In 1964, Puyi and his party came to Nanjing to visit the "Presidential Palace". Among them, Chiang Kai-shek's office was naturally the highlight of the visit. Unexpectedly, after the visit, Puyi quietly said to his wife Li Shuxian: "I thought Chiang Kai-shek's office was so big, but it turned out to be so small!"
Everyone heard it This sentence suddenly burst into laughter. Someone joked: " The presidential palace is not as good as the Forbidden City , and the president is not as good as the emperor."
Indeed, in the eyes of most people, this can only be It's common sense, but for Puyi, who has a special identity and experience, his surprise is understandable.
Pu Yi and Li Shuxian
The last emperor trapped in the Forbidden City
It was a complete accident that Pu Yi became emperor. After the 1898 Coup , Empress Dowager Cixi prepared to abolish Emperor Guangxu and establish Pu Jun, the son of Prince Duan, as emperor. Pu Jun was named the "big brother " and was arranged to study in Hongde Hall. He planned to let Emperor Guangxu "give" the throne to him, but this move was opposed by all walks of life both internally and externally.
After the Eight-Power Allied Forces occupied Beijing, Pu Jun was deposed for supporting the Boxer Rebellion , so Pu Yi, the 2-year-old son of Prince Chun Zaifeng , inherited the throne.
Emperor Guangxu and Empress Dowager Cixi passed away one after another. On December 2, 1908, Puyi ascended the throne in Taihe Palace , and was regent by Empress Guangxu Empress Dowager Longyu and Zaifeng.
It is said that at the coronation ceremony, the young Puyi was so frightened by the long live shouts of the ministers that he burst into tears and shouted: "I want to go back, I want to go back!" Regent Zaifeng had to coax him and said: "It's almost over, it's almost over. ." just held him to complete the ceremony.
At that time, some people complained that the regent made unscrupulous remarks, implying that the Qing Dynasty was almost over.
Puyi
In fact, this is just a talk after dinner. Anyone with a little knowledge knows that the Qing Dynasty was troubled by internal and external troubles, just like grasshoppers that cannot grow after autumn.
Under the auspices of Zaifeng, the Qing Dynasty began to pretend to implement "preparatory constitution". The result was a royal cabinet , which was a huge disappointment.
On October 10, 1911, the Wuchang Uprising broke out, and the imperial court had no choice but to re-appoint Yuan Shikai as prime minister. Yuan Shikai and Sun Yat-sen agreed that if the Qing Dynasty could abdicate, the president could be given to Yuan Shikai.
Yuan Shikai led Beiyang generals to stage a good show of forcing Puyi to be imprisoned, and promised that Puyi would retain the title of emperor and preferential treatment after his abdication.
Empress Dowager Longyu and Regent Zaifeng had no choice but to agree. Puyi, an ignorant little baby, ascended to the throne in a daze and lost the throne in a daze.
Yuan Shikai
From then on, Puyi was isolated from the world and lived in a small area from Qianqing Gate to Shenwu Gate. Although he is no longer an emperor, Puyi still lives the life of a feudal emperor. He still reads the Four Books and Five Classics, which are the rules of monarchs, ministers and fathers, which is completely out of touch with the times.
In 1917, Zhang Xun led the whip army to Beijing in the name of mediating the " government dispute", ousted Li Yuanhong from power, and then supported Puyi's restoration.
This gave Puyi a solid taste of the emperor's addiction, but the good times did not last long. Duan Qirui launched an army to attack Zhang Xun, and the farce of restoration ended hastily after more than ten days.
In 1919, Johnston came to the Forbidden City, bringing new hope to Puyi, who was sitting in a well watching the sky.
Under his guidance, Puyi cut his braids, wore suits, and rode bicycles, but he was strongly opposed by conservatives.
Zhang Xun
Puyi himself was very eager for freedom outside, and even secretly made a plan to escape from the Forbidden City with Pujie and Johnston. In the end, the plan failed to be realized because the plan was leaked.
In 1924, the second Zhili-Fengtian War broke out. Zhili general Feng Yuxiang suddenly defected and returned to Beijing. He placed President Cao Kun under house arrest and forced Wu Peifu to step down.
Feng Yuxiang sent Lu Zhonglin to lead troops into the Forbidden City and drove out Puyi's small court on the grounds that the Qing Dynasty was in breach of contract. Puyi fled into the Japanese legation, and his first dream of becoming emperor was shattered.
