The Qing Dynasty

Chapter 625 The Marshal Should Learn from Wang Mang

After careful consideration, Teng Yuzhao believed that this early overseas trip to study constitutionalism was probably because the people and some officials had experienced this modern war against the coalition of great powers, as well as the influence of the release of "The Rise of Great Powers", which had stimulated a strong sense of adapting to the trends of the modern world in the domestic government and the opposition, which led to the emergence of such urgent constitutional ideas in advance.

And Cixi's reaction was beyond Teng Yuzhao's expectations.

Originally, in history, after fleeing westward to avoid the Eight-Nation Alliance, Cixi already had the idea of ​​reforming the country and strengthening the country. She even launched a series of reforms in the late Qing Dynasty that were similar to the failed Reform Movement of 1898 presided over by Emperor Guangxu.

However, she still tried her best to procrastinate on the issue of constitutionalism. I wonder what stimulated her to finally make up her mind to send her ministers abroad for inspection this time?

Did Cixi realize that if she didn't make any changes, Teng Yuzao might overthrow the Qing Dynasty after he became powerful? That's why she thought of preserving the throne through constitutionalism?
Teng Yuzhao had thought about this idea repeatedly. Despite this, he was not ready to take any action now. After all, the war outside the Great Wall had not ended yet, and he, Teng Yuzhao, could not free up his hands for the time being.

This time, the five ministers' trip abroad was somewhat different from that in history. Perhaps because it was advanced in time, no assassination occurred.

As for the personnel who would go abroad, the result was reached after much discussion and debate between the government and the public. Of course, the final candidates were also different from those in history.

At the beginning of last year, the five people appointed by the court to go abroad to study the Western political system were Zai Ze, the sixth-generation grandson of Kangxi, Shang Qiheng, the governor of Shandong, Shao Ying, the right chancellor of the Ministry of Commerce, Dai Hongci, the assistant minister of the Ministry of Revenue, and Duan Fang, the governor-general of Liangjiang.

A group of five of them went on an inspection trip to England, France, Belgium, Sweden, Denmark, Italy, Switzerland, the Netherlands, Russia, Japan, the United States, Germany and Austria.

The public was also very concerned about this overseas study of constitutionalism, and most expressed great expectations for it.

However, there were a few radical constitutionalists in the civil society who were not satisfied. For example, Ying Lianzhi, the chief editor and partner of Ta Kung Pao hired by Mr. Qian, pointed out quite calmly the problems with this move of sending personnel abroad for investigation.

Ying Lianzhi clearly pointed out that "recently, due to the pressure of the situation, there is no other way, the government and the opposition are competing to advocate constitutionalism, and the government has the intention to send ministers abroad."

"This move has attracted the attention of all countries, and all countries have discussed its pros and cons. Most of them regard it as the starting point for improving politics. China's transformation from weakness to strength and from danger to safety may be due to this. However, many people are full of doubts, and they are worried that the wrong people they have sent may not be able to explore the essence of the politics of various countries, and they will regret returning with nothing."

He also proposed that the five ministers who were on the visit could be replaced by "Yan Youling of Houguan, Ma Xiangbo of Dantu, He Wosheng of Nanhai, Hu Yinan of Sanshui" and others in order to truly achieve the effectiveness of the inspection.

This Ying Lianzhi was the great-grandfather of the famous actor Yingda in later generations. Although he was a genuine Manchu, he always dared to speak out and even dared to criticize Cixi in the newspapers, which made Cixi and a group of Manchu nobles quite hateful.

The people proposed by Ying Lianzhi, such as Houguan Yan Youling, Dantu Ma Xiangbo, Nanhai He Wosheng, Sanshui Hu Yinan and others, were not proposed randomly. They are all very influential opposition figures among the people.

Houguan Yan Youling is Yan Fu, who was from Houguan, Fujian, and his courtesy name was Youling.

Yan Youling studied ships at the Royal Naval College in the UK. After returning to China, he taught at the Fujian Naval Academy and the Beiyang Naval Academy. He is currently the general manager of the Translation Bureau of the Imperial University of Peking.

This man was not only knowledgeable, but also extremely open-minded. He translated and published "Evolution and Ethics". He was praised by later generations as a bourgeois enlightenment thinker, translator, and educator in the late Qing Dynasty. He was one of the "advanced Chinese people" in modern Chinese history who sought truth from Western countries.

Ma Xiangbo, whose original name was Ma Zhide and whose courtesy name was Xiangbo, was from Danyang, Jiangsu Province.

