Prince Rui Dorgon's regent was a year of power and blessing, and after his death, his subordinates first reported the conviction and exclusion. When the Dingding Ding was first in mind, the king actually led the people into the pass, cleared the capital and ordered the Central Plains to be settled, but his previous achievements could not be eliminated. ββ"Draft of Qing History "
As we all know, in the history of our country, the emperor was the supreme leader of a dynasty. Even when the ruler was few and the country was suspicious, the ruler was weak and the ministers were strong, the emperor had the greatest power in name, and others could not overestimate it.
The Qing Dynasty was the last dynasty of my country's feudal dynasty. It existed for about 280 years. Because the feudal system reached its peak, the imperial power also ushered in an era of high concentration, and any person, thing, and even the law imperial power must be above them.
However, even in the Qing Dynasty, where the imperial power was so high, there was still a special position that was greater than the emperor's power, and could even go directly to the emperor to act in national affairs. Looking at the entire Qing Dynasty, only two people had held it.
So what is this position? It is so powerful, who are the two people who hold this position? Today we will talk about the topic.
Prime Minister, who has posed the greatest threat to the imperial authority since ancient times
In the eyes of many people, the prime minister was the second only to the emperor in ancient times, and it was also the position with the greatest restrictions on the imperial authority. The earliest prime ministers did not have one position, but two positions, one was named Xiang or Xiangbang, and the other was named Dazai .
As time goes by, the system of the dynasty was constantly changing. By 221 BC, Qin Shihuang unified the world, and then established the " Three Dukes and Nine Ministers " system, and the prime minister officially appeared on the stage of history.
The three dukes refer to the prime minister, the Taiwei and the Censor. Nominally, the three positions and status are similar, and they all serve the emperor directly. However, in terms of real power, the prime minister is higher than the Taiwei and the Censor. Sometimes the latter two need to serve the former.
"Nine Ministers" are nine departments under the Three Dukes. It is said that they are " Three Dukes under the Three Dukes" and are actually more like departments that serve the Prime Minister specifically. Therefore, the Prime Minister during this period has very strong power, otherwise there would be no incident in Li Si abolishing the prince Fusu and supporting Qin Ershi Hu Hai ascended the throne.
The feudal dynasty has a history of 2,000 years. These 2,000 years are also a history of the struggle between the emperor and the prime minister. Since the Han Dynasty, the emperor has continuously set up various departments to differentiate the power of the prime minister and increase his control over the dynasty.
For example, Emperor Wu of Han established Shangshutai , weakening the prime minister's administrative power. During the Sui and Tang Dynasties, the system of three provinces and six ministries appeared. During this period, the prime minister was no longer one person or a group of people, and the power of the prime minister was further weakened.
But even so, the power of the prime minister is still very great. For example, during the Ming Dynasty . The power of the prime minister was originally dispersed to many people, but Hu Weiyong gathered these people together and formed a small court to confront the emperor of Hongwu .
Such behavior is tantamount to touching the reverse scale of Zhu Yuanzhang , so in anger Emperor Zhu created the " Hu Weiyong case ", with tens of thousands of people implicated, and the prime minister system was completely abolished.
It is not difficult to see from the above introduction that since , the prime minister system has been the highest power position in the bureaucratic system since , but in the face of imperial power, it still seems so powerless and still cannot surpass imperial power.
It is worth mentioning that after the Jurchens destroyed the Ming Dynasty and established the Qing Dynasty, they gradually created a new position because of the particularity of their capital of power. From the perspective of power distribution and exercise of power, this new position was higher than the emperor's status, and it was the Regent.
The first regent during the Qing period
What is the regent? Generally speaking, in a monarchical country, because the emperor is young and other reasons, the regent can use the king's power instead of the emperor. Perhaps because its power is extremely powerful, the one who can be a regent is either a relative or a relative.
In fact, since the establishment of the dynasty, many dynasties have the shadow of the regent, such as Zhougong during the Zhougong period, but the real position was brought to the table in Qing . In addition, some special backgrounds of the Qing dynasty made the regent's power surpass the imperial power for a time.
Jurchen tribe was still developing outside the pass, Nurhaci In order to win over various small tribes to fight against Ming Dynasty , he invented the "Eight Banners Colloquial" system, which means that all tribes that join our alliance have the power to participate in politics and discuss politics. However, the main force of the Jurchen ( Later Jin ) is " Eight Banners ", so it is also called the Eight Banners Political Consultative.
After Nurhaci's death, Huang Taiji succeeded to the throne. He established a new system based on the Ming Dynasty system. The power of the Eight Banners nobles was restricted, the imperial power was strengthened, and the system of the court was improved.
However, during this period, the major banner leaders of the Eight Banners were still very powerful, especially military power. When Huang Taiji died, because the dynasty's regime did not have a definite heir, there was a system of inheritance of the eldest son, and there were also a theory of brothers and brothers, and there were even more people who established virtuous people but not seniors.
Every banner owner has military and political power that cannot be ignored, so that the Qing Dynasty was trapped in the seizure of power by the kings. At this critical moment, Dorgon stood up. He withstood the pressure of many people such as Haoge and sent Fulin to the throne of emperor.
