"My lord, can this constitution really save the Qing Dynasty?" The cruise ship drove out of Shanghai Shiliupu Wharf, the crowd of people who saw them off dispersed, Wu Chenxuan returned to the cabin and began to process the documents, the secretary Huang Xinpei couldn't help but ask a question that made Wu Chenxuan frown, his secretary seems to be too naïve, forget it, let's talk about it patiently, anyway, the other party is also a famous figure in history, and his IQ will not be too strange.

"Renzhi, do you know who the ultimate winner of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom is?"

"Isn't it the Qing court? Eventually, they were able to invade Tianjing and slaughter the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom almost completely. ”

"If you want me to say, although the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom is ruined, the Qing Dynasty was almost subverted by a bunch of gods, and the centralization of power can no longer be maintained" Wu Chenxuan gave his secretary, who is also a celebrity in the annals, a real history lesson.

"In the course of the suppression of the Taiping Rebellion, the local governors of the Han nationality, led by Zeng, Zuo, and Li, rose rapidly. They held local power, military power, and financial power in their hands, and were almost not controlled by the central government, and the imperial court showed a situation of strong branches and weak cadres from then on. Since the implementation of the new policy in the 27th year of Guangxu, the imperial court has continuously taken measures to weaken the military and financial power of the local governors, and concentrated it in the hands of the Manchus. This year, the War Department was set up, which commanded all the armies of the empire, and the Shangshu and the two chamberlains of the Ministry were all Manchus, so that the army was nominally all under the command of the Manchus; It set up a branch to control local revenues and expenditures, and declared that only the central government had the right to borrow money from outside the country and to mint and issue money. The further forward such constitutional reform goes, the more power the Han bureaucracy loses and the central government becomes more and more centralized. The Han officials generally felt that they had been deceived, and their dissatisfaction with the Manchurian court was unprecedentedly expressed, and the Manchus were in charge of the army, so they were naturally not afraid of these scholars, but now seven or eight out of ten of the military power in the world were in the hands of Yuan Xiangcheng, me and several Han governors in the south, and the Manchus were now an empty shell, and they could not withstand the wind and grass. ”

"The second mistake of this constitutionalism should be said to have lost the support of the gentry and damaged the foundation." Wu Chenxuan continued to analyze the shortcomings of the Qing constitutionalism.

"The gentry? I have never heard of the gentry rising up. Huang Xinpei was really puzzled in his heart, he saw it with his own eyes when the Han officials were excluded, and the adult in front of him was not an example, so it was not difficult for him to understand, but said that the gentry seemed to be a family with the imperial court, although the Manchurians did not say "the king and the scholars rule the world together", but the tradition of the regime not going to the countryside has been inherited for a long time, and the grassroots government is implemented by the gentry on their behalf, and I haven't seen the gentry tearing the flag and rebelling.

"Actually, you are right, generally speaking, gentlemen are conservative, and they tend to maintain traditional institutions and ideologies, which is consistent with maintaining their status and prestige in the local area." Wu Chenxuan continued to analyze: "However, after the Boxer Rebellion and the Eight-Nation Alliance, they finally realized that the system of closing off the country was no longer good, so they gradually gave up the conservative concepts of the past and devoted themselves to establishing new schools and investing in industries. Some people became industrialists, and some went abroad to study, travel, or study in new schools, so there was a gradual change in their mindsets. For example, who of the gentlemen of the Shandong Chamber of Commerce will regard the Great Qing Kingdom as their ancestors? Once industry and commerce become the main business of the gentry, the grassroots ruling structure of the Qing Dynasty, which was built on the land system of the gentry, will inevitably collapse. ”

In fact, before the New Deal at the end of the Qing Dynasty, although the gentry had great influence at the local level, they were scattered and independent, and it was the preparation of the constitution that provided them with the opportunity to enter the national stage. The establishment of the Consultative Bureau, the Advisory Council, and the implementation of local self-government provided them with a new legal place to operate, and enabled the gentry to achieve a nationwide rally, forming the constitutionalists, who were the most important force in the political arena at that time. They use the Consultative Bureau and the Information Council as their positions, and exert a very significant influence on local and central government affairs and public opinion.

After the formation of the constitutionalists, they were deeply concerned about the declining state of the country, and they eagerly hoped that a constitutional government could be implemented in China in order to resist the increasingly serious revolution and have their place in the constitutional government. At the same time, they became increasingly dissatisfied with the monopoly of the Manchurian aristocracy at the core of power, and they were in constant fierce conflict with the Qing government at meetings of the Consultative Council and the Senior Council.

When their demands were rejected, and when the "Imperial Cabinet" was formed, they felt that the Qing government was hopeless, and many turned to the revolution and became the antagonists and gravediggers of the Qing government. The centrifugal tendencies of the constitutionalists and, ultimately, their despair of the Qing government had serious consequences. Within seven weeks of the outbreak of the Wuchang Uprising, 15 provinces had declared their independence with the Consultative Bureau as the center, and the abandonment of the Qing government by the constitutionalists was a major factor. The rule of the Qing Dynasty had been hollowed out by the local constitution, and the central government in the late Qing Dynasty had no power to restrain the local gentry.

"The third factor in the failure of constitutionalism is that it increases the burden on the people, and the lack of food and drink will naturally arise." Wu Chenxuan's prophecy like a magic stick made Huang Xinpei very puzzled, this people seemed to be out of line with the constitution, but Wu Chenxuan quickly explained it to him.

