But the prince of the Qing Dynasty is different from the prince of the early Han Dynasty. He's not really a fief at all. He can neither crack the land near the people nor really fief it. To put it bluntly, he is just a "long-term meal ticket". More importantly, the treatment of this "long-term meal ticket" will continue to be downgraded. A son of the prince can only inherit the title of county king, and then be demoted from generation to generation until he becomes a "long-term meal ticket" or even a so-called "iron hat", but the treatment of this "long-term meal ticket" has not been demoted, which has nothing to do with actual power. If the emperor didn't give him a specific mission, the "iron hat" prince was just a rich and idle man with a high status. In other words, the power of CreditEase has nothing to do with the title of Prince Gong.
Prince Gong in the heyday of power
In the eleventh year of Xianfeng, Emperor Wenzong of Qing Dynasty (Emperor Xianfeng) died. Prince Gong and his two widowed sisters-in-law launched a famous "coup d' é tat" and won the eight ministers of Fuzheng left by literate Sect of Qing Dynasty in one fell swoop. After that, Yixin, who had been idle for many years, officially became the king of deliberation and concurrently served as the minister of military aircraft, reaching the peak of power.
It is worth noting that Yixin's title, please see clearly, is the deliberation king, not the alcohol of Regent Dourgen and Prince Edward! Discuss and take photos, stand up and watch. Regency is to make decisions instead of the emperor, and discussing politics is only to put forward your own opinions and plans instead of making the final decision. So, who's in charge? Mu Qingzong (Emperor Tongzhi). But at that time, Mu Zong was still with children, and this power actually fell into the hands of Empress Ci 'an and Empress Cixi. Let's talk about another "scary" title-the foreman of the military aircraft department. He is a military chief, but since the establishment of the military in Yongzheng period, the military ministers have only executive power and no decision-making power, and the foreman's military ministers are no exception. To put it bluntly, the military affairs minister seems to be a "prime minister", but in fact he is only the adviser, secretary and executive organ of the emperor. To put it simply, the military department only has the power to execute the emperor's orders and make suggestions, but has no final decision-making power.
In that case, isn't Yixin powerless? Don't! The military department is the executive organ, and the implementation arrangements of major policies in the late Qing Dynasty all came from the military department. What was the relationship between the empress dowager and Yixin at that time? Yi Xin suggested that the Empress Dowager of the two palaces make the final decision, or that the Empress Dowager of the two palaces make the decision directly across Yixin, and then Yixin is responsible for the specific implementation. It is worth mentioning that mastering the trust of the military department can be duplicitous, even soft-resistant, and does not implement or implement the palace order of Empress Dowager Cixi without discount! This is the capital that Yixin used to compete with the Queen Mother Miyako in his early years, because the military department was planted by Yixin and became his "private yamen", and the Queen Mother Miyako couldn't help it. In addition, Yixin is also a thoughtful king. His demands and suggestions are "natural, reasonable and legal". Before the position of the Empress Dowager Palace and the Empress Dowager Palace was firmly established, many things had to be given face to Yi Xin and his suggestions were adopted. To some extent, there is a delicate balance of power between Empress Dowager Cixi and Yixin.
First encounter between uncle and sister-in-law
After the honeymoon period of "Qixiang coup" passed, the struggle between Empress Dowager Cixi and CreditEase became more and more frequent. Soon, Empress Dowager Cixi instigated the suggestion to attack, impeached Yixin, and cut Yixin's title as the king of deliberation. At that time, the strength of Empress Dowager Cixi was not enough to shake Yixin. Why can't she wait to start with Yixin? In fact, the truth is not difficult to understand. After being deprived of the title of king of deliberation, Yixin became an out-and-out executor, and even lost the right to make suggestions! The only thing he can do is soft resistance. Once there is an opportunity, Empress Dowager Cixi can kick him out of the military, and Yixin will really become a rich idle person ... This is the purpose of Empress Dowager Cixi's impeachment of Yixin. She knows that Yixin can't be defeated, and she doesn't want to be defeated immediately, just to weaken Yixin.
