The succession to the throne has always been a big deal in any dynasty. Because it is not a simple seat issue, it will involve the political treatment of the emperor's father, the emperor's mother, the emperor's wife, the emperor's uncle, the emperor's teacher, etc., as well as the princes and ministers. If you're just a no-voter person, it doesn't matter.

Therefore, Yuan Baoheng received a letter from Li Hongzhang at that time, saying that Emperor Tongzhi was critically ill, so he hurried back to Beijing. Zuo Zongtang, who was the governor of Shaanxi and Gansu at the time, also hurriedly settled the front defense troops and hurried back to the capital.

The succession to the throne of the Qing Dynasty had its own rules of the game, and its system inherited the Ming Dynasty, which was the "elder system" at the beginning, that is, among all the princes, the eldest son born to the queen inherited, and Huang Taiji was an example. In the Kangxi period, he was too capable, there were many princes, the prince was abolished several times, Kowloon competed for the throne, brothers killed each other, and finally the fourth elder brother Yinzhen ascended the throne, that is, Emperor Yongzheng, he felt that the "virtuous system" was better, otherwise it would be a pity that a prince like him who was both civil and military could not be the emperor. Therefore, the throne of the Qing Dynasty added the "Lixian System" on the basis of the "elder system": that is, among the princes, the emperor selected the sage, and left the edict behind the Zhengda Guangming plaque.

Emperor Tongzhi has no children, there is no entanglement of the elder or the virtuous, according to the orthodox principle of the father's death and the son's succession, the Yi, Zai, and Pu generations are ranked down, and the successor should be the "Pu" generation. The most orthodox candidate for the throne is Pu Lun, the eldest grandson of Emperor Daoguang's eldest son Yiwei, with the full support of a group of Qingliu ministers and clans, and Zuo Zongtang, who has a heavy army, is also being wooed.

Many ministers in the court also expected that the Empress Dowager of the Two Palaces would support Pu Lun, because Pu Lun was still a nursing baby at the time, so that the Empress Dowager of the Two Palaces could still listen to the government for a long time, but the strange thing is that Cixi and Empress Dowager Ci'an were not in a hurry to express their position, and just asked the ministers to propose candidates for the throne. So there were rumors in the court that the queen mother of the two palaces was waiting for the pregnant Empress Arut to give birth, and there were even rumors that Prince Gong was going to be the emperor himself.

When Prince Gong heard the rumor that he wanted to be the emperor, he was as anxious as an ant on a hot pot, and hurriedly joined forces with Prince Yi Xun to nominate his second son Zaiying, who was also in line with the inheritance rules of the Qing Dynasty. Zaiying was fourteen years old at this time, and he had already passed on to his uncle, that is, the eighth brother of Prince Gong and Wang Yixu of Zhongjun, who died childless. Although Prince Gong was deprived of the title of King of the Council, at this time he was in charge of the Military Aircraft Department and the Prime Minister Yamen, and was the third person in the Qing Dynasty, and with the support of Prince Chu and Western ministers, Zai Ying soon became the heir to the throne that was hotly discussed by the ministers of the court.

Emperor Tongzhi's illness became more and more serious, and as the political leader of the Huai group, the governor of Zhili, the minister of Beiyang and a scholar of Wenhuadian University, Li Hongzhang reached the point where he could not express his position. But at this time, the queen mother of the two palaces still did not express her position, and even Li Hongzhang, who has always been very good at standing in line, was confused, and he even called his cronies to discuss the issue of the heir to the throne in private, but no one could figure out a clue, but if he blindly expressed his position, once he stood in the wrong line, the consequences would be very serious.

