Chapter 19 Chapter Eighteen: The Hundred Days Restoration

The annihilation of the Beiyang Navy in the Sino-Japanese War and the signing of the "Treaty of Shimonoseki" shocked the whole country, which marked the complete failure of the Westernization Movement to save the country.Amid the outrage across the country, it is heralded that a new storm is coming. After the "Treaty of Shimonoseki" was signed, it immediately caused an uproar in the country, and the people of the whole country rose up to oppose it and scolded Li Hongzhang for his traitorous behavior.At this time, it was the time when the national examinations were held in Beijing. Kang Youwei and Liang Qichao jointly wrote a 14,000-word "Letter to the Emperor", which was signed by more than 1,000 candidates from all provinces who participated in the examination. Then they got together and petitioned in front of the Metropolitan Procuratorate, begging the Metropolitan Procuratorate to convey their opinions to the emperor.

This is the sensational "Book on the Bus".Although the emperor did not see the "public letter" this time, it had a great impact. Kang Youwei and Liang Qichao became the leaders of the reformers. On the second day of the "Bus Letter", Kang Youwei passed the examination and was awarded a Jinshi, and the Qing court awarded him the head of the Ministry of Industry, but it did not affect his reform thinking.Soon, Kang Youwei wrote a letter to Emperor Guangxu for the third time in the name of Jinshi. This time, Guangxu saw it, and after reading it, he appreciated Kang Youwei's proposition very much.A month later, Kang Youwei wrote "The Fourth Book of the Emperor" and submitted it.

Guangxu's teacher Weng Tonghe had read Kang Youwei's "submissions", thought it was reasonable, and actively recommended it to Guangxu.After Guangxu read it, he couldn't calm down for a long time.His heart was burning with a blazing flame, and he fell into deep thought. In the past six years of Guangxu's personal administration, the domestic and foreign affairs he has heard and seen are all records of failures. From Kang Youwei's articles, he saw a glimmer of hope for the revitalization of the Qing Dynasty. With the consent of Empress Dowager Cixi.Guangxu is determined to have a showdown with Cixi.

He came to Le Shoutang, knelt down to pay respects to Cixi, roughly explained the content of the letter on the bus, and then stated his long-planned New Deal plan. To his surprise, Cixi did not reprimand him, nor Not obstructed. On April 23rd in the twenty-fourth year of Guangxu (June 11th, 1898), the Military Aircraft Department promulgated the imperial edict on state affairs and announced it to China and foreign countries.Guangxu said in the oracle: "Over the past few years, Chinese and foreign ministers and workers have emphasized reform and self-improvement. There have been several imperial edicts, such as the establishment of special departments, the layoff of redundant troops, the reform of the military department system, and the main and small halls. It must be that the atmosphere has not yet been widely adopted, and there is no consensus on what to say. Empty words are useless. Just ask the current situation and the state of the country. If you still use untrained soldiers and limited pay, the soldiers have no practical learning, and the workers have no good teachers. Strong and weak In contrast, the rich and the poor are hanging by a thread, how can it really be possible to control the stiles to destroy the strong armor and benefit the soldiers? I... clearly declare that all ministers, big and small, from China and foreign countries, from princes to scholars, should work hard to be a hero. . . . , Favoritism to give instructions, to bear the sincerity of the imperial court's earnest warning, let me know this."

On April 27th, Guangxu summoned Kang Youwei in the Summer Palace and listened to a lot of opinions on reform. The main points of his reform were the laws of "enriching the country", "raising the people" and "dispersing the people", and implementing the "system of discussing men" , Open twelve innings.In a word, it is to implement a constitutional monarchy and develop capitalism.Guangxu was very happy, and granted Kang Youwei temporary appointment as Zhang Jing of the Prime Minister’s Yamen (in charge of clerical work), appointed Liang Qichao as the head of the university hall, and Tan Sitong, Yang Rui, Liu Guangdi, and Lin Xu, the backbone of the reformist school, were appointed as Zhang Jing of the military aircraft to participate in reviewing memorials, The work of drafting the encyclical.At the same time, Li Hongzhang and Jing Xinge were withdrawn from the General Administration due to poor preparation of the New Deal.

