In addition to the change in concept, Cixi's trip to Tianjin also had a heavy harvest - it was Cixi herself's gain, but also Guan Zhuofan's harvest - in the face of the opposition and conservatives, she built up enough self-confidence.

The source of her self-confidence was that Xuan Jun had shown a mental outlook and combat effectiveness beyond her imagination, and she thought that she could be 100% sure of the loyalty of this army and its leaders.

Historically, Cixi tended to be reformist in the early stage and conservative in the later period, but Guan Zhuofan believes that Cixi's own political orientation is not clear and cannot be regarded as a real conservative. The fundamental reason why she fell to the conservatives was that Dezong and Kang Youwei and other groups of reformers had nerves, and Cixi wanted to maintain neutrality but could not get it, and in order to protect herself, she could not help but turn her head and rely on the conservatives to stabilize her power foundation at the cost of attacking the reformers.

In fact, from the beginning of the Xinyou coup to the death of Wushen, whether it was to listen to the government or withdraw the curtain and return to power, in the 47 years, the foundation of Cixi's power has always been unstable. Due to her special background and identity, Cixi has never been able to form her own basic plate; At the same time, the curtain violated the ancestral system, and her rule did not have any solid constitutional guarantees.

Cixi was able to hold the supreme power in late Qing China for a long time for two main reasons:

First, her outstanding political achievements in the early stage brought her enough prestige and made her follow-up government quite compatible

legality;

Second, Cixi has an unusually superb political skill.

Guan Zhuofan summed up this political skill, and there are about three of them:

One. Weaken the power of the Military Aircraft Department as the administrative center. Such. The weight of the "above" speech is naturally heavy

Finish.

Second, to maintain a dynamic balance among the various factions, so that no one faction can gain traction. Hold yourself high above and play the role of the ultimate arbiter

The role of the person.

Third, use words to suppress dissidents.

Later generations criticized Cixi for one thing that was probably unexpected: when Cixi was in power, the "image of public opinion" was quite good. Cixi has great respect for words. If she disagrees with a thing, she will rarely stick to her opinion. In this regard, Cixi can be regarded as "humble and admonishable".

However, this is not really a good thing.

Cixi respects the way of words, one of which is because there is no basic plate, lack of die-hard fans, and she needs to create a good political image more than the basic plate is as strong as King Gong. in order to garner more support; Second, as mentioned above. Cixi wanted to use her words to suppress dissent.

The question is, what kind of goods is the words of the late Qing Dynasty? Han Zhan Kedao is naturally conservative, and the clear stream of the bull's ear who holds the right to speak public opinion is not only conservative, but also exaggerated and unrealistic.

This group of people is very enthusiastic in their bones, and it is not impossible to change their political position because of interests. But if they are really asked to do things, the original pride on their lips will soon disappear, looking forward and backward, the two ends of the first rat, the true face of the cowardice and incompetence, will be exposed, and in the end there will be insufficient success and more than failure.

For example, in the Sino-French War, Zhang Peilun, who lost his division in Mawei and destroyed the entire Nanyang Fleet, is a typical example.

The arrogance of the Qing Dynasty in the late Qing Dynasty became a major stumbling block to the progress of reform, and Cixi had to bear considerable responsibility. In fact, this stumbling block also tripped herself.

Cixi's words and paths were pretended to be colorful, and the words and roads were in charge of the conservatives, which inevitably affected the firmness and continuity of the implementation of the reform policy, and at the same time, it also gave Dezong and Kang Youwei the illusion that Cixi was the protector of the conservatives, and if they wanted to carry out a new policy, they had to move her away. The two made do with each other, and finally led to the tragedy of the coup d'état, and Cixi also wore the hat of "conservative general backstage".

This is also the reason why Guan Zhuofan beats and pulls on the road, slaps and red dates, and spares no effort - we must completely subdue this group of "scholars", even if it cannot be made into a boost to modernization, it will never be allowed to drag the "reform and opening up" back!

In short, the fundamental reason why Cixi in history was not resolute and thorough in implementing foreign affairs and new policies was that she lacked a basic plan, faced the opposition of conservatives, and did not have the self-confidence to persevere to the end.

