Chapter 64 Lecture 42

In addition to Changchun Palace, Chuxiu Palace, and Yangxin Palace, the residence of Empress Dowager Cixi in the palace also includes Ningshou Palace.Ningshou Palace is the palace built by Emperor Qianlong for the Zen seat as the Supreme Emperor, but he actually mainly lives in the Hall of Mental Cultivation, which is mainly used as a place for etiquette and leisure.Empress Dowager Cixi escaped and returned to Luan in the Leshou Hall of Ningshou Palace.The so-called "Cixi West Hunting" refers to Cixi's "fleeing west". "Hunting" refers to hunting in winter. "Zuo Zhuan" Yin Gong five years: "so spring search, summer seedlings, autumn hunting, winter hunting." The ancient emperor's winter hunting was called "winter hunting", and the emperor's inspection was also called "hunting hunting". ".It was not honorable for Cixi to flee westward. She claimed to be "hunting" in the west, so she was called "Xishou".Refer to "Records of Emperor Dezong of Qing Dynasty", "Records of Donghua in Guangxu Dynasty", "Gengzi Xishou Cong Tan" and "Memorabilia of West Tour".

In March of the twenty-sixth year of Guangxu (Gengzi, 1900), the boxing (group) secretly supported by Cixi entered Beijing.At first, the Boxers called themselves Yihe Boxing, but Yuxian, governor of Shandong Province, changed the name to "Tuan". (Volume 465 of "Manuscripts of Qing History Yuxian Biography") In April, the Boxers killed Akira Sugiyama, secretary of the Japanese embassy in China, and Klinder, the German minister to China, burned the Zhengyangmen tower, and besieged the embassy in Dongjiaominxiang.In May, Empress Dowager Cixi held four consecutive imperial meetings in Yiluan Hall in Xiyuan (Zhongnanhai). (Xu Che's "Empress Dowager Cixi") Yuan Chang and others stated:

"Traitors should not be indulged, and envoys should not be killed!" Cixi insisted on her own will.On July 20, the allied forces of Germany, Austria, Britain, France, the United States, Italy, Japan, and Russia invaded Beijing.That night, it was rumored that "the barbarians are going to attack Donghuamen", and Cixi stayed up all night like sitting on pins and needles. On the 21st, when breakfast was about to be delivered, a stray bullet was suddenly heard falling on the tiles on the west side of the Leshou Hall of Ningshou Palace.The Empress Dowager Cixi panicked and urgently told Li Lianying to find clothes and change quickly.After a while, Li Lianying came in with a red bag containing Han people's trousers, jacket, shoes and socks.Cixi hurriedly put on an old dark blue linen coat with a large breast, light blue old trousers, white muslin socks, and black cloth shoes, and ordered: "Cut off the nails on my hands!" Fingernails are two inches long, which is equivalent to cutting off Empress Dowager Cixi's favorite.Emperor Guangxu wore a dark blue linen gown, black trousers, and a straw hat, looking like a young man running a business.Cixi ordered the personal eunuch Zhang Fu: "Wait for me to come back!"

Before leaving, Cixi ordered Concubine Zhen to be summoned from Jingqi Pavilion. (Sui Lijuan's "Talking about Cixi") Concubine Zhen said: "The emperor should stay in Beijing." Cixi said: "What should we do when foreigners come to Beijing? Let our mother jump into the well!" Concubine Zhen cried and said: "Please be kind to the Queen Mother! "Cixi sneered, and the eunuch Cui Yugui pushed Zhenfei into the well (Zhenfei Well).

Cixi led a group of people around Yihexuan, Jingqi Pavilion sideways, Zhenfei Well, and went straight to Zhenshun Gate. In front of Shenwu Gate, a crowd of people knelt and bid farewell, terrified and crying. At the beginning of Chen (7 o'clock), Cixi took a car, Guangxu a car, and the empress, eldest elder brother, Gege, etc. took civilian cars as entourages. They left Shenwumen, passed through Deshengmen, and went to the Summer Palace.Concubine Jin didn't tell her in time, and after hearing the police, she ran to Shenwumen, took a civilian car, chased to the Summer Palace, and met Cixi.

In the Leshou Hall of the Summer Palace, the Empress Dowager Cixi said: You can’t go like this, you must be safe, there are still soldiers in the Summer Palace, let them cut off the queen.After leaving the Summer Palace, Empress Dowager Cixi and his entourage drove through the green gauze tent in order to hide their journey westward. When they arrived at the hot springs in Haidian, they begged a family to borrow a toilet from their house.It is an old Beijing custom that women must drink cold water first to use the toilet to suppress evil spirits, and they are also given red envelopes when they go out.The maid scooped up water with a ladle, and Cixi took a sip of cold water and gave him two taels of silver.