As a result, the Reform Reform was carried out with great fanfare.Because this year is the year of 1898 in the lunar calendar, it is called "the reform of 1898" in history. At the beginning of the reform, Cixi did not object. She said to Guangxu: "The reform is also important, but it must not violate the ancestral system or damage the power of Manchuria before it can be implemented." But with the progress of the reform, the interests of some conservatives were touched, so voices of opposition arose everywhere.Yushi Wenti put a lot of records in the wooden box to impeach Emperor Guangxu for "reversing the law".Soon there was simply a memorial, Yan Shen, a figure in the reformation, Kang Youwei and others.After reading the memorial, Guangxu was furious and dismissed him.The emperor's attitude was a blow to the old-fashioned ministers. They felt that it would not work with the emperor, so they turned to Cixi to work hard. They secretly connected with each other and instigated Wen Ti to go to Tianjin to complain to Cixi's confidant Zhili governor Ronglu.

Rong Lu also knew very well that once the reformers became full-fledged and Guangxu gained real power, his fate would also be unknown.He first spread the rumor that "the emperor is seriously ill" through Wen Ti, and then colluded with Li Lianying to instigate eunuchs to go to the restaurant to spread rumors that "the emperor and the reformers conspired to harm the Empress Dowager Cixi", etc. These rumors quickly reached Cixi's ears. Seeing that the fire was coming, Rong Lu, a representative of the diehards, began to appear frequently in the Summer Palace to report the abuses of the New Deal and the opinions of the ministers to Cixi.After hearing this, Empress Dowager Cixi turned blue with anger, and remained silent for a long time, thinking: "It seems that this emperor cannot be allowed to be him."

A few days later, Guangxu went to see Cixi in the Summer Palace. Cixi said to him with a stern face: "I don't care if you practice the rule of law, but you have to dismiss ministers at will, and you can't appoint those reformist villains." Emperor Guangxu said: "Unchanging the law cannot save the country. If you don't dismiss the incompetent ministers who guard the old and appoint promising people, you can't reform the law. Please understand my feelings." Ci Xi sneered and said: "You should think about it, do you still want your throne!" As soon as Guangxu left, Cixi and Rong Lumi planned to take advantage of the Tianjin military parade to carry out a mutiny and abolish the establishment, but on the surface they pretended to "retire for the rest of the world" and pretended to be separated from the government.

But this secret plan was learned by Liang Qichao's inner party and informed the reformers.After repeated research by Guangxu Tongkang, Liang and others, they decided to use Yuan Shikai, who held military power, to get rid of Rong Lu, thus disrupting the plan of the "Tianjin Military Parade". What kind of person is this Yuan Shikai?Yuan Shikai's ancestral home was in Xiangcheng, Henan. Although he was a young man who was educated, he did not achieve much fame. He usually liked to use guns and clubs, and made friends with a group of prodigal children.There was no hope in his studies, but he believed that relying on military merits could lead to success, which was a shortcut to becoming a master, so he defected to Wu Changqing, his stepfather Yuan Baozhong and his brother Wu Changqing.Wu Changqing was the admiral of Shandong. Soon, Yuan Shikai went to North Korea with the army. At that time, Li Hongzhang was the founder of the Huai Army and the Beiyang Navy.Yuan Shikai checked his words and found that Li Hongzhang didn't like Wu Changqing, so he spoke ill of Wu Changqing in front of Li Hongzhang.Soon, Li Hongzhang cut off half of the military power from Wu Changqing and handed it over to Yuan Shikai. As a result, Wu Changqing died of anger.Then, Yuan Shikai, who was only 26 years old, was promoted to a third-rank Taoist under the protection of Li Hongzhang.

