Chapter 15 14. The Boxer Rebellion

When the Reform Movement of 1898 failed, Rong Lu asked Yang Chongyi to invite Empress Dowager Cixi to come back to govern. Kang Youwei and his party members fled to death. young master.Empress Dowager Cixi was also moved, so on December 24th she made Pujun her elder brother.Since some ministers in the central and central courts did not approve of the abolition of the establishment, and were afraid that the governors of the southeastern provinces would oppose it, Cixi had no choice but to use Guangxu's critical illness as an excuse.When the news of Guangxu's critical illness came out, the envoys of various countries stationed in Beijing joined hands to visit Yikuang and asked to introduce a French doctor in Beijing to the palace to treat the emperor.Yikuang reported to Cixi, but Cixi refused, and the envoys repeatedly asked, so Cixi reluctantly allowed the foreign doctor to enter the palace.However, the doctor checked Guangxu's whole body, but could not find any symptoms. Therefore, in the medical report, he said: "Emperor Guangxu is healthy and has no disease." The group spread like wildfire.

What especially angered Cixi was that Kang Youwei, an "rebel against the party", was protected by the British, and Liang Qichao was protected by the Japanese. She thought it was foreigners who were openly opposing her.After Li Pujun became the elder brother, the reaction from the outside world was particularly bad. Jing Yuanshan, the alternate magistrate of Shanghai, contacted Cai Yuanpei and 2,000 people wrote a letter against him.Duanjun Wang Zaiyi was very worried, and sent people to urge the ministers of various countries to enter the palace to congratulate. Cixi also invited the wives of the ministers to a banquet, hoping that foreigners would agree to this important matter of abolishing the establishment.Just at this time, Luo Jiajie, the Liangdao of Jiangsu Province, wrote to Ronglu, reporting a rumor that the British were going to send troops to Beijing to force Empress Dowager Cixi to hand over power and let Guangxu regain power.Rong Lu presented this report to Cixi, which made Cixi very angry. She felt that foreigners were too hateful, and they were against her everywhere. Said: "Foreign devils are too hateful and deceive me too much. This revenge must be avenged."

Empress Dowager Cixi's hatred of foreign countries is converging with the folk's hatred of foreigners, Catholics, and Christian priests.Catholic and Protestant priests and clerics are mixed, and the Chinese scum lives by eating from the church and using foreigners to oppress the people, so the folk conservatives have merged into a torrent of hatred against foreigners.The psychology of hating foreigners was manifested in the Boxers, a semi-religious gang organization, so the conservative faction of the Qing court and the faction who hated foreigners among the general public rallied to support the Boxer Tuan's call to "destroy the foreigners".In order to gain the support of the Qing government, the Boxer Group added the word "Fu Qing" to the word "Mie Yang", so the conservative Qing officials used this to incite Cixi.

In her later years, Cixi paid more attention to pleasure, especially listening to Beijing opera.What is good in the top is bound to be bad in the bottom. At that time, the princes and ministers in Beijing were also proud of granting operas. The popularity of Peking Opera in the late Qing Dynasty had a lot to do with Cixi's love.In Peking Opera, there are many myths, which have a great influence on the hearts of the people. The stage of the Qing Palace has a set, and when a god enters and exits, it is set or rises from the bottom of the stage, or descends from the top of the stage. Of.She was originally an extremely superstitious woman with little knowledge. She worshiped Buddha and worshiped gods on weekdays. There is a tallest building in the Summer Palace named "Foxiang Pavilion", which is the place where Empress Dowager Cixi prayed to Buddha.She is honored as Lafayette, and she dresses up as Guanyin to take pictures, and it can be seen that her thoughts are inseparable from theocracy.

The reform failed, and the conservative faction of the Qing court regained power, which coincided with the undercurrent of popular opposition to foreigners, Catholicism, and Christianity, so the Boxers took advantage of the momentum.Boxers represent a tendency of Chinese folk and lower classes, which is the resistance of ancient Chinese society to the impact of Western forces. It turns out that the Boxers evolved from a branch of the Bagua Sect, a superstitious secret society that has been brewing for more than a hundred years.In the twenty-fifth year of the reign of Emperor Guangxu (1899), there was drought in northern China, withered farmland and epidemic diseases, and the resentment aroused by foreigners and missionaries in the interior of China, both directly and indirectly helped the Boxers, so hunger and xenophobia combined As a result, the Boxers blatantly raised the banner of "supporting the Qing Dynasty and destroying the foreigners" and rose from Shandong.

