[The Empress Dowager Cixi listened to politics behind the curtain three times in her life, for a total of forty-seven years.
The first time was during the period of her husband, Emperor Tongzhi; the second time was during the period of Emperor Tongzhi; the third time was when the Reform Movement of 1898 failed, Emperor Guangxu was removed from the imperial power, and Cixi came to the throne again for ten years, which was called "Ci En Tuan Zheng" until her death.]
[During the period when she controlled the actual power of the Qing Dynasty, objectively speaking, she had faults but also merits.
It’s just that her fault caused great disaster and tragedy to the Chinese nation, completely covering up the few achievements she made for China.]
【Let’s take a look at her achievements first.】
[Cixi initiated two reforms in his life.
The first time was to promote the Westernization Movement. Although it went bankrupt with the advent of the Sino-Japanese War of 1884-1894, it could be regarded as opening up the road to China's modernization.
The second time was the New Deal in the late Qing Dynasty, which reformed military, business, academic, official, and legal affairs, which was conducive to the development of national industry and commerce and the prosperity of social economy.
At the same time, she also knew how to make good use of people, and promoted a number of capable people such as Zeng Guofan, Zuo Zongtang, Li Hongzhang, Zhang Zhidong, etc.]
[Cixi’s greatest achievement was to follow Zuo Zongtang’s suggestion and regain Xinjiang.
No matter what the reasons behind it were, Zuo Zongtang was finally able to go to Xinjiang.
Zuo Zongtang raised his own military expenses and carried his coffin to the west. With the help of the wealthy businessman Hu Xueyan, he left Lanzhou and marched westward, annihilating Agubai in Xinjiang, recaptured Ili from Tsarist Russia, and preserved China's 100-year history.
660,000 square kilometers of land.]
"This Zuo Zongtang is good!"
"Sure enough, there are still capable people in our Qing Dynasty!"
"The warriors carried the coffin and marched westward to regain the country. How magnificent!!"
[Although Cixi had such a great achievement as regaining Xinjiang, compared with this achievement, the mistakes she committed in her life were enough to make her infamy for thousands of years!]
[Cixi was essentially just a shrewd woman who was greedy for pleasure and lived an extremely extravagant life.
In addition to loving enjoyment and living an extremely luxurious life, Cixi also had a strong desire for power.
She always considers her own rights as the starting point when considering things. Even when the country is facing embarrassment from all sides, her attention is still focused only on personal enjoyment and the construction of gardens.
In her eyes, individual rights and enjoyment are far more important than the country. If such a person controls the power of the country, how can this country maintain long-term stability?]
[When the Eight-Power Allied Forces openly started the war of aggression against China, she no longer had the courage she had when she was young. Instead of taking charge of the overall situation, she ran away. 】
[When the country was in crisis and facing war, she was still in the mood to hold a grand birthday party.
In order to build the Summer Palace, she misappropriated the military expenditures of the Beiyang Navy, resulting in the Beiyang Navy not acquiring a new warship in the past ten years.
In the end, the Sino-Japanese War broke out, the Beiyang Navy was completely annihilated by the Japanese navy, and the Qing Dynasty completely lost this war that could be called the battle of national destiny!]
[She was arbitrary, interfered in government affairs, and was too obsessed with power. Every selfish decision she made accelerated the fall of the late Qing Dynasty. 】
"Lost the battle with the Japanese? Or is it a battle for national destiny?!" Zhu Di had a look of disbelief on his face. He really couldn't figure out how those Japanese pirates who only did things like robbing homes and stealing chickens and dogs could cause such a big impact on the Central Plains Dynasty.
Threat?
"Is this why God Su Shang wants me to eliminate all evil?"
"It seems that the harm caused by Japanese pirates is far beyond our imagination!"
"After the third crackdown and the recovery of Taiwan, I will have to consider how to deal with those Japanese."
[Next, let’s take a closer look at the disgusting things Cixi did!]
[First, fight for power and gain, and kill the eight ministers assisting the government.]
[When Emperor Xianfeng died of illness in Rehe, he arranged eight auxiliary ministers for his successor before his death. However, he was afraid that the ministers would be too powerful, so he gave the empress and Cixi powers to check each other.
.
As a result, in order to assert her own power, Empress Dowager Cixi secretly teamed up with Prince Gong to kill the ministers who had left the emperor alone before his death, and finally took over the power of the court!
If the Qing Dynasty was run by those eight ministers, it would at least be much better than Cixi running the country alone.
As one of the Eight Ministers, Sushun was actually a very talented person. He advocated the approach of getting close to the Han people, but as a result, he was killed by Cixi without realizing his ambition.】
[The Empress Dowager Cixi also successfully launched two palace coups, listened to politics behind the curtain three times, and strongly intervened in politics during the Tongzhi and Guangxu dynasties, making arbitrary decisions.
The two little emperors were manipulated at will by Cixi, and the elite among the ministers were also manipulated by her. Such a powerful controller is even worse than the previous emperors!]
[Second, cultural opposition and isolation from the country.]
[During the reign of Empress Dowager Cixi, the world situation at that time had long gone out of the traditional feudal era.
There is an extremely huge contrast in strength and culture between an ancient civilization that was almost an era behind the rest of the world and was suppressed by Cixi into a backwater, and the Western world that was vibrant after the Industrial Revolution.
It can also be said from another perspective, that is, when Western culture and power were rising strongly, the Qing Dynasty was still immersed in the glory and glory of the Chinese civilization in the past, and did not take the initiative to adapt to the huge changes in the world.]
[What is ridiculous is that when there is a huge gap today, the fate of China is decided by an old woman who is proficient in governing and power but ignorant of the general trend of the world. It is really ridiculous and sad. 】
[When the world was in the midst of an era of great industrial advancement, Cixi and the ministers at the time showed astonishing ignorance on many issues.
They neither had the desire nor courage to actively absorb new knowledge and new things, nor did they have a comprehensive consideration and goal planning for the Westernization Movement. They even used various means to suppress Prince Gong, who was determined to reform, and agreed to stop sending young children to the United States, hindering
Construction of railway projects...]
[Although under the pressure of the situation, Cixi also did some things to support the Westernizationists and reformists, which made society seem to have progressed.
But her goal in supporting the Westernization Movement was only to consolidate her own rights, rather than to improve the quality of the people and enrich the people.]
[Third, extravagance and waste, life is extremely luxurious. 】
[Cixi coveted comfort and enjoyment to an outrageous degree.
In order to build the Summer Palace, she did not hesitate to misappropriate naval military expenditures, resulting in outdated naval equipment and backward training, which was the main culprit for the failure of the Sino-Japanese War of 1894-1894.
During the war with the Japanese pirates, she held a 60th birthday celebration without any hesitation, which was extremely luxurious and extravagant. She spent more than 5.4 million taels of silver in the month before and after, while the total fundraising for the frontline war was only 2.5 million taels.
It’s less than half the cost of the celebration.】
[Cixi had enough means to control national policies and personnel, but she did not have much sense of responsibility to consider how the country would adapt to the pace of world progress.
She is just a vested interest with limited support for reform, and a sophisticated egoist.】