After Yuan Baoheng attended the secret meeting of the Li Mansion, he returned home for dinner, and he frowned, Song Xiaofei asked, "Isn't there something big going on in the palace?" My nephew recently went to the nearby Yutai Teahouse to drink tea, and heard from a few banner men that the emperor was infected with smallpox and died soon. ”

Yutai Teahouse near Cultural Street is a century-old shop, a two-storey attic with "high-end atmosphere and grade", with a bronze statue outside, a shopkeeper wearing a black melon skin hat, bending down to welcome visitors from all over the world, with square tables and wooden chairs inside, and elegant furnishings. In the late Qing Dynasty, from the top officials and nobles to the three religions and nine streams, they would always go to the teahouse to sit and discuss the country, gossip and entertainment, so the teahouse was also a distribution center for various information. The people living near the Yutai teahouse are all eunuchs, and the information content is higher than that of ordinary teahouses.

But Song Xiaofei said that the emperor "will not die long", which is disloyal in feudal society, Yuan Baoheng frowned and said: "Children, don't talk nonsense." ”

"There are many rumors about this matter, and the hearts of the people in the DPRK and China are fluctuating, and they are quarreling over the establishment of a new king." Song Xiaofei said, "I think you are frowning today, probably because of this." The nephew has guessed who will inherit the throne, which may help his uncle's career. ”

Yuan Baoheng said: "Huh? Do you know who will succeed to the throne? The queen mother of the two palaces refused to express her position for a long time, and the adults in the middle hall were worried about it. ”

Song Xiaofei said: "The Queen Mother of the Two Palaces has been slow to express her position, I think they must already have a candidate in their hearts, but they are making preparations now." ”

Yuan Baoheng saw that Song Xiaofei looked confident, so he put down the dishes and chopsticks and called him to the study for a private chat. Closing the doors and windows, Yuan Baoheng said: "Tell me, will it be Pu Lun, the eldest grandson of the county king Yiwei?" ”

Song Xiaofei said: "No, Pu Lun has the life of the emperor, but he has no luck to be the emperor." ”

"Why?"

"The Empress Dowager Cixi will be the first to object. First, Pu Lun's father Zaizhi is not the son of Daoguang's eldest son Yiwei, but a successor, and the blood relationship is far away. In addition, once Pu Lun succeeded to the throne, the Empress Arut clan would ascend to the throne and become the empress dowager, and the Empress Dowager Cixi and Empress Dowager Ci'an would become the empress dowager. And the emperor is young, and the queen mother generally listens to the government, uncle, have you ever heard of the queen mother hanging the curtain to listen to the government? ”

"Makes sense. Is there any hope for that Jae-ying? ”

"Impossible, he is too old, he is 14 years old, almost at the age of pro-government, and his biological father is Prince Gong, if their father and son join forces, the queen mother of the two palaces will not be too long."

"Today, some people are still mentioning Prince Gong's eldest son Zai at the court meeting."

"He's even less likely. Even Prince Gong himself would not support him. According to the ancestral system of the Qing Dynasty, the prince's son entered the succession to the Great Unification from a foreign domain, that is, after becoming the emperor, the father must avoid being a virtuous (idle) king. Once Zai became emperor, Prince Gong had to step aside. The foreigners still need him to deal with it now, and the Empress Dowager Cixi will not agree. ”

"What about the baby in Queen Arut's womb?"

"This is even more impossible, the country cannot be said to be without a king, no one can be sure whether the child in her belly is a man or a woman, and the Empress Dowager Cixi does not like the Arut clan at all. After the death of Emperor Tongzhi, it is difficult to say whether she can keep her surname and her life. ”

"And who do you think will inherit the throne in the end?"

"The son of Prince Alcohol Zai Xiang, Zai Xiang's biological mother is King Alcohol Fujin, the sister of the Empress Dowager Cixi, for the Empress Dowager Cixi, Zai Xiang Ji is both a nephew and a nephew."

"Do you think the Empress Dowager Ci'an will agree?"