The ancestors of the Boxers were called the old regiment, and the leaders were called the big brother, the second brother, and the third brother.The stewards called Mr. Da, Mr. Er, and Mr. San.The gods enshrined are all taken from "Fengshen Bang", and "Fengshen Bang".At first, it was in Caozhou Prefecture, Shandong Province. It was a branch of Bagua Sect. In the countryside, it was called "The Party of Righteous Persons".Later, it was renamed "Yihequan". The boxing it practices belongs to Jiu-Jitsu. The most skilled one claims to be able to avoid guns.All those who joined the Boxers wore red scarves on their heads, with hidden charms, red belly, red leg belts, red scarves wrapped around their hands, and white paper charms inside their wrists.The other branch is all yellow, and some are red and wear a black scarf called Hei Tuan.The black group is respected by people of red and yellow, and is said to be the most powerful.The believers are aged from 10 to 45 years old. They all hold big knives and wear red cloths. It is said among the people that boxers can avoid guns, firearms can't hurt the body, and cutting flesh with knives will not break or bleed.When the Boxers saw foreign houses, they would burn them down. When they saw foreigners, they called them big boys, and when they saw Catholics and Christians, they called them Er Maozi.

There are also female soldiers in the Boxer Regiment, girls under the age of 18 and girls over the age of 12, wearing red cloth clothes and shoes, holding a red scarf and a small red lantern in their hands. These female soldiers are collectively called "red lanterns".It is said that after chanting the mantra, the fan can fly into the sky and ride the clouds, like a big red star. The cannons of foreigners cannot be fired when they meet the fan illuminated by the red light, and the fan can make the ship burn itself in the sea. City towers or bungalows burned down. In addition to the political slogan of helping the Qing Dynasty and destroying the foreigners, the Boxers also had a political slogan that they wanted to win the "head" of one dragon and two tigers.At that time, besides Ronglu, Cixi trusted Zaiyi, the king of Duanjun.It is said that because Rong Lu was not in favor of deposing Guangxu, Cixi was also a little dissatisfied with it, and Rong Lu was relatively new-minded among the conservatives, and Rong Lu did not support the Boxer Movement to help the Qing Dynasty and destroy foreigners.At this time, Cixi's cronies were a group of fatuous and ignorant princes and ministers, as well as stubborn and conservative scholar-bureaucrats.These people took advantage of Cixi's old-fashioned and anti-foreign psychology to encourage the expansion of the Boxers, a non-governmental organization. In less than a year, the Boxers spread from Shandong to Hebei, Shanxi, and even entered Beijing. To dismantle railway rails and wires.The few ministers of the Qing court who opposed the Boxers and Yuan Chang, Xu Jingcheng, Lianyuan, Xu Yongyi, Li Shan and others risked their lives to remonstrate, but to no avail.

