Chapter 453 The Little Palace of the Forbidden City
On November 8, 1919, the Guard Division and the Presidential Brigade of the National Revolutionary Army entered Beijing!
They are not here to take over Beijing. This is not their appointment. They have another mission: to expel Puyi![]
Although the Manchu Qing Dynasty has been overthrown, the last emperor Puyi and his small court still exist like a freak in the Forbidden City in Beijing.
As an overthrown court, they still enjoy the "Preferential Treatment Regulations for the Qing Dynasty": First, the title of the Qing emperor will not be abolished, and the Republic of China government will treat him with the courtesy of a foreign monarch. Second, the Republic of China will allocate four million yuan each year for the emperor's expenses.
.3. The emperor temporarily lived in the palace and later moved to the Summer Palace.
4. The ancestral mausoleum of the Qing royal family will be enshrined forever and will be protected by the troops sent by the Republic of China. 5. All the expenses for the property and use of Dezong's Chongling Mausoleum will be paid by the Republic of China. 6. The deacons in the palace will continue to be retained, but eunuchs are not allowed to be recruited. 7. The royal family
The property owned by si will be protected by troops sent by the Republic of China. 8. The Forbidden Army will be incorporated into the Army of the Republic of China.
Freak, this is simply a freak regulation!
The Manchu Qing Dynasty had been overthrown, but the "emperor"'s "honorary title" was not abolished. Every year, the Republic of China government spent four million yuan to pay "emperor" fees.
There is no truth in this column in the whole world!
Now President Wang Hengyue is here. This president, who is always unexpected in his conduct and deeds, soon after taking power across the country, the first major thing he did was to give full support to the Chinese navy in Temple Street. The second major thing was to expel
Destroy Emperor Puyi!
Although the Manchu Qing Dynasty has been overthrown, this small court in the Forbidden City still has great influence!
Puyi's masters and eunuchs said that there are always people in the inland countryside asking: "How is Emperor Xuantong?" "Who is sitting in the court now?" "With the True Dragon Emperor sitting on the throne, the world should be at peace, right?"
His British master said based on an article in what he called a radical publication that even those who were most opposed to the imperial system admitted that the common people missed the emperor and opposed the republic. This was because the author of that article himself had encountered problems of this type.
In fact, Wang Hengyue knows this very well. Without any experience of other "dynasties" and having never seen what a true republic is, fellow villagers talking about "the former Qing Dynasty" are just expressing their hatred for the current disaster.
There was a businessman named Wang Jiuzheng who made a fortune by making military uniforms for the Zhili army. He spent a lot of time and money trying to get a reward for wearing a yellow jacket. The eunuchs nicknamed him San Cai behind his back.
The boy. I don’t know what kind of joint he has passed. Every New Year, he sneaks in among the elderly to kowtow and pay tribute. He brings a lot of money with him and scatters it wherever he goes. The eunuchs like him the most, because no matter who guides him,
Those who came to see him, those who held curtains, those who poured tea, and those who had nothing to do and came over to talk to him would all have rolls of banknotes stuffed into their hands.
Not to mention spending money at various real joints. In the end, he really achieved his goal and was awarded the "honor" of wearing a yellow jacket.
In order to write a Qing Dynasty official title on a yellow mandarin coat when renewing the family tree in the future, and to have a memorial ceremony after death, people go to the Forbidden City every day, or send memorials from far away places.
The famous Liang Juchuan, nicknamed "Crazy Liang", did not hesitate to throw himself into the puddle of Jishuitan in Beijing, exchanging his life and the "relics" of being soaked in water for a "Zhenduan" silence.
Later, there were too many people asking for silence, which would be detrimental to the dignity of the small court, so it was stipulated that those below the third rank of Jingtang would not be granted silence as a restriction. As for the reward of horseback riding in the Forbidden City, the reward was to ride on a two-person carriage, and a spring strip was written on it, wishing happiness and longevity.
The restrictions on words, couplets, etc. are even stricter. Not only the princes and ministers, but also some generals of the Republic of China considered it the most rare "honor".
Those who had lower official positions or had no "future" in the former Qing Dynasty but did not have Wang Jiuzheng's capital and could not enter the Forbidden City, such as the "merchant gentry" from various places at that time, they had other goals to pursue, which was to wait and see for the elderly.
They write an epitaph for the "nod master" on the soul tablet of their deceased elders, and serve as witnesses at their children's weddings.
Ji Tuoluo, the Manchu wife of the Shanghai land tycoon Hartung, a British Jew, hired Liu Chunshuang, the last number one scholar of the Qing Dynasty, to Shanghai with heavy gifts. She prepared a special eight-person green cloth sedan for him and asked him to wear it.
The official uniform of the Qing Dynasty designated the memorial tablet for her late husband.
A similar move also happened to a so-called new scribe at that time, Doctor Foreign.
There was Dr. Hu Shi who advocated vernacular writing. Johnston, Puyi's British teacher, laughed at his Chinese-English poem "Picknik Comes to the River" and said: "You might as well read what he wrote, it can be regarded as a kind of knowledge.
