Constitutionalism: The sooner the better, the preparation is really a mistake.
On September 9, Zhang Zhidong drove north and arrived in Beijing on 12. 14 years, Zhang Zhidong was summoned by Cixi. In the competition, Zhang Zhidong, who deeply felt the trend of constitutionalism, clearly put forward different opinions on the "preparatory constitutionalism" of the court, thinking that "constitutionalism should be faster"
Cixi asked him: "International students are trouble. How can they get it? "
Zhang Zhidong replied: "As long as we accelerate constitutional government, these trends will naturally disappear gradually." Emphasis: "There are many materials available to international students, so we should always use them in a special way." As for the revolutionary party, he said, "As for Sun Wen's overseas, he has no courage. He bluffs on weekdays, and ministers and workers interfere with each other. Please clearly express your intention of demotion, pardon party member and forbid any planting. In the future, we must recognize local turbulence. The revolutionary party must never report people's rebellion and bandits. " As long as there is a constitution, there will be no revolution.
Sun Wen is not afraid. His assertion is the same as Liang Qichao's previous statement, that is, "the revolutionary party is now in power in Tokyo, and more than 10,000 students come from more than half; This preliminary constitutional decree
The machine is at home, the official system exists in name only, and the situation is prosperous, near and crazy. "Among them," Amnesty party member "is particularly important.
Cixi said that she was not opposed to constitutionalism and sent three assistant ministers to study abroad. Zhang Zhidong's answer is quite impolite: "The sooner the constitution is implemented, the better; The word ready is wrong. Sending people abroad has absolutely no effect on me. In other words, if five ministers were sent abroad the year before, I don't know what to investigate. Try asking a question. It's urgent. Can you check the contents? I can't believe it. This time, Sanshilang went abroad, but later he would copy a lot of constitutional books and accuse them. What's the use? " He not only used the domestic situation to illustrate the necessity of constitutionalism, but also used the international situation to illustrate that only constitutional China would have an international status: "Now, every day, every day, every day, every day, every day, every day, every day, every day.
The basic spirit of Zhang Zhidong's series of propositions at this time is to accept universal constitutional values and restrict monarchical power and government power. However, even though these suggestions were put forward by Zhang Zhidong, a recognized "old man seeking the country", they were rejected, which shows that the rulers of the Qing Dynasty did not understand these suggestions.
It is worth noting that before and after Zhang Zhidong entered Beijing, he put forward and spread the idea of "founding the country first, then constitutionalism" through various channels. The constitution should be made by the National Assembly.
This really reflects his profound understanding of constitutionalism. Of course, when he put forward this proposition, he also included resistance and restriction to Yuanshi County.
Kay's specific purpose. Yuan has always advocated postponing the establishment of People's Republic of China (PRC) and establishing a cabinet first, with real power in the cabinet and real power in the hands of the prime minister. 1908
In the summer of 2000, when the constitutionalists were preparing to launch a nationwide parliamentary petition movement, Zhang Zhidong advocated that "the establishment of People's Republic of China (PRC) should conform to public opinion."
However, Zhang Zhidong's ideas of "accelerating the establishment of People's Republic of China (PRC)", "establishing People's Republic of China (PRC) in line with public opinion" and "establishing People's Republic of China (PRC) first, and then formulating the constitution" were not recognized by Cixi, and Yuan Shikai and others resolutely opposed them, so they were not adopted by the court. 1908 Before the founding of People's Republic of China (PRC), the imperial court published the Outline of the King James Constitution, which was immediately criticized by social constitutionalists, one of which was that there was no unilateral "constitutional right". The basic spirit of Zhang Zhidong's series of propositions at this time is to accept universal constitutional values and limit monarchical power and government power. However, even if these suggestions were put forward by Zhang Zhidong, who is recognized as "seeking the country by age", they were rejected, indicating that the rulers of the Qing Dynasty did not understand the development of the situation and could not accept the constraints of their own power.
Political struggle: killing Yuan Ke can cause national unrest.