The rise of the Boxers represented the rejection of the church by the ancient Chinese society for thousands of years, the resistance of the Chinese literati to the invasion of Western forces, and the resentment between the Qing royal family and Western countries. In October of the 25th year of Guangxu (1899), Yuan Shikai led the Wuwei Youjun to Shandong for parade.At this time, the Boxer Movement in Shandong was very active. Yuan Shikai and his new army went to Shandong, which was arranged by Rong Lu.It turned out that the Boxer Rebellion had been in Shandong for more than two years. At first, he practiced boxing and clubs in Shandong under the name of the Broadsword Association, preparing to fight with priests.In the 23rd year of Guangxu (1897), when Li Bingheng was the governor of Shandong, the Daohui was very prosperous in Shandong. In October, two German missionaries were killed, and Li Bingheng was dismissed for this reason.But the successor was Yu Xian, who held the same position as Li Bingheng, and the Da Dao Hui now called itself Yihe Quan, with the slogan "support the Qing and destroy the foreign", and Yu Xian changed the word "quan" to "tuan".The Boxer Regiment had the support of the officials of the feudal border, so it spread greatly in Shandong, arousing protests from various countries. In November of this year, the Qing court appointed Yuan Shikai as acting governor of Shandong.On the 24th, Yuan rushed to Jinan to take over the affairs of the seal. He issued an edict: "Shandong's people and religions are not in harmony, and it is urgent to handle them equally."There is also an edict: "The people of Shandong Province are not in good mood, so Xu Zhao persuades the town to appease the party."After Yuan Shikai arrived in office, he formulated two methods of treating the root cause and the symptoms of the situation in Shandong.In February of the twenty-sixth year of Guangxu (1900), Yuan officially conferred the title of governor of Shandong. At this time, his new army had already been deployed in Shandong, and the Boxers were active in Dongchang, Jinan, Tai'an, and Caozhou.Yuan Nai made a large-scale purge. On the one hand, he sent Taoist governors and county magistrates to try to disband the Boxers; Qie issued an order to strictly prohibit the activities of the Boxer Regiment.The leaders of the Boxers saw that the new governor did not treat them as kindly as the previous governor, and at the same time adopted extremely strict measures, so they led disciples and troops from Shandong to Hebei and Shanxi.

The conservatives in the Beijing imperial court praised the Boxers in front of Cixi, and the forces of the Boxers gradually controlled Beijing and Tianjin.Yuan Shikai knew very well that when the extreme conservative faction surrounded Cixi, it would be impossible to eliminate the Boxers. Although he knew that the Boxers' actions would cause big troubles, he couldn't stop them, so he had to preserve Shandong Province.Therefore, on the surface, they only advised the boxers not to cause trouble, but secretly ordered all subordinates to exert pressure to drive these group members out of Shandong completely.

Since Yuan was appointed as the governor of Shandong, Shandong has indeed managed to protect itself, so that all the people who believed in the Boxers or hated foreigners hated Yuan to the bone. Some said: "Yuan Shikai is going to rebel", some said: "Yuan Shikai is a traitor. ". Yuan Shikai didn't stay in Shandong for a long time, but it happened that because of the Boxer Rebellion incident, he was looked at differently by Chinese and foreign people. Empress Dowager Cixi was surrounded by extreme conservatives, and the Boxers held the banner of "helping the Qing Dynasty and destroying foreigners" to move around the palace.

