Chapter 71 Section 71 Yunnan Incident

Yunnan is the land of the Qing Dynasty that Britain, France and other countries have long wanted to enter. In order to achieve this goal, Britain first occupied Burma by force; France also controlled southern Vietnam by force and diplomatic means. In the eighth year of Tongzhi (AD 1869), a large-scale Muslim uprising broke out in Yunnan. Britain, France and other countries wanted to take advantage of it, but the uprising was quickly suppressed by the government.Both goals were not achieved.In October of the thirteenth year of Tongzhi (AD 1874), Wade, the British envoy to China, suddenly asked the Zongli Yamen for the travel passports of three or four officials from Burma to Yunnan. The name is the reality of exploring the way.

Wade handed over the passport to Ma Jiali, the Chinese interpreter of the Legation in China, and Ma Jiali set out from the capital to meet the road-finding team in Yunnan and acted as the interpreter for the road-finding team. The pathfinding team was far from three or four people, but an armed force composed of nearly 200 people, led by Bai Lang, an active British military officer.Ma Jiali arrived in Bhamo (a town in northern Myanmar) on January 17, the first year of Guangxu (AD 1875), and soon joined Bai Lang and others.In early February, the Pathfinder Team left Bhamo and headed for Yunnan.After entering Yunnan, I neither met the local government, nor explained the situation to the gentry and common people along the way, but just kept going.On the way, Ma Jiali did not explain to the people who were inquiring, and threatened to attack Tengyue City.

The pathfinding team's move and Ma Jiali's threat aroused the uneasiness of the local people, and some people quickly reported it to the government.However, the local officials did not send personnel to contact the pathfinding team, nor did they explain to the people, they just pretended not to know.Some people began to rumor that this team of foreigners came here for the purpose of attacking Tengyue City. Rumor has it that long legs can run. When Ma Jiali and his party arrived at the Manyun area near Tengyue City, they were surrounded by nearly a thousand people armed with machetes and wooden sticks.

Seeing that the situation was not good, Bai Lang hurriedly led his people to retreat. As Ma Jiali was also responsible for interpreting, not only could he not withdraw with the team, but he had to go forward to explain the situation. But the common people did not allow Ma Jiali to speak. First, one person rushed forward, knocked Ma Jiali over with a stick, and then swarmed forward.Margaret was trampled into a big meat pie.The people then surrounded Bai Lang and the others, shouting and beating them. Seeing Ma Jiali's death, Bai Lang didn't care much at the moment. He led a large group of people to flee back to Myanmar before he dared to stop, and quickly reported the news of Ma Jiali's death to China.The news quickly spread from the United Kingdom to the capital of the Qing Dynasty.When Wade saw it, he immediately became furious. On the same day, he brought the counselor and other entourages to the Zongli Yamen, and made serious representations to the Qing Dynasty.

Prince Gong couldn't help being surprised when he saw Britain handing over a letter of protest out of thin air.While drinking tea in the yamen with Wei Tuoma and others first, he rushed into the palace as if flying to report the matter to the queen mothers of the two palaces.The Empress Dowager Cixi didn't finish her speech before Prince Gong, her face turned gray and black with fright, and she hurriedly asked, "What did Cen Yuying say?" Prince Gong replied: "Reporting to the Empress Dowager, Wade made such a fuss that Cen Yuying didn't even hand over a piece of paper. It stands to reason that no matter what happened to Cen Yuying, his papers should have entered Beijing a day earlier than the British."

The Empress Dowager Cixi said anxiously: "Then quickly send an inquiry to Cen Yuying! Wade said that Ma Jiali was dead, is he really dead or not? Cen Yuying has to say something! What does he do as the governor of Yunnan? There is such a big incident in the territory, how can he act like a normal person! Quickly ask the Military Aircraft Department to draft an order and ask Cen Yuying what is going on, if he can't say what Wade says, it is what it is! Use 800 miles to expedite .” The imperial decree was drawn up by the Military Aircraft Department on the same day, and it was expedited and delivered to Yunnan within 800 miles.

But Wade didn't believe what Prince Gong said, he believed that the Prime Minister's Yamen must have received information from Yunnan before he came.He even suspected that Prince Gong's denial of knowing about this matter must have other plans.Maybe Ma Jiali's death was the result of the Prime Minister's Yamen notifying Cen Yuying in Yunnan in advance, and Cen Yuying arranged for the local officials in Tengyue to do so intentionally! Wade quickly relayed his speculation to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in China.A month later, Cen Yuying's booklet was handed over to the capital.Cen Yuying said: the local people did kill an Englishman in the Manyun area near Tengyue. The identity of the deceased has not yet been ascertained. The investigators are investigating this matter, and if there is any progress, please continue to report Yunyun.

After reading the scriptures, Prince Gong suddenly felt confused.Obviously, Cen Yuying would not have reported the matter truthfully if the imperial court had not issued an order to press for this matter.In other words, Cen Yuying didn't take this matter as a matter at all. Prince Gong walked into Empress Dowager Cixi's room with Cen Yuying's brochure in his arms.On the day Prince Gong came out from the palace and returned to the Zongli Yamen, he urgently made an appointment with Wade to discuss how to settle the matter. Wade started to be relentless.He first proposed that China should send personnel to Tengyue to investigate the incident, and that Yunnan governor Cen Yuying and other officials should be taken to Beijing for interrogation.

