Xinyou Coup

The eight regents, Sushun, Zaiyuan, Duanhua, Jingshou (景壽), Muyin, Kuang Yuan (匡源), Du Han (杜翰) and Jiao Youying (焦祐瀛) were stripped of official positions.

In Rehe Province, while waiting for an astrologically favourable time to transport the emperor's coffin back to Beijing, Cixi conspired with court officials and imperial relatives to seize power.

Cixi's early return to Beijing meant that she had more time to plan with Prince Gong and ensure that the power base of the eight regents was divided between Sushun and his allies, Zaiyuan and Duanhua.

In order to remove them from power, history was rewritten: the regents were dismissed for having carried out incompetent negotiations with the "barbarians" that had caused the Xianfeng Emperor to flee to Rehe Province "greatly against his will", among other charges.

[3] The verdict of the other five regents was: Jingshou, retained his honorary title efu (額駙) and banned from participating in political activities; Muyin, forced to serve at frontier military outposts in Xinjiang (軍臺效力); Kuang Yuan, Du Han and Jiao Youying, stripped of official positions.

In breaking with tradition, Cixi became the only empress dowager in the Qing dynasty to rule from "behind the curtains", a practice known as chuí lián tīng zhèng (垂帘听政) in Chinese.