In the traditional society, the reformers in China always seem to come to no good end. This doesn't seem to make sense from a political or human point of view. However, this is indeed an ironclad historical fact.
Why is this happening? Some people attribute the difficulty of China's ancient reform to the people's unwillingness to reform. In fact, this is unfair. China's ancient reforms have never had anything to do with ordinary people. This does not mean that the reform does not involve the people, but that the reform really belongs to the upper class and has little to do with the people. "People can let nature take its course without knowing it" has always been the attitude of rulers towards people.
China's reforms are often initiated by those in power and stopped by those in power. This top-down reform, whether the people like it or not, has brought benefits to the people, and the people have to passively implement it. Of course, good reform measures will be welcomed by the people, and bad reform measures will be resisted by the people, but in any case, the likes and dislikes of the people will hardly affect the attitude of the ruling group. The failure of reform often comes from the struggle for rights and interests within the feudal ruling group.
This was the case with Shang Yang, one of the earliest and greatest reformers in China. Shang Yang is a patriotic person. At first, he was a small official of Wei, but he didn't pay attention to him. He heard that the state of Qin was recruiting talents, so he ran to the state of Qin.
Qin is a very strange country with a remote northwest border. Originally very small, the name did not carry the name of a vassal state, but always recruited talents from other vassal States and used them to make their country stronger step by step. In the history of Qin State, no major historical development was driven by its own talents. Qin's open attitude and the monarch's enterprising spirit eventually led to the annexation of six countries and the unification of China.
However, in this generation, Qin is not very strong, and Wei, a neighboring country in the east, often bullies it and even occupies many of its land. Qin Xiaogong wanted Qin to become strong quickly, so he ordered that talents be widely recruited. Anything that could make Qin strong was given to senior officials and land. Shang Yang is good at knowing the name of punishment and belongs to Legalism. He thought that the state of Qin could become rich and strong quickly only by relying on the rule of law, so he went to see it. In order to find out Qin Xiaogong's real psychology, he dared not reveal his real thoughts as soon as they met, but made a tentative conversation first. The first two times, Shang Yang and Qin Xiaogong talked about the Confucian emperor Wang Zhidao. As a result, Qin Xiaogong was bored and sleepy. In this way, Shang Yang understood that Qin Xiaogong should govern the country according to law, so at the third meeting, he threw out his real idea: political reform. This suddenly caught Qin Xiaogong, and they talked for three days and nights, and they didn't feel tired.
Qin Xiaogong immediately appointed him as an official in charge of political reform.
In order to win the trust of the people, Shang Yang played a little trick first. He set up a big tree outside the south gate of the capital and ordered, "Whoever carries this big tree to the north gate will be given fifty gold." Wood can be moved with the help of a middleman, but the reward of fifty gold is very high. At that time, people thought it was a fake and dared not move. Later, a rude man saw a lot of bounty and took it to the north gate. As a result, he really got a reward of fifty gold. Shang Yang thus established his prestige among the people.
Therefore, Shang Yang carried out two political reforms in Qin Xiaogong six years (the first 356 years) and Qin Xiaogong twelve years (the first 352 years), including:
The first is to compile household registration and implement "sitting together". Five are "Wu" and ten are "history". If one family breaks the law, other families must report it, otherwise they will sit together.
Second, there is a military prize, and private fighting is prohibited. Anyone who has military service, regardless of birth or position, can be promoted, and the land is divided according to work. Fighting between cities is not allowed, and offenders are hell to pay.
Third, reward agricultural weaving, encourage the development of agriculture and increase population. Anyone who tills the fields and is productive can be rewarded, otherwise his family will be confiscated and punished as an official slave.
Fourth, misdemeanor and heavy punishment. If you dump the ashes on the road, you must tattoo and ink on the surface.
Five, the implementation of the county system, centralized.
6. Recognize private ownership of land and encourage land reclamation.
7. Unified degree, quantity and balance, so as to strengthen unified management and concentrate wealth.
Among these reform measures, two are extremely important: first, there is no military rank, which greatly enhances Qin Jun's combat effectiveness; The second is to admit that the land is private, which makes Qin's economy develop rapidly. After Shang Yang's political reform, Qin quickly became one of the most powerful vassal states.