"
Puyi therefore came up with the idea of taking a look at this new figure. To be honest, this was the same as his mentality when he met the imperial doctors one by one, it was just curiosity!
One day, out of curiosity about the review, I called him. Unexpectedly, he came right away. After a brief and boring meeting, Hu Shi wrote a letter to Johnston expressing his feelings.
Thank you, it turns out that foreign doctors also have that kind of mentality of leaving old people behind.
There is a paragraph in his letter that says: "I have to admit that I was very moved by this summons. I was able to occupy a place in front of the last representative of the last generation of emperors and great monarchs of our country!"
Beiyang has failed, the Beiyang government has collectively resigned, the Northern Expeditionary Army has ruled Beijing, and the current president is called Wang Hengyue!
Amid the changes in the security situation, a new panic broke out in the Forbidden City.
The difference between this time and the time of Zhang Xun's restoration was that Puyi already had someone like Johnston who could act as an insurance policy. The princes and ministers asked Johnston to take Puyi to the British Embassy for refuge.
After discussing with the British Minister, Lord Bailey Alston, Johnston replied: "The British Legation can allocate some rooms to Johnston personally. If necessary, Puyi can live in them as Johnston's guest. At the same time, the British are looking for
If the Portuguese and Dutch embassies negotiate well, other members of the royal family can be accommodated to take refuge if necessary."
However, the conspiracy somehow got out, and the government of the Republic of China immediately lodged a stern protest with the British.
At this time, Britain and China were in the "month period" and it was impossible to offend the government of the Republic of China for a deposed "emperor". Therefore, the British Minister, Lord Bailey Alston, hastily denied that he had ever said
Similar words.
Minister Yinggu's change of attitude made the small court in the Forbidden City increasingly panicked.
Prior to this, the expenses of the small imperial court in the Forbidden City were still very huge, and the funds provided by the Republic of China were in arrears every year. In order to raise funds, the Ministry of Internal Affairs had to spend every year on antiques, calligraphy and paintings, gold and silver, etc.
The china was sold and mortgaged.
Puyi gradually learned from his British teacher Johnston and from some obscure news in newspapers that there was something wrong inside, at least the selling price was a loss. Puyi didn't worry about such things at first, but once I heard that it was going to be sold.
There was a golden pagoda as tall as a man. He became suspicious and thought of asking. He remembered that Johnston said that if the gold and silver products produced by the Ministry of Internal Affairs were sold as works of art, they would be of high value, but he heard that
He said that every time he sold it by weight, he suffered a big loss. Only a fool would do this. Puyi called people from the Ministry of Internal Affairs to ask how this golden pagoda was sold. When he heard that it was sold by weight, it turned out that it was sold by weight.
, I immediately lost my temper: "This is something only a fool can do. Don't you have a smart person?"
The people in the Ministry of Internal Affairs probably thought that this was Johnston trying to undermine them. They thought of a way to deal with Johnston. They brought the golden pagoda to Johnston's home and said that the emperor asked him to sell it on his behalf. Johnston immediately saw through this trick and said angrily.
: "If you don't take it away, I will inform the emperor immediately!"
Johnston was still loyal to Puyi, and he was very worried about the future of the last little emperor of China.
Since the Nationalist Government unified China, rumors have spread in Beijing that the president of the Nationalist Government is likely to take some progressive measures.
If the little emperor is expelled, where can he go? Although China is a big country, where can the little emperor stay?
And in such an extraordinary period, those people in the "Imperial Palace" actually wanted to help the little emperor, who was just over thirteen years old, find a concubine.
This is simply a big joke. The little emperor is only thirteen years old, and he is definitely not ready mentally or physically. At least from the perspective of a foreigner like John John.
There was even a fierce quarrel in the palace over the issue of the princess.
The main thing is that there was a dispute between Jingyi and Duankang, who had always been at odds. Both concubines wanted to find someone who was closer to them to be the queen. This dispute was not only due to the old lady's preference, but also because of the old lady's preference.
Rather, it has a lot to do with your future status.
Concubine Jingyi was originally the concubine of Tongzhi. She could never forget the words in Cixi’s will that designated me as the successor to Tongzhi and to be the successor of Guangxu. Empress Dowager Longyu was dissatisfied and ignored this when she was still alive. It was not because of these words.
But for showing any respect to Tongzhi's concubine, Tongzhi's concubine was relegated to the cold palace!
This made her very angry.
After Longyu's death, although the concubines were always addressed as Huang Niang by Puyi, Yuan Shikai intervened in "internal affairs" and appointed Duankang to preside over the palace. Therefore, Jingyi still could not be taken seriously for being "authentic", and her long-cherished ambitions were not known.
Duankang was very dissatisfied with the compensation.
This is why Puyi received her secret support when he and Duankang quarreled.
During the marriage negotiation process, the two concubines regarded the issue of "appointing a queen" as an important step to gain an advantage, and each proposed their own favorite candidates without giving in to each other.
Johnston sighed when he thought of this. It had been so long, and the palace was still fighting and thinking about how to deal with the most direct threat from the National Government.
Perhaps, the fate of this small court really ends here!
Johnston hoped that his terrible idea would not come true!!.