Qing Dynasty Secret History

Chapter 103

It is said that Emperor Dezong was angry with the weak and determined to reform, and the courtiers were divided into two parties, the old and the new.

In the reform party, we must count Weng Tonghe, Shangshu of the Ministry of Household Affairs, Zhang Yinhuan, Minister Zhang Yinhuan, Huang Siyong, Youzhongyun of Zhan Shifu, Song Bolu, Yang Shenxiu, Shangshu Li Duanfen, Minister Xu Zhijing, Governor of Hunan Chen Baozhen, Governor of Huguang Zhang Zhidong, and Yang Rui, the governor of Huguang. The principals, Kang Youwei, Liu Guangdi, Zhongshu Lin Xu, and prefect Tan Sitong, are the most powerful.Kang Youwei's disciple Juren Liang Qichao, who runs the "Current Affairs News" and advocates reform, is particularly powerful.

The Tao is ten feet high, and the devil is ten feet high.How could that group of old-fashioned veterans be willing to let go so easily?

However, the country has suffered many problems in the past few years. The imperial court returned Liaodong, and Russia made a great effort. The Russian emperor was crowned, and Li Boxiang was specially sent to celebrate.However, a secret agreement was secretly made. Xu Russians built railways in the three eastern provinces and leased Jiaozhou Bay as a military port. Xu Jingcheng, the Qin envoy stationed in Russia, signed a twelve-article contract with the Sino-Russian Daosheng Bank for the railway company in the three eastern provinces.He also gave France the land bordering Jianghong with Burma.This piece of land was fought for when we negotiated the "Burmese Treaty" with Britain.Now that it is given to France, the British are very displeased and have repeatedly criticized it.I had no choice but to renew the Sino-British "Myanmar Treaty", redraw the boundary line, assign the whole land of Gonglong to the United Kingdom, and lease a section of the triangle near Nabuka to the United Kingdom forever, and add three ports such as Wuzhou.Both Russia and France have received rewards, and even Britain has received unexpected benefits.There is only Germany, which is alone in the corner.

It just so happened that this year in Juye County, Caozhou, Shandong Province, a teaching plan came out.The two Catholic priests killed happened to be Germans.The German division was well-known, and on the pretext of the Caozhou teaching case, they sent troops to occupy the Jiaozhou Bay Fort.The imperial court sent Uncle Li to negotiate, and when it came to his lips, the German said: "Otherwise, the lease will be 100 years. Since your uncle invited you over, there is nothing you can do. For the sake of your old man, if you let it go for a year, you can book it." The 99-year deadline is over.

Therefore, four clauses of the Jiao'ao Concession Treaty were signed. In addition to the 99-year period, the construction rights of the Jiaoji Railway and the mines within a hundred miles of the road were allowed to be excavated by the Germans. The Russians saw that the Germans had leased Jiao'ao. Let’s ask: How did the secret agreement in Jiaozhou Bay be granted to the Germans? Then they also rented Lushun Dalian Bay for a 25-year contract. Where the Siberia Railway passed through the three eastern provinces, Russia was allowed to send troops to protect it. The British saw it Therefore, they used the example of equal interests and came to chatter. China had nothing to say, so it had to open up a leased land in Kowloon, Guangdong, and signed a Sino-British "Special Regulations on the Expansion of Hong Kong's Boundary Site" with it. In addition to so many foreign invasions by the enemy, the excitement of the Chinese people has been further improved.

