On the morning of February 12, 1860, the Manchu Xianfeng Emperor Aixin Jueluo Yixu died of illness in the Rehe Palace, ending his short and ugly life of not yet 29 years old. Pen, fun, pavilion www. biquge。 info

Xianfeng the Great was the last emperor of the Manchu Qing Dynasty to inherit the throne through a secret edict, and he was also the last emperor of the Manchu Dynasty to hold real power, but it is very sad that for his ruling actions of only three days to complete ten years, even his basic Pan Eight Banners Manchu people are not highly evaluated, and he is called the four no emperors with no vision, no courage, no talent, and no action, and everything he did during his reign not only failed to reverse the decline and weakening of the Manchu Dynasty, but also seriously intensified the already very fierce social and national contradictions. As a result, the Manchu Dynasty was shaken and its foundation was shaken, and it caused more suffering and oppression to the Chinese nation, which was full of disasters and difficulties.

Even so, Emperor Xianfeng was still shamelessly named the temple name of Qing Wenzong by his minions and lackeys, and was nicknamed Xietian Yiyun Zhizhong Mo Maode Zhenwu Shengxiao Yuan Gong Duanren Kuanmin Zhuang Jianxian Emperor, and successfully escaped the Chinese nation's trial and punishment for his heinous crimes, and was able to die with his corpse.

At the last moment before the evil slam was full, Emperor Xianfeng also ingeniously designed a special auxiliary system for his son, allowing the eight ministers of Gu Ming led by Zaiyuan, Duanhua and Su Shun to preside over the government affairs, manage the court and the local government for his son, and let his two wives, that is, the Empress Dowager Ci'an, who is famous in history, and the Empress Dowager Cixi, who is famous in history, control the seal of the holy decree and have the final decision.

Emperor Xianfeng's intentions were of course very good for the Manchu court, which could prevent the ministers from arbitrarily exercising their power and completely overthrowing his three-year-old son, ensuring that his son, who had inherited his evil genes, could take back the power of the court in the future, and also avoided the emergence of arbitrary ministers such as Aobai. At the same time, it also made his two wives only have the right to decide and not the power to deal with specific government affairs, so as to avoid the harem from interfering in politics, and also to avoid the situation of a woman like Wu Zetian seizing the throne.

However, what Emperor Xianfeng never expected was that the method he thought he was proud of not only did not achieve the desired effect, but on the contrary, it intensified the already sharp contradictions between his two wives and the Sushun group, which led to a series of power struggles and even bloody conflicts.

At the beginning, it was okay, whether it was collecting the body of Emperor Xianfeng or arranging various funeral ceremonies, the Sushun group and the empress dowager of the two palaces still knew the convergence, and they tolerated it without any unpleasantness, and even Su Shun and others set Zaichun's emperor name as the word Qixiang that the empress dowager of the two palaces was extremely dissatisfied with, Ci'an and Cixi also closed their mouths and did not make any objections, and in exchange for the approval and consent of Su Shun and others on the matter of the devil six going to the Rehe Palace to pay homage to the Zigong of the Xianfeng Emperor, and obtained the opportunity to contact and exchange messages with foreign aid.

Ci'an and Cixi's extreme forbearance did not let Su Shun and others know the restraint, and then, Su Shun's other request made Ci'an unable to bear it anymore - Su Shun actually wanted to seal the party Wu Chaoyue as the governor of Huguang and Liangjiang, the minister of Qincha, and control the soldiers and horses of Hunan, Hubei, Jiangxi, Anhui and Jiangsu, so that all the civil and military officials in these five provinces except for the town guard generals, including all the governors and admirals who controlled the identity of these five provinces!

