Chapter 60 "Taisho coup" and the loss of imperial power

In 1868, the four domains of Choshu, Satsuma, Hizen, and Tosa joined forces to overthrow the Tokugawa shogunate, held high the banner of "restoring the king's government", supported the Emperor Meiji, and ushered in the era of the Meiji Restoration.Japan became a constitutional monarchy, with the emperor as the "supreme head" confirmed by the country's constitution.So how much power does the emperor actually have?Who is the real dominant force in Japanese society? It should be said that with the same system and the same law, different emperors have different degrees of power!Power has never been fully endowed by law, nor can it be fully guaranteed by the system. Power is the result of fierce competition between the interests of all parties.

Since the four vassals seized power, the political power core of the "Meiji Oligarchs" has gradually formed, and its representatives are the "Meiji Nine Elders".Behind them is the dual support of warlord forces and chaebol forces.They enshrined the emperor as a god, and then "borrowed" the name of the emperor to exert influence on the country's major policies.The will of the Emperor must and only be carried out through them. With his unique personal charm and political scheming, Emperor Meiji effectively integrated his imperial will with the interests of the "Meiji oligarchs", thus gaining the support of all parties, consolidating the imperial power, and demonstrating the emperor's authority.

However, when Emperor Meiji died and his son Emperor Taisho ascended the throne, the situation changed markedly.Taisho is a typical weak emperor. He has neither Meiji's personal charm nor Meiji's political strategy. His talent, achievements and prestige are far inferior to Naifu.As the saying goes, when a person's talent is greater than his temper, people can usually tolerate it, but if his temper is greater than his talent, it will often lead to a backlash. This is the fault of Taisho, and his tragedy is that he is not aware of it. Before and after the Revolution of 1911, Gongwang Xiyuanji formed a cabinet for the second time, during which Emperor Taisho ascended the throne.Dazheng's sense of imperial power is so strong that all parties are obviously disgusted, but he does not have the power strategy to hide his strength and bide his time, let alone the political skills to use strength to exert strength.He feels that he is a super talented person, a talented person who is protected by both God and the Constitution, so powerful that all parties will immediately and unconditionally obey when he gives an order.

Therefore, as soon as Taisho came to power, he began to expand the army and strengthen national defense, including increasing the number and equipment of the army and navy, preparing to be able to surpass and even surpass his father, Emperor Meiji, in terms of opening up territories and military conquests.He is so high-minded and determined that he completely ignores that his power base is not enough to support his ambitions. The elders didn't buy it at first. Xiyuansi Gongwang is the obvious opponent, and behind him are the forces of big bankers and industrial capitalists.Relying on his own politicians, he has a large majority in the parliament, and his cabinet policy is completely different from the will of the emperor.He worked hard to reduce Japan's huge debt of 1.5 billion yen due to the Russo-Japanese War, and resolutely controlled the fiscal budget.The result was a stalemate with Emperor Taisho.

The policy of military expansion and preparation for war is of course in the interests of the military, so Taisho formed an alliance with the military.In order to force Xiyuanji Gongwang to make concessions, the Minister of War in the cabinet resigned, which led to the dissolution of Xiyuanji Gongwang's cabinet. How could the resignation of the Minister of War lead to the downfall of the cabinet?It turns out that Japanese law stipulates that in the cabinet, the ministers of the army and navy must be active soldiers. If one of the two parties is determined not to cooperate with the prime minister, he can refuse to send a representative to join the cabinet, thus making the cabinet impossible to exist.