The enthusiasm for the reform has risen tenfold.Therefore, Guizhou's education and politics were strictly cultivated, and it was requested to set up a special economics department.The Prime Minister's Yamen meets with the Ministry of Rites, and the Special Section is first, followed by the New Year's Eve.It is divided into six subjects, which are internal affairs, foreign affairs, financial management, economics and military affairs, investigation of things, and examination of engineering.The special department is known by the Beijing officials above the third grade and the governors, scholars and politicians. They are consulted and sent to the Prime Minister's Yamen, and together with the Ministry of Rites, please try to make a policy discussion.For each year of the township examination, the province's academic administration will select senior students from various schools and colleges and send them to the township examination for special examinations.Zhongyun Huang Siyong played to borrow money from China, please make self-improvement stocks, and ordered the Ministry of Accounts to discuss quickly.The Ministry of Household Affairs proposed to print 100 million shares, called Zhaoxin shares, with an interest rate of 20% per year, and the principal and interest will be paid off in [-] years.Order princes, generals, governors, and civil and military officials outside Beijing to receive tickets and pay silver, which is advocated by business people.Enter, approve immediately.He also ordered the establishment of the Imperial University, custom-made, and the military department changed to test guns.All Shengfu, halls, states, counties, and all academies, large and small, will all be changed to schools.The provincial capital is the higher education, the county town is the middle school, and the prefectures and counties are the primary school, and it is ordered that folk temples and shrines that are not held for rituals will be changed to schools.In addition, the governors of each province recommended envoys, the township examination and the birth and age department examinations, abolished the current literature, and changed the examination policy theory.Stop the imperial examination, and take the Dingxiang general examination to get the method on the spot.An imperial edict was issued to determine the country's affairs, and to declare it to China and foreign countries.The big officials in other provinces and those who are not effective in handling the New Deal all pass orders.

It seems that such vigorous and resolute actions have not seen any effect.Dezong sighed at the court, and said to his subordinates: "Looking around at the old ministers, there is more than enough prudence, but not enough reform. I want to implement the new policy, but there are few ministers who assist the prime minister. Inside, I am still a servant, and outside, I am a governor. I have repeated the scriptures and preached, but I still haven't let it go. One person worries about work, and all the people play, can it be said that the ancestors' world and China's national destiny can't be reversed?"

Suddenly a person fell down on the palace, and said: "For extraordinary things, we must treat extraordinary people. If I recommend one person, I will be able to assist the emperor and become a new rule."

When Dezong looked at it, he saw that it was Xu Zhijing, a scholar of the Imperial Academy.Dezong asked him who he recommended?Xu Zhijing said: "It's Kang Youwei, the director of the Ministry of Industry. This person is from Nanhai County, Guangdong. He has studied everything about politics and religion in Europe and the United States, and the general trend of the world. His talents can be developed and put to great use."

After hearing this, Dezong asked his master Weng Tonghe, "How is Kang Youwei? Is Xu Zhijing not bad?"

Weng Tonghe said: "Although Kang Youwei is a newcomer, his talents are ten times better than those of ministers, and Xu Zhijing is not bad."

Dezong summoned him as ordered.

This Kang Youwei is also true, Qianqian, eloquent, and generous speeches, almost Fan Suizhi talked about the King of Qin, and Jia Yizhi saw Emperor Wen, so that Dezong changed color for a while, and consulted for a while.On the same day, Zhu Yu was sent to order Kang Youwei to walk in the Prime Minister's Office of State Affairs.When Wang Yang was in power, Gong Yu played the crown.Yang Rui, an alternate minister of the cabinet, Liu Guangdi, an alternate head of the Ministry of Punishment, Lin Xu, an alternate secretary of the cabinet, and Tan Sitong, an alternate magistrate of Jiangsu, were all comrades of Kang Youwei.

Juren Liang Qichao was rewarded with the title of Liupin, and he handled the affairs of the translation book bureau.A group of revolutionary patriots met the sages and were recruited, so they carried forward vigorously and acted as they wished. How could they care about the old officials?
Kang Youwei was grateful to Shengming for his knowledge, and wrote letters repeatedly, discussing the New Deal.Dezong decreed Jiana, which was like Yu Baichangyan.The censor, Wen Ti, was angry. In the last chapter, he participated in the impeachment of Song Bolu, Yang Shenxiu, and Kang Youwei, and the party sheltered and falsely accused many crimes.However, Dezong trusted the new party, and issued an order to reprimand it that it was difficult to protect it from being instigated by others, and that it was not worthy of the censor's responsibility, so he ordered to go back to the original yamen.He also issued an order to explain the last resort of the reform, and ordered all the officials to be pure and honest, and to eliminate obstructions.He also ordered Shenji to wait for the battalion to practice foreign exercises.The General Administration of Mining and Railways was set up in the capital, and Wang Wenshao and Zhang Yinhuan were assigned to manage it.According to Xu Zhijing's request, there are three, four, five rank Jingqing, and three, four, five and six rank bachelors.On the one hand, redundant officials were laid off, Zhan Shifu, General Administration Department, Guanglu Temple, Honglu Temple, Taipu Temple, Dali Temple, the governors of Hubei, Guangdong, and Yunnan provinces, and the governor of Donghe were absent, and the provinces did not handle transportation. The grain road and the salt road to the non-salt field have all been abolished.

