Chapter 44 Second, Xi'an is a good place! (1)

Empress Dowager Cixi fled to Xi'an, and the empress dowager's airs in the Forbidden City were put back on display again. When Director Li saw that the master was coming, he also raised his head majesticly... From Huayin County to the west, it reached Weinan County in a few days.Going further to the west is Lintong, and fifty or sixty miles west of Lintong is the ancient capital of Xi'an. Almost to Xi'an, Empress Dowager Cixi's heart is getting more and more calm.She thinks that from now on, she will be able to enjoy life in peace, and put on airs in the capital, we are the empress dowager after all.After planning to go to Xi'an, I first have to take a good rest for a while.is not that right?It has been almost two months since I left Beijing in panic in July.In the past two months, I stopped and went, and worked hard to survive.Originally, I could just stay in Taiyuan and never leave, but that damned foreign devil chased me from behind. Although it was much more comfortable to escape from Taiyuan to Shaanxi than when I left Beijing, it was an escape after all.Why!It's tiring!After arriving in Xi'an, you have to take a good breath.I don't know how the palace in Xi'an is being repaired.

"Lianying, Lianying, where is this?" Lafayette asked Li Lianying, who was beside the sedan chair, when he saw a shop appeared by the roadside. "Back to Lafayette, this is just a small town, not far from Weinan County." "Weinan, how far is it from Xi'an?" "No more than one hundred and eighty miles." Li Lianying thought for a while and said. "I figured that when we arrive in Weinan, we have to take a rest there to refresh our spirits before we can go to Xi'an. We must first ask someone to go to Xi'an to see how the palace is being cleaned up."

"What Lafayette said is very true. We are holy cars, so we must have the style of holy cars..." These bereaved dogs want to pretend to be big, so as to show the royal prestige in front of the people in Guanzhong.The Chinese are always like this, especially people like the Empress Dowager Cixi, who lost face in front of foreigners and were beaten and fled by the foreigners. Instead of going to ask for the lost face from the foreigners, they are arrogant in front of their own subjects.In fact, the folk customs in Guanzhong have been simple since ancient times, and the people have always respected the court, whether it is the tyrannical Qin Shihuang or the treacherous Han Liu Bang, not to mention the scheming and vicious Queen Mother!Why bother to put on such a show in front of the people in Guizhou, it is really unnecessary.

The Empress Dowager Cixi is a powerful woman. She not only has her own opinions, but also is good at arranging complicated things.As early as when she set off from Taiyuan, she arranged for the Taiyuan government to send someone to report to Xi'an, asking the Xi'an government to prepare the palace as soon as possible.It has been more than 20 days since we set off from Taiyuan, presumably Xi'an Mansion has already been prepared to stop, but Lafayette still won't be at ease until he gets a letter of approval, so he wants to send someone to take a look. After thinking about it, I thought of Cen Chunxuan who was picking up the driver at a fork in the road.She is more at ease with this person.So the team was asked to pause for a while, and Li Lianying called General Cen.

"General Cen, you've worked hard to escort me all the way! I don't even dare to imagine what my girls would be like without you!" "Protecting the holy driver is the bounden duty of the minister. For the sake of Lafayette and the emperor's well-being, I will never hesitate to die. As long as the queen mother and the emperor are safe and sound, it is the blessing of the minister. The blessing of the people in the world!" Cen Chunxuan was a little emotional. "I'm going to Xi'an soon, I want to find someone to go to Xi'an first to see how the palace arrangement is going. General Cen, you see who is suitable..."

"My minister is willing to do the work of a dog and a horse!" Before the Empress Dowager Cixi finished speaking, Cen Chunxuan rushed to answer. "Then I can only work hard for General Cen again. You have meritorious escort, and it will definitely benefit you when you arrive in Xi'an." "Thank you Queen Mother for your kindness." "Lafayette, it's getting late, it's more important to hurry." Li Lianying saw Cen Chunxuan being favored, and thought of him accusing him of being black in front of Cixi in Huayin County, she felt angry, and hurriedly urged Lafayette to hurry.

When he drove to Weinan, the magistrate of Weinan County came out of the city to greet him on his knees.Except for Cen Chunxuan and a few entourages, the brigade went straight to Weinan County; Cen Chunxuan did not enter Weinan, but led the team via Xi'an. Let's say that when Cixi came to Decheng, she put on the airs of the empress dowager, and Li Lianying even bossed her around, showing off her might, so jealous that the common people regretted not letting their children become eunuchs.Faced with such a master and such a slave, the Weinan county magistrate could only swallow his anger and make allowances, but fortunately, Cen Chunxuan came back the next day and reported to the Queen Mother about the situation in the palace. Lafayette was very satisfied.So I started driving on the third day and stayed overnight in Lintong.Empress Dowager Cixi took a bath in the imperial concubine's pool, and then had a sweet sleep.In the early morning of the next day, we drove straight to the ancient capital Chang'an.

The ancient city of Xi'an, with a long history, was called Xijing Chang'an in ancient times, and is located in the middle of the Guanzhong Plain.Simply speaking, the Guanzhong Plain, with Tongguan in the east, is easy to defend and difficult to attack, with the Yellow River in the north, and the Qinshu Mountains in the south.And some people say that the terrain in the Guanzhong area is slightly lower in the southeast and slightly higher in the west and north, and it is the abode of dragons.Therefore, the emperors of all dynasties competed to build their capital in Guanzhong, in order to inherit the spirit of the dragon and achieve long-term peace and stability.This ancient city of Xi'an is the dream of many rulers. From Zhou to Han, and from Han to Tang, more than a dozen dynasties have established their capitals here.