In 340 BC (twenty years), Qin launched a war against Wei. Under Shang Yang's plan, Qin defeated Wei and recovered the lost land west of the Yellow River. Shang Yang was sealed in the commercial land because of his great achievements, and he owned fifteen cities, the number of which was Shang Jun..
In addition to strict laws, Shang Yang's political reform basically conforms to the interests of the people, so the people are not opposed to Shang Yang. The defeat of Shang Yang lies in the power struggle within Qin Ting. At the beginning of the political reform, many old nobles strongly opposed it. There is a simple reason. Some regulations have harmed the interests of the old aristocracy. The key points are these two points: military service is not graded and land is private. But because of Qin Xiaogong's support, they dare not do anything. After Qin Xiaogong's death, King Huiwen of Qin acceded to the throne, and the old aristocratic forces falsely accused him of rebellion. King Huiwen of Qin ordered the arrest of Shang Yang.
Shang Yang has no position in Qin State. Why? Because the law requires hotels to have certificates, and Shang Yang, as an absconder, wants to go to Wei, and Wei people want to kill him, he has to run back to his fief, organize troops in the fief, and resist the old nobles to catch his troops. Outnumbered, defeated and captured.
Shang Yang's final punishment was "car crack", that is, tying his limbs to the carriage and letting the carriage tear his body. The coolness of its punishment is outrageous. Although Shang Yang is dead, his laws are still there. Qin did not decline because of this, but always followed Shang Yang's method. It developed and unified China one hundred years later.
Although Wang Anshi's political reform in Song Dynasty was not as intense as Shang Yang's and its ending was much better than Shang Yang's, it seemed more meaningful.
Let's talk about its repeated laws and the alternate appointment and dismissal of the old and new parties. Wang Anshi put forward and implemented some reform measures during the reign of Song Shenzong Xining, such as agricultural loans for young crops, irrigation and water conservancy, saving soldiers and concentrating financial resources. These measures were indeed put forward according to the social ills of the Song Dynasty at that time, and their intentions and motives were undoubtedly good. Although the implementation effect is not satisfactory, there are some positive results after all. However, within the imperial court, especially among a group of ministers, Wang Anshi's new party advocating political reform and Sima Guang's old party opposing political reform were formed around the new law, and the two parties launched a long and fierce struggle.
The two sides have been in contact for several rounds. One moment the new party came to power, denouncing the old party, and the old party came to power, binding the new party. Coupled with snobbish hype, the struggle between the old and new parties has almost completely turned into a power struggle under the guise of abolishing laws and legislation. In particular, Zhang Wei and others in the new party were the old party that brutally persecuted Sima Guang, and many people were exiled and sentenced to death. At this point, as for the real advantages and disadvantages of the new law, no one has considered it.
The new law is fashionable and outdated, which has completely become an excuse and excuse for the struggle for party power and has no practical significance. Finally, the new law was completely abolished. Wang Anshi was abandoned in seclusion long before the new law was completely abolished. Fortunately, he didn't suffer too much personal persecution, and he had to spend his life.
But the question is how future generations view Wang Anshi. In all fairness, Wang Anshi is indeed a politician, reformer, and an upright and knowledgeable minister, but the evaluation of him by later generations is really chilling, not to mention that the boring man wrote an article "Anger" halfway up the mountain, which was included in "Sanyan", and Wang Anshi was scolded by a dog. Even after Wang Anshi, many honest, educated and learned ministers disappeared. Wang Anshi's new law, like any new thing, is bound to have many unreasonable places, but why do you even deny the law of bringing people with you? Especially the insult to his personality, it really makes future generations feel chilling!