In addition, outside Beijing, we should cut down the vacancies in civil and military affairs, and order the bachelors, the six ministries, and the governors of the generals of each province to discuss in detail the memorials.On the one hand, open up the way of speaking, and the provinces follow the Daoist government, and if there is an order, they will play it by themselves.Officials such as prefectures and counties shall be submitted by the governor in their original form.Shimin wrote a letter, and the province's provincial government would play it at any time.It seems that the New Deal has been strictly enforced, and the conservative ministers have already looked sideways.

Unexpectedly, there was a trend in the yamen of the Ministry of Rites at this time.For this stimulation, the old and new worlds are becoming more and more divided.Wang Zhao, the head of the Ministry of Rites, made a statement about the reform and asked the hall officials to act on his behalf.Shangshu Huaitabu, Xu Yingkui, Shilang Kunxiu, Xu Huifeng, Pubing and Zeng Guanghan all tried their best to stop him.The Reform Party reported this matter to Emperor Dezong in secret.

Dezong was furious, and immediately issued an order to dismiss Huaitabu and other six people from their posts.Wang Zhao was not afraid of strong imperial guards, and rewarded the third-rank Ding Dai, and the fourth-rank Jingtang as an alternate.

At this time, rumors abounded in the capital, and rumors and friends were popular, all of which were fabricated by conservative ministers.Some said that Kang Youwei originally believed in foreign religions, but now he and a group of New Deal officials are bewitching the emperor day and night, trying to convince the emperor to also believe in foreign religions.Some said that Kang Youwei had bought a pill of Gu medicine from foreign priests because of the unambiguous nature of the emperor, and presented it to the emperor. .

The rumor spread to the inner court, and the empress dowager was very displeased when she heard it.On this day, Dezong came in to pay his respects.The empress dowager asked a few questions about the outside world, and then said, "My good boy, you are too capable. What's so inconsiderate about the laws set by your ancestors, that you want to abolish this, change that, and be so busy? Kang Youwei waits for these fools , I have no time to annoy him. The most annoying thing is that Weng Tonghe is the old man, who is a top-ranking official and a master. How can the court wrong him and make such a fuss? Logically, the emperor is young and ignorant, what do you do? The master is trying his best to remonstrate. If you don’t follow the remonstrance, you can also enter the palace and return me. Now instead of remonstrating, you are leading the trouble. How many times have you seen a minister who has received such kindness behave like this?"

Dezong defended a few words, the Empress Dowager sneered and said: "Okay, you're getting more and more capable!

I told you to manage politics for a few years, and you have been tempered so much that even I can beat myself up.Originally, you don't even have an ancestor in your eyeballs, so where would I be?If I stop for a few more years, I'm afraid I will be punished if I turn upside down! "

Dezong was so frightened that he knelt down to meet each other.The Empress Dowager shouted: "Quickly get out! Be careful, stop for a few days, and I'll settle the score with you again!"

Dezong bluffed Nuonuo back again and again, before retreating to the door, and suddenly sent an order to call back.Dezong had no choice but to come back, and the Empress Dowager said: "You, Weng Tonghe and Kang Youwei, hurry up and discuss eating and teaching."

Dezong knelt down and said, "I dare not!"

The Empress Dowager said: "Don't dare to follow the teachings, since you have never forgotten your ancestors, go!"

When Dezong came back to the palace, he felt very uneasy.

