Because ancient China had a vast territory, the strategic buffer space was quite large. When a regime is defeated, they are often not quickly wiped out completely, but retreat to a specific area and re-establish a peaceful court. Such a peaceful court sometimes existed for a long time.
For example, after the western Jin Dynasty was destroyed, the members of the clan moved south to establish the Eastern Jin Dynasty. After the destruction of the Northern Song Dynasty, the members of the clan moved south to establish the Southern Song Dynasty. After the Ming Dynasty was destroyed, it also moved south and established the Southern Ming regime. After the Liao state was destroyed by the Jin state, it moved west to establish the Western Liao regime. Even the Nationalist army, after the defeat of the mainland, crossed the sea to Taiwan and established the Taiwan political power.
In short, due to China's special geographical characteristics, the regimes established in ancient China were not so easily destroyed. If this is the case, why did not the Qing Dynasty return to the northeast of their base area after the fall of the Qing Dynasty and establish a Northern Qing regime?
I believe that history has not developed in this way in the end for the following reasons.
(Zaifeng)
First, the dragons are leaderless.
The most crucial reason why the Qing royal family finally did nothing was that the dragons were leaderless.
Originally, Zaifeng was the head of the Qing imperial family and the regent of Cixi before his death. But Zaifeng this person is a typical incompetence.
After he came to power, he also understood the need to establish his own prestige and establish the prestige of the entire Qing dynasty. Therefore, on the grounds of foot disease, Yuan Shikai was driven back to his hometown and seized Yuan Shikai's military power. At the same time, try to install royals in the cabinet.
However, these practices of Zaifeng have not had any effect. Not only did it not have an effect, but it even had the opposite effect. The people of the whole country were greatly dissatisfied because there were too many members of the Qing royal family in the cabinet, believing that Zaifeng was engaged in a fake constitution. At the same time, the members of the Qing royal family really had no ability, so that after the outbreak of the Xinhai Revolution, no one was able to lead troops to resist the revolutionary army, and no one had a way to clean up the mess of independence all over the country.
In the end, Zaifeng had to call Yuan Shikai back. And when he called Yuan Shikai back and handed over the military power of the regime to Yuan Shikai, he simply went back to his hometown to retire.
This was the state of the Qing royal family at that time. In fact, if Puyi had become an adult at that time, he would not have ended up with such a leaderless group of dragons. Puyi, at the instigation of Japan, went to the northeast to establish a puppet state of Manchukuo, which is also equivalent to a "Northern Qing". However, at that time, the northeast was completely controlled by the Japanese, and Puyi only had one title of "emperor" left, and the rest was gone.
(Zhang Zuolin)
Second, there is no place to stay.
We said earlier that the Qing government should return to the northeast and establish a "Northern Qing" regime. However, this is actually our wishful thinking and cannot be achieved.
Why? The reason is very simple, because although the northeast was once the base of the Qing government, their ancestral line and origin, moreover, the Qing government still carefully protected its ancestral homeland for a long time, and even sealed the mountain to prevent others from getting involved.
However, by the end of the Qing Dynasty, the Qing government itself had given up this ancestral land.
First, in the various treaties they signed, they ceded this ancestral land to the Russians to manage, let the Russians build military bases and railways here, and plundered Back China's resources in large quantities. Later, the Japanese looked at this land again and realized that this land was a springboard and a base area for the Japanese to annex China. With this springboard and base area, they can enter China with unscrupulousness. So, in 1905, Japan forcibly fought a war with Russia here. Japan won the battle, so Japan had the right to develop in tohoku.
In addition to Japan, some local forces have gradually developed, especially Zhang Zuolin, which has become a powerful force in the northeast that cannot be underestimated. Moreover, Zhang Zuolin basically did not listen to the command of the central government.
As a result, the Qing government almost completely lost control of the northeast. Although nominally, the northeast is still the Qing government, but it cannot be controlled, and it is the same as whether there is or not.
Since the Qing government could not control the northeast at all, and they retreated, how could they possibly gain a foothold in the northeast? Instead of that, it's better to be in a place like Beijing, where they have lived for two or three hundred years, and it is very familiar. What can they do in an unfamiliar environment?
(Yuan Shikai)
Third, do not want to leave.
In fact, if the Qing royal family had a little sense of crisis, a little bit of an idea like reinvigorating the mighty wind, they would not make themselves like that. Because they have lived a comfortable life for a long time without work, they are not willing to return to such a cold and difficult place as the northeast to start a new business.
Besides, when Yuan Shikai forced the Qing imperial family to abdicate, he gave them a favorable condition of 4 million yuan per year. Although ordinary Manchu Qing people may not get this money, senior members of the Qing royal family can already use this money and live very well. So, of course, they don't want to create any more karma. They don't go, ordinary Manchus are still more energetic.
Therefore, the Qing imperial family slowly boiled itself to death in such a warm boiled frog, and there was no time to regain its strength.