Shusao concourse
The first confrontation between Empress Dowager Cixi and Yixin was successfully concluded by Empress Dowager Cixi, and then the "swing grass" and the "fence-riding faction" stood in line again and reshuffled. This move by Cixi not only dealt a heavy blow to Yixin, but also made Empress Dowager Ci 'an vaguely feel the crisis. Then, a strange scene appeared. Empress Ci 'an, who had joined hands with Cixi to prevent Yixin, quickly moved closer to Yixin and realized the confluence of uncles and nephews. In this way, Ci 'an mastered part of the decision-making power and Yixin mastered the execution power, which caused great pressure on Cixi and formed a new balance of power.
Under such power checks and balances, Empress Dowager Cixi continued to wield power, but never dared to go too far. On the surface, the famous "An Dehai Incident" is that Shandong Governor Ding Baozhen just killed An Dehai. In fact, there is a power struggle between Cian, Yixin and Empress Dowager Cixi. Finally, Empress Dowager Cixi had to swallow this tone. At that time, she didn't have the strength to fire at the Queen Cian and Yixin at the same time. Later, Empress Dowager Cixi adopted the strategy of "boiling frogs in warm water" and "mixing sand", exhausted all possible means to develop her power and placed cronies in various departments in order to gradually save her strength.
After the death of Empress Cian, Shen Jia changed hands.
Although under the pressure of Empress Dowager Cixi, CreditEase's power is gradually shrinking. However, due to the existence of Empress Ci 'an and the alliance of one heart and one mind, Cixi could only accept the fait accompli and continue to maintain this delicate balance of power until the death of Empress Ci 'an in the seventh year of Guangxu. Prior to this, Empress Dowager Cixi made the most important arrangement, that is, forcibly pushing Yixin's nephew Zai Tian (Emperor Guangxu of Qing Dynasty) to the throne. This is not only to continue her status as Empress Dowager Cixi, Empress Dowager Cixi also has a longer-term plan, that is, to use Yi Xuan, the biological father of Dezong in the Qing Dynasty, to suppress Yixin!
After Qing Dezong ascended the throne, Yi Xuan became the "emperor's father". Although he is only a nominal "uncle", Qing Dezong has been adopted and given to Qing Wenzong, but the blood relationship cannot be changed, and his ministers have to weigh the weight of Yi Xuan. After the death of Empress Ci 'an in the seventh year of Guangxu, she lost the only support in the decision-making circle and became an out-and-out "executor". As a result, Empress Dowager Cixi began to "admire" her brother-in-law Yi Xuan publicly and privately. After Empress Dowager Cixi released the political signal, the ministers began to retreat again.
In the tenth year of Guangxu, Empress Dowager Cixi officially laid hands on Yixin, forcing Yi Xuan, the "emperor's father", into the army and kicking Yixin out of the so-called "communist party". What can ministers say? I'd rather offend Yi Xin, who lost power and influence, than "the emperor's father", wouldn't I? Empress Dowager Cixi so easily kicked Yi Xin out of the power center, known as "Shen Jia Yi Shu" in history, and Yi Xin became a real rich man and idle person. Yi Xuan is famous for keeping his head. In addition, as the emperor's biological father, he avoided suspicion and dared not openly confront Empress Dowager Cixi. In this way, Empress Dowager Cixi truly realized the "absolute monarch"!
Conflicts of interest disappear, uncles and nephews reconcile.
After Yi Xin was kicked out of the power center, he accepted the fact of inheritance without fierce resistance, which is why many people say that Yi Xin is a slave all his life. After there was no conflict of interest, it reminded Empress Dowager Cixi of the contribution of Yixin and made Yixin die well. After the Sino-Japanese War of 1894-1895, Empress Dowager Cixi "faithfully served the country" and even reactivated Yixin, which had been idle for many years. Unfortunately, in the face of declining rivers, Yixin was helpless ... In the 24th year of Guangxu, Yixin died, and Empress Dowager Cixi gave her brother-in-law the word "loyalty" as a conclusion of posthumous title, which was regarded as an uncle's public reconciliation. Empress Dowager Cixi even gave Yixin a certain hereditary inheritance right. This is also worth the help of Xin Xin.
To sum up, is Prince Gong single-minded? Big! However, it seems that it is not as exaggerated as Regent Dourgen, and someone is always on his head. Moreover, after the honeymoon period of the "coup", CreditEase's power has been shrinking and its power has naturally been weakened. After ten years of Guangxu's "Shen Jia's suicide note", Yixin became a rich idle man completely ... How much power does Prince Gong have with one heart? Different people have different opinions.