As the imperial capital, Xi'an has at least a thousand years of history.During the Han Dynasty, Chang'an, the capital, was not only a political, economic and cultural center, but also an international city.The world-famous "Silk Road" started here.Tang Chang'an was even more prosperous and became a world-wide political, economic and cultural city. Envoys from various countries, overseas students, monks and businessmen left many anecdotes to Xi'an. The scenery of Xi'an is even more dazzling.Mausoleums of emperors of all dynasties, inscriptions on steles, temples and pagodas can be seen everywhere.The Big Wild Goose Pagoda in Da Ci'en Temple and the Small Wild Goose Pagoda in Jianfu Temple are facing each other from a distance, seeming to tell each other their vicissitudes.Living in such an environment can really cultivate human nature and make people reborn.The Empress Dowager Cixi chose this place, maybe her old man wanted to cultivate her own sentiment here, and negotiate peace with foreigners in the face of charity.

"Lafayette, the city of Xi'an is ahead." Li Lianying said, holding the rein and looking up for a while. Empress Dowager Cixi raised the car curtain and looked out, then lowered the car curtain again.At this time, Luanjia had already arrived outside the city of Xi'an, and the city wall of Xi'an built in the Ming Dynasty was already faintly visible.Outside the east gate of Xi'an City, a large group of people had already gathered, all of them were officials from Shaanxi Province and Xi'an Prefecture, all of them well-dressed, waiting to welcome the Holy Spirit here.Look at the leader, that is Mr. Duan Fangduan, governor of Shaanxi.Seeing that the holy driver was approaching, he directed his subordinates to line up according to the rank of civil and military officials, ready to meet him.

Over there, Li Lianying whispered to Lafayette's sedan chair: "Lafayette! Lafayette! We've arrived, we've arrived in Xi'an." All the people who came with them looked at the city wall built of green bricks in relief, and agreed by coincidence. He let out a sigh from the bottom of his heart: "Ah! It's finally here." The Empress Dowager Cixi raised the curtain of the sedan chair in her usual way, and looked out of the sedan chair at the city wall.This hope was not important, but it suddenly touched her heart.Because she saw the city wall and the arrow tower, she felt that the city wall was too much like the city wall in the Beijing Imperial Palace.Think about how honorable and supreme she was in that palace wall, but those nasty foreign devils forced her out of that palace wall, so she hated foreign devils very much; Beijing, it was all because of righteousness and boxing, they said it was "helping the Qing and destroying foreigners", and they killed foreigners when they saw them, which annoyed those foreigners, and even eight countries came to invade the capital together, so that the country was broken so that she left the country she was familiar with. The city walls, the familiar palace.Therefore, she hated the Boxers even more.Looking at the city wall, Cixi couldn't control her tears when thinking about the hardships of her journey.The hot tears welled up in her eyes and fell down her cheeks.Cixi didn't want to look at the city wall any more, "swiped" the floor, and lowered the sedan chair curtain. Duan Fang led officials from Shaanxi and Xi'an prefectures to kneel down to welcome Sheng Jia, and then escorted him to the palace.Master Duan hastily prepared for the palace since he received the news of his luck in Shanxi.Although the ancient city of Xi'an has a long history and many scenic spots, it is necessary to find a place for the empress dowager, emperor and concubines to live.That would be difficult.Because the empress dowager and the emperor came from afar this time, they didn't want to play here and leave after a few days, but they wanted to live here permanently, at least half a year, at most a year or two, so they must not be sloppy.But Shengjia will arrive in a month at most, and he wants to build a special palace, but the time is too late, and Shaanxi's financial resources do not allow it.what should I do? Lord Duan, his staff and followers, and bureaucrats at all levels made total calculations, and finally decided to vacate the Governor's Yamen and the Governor-General's Yamen as palaces.The governor's office and the governor's office were also built in the early Qing Dynasty. Due to the continuous disasters in Shaanxi in recent years, the provincial government's financial constraints, and the wars and chaos, the people were panicked.This time Lafayette and Long Live Lord are going to live, so we can't just make them live without mending or repairing, right?So Lord Duan gritted his teeth, set aside one hundred thousand taels of silver from the treasury, and decided to repair the two yamen properly, making them as good as the imperial palace, so as to make Lafayette happy. So, just twenty days ago, the city of Xi'an became lively.It's not easy to repair the Governor's Yamen and the Governor's Yamen like the imperial palace in just over 20 days, but we have to do our best. Famous craftsmen from all over the province were summoned, and batches of wood, bamboo, and fabrics were transported from all over the province to the provincial capital, where a huge project was going on.In order to complete the repairs as soon as possible, the craftsmen were divided into three or four