On August 27, 1861, the Xianfeng Emperor died of overwork, and before his death, he made his six-year-old son Zaichun crown prince, and eight others, including Zaiyuan the Prince of Zhaoyi, Duanhua the Prince of Zheng, and Sushun, a scholar of the Hubu Shangshu Co-founder University, jointly assisted the young emperor.
On November 8, just as the xianfeng emperor's bones were still cold, Empress Dowager Cixi joined forces with Prince Gong Yixuan to issue an edict in the name of the young emperor Zaichun, killing Sushun, killing Zaiyuan and Duanhua, and exiled other ministers, taking control of the imperial government in one fell swoop.
On November 11, Zaichun ascended the throne, abolishing the era name "Qi Xiang" proposed by the Eight Ministers and changing the next year to "the first year of Tongzhi". Because this year is the year of the lunar calendar, this historical event is also known as the "Xin Unitary Incident".
The "Xin You Incident" was not only the beginning of Cixi's political status, but also a bloody game of power redistribution within the late Qing government.
Su Shun, who had high hopes for Xianfeng, was eventually beheaded at Caishikou for the crime of rebellion, becoming a stepping stone for Empress Dowager Cixi's ascension to the throne.
It is said that Cixi killed Sushun, in fact, Sushun's death also has its own reasons, in a word, Cixi killed him justified.
SuShun (1816~ 1861), Manchurian Blue Flag Man, Ai Xin Jue Luoshi, Ziyu Ting, also zi Yu Ting, Yu Ting. The seventh grandson of The Qing Taizu Nurhaci's nephew Zilharang. His father, Ur Gong'e, Prince of Heshuo Zheng, was the twelfth prince of Zilharang. Ur Gong has one wife (嫡福晋), two on the side of Fujin, and five on the side of Fujin.
Sushun was born of the lateral Fujin, the sixth in line, had no right to inherit his father's title, and received 260 taels of silver and 260 yuan of Lu mi every year to survive. If he had been born in the Taiping years, SuShun's life would probably have been to be an idle clan room, muddled and eating and waiting for death. However, the Qing Dynasty he was in did not allow him to sink into the lower classes forever.
The opportunity appeared after the Xianfeng Emperor took the throne, and at the beginning of xianfeng's reign, it was quite a bit of a new toilet for three days. Unfortunately, the Taiping Army led by Hong Xiuquan, who was mad at first, rebelled, and soon the British and French allies with strong guns and sharp guns soon came to the door, and internal and external troubles made the Xianfeng Emperor anxious and tired to cope, regardless of whether he could do it or not, he was not an opponent. Later, he simply made a shrunken-headed turtle and entrusted the government to two important ministers of the clan, Duanhua the Prince of Zheng and Zaiyuan the Prince of Yi, and went to the palace himself.
Prince Zaiyuan of Yi was the fifth grandson of Yunxiang, the thirteenth son of Kangxi, and Duanhua the Prince of Zheng was the third brother of Sushun, although he was the same father, but because Duanhua was born to Fujin (嫡福晋 sterile), he unexpectedly became a hereditary prince with 10,000 taels of silver. Although the two iron hat princes have a dazzling string of titles on their business cards, they are both straw bales of tianzi. Fortunately, the two of them had self-knowledge, "suffering from the fact that the Han language is not very accessible, and the self-consciousness is short, for the opinions of the Xianfeng Emperor, many can not be developed, know su shun to learn the Chinese language, and know more about customs and diseases, so they can be of great use by recommending it." ("Qing Shi Ye Wen").
Xian Feng summoned Su Shun to try it out and resolutely entrusted him with a heavy responsibility. Soon, Sushun became Xianfeng's most trusted subordinate, and Duanhua and Zaiyuan, the two important ministers, took Sushun as the leader.
Su Shunjiu was in the lower class, familiar with the "pros and cons of customs", and knew that the Manchus were dull and dull, and should not be of great use at all, so he suggested to the Xianfeng Emperor to reuse the Han ministers.
Since Shunzhi came to power in the Central Plains, the Qing regime has been pursuing the policy of revering manchus and paising Han, especially stipulating that all ministries and departments of yamen and tang departments should order the Manchus to hold the seal, and Han officials could only serve as deputies, and had the right to raise their hands and join hands without the right to clap. Legend has it that the Forbidden City has a stone stele dedicated to Manchu officials, which reads: "The emperor of this dynasty came to Han Tu, and the Han people were known as servants, but they were not of the same ethnic group, and although the Han people were used as ministers now, they were only used to restrain them." My descendants must always remember this intention, and they should not grant great power to the Han people lightly, but they can make it a campaign for the run. ”
The Han invented the Yi to control yi, and the Manchus tit-for-tat han ruled the Han. At the critical moment of being colonized by the Yi people, Su Shun advocated breaking the Manchu and Han concept and reusing the Han ministers, but the lesser of two evils.