The next day, a decree was issued to assist Weng Tonghe, Minister of the Tuhu Department of the University, to return home immediately after writing.

He also ordered the ministers above the second rank to thank you, and to thank the empress dowager, and the foreign officials to express their thanks.Sun Jianai was promoted to co-organizer of the university, and Sun Jianai thanked his Majesty for seeing him.Dezong briefly explained the embarrassing situation to him.Sun Jianai said: "I have a method, which can comfort the Empress Dowager's heart and please the ministers' wishes, so that the New Deal will not hinder the progress, and prosperity and strength will gradually increase.

" Dezong was overjoyed, and hurriedly asked what to do. Sun Jianai said: "The empress dowager is most annoyed by Kang Youwei, and the ministers are most jealous, and only Kang Youwei is the only one. The emperor only needs to send him out of Beijing. Naturally, the empress dowager has nothing to say. up.Then slowly implement the New Deal, and it will naturally become prosperous and strong.Now the emperor is vigorously carrying out the New Deal, and Kang Youwei is in the court, and people always say that Kang Youwei means it, because he is jealous of Kang Youwei, and even the New Deal is hindered.

In my humble opinion, Kang Youwei's presence in Beijing was not only useless for the New Deal, but actually harmful. "

De Zong said: "You are still thoughtful."

Then he ordered Kang Youwei to supervise the Shanghai official newspaper. Kang Youwei worshiped the imperial decree and said to the left and right: "Military ministers are afraid that I have repeated reports, so they tried to drive me out of Beijing. They want to keep their eyes clean."

Not to mention that Kang Youwei was secretly dismissed, but to say that the conservative party in the DPRK, since seeing the dismissal of the six officials of the Ministry of Rites and the special promotion of the four capital ministers of the military aircraft, everyone is more and more in danger.That group of Manchu ministers didn't have much talent, but they were relatively embarrassing, and they were just lucky.At this time, there was an outstanding talent among the Hanchens, and that was Yang Chongyi, the censor.This Yang Chongyi, at the very beginning of the implementation of the New Deal, took the first reform figure, Wen Tingshi, a candidate for a bachelor in the Imperial Academy, to be dismissed from his post and never to be employed. He is the most capable person in the conservative party.Immediately he said to all the ministers: "The emperor mistakenly believed in the new party and changed the ancestral system. If you continue to disturb like this, the ancestors will be disturbed. If we sit idly by and do nothing, then we are not ministers of the country? He is the descendant of the Xunchen, the country's Shipu, can it be that he is resigned to his own destiny and won't come out to rescue him?"

All the ministers said: "Why don't we want to save it! But there is no way to start this matter, and it is difficult for us to think about it. The first master is so happy that he will dismiss his official position today and open a school tomorrow. If anyone wants to say that the new law is not good, It's either dismissal, or reprimand, and I can't say a word. I don't know what kind of poison this Kang used to bewitch the good Shengtian to go crazy."

While they were discussing, a Manchu minister came in in a hurry and said to the crowd angrily: "The catastrophe is here, don't you know?"

Everyone was surprised when they saw him like that, and asked what's the matter?The man said: "I got the news from inside that Kang Youwei persuaded the master to cut the braids, and the master has already agreed. If you think this matter is done, isn't that a catastrophe?"

After hearing this, everyone looked at each other in blank dismay as if a catastrophe was just around the corner, without saying a word.A few were frowning, and a few were sighing.Yang Chongyi said angrily: "The matter is urgent, let's find a way to save it quickly, we can't wait any longer!"

Everyone said: "What is Yang Shiyu's opinion? Say it out, and let us all think about it."

Yang Chongyi said: "This method of mine can not only wipe out this group of new parties, but also make us all safe as a rock. It's a pity that it's not very appropriate to shut down one person."

Everyone said: "No matter who he is hindering, he just wants us to be at ease."

Yang Chongyi said: "It's not the idle people who are in the way, so what?"

People are busy asking who is it?If you want to know who Yang Chongyi said, let's listen to the next chapter.

(End of this chapter)