batches and worked in turns.Half a month later, the West Yamen really changed a lot. Not only the walls were intact, but also the houses were clean and tidy. Even the walls were painted red like in the imperial palace. Then, collect all kinds of exotic flowers and stones, calligraphy, paintings and seal carvings from all over the province, and dress up the two yamen, like a girl who is about to marry, chosen by the Empress Dowager Cixi, and the old man will live in the one she likes. The sedan chair of the Empress Dowager Cixi entered the east gate of Xi'an, and Li Lianying still followed the sedan chair of the master and the son.Ninety-ninth Chongyang, the autumn is high and the air is crisp, and the ancient capital of Xi'an is more beautiful and colorful.In the distance came the sound of the bell, which was the sound of the bell ringing on the bell tower.The weary procession moved lazily onward. Li Lianying followed the sedan chair, walked forward, looked around, and watched the scenery of Xi'an city. "Lianying", the Empress Dowager suddenly raised the car curtain and called him.Li Lianying turned her head, smiled at her, and said, "Lafayette, what are your orders?" "Go and see where they plan to live, which one is better..." "Abiding by the order." Li Lianying replied, yelling at the horse, and went forward. "Why did you stop, let's go! Let's go! What's going on?" The team in front stopped, and Li Lianying couldn't make it through. It turned out that the bell tower is the center of Xi'an City. The people in Xi'an City have long heard that the Empress Dowager and the Emperor are coming to Xi'an. They heard that the Empress Dowager is not young, and she looks like a girl in her twenties; When the emperor is coming, he must bring many concubines and maids with him. I heard that the concubines and maids are more beautiful than the fairies in the sky.These legends make people want to see what kind of queen dowager, empress, and court ladies are like, especially those big girls who have not left the cabinet. Ladies try it out. Early this morning, it was rumored that the emperor's holy car was coming, so there were people waiting in the street from dawn in the morning, and at noon, thousands of people gathered under the bell tower.At this moment, Shengjia entered the city, and when he reached the bell tower, the road ahead was blocked by the crowd, making it difficult to move an inch.Cen Chunxuan sent troops to clear the way ahead, but he was still struggling. Li Lianying rushed over from behind, shouting and cursing: "Get out of the way! Get out of the way! These bastards! Get out of the way!" His non-male, non-female voice aroused people's interest, and no one in the crowd said it The voice said: "Eunuch." It caused everyone to laugh. Li Lianying blushed with anger, but there was nothing she could do.But he couldn't bear it anymore. The majestic Chief Manager Li, even characters like Rong Lu, Li Hongzhang, and Yuan Shikai had to nod and bow when they saw them, and they were insulted in this small place.The more he thought about it, the more angry he became, Li Lianying whipped his horsewhip among the crowd laughing at him, urging the horse to move forward. "Damn it, who are you hitting?" Just as Li Lianying was swinging his horsewhip vigorously, a big and round young man grabbed his horsewhip, pulled Li Lianying off the horse with all his strength, and cursed. "You dare to do this to me, what do you want to do, I am the chief steward of the palace..." "What can the general manager do? A eunuch who has been castrated!" "You..." Li Lianying saw that the people around her were all ordinary people. She was alone and helpless. She decided to go ahead and swallowed what she hadn't finished speaking. She climbed onto the horse and shouted back to the young man, "Boy!" , You fucking wait and see!" Then he rode his horse away in a desperate manner. Li Lianying first went to the governor's office to have a look, and thought it was all right.Then came the governor's office.The guards at the door saw that he was dressed as an eunuch, and rushed to greet him, bowed and led the horse again, Li Lianying's anger at being humiliated when he just arrived was slightly calmed down. "Master, what are your orders?" The two guards asked in unison. Li Lianying was afraid of being treated coldly again, so she hurriedly said: "I am serving the Lafayette, and the Lafayette asked me to come and see the palace..." "Then you must be Director Li, Master Li?" "good." "Kowtow to Manager Li, Mr. Li!".The two guards were closer than seeing his own grandfather. "Yes, yes, where is there so much politeness? Take me in and have a look." "Yes! Manager, please!" Two guards rushed to lead Li Lianying. Surrounded by two guards, Li Lianying entered the gate.I saw that there are continuous buildings in the courtyard, exquisite furnishings and layout, embellished with mountains and rocks, and shaded by flowers and trees. It really has the style of an imperial palace.I thought to myself: "This Shaanxi governor's office, it is not easy to build the palace like this. Well, the decoration here is similar to that in the capital, and the environment is elegant, so this is it." The street is full of people, full of people. , finally opened a way.When Cixi's sedan chair came over, she deliberately raised the curtain of the sedan chair to show her kindness as much as possible, which was unexpected by the common people.Because of what the