"Su Zhongtang, what is Wu Chaoyue's relationship with you?" The Empress Dowager Ci'an couldn't bear to ask: "Let him control the soldiers and horses and civil and military officials of the five provinces in one breath, you just give him the Qing Dynasty!" Since the founding of the Qing Dynasty, when has there ever been a governor with such great power? ”

"The Queen Mother forgives her sins, Weichen has nothing to do with Wu Chaoyue, Weichen does this, everything is for the sake of the Qing Dynasty." Su Shun said without humility or arrogance: "Now the long hair is rampant, the southeast half of the wall has fallen, the thief has expanded to the hinterland of Shandong, and the Qing Dynasty is in danger. Now the plan, only by reusing the most brave and warlike minister Wu Chaoyue of the Qing Dynasty and entrusting him with the vast power of the two rivers and lakes, can we help the general of the building and save the society from danger! ”

"But it's too much power for him, isn't it?" Empress Dowager Ci'an said angrily: "Yes! The mourning family also knows that Wu Chaoyue can indeed fight well and repeatedly break the long hair, and is the mainstay of the Qing Dynasty on the battlefield in the Central Plains! But no matter how capable he is, it is impossible for him to hand over the power of the five provinces to him in one go, right? ”

"Queen Mother, this is also forced by the situation." Su Shun defended: "Now that the local finances of the Qing Dynasty have been independent in all provinces, the regular tax money and grain of the imperial court are not enough to pay compensation to foreigners and maintain the normal operation of the imperial court, and he can't take out one or two silver and a grain for Wu Chaoyue to train troops to fight. ”

Therefore, Weichen believes that if you want to pacify Changmao, the only way is to entrust Wu Chaoyue, who is loyal and reliable and able to fight well, to gather the strength of the five provinces to suppress bandits and quell the rebellion, and the Qing Dynasty can usher in a turnaround! If not, only the power of Hubei Province, no matter how capable Wu Chaoyue is, he can only be like now, at most, he can only ensure that Hubei is not lost, and the southwest is stable, but he can't wave his army to the east and go straight to the thief's nest! ”

Su Shun, who bet all his bets on Wu Chaoyue alone, was about to say dry, but the Empress Dowager Ci'an still didn't listen, and still refused to agree to hand over such great power to a courtier. Cixi over there suddenly coughed, and said in a gentle voice: "Sister, my sister thinks that Su Zhongtang's words are quite reasonable, but the plan for today is indeed only by handing over the power of the five provinces to Wu Chaoyue, can we defeat the enemy and quell the rebellion and suppress the long hair." ”

When Su Shun and Ci'an looked at Cixi together in surprise, Cixi smiled again and said: "Su Zhongtang, your proposal is only a little bit that the mourning family thinks is inappropriate, and the mourning family thinks that it is enough to let Wu surpass the control of the civil and military officials below the governor and the town of Huguang and Liangjiang, and the governor and the town cannot be restrained. ”

"As for the reason, of course, I have regulations in the Qing Dynasty, although the governor is above the governor, but he has no right to control the governor, if Wu Chaoyue is allowed to control the governor of the five provinces and the governor together, it will not only violate the regulations of the imperial court, but also make Wu Chaoyue's power a little too much. Su Zhongtang, what do you think? ”

The book explains that Cixi's hand was actually used by her to deal with Zeng Guofan in history, allowing Zeng Guofan to supervise the military affairs of Jiangsu, Anhui, Jiangxi and Zhejiang provinces, and to control all civil and military officials below the governor, admiral and town guard general of these four provinces.

However, in fact, because they could not control the governor, Li Hongzhang, who was promoted by Zeng Guofan as the governor of Jiangsu, and Zuo Zongtang, who was also promoted by Zeng Guofan as the governor of Zhejiang, quickly turned against the water, got rid of Zeng Guofan's control and went their own way, and became the pawns used by the Manchu court to contain and prevent Zeng Guofan's rebellion. And Shen Baozhen, the son-in-law of Lin Zexu, who was promoted by Zeng Guofan as the governor of Jiangxi, shouted the slogan of Jiangxi Cai and Jiangxi, refusing to provide military salaries for the Hunan army, and let Zeng Guofan scold him for being a white-eyed wolf who avenges his kindness, but there is still nothing he can do about Shen Baozhen.

