Why was Zhang Xun obsessed with the Qing Dynasty?

Speaking of Zhang Xun, people naturally think of two things: Braid Army and zhang xun restoration. It is because of these two things that Zhang Xun was able to leave his name in our history textbook. Otherwise, I'm afraid Zhang Xun is warlord A and warlord B, at least many of us won't know his name.

In this sense, this is probably the greatest value of Zhang Xun's obsession with the Qing Dynasty.

Of course, this is a joke, but anyway, because of Zhang Xun's brief restoration, he was able to make a name for himself in history. Although he is a clown, it is worth it. After all, there is a saying that a gentleman can't stay in history, so why can't he stay in history? Therefore, Zhang Xun deserved it.

In the eyes of many people, Zhang Xun refused to cut off his braid after the demise of the Qing Dynasty, and even tried to seek the restoration of the Qing Dynasty because of his obsession and loyalty to the Qing Dynasty. In fact, this is just a common political means of politicians, or a play played by politicians in order to gain the support of some forces.

For example, Zhang was already the commander-in-chief of the three northeastern provinces and was in power. Seeing Puyi, he kowtowed to the emperor three times and made nine obeisances according to the old system of Qing Dynasty. Does Zhang really respect Puyi? Obviously not. He was trying to win over Puyi, so as to gain the support of the old department of the Qing Dynasty and consolidate his rule over the three northeastern provinces.

Similarly, for Zhang Xun, if he was really loyal to the Qing Dynasty, why did he, as the governor of the two rivers in the Qing Dynasty, declare independence when the provinces declared independence instead of fully defending the Qing government?

You know, the two rivers he controlled were the purse of the Qing government. If he tries his best to save the Qing government, at least the Qing government will not perish so soon.

However, he didn't do it. On the contrary, shortly after the outbreak of the Revolution of 1911, he fully supported Yuan Shikai and finally helped Yuan Shikai usurp the fruits of the revolution and forced the Qing emperor to abdicate. From here, where is Zhang Xun's loyalty?

After the founding of the Republic of China, Zhang Xun asked his men not to cut off their braids to show their loyalty to the Qing Dynasty. But the question is, what's the point? Because Yuan Shikai was ready to proclaim himself emperor soon, and Zhang Xun actively supported him, he was also named the first-class duke.

So, here's the problem. Because Zhang Xun was obsessed with the imperial court and loyal to the Qing Dynasty, Yuan Shikai now planned to establish a new dynasty. Shouldn't you and Zhang Xun object? Well, Zhang Xun doesn't object, which can be understood as he doesn't have the strength to object, so he can only hide his strength first.

But the problem is that even if you dare not oppose Zhang Xun, at least you should not actively support Yuan Shikai. What do you think this is? What's more, when everyone actively opposed Yuan Shikai, Zhang Xun also actively helped Yuan Shikai to suppress revolutionaries. This is a kind of loyalty to the Qing Dynasty?

In this sense, it is impossible for Zhang Xun to keep the Great Qing Dynasty in his mind. What he did was only for his own power and career, hoping to climb to the center of the political arena. Why do you say that?

Because, at the time of the demise of the Qing Dynasty, there were four main forces in China: First, the revolutionary party forces headed by Sun Yat-sen demanded the overthrow of the original political structure and the establishment of a democratic and harmonious new China; Second, the Beiyang forces with Yuan Shikai as the core have nothing to do with whether the original political structure can be overthrown. They only hope that they can occupy the highest ruling position.

The third force is the old bureaucratic forces of the Qing Dynasty. These people include both the old officials of the Qing Dynasty and the original landlords and gentry. They don't care who holds the highest position. What is important is that they need to continue to safeguard the interests they represent like the Qing Dynasty.

The fourth force is the western powers. Based on their interests, they naturally want to safeguard their rights and status in China. In other words, what the Qing government promised them before, continue to promise them now, and don't cancel it without authorization.

As for Zhang Xun, the reason why he refused to cut off his pigtails after the demise of the Qing Dynasty was to win over the 34th forces and thus increase his political capital.

Because Zhang Xun refused to cut off his pigtails, he showed his loyalty to the Qing Dynasty, suggesting that he was willing to maintain the old pattern of the Qing government and would not infringe on everyone's vested interests on the grounds of reform or democracy or revolution or constitutional monarchy.

In this way, at the critical moment, when the forces of all parties are deadlocked, everyone will naturally push Zhang Xun out and share the cake with everyone, which is called presiding over the overall situation to safeguard their vested interests. This is why when Li and Duan have a dispute, everyone is willing to invite Zhang Xun to mediate.

In this sense, Zhang Xun is not so obsessed with the Qing Dynasty as he wants to gain his power and position by representing the interests of the old bureaucrats politically. But the problem is that Zhang Xun obviously didn't see the trend of the times. He tried to maintain the existing pattern through restoration. As a result, all kinds of forces were dissatisfied and finally he was abandoned by the times.