Empress Dowager Cixi did, the common people's knees were weak, and they knelt down on the spot.Empress Dowager Cixi waved to the people, motioning them to stand up.In this way, many sedan chairs passed by, and the common people were too frightened to lift their heads. No one saw what the emperor and empress looked like. Just as Cixi's sedan chair walked out of the crowd, Li Lianying came galloping to meet her. "To Lafayette, both places are good, the Governor's Office is better. In my slave's opinion, it's better to live in the Governor's Office. I don't know what the Lafayette thinks?" Li Lianying asked out of breath. "According to your!" Therefore, Luanjia first arrived in Xijing and lived in the governor's office.The main hall of the palace used to be the place where the governor of Shaanxi and Gansu lived when he visited Shaanxi, but now it is useless and has to be vacant.The side halls on both sides of the main hall are used as waiting places for summoned personnel.Behind the main hall, there is a relatively spacious house with six door panels, usually only the two in the middle are opened, and the throne can be seen from the outside looking in.It is all decorated with yellow silk and satin.During the visit to Xi'an, all court ceremonies were held here.The room on the left side of this house is the place where the Empress Dowager summons her subjects and discusses matters every day.Behind this row of houses are the rooms of the empress dowager, the emperor, and the empress.In the middle is Cixi's bedroom. The emperor and empress live in a small house next to it, which communicates with the queen mother's bedroom.There are three other small houses on the west side, which are the bedrooms of the elder brother.Li Lianying lives in a small house on the east side of the Empress Dowager Cixi's bedroom.Everything was arranged in order, and the Empress Dowager Cixi began to reward her meritorious deeds.Cen Chunxuan, the governor of the Gansu feudal clan, was appreciated by the Empress Dowager Cixi for his meritorious service in escorting the driver, and was promoted to governor of Shaanxi.Cen Chunxuan has been promoted. Since he is the governor of Shaanxi Province, he must exhaust all the three Qins to please Lafayette. The Empress Dowager Cixi now lives in a safe place, with Li Lianying waiting on her inside and Cen Chunxuan protecting her outside, which made her feel relieved, and she no longer has to be frightened, so she sighed sincerely, "It's time to take a break!" The emperor arrived in Xi'an on the fourth day of September in the twenty-sixth year of Guangxu.At this point, Empress Dowager Cixi and Emperor Guangxu ended their experience of fleeing in panic, and continued their extravagant lives as masters. In Xi'an Xinggong, although the living conditions are not as good as those in the capital, in general, it is justified; it is not as luxurious as in the palace, but it cannot be said to be inelegant.Therefore, the empress dowager and the emperor, who had experienced the hardships of fleeing, did not show dissatisfaction. Naturally, in difficult times, the food and food of the Queen Mother and Long Live should not be wasted too much.That's right, when I was in the palace, the Empress Dowager alone had to spend more than two hundred taels a day for food, but now she is away, "living under the fence", and only spends about one hundred taels a day, probably because the prices in Xi'an are lower than those in Beijing The reason for it!But no matter how frugal she is, the queen mother is still the queen mother. Li Lianying chooses a hundred kinds of dishes for her old man's menu every day, including delicacies from mountains and seas, chicken, duck and fish.The queen mother felt that such a waste was too much, and now it is time to live a tight life, so she told Li Lianying: "Just prepare six or seven dishes for one meal, don't make too much, it's a waste!" As far as her old man said, I don't know How much manpower and material resources are saved.In the past, when she was in the palace, the queen mother liked to drink milk the most, but now she lives in the palace, and there are no dairy cows in Shaanxi, they are all yellow cattle. The queen mother always chanted "milk" every meal.Li Lianying tried her best to get six cows from nowhere, and kept them near Xi'an Palace, and used their milk for the Queen Mother to eat every day.Just these six cows will cost two hundred taels of silver every month. Delicacies from mountains and seas, mountains of fish and sea of ​​meat are commonplace for Lafayette, but if you eat too much of these things, you will get tired of them.Since Shengjia arrived in Shaanxi, officials from all over the country came to Shaanxi for pilgrimage and tribute.Today a certain governor brought bird's nest as a tribute, and tomorrow a certain governor presented shark fins...Of course Lafayette is happy if someone pays tribute, but if there are too many, he will get bored.I always want to change my appearance and eat something else.Now it depends on the ability of Li Lianying, Chief Manager Li. "Lafayette, what's wrong with you old man? Why do you have such a loss of appetite?" Li Lianying asked after looking at the wolf-eating Long Live Lord, who was gorging on nothing else, and at the Empress Dowager Cixi, who had lost her appetite. "Hey! Fish and meat all day! I'm tired of eating people." "Lafayette, there are many snacks on the streets of Xi'an! Especially the