Author; Lin Miao
In the feudal society of the mainland, the etiquette of the monarch and the ministers is very strict, even if they are the emperor's concubines, even if they are very young, as ministers of the court, no matter how big their official position is, they have to bow down to them, let alone the emperor's mother, the queen mother. However, in the history of the Qing Dynasty on the mainland, there was such a phenomenon: the minister went to the queen mother to pay a birthday greeting, and the queen mother asked the minister: Do you kneel or do I kneel to you?
On the one hand, many Western powers invaded China and forced the Qing government to identify various unequal treaties, resulting in the loss of a large amount of territory on the mainland; On the other hand, the social contradictions within the Qing Dynasty were deteriorating day by day, and Sun Yat-sen had already launched the Xinhai Revolution, and the wave of revolution had great signs of swallowing up the Qing Dynasty's imperial system.
At that time, within the imperial court, the government was secretly controlled by the Empress Dowager Cixi, and the imperial power of Emperor Guangxu had been completely emptied! Later, Cixi even put Emperor Guangxu under house arrest for a long time, and she completely controlled the dynasty by herself. On November 14, 1908, Emperor Guangxu died of depression! One day later, the Empress Dowager Cixi also followed Guangxu to the end! However, this Lafayette hugged the young Pu Yi on his deathbed
At this time, the imperial edifice of the Qing Dynasty was already crumbling in the waves of revolution! And after ascending the throne, Pu Yi was still under the curtain of the Empress Dowager Longyu, but where did she have such a good life as the Empress Dowager Cixi? The scale of the revolution throughout the country is growing, and she can no longer control the situation! Seeing that the situation could no longer be maintained, many of them secretly retreated. Empress Dowager Longyu is a weak woman, orphan and widow, how to deal with the government?
In desperation, the Empress Dowager Longyu had no choice but to use a minister, and this minister was Yuan Shikai. But at that time, Yuan Shikai seemed to be maintaining the government on the surface, but secretly he was making his own calculations. When the Empress Dowager Longyu delegated all the power to him, Yuan Shikai gave the Empress Dowager Longyu a "salary from the bottom of the kettle", he obeyed the wishes of the revolutionary party, directly drafted the edict of the abdication of the Qing Dynasty emperor, and forced the Empress Dowager Longyu to sign the edict.
On the other hand, Yuan Shikai used the Qing government as a bargaining chip on the side of the revolutionary party to raise his prestige in the revolutionary party. In other words, Yuan Shikai is actually eating both sides! And the Empress Dowager Longyu at that time, when she saw through Yuan Shikai's tricks, it was already too late! Yuan Shikai even threatened outside that if the Empress Dowager Longyu was a few years younger, he would consider taking her as his concubine! When the Empress Dowager Longyu heard these rumors, she knew that she was completely finished!
On the afternoon of December in the third year of Xuantong, the Empress Dowager Longyu read the words on the abdication edict! In other words, Emperor Puyi has already announced his abdication! On February 3, 1913, this day was the "longevity day" of the Empress Dowager Longyu, however, the civil and military forces of the Manchu Dynasty were all because the Empress Dowager Longyu had written on the abdication edict, and no one came to congratulate her on her birthday.
This made the Empress Dowager Longyu at that time shocked and frightened, but Yuan Shikai was elated at that time, because the edict of the abdication of the Qing emperor at that time had already been verified! He has also won a good reputation on the side of the revolutionary party, and he can be said to have a bright future in the future! The Empress Dowager Longyu looked at Yuan Shikai's smug appearance, hating and fearing in her heart! So, she looked at Yuan Shikai resentfully and asked, "Will I kneel you or will you kneel me today?" ”
As soon as Yuan Shikai heard this, he immediately knelt on the ground in fright and said: "You are the queen mother of the Qing Dynasty, of course I will kneel you!" So, why did Yuan Shikai say this at that time? Because Yuan Shikai knew that no matter how much the Empress Dowager Longyu lost power, after all, it was still "a skinny camel is bigger than a horse"! If she completely falls out with her now, will the Qing Dynasty remnants behind her make a stumbling block for herself?
Therefore, no matter how arrogant Yuan Shikai is, he does not dare to provoke the entire Qing royal family, because the Empress Dowager Longyu at that time still represents the Qing imperial family, how can he, Yuan Shikai, a slave of the Qing Dynasty, dare to exceed the courtesy of the monarch and ministers?