Emperor Guangxu could have made a comeback but he was not good at hiding his thoughts

During the Reform Movement of 1898, Empress Dowager Cixi launched a coup and imprisoned Emperor Guangxu. Originally, Emperor Guangxu could make a comeback, but... Historically, when he was at a disadvantage, faced danger, and was unable to fight against those who might harm him, many people resorted to deceiving their opponents, paralyzing them with various fantasies, and allowing them to relax their control over them. Alerting, or causing your opponent to cancel attempts to harm you. The most famous example in this regard is that during the Warring States Period, Sun Bin pretended to be crazy and deceived Pang Juan, another was that Liu Bei deceived Cao Cao by growing vegetables in the garden, and the third was that King Gou Jian of Yue deceived King Wu Fuchai with his loyalty.

At the beginning of Guangxu's imprisonment, he must have been emotional and angry, and he would also take measures to express his anger and resistance. But after a while, after calming down, he will think carefully about what to do. In the end, he had no choice but to adopt a low-key approach. He pretended to surrender, was willing to be a prisoner, endured humiliation, and lived a hard life in order to avoid being deposed or killed, and refused to admit defeat. The throne and life were all in Cixi's hands. The imprisoned Guangxu could do nothing but remain unchanged, and the most important thing was to save his own life.

After Guangxu was imprisoned, he obviously wanted to adopt a similar approach, trying to avoid Cixi's persecution by using depression, insensitivity, and resignation. But Guangxu's efforts to nourish his bad luck were passive, and he took a negative approach when he was powerless. His "not asking questions" was because Cixi did not give him the right to ask questions, but when he had the right to ask questions, he did not actively avoid it and gave up his right to Cixi. In addition, Guangxu never played dumb and was not good at concealing or concealing his true thoughts.

Let’s talk about some of the stupid things Guangxu did:

1. When Yuan Shikai spoke nonsense at the court about the issue of the official reform system in the constitutional process, preparing a way out for himself , Guangxu couldn't help but speak. The story goes something like this:

The Empress Dowager Cixi ordered Yuan Shikai to go to Beijing, then summoned all the officials of Chuxiu Palace to discuss his plan, and invited Emperor Guangxu to come out of Beijing. Yuan Shikai explained his plan plausibly, saying: "Both the emperor and the queen mother know that the official system must be changed first, and it is better to build the country later. On the journey of constitutional government, there will be great resistance from top to bottom, and the source of resistance is the old Official system. If the old official system is not broken, officials will fight for their own interests. How can constitutional government proceed smoothly? There is no need to worry about the establishment of the People's Republic of China. When people's wisdom gradually develops, Once the laws have been enacted, they can be implemented. Now that the Congress Law and the Election Law have not been enacted, can the Congress be established with just a few words?"

I don't know anything about Cixi's constitutionalism, Yuan Shikai's rhetoric. It seemed reasonable, but she always felt that it was inappropriate there, but she couldn't say it out loud at once, so she tightened her face and said nothing. Tieliang, Rongqing, etc. He immediately spoke to refute Yuan Shikai's proposal. However, when this suggestion was first put forward, Yuan Shikai had already figured out a way to deal with the opposition, while Rongqing and Tieliang found temporary reasons. So Yuan Shikai made a few sentences. At this moment, Yuan Shikai was sitting in the spring breeze, his face full of pride. Yi_, Yu Ze, Xu Shichang, etc. Everyone was cheering for him, which made Yuan Shikai look more and more impressive. When Tie Liang and others were frustrated, Yuan Shikai climbed down and kowtowed and said: "Please the emperor and the queen mother quickly make up their minds to form a cabinet and lay the foundation for my great empire plan."

Cixi was noncommittal and made her own calculations. Guangxu sitting next to him was a bystander. Yuan Shikai saw it clearly and wanted to take advantage of the changes in the official system and use Yi_ as a puppet to profit from it. Even if he came back, he would be unable to do anything. Guangxu suddenly laughed and said loudly: "Yuan Shikai, I know what you are thinking!"