At noon, I was hungry and couldn't find rice or noodles, so I spent money to buy crops in a field, and picked cowpeas and peeled green corn.With cowpeas and corn, how to cook them?I was busy borrowing pots, carrying water, and looking for firewood.After cooking, share one corn and half a bowl of cowpea for each person.Guangxu shared a piece of cooked corn, and Cixi ate corn kernels.There were no chopsticks for eating, so Cixi used sorghum straw as chopsticks.Like the "fleeing" people, Cixi and Guangxu ate it bite by bite.Boiled old corn soup has also become a treasure. You and I rush to drink a bowl, and Guangxu also drank a bowl.The first lunch after Cixi, Guangxu and others escaped from the palace was settled in such a mess.Before leaving, the car was loaded with corn stalks. When she was thirsty on the road, she chewed corn stalks, and Cixi chewed them too.

Arrive in Xiguan City in the evening and live in the old mosque.The three main rooms in the house are okay, one is bright and the other is dark.There is a broken vat in the middle hall, which can hold water.There is a stove, connected to the kang in the east room.In the corner of the basement was a broken low stool with three legs.Lift the cushion of the car down so that Cixi can have a place to sit.Guangxu sat on a low stool.Cixi didn't have a bowl to wash her mouth and a basin to wash her hands, so she used the mule's drinking basin to wash her face and hands. It was dark, and the mosquitoes rolled together in groups, making noise and screaming, which made people upset.What made Cixi even more disgusting was going to the toilet, where she couldn't get her feet down, how dirty it was, toads crawled all over the ground, and maggots with long tails made Cixi want to vomit.When Cixi went to the toilet, flies crawled along her face.The life of Empress Dowager Cixi: Yesterday was in heaven, today is in hell!

Set off on the morning of the 22nd and head towards the Great Wall.After arriving at the southern pass of Juyongguan—Nankou, Cixi whispered that she wanted to relieve herself, and said: "It's in the crop field, surrounded by people!" In this way, the queen mother, empress, concubine Jin, and princesses took turns, without toilet paper , had to use wild hemp leaves instead.Along the way, Cixi looked at the attendants silently, keeping everything close to her heart in silence. Lunch was a bowl of thin vermicelli cucumber soup. Cixi was hungry and ate deliciously.Arriving at Juyongguan, facing the high mountains and narrow roads, there is only one city gate, and the camps on both sides are lined up, which makes people frightened.The pack sedan continued to move forward, and suddenly someone shot at the team.At this time, the guards arrived, and the bandits ran away due to the large number of people.

In the evening, we arrived at the fork in Yanqing Prefecture.Yanqing Prefecture is a place where boxers (groups) gather together, the four doors are closed, and no one is there.People in the city who come without a certificate are not allowed to enter the city.Fortunately, the eunuch Cui Yugui mentioned that a certain eunuch who collected charcoal from Hongluo Factory in Beijing used to collect charcoal in Yanqing, so they believed it and let them enter Chadao City.The town is a mess.The house only has a kang, an old mat, no furnishings, and no women's toilet.Stayed here overnight.Finally, it's okay, I can give you something to eat, so I won't starve.Cixi lived in the landlord's house, Guangxu lived in the west house, and the empress, concubine Jin, and Gege lived in the east ear room.There was hot water in the kitchen in the west courtyard, and Cixi could wash her face, body and feet.In the house, there is a kang under the south window, on which there is an old kang felt, a small crooked kang table, and a pillow.Cixi could see that she was very tired.She doesn't lose her temper, doesn't speak, just closes her eyes and meditates.How did Cixi and Guangxu survive this night?Cixi later cried to Wu Yong, the magistrate of Huailai County: "Last night, the emperor and I only had a bench, and we sat together with our backs together, looking up at Dadan. The cold air in the morning was bitter, and the hair was thick. It was unbearable. Try it, I have become a complete one." Country grandma." (Volume 3 of Wu Yong's "Gengzi Xishou Cong Tan")