gourd head steamed buns in the west of the city, which are delicious, and the small oil cake, which is fragrant, sweet, and crispy. If you like it, I will go there alley!" "I want to eat!" Before Cixi could answer, Emperor Guangxu spoke first. "Since the emperor wants to eat, then you call that cook into the palace!" It was as if he was in the palace. "Follow the order." In order to please her master, Li Lianying sent a large number of young eunuchs to visit the streets of Xi'an when she first entered Xi'an, to see what is delicious, interesting, and beautiful, and asked them to buy it back and try it for herself first. , I thought it was very good, and I would recommend it to Cixi. Therefore, although he didn't often go out of the palace, he had a preliminary understanding of what was in Xi'an, and even the customs, products and landforms of Shaanxi.After he tasted it, he felt that among the snacks in Xi'an city, there are some very delicious ones: one is gourd head steamed buns; As soon as Lafayette had spoken, Li Lianying called over Sun Xiao who recommended mutton buns to him.Sun Xiao is very young, he only turned fourteen this year, but he is very clever, and within a few days of arriving in Xi'an, he has already become acquainted with the shopkeeper of Hulutou. Li Lianying asked him to find the shopkeeper of Hulutou, which was a piece of cake. The shopkeeper of this gourd head has been doing this kind of business in Xi'an city for generations. I don't know how many generations, it used to be a small shop with only one room, but now it is a big dealer with more than ten semicolons.The craftsmanship of this shopkeeper can be said to be the representative of the steamed bun industry in Xi'an.It couldn't be more appropriate to find him to serve Lafayette. Refined mutton steamed buns are placed on the table, just looking at the layer of red oily flowers on the top, it will make people drool.Emperor Guangxu only focused on putting things into his mouth, but because he ate too hard, his trachea was blocked, and he coughed violently. Li Lianying hurriedly beat his back and touched her chest, and said: "Long live life, eat slowly, this food is spicy, be careful." Choking!" On the other side, Empress Dowager Cixi was savoring carefully. "Lafayette, what do you think?" "Delicious is delicious, but...too spicy!" "If it's not spicy, you can't taste this taste!" "In the future, if there is something delicious, just make it and send it up, don't keep all the good things for yourself!" Empress Dowager Cixi blamed him a little cautiously. "The slave dare not!" In this way, on the dining table of the Empress Dowager Cixi, several Shaanxi local snacks or local dishes appeared from time to time, which satisfied the Lafayette! The Empress Dowager Cixi has always been a believer in Buddhism. Why else is there a Buddhist Incense Pavilion in the Summer Palace?I dare not say anything else about this place in Xi'an, but it can definitely be called the prosperous place of Buddhism.Monasteries and nunneries can be seen everywhere, which provides the conditions for Lafayette to visit the Buddha, so Li Lianying does not know or is not familiar with every monastery near Xi'an.For the sake of master's happiness, it is really hard for him. When she arrived in Xi'an, the Empress Dowager also watched what she needed to see, ate what she needed to eat, and went shopping when she needed to go shopping. If this continued, she would feel bored again.If the old man gets bored, she will definitely get angry, and if she gets angry, she must find someone to vent her anger on, so Li Lianying can only show his last trump card, which is to listen to the show.Li Lianying knew everything about Empress Dowager Cixi's hobbies and interests, and was proficient in everything.He knew that there were only two things that the Empress Dowager Cixi would never get bored with in her life, one was listening to politics, and the other was listening to operas.Moreover, her old man listens to a wide range of operas, as long as it is an opera, she likes to listen to it.After listening to Liu Youshi's Shangdang Bangzi presented by Liu Youshi in Huayin County last time, Li Lianying saw that Lafayette liked Shaanxi local opera very much.Therefore, as soon as he entered Xi'an, Li Lianying sent eunuchs outside to inquire about the situation of local operas in Shaanxi. Speaking of Shaanxi drama genres, it can really be said to be: "a hundred schools of thought contend", rich and colorful.The most famous one is Qin Opera, which is popular in the five northwestern provinces, Shanxi, Hubei and other places. It is famous for its impassioned, vigorous and tragic performance.Secondly, there are Agong Opera, Wanwan Opera, Shadow Play, Puppet Show, Daoqing in Shaanxi, Yangko in Northern Shaanxi, etc. According to legend, A Gongqiang originated from Qin Afang Palace and has a long history; bowl bowl cavity is elegant, delicate, melodious and melodious; The characters in the carved pictures dance between the lamp and the curtain, forming the plot of the story, and when they are coherent, it is a play.This kind of play has extremely high requirements for carving. It requires selected high-quality cowhide or donkey skin to be shaped through six processes of scraping, carving, dyeing, covering, ironing, and embellishment. Most of the carvings are engraved. The tradition of the Song Dynasty has played the advantages of Song Dynasty painting, and its expression