Feng Yuxiang
The Puppet Emperor Trapped in Xinjing
In 1925, Puyi moved to Tianjin Concession and lived here for seven years. He was surrounded by the old and the young and foreign envoys. Instead of gaining freedom, he began to Lost myself, always dreaming of returning to the Forbidden City one day. In 1931, the Japanese Kwantung Army launched the long-planned "September 18th" incident and annexed the entire Northeast region.
In order to beautify the Japanese invasion and better rule the people in the occupied areas, Kwantung Army CommandSecret Service Chief Doihara Kenji secretly sneaked into Tianjin and found the deposed emperor Puyi.
He promised Puyi that Japan was going to build a royal paradise in China and asked Puyi to be the emperor of this new empire. The naive Puyi thought he had grasped a life-saving straw, but before he could think about it, he was kidnapped by Kenji Doihara and taken to Fengtian (Shenyang).
Puyi
Japan supported Puyi to establish the Puppet Manchukuo in the Northeast, signed an unequal treaty with Japan, and gained a lot of benefits.
On March 1, 1934, Puyi held an enthronement ceremony in Xinjing (Changchun), changed the name of the country to "Greater Manchuria Empire", called himself emperor, and concurrently served as the general marshal of the army, navy and air force of the pseudo "Manchuria Empire" Concorde Will be the honorary president of . A large number of officials from the Japanese Kwantung Army Headquarters and diplomats attended the ceremony and recognized the puppet emperor.
But Puyi soon discovered that important official positions in the Manchukuo Empire could only be held by pro-Japanese factions or Japanese. As an emperor, he had no soldiers and no power, so he had no way to comment.
The senior staff officer assigned to Puyi by the Kwantung Army Yoshioka Yasuo appeared to be respectful to Puyi, but actually monitored Puyi's every move, constantly intimidating and tempting him, pushing Puyi to the point of no return of surrendering to the enemy and treason.
Puyi
On April 6, 1935, Puyi visited Tokyo, Japan for the first time and was personally received by Hirohito. At that time, he felt good about himself and wrote a poem to express his joy.
However, when Puyi visited Tokyo, Japan for the second time on June 26, 1940, he felt greatly humiliated. It turned out that Japan asked Puyi to welcome " Amaterasu " back to the Northeast to show that Japan and Manchu were united. .
We know that the so-called "Amaterasu" is Japan's creator god and the Japanese emperor 's self-recognized ancestor. This move is equivalent to making Puyi recognize a thief as his father.
Puyi dared not speak out, so he secretly contacted El Salvador members of the diplomatic delegation, hoping to escape to El Salvador and get rid of the current embarrassing situation.
Hirohito
In October 1941, Puyi informed a Guards officer around him of his plan to flee to El Salvador, intending to have him escort him to the El Salvador embassy, and then leave Manchukuo in disguise.
Unexpectedly, the Imperial Guard officer tipped off the Japanese, causing Puyi's escape plan to fail.
The Japanese became so angry that they immediately sent out the military police, expelled the members of the El Salvadoran diplomatic delegation, and closed the Salvadoran embassy in Manchukuo and the Salvadoran trading company in Manchukuo.
Since then, diplomatic relations between the two countries have been interrupted. Representatives of the Japanese Kwantung Army went to the Imperial Palace of the Puppet Manchukuo State, scolded Puyi, and effectively placed him under house arrest.
Puyi
New citizens in the War Criminals Management Office
On August 8, 1945, the Soviet Union declared war on Japan , annihilating the Kwantung Army, and the puppet Manchukuo was destroyed.
html On August 19, Puyi took his officials and family members to prepare to fly to Japan at Shenyang Airport.While waiting in the terminal, the Soviet transport plane suddenly appeared above the airport. The Soviet airborne troops descended like magic soldiers from the sky and quickly disarmed the Japanese ground troops. Puyi was also arrested.
Puyi was subsequently imprisoned in a special prison in Khabarovsk, the Soviet Union. Due to his special status, he enjoyed superior treatment. Fearing that he would be executed as a traitor after returning to China, he repeatedly expressed his willingness to stay here permanently to the Soviet government and requested to join the Communist Party of the Soviet Union.