After a while Li Lianying came.Empress Dowager Cixi invited Guangxu over to listen to news about foreigners in the city and palace.Li Lianying said, "The foreigners haven't entered the palace yet." Cui Yugui found a sedan chair, which was a blue woolen sedan chair used by the magistrate of Yanqing Prefecture to visit visitors, commonly known as "four-person-carried", a sedan chair carried by four people, heavy and clumsy.Four people in the front carry the sedan chair, and eight people in the back are ready to take turns.Cixi got into the sedan chair again. On the morning of the 23rd, I ate black steamed buns and winter melon soup.Departure after dinner, out of the east gate of the city.Indifferent, without Yiluan, Cixi's blue woolen sedan chair was first, Guangxu's pack sedan chair was second, the queen's pack sedan chair was third, and the others followed closely behind.Along the way, there was an endless stream of defeated soldiers and refugees, like ants like a tide, traveling northward day and night.When we arrived in Huailai, it was raining heavily, and the wind was blowing the rain. Opening the curtain of the car was equivalent to splashing water on the body.There is a well beside the road, and there is a big straw hat beside the well. When the driver lifts it up, it is a dead body.There are many wells along the way, but I dare not drink the water in the wells, because there are often dead people in the wells. Arrive at Yulin Fort at noon.An official, wearing court beads and mended clothes, came to pick him up on his knees—kneeling and singing: "Wu Yong, the magistrate of Huailai County, knelt down to pick up the empress dowager." After the queen mother left the palace, no one paid attention to her. Finally someone knelt down in front of him again. When Cixi met Wu Yong, the two talked, and as they talked, Cixi burst into tears, and Wu Yong cried too.Cixi cried and said: "running for days without food, cold and hungry. On the way, I was thirsty and ordered the eunuch to fetch water. There was a well but no drawer; there was a head floating in the back well. As a last resort, I picked sorghum stalks to chew with the emperor. , Get a little juice, and quench your thirst... It has been two days since I have not eaten, and I am very hungry. Is there any food here?" Wu Yong said: "I have prepared a banquet, but it was plundered by the rout. There are still three pots of millet and mung bean porridge, and I am going to follow the sharp points, and they will prey on the second. Now there is only one pot left, for fear that the rough will not dare to make progress." Cixi said: "There is millet porridge, which is very good, very good. Fast forward!" In the evening, when they arrived in Huailai County, Cixi and others were led to stay in a big inn.The three big pots of mung bean and millet porridge that had been prepared were all robbed by the rebels and hungry people, and there was still a little pot left.One bowl per person, nothing else. Wu Yong saw that the emperor had no coat, no girdle around his waist, his hair was more than an inch long, his head was unkempt, and he was extremely emaciated.Cixi said to Wu Zhixian: "This time I came out in a hurry. The emperor, empress, and Gege all came out alone, and there is no change of clothes. Can you find some clothes to change?" Wu Yong, the county magistrate, knelt in the mud in the courtyard "The mother and wife of Weichen have passed away, and there are still some relics. The queen mother is not too rough, and I try my best to worship." Cixi whispered to Wu Yong again: "It would be good to find some eggs!" Wu Yong said: "I tried my best to find it." After a while, Wu Yong, the county magistrate, put five eggs on a rough plate and offered a pinch of salt to the Empress Dowager Cixi. Find five eggs in a drawer, boil them and present them to the Queen Mother.Cixi ate three eggs in one go, and gave the remaining two eggs to Emperor Guangxu. A young eunuch held four bundles sent by Wu Yong, and offered the relics of his ancestors and his wife, as well as his own clothes.What satisfied the refugees most was a pack of brand new white muslin socks, about a dozen pairs.Over the past two days, it has rained twice, but other places can bear it, only the feet are soaked in wet socks, which is really uncomfortable.No wonder Cixi said in admiration: "This man has a sense of proportion and is very careful." In addition, the little eunuch brought two more dressing boxes, including combs, makeup and powder.Cixi said: I haven't looked in the mirror for three days, I don't know what it looks like. Cixi and his party stayed in Huailai County for three days.This place is a temporary residence, and it is kept clean.There is a bedroom with few furnishings, but it is very elegant and clean. The dinner is very rich, including meat, chicken, liver, etc. Since leaving the palace, it is the first time to eat meat, so it is also very tasty.For a while, princes and ministers, eunuchs and maids, were full of pits and valleys, almost crushing this small county town.There are thousands of soldiers and palace guards in the entourage, and the daily supply is not small. Since then, Cixi has resumed her flag dress.The Queen, Concubine Jin, and Gege also picked out a man's long gown to wear, restoring their original appearance.The Minister of Military Aircraft Wang Wenshao came, and he brought out all the letters and seals of the Military Aircraft Department.This is equivalent to the Empress Dowager Cixi being able to issue orders and mobilize everything on the road.The next day, I stayed in the county for a day.In the morning, he began to cry, this was the first dignified action after leaving the palace.This time, there is almost no shortage of military ministers in the Manchu and Han Dynasties.This is the beginning of the preparatory peace.In the evening, a decree was delivered suddenly: "Wu Yong will manage the grain platform on the front road." So Wu Yong went west with his retinue, and then followed him back to Luan Beijing, promoted to the third level, and rewarded the second rank Dingdai. Cixi bumped all the way, and arrived in Taiyuan on August 17, where she used the governor's office as her residence.Arriving in Xi'an on the fourth day of September, he also used the governor's yamen as his palace.Returned on August 24 of the following year.On the way back, the eldest brother was abolished.