It is absolutely very important for a country to reform and cannot be moved easily, but, in the Qing Dynasty in 1870, a discerning person could tell at a glance that if this country does not reform and does not change, and continues like this, it would be dead!

That's right, that's it, and this "savvy person" is not only the knowledgeable people within the Qing Dynasty, but also the European powers. Novel Chinese iqi.

This matter is quite interesting. European powers also hope that the Qing Dynasty can reform because they want to better control the Qing Dynasty. So these individuals, knowledgeable people and European and American powers, are also outsiders!

Yes, even if these individuals are "talking about it", how should the Aisin Gioro family consider it?

As for the Qing Dynasty, with the thinking of the Aisin Gioro family, the Qing Dynasty is their private property. Because it is private property, they think they can pay compensation, so they will pay compensation, and if they need to cede land, they will cede land. They can decide these things themselves. As for what the people think, it doesn't matter.

By extension, they can ignore others' remarks, and there is no need for this. Now Cixi is going to reform, which shows...

The Qing Dynasty has reached its most dangerous moment!

To put it bluntly, even Cixi felt that if there was no reform, the Qing Dynasty would be over. There were also a large number of people pursuing this matter, and the representative of it was Prince Gong.

Prince Gong represents the old drivers of the Qing court. They actually have a clear judgment on the entire political situation and the situation of the country. The current situation is that there is no other way.

First of all, the Westernization Affairs Office can’t be done!

I set up a manufacturing bureau before, and then the French were blown up. So let’s do it again?

It can be said that this is OK, but obviously you need to have a good relationship with foreigners. If you want to buy equipment, technology, etc., the most important thing is not to let them blow us up again...

Secondly, the local power could not be regained. The Boxer Rebellion that Cixi had previously organized was not beneficial to the court, but instead killed the foreigners. As a result, these foreigners formed a coalition.

So, now there is one trick left, and think of a solution from the system!

Why are Western countries so powerful?

And now there is a good learning target in front of you, that is the New Tang Empire in the United States!

Learn from the New Tang Dynasty?

This is not right? Didn’t the Qing Dynasty keep criticizing the New Tang Kingdom? Is it bad for the emperor Li Mengyang?

This is all right, but!

The current situation is that the Qing Dynasty was bullied by foreigners and was bullied to death, but in the New Tang Dynasty, they defeated the foreigners!

At least in the American land, New Tang is riding on foreigners. So what does this mean?

It’s obvious that some aspects of that country are definitely stronger than our Qing Dynasty. Although we scold them, we also need to see other people’s advantages. This is called shameless asking...

Well. The Qing Dynasty had a very fierce battle in open and secret battles. The battle between Prince Gong and Cixi was extremely fierce before, but now they have found a relatively acceptable common point.

Constitutional Monarchy!

"What is constitutional monarchy?" Cixi once asked Prince Gong.

"The constitutional monarchy means that the emperor inherits the inheritance." Prince Gong replied.

This is an explanation that Cixi can understand. Constitutional monarchy is not actually a hereditary emperor. But now, at least Cixi can accept it. So does Cixi agree with it?

"What is constitutional monarchy?" Cixi asked again, but the person she asked this time was a little different.

This is Zhang Deyi, who has been staying in Europe before. Now, except for France, most of Europe are constitutional monarchy, and France happens to be a typical example of failure. He just lost the battle and signed a treaty that was humiliating the country... Although there is France in the Eight-Nation Alliance, the Qing Dynasty is not his opponent.

So, how did Zhang Deyi answer Cixi?

"The constitutional monarchy means the emperor's inheritance!"

After hearing this answer, Cixi really asked Zhang Deyi, did you make a good word with Prince Gong?

Zhang Deyi was very frightened at the time. He actually didn't see Prince Gong at all. Although he was overseas and the money had something to do with Prince Gong, he really thought so this time.

It should be said that in terms of the interpretation of constitutional monarchy, even the Qing people at this time, even if they were the most knowledgeable, they still thought so. So, this is the matter...

feasible!

Cixi decided that she thought this matter was reliable. Our Qing Dynasty needed a system reform, and this reform was to transform from the existing imperial system to the constitutional monarchy. So who should we learn from this transformation?

You should know that learning from other people’s strengths is not embarrassing. Everyone has come here, but there is a problem that is very important now.

The object of learning was particularly simple, that was the New Tang Empire in the United States!

The main reason for saying this is that although we, the Qing Dynasty, do not recognize this new Tang Dynasty and look down on it, this country is similar to us. After all, it is all caused by the people of the Qing Dynasty. Although there are Han people and we are Manchus, the Qing Dynasty has not yet been clear about the Manchu and Han divisions. Are there any differences between them?