method is unique and novel; the puppet show is to put real clothes on the wooden figures, and then the actors hold them up and make various actions to form the plot, which existed in the Tang Dynasty. Emperor Xuanzong of the Tang Dynasty once described it as "an old man with carved stones and strings, with the same skin and hair as the real one", which shows that its performance is lifelike; Shaanxi Daoqing is famous for its melodious and delicate music, which is more suitable for expressing emotions. It sounds especially fascinating when the night is quiet; Yangko in northern Shaanxi is superior in dancing, with chic movements and vigorous dance steps. When the Empress Dowager Cixi was upset, Li Lianying sent someone outside to call for an opera troupe. Lafayette never tired of listening to it, and finally listening to opera became a habit.Strictly speaking, it's just a resurgence, because she used to have this habit when she was in the capital.After listening to all kinds of operas in Shaanxi, Lafayette couldn't let go. He listened to one today and another tomorrow. He thought it was troublesome for the opera troupe outside, so he kept these opera singers in the palace. He didn't know these opera singers. What kind of sinful virtues did my ancestors have accumulated to receive such special treatment. "Lafayette, you old man has listened to so many plays, which one do you like?" "I like all of them! Qin opera is good because of its roughness; shadow puppetry is good because of its delicacy; southern Shaanxi Taoism is because of its fun; northern Shaanxi Yangko is because of its liveliness..." "Lafayette, I really admire you old man..." "Lianying, don't forget! Listen to Daoqing tonight!" "Lafayette, don't worry about your old man! I will never forget it!" "This Xi'an is really a good place. There are things to eat, things to see, and things to listen to... Really good!" After this period of recuperation and maintenance, Emperor Guangxu's physical condition has improved, and his spirit has improved a lot. Although he still thinks about Concubine Zhen and is still indifferent to the queen, the light in his eyes is no longer scattered. Empress Dowager Cixi's attitude has greatly improved.When Empress Dowager Cixi saw Guangxu in a sick state, she couldn't help feeling compassionate, and treated him less fiercely than before, and sometimes coaxed him to say a few homely words.Such days are comfortable enough for the Empress Dowager Cixi. But as the saying goes, good times will never last.Just when Lafayette was complacent and Yi was listening to the play, news came from Master Jing.It is said that foreign devils broke into the Summer Palace, ran amok in the garden, threw the Empress Dowager's throne into Kunming Lake, and painted many unsightly obscene paintings in Cixi's bedroom.This Summer Palace is the whole life of Lafayette, and all of Lafayette's family property is in it. Foreign devils dare to break in and desecrate Lafayette's bedroom, which is not bad!But at this time, the capital is still in the hands of foreigners, let alone the Summer Palace.Therefore, if you want to return to the capital, you must first retire the foreigners, and if you want to retire the foreigners, you must negotiate peace with them and agree to their conditions. For this matter, the Empress Dowager Cixi didn't eat any food, nor watched the play, but just kept frowning and worried.Li Lianying was the best at observing words and emotions, knowing that her master was in a bad mood, she didn't dare to act rashly, so she could only persuade her patiently and slowly.But now it is clear that the first request of the foreigners for peace negotiation is for the Qing government to deal with Zai Yi, Zhao Shuqiao and others of the main combat faction.If this clause is not agreed to, peace talks will be absolutely impossible.However, the main peace faction was killed by Cixi, and the declaration of war against the Eight-Power Allied Forces was also the war declared by the Empress Dowager Cixi. If you kill the main war faction now to please foreigners, doesn't it mean you are slapping yourself?Really embarrassed! But when Li Lianying saw that her master was unhappy, she felt uncomfortable, so she made up her mind to persuade Lafayette to agree to the conditions of the foreign devils as soon as possible, and the sooner she agreed, the sooner she would be free.Then he whispered to Cixi: "Lafayette, why are you so worried about the peace negotiation?" "Is it okay if you don't worry?" Lafayette said angrily. "From my slave's point of view, there is no need for the master to be so embarrassing. If there is no Lafayette for the country of my Qing Dynasty, it would have been... Now, it is up to you, Lafayette, to turn the situation around. Yihequan was defeated by foreigners , this can be regarded as except for one trouble, Lafayette should be happy. For the foreigners, just let them know that the main battle is not Lafayette's intention, and then push all the responsibility for declaring war on Duan Wang and the others, and fully accept the conditions of the foreigners .Your old man will issue a decree again and hand over all matters concerning the peace negotiation to Prince Qing and Li Zhongtang. In this way, the Lafayette will be free of all responsibilities? Besides, if this is the case, what problems cannot be solved?" After Li Lianying finished speaking, she saw that the Empress Dowager Cixi was moved, but she