Fortunately for Wu Chaoyue, Su Shun's love and trust for Wu Chaoyue is far above Zeng Guofan, and he has always believed that Wu Chaoyue's military gains over the years are not much because of the constraints of official documents and Huashana, and he knows that if Wu Chaoyue is not allowed to control the governors of the provinces, he will not be able to gather money and grain from the five provinces for war. Therefore, in the case of placing all the bets on Wu Chaoyue alone to quell the Taiping uprising, Su Shun categorically rejected Cixi's proposal and openly said: "The Empress Dowager of the West forgives her sins, and the ministers dare not go along with this proposal." ”

"Weichen believes that if Wu Chaoyue has no right to control the governor, the two rivers and lakes will be ordered to go out of many ways, so that the local officials in the provinces are at a loss, and there will be the disadvantages of passing the buck, and only if Wu can surpass the control of all the officials of the five provinces except for the town guard general, can the power of the five provinces of the Qing Dynasty be gathered into one and combined into one punch, like the arms and fingers to exterminate the long hair."

Cixi groaned, knowing that if she continued to flatly refuse, it would not only lead to a direct turn of face with Su Shun, but also anger Wu Chaoyue, who had a heavy army in the local area, and lead to even more unpredictable and dangerous consequences in the future. So after thinking about it for a while, Cixi said to Su Shun: "Su Zhongtang, how about this, let me discuss with my sister for a while, and then give you an answer?" ”

Seeing that Cixi did not categorically refuse, Su Shun certainly did not force Ci'an and Cixi to make a decision on the spot, and immediately agreed. Then after Su Shun said goodbye and left, Cixi said to Ci'an: "Sister, I think in order to stabilize Su Shun and let him not be suspicious, I should agree to his invitation." ”

"Sister, are you confused?" Ci'an glanced at Cixi and said, "Wu Chaoyue is Su Shun's sworn friend, and he still has to promise to hand over such a great power to him?" ”

"Sister, please listen to me." Cixi said in a deep voice: "First, the power that Su Shun wants to give Wu Chaoyue is very big on the surface, but in fact it is not big, because the two provinces of Jiangsu and Anhui have basically fallen into the hands of Changmao, and part of Jiangxi is actually controlled by Changmao. ”

"My sister is even sure that this is what Su Shun really intended." Cixi added: "Su Shun deliberately handed over the Liangjiang River, which was actually uncontrollable at all, to Wu Chaoyue, in order to encourage Wu Chaoyue to go all out to the east and regain the lost territory for himself and for the imperial court. ”

Ci'an pondered for a long time, and then reluctantly nodded, admitting that even if Wu Chaoyue was really allowed to control the five provinces, in fact, Wu Chaoyue's power was not too great. Then Cixi said: "Second, it is precisely because Wu Chaoyue is Su Shun's sworn friend that we have to do our best to stabilize him, to make him think that we are better than Su Shun to him, and think that even if Su Shun is not in the court, he has us as a backer." In this way, he can tolerate Su Shun's loss of power. ”

Speaking of this, Cixi lowered her voice and said: "Otherwise, if we block Wu Chaoyue's promotion path and expel his backer Su Shun from the imperial court, he may jump over the wall in a hurry, openly rebel against the imperial court, and even take the opportunity to raise the banner of the Qing monarch's side and meet the imperial court by force." In this way, the Qing Dynasty is really in danger. ”

Thinking of the terrifying consequences of forcing Wu Chaoyue to raise the flag and rebel, Ci'an subconsciously shivered, and pondered for a moment before asking: "But what if Wu Chaoyue is in a big trouble?" ”

"He's actually in a big deal right now." Cixi pointed out: "The Hubei soldiers and horses were in the Central Plains, and the emperor handed over Sichuan to his wife and grandfather to take care of it. For such a person, blind persecution is destined to only make him further and further away from the court, and he can only take gentle appeasement to make him take it lightly, and then slowly take power, disperse his henchmen, and make him submit; Or it is the best policy to capture it and kill it directly. ”

After thinking about it for a long time, and in the case of not wanting to completely force Wu Chaoyue to the opposite side, Ci'an reluctantly nodded and said, "Okay, the next time I meet Su Shun, I will agree to his invitation, and stabilize Wu Chaoyue first." ”

"Sister, we have to do this favor."

