In the late Qing dynasty, among the important cabinet members of the royal family, the weight of minister Han was greatly reduced.
Although the Revolution of 1911 is said to be a response to the French Revolution more than 100 years ago, with the aim of ending imperial power and rebuilding civil rights, it is obviously accidental and not inevitable in the historical causal chain. There are two things that caused this accident: the first is that the Qing court accidentally turned the responsible cabinet into a royal cabinet and a pro-expensive cabinet; Second, the first document issued by the royal cabinet turned out to be the nationalization of railway trunk lines, which completely subverted the political and economic reforms painstakingly managed by the Qing court for more than ten years and even sent the Qing court into history.
The Qing court's concession to constitutionalism
Responsible cabinet is the inevitable choice of constitutional monarchy. The so-called constitutional monarchy is actually to use the constitution to restrain the power of the monarch and hand over the power to manage the daily affairs of the country to the cabinet; Many times, the monarch is no longer at the crossroads of power and is no longer the focus of various political forces.
When the Qing court announced the preparation for constitutionalism in 1906, there were enough political considerations. Later, the Outline of the King James Constitution was promulgated, and the constitutional agenda was announced. The establishment of a responsible cabinet has always been the proper meaning in the constitutional preparation, and no one doubts it. This has long been achieved between the ruling and opposition parties, and there are no obstacles. The main difference between the ruling and opposition parties lies in the time, that is, when to convene the National Assembly and when to announce the list of the first responsible cabinet.
From the standpoint of the imperial court, they hope to realize it step by step according to the list of preparatory constitutionalism; Because of the repeated stimulation of the diplomatic crisis, the people whose political emotions have been mobilized always hope that the court will adjust its plan according to the changing situation, convene the Congress as soon as possible and set up a responsible cabinet. These are the themes of the wave after wave of congressional petition movements in those years.
In fact, the court has always responded to the people's demands in good faith and has not categorically rejected the people's voices. However, it is still too early to immediately convene the National Assembly to announce a responsible cabinet. After all, this involves a major change in the national management system and cannot be sloppy at all. The attitude of the imperial court is understandably cautious, but the people are ungrateful. 19 10 In August, the provinces petitioned the representatives of the National Assembly to make a resolution, announcing that the National Assembly would not be held, and the provinces advocated "no taxation", demanding that the provincial advisory boards not recognize the new rent tax before the National Assembly was held. This will turn the procedural conflict in democratic politics into political confrontation.
More strangely, this kind of political confrontation is not only manifested in the differences between the ruling and opposition parties, not only in the court and the people, but also in the increasingly serious power conflict between the central and local governments with the development of constitutionalism. Local governors gradually stood on the side of the people, especially the constitutionalists, and became the opposite of the imperial court, which had a vital influence on the later decision-making of the imperial court.
19 10 On September 30th, Governor Zhang of Guangxi presented a memorial to the imperial court, arguing that the preparation for constitutionalism should start from the source, which is actually responsible cabinet, congress and judicial independence. As for the so-called education, patrol and autonomy that people have been talking about, they all belong to the category of general administration. Whether it is before or after constitutionalism, it should be promoted in turn according to the strength of the people. Even if the monarchy is realized in the future, the reform of these ordinary administrative institutions will not end there.
Zhang's statement is of course reasonable, so after the meeting of senior advisers of the Central Provisional Parliament, the provincial constitutionalists began to gather in Beijing again. They launched the third parliamentary petition movement, which was even more powerful, strongly demanding the Regent to make a decisive decision and calling for the National Assembly to be held that day.
The court actively responded to the appeals of local governors and local constitutionalists, and announced on June 4 that the nine-year preparatory constitutional period would be shortened to five years, and the responsible cabinet would be organized in advance. It should be said that the court's concession is still relatively large.
Vicious interaction of political change
The retreat of the imperial court means that the previous "planned politics" can be adjusted at any time, which opens the vicious interaction of political changes. The great concession of the imperial court from nine years to five years not only failed to meet the demands of the constitutionalists, but also caused them to think: since it can be changed from nine years to five years, why can't it be implemented immediately?
1910165438+10. On 9 October, Sun Baodi, the governor of Shandong Province, presented a petition to a gentleman in the village, calling on the court to set up a national assembly as soon as possible. On February 9, 65438, General Liang, the governor of the three northeastern provinces, sent a letter to the imperial court in response to the appeal of the gentry and the people in the province, stressing that the establishment of a cabinet at the time of the founding of the People's Republic of China was the key to reversing the overall situation and the only way to prevent the territory of the three northeastern provinces from becoming exotic.
The suggestions of Sun Baodi, Liang and other officials did not change the court's mind, but the previous adjustment to the constitutional period undoubtedly inspired people's expectations for miracles, and I believe that the court will not ignore the people's demands in the end. As a result, the voices of gentry, people and even students all over the country demanding that the court form a cabinet as soon as possible when the People's Republic of China was founded are getting louder and louder, and various petition movements are surging.
At that time, China's politics formed a very peculiar landscape. Local governors, senior advisory committees and consultative committees stood with the people and demanded that political reform be accelerated. Only when the imperial court was independent for five years could the "planned politics" of constitutionalism be implemented. The persistence of the Qing court is not immobile, but moving forward according to the established timetable. On June19117 10/7, the Constitutional Compilation Investigation Office compiled the revised annual list of constitutional preparations according to the instructions of the imperial court, which clearly stipulated the preparations for the next two years. On the 28th, the court announced Xuantong's three-year budget. This is the first time in China's thousands of years of history that the government's revenue and expenditure have been announced to the public. It is not difficult to understand the sincerity of the Qing court's constitutionalism from here.
The sincerity of the Qing court won the goodwill response from all sides, and the domestic situation was generally calm in the following months. Even though the Huanghuagang Uprising took place in Guangzhou in the spring, it did not affect the determination of the Qing court to establish a constitution. All walks of life in China are relatively calm, and there are not many assemblies, processions or petitions. Let's wait for the court to implement the constitutional steps step by step. Think about it. It has been three years since Xuan Tong was founded. Even if Xuan Tong enters the constitutional stage in five years, isn't it two years? Two thousand years passed in this way. Why can't we wait two years?
China spent half a year waiting quietly. On May 8, according to the constitutional agenda, the Qing court promulgated the cabinet constitution and official system, abolished the old cabinet, military department and conference administration department, and organized a new central power center, namely the new cabinet, in accordance with the principle of constitutional monarchy. The new cabinet has a prime minister and two assistant ministers. There is only one minister in each of the ten ministries, regardless of Manchu and Han, and national origin is no longer the criterion for selecting ministers. This not only objectively eliminated the differences between Manchu and Han nationalities, but also quietly abolished the criticized "Manchu-Han dual-track system", greatly reducing government positions and helping to reduce the burden on taxpayers.
It should be said that the political structure of the new cabinet and the establishment of various ministries and institutes have been reformed, and the criticisms from all walks of life in previous years have also been absorbed and adopted to a certain extent. This new cabinet is actually a responsible cabinet under constitutionalism, regardless of its authority or setting. The Prime Minister of the Cabinet, under the leadership of the Minister of State, adheres to Chen Mo's political principles and maintains administrative unity.
It can be said that the new cabinet was established, and it was established and issued in accordance with the adjusted constitutional steps. All parties should be satisfied with peace of mind and believe that the court will follow the established plan. However, no one expected that China, which had tended to be calm, was subverted by this cabinet list, and history has since turned over.