still had doubts, so she went on to say: "Lafayette is wise and decisive, there is no need to worry about this matter any more. It was at that time, and at this time, now I can only let it go. Ask the foreign devils to agree to make peace, and to reach an agreement and conditions as soon as possible, so that the future will be long. As for other matters, we can discuss it in the long term." After what Li Lianying said, the Empress Dowager Cixi thought that if the foreigners did not agree to their conditions, they would never let it go and they would definitely commit another crime.If you want to return to Luan as soon as possible, and return to your Summer Palace as soon as possible, that's all.In order to make the foreigners retreat as soon as possible, we can only sacrifice the main combat faction.So he nodded silently and said nothing. In a dilemma, the Empress Dowager Cixi was silent, this terrible silence!If you don't break out in silence, you will perish in silence.Will the Empress Dowager Cixi "explode" or "perish"? The foreigners forced the Empress Dowager Cixi into a dead end, and if they wanted to get out of the dead end, they had to agree to their conditions.On December 26, the twenty-sixth year of Guangxu, Lafayette, in the name of Emperor Guangxu, issued the "Edict of Guilt", saying that "since there is an opportunity to repent, it is appropriate to receive an edict of self-blame."The sentences in it are full of sincerity, sincerity, and openness. The empress of the Qing Dynasty is so gentle in front of foreigners.In this edict, Yikuang and Li Hongzhang were also instructed to strive to reach an agreement as soon as possible at all costs, and reiterated Lafayette's thought of "measuring China's material resources and forming a bond with the country." As early as the beginning of November in the twenty-sixth year of Guangxu, the envoys of Russia, the United States, Britain, France, Japan, Germany, Italy, Austria, Belgium, Spain, and the Netherlands proposed the "Reconciliation Agreement" to Prince Qing Yikuang and Zhili Li Hongzhang. "Outline", asking the Chinese government to build graves and monuments for the German envoy Klind and Japanese embassy secretary Akira Sugiyama who were killed in China, and asking the Chinese government to send people to Germany and Japan to apologize; asking China to follow the list they listed The list of Boxer boxing leaders should be dealt with severely; China is required to repair the tombs of foreigners destroyed in the war; China is prohibited from buying weapons and ammunition, and it is required to dismantle the Dagukou Fort; it is required to garrison troops in the embassy... The harsh conditions are unprecedented.As a result, Li Hongzhang and Li Zhongtang, who were very generous at the negotiating table in the past, remained silent and hesitant, so they had to use these conditions to discuss with Lafayette. Lafayette is too eager to get "peace".Whatever she wanted, no matter how difficult it was or how much she had to pay, she would get it.Therefore, on November 26, her old man returned to serve as the minister of the eleven countries and fully accepted the "Peace Outline".Immediately afterwards, on December 26, the imperial edict of guilt was promulgated, making preparations for her massacre. "Lafayette, the foreigner's conditions have been signed, and the edict of the Lord Long Live's guilt has also been issued. Why are you so sad, old man?" "Hey——, if this foreigner doesn't leave, I can't let go of my heart!" Empress Dowager Cixi said worriedly. "Lafayette, it's snowing outside. Are you annoyed to go outside to relax?" This Li Lianying is too good at watching her face, and she is acting according to the wind.When the Empress Dowager Cixi was young, she liked to play the most. After becoming a queen, especially after the curtain, she was very busy with everything, and almost forgot about the entertainment. Fortunately, there is a Summer Palace. The garden is not only spacious, Moreover, there are mountains and water, and the beautiful environment provides Lafayette with a place to play.After escaping to Xi'an, at first I went swimming and had a good time.But later, because of the peace talks, Lafayette didn't think about tea or food, and just sat idle all day long. Even Li Lianying tried her best, but she couldn't make Lafayette smile.It snowed last night, and it hasn't stopped until today. The snow is so heavy that it has piled up half a foot thick on the ground.This is the heaviest snowfall in Shaanxi in the past three years.For three consecutive years, almost no water has fallen in this Shaanxi. Perhaps it is due to the great grace of the emperor. Once Shengjia lived here, it snowed so much!Okay, auspicious snow heralds a good harvest, let's go! Hearing that it was snowing, Empress Dowager Cixi was really moved.Think about how wonderful it would be to play in the silver world in the capital, in the palace, in the Summer Palace, when it snows in previous years!Hey, you damn foreign devil!The more she thought about it, the more troubled she got, Lafayette stood up. Knowing that she was going out, Li Lianying quickly took the sable cloak brought from Henan and put it on Lafayette.Then, he helped her out of the room, walked down the stone steps, and came to the courtyard of the palace. Since the governor's yamen became the palace, it seems to be much more serious than before.The front part of the palace is a layer of houses, and