1908165438+1October 14 and 15, Guangxu and Cixi died one after another. Before the death of Cixi, Puyi, who was only four years old, succeeded to the throne of Xuan Tong, and his father Zai Feng was the Regent of China. Cixi only consulted two people, one is the Minister of Military Affairs and the other is Zhang Zhidong. Xu Shi and Zhang Zhidong are imperial envoys. Zai Feng was only 25 when he took charge of this country. He was very dissatisfied with Yuan Shikai's reliance on Empress Dowager Cixi and some Manchu relatives to cultivate his power. At this time, he will treat Yuan as a felony. Propose to remove Yuan and hand it over to the Ministry of Justice. However, when consulting Yi _, Yi resolutely opposed it and warned: "It is not difficult to kill Yuan Shikai, but what should I do after the establishment of Beiyang Army?" In addition, it was stipulated at that time that the decree could not be published without the countersignature of the military minister. Iraq is the chief military minister. If he doesn't countersign, he can't publish it. Zai Feng also asked Zhang Zhidong for advice. Although Zhang has always had contradictions with Yuan, he thinks that he just seized power and killed Yuan, which has a great influence. Killing Yuan Ke will cause national unrest, and he is firmly opposed to it. Finally, Zai Feng accepted Zhang Zhidong's opinion and issued Yuan Shikai's "Foot Disease" letter, which opened a loophole and returned to China to "raise rash".
When the country is struggling, foreign troubles are increasing, and people are struggling, everything is in vain. The imperial court was worried, prepared to make a constitution, relied on itself, and finally turned the corner.
Weinan
Yuan Shikai's vacancy, Zhang Zhidong's "orphan" and his dependence on Zhang are all abnormal. However, the good times did not last long. On a series of major issues, there are major differences between them, and their relationship has deteriorated rapidly. In short, Zhang Zhidong advocated the elimination of "Manchu-Han forces" in employing people to maintain the stability of the situation. However, Zai Feng paid more and more attention to the appointment of relatives in Qing Dynasty, and took this opportunity to deprive Yuan Shikai of his power and at the same time deprive and weaken some Han officials of their power. At the same time, he appointed his 24-year-old brother as the organization's navy minister, and his 22-year-old brother Zai Tao was in charge of the affairs of the Military Advisory Office. Zhang Zhidong may not participate in these appointments. As a loyal minister of the Qing Dynasty, Zhang Zhidong fully realized that this was an act of overthrowing the country, contending with Zai Feng for power and profit, leading to "depression and anger" until vomiting blood.
When dealing with a railway fraud case, Zhang Zhidong
In terms of constitutionalism, Zhang Zhidong felt great pressure. If he doesn't start building society as soon as possible, he may lose the support of the people and a revolution will break out. Therefore, he insisted on accelerating the creation of society, but Zai Feng refused.
Legacy: I still hope that the Qing Dynasty can prepare for constitutionalism.
1On October 4th, Zai Feng visited Zhang Zhidong who was in critical condition. After leaving, Bao went into the room and wanted to know what the Regent said. Zhang Zhidong just sighed, "The national luck is over!" What did Zai Feng say to make Zhang Zhidong sigh that "the national luck has been exhausted"? I don't know. Spread out, just a few greetings. Perhaps, isn't this just accepting Zhang Zhidong's persuasion and destroying the "Manchu-Chinese territory"? Perhaps it is rejecting the suggestion of "conforming to public opinion and creating society"? However, on this day, Zhang Zhidong passed away.
In his "suicide note", he still hoped that the Qing Dynasty would be ready for constitutionalism: "The country is struggling, the foreign invasion is in thorns, the people are in poverty, the money is drying up, and all the waste is waiting to be recovered. The imperial court is concerned about the country and the people, and is diligent in preparing for constitutionalism, but it can constantly strive for self-improvement and finally turn to safety. " According to the newspaper report at that time, "I heard that Zhang Xiang was dying and was still talking about constitutionalism."
The social cost of top-down reform is much lower than that of bottom-up revolution, so most people hope to achieve social progress through gradual and moderate reform rather than violent revolution. Therefore, it is quite influential to accuse the Revolution of 1911 of undermining the "constitutionalism" in the late Qing Dynasty. In fact, it was the rulers who refused to reform in the late Qing Dynasty who opened the door to revolution. When Zhang Zhidong, an old minister, was greatly rejected, and his idea of destroying the Manchu nationality and quickly formulating a constitution according to public opinion was not accepted by the court, who else could believe that this was a "reform"? When Zhang Zhidong, who was deeply interested in the political situation in the late Qing Dynasty, lamented that this dynasty had entered the "last days", what was life like in the Qing Dynasty? In addition, its "constitutionalism" was not so much interrupted by the revolution, but rather destroyed by its own actions, and ultimately ruined its own destiny.