Cixi suddenly declared war on the Eleven Kingdoms with great vigor, wanting to teach the foreigners a lesson and let them know that they were not good at it.
What she did not expect, however, was that after she issued the edict to the provinces, the governors of the southeastern provinces poured cold water on her and let her see the reality.
Li Hongzhang's sentence "This chaotic life is also, Guangdong does not follow the commandment", has made Cixi's heart ache, old Li, old Li, I have spoiled you for so many years!
Zhang Zhidong's sentence "Sitting in the southeast, death does not obey the commandment" made Cixi angry, a good Zhang Zhidong, is there still a mourning family in his eyes?
The "Southeast Mutual Protection" jointly initiated by the governors of the southeastern provinces made Cixi see clearly what kind of reality?
First, Cixi's control over the officials below was not as strong as she thought, and although she had been in charge of the Qing Dynasty for nearly 40 years and her dominance was unassailable, she was slowly losing the absolute authority she had worked so hard to build, and she was getting old.
Third, the loyalty of the officials to her and to the Qing Dynasty was far less than she had imagined, and they valued their own interests more than hers.
Second, she should not have declared war on the 11 countries so impulsively, she was not a rival to the foreigners, and the rabble boxers were not as strong as she thought, which was probably the reason why the Southeast Governor refused to send troops.
Therefore, after she saw the reality clearly, she hurriedly rolled up the Guangxu Emperor and ran away.
So, when the Eight-Nation Alliance received the benefits given by Cixi and returned Beijing and the Forbidden City to Cixi, how did she deal with the southeastern overseers who stood by and watched in her time of danger?
Li Hongzhang was quite miserable, although he was loyal to Cixi and also lost both glory and loss with her, but at that time, he was alone in Guangdong, but he was also forced to join the ranks of "Southeast Mutual Protection" by Zhang Zhidong and others.
Later, as soon as Cixi summoned him to Beijing to negotiate peace with foreigners, he hurriedly let people carry him into Beijing.
Li Hongzhang was hidden in the snow for a period of time after jia afternoon, and later he was ordered to go to Europe to earn back a little political capital, which was once again used by Cixi, but he did not expect that he could even encounter Cixi declaring war on foreigners in Guangdong, and the southeast governor left Cixi to play "southeast mutual protection" such a bloody thing.
What he didn't expect was that after signing the "Xinugu Treaty", it didn't take long for him to die.
Therefore, for Li Hongzhang, whether Cixi wanted to compensate him or want to punish him, she had no chance, and could only shed two lines of old tears.
As for Zhang Zhidong, Liu Kunyi, Yuan Shikai, and others, Cixi did not want to move them, but did not dare to move, nor could she move them.
Although Cixi was still the de facto supreme leader of the Qing government, she knew exactly how much control she still had over local officials.
Zhang Zhidong, like Li Hongzhang, was a famous courtier of Zhongxing in the late Qing Dynasty, who was the governor of Huguang at the time, and had been operating in Huguang for a long time, so it can be said that his influence was deeply rooted in Huguang.
Cixi wants to move him? I really didn't dare to move, and I couldn't move.
Zhang Zhidong really wants to make a fuss, and it is enough for Cixi to drink a pot, and "southeast mutual protection" is a lesson for the past. Therefore, not only could she not move the hole, but she also had to coax him well, how to coax him? Zhang Zhidong, you are meritorious, and you should be rewarded - "On merit, add prince Shaobao".
Zhang Zhidong was still prominent when Zaifeng was regent, and Zaifeng also had to pay tribute to him for three points.
Liu Kun was the governor of Liangjiang at the time, although he was the same governor as Zhang Zhidong, but his real power was slightly higher than That of Zhang Zhidong, and Cixi did not dare to move Zhang Zhidong.
Therefore, Cixi later added the title of Prince Taibao to Liu Kunyi, which was higher than Zhang Zhidong.
Speaking of Yuan Xiangcheng, why didn't Cixi move Yuan Shikai?
In order to strengthen his control over the army, Cixi once had Rong Lu come forward to reorganize five armed guards in the front, rear, left, right, and center, with Nie Shicheng's wuwei front army, Dong Fuxiang's department as the rear army, Song Qing's department as the left army, Yuan Shikai's department as the right army, and Rong Lu's department as the middle army.
These five armed guards can be said to be the strongest five ace armies of the Qing government at that time, but after a dozen battles by the Eight-Nation Alliance, the front, rear, left, and middle four were killed and crippled, and lost their combat effectiveness, only Yuan Shikai's right army was ordered to go to Shandong to quell the chaos, and later joined the "southeast mutual protection", thus being preserved.
In this way, the ace army of the Qing government was only left with Yuan Shikai's troops, so Cixi still did not dare to move him, nor could she move him, xiucai rebelled for three years, but what would happen if the general rebelled?
Therefore, coaxing Yuan Shikai became the most crucial step for Cixi to stabilize the situation and maintain his rule, and once Li Hongzhang died, Cixi directly let Yuan Shikai sit in the position of viceroy and minister of Beiyang, becoming the hottest figure.
Cixi's heart was also cold and cold, helpless! If she could, wouldn't she want to change Zhang Zhidong, Liu Kunyi, and Yuan Shikai?
think!
However, with her control at that time, she could not do it.