
Su Shun had mutual praise for the two empresses, why was this? Because he knew that Empress Dowager Ci'an was generous and peaceful in nature, had no great ambitions, did not understand the government and politics, and could be deceived, there was no need to worry. Therefore, the apparent sincerity of the Empress Dowager Ci'an was always maintained, and the courtesy of the monarch was maintained. Empress Dowager Cixi was different, this was a powerful role, in SuShun's view, she liked to monopolize power as much as Empress Zhang Xianliu of the Song Dynasty, and she could not wait to be ignored, and she could not be dismissed whenever she wanted. In Cixi's view, this was Su Shun's deliberate inability to get along with her. Sushun has always been strictly guarded against Cixi. The two officials and empresses paid great attention to who they came into contact with and what they talked about, and for this reason they installed spies in the palace.
In the family law of the Qing Dynasty, the empress dowager could occasionally inquire about state affairs, which was called "listening to the government". However, when the two officials proposed to use the bell seal as proof that the purpose of the edict had been passed, SuShun said: The empress dowager of the two palaces can only sing the seal, and it cannot be easier to make the content of the edict easier, and the chapter is not presented first. If this is done, the two palaces will listen to the government and will not be real in name. Empress Dowager Cixi insisted on presenting the chapter and replacing the Zhu Pen with the Two Seals of the Imperial Gift, so the second round was lost by Sushun.
Yushi Dongyuan played a fold of "Respecting Chen Guanjian", and the empress dowager of the two palaces "left the fold in the middle". Playing the fold of "staying in the middle" was originally a kind of occasional privilege of the junshang, and Su Shun and his gang dared to openly ask for the fold of "staying in the middle", and then yang and yin violated it, and did not follow the promise written instructions explained by "above" and engaged in another set to refute Dong Yuanol. In fact, Dong Yuan's invitation to send a master to the emperor was not wrong, and the "bitter refutation" was even indiscriminate, saying that it was "not unreasonable"; Dong Yuan's invitation to "another Prince of Jian Sect" to do things together was not wrong, and the "bitter refutation" actually asked "What is the sincerity?" This is simply not to let people worry about state affairs; the two seals of "Imperial Reward" and "Tongdaotang" in the hands of the two officials and empresses were given by the Xianfeng Emperor himself, but the "bitter refutation" erased this fact, which was unfair. "Bitterly refuting" said, "Asking the empress dowager to temporarily take over the government of the dynasty is not true," which is to reprimand the empress dowager through the emperor's mouth.
Sushun and his gang bullied orphans and widows when summoned, and even scared the emperor into crying and drowned the empress. Su Shun and others finally "shelved the car" (press: that is, put the edict and the recital folded, and put it aside without looking), and all this unprecedented disobedience and blockade constituted an act of rebellion. After a fierce quarrel and a stalemate, the empress dowager of the two palaces, because of her lack of strength, was forced to print on the draft of The Rebuttal of Dong Yuan's will. In the third round, Su Shun won.
<h1 class = "pgc-h-arrow-right" > 4, Empress Dowager Cixi and Prince Gong</h1>
As soon as Emperor Wenzong died, Empress Dowager Cixi proposed to Empress Dowager Ci'an that the "gu life" system should be abolished and a "curtain-hanging" system should be established.
There are eight cases of chongren reigning and the story of the empress dowager's reign, which can be used as the basis for the proposal of hanging the curtain. However, no matter how much the eight ministers of Gu Ming were good at it, there was always a matter of personally inheriting the last order, and the status was legitimate. The family law of the Qing Dynasty only took care of the orders and assisted the government, and there was no female lord hanging the curtain, and the hasty proposal of hanging the curtain may cause the opposition of the ministers and the dissatisfaction of the Qing council. We should first create public opinion, win the support of the Qing council, and then make careful arrangements, so that Su Shun and his gang can obey, otherwise they will be bitten back, and the consequences will be unimaginable. The question is who does these things and how.