In the middle of April in the twenty-sixth year of Guangxu (1900), Laishui Boxers burned down the Baoding Railway, and Zhili Governor Yulu sent military officer Yang Sitong to suppress it. Yang was killed in Yizhou.The Qing court sent Shuqiao Zhao Shuqiao to Zhuozhou to inspect. After Zhao returned to Beijing, he dared not tell Cixi the truth about the Boxers.On May 15th in the capital, boxers killed Akira Sugiyama, the secretary of the Japanese Legation, destroyed churches and murdered religious people, and burned down Zhengyang Gate on May 20th. On May 20th, Cixi summoned princes and ministers, six ministries and nine ministers in Yiluan Hall.The ministers knelt in the hall, and those who came last knelt outside the hall.Empress Dowager Cixi and Guangxu sat facing north with their backs to the window. The ministers, Prince Shiduo, Wang Wenshao, and Zhao Shuqiao knelt beside the imperial case. The other minister was resolute and did not return because he was out of Beijing for inspection. The ministers lined up like geese and knelt down from south to north. Kowtow.Guangxu asked the minister why he couldn't suppress the fist chaos?At this time, Liu Yongheng, a scholar of the Imperial Academy, walked forward on his knees from the back row, and said: "I just saw Dong Fuxiang, and Dong is willing to ask for an order to drive out the rioters." Before Liu finished speaking, Duan Wang Zaiyi stretched out his thumb and said sharply : "Okay! This is the first way to lose people's hearts." Liu Yongheng breathed a sigh of relief, not daring to say a word.Cixi was also silent.Taichangqing Yuan Chang knelt outside the hall, but said against the voice: "My minister Yuan Chang has something to say!" Cixi ordered Li Lianying to pass on Yuan Jin. China and foreign countries have not relied on magic and chaos to achieve success.When Cixi heard this, she immediately asked Yuan in a sharp voice, "You said that spells cannot be relied on, so don't you believe that people's hearts can't be trusted either? Today China is extremely weak, and what we are talking about is people's hearts. If people's hearts are also lost, how can we build a country?" The queen mother continued Said: "now that the capital is in chaos, foreigners talk about mobilizing troops, what should we do? Your ministers can come quickly." The ministers disagreed, either talking about war or making peace.Cixi sent her servants Natong and Xu Jingcheng to dissuade the foreign soldiers, and at the same time appease the people of the regiment to try to dissolve the boxers.Zeng Guanghan, Minister of Guanglu Temple, Zhang Hengjia, Shaoqing of Dali Temple, Yun Yuding and Zhu Zumou, scholars who attended Cixi, saw that Cixi was still defending the Boxer Regiment, so they joined together and stayed behind when the ministers withdrew, and said loudly to the hall: "Your servants still have something to say. " So Zhang Hengjia insisted that the boxers should be suppressed, as long as the first few people can be killed, the chaos can be quelled.Zhang is from Fujian, and his tone is so urgent that he can hardly understand what he said.Zhu Zumou even asked Cixi: "I believe in the people in disorder, and they are against the West. I don't know who to rely on to take charge of this important matter?" The queen mother said, "I rely on Dong Fuxiang." Zhu Zumou said loudly, "Dong Fuxiang is the first." Who is it?" Zhu said, "My minister is Zhu Zumou, a Hanlin scholar." The queen mother asked, "You said Dong Fuxiang is not enough, so you can protect one person." Zhu hurriedly couldn't answer, Yun Yuding responded, "Shandong Governor Yuan Shikai has the courage and insight, and he can be transferred to Beijing. Zeng Guanghan said: "Liu Kunyi, the governor of Liangjiang, can do it too." Seeing that the Queen Mother was angry, Rong Lu, the minister of military aircraft, eased the atmosphere and said, "Liu Kunyi is too far away, and Yuan Shikai has transferred." Only in this way did a tense situation be resolved. Zhang Hengjia, Zhu Zumou, Yun Yuding and Zeng Guanghan resigned, and when they left the hall, Cixi was still glaring at Zhu Zumou. On May 21, Empress Dowager Cixi held another imperial meeting, in which princes, ministers, scholars, six ministries, and nine ministers all attended.The queen mother said: "The emperor does not advocate war and opposes the use of troops. I am very confused now. This is a court meeting. Everyone can speak up as much as possible." Guangxu said: "War must be said, but China has been weak for a long time, and soldiers cannot fight. How can we fight with rebellious people?" Liu Yongheng, a bachelor's degree attendant, said: "The rebellious people should be eradicated early, otherwise there will be great disasters." Zai Yi rushed to say: "The righteous people rise from the fields, and they don't care about going to the country if they die. First get rid of the righteous people, how can the hearts of the people be maintained?" Guangxu said: "The rebellious people are mobs, and the hearts of the people are empty, and the main battle is dangerous." At this time, Cixi suddenly read out a document, and she said: "Just now I received a note from