els . ▁The ▁imperial ▁court ▁issued ▁a ▁dec ree ▁to ▁pra ise ▁Prince ▁G ong ▁for ▁his ▁effective ▁leadership ▁in ▁the ▁reg ency ▁that ▁led ▁to ▁the ▁end ▁of ▁the ▁re bell ion ▁– ▁in ▁addition ▁to ▁confer ring ▁more ▁pr estig ious ▁titles ▁on ▁his ▁sons ▁Za ich eng , ▁Za ij un ▁and ▁Z ai ying . ▁ ▁As ▁the ▁long standing ▁leader ▁of ▁the ▁Z ong li ▁Y amen , ▁which ▁he ▁established ▁in ▁ 1 8 6 1 , ▁Prince ▁G ong ▁was ▁responsible ▁for ▁spe ar head ing ▁various ▁re forms ▁in ▁the ▁early ▁stages ▁of ▁the ▁Self - Str ength ening ▁Mov ement , ▁a ▁series ▁of ▁measures ▁and ▁policy ▁changes ▁implemented ▁by ▁the ▁Q ing ▁government ▁with ▁the ▁aim ▁of ▁modern ising ▁China . ▁He ▁also ▁founded ▁the ▁T ong wen ▁Gu an ▁in ▁ 1 8 6 2 ▁for ▁Chinese ▁sch ol ars ▁to ▁study ▁technology ▁and ▁foreign ▁languages . ▁ ▁Fall ▁from ▁grace ▁ ▁Ar ound ▁April ▁ 1 8 6 5 , ▁an ▁official , ▁C ai ▁Sh ou qi ▁( <0xE8> <0x94> <0xA1> <0xE5> <0xA3> <0xBD> <0xE7> <0xA5> <0xBA> ), ▁accused ▁Prince ▁G ong ▁of ▁" mon opol ising ▁state ▁power , ▁accepting ▁b rib es , ▁pract ising ▁favour it ism , ▁behav ing ▁ar rog antly , ▁and ▁showing ▁dis res pect ▁towards ▁the ▁Emperor ". ▁The ▁Em press ▁Dow agers ▁Ci ' an ▁and ▁C ix i ▁public ly ▁repr im and ed ▁Prince ▁G ong ▁and ▁stri pped