Although Xian Feng was dazed, he also understood the severity of it, and at Su Shun's suggestion, he promoted and reused Han ministers such as Zeng Guofan, Hu Linyi, and Zuo Zongtang.
There are also some places that ordinary people can't reach, "picking up people's faces, being able to explain their shape for life, curing a case, and being able to cite their words over the years." With the ability to know the pros and cons of customs and never forget, Sushun, after receiving the favor of the Xianfeng Emperor, was soon promoted from a cabinet scholar and a ceremonial attendant to the position of feast value lecturer and township examination examiner in just a few years, becoming an indispensable hot chicken for a day around the Xianfeng Emperor.
In the eighth year of Xianfeng, the murder of the chancellor Qi Ying shocked the government and the opposition.
Qi Ying was a Manchu Qing emperor, and although he did not have any talent, he signed a series of unequal treaties on behalf of the Qing government because he was not born at the right time, and since then he has become a famous back cooker in the late Qing Dynasty. When the Second Opium War broke out, Xianfeng sent him to negotiate with the British and French allies, but he left his post without any eyebrows.
Xianfeng was furious and submitted it to the relevant departments for discussion, and the ministers headed by Prince Gong thought that hanging (death suspension) was appropriate. Everyone understands that Qi Ying is just wiping his ass for the Qing Dynasty, and it is best to leave a line of life. Who knows that Su Shun believes that Qi Ying "disregarded the overall situation and ran back ... What kind of thing is it that is afraid to sneak away? "If you don't do the Fa-rectification... How does the law of the land be declared, and how is the official evil and how respectful is it? "Strongly advocate severe punishment.
At Su Shun's insistence, Qi Ying finally landed on the ground.
Earlier, when Su Shun was serving as the Shangshu of the Hubu Department, he found that the officials of the Hubu Department were corrupt and "spent a lot of money every year, while the officials and friends committed adultery and fraud, and lost tens of millions of taels or more." When Su Shun investigated to the end, dozens of household officials and related personnel were raided, and even Han Shangshu Weng Xintong was demoted to five levels in a row.
In the Xianfeng Decade (1860), the minister Bai Bao's case involving fraud in the field of science was investigated. Considering that Bai Ye was in a high position and was also a Mongolian minister, Xian Feng wanted to let him go. Su Shun said that he was fierce in front of Xian Feng, and at his insistence, Bai Hao was also sentenced to death.
For the way of officials, it lies in the flowers and flowers and palanquins carried by everyone, and in the late Qing officialdom that pays attention to human feelings and sophistication, the solemn obedience of adhering to principles is a rare clear stream. Not only did he offend the high-ranking officials and nobles above the court, but even the ordinary flag bearers offended them. As a Manchu, Sushun despised the Manchus the most, and several times suggested that Xianfeng lower the salaries of the flag bearers.
The iron-fisted anti-corruption campaign of the clean-up officials has attracted the sideways glances of the court; it has touched the interests of ordinary flag people, and it has become the public enemy of the flag people.
However, Su Shun's death was not arbitrary and blind, but a great taboo. Xianfeng's dying will and ordered Su Shun and eight others to be ministers of care for their orders, praising all government affairs, and at the same time stipulating that the edicts drafted by the eight ministers must have the seals of "Imperial Reward" and "TongdaoTang" at the beginning and end, otherwise they will be regarded as invalid. The "Imperial Reward" seal was preserved by empress dowager Ci'an of the East, and the "Tongdaotang" was nominally preserved for Zaichun, but in fact it was managed by empress dowager Cixi of the west.
Xianfeng's arrangement in this way is a precautionary move to prevent Sushun and others from sitting on the throne, and it is also a deliberate attempt to create contradictions.
Politics is itself a balancing act, and any attempt to upset the balance is a risk.
If it were Ci'an, she might be silent, but Cixi was a widow who was not willing to be lonely and at the mercy of others.
On the day of Xianfeng's death, Cixi could have become the empress dowager with her mother and son, but Sushun and others deliberately suppressed her until the next day, when they honored her as empress, although the two palaces were honored together, but Cixi was a day later than Ci'an.
Cixi tried to get a piece of the pie, and when she asked the minister of gu orders how to deal with the punishment reward, SuShun confronted him on the spot: "The edict is drawn up by the minister, the empress dowager is sealed, the fu has to be changed, and the chapter is not presented for internal inspection." ”
Although she was finally forced to agree to send Zhang Shu to the Empress Dowager of the Two Palaces, would a woman with a strong desire for power be willing to just make a superficial article of circle reading?
The contradiction between Cixi and Sushun has a long history.
Initially, when XianFeng led his concubines and his party to flee to Chengde to avoid the chaos, the only palace car naturally belonged to the emperor's royal use. The rest of the palace ladies, from the empress down to the concubines, all rode in carriages and horses conscripted from the people. When the road to the mountain is rough, those palace beauties who are accustomed to reaching out of their clothes and eating to open their mouths can't stand the bumps of the vehicle, and Cixi (then Yi Guifei) lowers her eyebrows and asks Sushun to change her car.