Empress Dowager Ci'an was generous in heart, had no opinion when things happened, and could not do great things. The Qing court was very strictly forbidden, and the princes, princes, nobles, and other idle people were not allowed to see the empress dowager, and the empress dowager had no reason to summon foreign ministers, but could only summon the ministers of gu orders for the purpose of consulting state affairs. The empress dowager of the two palaces was effectively under house arrest. The empress dowager of the two palaces was not only powerless and courageous, but also did not move freely, so she had to seek support among the top echelons of the ruling clique. The Manchu Dynasty was pro-noble, and the only person who could do great things and wait for it was Prince Gong. The empress dowagers of the two palaces could only contact Prince Gong and move both inside and outside in order to overthrow Sushun at once. Prince Gong did not live up to his high expectations and sided with the empress dowager of the two palaces.
Here is a question that must be answered, that is, why did Prince Gong tie himself to a chariot with the two officials and empresses who had no strength and uncertain future? This is because they all face the challenge of the "life-taking" system. The system of "taking care of orders" not only caused Empress Dowager Cixi to fall from power, but also made Prince Gong marginalized by Su Shun. Of course, with the power of human rights at the top, if the empress dowager of the two palaces pushes Prince Gong to the position of the leader of the military aircraft and controls the military aircraft department, it may be possible to make the government affairs of Zanxiang in name only. However, Dong Yuan's proposal to "Prince Jianpai" was "bitterly refuted", breaking this illusion, and considering from the side of Prince Gong, even if SuShun was expelled, if the ancestral system was valued, the power would still fall into the hands of other ministers who took care of his orders. There is only one way to get rid of Su Shun and to enable Prince Gong, who is not among the people who are not in charge of his life, to govern, that is, to overthrow the "gu order" system. If the "care of life" is abolished, it must be replaced by a "hanging curtain".
Jia Zhen, a university scholar, suggested that the two officials and empresses listen to the government and say: "Power must not be moved down, and if it is moved, it will be replaced by day", which is also the meaning of Prince Gong. The gist of the chincha minister Katsuho's recital was that "the empress dowager personally manages the great government, and the prince of Jianjinzhi assists the government", which may have been at the behest of Prince Gong. It can be seen that Prince Gong's cooperation is conditional: the female protagonist "personally manages the great government", and Prince Gong "assists the government".
It is conceivable that if Prince Gong was also among the "people who care for his destiny," he would certainly be like Sushun and resolutely oppose the discussion of "hanging the curtain." "The ancestral system takes care of life", with prince Gong's talent and status, the implementation of dignified family law is enough to suppress Cixi. It can be seen how selfish and incompetent this arrangement before the Xianfeng Emperor died.
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" >5, the change of Xin Unitary</h1>
In order to expand his power, SuShun had sponsored the official Shangshu Quanqing on the pretext of managing the "Tian" character official Qian number to show his envelopment; Emperor Wenzong's last order was "to assist with all his heart and praise all government affairs"; in fact, the six words "praise all government affairs" were added by the military aircraft minister Du Han himself when he wrote his will, which shows that this group of ministers who took care of the orders had taken power with their hearts from the beginning; Su Shun took advantage of the opportunity of the personnel to engage in private fraud and deceive the two palaces, so that Kuang Yuan and Jiao Youhao could fill the vacancies of The Left Attendant of the Household Department and the Zhengqing of the Taibu Temple without being signed by the Young Emperor; after refuting Dong Yuanzhuo, Su Shunsong asked to see the two palace empresses separately, and forced the distinction between concubines, and did not recognize that the two palaces should be respected at the same time.
When Sushun's gang was as angry as the sky and overwhelmed, Empress Dowager Cixi and Prince Gong did not dare to take it lightly. They create illusions, ostensibly "show people to do nothing" everywhere, loosen the vigilance of the gang, and secretly plan and frequently carry out activities. When the Xianfeng Emperor was seriously ill, Zhu Xueqin, the foreman of the military plane Zhang Jing, was ordered by Prince Gong to go to Rehe to watch the wind and dispel rumors. After that, Zhu Xueqin, in the name of Prince Gong, wrote a letter of greeting to the Chincha minister Shengbao, who held some military power, signaling to encircle and preemptively capture the army. The Xianfeng Emperor collapsed, Prince Gong went to Rehe to prostrate himself at the Zi Palace, and the empress dowager of the two palaces summoned Prince Gong twice in the name of inquiring about the family's private affairs and family affection, in fact, forcing him to offer a curtain, and finally reached a tacit understanding.
