At that time, the main political forces of the imperial court could be divided into three groups:
First, courtier power. Its representative figures are Zai Yuan, Duan Hua, Jing Shou, Su Shun, Yin Mu, Kuangyuan, Du Han and Jiao Youying. Let's analyze them:
Zai Yuan: Zai Yuan is the grandson of Prince Yunxiang V, the 13th son of Kangxi, who beat the prince. When Daoguang was in power, he was appointed as the censor, who took care of him. Xianfeng inherited the throne from Zong Zheng and was in charge of the guards. The entourage fled from Xianfeng to chengde mountain resort. With Duan Hua and Su Shun, they are senior and powerful.
Duan Hua: After Zheng Qinwang Jilalang, the son of Shu 'erhaqi, the founder of Qing Dynasty, he attacked Zheng Qinwang in Daoguang period and was made an imperial envoy. After Daoguang died, he was taken good care of. After Xianfeng succeeded to the throne, he was the minister in charge of the guards. The entourage fled from Xianfeng to chengde mountain resort. Duan Hua and his brother Su Shun are in the same position.
Su Shun: The imperial clan originated from Zheng Qinwang, the younger brother of Duan Hua. When Daoguang was a minister of scattered ranks. After Xianfeng succeeded to the throne, he was commanded by the imperial guards and awarded the imperial guards. Successive Zuodu Shi Yu, Li Fan Yuan Shangshu, Dutong, and later commanders, ministers of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, ministers of the Ministry of Housing, university students and assistant ministers. Su Shun and his younger brother, Zai Yuan, Prince Duan Hua and Grace of Zheng Qinwang, relied on each other to eliminate dissidents and seize power.
Jing Shou: Jing Shou's ancestors were first-class honest, brave, just and wise people. Ganlong was blocked when he attacked Myanmar, but it was replaced by hereditary. Three Jing Qing, dead. Brother Jing Shou attacked Feng. Jing Shou is a command minister, Prince Gong Yi and his mother and sister Princess Julun.
Yin Mu: People from Zhengbaiqi, Manchuria, Minister of Military Aircraft, Minister of Ministry of War, and imperial academy toasted (not for Jinshi). To make peace in Tianjin, Parkes was sent to Beijing, and things got too big, so he was sent to escort Jehol.
Kuang Yuan: Daoguang Jinshi, Minister of Military Aircraft.
Du Han: Son of Du Shoutian, a master of Xianfeng. Xianfeng, out of gratitude to his master Du Shoutian, named his son Du Han Minister of Military Aircraft. It refuted Dong's suggestion of inviting the Empress Dowager of the two palaces to listen to politics, which was appreciated by others.
Jiao Youying: Zhang Jing, the minister of military affairs, attached himself to Su Shun, the powerful minister, and wrote many letters.
Among the above-mentioned eight ministers who paid attention to life and praised government affairs, there were mainly two parts:,,, Jing Shou was a royal family and a military aristocrat; Yin Mu, Kuangyuan, Du Han and Jiao Youying are ministers of the Ministry of Military Affairs. At that time, there were five military ministers, among whom He Zuo was the assistant minister of the Ministry of Civil Affairs (Shang Shu), and he was the only military minister who was excluded from the Minister of State of Zambia.
Second, the influence of Emperor Yin. When Xianfeng died, Daoguang's nine sons were still alive, including Prince Wu May, Prince Liu May, Wang Yi in Alcohol County of Seven May, Wang Yi in Loyalty County of Eight May and Wang Yi in Fufu County of Nine May. When Xianfeng died, Prince Gong was 30 years old and Wang Yi in Chun County was 20 years old, both of whom were in their prime of life. At present, there are Emperor Xianfeng, the Minister of War, the Minister of Command and Ambassador, and the Minister of the Interior. They all fled to the summer resort, and almost no one went to the front. Prince Gong and Wang Yi of Alcohol County are idle princes and county kings with vacant titles. They are neither college students, nor military ministers, nor command ministers, but they have to stand in the front line to deal with such a mess. Yi and others were already dissatisfied with Xianfeng's accession to the throne, and they were exempted from the military minister, the imperial edict of Zongrenfu and the Eight Banners' commander. They wanted to go to Chengde to attend the funeral, but they were rejected. In particular, as a blood relative of Emperor Xianfeng, he was not included in the chapter of "Imperial Reward" and "Consanguinity", so he was not suitable for being reasonable. New hatred and old hatred come together. Besides, Prince Gong is not an isolated person. He United your brother, Wang Yi, an alcohol county with no official position, United the forces after the emperor, United the forces in the DPRK except the minister in charge of life, and became a powerful political force in the DPRK.
