Chapter 66 3. Sorry for the delay

On the return journey from Xi'an, Cixi was extravagant, the scholars and people kneeled down, and sent them off respectfully along the road. Thousands of officials and horses, with banners and flags waving, forgot about it.History books say: "However, for thousands of years, there should be no one who is as lively as today." (Wu Yong's "Gengzi Xishou Cong Tan" Volume 4) Cixi ended on November 28th in the twenty-seventh year of Guangxu (1901). Xishou, return to the Leshou Hall of Ningshou Palace.The calendar lasted for more than sixteen months, all 510 days. Since Cixi arrived in Xi'an, she "healed the scar and forgot the pain".It is said that there are more than a hundred kinds of recipes selected every day, and people are invited to perform in the palace, and they gamble with gold balls and silver ingots. Her younger brother Guixiang can smoke opium. (Chen Jiexian's "Portrait of Empress Dowager Cixi") On the return journey, there were more than 3,000 vehicles driving to the Daxiu Palace along the way.In Kaifeng, there are birthday banquets, big plays, and extravagance.In the meantime, the people in the capital suffered disasters.German Alfred Graf von Waldersee, commander of the coalition forces, once said: "After Beijing was occupied, the army was allowed to loot openly for three days, and then private looting continued, and the material losses suffered by Beijing residents were very great." Said: "The rape of women, cruel acts, random killings, intentional arson and other things that occurred during the robbery are extremely numerous." There are also Summer Palace, Yuanmingyuan, Temple of Heaven, Xiannongtan, especially the treasures of the imperial palace, which were lost and scattered. Unable to count.

The Boxer (Regiment) incident, the invasion of the Eight-Power Allied Forces, the empress dowager Cixi's flight to the west, and the signing of the "Xin Chou Treaty" all had an extremely significant impact on Chinese history and culture. Sign the "Xin Chou Treaty".Cixi fled west because the Allied forces of eight countries invaded Beijing, and returned to Beijing because the war ended after signing the "Xin Chou Treaty".On July 25th in the twenty-seventh year of Guangxu (Xin Chou 1901), the "Xin Chou" was signed with eight countries including Britain, Germany, Russia, the United States, France, Austria, Japan, and Italy, as well as Spain, Belgium, and the Netherlands. treaty".There are twelve clauses in the treaty, including: compensation of 450 million taels, destruction of Dagu to the Fortress in Beijing, punishment of the culprit, apology to Germany and Japan, etc.The indemnity, plus interest, totaled more than 980 million taels, and there were other indemnities, the total amounted to more than one billion, which was equivalent to the total income of the Qing government for ten fiscal years at that time.This is the largest indemnity paid to foreign countries in China's modern history.This has strangled the lifeline of China's finances, affected people's lives, and delayed the process of industrialization.

Kill the scapegoat.The process of Cixi's escape was a process of self-reflection and self-discipline.Such a big mess has been caused, and Wanmin's dissatisfaction is so great, they must find a scapegoat!The foreigners also demanded to "punish the culprit". The "culprit" is naturally Cixi, how can Cixi punish herself!As a result, Cixi launched a killing spree: ordered to behead Xu Tong (deceased), a university scholar, and Shangshu Gangyi (deceased), beheaded the Minister of Military Aircraft and Shangshu Qixiu, the Minister of Military Aircraft and Shangshu Zhao Shuqiao committed suicide, and Zuo Duyu The history and left-wing commander committed suicide in Yingnian, the minister of military aircraft and minister Yulu committed suicide, Prince Zhuang and the infantry commander Zaixun committed suicide, the governor of Shandong Province Yu Xian Zhengfa, the minister of military aircraft Zai Yi, and the imperial minister Zai Lan were designated as beheaded supervisors. En sent to Xinjiang for imprisonment.Judging from the social composition of these people, they are the diehards, conservatives, and opportunists of the Manchu aristocracy and high-level society, and they are a group of political dwarfs who are fatuous and sycophant.The loyal and admonishing Minister of Military Aircraft Xu Yongyi, Prime Minister Xu Jingcheng, Minister of State Affairs, Hubu Shangshu Lishan, Cabinet Bachelor Lian Yuan and Taichang Temple Minister Yuan Chang were killed in parallel in the city, known as the "Five Loyalties" in history.Later Zhaoxue Jingbiao, his heroic soul will shine forever.

In short, Cixi has actually been in power for forty-eight years. I think she has three high moves and four failures.The first is the Xinyou coup, as Professor Chen Jiexian said, "In the 'Xinyou coup', which was the first test of Cixi's cry, she was well-designed, well-handled, ingenious in response, and ruthless in her actions. The second is to appoint Zeng (Guofan), Li (Hongzhang), and Zuo (Zongtang) to stabilize the Qing regime in times of crisis; the third is the so-called "Tongzhi Zhongxing".The four failures are that Cixi made four consecutive mistakes in the four years of Wu, Ji, Geng, and Xin——

The Reform Movement of 1898 (the twenty-fourth year of Guangxu 1898), the Reform Movement of 1898; In the year of Jihai (1899, the twenty-fifth year of Guangxu), Li Da elder brother; In the year of Gengzi (1900, the twenty-sixth year of Guangxu), the embassy was attacked; In the year of Xin Chou (1901, the twenty-seventh year of Guangxu), "Xin Chou Treaty". Cixi's selfishness, conservatism, aloofness and greed lead to mistakes such as the above.After Empress Dowager Cixi returned to Luan, she carried out some reforms, such as sending personnel to study abroad and announcing preparations for a constitution.However, the opportunity for reform has been missed.The prestige of the Qing government has been completely lost.Let’s take a look at the timetable: Four years after Empress Dowager Cixi’s return, the Tongmenghui was established, another three years after the “Two Palaces Bintian”, and two years after the Wuchang Uprising—the fall of the Qing Dynasty, the founding of the Republic of China, the end of the imperial system, and the rebirth of China.

Empress Dowager Cixi faced the problem of reform and old-fashionedness: some people are dissatisfied without reform, and some people are dissatisfied with reform. Comparing the two, each has advantages and disadvantages: although reform offends some people, it conforms to the trend of historical development; although it caters to some people without reform, it goes against the trend of social development ——Those who refuse to reform will be cast aside by history.Therefore, comparing the two with each other, it is better to reform.Timing matters when a wise man does good.Empress Dowager Cixi missed the opportunity to reform and was notorious for being stubborn and conservative.Reform early, reform late, take the initiative and go with the times!