Puyi
The Soviet Union obviously did not want to cause this trouble. In the second year after the founding of New China, the Soviet Union and New China established an alliance, so Puyi was extradited back to the country, and handed over to the Chinese government together with more than 200 other war criminals from the puppet Manchukuo, and was imprisoned in Fushun War Criminals Management Center to receive ideological education. Education and labor reform.
When he first entered the war criminals management center, Puyi, who had been pampered for a long time, could not take care of himself. He could not even put on clothes and had to be taught by others.
What's even more embarrassing is that he has to work with war criminals, cleaning and emptying toilets, and he really can't do it. In order to take care of him, the leaders of the management office exempted him from duty arrangements.
This unforgettable experience allowed Puyi to start a life of self-reliance. He arranged his own daily life, learned to darn socks, and gradually became able to do manual labor.
More importantly, under the criticism and education of the management office personnel, Puyi realized how much humiliation and suffering his treasonous behavior had brought to the Chinese people, and took the initiative to admit all crimes.
Puyi
On December 4, 1959, the first batch of war criminals pardoned by the Fushun War Criminals Management Office was held. After Puyi was the first to receive the notice, he had mixed feelings. He did not expect the new government to forgive him. This was indeed a big surprise. .
Puyi originally wanted to return to the Palace Museum work, but considering the political influence, Beijing Civil Affairs Bureau introduced him to work in the Botanical Garden of the Institute of Botany, Chinese Academy of Sciences, where he performed well.
In 1961, in order to better utilize Puyi's value, he was transferred to work in the Cultural and Historical Materials Research Committee of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference.
In 1962, under the arrangement of the organization, Puyi married nurse Li Shuxian and began his happy old age.
Puyi and Li Shuxian
In 1964, in order to relax the former war criminals and let them see the achievements of the construction of New China, Premier Zhou specially arranged for amnesty personnel, including Puyi, to visit Jiangsu and Zhejiang.
The "Presidential Palace" in Nanjing was the first stop of their trip. Former senior Kuomintang officials Du Yuming and others often walked around here. For them, it was nothing more than a return visit to their old place with a lot of emotions.
But for Puyi, this was his first trip to Jiangnan, and everything was new. Although Chiang Kai-shek was a contemporary, he had no interaction with Puyi.
He thought that the "Great President" was probably the emperor with a different name, and his treatment should be similar to that of himself back then. Unexpectedly, when he visited Chiang Kai-shek's office, he found that the room was not big and the furnishings were very simple. It was not as grand as imagined, so There is the opening scene.
Premier Zhou
In fact, this is not the first time Puyi has made a joke. Once he went to visit the Palace Museum on a whim, but was told that he had to buy tickets. He was confused and asked if he still had to buy tickets when he returned to his home? When the staff figured out his true identity, they were dumbfounded and helped him buy a ticket to visit.
After leaving Nanjing, the tour group arrived in Jiangxi and visited the revolutionary holy land Jinggangshan .
On the bus, Puyi, who was not familiar with the world, saw many tall buildings, as if he had discovered a new world: "I never understood before, why the revolutionary base was established in Jinggangshan instead of other places. Now I finally understand Got it! "
Emperor Guangxu
Everyone thought he was enlightened and quickly asked him why. He said: "Look, there are so many houses. The Red Army can live in them when they come."
Everyone couldn't help but laugh. The cadre in charge of the reception explained to him that these were newly built by the People's Government after liberation. . Only then did he suddenly realize and realize the hardships and greatness of the Chinese revolution.
Puyi grew up in the palace. After leaving the palace, he was controlled by the Japanese. He spent more than ten years in a war criminals camp. After being pardoned, he has been working in an office and has few opportunities to contact the outside world.
His understanding of the outside world is still stuck in the feudal era of the 19th century. This is something he personally admitted in "The First Half of My Life", so it is not surprising that such a ridiculous thing happened.
However, everyone is not making fun of him, but a sense of calmness after being relieved. These dignitaries from the late Qing Dynasty and the Republic of China have now become ordinary citizens of New China, and have gained true freedom and joy.
Reference materials
Puyi. "My First Half of Life". People's Literature Publishing House. 2019
Chi Zijian. "Puppet Manchukuo". Yilin Publishing House. 2018
Yu Liping. Interesting stories about the transformation of the last emperor Aisin Gioro Puyi. " Archives World》.2009