During the Sino-Japanese Sino-Japanese War of 1899-1895, Yuan Shikai saw that Li Hongzhang was nearly 70 years old and had little use value, so he repeated the old trick.He compiled his military and diplomatic affairs in North Korea and his telegrams with Li Hongzhang into a booklet, attacked Li Hongzhang with insinuations, and distributed it to princes and ministers.He knew that Rong Lu and Li Hongzhang had a grudge, so he went to and from the Rong Mansion frequently, speaking ill of Li Hongzhang whenever he had the opportunity, and Rong Lu quickly accepted him as his confidant.It was this snobbish, unscrupulous, speculative, and capricious snob who was taken by the reformers.

One day, Guangxu summoned Yuan Shikai, and after comforting him, appointed him as an alternate assistant minister.When Yuan Shikai returned to Fahua Temple, he was so excited that he drank several cups. He heard a sound in the dimness. Yuan Shikai hurriedly ordered his guards to inquire, and saw three strangers with swords on their backs came to visit, saying: "I want to see Wei Shuai." The guards couldn't stop them, and the three of them strode into the room. Yuan Shikai couldn't help being startled. Seeing Yuan Shikai's unsteady expression, a tall man among the visitors hurriedly cupped his hands and said, "I am Zhang Jing and Tan Sitong of the Military Aircraft Department, and these two are me. My friends Da Dao Wang Wu and Armenian Hu Qi, I have no other intentions here, and I would like to extend my congratulations to Wei Shuai Gao Sheng!" At this time, Yuan Shikai breathed a sigh of relief.Tan Sitong was a representative of the Reform School, and he was very popular in front of the emperor. Yuan Shikai naturally knew it well. As for Wang Wu and Hu Qi, they were heroes of the capital, everyone knew.He hastily said politely: "I have little talent and little knowledge. I am lucky to be promoted. I hope you will take care of me." Tan Sitong inspected Yuan Shikai, and asked tentatively, "What's your impression of the Emperor?" Yuan Shikai, who is good at adapting to the wind and steering the rudder, immediately said: "I have served overseas and have dealt with foreigners a lot. I know that China has no hope of rejuvenation unless the Holy One uses Kang Nanhai's reform. The reason why I participated in the forced Learning, but also to be able to actively participate in the reform." Upon seeing this, Tan Sitong simply told Yuan Shikai that the military parade in Tianjin was a conspiracy, and that Cixi and Ronglu wanted to harm the emperor.While talking, he took out a yellow forging secret decree and a small order arrow from his bosom, and ordered Yuan to accept the decree.Yuan Shikai took it with both hands on his knees, and quickly glanced at the imperial decree. It turned out that the emperor ordered him to go back to Tianjin to eradicate Rong Lu, seize the military power, and lead the troops to Jingqin King.He was terrified, speechless for a while, and knelt there in a daze, like a wooden stake. "Wei Shuai, please get up!" Yuan Shikai just woke up like a dream, and stood up tremblingly.Tan Sitong then talked about the conspiracy between the Queen Mother and Rong Lu, and finally said: "Now the emperor is in great trouble, and only you can save the emperor." Tan Sitong stared at Yuan Shikai and said: "The emperor is in trouble right now, and he needs his ministers to respond. After you have done this important matter, you can be promoted to the governor of Zhili. Otherwise, Wei Shuai can go to the Summer Palace to report. It's up to Wei Shuai to adjudicate." Yuan Shikai shook his moustache, looked extremely excited, and said seriously: "Who does your lord think Yuan is? Please tell the emperor, don't worry. The emperor's kindness to me is as great as a mountain. There is nothing to repay! Ronglu traitor, wouldn’t it be as easy for me to kill him as killing a dog?” Tan Sitong still said worriedly: "This matter is of great importance, and you must not be careless." "Don't worry, brother, Yuan understands, and he will return to Tianjin tomorrow to make arrangements." Yuan Shikai looked solemn and sincere. After Tan Sitong left, Yuan Shikai weighed the pros and cons, and finally went to see Rong Lu, and reported Tan Sitong's secret visit to Rong Lu verbatim, and handed over the secret decree and Xiao