Cixi smiled slightly, and immediately put forward a pen, and gave Wu Chaoyue the amazing title of Governor of Huguang and Liangjiang in the tone of the empress dowager of the two palaces, authorized Wu Chaoyue to control the soldiers and horses of the five provinces and the governor of the Admiralty, and gave Wu Chaoyue an additional false title of prince Shaobao, and personally stamped the seal of the Tongdaotang that he was in charge of Zaichun. Seeing that Ci'an woke up, he hurriedly took out the imperial reward seal and stamped it, and praised: "My sister is still careful, so that Wu Chaoyue will have to receive the love of our sisters." ”

"Not only that, but I also want to take the opportunity to separate Su Shun and Wu Chaoyue." Cixi smiled and said: "Su Shun is a smart person, when he sees this edict, he will definitely understand that we are deliberately wooing Wu Chaoyue, even if he trusts Wu Chaoyue again, he will inevitably be a little vigilant and suspicious, as long as he is suspicious of Wu Chaoyue, we will have the opportunity to turn against Wu Chaoyue." ”

"What is my sister going to do?" Ci'an hurriedly asked.

Cixi pursed her lips and smiled, picked up the pen and made a book, and wrote a greeting letter to Wu Chaoyue, describing the old relationship between her family and Wu Chaoyue, and thanking Wu Chaoyue for saving her father and sister in Dangtu, and then said some current affairs, and finally greeted Wu Chaoyue's family, asking Wu Chaoyue to reply a letter to himself, so that he could know Wu Chaoyue's current situation.

In the end, Cixi sealed the letter and handed it to An Dehai, and instructed: "First send someone to send this letter to Hubei, and then release the news in the palace, saying that I have written a very important letter to Wu Chaoyue, and it is important to let the people of Sushun know the existence of this letter." ”

An Dehai sang a promise and immediately followed the order, while Ci'an applauded, and even praised Cixi for her cleverness, saying that as long as Su Shun wrote to ask about the content of the letter, there would be a gap between Wu Chaoyue and Su Shun. Cixi was humble, and said very regretfully: "It's a pity that I really can't force Wu Chaoyue now, otherwise, I really want to follow Cao Mengde's example of wiping Han Sui between books, so that Wu Chaoyue and Su Shun will turn their faces directly." ”

After seeing Ci'an and Cixi's edict to confer Wu Chaoyue as the governor of Huguang and Liangjiang with their honor, Su Shun really immediately understood that the empress dowager of the two palaces was preparing to dig his corner, and after the guards secretly reported that Cixi and Wu Chaoyue had secret correspondence, Su Shun inevitably had some worries about Wu Chaoyue's trust, "Little rabbit cub, Lao Tzu has dug out his heart for you, shouldn't you be a white-eyed wolf?" ”

By the way, Su Shun also knew that Wu Chaoyue and Cixi had secretly colluded for a long time, and he also knew that Cixi had been blowing pillow wind for Wu Chaoyue in the ears of Emperor Xianfeng, so no matter how pleasing Wu Chaoyue was, Su Shun was inevitably a little worried that Wu Chaoyue would hook up with Cixi.

Then, under the secret instruction of Ci'an and Cixi, another major event happened in the Rehe Palace - Yu Shi Gao Yanhu wrote a letter to invite the empress dowager of the two palaces to listen to the government, in fact, to hold the imperial power for Zaichun. Ci'an and Cixi also took the opportunity to put this recital in front of Su Shun and other eight ministers of Gu Ming, and tested the attitude of the eight ministers of Gu Ming towards their own power. As a result, the answer to Ci'an and Cixi was the unanimous voice of the eight ministers!

"According to the ancestral family law, Gao Yanhu should be beheaded immediately! The ancestral system of the Qing Dynasty, the harem is not allowed to interfere in politics! Gao Yanhu is so bold that he dares to ask for the implementation of the destruction of my ancestral system of the Qing Dynasty, such a chaotic minister and thief, it is difficult to correct the law of the country without killing! ”

After figuring out the position and attitude of the eight ministers of Gu Ming, and immediately giving in and agreeing not to use Gao Yanhu's words, Ci'an and Cixi both understood in their hearts that if they wanted to be like Si Chen, they had to get rid of the eight ministers of Gu Ming.

The result was a coincidence, and it happened that on this day, the king of Gongjun, the devil, came to the Rehe Palace and sent the most powerful help to Ci'an and Cixi. However, just when Ci'an and Cixi were happily trying to meet and talk secretly with Devil Liu, what they never dreamed of was that Wu Chaoyue's accomplice spokesperson, Guo Songtao, also happened to come to Rehe on this day. (To be continued.) )