Yuan Shikai was shocked and broke into a cold sweat. He lowered his head, not daring to look at Guangxu, thinking: "How could the emperor know what I am thinking? How could he get it?" From this perspective, Guangxu said: "Yuan Shikai, I know what you are thinking. It is completely different from the original intention of raising a bad guy, which is to paralyze the enemy and make the enemy relax his vigilance. Guangxu reminded Yuan Shikai: "I know it well. You'd better be careful. "After Yuan Shikai received this warning, it was up to him not to regard Emperor Guangxu as a big threat in the future.

2. Cixi tried to test Guangxu by dealing with the reformist Wang Zhao.

Cixi died before her death For a few days, he pretended to care about Guangxu, encouraged him to cheer up, and slowly exposed him to some sensitive issues, such as the selection of ministers, and asked him to review the edict, which seemed to mean handing over power.

At this time, Wang Zhao, a reformer who had fled with Kang Youwei and others during the 1898 coup, returned to China and surrendered. Cixi asked Guangxu how to deal with it with ulterior motives. At this time Guangxu made a big mistake. He did not want to violate his conscience and asked to save Wang Zhao's life. Wang Zhao's life was saved, but Guangxu himself revealed his concern for the elderly during the Reform Movement of 1898, laying the groundwork for Cixi to poison him.

This incident is recorded in Cixi and Guangxu Bintiane:

When the reformist Wang Zhao returned from a foreign country and surrendered, the Queen Mother asked the emperor what to do with him. This person was the person the Queen Mother wanted to kill before. The emperor thought for a long time, please forgive him for his life. The Queen Mother said: "I originally wanted to kill him, but I want to hear what you mean. I know very well that you hate Kang Youwei and others so much that you may want to sentence Wang Zhao to death."

Cixi He has always hated those who helped Guangxu during the Hundred Days Reform. The Six Gentlemen of Wuxu who did not escape were beheaded by Cixi without hesitation. Kang Liang and others who escaped did not forgive them until Cixi's death. When the preparations for the constitution began, Cixi pretended to be a reformist, looking for talents everywhere, and made various preparations for the constitution. At this time, Minister Qu Hongji thought that Cixi had really changed her bad habit of killing reformers. So Cixi was happy and took the opportunity to say, "Queen Mother, now you are single-mindedly doing important constitutional affairs. Kang Liang and his wife have always been very famous. Can you pardon her serious crime and order her to return to the country as a constitutionalist?" Cixi was smiling, but when she heard this, she immediately put away her smile and remained silent. Quji was too frightened to say anything more.

But after a while, Cixi's mood improved, and Qu Hongji mentioned it carefully again. The third time the matter was brought up, Cixi finally got angry, threw away the pipe, and said mercilessly: "Kang Youwei and Liang Qichao are villains who specialize in spreading rumors to confuse the public. In the name of a scholar, this kind of person is the most hateful and will never be forgiven!" ”

That’s the case with Kang Liang. The hatred of the past is never forgotten. How could Wang Zhao be an exception? Maybe Guangxu knew that this was just Cixi testing himself, but he still showed inappropriate concern for Wang Zhao. How could this make Cixi unmoved? Cixi said: "I know very well that you hate Kang Youwei and others, so I'm afraid you will commit Wang Zhao's death penalty." This is very clear. Guangxu only hated Kang Youwei and others, which was what Cixi wanted to see. According to the king who was once Emperor Guangxu and opposed the rear party headed by Cixi, how could Cixi be "afraid" that Guangxu would kill him? What a big joke!

In short, Guangxu’s strategy of keeping a low profile was a failure. He is not good at pretending and hiding his true thoughts. In Cixi's shrewd eyes, Guangxu's efforts to keep a low profile could not deceive her at all. Perhaps Cixi had planned to spare his life when she and Wang Zhao tested Guangxu. After all, Cixi had to consider the future of the Qing Dynasty and could not completely ignore the fate of the Qing Dynasty. But Guangxu failed to satisfy Cixi in dealing with Wang Zhao, and Cixi finally made up his mind to kill him.