Political jokes

Whenever we talk about the modern history of China, people will inevitably feel sad. The cause of grief is not only the incompetence of the Qing government, but also related to a person, Empress Dowager Cixi, who ruled the Qing Dynasty for more than 40 years. Cixi did many things that were detrimental to the national interests. The so-called dying person is also kind, but this sentence does not apply to her. 1908 When Cixi died, she left three last wishes, which not only accelerated the downfall of the Qing Dynasty, but also showed Cixi's impudence to the fullest.

My first wish: Let Puyi be emperor and Zai Feng be regent.

This last wish seems unremarkable, but it is the internal affairs of the Qing royal family. Why is it reviled by future generations? In fact, this seemingly simple last wish concealed the selfishness of Empress Dowager Cixi and indirectly accelerated the downfall of the Qing Dynasty.

First of all, let's take a look at its selfishness in what aspects:

As we all know, the day before Cixi died, Emperor Guangxu died strangely. The Qing dynasty ushered in a short period of "no monarch", and Cixi, as the actual ruler of the Qing dynasty, should be in charge of the right to abolish the throne. As for the candidates for the throne, she appointed Pu Yi, the son of Zai Feng, Guangxu's half-brother, who was only three years old at that time, and Zai Feng, the father of the new monarch, as regents.

The young Puyi was made emperor because Cixi considered her funeral: Zai Feng was older and was the younger brother of Emperor Guangxu. Zai Feng has always held a grudge against Cixi for imprisoning his brother Guangxu, and the bizarre death of Emperor Guangxu deepened Zai Feng's resentment against Cixi. If Zai Feng becomes emperor, Cixi will not be liquidated after her death, but at least there will be no big burial. Besides, as far as being popular in the temple is concerned, Zai Feng won't make perfect arrangements for Cixi, will she?

Of course, Cixi has always been a selfish person, but this time this selfishness has indirectly harmed the Qing Dynasty in terms of position:

As we mentioned earlier, although Zai Feng did not become emperor, as compensation, he was awarded the position of "Regent". As a regent, Zai Feng did not monopolize the power of the super class, but he was still the main person in charge of the country's military and political affairs, and Zai Feng's subsequent political actions were tantamount to pushing the Qing Dynasty into the abyss:

For example, when the Qing Dynasty faced the New Deal, Zai Feng's actions were absurd. First of all, for constitutionalism, the "preparatory constitutionalism" from the beginning of the ruling to the later has not yet landed. Finally, a cabinet was created, all of which were members of the Manchu royal family. Even more deadly, he seized Yuan Shikai's military power, which directly led to the Beiyang Army losing hope for the Qing Dynasty. It was Zai Feng's actions that made the Qing Dynasty perish in less than three years after the death of Cixi.

Therefore, it is reasonable that Cixi's first last wish came from selfishness, which contributed to the downfall of the Qing Dynasty.

Penultimate wish: eunuch is not allowed to interfere in politics.

For a long time, the Qing Dynasty was regarded as a dynasty without eunuch power to interfere in government affairs. In fact, eunuchs intervened in politics in the Qing dynasty, but compared with the Ming dynasty, this was mainly because of the vigilance of the Qing emperor. For example, the emperor shunzhi specially ordered people to make an iron plate, which read "Eunuchs shall not interfere in politics" and nailed it to the outside of Jiaotai Hall, Jieguan Department and Office of the Interior, and offenders were executed that year.

However, after Cixi came to power, there were still signs of eunuch intervention. For example, An Dehai, the eunuch favored by Cixi, directly participated in the Xinyou coup, tipped off Cixi and finally won the coup. After taking power, Cixi loved An Dehai even more, and An Dehai was overbearing in North Korea by virtue of this relationship.

Therefore, Cixi's last wish that eunuchs should not interfere in politics is really elusive, with a sense of self-irony.

The penultimate wish: women are not allowed to go into politics.

Yes, you heard me right! Cixi's third last wish is that women are not allowed to go into politics. I even wonder if this is because Cixi has been the supreme ruler of the Qing Dynasty for 40 years and has forgotten her gender. Think of yourself as a living emperor? She is a model of female intervention in the feudal history of China. She controlled the Qing Dynasty for more than forty years.

Of course, this is just a joke!

So why did Cixi put forward this last wish of hitting the face? I think this is still the selfishness of Cixi. She thinks that Cixi is the only woman in history of qing dynasty, and this phoenix is above the dragon, so no woman can monopolize politics in the future.

Therefore, once the overbearing idea of "only I can do it, others can't" is put forward, it will definitely be criticized by future generations.

Summary:

Throughout the life of Empress Dowager Cixi, her three last wishes from the beginning of her power to the end of her life, without exception, reflected her overbearing and autocratic nature. These three wishes also reflect that the demise of the Qing Dynasty was really related to Cixi.