Perhaps it was to thank Dorgon for his assistance, or perhaps to use his power to stabilize his position, Shunzhi Emperor appointed him as the regent, and later he was posthumously named the regent of the emperor's uncle, and Dorgon's life reached its peak.
Regent was to exercise the emperor's power on behalf of the 6-year-old Emperor Shunzhi. However, after tasting the taste of power, and Dorgon was already ambitious, he was unwilling to hand over the power, even if Fulin became an adult, he would still replace the emperor's regent.
Anyone who has watched related films and TV series may know that at his peak Dorgon's peak power was greater than a normal emperor. Shunzhi was just a puppet in his eyes, and even the important minister Haoge was killed by him on the charge of "false".
Since then, all the civil and military officials of the Qing Dynasty only knew that the policy came from Dorgon's mouth rather than Emperor Shunzhi. However, at the peak of his life, Dorgon accidentally fell off his horse and died, and the imperial power was able to return to Emperor Shunzhi.
Because he hated Dorgon's actions too much, Shunzhi dug out his body from the grave and whipped it to relieve his hatred. In the nearly two hundred years after Dorgon, because the regent had too much power, no one was ever appointed.
The regent of the Kangxi period Obai , once had the greatest power in the court, but he was still the "respondent" rather than the "regent". There were many people who did not take him seriously, and in the end he died under the imperial power.
It is not difficult to find through the above introduction that the emergence of the Regent is generally a sensitive and special period of the dynasty. Because the Regent's power is extremely powerful, it is easy to conflict with the imperial power, which makes it difficult for him to die in the end.
However, in the late Qing Dynasty, there was still a crisis in the early Qing Dynasty. At this time, a regent was born. Compared to the insecurity after Dorgon's death, this regent was able to retreat and protect himself. He was Zaifeng .
The second regent of the Qing Dynasty, Zaifeng,
AD 1908 AD Guangxu Emperor died. In order to continue to stabilize her rule, Empress Dowager Cixi chose Zaifeng's son Puyi as the emperor. According to her idea, Emperor Puyi was easy to control when he was young, and the Qing Dynasty in the future would still be his own world.
Unfortunately, she reached the limit shortly after Emperor Guangxu died. Before her death, she also said, "After that women cannot predict the national affairs...the eunuchs must not be allowed to abusive power..." This means that women cannot interfere in national affairs, and eunuchs must not abusive power.
Empress Longyu and many noble concubines are extremely powerful. Emperor Puyi is only three years old. Therefore, in order to ensure the continuation of the Qing Dynasty regime, before his death, Cixi called Puyi's father Zaifeng and many military ministers to the palace to make arrangements for the death.
Zaifeng was appointed as the regent of the Qing Dynasty by Cixi to assist Puyi in managing the government affairs. Zaifeng was Puyi's biological father and would not cheat his son. Empress Dowager Cixi's arrangement was reasonable.
As the second regent of the Qing Dynasty, Zaifeng was also very popular in the late Qing Dynasty and had a higher influence than Emperor Puyi. He was also committed to bringing the Qing Dynasty back to life and restore its former glory and glory.
Unfortunately, although Zaifeng was the regent, he did not have the means like Dorgon, nor did he have the talent and ability like him. It is difficult to save the Qing Dynasty in the troubled times, so that the hope of revival is far away.
We all know that the society was in turmoil in the late Qing Dynasty and the early Republic of China, and the imperialist powers were even more eyeing the Qing Dynasty. Although Zaifeng's thoughts were relatively progressive, he also carried out reforms in many aspects, but his three-year career as a regent was quite painful, and he was not as energetic as Dorgon.
When the Xinhai Revolution broke out, Zaifeng made a trick. He handed over the only military power and regime in his hand to Yuan Shikai, but the latter eventually betrayed the Qing Dynasty, and the Qing Dynasty, which lasted for more than 200 years, perished.
Chapter 0: Although Zaifeng's three-year career as a regent was not as glorious as Dorgon, he achieved a good end. After the fall of the Qing Dynasty, he stepped down as the Regent and returned to his vassal residence to live a comfortable life.
During the Republic of China, the old ministers of the Qing Dynasty carried out a restoration, but Zaifeng did not participate. After the September 18th Incident, Emperor Puyi became the puppet emperor of Japan's puppet Manchukuo, and Zaifeng still did not participate, so Zaifeng was able to die well after the founding of New China.
There is a saying now that " prospered from the regent, but died from the regent ". If Dorgon had not ruled the country in the early Qing Dynasty, it might have been difficult to suppress other banner owners. The Qing Dynasty might have fallen into internal struggles, so naturally there would not have been a prosperous era later.
Zaifeng was in power in the late Qing Dynasty, but he did not have the heroic spirit of Dorgon and could not save the stormy Qing Dynasty. As the saying goes, "It is lost and it is gained in the east." Dorgon abusing power but fails to die well, and Zaifeng was not greedy for power and lived a very good life in his later years.
From a certain perspective, Dorgon lost his country and lost his life, Zaifeng lost his power but gained his old age. Isnβt this a beautiful choice? What are your different opinions on this matter?