"She would. Because Jae-yan is only four years old. She can continue to listen to politics for many more years. ”

"If Zai Xiang becomes the emperor, won't Prince Alcohol become an idle king? Will he agree? If there is another emperor, the ministers of Qingliu and the foreigners will not give up. ”

"So I estimate that the matter of appointing a new monarch, the queen mother of the two palaces will be arbitrary, will not discuss with Prince Alcohol, and will suddenly announce it, which will catch him off guard. Moreover, the Empress Dowager of the Two Palaces will not listen to the opinions of the Qingliu ministers and foreigners, after all, this is the internal affair of the Qing Dynasty. You can tell Nakado-sama of my judgment, so that he can prepare early. ”

When Yuan Baoheng heard this, Song Xiaofei's analysis was very reasonable, so he went to Li's mansion and reported Song Xiaofei's words to Li Hongzhang. ”

Sure enough, the Empress Dowager Cixi promoted Rong Lu to concurrently serve as the commander of the infantry army, that is, the "commander of the five battalions of the Nine Gate Infantry Army", which is equivalent to the current commander of the capital garrison, and firmly controls the capital. She also did the ideological work of the Empress Dowager Ci'an, and Li Hongzhang expressed his support for her, and she had confidence in her heart, as soon as the Tongzhi Emperor died, the Empress Dowager Cixi immediately summoned the princes and ministers and announced: "Wenzong has no second son, and now he has suffered this change, if he inherits the elderly, he really does not want to; Those who need young children can be educated. Now it is a word, and it will never change. The two of us are of the same mind, and you will listen. ”

"Respectfully" is a polite way of saying, which means "you listen": the son of Prince Yiyun of alcohol was passed on to Emperor Xianfeng, and then inherited the emperor's throne.

When Prince Yiyun heard the news, he was stunned, my son inherited the throne for such a big thing, and the queen mother of the two palaces didn't even discuss it with me, so she cried in the main hall and fainted from crying, which shows that this is really not a good thing. Qing Historical Manuscript. It is said in the "Biography of Yi Xun": "Suddenly, Meng Yi's decree fell, and the emperor was chosen, and he was in a coma in a hurry, and he was at a loss. ”

Prince Gong was also caught off guard, and the Queen Mother of the Two Palaces did not discuss with him, so he had to nod and agree, after all, it was Prince Yi Xun who would become the King of Leisure, not him.

Poor Zaiyan, the little guy was four years old at the time, he was woken up in his sleep, put on a dragon robe, and cried all the way to "mother", but was still carried into the palace by the eunuch in a sedan chair.

On the twentieth day of the first month of 1875, Zai Yan ascended the throne with the year name Guangxu. The mausoleum of the Tongzhi Emperor lasted three years and one month to complete, costing more than 4 million taels of silver, and could buy seven warships, which showed that the Qing Dynasty was still quite rich at that time, and the country was rich and the people were poor.

As the so-called "one son of heaven and one courtier", after Emperor Guangxu ascended the throne, the political power structure of the Qing court underwent great changes: the fourth person, Prince Alcohol, became the idle king, and the Shenji camp was managed by Rong Lu; In order to curb the power of Prince Gong, the Empress Dowager Cixi further promoted the status of the meritorious Li Hongzhang, in addition to the governor of Zhili, the minister of Beiyang, etc., and also granted Li Hongzhang the status of the first assistant, and Prince Gong continued to be in charge of the prime minister's yamen and the military aircraft department.

Song Xiaofei's life also turned a new page, because he helped Li Hongzhang accurately predict the succession of Emperor Guangxu, Li Hongzhang was impressed by him and invited him to be his personal staff. When Li Hongzhang met with Song Xiaofei again, he told him to remember that sentence: "When I was young, I also thought that writing articles and raising my arms could improve the morale of the people and change the world. Now that I have been in the company for 30 years, I understand a truth, there are rules in this world, and only those who understand the rules can succeed. ”

When Song Xiaofei heard this, he remembered the tragedy of Emperor Tongzhi, nodded and said: "Follow the teachings of Lord Zhongtang, if you want to change the world, you must first adapt to it." ”;