there is a large garden behind it.Before it became the palace, there were only houses in the governor's office, and there was no such a big garden. After the Empress Dowager Cixi moved in, Cixi felt that the place was too small and there was no place to play.However, in order to please Empress Dowager Cixi, Cen Chunxuan, the governor of Shaanxi, built a garden behind the Governor's Yamen, embedding flowers and plants, which really seems to be the case.The queen mother was sometimes upset, so she asked Li Lianying to walk around the garden with her.Today, feeling troubled, Li Lianying supported her, stepped onto the brick path, and went straight to the garden. "Lafayette, walk slowly, the road is slippery!" Li Lianying always thought of her master first.The Empress Dowager Cixi was very confused, she was still thinking about the peace negotiation, and stopped when she was walking. "Lafayette, it's almost Chinese New Year, you old man should be happy, so that everyone can have a good New Year!" Li Lianying persuaded. "If you don't even have a family, what year will it be?" Empress Dowager Cixi was a little miserable. "Don't be angry, Lafayette. Your old man is the mother of a country. Where is this not your home? Do you want the capital? The capital has been ruined by foreigners, so it's better here now! Your hometown is thinking about peace talks again? Isn't that right? Has it been settled? Lafayette has issued an edict, haven't Prince Qing and Lord Li Zhongtang accepted their conditions?" "But the leaders of the boxing party have not dealt with it, and foreigners will not agree to sign the contract!" "在太原时，老佛爷不是已经革了端郡王、澜公和山西巡抚毓贤的职吗？"李莲英不惑地问。 "端王和载澜，我也真不想处置他们。可是洋人步步紧逼，嫌对他二人的处置太轻，要求加重处置。另外，对于其他拳首，洋人已列了名，要求斩首！" 听了这话，李莲英吓得头发都竖起来了。因为当初义和团在京肆盛极一时，影响极大，不但朝中大臣支持，就连宫中太监、营中兵勇，都设有拳坛。当时主战，利用义和团，也都是李莲英给主战派在背后撑腰，在老佛爷面前给他们打圆场，他们才敢力争，结果以败告终。所以，李莲英听了洋人列出了名单，真是吃惊不小，在雪地里有点瑟瑟发抖。怯怯地问："列了名单！真有此事？" "这还能有假！"说着，慈禧太后从袖中抽出一张纸，在李莲英面前晃了晃。这下李莲英更心虚了，真的有名单！上面会不会有我呢？这样一想，就呆在那儿，不动了。慈禧太后已经继续往前走了，他还是呆地站着。 "莲英，你发什么呆呀？"这下，李莲英醒了，他觉得他现在的首要任务就是要看看那名单，看看那上面是否有自己的名字。于是，走到慈禧面前，在那半尺厚的雪地里跪了下去。 "老佛爷，奴才有一事相求，望您老人家恩准！" 这一下，把慈禧太后搞愣了："什么事呀，快起来，起来！" 李莲英跪着没动，说："求老佛爷恩准奴才看一看那个名单！" "我以为什么事呢？好！好，给你看！你起来呢！"李莲英激动地从地上爬了起来，接过慈禧递过的单子，飞快地扫了一遍，没有自己的名字，一块石头算落地了。这一连串的动作，看得慈禧太后直乐。 李莲英一看名单上没自己，心想，只要没有我，愿杀谁就杀谁呗！还是我李某精明，如果不是办什么事我都不露面，没准这会儿已经没命了，好险啊！李总管为自己的圆滑感到庆幸。这下心里踏实了，才回过神来，觉得有些失态，忙把那纸单递给慈禧，说："老佛爷，依奴才之见，这些人中间，除了端王、澜公之外，其他的人……处置就处置吧，反正外头已经知道前日宣战不是老佛爷的意思。" "可是载满和载澜处置得太轻。洋人不答应。"慈禧愁容满面。似乎有点无可奈何。 "那——，我们可以再加重处罚他，但不一定要杀他们。 比方说要他们充军。再来个永不赦，好歹能保住性命。这陈子过了，可以密诏他们再回来，做个平民不就成啦！"对这些事李莲英例挺在行的，说得慈禧太后都不住地点头。慈禧太后觉得这样做挺好，于是就踅身往回走，李莲英急了："老佛爷，还没到园子里呢，这就回去呀！园子里的梅花开了，雪中腊梅，可好看着呢！您老人家不去看看？"边说，边跟着老佛爷往回走。 慈禧太后一边往回走，一边想着，这下要处置的，可都是朝中大员或是封疆大吏，事关重大，得找个大臣商量。找谁呢，她第一个想到的就是荣禄，因为荣禄最大的特点就是办事果断。 "莲英，你去叫荣禄来！"慈禧走进了平日里接待官员的房里，坐下，对李莲英说。 "Follow the order." 荣禄在朝中一直都受慈禧重用，这次又匆匆随驾而来，自己也一大把年纪了，在冀晋交界的地方，在追驾途中，又死了夫人，所以，心情一直不大好，人也看起来苍老了许多。到了西安之后，虽说生活条件好了许多，慈禧太后又封其偏房的福晋。但毕竟年纪不饶人，加上对老妻的思恋，精神不大好。到西安后，他和家人被安排到了巡抚衙门内的一处院落中，独成一家，与别家互不相通，虽时有官员来访，但荣禄却深居简出。十冬腊月，就坐在家中烤火饮茶，只是每日清晨须到行宫朝见太后和皇帝。这日正在房中闲坐，忽报李莲英求见，就迎了出来。李莲英已到了房门口。 "荣中堂好雅兴！"见了面，李莲英朝他抱了抱拳，笑着说。 "总管见笑了……是哪阵风把你这个大忙人刮到寒舍来了？来，来，里边坐……"荣禄说着就把李莲英往屋里招呼。 "中堂大人，不用了！快收拾快拾入宫，老佛爷有请！" "有什么事？"荣禄觉得气氛不对。 "去了自会知道的。大事！" 荣禄穿好了礼服，戴上了顶戴，出门上了李莲英来时乘的驮轿。 "荣中堂到！"到了房外，李莲英习惯地喊了一声，然后又习惯地撩帘摆手，让荣禄走了进去，然后自己也跟了进去。 荣禄跪了下去。"你起来吧！莲英，赐坐！"没等他跪稳当，慈禧太后就让他起来，真是与往日不同啊！荣禄心里总是犯嘀咕。 慈禧太后没有吭声，只把那个纸单递了过来。荣禄一看，明白了，原来找他来，是商量这事。那可是大事，关系到朝中这么多大臣的性命，能不是大事吗？荣禄把名单看了遍，抬头看看太后，问："老佛爷的意思……" "今天找你来，就是让你拿个主意。"慈禧看着地板说。 "这……"荣禄默然了。 "荣中堂，您看不答应洋人这个条件，成吗？"侍立在旁的李莲英说话了。 荣禄没有吱声，他想，这义和拳兴盛之时，在京津一带活动猖獗，对洋人尤为残忍，这次不杀其首领、能成吗？肯定不成，但他没有说出来。 "怎么不说话？"慈禧发问了。 "依微臣之见，如不惩处一两个拳首，洋人是绝不肯罢休的，不过，这些大臣全是朝中大员，封疆之臣……" "是啊，他们全是朝廷重臣，但如果不按洋人的意思办，洋人再度西巡，那可怎么办？"李莲英问道。 "那老佛爷的意思就是要把他们斩尽杀绝？" "那倒不至于，我觉得瑞郡王，载澜和赵军机，如果能留下的话，就尽力留下！"慈禧歇了口气，接着说："这事你回去再想想，草书一通上谕，明儿带来我看。去吧！" "递旨。" 荣禄几乎一夜没睡，他在忙着起草上谕，其实，他本来也睡不着。次日，荣禄呈上上谕草稿给老佛爷看了，她很满意，让就照此发。光绪二十六年与光绪二十七年交接之际，惩处拳党首领的上谕发下来了。谕曰： "谕京师自五月以来，拳匪偶乱，开衅友邦。现经奕劻、李鸿章与各国使臣在京议和，大纲草约业已画押。追思肇祸之始，实由诸王大臣等昏愦无知，嚣张跋扈，深信邪术，挟制朝廷。于剿办拳匪之谕，抗不道行。反纵信拳匪，妄行攻战，以致邪焰大张，聚数万匪于肘腋之下，势不可遏。复主令卤莽将卒，围攻使馆。竟到数月之间，酿成奇祸。社稷阽危，陵庙震惊，地方蹂躏，生灵涂炭。朕与皇太后危险情形，不堪言状，至今痛心疾首，悲愤交深。是诸王大臣等信邪纵匪，上危宗社，下祸黎元，自问当得何罪？前经两降谕旨，尚觉法轻情重不足蔽辜。应再分虽等差，加以惩处。已革庄亲王载勋，纵容拳匪，围攻使馆。擅书违约告示，又轻信匪言，枉杀多命，实属愚暴冥顽，著赐自尽，派署左都御史葛宝体前往监视。已革端郡王载漪，倡卒诸王贝勒，轻信拳匪，妄言主战，致肇衅端，罪实难辞，降调辅圃出载澜，随同载勋妄书违约告示，咎亦应得，著革去爵职，惟念惧属懿亲，特予加恩，均著发往新疆，永远监禁，随行派员看管已革巡抚毓贤，前在山东巡抚任内，妄信拳匪邪术，至直为之揄扬，以致诸王大臣受其煽惑，及在山西巡抚任，复戕害教士教民多命，尤属错廖凶残，罪魁祸首，前已遣发新疆，计行抵甘肃，著传旨即行正法，并派按察使何福堃监视行列。前协办大学士，吏部尚书刚毅，袒庇拳匪，酿成巨祸，并会书违约告示，本应置之唐典，惟现已嘱故，著追夺原官，郡行革职。革职留住甘肃提督董福祥，统兵入卫，纪律不严，又不谙交涉，率意卤莽，虽国攻使馆，系由该革王等指使，究难辞咎，本应重惩，姑念在甘肃素着劳绩，回汉悦服，格外从宽，著郡行革职。降调都察院左郡御史英年，于载勋擅出违约告示，曾经阻止，情尚可原，谁未能力争，究难辞咎。著加恩事职，定为新监候罪名。革职留任刑部尚书赵舒翘，平日尚无嫉视外交之意，前查办拳匪。京无庇纵之词，惟究属草率贻误，著恩定为暂监侯罪名。英年、赵舒翘两人，均著先行在陕西。大学士徐相、降调前四川总督李秉衡，均已殉难身故，惟贻人口实，均着革职，并将恤典撤销。经此次降之后，凡我友邦当共谅拳匪肇祸，实由祸首缴迫而成。决非朝廷本意，朕惩办祸首诸人，并无轻纵，即天下臣民亦晓然于此案之关系重大也。" 慈禧太后够意思，能置王公大臣之性命于不顾。但洋鬼子对这种处置仍不满意，对端王、澜公的处置尤为不满，要求重处。于是，老佛爷又在李莲英的唆使下，再下一谕，把他二人定以监禁候决之罪。被发往新疆，永不教回，这是后话。并将刚毅开棺戮尸，残忍已极。赵舒翘，英年，赐之自尽。军机大臣启秀及徐桐之一子，被处决在菜市口。 赵舒翘，是军机大臣，深得慈禧赏识。追随太后，从北京到西安，驾前驾后，好不辛苦。慈禧看在眼里，记在心中。 当洋人列名要杀拳首时，太后念其忠心，始终想保全他性命。 起初，只给他一个永远监禁之罪，关在陕西臬署监狱之中，家属可以来往探视。监禁的前一日，慈禧还对李莲英说："我根本不相信赵舒翘也主张放纵拳匪，只不过是他知情不报，贻误国事罢了！"监禁之后，李莲英还曾亲自到狱中看望他，说老佛爷知道他的忠心，只是为了掩夷人之耳目，才把他监禁起来的。赵舒翘听后非常感动，也非常高兴，心里说："监禁就监禁呗，好歹有老佛爷保护，无论如何都死不了。" 但是，上谕发出之后，洋人不干，要求非杀赵舒翘不可。 消息传开，西安城中沸沸扬扬。因为赵舒翘的老家在西安，所以西安城中乡绅名士，三百余人，联名上书军机处，请求免赵舒翘一死。但军机处不敢上报太后，因为太后已经够烦的了。到了春节前后，其传言更盛。慈禧太后召见军机大臣商量，自早上六点到十一点，也没有最终决定。西安城中鼓楼一带，连续好几天都挤满了人，听候消息。这些人都是赵舒翘故里之人，声称如果要杀赵舒翘，他们就要劫法场。军机大臣们怕由杀赵引起乱子。于是请求太后下谕，赐赵舒翘自尽，太后思来想去别无他法，只得答应。次日，即光绪二十七年正月初六日，慈禧太后下谕，赐赵军机自尽，命陕西巡抚岑春暄去监视他。