During the Qing Dynasty, due to the corruption and incompetence of the Qing government, it always regarded itself as a "heavenly dynasty", resulting in the gap between China's development and the Western powers at that time becoming wider and wider, and eventually being hung by various countries. Especially after Empress Dowager Cixi came to power, she not only coveted pleasure herself and did not think of making progress, but also put the Guangxu Emperor who wanted to make a difference, attacked those reformists, and joined the demise of the Qing Dynasty.
The so-called "upward and downward effect", the reason why the Qing Dynasty is weakening day by day is directly related to the rulers at that time. If the Daoguang Emperor had not passed the throne to The Crown Prince Yixuan (later the Xianfeng Emperor), but had passed it on to the Sixth Brother Yixuan, Cixi would never have had the day to emerge, let alone control the government for decades, and the Eight-Nation Alliance would have advanced the city of Beijing. Why? Let's move on.
Yi Xun, the sixth son of the Daoguang Emperor, was intelligent and studious since childhood, studied under Zhuo Bingtian and Jia Zhen, and was proficient in the three languages of Manchu, Mongolian and Han, Confucian classics, ancient poetry, and martial arts riding and shooting, and was also the most outstanding of the princes. Before Daoguang died, he was also hesitant on the heir to the throne, and had thought many times about passing on yixuan. In every shooting and hunting competition, Yi Xun was a hundred shots and returned with a full load, while the Xianfeng Emperor's arrow technique was very poor, but he was very scheming. Xian Feng knew that he was absolutely inferior to the sixth brother in the arrow method, and every time he said that he could not bear to shoot those animals, and even tears of sympathy appeared in his eyes.
In terms of governing ability, Yi Xun is far beyond Xianfeng. Every time the Daoguang Emperor asked Xianfeng and Yixuan about the strategy of governing the country, Yixun was always able to cite the scriptures and expound his opinions and suggestions in light of the domestic and foreign conditions at that time; but Xianfeng prostrated his head vigorously, and said that he did not dare to think of anything else every day, but was praying to the heavens, may the emperor Ama Fu such as the East Sea and Shoubi Nanshan, the clear-eyed people know that Xianfeng has no ink in his chest, and deliberately uses this to please the emperor.
Reluctantly, Daoguang eventually passed on to Xianfeng for the reason of "benevolence", and Yixun was given the title of Prince Gong. After Xianfeng ascended the throne as empress, Cixi quickly gained favor because of her posture and skill, and eventually monopolized the power of the imperial court.
Prince Gong Yixuan has always advocated learning foreign science and technology to strengthen China's military strength, diplomatically advocating maintaining peace with European and American powers, supporting the establishment of China's early modern military industry, and is the most far-sighted figure in the Qing royal family. At the same time, as a famous king of the Xianfeng, Tongzhi and Guangxu dynasties, he made contributions to the founding of Modern Chinese industry and the progress of Chinese education. He was also a pioneer of the late Qing dynasty diplomacy, proposing and founding China's first formal diplomatic institution, which put Qing Dynasty diplomacy on the right track and opened up a new situation.
With the strong support of Yi Chen, the foreign affairs movement was launched. However, in 1884, the die-hard Cixi launched the "Jiashen Yishu" to depose Prince Gong Yixuan, firmly controlling the power in his own hands, so that the ambitious Yixuan had no room to display his talents, causing him to be depressed and no longer achieve anything.
Many people who study Qing history believe that if Yi Chen sat on the throne, with his governing philosophy and outstanding vision, he would definitely vigorously develop science and technology and military, and it was very likely to avoid the situation of the late Qing Dynasty being hanged by Western powers. What is certain is that Cixi will never have a chance to take power, and her things that will bring calamity to the country and the people will not happen. What do you think about this?