To put it bluntly, everyone has many common points, culturally, and the psychological state of the people...

However, I was really unwilling to learn from the New Tang Empire. The reason was that this was a country built by the Han people...

These...the two reasons seem to be the opposite?

Yes, the Qing court is so conflicted now. On the one hand, they think that everyone is similar, but on the other hand, they are still guarding themselves against the Han people!

So who should I learn?

A goal was soon found, which was Japan, which is now undergoing the Meiji Restoration!

At this time, China and Japan were still friendly, and Japan is now carrying out a top-down constitutional monarchy reform. We can learn from the entire procedure and legislation. Moreover, we are all yellow people. Japan used to learn from us, and we all have cultural commonalities.

I have to say that the Qing Dynasty rulers were not stupid. The method they looked for was actually very low in terms of cost, and this method was relatively reliable.

So, this plan was decided. We need to reform, learn from Japan, and implement constitutional monarchy. So what should we do in detail?

Many things are like this, maybe the total is good. The plan is good, but it may be difficult to achieve it when it comes to the implementation stage. Therefore, the actual specific implementation details are very important.

"The Emperor Chengyun of the Heavenly Emperor ordered... The capital has now established a supervisory administrative office. I hope that the local governors and governors can provide unique insights into current political affairs..."

This is an imperial edict, which is directly sent to the governors of various localities. The meaning is very simple. The central government has now established an institution, which does not do anything else, but is to carry out institutional reform. Now this institution needs local officials, please give some suggestions, that is, how can the reform of our Qing Dynasty be changed?

So how to change it? In other words, do you have any opinions on this specific process?

Simply put, it is Cixi and Prince Gong, these reformists at this time. Well, they have all become reformists. They need local officials to write memorials, and local governments can't get around the system reform.

So how do you write this memorial?

"I have been suffering from chronic diseases recently. I am really powerless to do anything about this memorial..." This is what Zeng Guofan replied.

"I am a little educated, afraid of losing the matter..." This is Zuo Zongtang's reply.

"Men's handwriting is not good, it really hinders the view..." This is what Li Hongzao replied.

No one writes! No one writes!

And for these reasons, Zuo Zongtang started studying at the age of 5, and he studied less?

In fact, there was a method in the Qing Dynasty that was particularly interesting. One thing was to do or not, but the reasons given were ridiculous, just like Zuo Zongtang now, but doing so was actually conveying a message.

I just want to do it, no reason! I do whatever I want...

Or I won't do this, there's no reason! Whatever I want...

That's what it means, because this reason is simply too irrelevant, and the subtext is like this, but it's just that it's hard for everyone to say it too clearly.

The Qing Dynasty often did this in the political arena. Emperors and ministers, everyone understood this meaning, since that's the case.

What aren't you doing? It's okay!

"…Zeng Guofan, Li Hongzhang..., I joined the Supervisory Administration Office to listen to the matter..."

Another imperial edict brought over the most important local figure. Zeng Guofan is so awesome. He is here to supervise this government affairs. You can do it!

So, this time, or not?

Still don't write it!

In fact, from a local point of view, they can't write such memorials at all.

At this time, the local officials of the Qing Dynasty were already all princes. They said that the Boxer Rebellion had made a private agreement with the foreigners. You have to fight the capital, no problem, as long as you don’t hit us.

It's okay, these agreements are not too public, and it can be seen from this that local officials have their own ulterior motives.

But they did not write this memorial because they were afraid that the court's system reform would succeed and threaten their local power. They thought that the court would not be caught by the court!

It's that simple, because this is reform, it's about change. Another meaning of change is that it's different from before. If it's different, then the future will be right or wrong, and whether it will be bad will be done well. No one knows.

So, as a senior official, you are going to waste your time and say that if there is a problem with the reform in the future, isn’t it your responsibility? Can this senior official continue to be?

The local governors and governors are all people who have been in the officialdom for a long time. How could they not see these things?

So what would Cixi do in this situation?

Send a delegation to Europe to inspect the constitutional monarchy!

What does this mean?

Why don’t you do it? That mother will do it herself!

You really don’t want to say that Cixi is really firm enough. She has become a reformist now.

This inspection team is naturally composed of some princes and grandchildren trusted by the Aisin Gioro family. If they go out and see, they will not deceive people, right? And what they see can be brought back very well. If we want to reform the Qing Dynasty, we must use it.

I thought it was very good, but when the inspection team was about to board the boat in Tanggu...

Boom! (To be continued.)
Chapter completed!