The party struggle caused by Wang Anshi's political reform can well explain the characteristics of the political reform, that is, China's political reform was by no means bad in the hands of ordinary people, and the struggle for power and interests within the imperial court was the main reason for the premature death of the political reform. This is especially true in the recent 1898 reform movement. 1887 (13th year of Guangxu), Guangxu was sixteen years old. According to tradition, Guangxu was "pro-government", and Empress Dowager Cixi also made a gesture of "removing the curtain and attaching importance to politics". But in fact, the military and political power of the imperial court is still in the hands of Cixi. Guangxu's "pro-government" was a crucial moment when imperialist powers tried to carve up China. The Qing Dynasty signed a series of unequal treaties that humiliated the country. However, the long-term prosperity of imperialism is doomed to completely destroy China, especially the fiasco of the Sino-Japanese naval battle, which has made people of insight in China thoroughly see the situation in China and the world and realize the inevitable trend of national subjugation if they do not change. So, first of all, there is an upsurge of advocating political reform among intellectuals.
The famous "writing on the bus" movement is a great action of modern intellectuals in China to change society. The signing of "treaty of shimonoseki" aroused the great anger of honest intellectuals in China. Kang Youwei joined forces with 1200 juren who took the imperial examination in Beijing to jointly write a letter, demanding political reform, rejecting peace and moving the capital in order to "write a petition on the bus". This petition not only shocked the stubborn ministers of the Qing court, but also made the imperialist powers trying to carve up China see the awakening of the people of China, which had a great influence at that time.
However, due to the strict hierarchy of the Qing court, the letter "writing on the bus" was not sent to Guangxu. Kang Youwei and others were very angry. Twenty days later, they wrote a long paper of more than ten thousand words. After repeated tossing and turning, Guangxu finally saw this paper. Guangxu appreciated many viewpoints put forward by Kang Youwei, promulgated "imperial edict" and implemented new reform policies. Of course, this "imperial edict" is too weak. If it is used to stop a person's official or kill a person's head, it is useless if you want to change the old feudal bureaucracy and implement the so-called New Deal.
Kang Youwei saw that his paper didn't play any role. Then he wrote angrily in 1897 (the 23rd year of Guangxu). Before 1989, Kang Youwei wrote a letter to Guangxu, which has been sinking into the sea. He remembered his many writing experiences and was very angry. In this letter, his wording is very fierce, pointing out that the Japanese parliament and newspapers discuss how to carve up China every day, while China is indifferent. If he doesn't reform his country, China will perish one day. But this article was suppressed by stubborn ministers, and Guangxu did not see it. Later, the letter spread and caused great repercussions in the media. Many newspapers and magazines introduced it. Guangxu also saw this paper from the newspaper, deeply moved, and will soon summon Kang Youwei.
Louis, Prince Gong, resolutely opposed to summoning Kang Youwei, on the grounds that he took his ancestors as an example and officials above level 4 were not allowed to summon him. Guangxu had no choice but to send Weng, Li Hongzhang and Rong Lu to question Kang Youwei, among whom Weng was Guangxu's teacher and belonged to the school that advocated political reform. He truthfully reported Kang Youwei's reply to Guangxu, and Guangxu was deeply moved by Kang Youwei's theory and attitude again. He ordered the collection of Kang Youwei's works and articles, read them carefully, learned a lot from them, strengthened his belief in political reform, and specially ordered that all Kang Youwei's memorials should be delivered at any time and not be intercepted.
Guangxu longed for reform and innovation, but the real power was in the hands of Cixi. Guangxu was actually only a nominal emperor. In order to carry out the new law, he asked Empress Dowager Cixi for power many times, and even once said this: "If Empress Dowager Cixi does not give me power, I would rather be an emperor than a king of national subjugation."
At that time, the call for political reform was extremely high, while the Korean conservatives clung to Empress Dowager Cixi and refused to change the "law of ancestors". Forced by the situation, Cixi had to temporarily give Guangxu some power to change the political system first. When she failed, she condescended to clean up Guangxu with the gesture of cleaning up the mess. This practice is much better than her hard work to obstruct political reform. Therefore, Empress Dowager Cixi agreed to Guangxu's trial reform under strict restrictions.
Reformers in China are often very naive. Guangxu, Liang Qichao and others were ecstatic when they learned that Empress Dowager Cixi agreed to the political reform, thinking that the political reform would be successful. 1June, 898 1 1 day (in the 24th year of Guangxu), Emperor Guangxu promulgated the Imperial Decree on Establishing the Country, which was essentially a declaration of political reform. The imperial edict rebuked the stubborn and conservative bureaucrats, pointed out that political reform was the only way to save the country, and exposed the hypocrisy that the stubborn bureaucrats were empty of saving the country but did not actually save it.
