"Although it is said that Emperor Guangxu single-handedly contributed to the Sino-Japanese First Sino-Japanese Naval War, so he must bear the consequences of defeat, but this emperor did not escape the reality of defeat."

"He was personally involved in both the war and the subsequent signing of the treaty, and always as a staunch patriot."

"The reason why he started this war was also to let the Qing Dynasty get back on its feet, and in the face of this strong invasion by Western powers, Emperor Guangxu did not retreat, but did his best to fight back, so the defeat of this war cannot be completely attributed to Emperor Guangxu."

After the defeat of the First Sino-Japanese War, Emperor Guangxu also began to reflect on his own behavior, so he learned from the pain and began to doubt the "law of the ancestors" handed down by the Chinese feudal dynasty. ”

So he began to explore new ways to save the Qing Dynasty.

"And at that time, there were a group of people of insight in the society who supported the reform of the law, including Kang Youwei, Liang Qichao and others."

"So the Guangxu Emperor gave strong support to the reformers, and also personally painted a grand picture of China's future capitalist economy, as the mastermind behind the reform, the Guangxu Emperor began to take the initiative to speak widely, and allowed those low-level officials with constructive opinions to also go to the court."

He even set aside the restriction of "ancestral law" (the explicit rules formulated by the emperors of the past dynasties, such as that low-level officials are not allowed to cross the ranks). ”

When he was stopped by the diehards, Emperor Guangxu said, "If I can save the Qing Dynasty from fire and water, even if I don't have power, what does it matter", in such a crisis-ridden social reality, Emperor Guangxu still maintained a positive attitude. ”

"Emperor Guangxu tried to get the Qing Dynasty back on track through reform, the Wuxu Reform."

"During the Wuxu Restoration, Emperor Guangxu deeply penetrated the reform into all areas of society, even including political reform."

First of all, Emperor Guangxu ordered that newspapers at that time could "refer to the pros and cons of Chen, and in addition, Chinese and foreign current affairs were allowed to be based on the facts and Chang, and there was no need to be taboo", which meant that people in the late Qing Dynasty had the right to talk freely about government affairs. ”

"In addition, Emperor Guangxu also stipulated that even an ordinary person could submit suggestions to him that would help improve the current situation in society."

"Secondly, Emperor Guangxu began to streamline the institutions in the court, and at the same time recruited new people into the court of the Qing Dynasty, and gave Tan Si the same power to participate in politics and discuss politics."

"Although we can see that Emperor Guangxu did not involve the reform of the restriction of imperial power, all his efforts were to regain the imperial power in the hands of the Empress Dowager Cixi, and then carry out more in-depth changes in the future."

"The leading personnel of the Wuxu Restoration, this movement is a reform movement that relies on Emperor Guangxu as the leader and leads the intellectuals of the Restoration in the Qing Dynasty."

"However, the Wuxu Reform led by Emperor Guangxu eventually went bankrupt, also because his imperial power was not stable enough to compete with the Empress Dowager Cixi."

Not only did the Empress Dowager Cixi depose all the "imperial parties" in the court, but also put Emperor Guangxu under house arrest in the palace, and even brutally killed the reformers. ”

Several attempts at reform after Emperor Guangxu came to power were resolutely opposed by conservatives, especially in the "Wuxu Reform". ”

"He tried to rely on Yuan Shikai to balance the Empress Dowager Cixi, but he was eventually betrayed and imprisoned in Yingtai, Zhongnanhai."

"During his reign, the fiasco of the First Sino-Japanese War, the war of aggression against China by the Eight-Nation Alliance, and various internal and external troubles all called his rule questionable, making everyone think that he was cowardly."

"In fact, in this seemingly cowardly emperor, we can see that he also has some bright spots that cannot be ignored, although they are all failures."

"Zuo Zongtang's XJ recovery, the establishment of a province in Taiwan, the victory of Zhennanguan in the Sino-French War and other events were achieved under his rule, although the specific connection is difficult to verify, but to a certain extent, it also shows his actions in some aspects."

Although trapped in the prison of the Empress Dowager Cixi, the determination and courage he showed in the 1908 "Wuxu Reform" opened the door to a century of change in the country. ”

"This move was perhaps the most admirable episode of his life, and although it was ultimately resolutely opposed and defeated by conservative forces, it at least showed his pursuit of reform."

"We can also see from this that although Emperor Guangxu is an emperor who wants to lead the Qing Dynasty to prosperity and strength, he does not really grasp the power that he should have as an emperor, so under the blind suppression of the Empress Dowager Cixi, Emperor Guangxu eventually became an appendage of imperial power, and since then he has also opened a more tragic life path."

"But no matter what, Emperor Guangxu's contribution to the Qing Dynasty is still obvious to all, and I will have both sympathy and admiration for this poor emperor."

"In 1908, Emperor Guangxu died on the sickbed, but his funeral left a strong mark in history."

Emperor Guangxu's life was full of drama, he played the role of a puppet emperor on the stage of history, but at some point he also broke free from this role and bravely rose to the challenge of change. However, in the end, he was imprisoned by the political intrigues of the Empress Dowager Cixi and died of poisoning.

"Although he never actually held power in his life, he held a grand state funeral at the time of the funeral, which became a rare time of prestige in his life."

"The funeral procession walked for four days to reach the Qingxi Mausoleum, but something shocking happened on the way."

In order to pass the Lugou Bridge smoothly, the imperial court temporarily ordered the stone railing on the bridge to be removed, and a wooden bridge was added to widen the bridge deck to accommodate the huge coffin carrying procession. This decision later became a good story in the history of Lugou Bridge. ”

Qin Shi Huang: How to reform the powerless, it is okay for this Guangxu Emperor to do, but it is only a conservative evaluation.

Liu Bang: How can this old woman live so long, in fact, few people can do this kind of start!

Di Renjie: There is cowardice and tenacity, and it is really difficult to see that this Guangxu Emperor wants to restore the ambition of the Qing Dynasty.

Zhu Di: He has no power, no one, and he doesn't even know about military issues, so he fires at will, and he still wants to reform, but he has ambitions but not many talents.

Wu Zetian: In this situation, I would like to ask which emperor dares to admit that he can pull the Qing Dynasty on the right track?

There was silence on the barrage for a long, long time......

Hyozhuang: Alas! The Qing Dynasty has all arrived, but this kind of result is something we didn't expect, everyone will think that it is just the emergence of the next dynasty, but we don't want to bring the country to this end.

(End of chapter)