After the Xiyuanji Gongwang cabinet fell, Taisho instructed Katsura Katsura of the army to form a cabinet.Gongwang of Xiyuan Temple immediately retaliated, uniting all the civil servants and refusing to take up the post of minister, resulting in a difficult delivery for the cabinet.In the end, Taisho had no choice but to use the highest power allowed by the constitution to push Katsura Katsura to the throne of prime minister. Dazheng's method was quite blunt, and he sent himself directly to the center of the storm, completely losing the room for maneuver that the emperor should have. Sure enough, Emperor Taisho's actions set off a storm of protests in the parliament.On the surface, the lawmakers accused Gui Taro of being a "guy hiding behind the dragon's sleeves", but they were actually complaining about the emperor's abuse of imperial power.Emperor Taisho was furious, and directly ordered the parliament to adjourn for 3 days to reflect on himself.But Xiyuansi Gongwang hoped that these civil rights politicians were "spoiled" and still openly criticized the cabinet after the resumption of the meeting.In the Meiji era, the emperor only needed to frown and burp to calm down such a thing, but now the emperor himself has issued an edict and it is still uncertain!

The angry Taisho Emperor summoned Xiyuanji Gongwang and ordered him to go back to unify his thinking and stop resisting the edict.Gong Wang of Xiyuan Temple went back and conveyed the holy meaning according to the scriptures.The parliament discussed it for another two days, but it still rejected the emperor's proposal! Now the whole of Japan is stupid!In Japanese history, the will of the emperor has never been denied so mercilessly!Gong Wang of Xiyuan Temple couldn't hold his face anymore. After all, he is a member of the royal family and should stand by the emperor. Otherwise, how would the people of the world think of him who betrayed the emperor?As a result, Gongwang Xiyuansi resigned from the post of president of the Political Friends Association.However, his insistence that the emperor is a man and not a god, and that imperial power must be controlled by the constitution has not changed.

Immediately afterwards, demonstrations and riots against the cabinet occurred in Tokyo, Osaka and other places. This was the first "constitutional disturbance" in Japanese history.Major political parties have also put forward the slogan of "down with the elites and uphold the constitutional government".The supporters behind it are bankers and industrial capitalists who hope to win power from nobles and warlords.The first concern of buyers and sellers is the rate of return on investment, and no one is willing to pay for a loss-making transaction.Over-expansion of armaments, if the military adventure fails, wouldn't the investors who invested huge sums of money lose their money?No one would do a losing business.

Emperor Taisho was immediately in an embarrassing situation of extreme isolation. Except for the army with the Choshu domain as the core, which directly benefited from the military expansion policy, which was still on the side of the emperor, all other forces stood on the side of Saiyuanji Gongwang. As the situation deteriorated further, Prime Minister Katsura Katsura was forced to resign.Saiyuanji Gongwang and other elders strongly recommended a non-partisan prime minister to Taisho to form a cabinet. At this time, Emperor Taisho was exhausted, lost his majesty, and even threatened to abdicate on impulse, showing the fragile side of his character.In the end, whether it was emotional or threatened to abdicate, Emperor Taisho had to make a series of arrangements and concessions in terms of national policy and personnel arrangements: cancel most of the plan to expand the army;

Temporarily abandon the plan to conquer Nanyang by force; In the event of a world war, Japan synchronizes with Britain, France and the United States, which control the Pacific region; the oldest advisor to the emperor is replaced by a civilian-born official; Crown Prince Hirohito leaves a special school for royal children to attend a Spartan school Get an education. 【3】This event is called the "Taisho coup". Emperor Taisho was depressed from then on, suffered a cerebral hemorrhage in 1919, and then became mentally ill.In a military parade, in front of foreign envoys, he rolled up the imperial edict and used it as a telescope to look around.The ministers felt that the emperor was no longer fit to manage the government, so in 1921, Crown Prince Hirohito was appointed as regent.

Why did Emperor Taisho's concession implicate Hirohito? The royal family and nobles believed that the root of the "Taisho coup" lay in the emperor, and it was his laziness and lack of decision-making ability that led to the crisis of imperial power.Therefore, only 70 days after his birth, Hirohito was fostered in the home of a retired naval general and received "Bushido" education. After that, he was trained by a special "Royal Academy" teacher, with the purpose of creating a qualified autocratic monarch for the future. The imperial power can make a comeback.