This man was a famous educator who donated all his property to establish a new-style school, Aurora University. During the Republic of China period, several famous high-ranking officials were his students.

The Sanshui Hu Yinan is Hu Liyuan, also known as Yinan. He is from Sanshui, Guangdong. He is a famous businessman and scholar in Hong Kong, and currently a translator for the Hong Kong Literary Society.

The so-called He Wosheng, whose real name is He Qi, is currently a member of the Legislative Council of Hong Kong. He co-authored seven political articles with Hu Liyuan, including "After Zeng's Discussions on Books", "Discussions on New Policies", "The Beginning of New Policies", "After Kang's Discussions on Books", "New Discussions on Peace and Action", "Afterwards on Book of Encouragement to Study" and "New Policies Flexibility". He has always advocated reform and strengthening the country.

He also advocated the establishment of a parliament and the election of members of parliament, opposed "government supervision and business operation", and advocated the development of private industry and commerce.

These people have great influence among the people, especially in the implementation of constitutional government and their personal reputation.

However, although public opinion was high, the court could not change its decision on the candidates at this time, so the five ministers' overseas inspection was put on the agenda. The route of the five ministers' overseas inspection was drafted and arranged by the German ambassador to China.

The original plan for the survey was to split the troops into two groups. One group would be composed of Zai Ze, Shao Ying and Shang Qiheng, who would survey Russia, the United States, Italy, Austria and other countries. The other group would be composed of Duan Fang and Dai Hongci, who would survey Britain, Germany, France, Belgium and other countries. Later, due to concerns about different perspectives, it would be difficult to reach a unified opinion, so the plan was changed to just one group.

The ministers who returned from abroad to study constitutionalism this year explained to Cixi the various benefits of implementing a constitutional government as soon as they returned to China.

The five ministers cited the following benefits of constitutionalism: it could make "the throne permanent, foreign threats gradually alleviated, and internal strife put an end to," but they also advocated a lenient period for its implementation.

In a word, they wanted to use the name of "constitutionalism" to ease the domestic conflicts between the government and the opposition and preserve the throne of the Qing Dynasty.

It has long been rumored that after strong recommendations from Zai Ze, Duan Fang and others, Cixi was most interested in adopting Japan's constitutional system, but she was still a little hesitant, so it was delayed until this time.

Teng Yuzao knew all of this.

Teng Yuzhao nodded and motioned for Yang Shixiang to continue.

Yang Shixiang went on to say, "My acquaintance in the Hanlin Academy told me that in order to implement constitutional government, it is said that the Council of State should be established first to prepare for the establishment of a cabinet."

Seeing that Liu Shijiu was getting impatient again, Yang Shixiang smiled wryly, ended the preparation and got to the point.

"Commander!"

"At present, it seems that the Queen Mother is a little impatient about the establishment of a constitution. I guess there are three reasons. One is that the Marshal's authority and strength are getting stronger and stronger. Now, in terms of military strength alone, the strength of our Zhi army is not weaker than that of the imperial court."

"Second, the calls for constitutionalism are growing louder and louder, and the government is probably worried that if it delays further, there might be changes."

"These three?"

Yang Shixiang glanced at Li Yulin, who was keeping his head down and saying nothing, and then continued after a slight hesitation.

"The Queen Mother must be very worried. If something unexpected happens, the throne of Aisin-Gioro will not be preserved."

"If constitutional government is implemented, even if something unexpected happens, it will just be a cabinet change like Japan, and it will have nothing to do with the royal family."

“Therefore, she will not delay any longer on this constitutional issue and may even accelerate its implementation.”

Yang Shixiang smiled and said, "Once constitutional government is implemented, it will be a good opportunity for the Marshal! It won't be too late to take action then."

Wei Jinghai asked hesitantly, "Mr. Lianfu, do you mean that you want the Marshal to form a cabinet?"

Yang Shixiang shook his head and smiled slyly, "No, it's just a one-term prime minister. Not only is that position not secure, but the power will also be greatly restricted. It's just a chicken rib for the Marshal."

"What I mean is that once the imperial court begins to plan to form a cabinet, the foundation of the imperial court will be shaken, and many people and even officials will think that the throne and the imperial court can no longer decide the fate of the country, and of course they will no longer be able to decide their own fate."

"It will be much easier for us to take action and push the Marshal to the position then."

"Besides, I don't agree with learning from Zhao Kuangyin. I think we should let the Marshal learn from Wang Mang."

(End of this chapter)