Lingjian to Rong Lu.Seeing this, Rong Lu went to see Cixi all night long. In the early morning of the sixth day of August in the twenty-fourth year of Guangxu (September 21, 1898), Emperor Guangxu was sleeping, and the former imperial eunuch Wang Shang woke him up: "Long live, the Empress Dowager Lafayette has returned to the palace!" When Guangxu heard it, his head suddenly buzzed, and his expression changed.Because according to the usual practice, every year from the Dragon Boat Festival to the Longevity Festival, Cixi always lived in the Summer Palace to cool off from the summer heat. It was too early, and there must be a reason for her sudden return to the palace.Wang Shang whispered again: "Long Live Lord, I heard that Lafayette's complexion is not very good..." Guangxu rolled his big eyes, frowned, and couldn't help being suspicious: Could something be wrong with Yuan Shikai?He calmed down and ordered: "I've called Concubine Zhen, kneel down to welcome Lafayette!" Guangxu and Concubine Zhen came to Cixi, knelt down and said, "My dear father, I wish you well." Cixi stared at Guangxu, pointed at him and said, "Hmph, in your eyes, do you still have me as your own father?" "Dad" is a respectful and affectionate name for aunts from Manchu people.When Guangxu entered the palace at the age of four, Cixi ordered her nurse and eunuch to teach Xiao Zaitian to call her "father". Guangxu hesitantly said: "I have been busy with government affairs for several days, so I didn't go to the Summer Palace to pay my respects to my father. It's really my fault." Cixi said sarcastically: "I know you are very busy, deploying to kill Rong Lu in one moment, and deploying troops to surround the Summer Palace in another moment, how can you not be busy with such a military and national event!" Guangxu didn't listen, but when he heard his head "buzz", he almost fainted to the ground.He knew the secret had been leaked.After a long while, he said dully: "Dad, my son is too serious. How dare you? My son did not want to overthrow the Qing Dynasty, and did not want to be a king of subjugation, so he followed the example of Japan's Meiji Restoration in order to rejuvenate the Qing Dynasty. And those old people tried their best To stop the fire, the child has to make an example..." Before Guangxu could finish speaking, Cixi, who had a livid face, slapped the imperial case with her hand and shouted: "Kill one to warn others, didn't you kill me? You are so bold! You are a side branch, four I was the one who brought you into the palace when I was young. For more than 20 years, I married you and let you be in charge, but now that you have grown up, you have repaid me well. You listened to the villain and wanted to kill me, an old man. Where is the conscience of heaven? You have read sage books since you were a child, and you know the truth that "a son does not disobey his father's order". Now that you are an emperor, I would like to ask you, what crime should a son kill his parents? You ungrateful thing .” As Cixi spoke, she couldn't help sobbing a little, her old eyes filled with tears.Guangxu fell to his knees with a thud: "Dear father, this is definitely not what my son meant, don't listen to villains' slander." "Are the edict and command arrow also slander by villains?" Guangxu has already explained it and doesn't want to talk anymore.Cixi said: "It's a pity, it's a pity, you have failed my heart. You keep talking about the Qing Dynasty, but the Qing Dynasty is about to be ruined in your hands. You are unfilial—" Cixi wanted to say "rebellious son" But it was not appropriate to say "Nizi" to the emperor, so he swallowed it, and then said: "Don't even think about it. If I don't have me today, can I have you tomorrow? You are not worthy of being an emperor at all, and I will definitely depose you." You, Li Mingjun!" This morning, the princes and ministers gathered in the Qianqing Palace, Cixi was sitting on the throne, and Rong Lu, Li Hongzhang, Prince Qing, Duanjun Wang, etc. were all kneeling in front of the case.Cixi said straight to the point: "In recent years, after I came back to power, the emperor listened to Kang Ni's demonic words, which caused chaos throughout the country and ruined the integrity of the Qing Dynasty. Since the emperor has failed to live up to the trust of his ancestors and is no