foreigners. There are four points: 1. Designate a place for the Chinese emperor to live in; What kind of face do you have to see the saints and ancestors? Accepting the conditions of foreigners is also subjugation of the country. Rather than perishing without a fight, I would rather die." When Cixi said this, her voice was stern, the princes and ministers bowed their heads, and some wept sadly. Said: "The ministers are willing to die."The ministers only read three articles of the foreigner's note to the queen mother, and after the court, they inquired about the content of the fourth article. It turned out that the fourth article was to order the empress dowager to return to power, so she couldn't say it.In fact, this note from foreigners is not true. Whether it was fabricated by the conservatives or Cixi herself, no one knows. What can be verified is that it definitely did not come from a foreign embassy or consulate.This time, at the imperial meeting, because Cixi read out this document, the people who were in charge of peace could no longer hold peace talks, so Cixi said in a high tone: "All the ministers have heard what happened today. For the sake of the country, I have to ask Declare war, but wars are difficult to predict. In case the country is in danger, all the lords are here today, you should understand my heart, and don't blame me alone in the future, let alone the empress dowager who ruined the Qing Dynasty for three hundred years The world." Cixi was so polite to his ministers in the court hall, one called the ministers, and the other called the princes, which shocked the princes and ministers who were kneeling below, and the ministers who opposed the main war faction did not dare to oppose any more, so they had to congregate They said in unison: "The ministers are of the same heart to serve the country." Therefore, Cixi ordered the Prime Minister Xu Yongyi, Minister of State Affairs, Lishan, Minister of Household Affairs, and Lianyuan, a scholar, to Dongjiaomin Lane to announce to the embassies of various countries, asking foreigners if they want to fight. When you fight a war, you can fly back to your country immediately.Lishan resigned because he was not in the Prime Minister's Office of State Affairs.Guangxu said: "Didn't you receive the envoys from various countries to visit the Summer Palace last year? Don't you dare to go if it is dangerous today?" Cixi was also furious and said, "Go if you dare, or go if you dare." So Xu Yongyi, The three ministers Lishan and Lianyuan withdrew first.Cixi was afraid that foreigners would really take action against Xu and other three ministers, so she ordered Rong Lu, the commander of the military guards, to actively arrange and send troops to protect them secretly. On the afternoon of May 22, Cixi called an imperial meeting again to discuss peace and war. Zaiyi proposed to attack the embassy, ​​and Cixi agreed.Lian Yuan immediately objected, thinking that the two countries were fighting each other and not beheading the envoys. If the embassy was destroyed, it would be unimaginable if foreign soldiers entered Beijing.Zai Lan asked the Queen Mother to kill Lian Yuan, and Prince Zhuang Zai Xun tried his best to save him.University scholar Wang Wenshao urged Chen not to go to war, thinking that there was nothing to do later.The queen mother beat the table with her hand and angrily reprimanded the king, saying: "If you can keep the foreign soldiers from entering the city, I will listen to you, or I will kill you." The king dared not argue.Guangxu held Xu Jingcheng's hand and cried loudly, "I don't regret the death of one person, but what is it like to be alive in the world?" The meeting ended without fuss. On the afternoon of the 23rd, Cixi summoned his ministers again in the Hall of Yiluan, and decided to declare war with other countries. He ordered Xu Jingcheng and others to inform the envoys of all countries that they would leave Beijing within 24 hours, and the Qing Dynasty would send troops to escort them out of the country.Guangxu was very excited, took Xu Jingcheng's hand and said: "Let's discuss it again." Cixi said sharply: "Let go, don't make trouble." Lianyuan knelt on the ground and said loudly: "Declaration of war should only be against one country. If it is for the barbarians, France is a missionary country, so it can only declare war on France, how can it declare war on more than ten countries?" Cixi ignored it, and ordered Zailan and others to defend the palace wall with all their strength, just in case. Before dawn on the 24th, the princes, ministers, six ministries, and nine ministers were summoned to gather at Yingxiu Gate, Cixi Shengyi Luan Hall, and summoned the Minister of Military Aircraft, Prince Li Shiduo, Rong Lu, Sanxiang Gangyi, Qixiu, and Zhao Shuqiao. , asking about the declaration of war.Rong Lu cried, please do not attack the embassy, ​​Cixi was very upset.The other ministers were still fighting hard, so Li Lianying knelt down and asked the Queen Mother to go back to the Nuan Pavilion for tea and dinner.After the meal, I went to Qinzheng Hall to summon all the princes and ministers, six departments and nine ministers. Guangxu