Third, the power of the emperor. He is a 6-year-old Tongzhi emperor, Empress Dowager Cixi. Although they were orphans and widows, they were the core of imperial power in the imperial era. Before his death, Xianfeng specially made two seals, namely "Imperial Reward" and "Friendship Hall", as a sign of issuing imperial edicts in the future. In other words, the memorial was "written by the minister Zanxiang, and when the queen mother and the emperor read it, they used the seal of' Royal Reward' to cover the seal of' Tongrentang' and thought it was credible". These two seals, the seal of "Imperial Reward", are for printing; The seal of "A" is the seal (end). Give the "Royal Reward" seal to Queen Niu Zhilu; The chapter "Compatriot Family" was handed over to Crown Prince Zai Chun. Because Zai Chun is young, the chapter "Family" is actually the responsibility of his biological mother Yi Guifei. Xianfeng's will is that after his death, Queen Niu Zhilu, Yi Guifei's Ye Lashi and eight ministers will jointly govern, so as to avoid the autocratic power of eight ministers and the autocratic power of Queen Niu Zhilu and Yi Guifei's Ye Lashi. The real power of Queen Niu Zhilu and Yi Guifei Ye He Na Lashi is higher than that of the Eight Ministers, because they both have the veto power of big princess (the eldest daughter of Prince Gong) and eldest brother (the Tongzhi Emperor) who do not seal the military and political decisions of the Eight Ministers. Obviously, if Queen Niu Zhilu and Ye He Na Lashi of Yi Guifei don't affix the seals of "Imperial Reward" and "Consanguinity", then the Eight Ministers of Zanxiang Government Affairs can't issue "imperial edict" and "imperial edict", and the resolution of Zanxiang Government Affairs can't take effect. On the contrary, if the Minister of the Interior drafts a decree without the consent of Gu Ming's eight ministers, and stamps it with "Imperial Reward" and "Fellowship", the decree will take effect. Therefore, imperial power is the most important political power of the imperial court. In the attitude towards ministers, the interests of the Empress and Emperor Yin are the same, and they joined forces to deal with the eight ministers. In the comparison of the political power of courtiers, Yin emperors and empresses, it is obvious that Yin emperors and empresses have an advantage.
The common feature of the eight ministers of Zanxiang government affairs is the combination of Manchu nobles (imperial clan nobles, military nobles and Eight Banners nobles) and military ministers. On the surface, this is a structure of power checks and balances, but it is not. Because Xianfeng didn't bring the influence of Yin emperor's nobles into the power system of "praising township government affairs". For example, beating the Regent with Prince Gong, discussing politics, supporting politics, or praising items, the latter situation is different. At that time, Yi was 30 years old and Cixi was 27 years old. Xianfeng may have learned the lesson that Prince Dourgen's regency led to the contradiction between an uncle and an nephew. Judging from Cixi's heavy use of chess, this combination is inevitable. Looking at the number of people alone, there are eight ministers of "Zanxiang government affairs"; Empress dowager of the two palaces+Tongzhi+five noble chess talents of Emperor Yin, and orphans and widows of the emperor and queen. But the nobles of Empress Dowager+Tongzhi+Emperor Yin, Yi, Yi, represent two powerful political groups and two powerful political forces. Therefore, Xianfeng's arrangement of "praising government affairs" made a fatal mistake, that is, it did not balance the three major political forces of the imperial court. In particular, Xianfeng didn't know enough about the political potential of Cixi and Yi, and underestimated the political crisis caused by power imbalance. As a result, the forces of Empress Dowager Cixi joined forces with those of Empress Yin to launch a palace coup, that is, the "Xinyou coup", which destroyed the eight-minister group of "Zanxiang government affairs" and replaced it with Empress Dowager Cixi and Prince Gong, so that the Empress Dowager Cixi monopolized the power. This is what Xianfeng did not expect before his death. In the "Xinyou coup", the political power of the eight ministers of Zanxiang government affairs was not dominant, and the fundamental reason for their failure was here.
Emperor Xianfeng's failure to correctly balance the relationship between the major political forces during his lifetime led to the Xinyou coup, which led to the situation of Empress Dowager Cixi's "listening to politics" and affected the history of China for nearly 50 years! This made the third biggest mistake of Emperor Xianfeng!