longer worthy of being an emperor, I think he should be deposed. What do you think?" The officials looked at each other in blank dismay, not daring to speak out for a while.Because Rong Lu heard some rumors, he knew that foreigners had a good impression of Guangxu's new policy, and they all supported his reform. If Emperor Guangxu was really abolished, there would be opposition from both domestic and international, so he boldly said: "Abolishing the establishment may cause international abolition. Interference, I think it is appropriate to suspend it, and I will ask Lafayette to teach politics later." In fact, it doesn't matter who is the emperor, what is important is that Cixi listens to the government behind the curtain again, so that the power is in hand, and everything will be easy to handle.Ronglu proposed this proposal, which not only conforms to Cixi's wishes, but also saves a lot of trouble.Cixi asked the ministers again: "What do you think?" Rong Lu was Cixi's number one confidant, and whoever dared to object, said one after another: "What the Taiwan lord said is very correct, we ask Lafayette to re-train the government." "Only when the Empress Dowager re-trains the government can the Qing Dynasty have hope." So in the afternoon of the same day, Rong Lu ordered the Military Aircraft Department to draft an edict and announce it to the world with an imperial edict, which is briefly called: I bow down, and then invite Empress Dowager Cixi to take charge of the government; from now on, I will set up a court to handle affairs in the Biandian. This is it. Early the next morning, Guangxu was placed under house arrest in Yingtai.Standing in Hanyuan Hall, looking at the vast autumn water of Xiyuan Lake, he looked up to the sky and sighed: "I am not as good as Han Xiandi!" In this way, the Reform Movement of 1898 failed. From the announcement of the reform to the failure of the reform, there were only one hundred and three days before and after, so people also called it the "Hundred Days Reform". The first order of Empress Dowager Cixi's return to the fore was to order the arrest of reformist figures such as Kang Youwei and Tan Sitong. When Guangxu was in turmoil, he did not forget the reformers who shared weal and woe with him.Before he went to Yingtai, he issued a secret decree ordering Kang Youwei and others to flee.When Kang Youwei received the secret decree, he knew something was wrong, so he immediately took the train to Tianjin, and from Tianjin, he took a "Chongqing" ship of the British Swire Company to Shanghai. Under the protection of the British consul Bai Linan, he took a speedboat from Shanghai to Hong Kong.After receiving the secret decree, Liang Qichao rushed to the Japanese embassy for refuge, and later fled to Yokohama, Japan under the protection of the Japanese. After Tan Sitong heard the news of the coup d'etat, he deeply regretted that he had mistaken Yuan Shikai for ignoring the important affairs of the emperor, and at the same time secretly made up his mind to wake up the people of the country by death in the face of national calamity.No matter what persuasion King Wu of the Great Swordsman and Hu Qi of the Brachial Ape were, they were ineffective. In the end, Tan Sitong died generously. He wrote a poem with charcoal in prison to express his ambition: Wangmen reported to stop thinking about Zhang Jian, and waited for Dugan for a while. I smiled to the sky from the horizontal knife, and kept my heart and gall in Kunlun. On September 28, 1898, the Qing government killed Tan Sitong and five others who were arrested: Lin Xu, Yang Shenxiu, Liu Guangdi, Yang Rui, and Kang Guangren.Later, people called them the "Six Gentlemen of the Reform Movement of 1898". The failure of the Reform Movement of 1898 also shattered the last trace of people's dreams of relying on the reform of the imperial court itself to strengthen the country.The coup d'etat of 1898, the royal family of the Qing Dynasty killed each other, missed the opportunity of reform and reform, and lost the opportunity to choose a development path.The Qing court refused to reform, and eventually suffered a catastrophe.For reformers, if they have political ideals without suitable means and strategies, their political ideals will come to nothing and they will be defeated by reactionary forces playing tricks.