After that, in order to create a "curtain- hanging curtain" public opinion in the DPRK, Prince Gong's cronies lobbied in many ways, launched a discussion, and contacted people's hearts, winning the support of the Han ministers Jia Zhen and Zhou Zupei, the Hubu Shangshu Shen Zhaoji, and the Punishment Department Shangshu Zhaoguang, as well as the support of the Mongolian princes and ministers. Prince Gong waited for the opportunity to send King Gong as the funeral minister to the back of the two palaces, in order to signal unity to Prince Huan and eliminate misunderstandings.
After fighting with Sushun for three rounds, Cixi became more and more worried about Sushun's aggressiveness. She understood that if she could not gain political power, she could only rely on the hands of the ministers to cover the sky, and if this development continued, sushun and his gang would "blackmail the son of heaven to order the princes", and the young emperor would only obey the orders under their elbows. According to the position of the empress, she was not willing to be left to power and subject to others. To regain authority, we must first get rid of Su Shun! Authority cannot be moved downwards, this is the ancestral family law of the Qing Dynasty. The two officials believed that the eight ministers of Gu Order must not stay any longer, so they secretly ordered Prince Gong to dispose of them. In accordance with this instruction, Prince Gong stepped up his deployment in Beijing. As soon as the empress dowager returned to Beijing from Rehe, she summoned Prince Gong, the university scholar Guiliang, Jia Zhen, Zhou Zupei, and the military minister Wen Xiang, a total of five people. The two palaces formally put forward the idea of hanging the curtain, accusing the minister of gu ming of crimes, and issued an edict in the face of "remove Zaiyuan, Duanhua, and Sushun from their knighthood and take it to the Zongren Mansion", "Jingshou, Mu Yin, Kuang Yuan, Du Han, and Jiao Youying withdrew from the military aircraft department." Prince Pai Gong, together with the university scholars, liubu, jiuqing, Han, Zhan, Ke, and Dao, will blame Yi and others for their deservings, respectively, according to the law. When the empress dowager should hang the curtain, they all played the ceremony together, and Prince Gong was "specially ordered" to take Zaiyuan and Duanhua, and sent Prince Rui and Prince Shuo to meet Sushun. This was the fourth round of the struggle between Empress Dowager Cixi and Sushun; it ended in The complete failure of Sushun, Sushun was beheaded, and Zaiyuan and Duanhua "gave orders to commit suicide". The other five ministers were all "dismissed" or enlisted, and some were "relieved of their dispatches".
This incident occurred in 1861, because this year is the year of the lunar calendar, so it is called the "Xin You Coup" in history, also known as the "Beijing Coup".
On the first day of November in the year of Xin You, a curtain ceremony was held at the Yangxin Hall of the Forbidden City. Since then, the two officials have been controlled by the upper court, and Prince Gong has taken charge of the overall situation below. From then on, Empress Dowager Cixi formally gained supreme power in the country and then actually ruled China for nearly half a century.
According to Empress Dowager Cixi's instructions to "stabilize the overall situation," only a few people, including Chen Fu'en and Huang Zonghan, were prosecuted against the Sushun Yu Party, and the rest were not prosecuted. At the same time, it took over the regime, mobilized the Military Aircraft Department and the Ministers, and paid attention to appeasing all sides, especially the Han and Mongols.
The successive palace coups of the Qing Dynasty, whether it was the liquidation of Prince Dolgun during the Shunzhi period, the struggle for concubines during the Kangxi period, or the internecine killing after Sejong ascended the throne, all of them were very active. Only this coup d'état did not cost a single shot, but only killed three people, and the overall situation remained stable.
To sum up, the "Xin You coup" had its specific historical conditions, and he took the discord between The Brothers of Emperor Wenzong and Prince Gong as the cause; the arrangement designed by Emperor Wenzong to tie each other down with the ministers of gu ming as a hidden danger; and the incident of Yushi Dongyuan's playing of the curtain to listen to the government as the fuse, and in order to compete for the supreme ruling power, the two sides launched a fierce quarrel over the "Gu Ming" system and the "hanging curtain" system, and finally developed to the point where contradictions were irreconcilable, and had to resort to force.
The result of the struggle is the redistribution of power. The "Xin You Coup" was carried out under very covert circumstances, and we still know only the general situation and do not know the whole truth. It is believed that with the passage of time, the continuous excavation and collation of historical materials, some details may gradually be clarified.