This song "Guo Ding as the Imperial edict" not only expressed the firm belief in Guangxu's reform and innovation, but also shocked the conservative forces headed by Empress Dowager Cixi. From this moment on, Emperor Guangxu successively issued imperial edicts to carry out changes, while Empress Dowager Cixi dispatched troops and prepared to kill the innovation movement by force.
Guangxu summoned Kang Youwei on June 16 after promulgating the imperial edict on June1.Despite the obstruction of conservative ministers, he broke the rule that the emperor was not allowed to summon officials below four grades and talked for two or three hours. After this summons, Guangxu not only strengthened his confidence in the reform, but also had a certain understanding of the content of the reform. In this way, Guangxu sat in the dragon chair and made great innovations.
In the days from issuing "making the country an imperial edict" to thoroughly suppressing the political reform, Guangxu issued more than 1 10 imperial edicts, sometimes as many as five or six in one day. Its reform contents include: setting up schools, learning western learning, and sending people abroad to travel and study; Reform the imperial examination and abolish stereotyped writing; Reward the establishment of newspapers and periodicals and advocate writing letters and suggestions; Encourage railway construction, mining and agriculture, industry and commerce; Reward new inventions and works; Withdraw from the station and post; Reduce officials, streamline institutions and revise rules and regulations; Reforming military training and practicing Lu Haijun's new tactics: reforming finance and making financial budget; Allow banners to die, and so on.
There is no doubt that these comprehensive reform measures in the political, military, economic and cultural fields are useful for increasing China's national strength, but it is also true that many of them touch on the ideas and interests of feudal conservatives. So these measures aroused their panic and anger, and they encouraged Empress Dowager Cixi to resolutely eliminate the political reform.
Empress Dowager Cixi disagreed with the reform itself. As a representative of the feudal old school, she has no reform ideas and qualities at all. More importantly, she is absolutely unwilling to give up her power. If the reform in Guangxu continued to develop in depth, it also achieved certain results. After winning the hearts and minds of the ruling and opposition parties, she can no longer control state affairs. Therefore, Empress Dowager Cixi will never allow Guangxu's reform to succeed. During the Reform Movement of 1898, many conservative ministers refused to implement the reform measures, not only admonished Emperor Guangxu in person, but also suppressed the imperial edict from being passed down, or withheld the imperial edict from being sent. In a rage, Guangxu was just an official of many people. In dealing with an incident of detaining the throne, Guangxu dismissed six ministers at once, which caused a sensational "dismissal from office" incident.
Of course, Empress Dowager Cixi never relaxed her vigilance against Guangxu for a moment. She hid in the Summer Palace and knew everything about Guangxu. As early as "making the country an imperial edict", Cixi made three imperial edicts, only withdrawing Weng Guan, which made Guangxu lose his right-hand man and ordered senior officials above the second class to thank the Queen Mother, thus firmly grasping the personnel power.
After the Liutangguan Incident, Cixi stepped up her plot and prepared to take Guangxu by force. Cixi asked Rong Lu, who was in charge of the army, to send troops and surround Beijing. So Rong Lu transferred some of the most elite troops of the Qing Dynasty to the surrounding areas of Beijing. One is to transfer Gan Jun from Nie Shicheng to Tianjin, and the other is to transfer Wu Yijun from Dong Fuxiang to Changxindian. Cixi also sent cronies to closely guard the Summer Palace. In this way, Cixi has nothing to hide.
Interestingly, compared with the 100,000 male teachers of Empress Dowager Cixi, the reformists in Guangxu were only a few weak scholars. During the Reform Movement of 1898, Guangxu awarded Tan Sitong, Liu Guangdi, Yang Rui, Xu Lin and others four official positions, and worked as Zhang Jing in the military department to do clerical work, which was called "the four ministers of military aircraft", plus Kang Youwei and Liang Qichao, but there were only six people. And these people have no military and political power at all. They can only have a memorial today and a memorial tomorrow, even without seeing Guangxu's face. And Guangxu? Today is the imperial edict, tomorrow is the imperial edict. As for whether it can be implemented, God knows. This reform has a great influence on ideology and culture, but in practice it is tantamount to children playing house. When adults come, children have to break up.
