Page:Eminent Chinese Of The Ch’ing Period - Hummel - 1943 - Vol. 1.pdf/394

Rh In November a new arrangement was made by which the empresses acted as co-regents and I-hsin as I-chêng Wang 議政王 or Prince Counselor (see under and ). I-hsin declined an offer to make his princedom "perpetually inheritable" (世襲), but accepted the double annual stipend of a prince of the first degree. In addition to directing foreign affairs he was in charge of the Grand Council which advised the throne on all important matters of state; had supervision of Emperor Mu-tsung's education; and took charge of the Peking Field Force (Shên-chi-ying 神機營), a division of musketeers organized in 1862 with firearms presented by Russia.

In 1864 Nanking was fully recovered from the Taipings (see under ). I-hsin was lauded for his part in directing the campaign and was rewarded by being given the additional rank of a prince of the third degree which was inherited by his eldest son, Tsai-ch'êng (see below). Nevertheless, after foreign pressure had eased, and the civil war was nearly over, the powers of I-hsin were found to be too great for the comfort of the ambitious Empress Hsiao-ch'in. On April 2, 1865 he was deprived of all his offices on the vague charge that he had shown partiality to his relatives and was often careless in his conduct at Court. Though, owing to the urgent pleas of officials at Court, he was reinstated as head of the Tsungli Yamen (April 7) and of the Grand Council (May 8), he no longer held the rank of Prince Counselor. In 1872, when Emperor Mu-tsung married, he conferred on I-hsin's princedom the right of perpetual inheritance. Nevertheless, after the Emperor took over in 1873 the control which previously rested with the dowager empresses, I-hsin was not always in favor. By September 10, 1874 I-hsin had so displeased the Emperor that he was deprived of all his ranks and offices and was reduced to a prince of the second degree. His son, Tsai-ch'êng, was at the same time deprived of his rank as a prince of the third degree. The edict accused I-hsin of discourteous conduct in an audience. But the real cause was a dispute on the question of the restoration of the Yüan-ming Yuan, which was opposed by I-hsin. Nevertheless, on the following day the emperor, by order of the dowager empresses, and at the request of princes and high officials, was compelled to restore to I-hsin and to Tsai-ch'êng all their ranks and offices. It is said that the decision to retain I-hsin was in some way motivated by the strained relations then existing between China and Japan over the murder of Loochoo Islanders in Formosa (see under ). Late in 1874, when Emperor Mu-tsung had temporarily recovered from small-pox, he dispensed various honors to courtiers and at the same time had I-hsin's stipends tripled. In the course of the Emperor's illness I-hsin was entrusted with reading and answering memorials.

After the Emperor's death, it would have been a simple matter to curb the ambition of Empress Hsiao-ch'in by choosing as Emperor a more mature person. But the opportunity was lost when Empress Hsiao-ch'in named her own nephew,, the son of , successor to the throne (see under ). The power of Empress Hsiao-ch'in was thus firmly established. Although I-hsin continued in office nine years longer (1875–84), his authority gradually diminished. In 1884, when war with France seemed inevitable, irresponsible censors, particularly, blamed him for mismanagement of the government. Consequently he and all the members of the Tsungli Yamen and the Grand Council were cashiered or degraded. Shih-to (see under ) was given charge of the Grand Council (until 1901) and I-k'uang (see under ) directed the Tsungli Yamen. But the real power rested with the emperor's father, I-huan, until the latter died early in 1891.

Thus after having steered the country on a safe course for twenty-three years, the experience of I-hsin was disregarded. He was allowed to retain his princedom as a perpetual inheritance, but was deprived of all his offices and of his added annual stipends. In 1886 he was again honored by being given double stipends, but remained in obscurity. To be sure, in the crisis of the Sino-Japanese War, he was again called upon to serve the country, for in October 1894 he was once more placed in charge of the Tsungli Yamen and was ordered to serve on the Board of Admiralty (see under ) and on the War Council (Chün-wu ch'u 軍務處), an office especially created to direct the war with Japan. And in December he was made head of the Grand Council. Nevertheless, the war was already lost, and there was nothing I-hsin could do except to witness the conclusion of the ignominious Treaty of Shimonoseki in 1895 (see under ). Moreover, he was old and infirm and was filled with resentment against the entire Court. He declined to assume full responsibility and spent most of his last days at his garden, Lang-jun Yüan 朗潤園, west of 382