Some people say that he died in Liao, although this is biased, but it is not unreasonable. At the end of the Ming Dynasty, the people were not able to make a living, and the people were in turmoil, and the Liao salary was added to one tael, and the corrupt officials and corrupt officials could collect ten or two hundred taels, and the people were squeezed out, and they would starve to death if they did not revolt, what do you say? If the imperial court implements constitutional reform, it will definitely need a lot of funds, and these expenses will not pluck the hair of the princes in the court anyway, and they are not all imposed on the people under various names, and in addition, many officials have taken the opportunity to enrich their own pockets and loot the people's wealth in the process of implementing the reform, and the burden on the people has continued to increase, and many people in a desperate situation have risen up to resist. The constant blows of popular power will shake the old relations of production in the countryside and disintegrate the foundation of the Qing government's power in the rural areas. ”

"That is to say, no matter what the results of our investigation are this time, the constitution is a dead end" Huang Xinpei is a little excited, after all, he is a young man, and it is rare to have a chance to go overseas to explore the road to a strong country with a heavy responsibility, and the original passionate trip was analyzed by the boss to become a chicken rib action, and the meaningless action made Huang Xinpei become negative, and even forgot that he was originally a revolutionary.

Not necessarily, if the Manchu ruling class had clearly understood the trend of the times, was willing to give up its privileges, and sincerely realized national unity, perhaps the Qing Dynasty would still have hope to survive in the troubled times. If there is a change in the powers, it is not known to take advantage of the situation to rise. Wu Chenxuan looked at his secretary and explained him with a smile, "But this innovation is not easy, at least I don't see any of the Manchurians who have the ability to take on this heavy responsibility." For the Manchus, if they don't innovate, they will lose their country, and if they innovate, they will lose their people, and I think this is the choice they face. ”

"Lafayette, why do you say that?" Qing Wang Ye had already faded out of the political arena, and many officials almost forgot about the iron hat king, but they didn't expect Cixi Lafayette, who had not been out of the palace for a long time, to have a whim, Luan drove away, and personally visited King Qing's mansion. On her trip, Qingwangfu was almost frightened.

The middle door creaked open, Qing Wangye took the whole family to take Lafayette's convoy into the courtyard, the main hall hung the six-winged screen mountain, waiting for Lafayette to ascend, the others kowtowed and retreated, and the hall was left with Cixi and Yixuan, Cixi only opened her mouth to get to the point, who knew that this first sentence almost scared Yixuan to death.

"You don't believe what the mourners say." Cixi's face was as usual, as if she had just said that she was just talking about a few people's rewards, "Old prince, this innovation and innovation must be reformed to be new." Leather's what? It is the ancestral system of the Qing Dynasty and the foundation of the Manchu people. Before Zai Xiang his actions, the mourning family also saw in their eyes, the original intention was not bad, but it is a pity that the people are too bookish and angry, and the means are very manipulative, and the mourning family is also forbidden for our full country, if he tosses it, I am afraid that the Qing Dynasty will not be surnamed Aixin Jueluo for a long time. Originally, I, the Yehenala clan, shouldn't have to worry so much, anyway, Jiangshan City loves the Xinjue Luo family, but no matter what, this is a full country, and I, as the queen mother and aunt, can't watch these children take the Qing Kingdom to a dead end. ”

"Yes, yes, Queen Mother Shengming." Yixuan really doesn't understand which of the crazy tricks this Lafayette smokes, and where he dares to interject casually.

"But this can't be done without innovation, innovation may be dead, but if you don't innovate, the Qing Kingdom will have to repair the history of the country from you and me." Cixi's face was flushed, and she seemed to be very excited, so that King Qing silently recited in her heart, "The great mercy of Guanyin Bodhisattva, hurry up and take this loser girl, don't let her die in our family, otherwise King Qing's mansion will not be able to live." ”

"Innovate, anyway, little devils can innovate and change, we might as well learn from it." Cixi continued to chatter, "The matter is big, let the mourning family say that there are only three people in the Guangxu Dynasty who can preside over the overall situation of innovation." Old prince, do you know who these three people are? ”

"Please also ask the Queen Mother to show me, Xiao Wang is here to listen." Qing Wang Ye reluctantly spoke according to the procedure, anyway, he probably couldn't hide from this encounter today, and Yixuan couldn't help but sigh that his idle days were coming to an end.

"Li Wenzhong is counted as one, Ronglu is also counted as one, and there is the Eight Sage Kings of the Great Qing Kingdom - you Qing King Chitose."

On the one hand, King Qing even said that he didn't dare to dare not, and on the other hand, he was ready to use words to refuse. Unexpectedly, Cixi suddenly burst into tears, "Wen Zhonggong and Rong Lu have already left the Great Qing Kingdom, and the mourning family can only hand over the national fortune of the Great Qing Kingdom to you, I wonder if you Qing Wang Ye is willing to help me, an orphan and a widow?" ”

Qing Wangye was forced into a corner, so he had no choice but to agree, and when the five ministers came back from overseas inspections in the coming year, he came forward to serve as the prime minister and preside over constitutional reform. Cixi already had a premonition that her time was running out, and she was making her own arrangements for the fate of the Qing Dynasty behind her, but it was a pity that as the mistress of this big house that had been ventilated and had collapsed pillars, there was an ordinary pastler under her hands, but it was difficult to save the fate of the whole house.

The five ministers with Cixi's mission to find new pasting materials have already crossed the ocean to find an elixir for the Qing Kingdom to prolong its life. Cixi could not have guessed that the young minister who was in the bow of the ship with the sea and the wind in the middle of the water was the gravedigger who finally ended the 266-year reign of the Qing Dynasty.