In the end, Wade opened his mouth, proposing that China should pay a large sum of money to compensate Ma Jiali's family, and the compensation should not be less than one million taels. In the next few days, Wade proposed one after another that once the case was concluded, China should send an imperial envoy to send an apology to the United Kingdom with the seal of the Chinese court's regret for the Yunnan case; People are not allowed to enter etc. casually. Prince Gong was so troubled by Wetoma that he entered the palace almost every day, exhausted.The Prime Minister's Office first dispatched Xue Huan, the former Minister of the Prime Minister's Office who was convalescing in his hometown, to Yunnan from Sichuan to investigate the matter together with Cen Yuying, and then dispatched Li Hanzhang, Governor of Huguang, to Yunnan to handle the case.

However, the Prime Minister's Yamen still refused to agree to Wade's proposal to arrest Cen Yuying and other officials in Beijing for interrogation.This made Wade think that his expectations were correct, and that Margaret was killed by the people was a premeditated act by the court and Cen Yuying, who deliberately made troubles against the British, hoping to achieve the goal that the British would never dare to enter Yunnan again. Wade insisted on this matter, and insisted that the imperial court arrest Cen Yuying and others in Beijing for a joint trial by Chinese and British officials.Wade wants to take advantage of the Yunnan case to get what Britain has long wanted but has not yet obtained.After nearly a month of consultations and negotiations, Prince Gong basically nodded and agreed to the terms proposed by Wade, but Prince Gong emphasized that the terms must be reported to the Empress Dowager Cixi and the princes and ministers for approval before they can be signed.

The treaty agreed: (1) The British sent personnel to Yunnan to investigate and prepare to negotiate the border and trade regulations between Yunnan and Myanmar. (2) Britain can send people to Gansu, Qinghai or Sichuan to enter Tibet and transfer to India. (3) Please add ports to be divided into three sections, with Chongqing, Yichang, Wenzhou, Wuhu, and Beihai as the consular officers stationed, Hukou, Shashi, and Shuidong as the tax department stations, and Anqing, Datong, Wuxue, and Wuxue. The six places of Luxikou, Yuezhou and Masi are used for the loading and unloading of merchants and merchants by ships. (4) As soon as the case is settled in China, an imperial envoy must be dispatched to deliver an apology to the United Kingdom with a letter of regret from the imperial court, and to assure the British imperial court that such incidents will not happen again. The terms proposed by Wade were placed on the Empress Dowager Cixi's desk. Empress Dowager Cixi read it twice, and then asked Prince Gong to submit this clause to the princes and ministers in Beijing for discussion first.This is the method that the Empress Dowager Cixi has always used since she took office. Whenever she is undecided, she either asks Prince Gong what to do first, or submits it to the princes and ministers for public discussion. She makes her own decision based on these different opinions. Prince Gong urgently called together the princes and ministers in Beijing to discuss the matter.Li Hongzao's attitude was: "It is right to pay some money, but it is absolutely impossible to allow the opening of the port and the arrest of officials. This is related to the national system." While Pan Zuyin agreed with Li Hongzao, he also proposed to send an imperial envoy to England to apologize, but he could not agree to it. This was also related to the dignity of the imperial court. Pan Zuyin further pointed out: "It was only an ordinary translator of the British Legation in China who was killed by the common people, and it was not the British monarch. It is completely unreasonable for Wade to raise this article." Xu Tong disagreed with Li and Pan's attitude at all. He said: "It's not a big deal to kill a Ma Jiali. Wetoma and even foreigners in the Qing Dynasty can be killed! Wetoma don't mention eight things. Even if we mention eighty items, our Qing Dynasty, as a great country, cannot agree to one of them! If someone surnamed Wei dares to go to the General Administration to make trouble, he will be sent to the prison of the Ministry of Criminal Justice, and the British will pay him to redeem him." When Xu Tong said this, he gritted his teeth and opened his eyes wide, clearly spitting out anger.He hated foreigners not only to the bone, but to the marrow!Whenever foreigners were mentioned, his eyes would become red and swollen for several days. This matter has been discussed for nearly a month, but in the end, no practical solution was discussed.Guo Songtao once sighed in private while walking in the prime minister's office: "Many things in my Qing Dynasty were destroyed in the hands of some mediocre people! Only when foreigners take up guns can they seriously handle it." After Guo Songtao's words spread, some people agreed and some opposed.Prince Gong bravely came to see the Empress Dowager Cixi, and reported the opinions of the princes and ministers one by one. Empress Dowager Cixi pondered for a long time, and suddenly asked: "Watoma, how has it been these days? Is the trouble still as fierce as before?" Prince Gong replied truthfully: "Returning to the Empress Dowager, Wade Ma is not as violent as before. This month, he only urged him three times, and he still sent someone else." When the Empress Dowager Cixi heard this, she lowered her head and thought for a while, a smile slowly appeared on her face. She nodded and said, "That's right. From the looks of it, negotiating with foreigners really takes some time. They foreigners, like our Qing Dynasty, have many things to do every day. Isn't it just a dead person, is it worth making a fuss about? This delay, maybe, this matter will be delayed, who keeps remembering this matter all day long?" Prince Gong said: "The Empress Dowager is right. This delay, maybe this matter will really be delayed." After receiving Yi's decree, Prince Gong left the palace listlessly, and went straight back to the palace. The next day, Prince Gong was having breakfast when Guo Songtao rushed over suddenly. As soon as they met, Guo Songtao gave a big meeting ceremony first, then took out an official document from his sleeve, handed it to Prince Gong with both hands, and said, "This is the farewell book from Wade's author that the Prime Minister's Office received early in the morning. I read it through the translator, to the effect that my yamen shirked things and refused to be serious, so Wade had no choice but to leave Beijing and return to the country to ask for an order." "What?" Prince Gong was so shocked that all the bowls and chopsticks fell.While urgently asking someone to change his clothes, he said: "Yunxian, you go back to the prime minister's office first, the king will be here soon!"