Now, Cixi thinks that she has her own basic plate, and it is the most powerful and solid basic plate - Xuanjun! As a result, her concerns about conservative opposition will be greatly reduced, and next, Guan Zhuofan will push the new policy, and the support she gives will be far more firm and lasting than the original time and space, and the significance of this is self-evident.

Cixi's strengthened trust in Guan Zhuofan and Xuan Jun also solved a heavy problem for Guan Zhuofan, and at the same time brought a heavy opportunity - she was willing to marry Princess Rong'an and Princess Dunrou at the same time. This move not only untied a seemingly unbreakable knot between Guan Zhuofan, Cixi, and Ci'an, and further consolidated the foundation of the three-person alliance, but at the same time, at the same time-

Well, that's for later, so let's not press the table for now.

Conquering Yu'er is also an important harvest of the trip to Tianjin. Yu'er's role is not only that Guan Zhuofan put "his own person" next to the Queen Mother, one more person to say good things for him, and one more person to ventilate for him, but also-

Well, that's for later, so let's not press the table for the time being.

It's just that this little girl is like dew on the morning flowers, the water is fresh and tender, and the brilliance is welcoming, Guan Zhuofan is itchy every time he thinks that Cixi originally gave her to himself. However, this flower is destined to be only seen, not picked, well, but it is enough to exercise willpower.

During his trip to Tianjin, Guan Zhuofan's last major gain was to "lure the snake out of the hole" and lead to the "Gongdun Alliance", the most powerful and important opposition force, and successfully led the other party into a large pit dug in advance.

When Guan Zhuofan planned his trip to Tianjin, he did not rule out that during the trip to Tianjin, Beijing might give birth to some moths. This is very much in line with the general path of political struggle and even coup d'état: when you go out on a campaign or tour, a fire breaks out in the backyard, the opponent launches a rebellion in the capital, seizes power, and then issues an edict declaring the person outside to be a "rebel".

Of course, a coup d'état is impossible, unless someone really burns out their brains.

The only person who has the ability to carry out a coup d'état is King Gong. Let's not talk about whether King Gong still has the courage to do this kind of thing again, and don't say that Wen Xiang and Cao Yuying, the "Gong" generals, are willing to follow him and take risks, in terms of technology alone, the coup is not feasible: Cixi and Guan Zhuofan are together, and the seal of the "Tongdaotang", of course, Cixi carries it with him, if there is no "Tongdaotang" of Cixi on the edict, only Ci'an's "imperial reward", it is a false edict, and there is no legitimacy.

That is to say, people who want to learn from Qixiang and wisdom will not be able to get the "righteous name".

As for the comparison of strengths, not to mention. King Gong does not directly control the army, and the most powerful army in the empire is firmly in the hands of Guan Zhuofan. Moreover, under the city of Beijing, there is a Wu Jianying department eyeing the tiger; Tianjin is far from Beijing, and if you march quickly, it will only take two or three days.

A coup d'état is impossible, but it is still possible for the opponent to think that he can "take advantage of the situation" and do something else weird.

Sure enough.

Guan Zhuofan is waiting for the battle, and so far, the king has been captured one by one.

The significance of overthrowing the king is not to "remove the stumbling blocks on the road to reform". Although his political stance is conservative, let alone in the political arena, even within the banner people and clans, he cannot be said to be the "chief representative of conservative forces".

The value of King Xuan lies in his identity: the brother of the first emperor, the emperor's uncle, the prince of the country, and the most respected of the clan title.

Politics pays attention to prestige, pays attention to momentum, and defeats people with the status of King Xuan, which is the best prestige and the best momentum: in the future, if there are still people who want to stand up and call out, they must weigh themselves first - how am I better than King Xuan?

I'm going to have to be deflated right away.

As for King Gong, Guan Zhuofan believes that after this battle, Yi? will enter his "late mode" in advance - love for the landscape, be cautious in words and deeds, have no quarrel with others, and have no quarrel with the world.

The initiator of the Westernization Movement and the initiator of China's modernization construction is likely to withdraw from the center stage of history.

*(To be continued......)