Guangxu knew nothing about Cixi's plot, but from the feeling of seeing Cixi every day, he realized that the general trend was not good. So he wrote several "secret letters" asking Kang Youwei to run a newspaper office in Shanghai, which really asked him to take refuge. When Guangxu secretly called Yang Rui into the palace, explained the emergency to him and asked him to do his best, Yang Rui panicked and blurted out a bookish sentence: "This is your majesty's family matter and should be discussed with your family." At this moment. Guangxu was completely desperate. He was anxious, anxious and angry, but he was at a loss. He is a clever man. You know, you can only do nothing.
Tan sitong, born in Liuyang, Hunan, was born in Resurrection. He hated the imperial examination, appreciated the ideas of Gong Zizhen and Huang Zongxi, and actively engaged in political reform activities. Tan Sitong was one of the famous "six gentlemen" who were killed after the failure of the Reform Movement of 1898. Tan Sitong is progressive in thought, knowledgeable, fierce and persistent, and good at action, which is the material for innovation.
But he still wants to make some efforts. At that time, Yuan Shikai was in Beijing, and Guangxu summoned Yuan Shikai on September 16. In Guangxu's view, Yuan Shikai has always been more active in the reform and reform. He wants to win Yuan Shikai's army, and there may be hope to save the defeat. Guangxu praised and promoted Yuan Shikai when he met him. Yuan Shikai was pleasantly surprised at first, but then it dawned on him that Guangxu wanted to use himself. Yuan Shikai, after weighing the forces of all parties, immediately ran back to Tianjin for garrison and told Rong Lu. Rong Lu got the news and took a train from Tianjin to the Summer Palace that night to report to Cixi.
On September 2 1 day, Empress Dowager Cixi came back from the Summer Palace, and Guangxu hurriedly knelt down to meet her. Empress Dowager Cixi reprimanded him with an expression, and issued two "imperial edicts" in the name of Guangxu, announcing Guangxu's abdication and remonstrating herself. Cixi imprisoned Guangxu in Yingtai, captured Kang, Yang Rui, Tan Sitong and Liu Guangdi, and killed them in Beijing Caishikou, known as the "Six Gentlemen of the 1898 Movement".
From1June, 898 1 1 day, Guangxu issued the "imperial edict of Guo Ding", and on September 2 1 day, Cixi was restored, which was called "Hundred Days Reform" in history, and because the twenty-fourth year of Guangxu was the year of the Reform Movement of 1898, it was called "the Reform Movement of 1898".
The reform movement failed miraculously. Seeing this situation, the imperialist powers knew that China's politics was more corrupt, so they attacked China on a large scale, and the domestic anti-imperialist patriotic Boxer movement was also vigorous. Under the attack of these two forces, Cixi Group was unable to cope, but declared war on the powers and was forced to flee from Beijing. Emperor Guangxu was a prisoner at this time, but he had a clear understanding of the current situation. He still hoped to stabilize the imperialist powers for the time being and make a good plan when the national strength was strong, but it was not accepted by Cixi. 1900 August, Eight-Nation Alliance Enemy at the Gates, Cixi had to flee in a hurry. When she fled, she took Guangxu hostage and pushed her favorite concubine Zhen Fei alive into the well to be executed. The following year, Cixi held Guangxu hostage and returned to Beijing from xi 'an. At this time, Guangxu gradually matured after experiencing great storms, and he firmly believed that only through political reform could China avoid the fate of being destroyed by imperialist powers. He has always been obsessed with political reform, hoping that he can regain power and re-enact new laws after the death of Empress Dowager Cixi. However, he never moved down the mountain of Cixi, and history never gave him a chance.
He wanted to endure the death of Cixi, but he died young because of excessive depression. He died on 1908 at the age of 38.
The fate of many reformers in history is the same, so I won't state it here.
From this perspective, the reform in the history of China is an altar, and the reformers are the sacrifices on this altar. This altar is full of tragic colors, which makes people extremely sad.