In Chinese history, the death of Emperor Tongzhi of the Qing Dynasty has always been an unresolved mystery. Some people believe that Emperor Tongzhi died of smallpox or syphilis, but others believe that Empress Dowager Cixi killed Emperor Tongzhi. Although we cannot give a definite conclusion, we can see some clues about the appointment and removal of officials by the Qing government after the death of Emperor Tongzhi.
On January 12, 1875 AD, after Emperor Tongzhi died of illness, Li Deli, Zhuang Shou and the two who were in charge of treating Emperor Tongzhi were dismissed from office. There is nothing fuss about these two people being dismissed. After all, the ninety-fifth emperor has passed away, and there are always a few back-and-forth men to look for. But the problem is that a minister named Wang Qingqi was impeached within a few days after the death of Emperor Tongzhi, and the reason for the impeachment was unfounded: just because he did not return his father’s coffin to Guangdong, he was put on by his colleagues. The charge of "unfilial piety".
Although the reason for impeaching Wang Qingqi is very absurd, the Qing court reacted quickly and immediately dismissed Wang Qingqi from his post for the people and never used him. Then the question came. To say that he is not filial is just a personal life. The question is, why did the Qing court impose such severe punishment on Wang Qingqi? The principle is that he and the death of Emperor Tongzhi are inseparable.
In the first year of Tongzhi, Wang Qingqi had just entered the officialdom, and his position was the review of the imperial court. This was an official position from the seventh grade. Although it was a Beijing official, it was only a leisure position; until the tenth of Tongzhi In the first month of three years, he was still reviewing after more than ten years. Seeing that other classmates were promoted and made rich, Wang Qingqi also decided to take the risk and get promotion by flattering the emperor.
At this time, the Emperor Tongzhi had just reached the age to be able to personally conquer, but the big and small affairs were still undertaken by the Empress Dowager Cixi alone. The Emperor Tongzhi was depressed and could only go to the Xuandelou tavern near the capital to borrow wine. Worries. Here, Emperor Tongzhi met Wang Qingqi. He was very happy when he heard him singing very well, so he promoted him to lecture at the Hongde Hall (from the fourth rank) and awarded him the second rank.
Within a few days, Wang Qingqi was promoted to the third rank. In order to thank Emperor Tongzhi for his promotion, he began to secretly present the so-called "Spring Book" to the emperor. Most of the content is something unsuitable for children, but the Emperor Tongzhi was obsessed with it. In a few years, he died of syphilis. After the "Eastern Window Incident", the Qing court naturally couldn't make the real cause of Emperor Tongzhi's death public, so it lied that Emperor Tongzhi died of smallpox, and immediately put the insider Wang Qingqi on hold to hide the real cause of Emperor Tongzhi's death.