Originally, following her master to flee made Su Shun upset, but when he saw that she didn't know the height of the sky, he rushed forward regardless of his identity and said, "Who is Er?" Nai si driving the Middle Palace (referring to Empress Ci'an) to the Yan! ”
When the public was robbed of Bai by Sushun, Cixi was silent on the surface, but in her heart she hated Sushun to the bone.
When Xianfeng was seriously ill, Sushun was worried about the "Lord Young Mother Zhuang", and played the song to imprison Cixi, or as Han Wu gave the story of Lady Yi, he simply gave Cixi death directly. The indecisive Xian Feng listened without comment, but after a drunken drink, he suddenly grunted and told the story. History said, "After the West smelled it, it was carved into the bone." (In addition, the line "Hook Yi Story" was proposed by Xian Feng, and Su Shun listened to "dare not put aside the word").
Cixi saw that there was no hope of the highest power, so she had to turn to her uncle Prince Gong Yixuan to secretly send autumn spinach.
Yi Xun was the sixth son of Daoguang, and was once a powerful shocker of the throne, so he was always jealous and suppressed by Xianfeng. Before Xian Feng died, he preferred to choose Su Shun and eight other people as ministers of his life, but also to exclude this younger brother.
Xianfeng fled to Rehe to hide from the British and French forces, leaving YiXuan in Beijing to carry out diplomatic mediation with foreigners, and was more or less suspected of killing people with a knife. What was self-defeating was that Yi Chen not only successfully completed the problem of the aftermath of the defeat, but even formed a personal friendship with the foreigners while breaking the bottle. Facts have once again proved that the proverb is easy to hide from the gun and the family thief is difficult to defend, and Yi Xuan put the death of the land and came back to life, and applied for the establishment of the Prime Minister's Office for State Affairs, which is specifically responsible for handling foreign affairs. In fact, Yi Zhi cultivated his own political small group in the capital.
Cixi understood that if she wanted to gain more right to speak, she would have to have Olympic aid above the court, and the little uncle Yixun was undoubtedly the best partner.
Yi Xun also hoped to take advantage of the opportunity to expand his influence in the court by overthrowing SuShun and others, so he and Cixi immediately hit it off, and the two sides joined forces to deal with Sushun and others.
On September 5, 1861, Yi Xi rushed to Chengde on the pretext of percussioning the Zi Palace. After the memorial service, Cixi immediately summoned a summons, and the two sides "played for a long time", and decided to return to Beijing to start.
Cixi, fearing that the coup would lead to the interference of foreigners, disagreed with her and tentatively asked YiXuan, "What about a foreign country?" ”
Yi Xian immediately patted his chest and said: "Foreign countries have no objections, if there is any difficulty, only slaves are asked." Historical records prove that in the "Xin You Incident", the British legal person played a disgraceful role.
After signing the Treaty of Beijing with Yi Chen, "as long as the imperial court is not in Beijing, and Prince Yi (Zaiyuan), Duanhua, and Sushun continue to rule, we cannot say that the Chinese people have indeed recognized the treaty." Su Shun once publicly stated that "all European barbarians must be driven out of China", and the British legal person naturally hated him to the bone. And supporting Yi Chen, who is "very enlightened in his conduct", as a spokesman is undoubtedly the most in line with the interests of the invaders, and Robertson, the British consul in Guangzhou, even advocated that Yi Zhi be raised as a puppet emperor.
In the coup d'état against Su Shun and eight other ministers, the invaders completely sided with the Yi clique.
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Under the combined efforts of Cixi, YiXuan, and the invaders, Su Shun unsurprisingly tied his hands and grabbed them, and the mouth of the bloody vegetable market. Soon, in order to expand their interests in China, the British reached a compromise and cooperation with Cixi and Yixun, and the policy of "borrowing teachers to help suppress" was introduced, and the Qing government was able to survive. To YiXuan's surprise, the last laugh was his widowed sister-in-law, Cixi kicked him away after taking control of the government, opening a 48-year-long monopoly model.
After Xianfeng's death, at the behest of Yi Chen, a public opinion formed inside and outside the capital calling on the empress dowager to bow to the government, while Sushun and others insisted that "there is no story of the empress dowager in this dynasty".
When killing SuShun, one of his crimes was greed and bribery, who knew that after raiding Sushun's family property, he found that the total value was only a mere 200,000 taels, only one of the five hundred copies of Hezhen, and Cao Yuying, the military minister who drafted the draft at the behest of the two palaces, racked his brains and searched his stomach all day, and finally had to make a big fuss about politics.
The Xianfeng Emperor underestimated Cixi, and as a result, the political structure arranged in front of him became empty; Yi Xun looked down on the widow, and as a result, the emperor did not succeed and only earned the title of "King of The Council"; Sushun underestimated Cixi, and as a result, he lost his life.
If Su Shun did not die, where would Cixi have a chance to ascend to the throne, not to mention that she had been listening to the government for decades.
Sadly, history has no assumptions.