Old photos of the five ministers inspecting Germany in 1906

In 1906, the five ministers inspected the old photos of Germany. In 1905, Japan’s victory in the Russo Japanese War became the fuse of the constitutional trend in modern China& ldquo; If you are poor, you will change;. Yuan Shikai, Zhou Fu, Zhang Zhidong and other important officials in the court, under the promotion of other officials and constitutionalists, jointly wrote a letter requesting the Qing government to implement a constitutional regime and sending officials abroad to investigate the constitutionalism of other countries

The Qing government decided to send princes and ministers abroad to investigate the politics of Europe, America, Japan and other countries in depth, and then made decisions after returning home, so there was 1905— In 1906, the five ministers went abroad. The candidates assigned by the Qing government to investigate political envoys have changed several times. At first, they wanted to send Bei Zizai Zhen, Minister of Military Aircraft Rong Qing, Minister of the Ministry of Household Zhang Baixi and Hunan Governor Duanfang. Later, because Rongqing and Zhang Baixi were unwilling to go, they changed to send Zhenguo Gongzai Ze and Minister of Military Aircraft Xu Shichang, and soon added Shaoying, the Right Prime Minister of the Ministry of Commerce

On September 24, 1905 (the 31st year of Guangxu’s reign), when the mission was getting on the train at Zhengyangmen Station in Beijing and preparing to leave, it was attacked by Wu Yue, a revolutionary. Shao Ying and others were injured, and Xu Shichang, who was also the minister of the patrol department, could not leave. He also sent Shang Qiheng, Shandong’s chief political envoy, and Li Shengduo, Shuntian’s official. Therefore, the last five ministers who really went abroad were Zaiza, Dai Hongci, Duanfang, Shang Qiheng and Li Shengduo, all of whom were high-ranking first and second class officials

The five ministers also selected a large number of attendants when they went abroad. The selection criteria were“ Only those who choose to be pure and enlightened can share their responsibilities;. The attendants were not only numerous, but also of high rank and good quality. Many of them later became figures of the day in the political arena and in the diplomatic arena. At first, they played a list of 38 people. In fact, when they set out in two ways, the list of accompanying or advanced personnel mentioned in Zaizawa’s diary alone had reached 54 people

After passing through Japan, the United States, Britain and France, the delegation entered Germany at midnight on March 6, 1906. Arrived in Berlin on the morning of the 7th, Germany arranged them at the Royal Hotel. The German emperor also welcomed the delegation; The Emperor of Germany also gave Dai Hongci and Duan Fangtou the Great Cross Star Medal. In their spare time, the ministers investigating the constitutional government are also enjoying a rare leisure time

In order to well receive the Chinese delegation and arrange the investigation activities, the relevant German ministries and departments of the empire did a thorough and meticulous job. Because the delegation lacked the necessary expertise, Germany specially compiled and printed more understandable and detailed materials for them, and please bring them back to the Chinese emperor

The most important role played by the five ministers when they went abroad was to promote the determination of the basic national policy of the Qing government to prepare for the constitution. As soon as they returned to Beijing, they went straight to the Summer Palace to reply. Empress Dowager Cixi and Emperor Guangxu immediately summoned them. Zaiza and Dai Hongci were summoned twice, Duanfang was summoned three times, and Shang Qiheng was summoned once. When they were summoned, Chen“ Harms and benefits of unconstitutionalism in China”, And several memorials were added to explain in detail

1906年 五大臣考察德国老照片

1905年，日本在日俄战争中的胜利，成为了激荡中国近代社会立宪思潮的导火索。“穷则变，变则通”。朝中重臣袁世凯、周馥、张之洞等人在其他官员和立宪派的推动下，联名上书，请求清朝政府实行立宪政体，并提出了派遣官员出国考察其他国家宪政的请求。

清廷决定派王公大臣出洋，深入考察欧美及日本等国政治，归国报告后再做决策，于是就有了1905—1906年的五大臣出洋。 清廷所派考察政治出使大臣的人选几经变动，最初曾想派贝子载振、军机大臣荣庆、户部尚书张百熙和湖南巡抚端方，后因荣庆、张百熙不愿去，改派镇国公载泽、军机大臣徐世昌，不久又追加商部右丞绍英。

1905年（光绪三十一年）9月24日，正值使团在北京正阳门车站上车准备出发时，遭革命党人吴樾炸弹袭击。绍英等受伤，徐世昌兼任巡警部尚书也走不了，又改派山东布政使尚其亨和顺天府丞李盛铎。因此，最后真正出洋的五大臣是载泽、戴鸿慈、端方、尚其亨、李盛铎，全部是高级别的一二品大员。

五大臣出洋还选调了大批随员，选拔标准是“必须择其心地纯正见识开通者，方足以分任其事”。随员不仅人数众多，而且级别较高、素质较好，不少人后来成为政坛和外交界的风云人物。他们先是奏调了38人名单，实际上后来分两路出发时，仅载泽一路在其日记上提到的随行或先遣人员名单已达54人。

考察团一路经日、美、英、法之后，于1906年3月6日半夜时分入境德国。7日早上到达柏林，德国将他们安排在皇家饭店。德国皇帝对考察团亦是欢迎备至；德皇还送给戴鸿慈和端方头等大十字宝星勋章。在参观余暇，考察宪政的大臣们也在享受着难得的休闲时光。

为了做好中国考察团的接待和安排考察活动，德国有关的部委和帝国的有关部门确实做了周到细致的工作。因为考察团缺乏必要的专业知识，德国专门为他们编印了较宜理解而又详细的资料，并请带回给中国皇帝。

五大臣出洋所起的最重要作用是推动了清政府预备立宪基本国策的确定。他们一回到北京就直奔颐和园复命，慈禧太后和光绪皇帝立即召见他们。前后计召见载泽、戴鸿慈各2次，召见端方3次，尚其亨1次。他们在召见时力陈“中国不立宪之害及立宪之利”，并一连上了好几份奏折，详加阐述。