In addition, after the edict was issued, Emperor Xianfeng was still not at ease, and announced that during the period of assistance of the eight ministers, all the edicts drawn up by the military aircraft department must be stamped with the two seals of "Tongdaotang" and "Imperial Reward" before they can take effect. ”

"These two seals are in the hands of Cixi and Ci'an, respectively."

"The reason why Emperor Xianfeng thought of this trick was that he was worried that the eight ministers would learn from the autocracy, and tried to restrain the eight ministers through the empress dowager of the two palaces, and avoid the tyranny of the empress dowager, so as to achieve the purpose of mutual restraint, but he never expected that this trick would intensify the contradictions between the two sides."

"After the death of Emperor Xianfeng, the Empress Dowager of the Two Palaces and the Eight Ministers got into action, and the Eight Ministers resolutely opposed the Empress Dowager of the Two Palaces to listen to the government, and the two sides made a fuss, and finally scared the little emperor of Tongzhi."

"At this time, a key figure appeared, that is, Yi Xing, known as the sixth devil, he is the younger brother of Emperor Xianfeng and the younger brother-in-law of Cixi."

"He has outstanding abilities, and he has always been feared by Emperor Xianfeng, worried that he will become the second Dalton, so he was squeezed out of the center of power, dissatisfied in his heart, and has always been ready to move."

"And Cixi's side is also weak, so the two met secretly, hit it off, and decided to launch a coup d'état, get rid of the eight ministers, and take over the power of the imperial court."

So, the queen mother of the two palaces returned to the palace first, and when the eight ministers returned to Beijing, they were directly arrested, and the charges were announced, and those who should be killed should be arrested. ”

"The Empress Dowager Cixi and the Empress Dowager Ci'an began to listen to the government."

"Soon after, Ci'an died of illness, and Yi was also kicked out of the center of power by Cixi."

"Since then, the era of Cixi, the old witch in charge, has really begun, and a nightmare has begun!"

"Cixi's real power was the seventh year of Emperor Guangxu, and after the death of the Empress Dowager Ci'an, I have to say that this woman is really long-lived."

"During the years when Cixi was in power, the three emperors of the late Qing Dynasty under his control can be described as quite miserable, and the three emperors of Tongzhi, Guangxu and Puyi are also a dark history."

"Let me talk about these two emperors first, to be honest, this Guangxu Emperor is still a successful emperor, he also thought about reform, but was opposed by Cixi."

"Emperor Guangxu is also a two-faced emperor, with praise and praise, but as a puppet emperor, he still wants to reform and change the law of the declining Qing Dynasty, which is actually good, although it has not succeeded."

"Emperor Tongzhi has died, no matter what the truth is, Tongzhi did not die for some reason, but he is also dead. At that time, Tongzhi was only 19 years old and had no son. ”

"The country can't be without a monarch for a day, and the Empress Dowager Cixi chose to let Guangxu inherit the emperor."

"This choice is perfect for Cixi, and Emperor Guangxu's biological mother is Cixi's sister."

"In other words, Guangxu is Cixi's nephew, and he is closely related by blood."

"In addition, at this time, Guangxu was only three years old and knew nothing, so Cixi was easier to control."

"After Guangxu succeeded to the throne, it was actually the beginning of his tragic emperor's career, his whole life was shrouded in the obscenity of the Empress Dowager Cixi, although he had great ambitions, but he never had the opportunity to show it, and finally died lonely, and even died unexplained, I have to say that it was a tragedy of life."

Because the Qing Dynasty experienced an opium war, and it was also this war that made the Qing people see the backwardness of their country in terms of military and economic aspects, so many intellectuals began to slowly learn the knowledge and culture of the West, trying to "master the skills of the Yi to control the country", but the result was not satisfactory. ”

"During the reign of Emperor Guangxu, the Westernization movement led by the Qing Dynasty gradually turned from prosperity to decline."

"In the face of such a social situation, the young Guangxu Emperor could no longer remain silent, and after years of state-of-the-art education, he also wanted to do something for the Qing Empire."

"Because he didn't want to see the Qing Dynasty die in his own hands, Emperor Guangxu, who had just taken over part of the internal power, immediately wanted the world to see his efforts."

"And at this time, the First Sino-Japanese War appeared."

"This war is also the reason why Emperor Guangxu was scolded."

"This war made Emperor Guangxu see that he could have a chance to bring the Qing Dynasty on the right track, because he trained a large number of Beiyang naval divisions during the Westernization Movement, and it was known as the first naval force in Asia at that time."

"But in fact, Emperor Guangxu's judgment on this war was not very mature, and because he was eager to regain the power of the emperor from the Empress Dowager Cixi, Emperor Guangxu agreed to go to war without careful consideration, but at that time, Li Hongzhang and the conservative party of the Empress Dowager Cixi were strongly advocating peace."

"But Emperor Guangxu didn't listen to their advice, because he thought that the Qing Dynasty had cultivated an excellent Beiyang navy, and the Qing Dynasty had studied Western culture for a long time, so when facing the small island country of the small Japanese army, Emperor Guangxu did not predict that he would face defeat."

"In addition, if Emperor Guangxu can lead the Qing Dynasty to victory in the First Sino-Japanese War, it means that this is the first victory of the Qing Dynasty in a foreign war after Emperor Daoguang."

"This can also help Emperor Guangxu establish his imperial authority above the court, so that he can better control the entire court."

"But the truth is not what Emperor Guangxu thought, do you know why the conservative faction of the Empress Dowager Cixi opposed this war?"

"This is because they have quietly embezzled a lot of military funds for the training of the Beiyang Naval Division, so the conservative party, which clearly understands the truth, is desperately opposed to fighting this tough battle."

"The fleet of the Beiyang Naval Division is the country's first modernized naval force, and this is also the confidence of Emperor Guangxu."

"At that time, the Qing Dynasty allocated 4 million taels every year to build this navy (in fact, there was not so much money, and a large part of it was embezzled by Cixi), so this fleet also boasted to be the first naval force in Asia."

"But Emperor Guangxu didn't know about this, so the young emperor was driven by patriotic feelings and was firmly ready to face the battle."

"Everyone also knows that the end of this war dragged the flower country into a deeper abyss, the defeat of the Sino-Japanese First Sino-Japanese War, the Qing Empire and Japan signed a "Treaty of Shimonoseki", this treaty also brought our country into a semi-colonial and semi-feudal situation."

Zhang Yanxi showed them the treaty in the same way.

"There are some war projections of the Qing Dynasty, and everyone communicates them to each other, so I won't say more about the war."

"When you know that the truth fails, you don't have any choice, even if this treaty is unequal, Emperor Guangxu has to sign it."

(End of chapter)