arrived first and knelt outside the hall to greet him.Cixi took a four-person sedan chair and was lifted to the throne by Li Lianying. Guangxu was pale that day and sat on the right side of Cixi's throne. Cixi announced the reason for declaring war in a fierce tone. She said: "Originally I wanted to punish the Boxers for killing foreigners. How did I know that foreigners forced me to return to power? This is a major court event. How can foreigners interfere? The emperor has always been weak. It is a last resort to listen to the government behind the curtain. Today we cannot tolerate foreigners, because tolerance cannot treat our ancestors. I have tried hard for more than 40 years, and now I have decided to break with foreigners. The embassy is really ridiculous. As for you ministers of the Han Dynasty, you should understand that I have been kind to you for more than two hundred years, and you should repay it with death and live up to my expectations." After Cixi finished speaking, she asked Guangxu what opinion he had?Guangxu's face was full of sadness, he was silent for a long time, hesitant to speak, and finally he only asked the queen mother to obey Ronglu's request and not attack the embassy.Then Zhao Shuqiao asked to kill the priests in the Mainland.Li Shan, Xu Jingcheng, and Yuan Chang still cried, please do not declare war with other countries, do not rely on the Boxers, and stated that foreigners will never ask the Queen Mother to return to power.Zaiyi scolded Lishan and others as traitors again, and Cixi waved the ministers to quit.On the 25th, the declaration of war was officially issued. The declaration of war was drafted by the military aircraft Zhang Jinglian Wenchong. Cixi relied on the Boxers to declare war on the foreign powers.Prince Zhuang Zaixun and Minister of Military Aircraft Gangyi were appointed as the presidents in command of the Boxer Regiment, but this was only in name only, and the Boxer Regiment was not restrained at all. At that time, the mansions of the princes and the government departments all set up altars to worship, and even Cixi also set up altars in the palace.The Empress Dowager must recite Boxers 70 times a day, and when she finishes, Li Lianying will call out: "Another foreigner died."For example: Wang Peiyou was promoted to Shuntian Fu Yin with his first attachment to the Boxer Regiment; Xu Daokun, the censor, threatened that the ancestor Hong Jun ordered the five dragons to guard Dagu, and made the dragon's back to overturn the foreign ship; Exterminate foreigners, because foreigners have no king and no father for two thousand years; Yushi Chen Jiayan claimed to have obtained a silk book from Guan Zhuangmiao, which said that foreigners are not to be feared, and they will destroy themselves; General Chang Shun of Jilin said: There were two child prodigies in the Boxer Regiment , since the sky falls on the church, the church will catch fire by itself.Books can be written about such absurd remarks. After Pu Jun, the son of Duanjun Wang Zaiyi, was established as the elder brother, Pu Jun ran amok in the palace and insulted Guangxu.Once, he pointed at Guangxu and insulted him, calling Guangxu a bastard. When Guangxu reprimanded him, he actually punched Guangxu.Guangxu had no choice but to report to the Empress Dowager, Cixi was furious, and ordered the chief eunuch Cui to whip Pu Jun's buttocks 20 times.After Pu Jun was reprimanded, his father was very angry. A few days later, Zai Yi got drunk and asked Prince Zhuang Zai Xun, Zai Lian, and Zai Xi to lead more than 60 Boxers, and stormed into Da Nei to search for priests. , clamoring to see Emperor Guangxu, speaking rudely, and scolding Guangxu's second son.At this time, Cixi was eating tea, and when she heard them making noise, she was furious, and immediately summoned Rong Lu to the palace to call Duan and Zhuang two kings in front of her to reprimand her. She said, "What are you doing? Do you want to rebel? I am still here." Dare to do this, it is up to me to abolish the emperor, Zaiyi! Let me tell you, I can remove Pu Jun's position as the elder brother at any time and drive him out of the palace, now you all get the hell out of me! Outside, you are never allowed to enter without authorization. Before leaving the palace, you can go kowtow to the emperor and ask for forgiveness." Cixi slapped the table with her hands while scolding, looking really angry.Then he ordered Ronglu to execute more than 20 leaders of the Boxers who accompanied him into the palace immediately.Rong Lu led the decree to take the Tuanmin who caused the trouble with Zaiyi tied up and go outside Dong'an Gate to rectify the law. Li Shan, Minister of the Ministry of Officials, had a rift with Prince Zhuang Zaixun in order to compete for a prostitute.Lishan used to be the head of the House of Internal Affairs, a wealthy family, and was favored by Empress Dowager Cixi. Zaixun once failed to borrow money from Lishan, and he became more and more resentful.After the Boxer Rebellion, Zai Xun joined Zai Yi in order to avenge himself, falsely accusing Li Shan of having an authentic church in his home, Li Shan was arrested, and Zai Xun went to search for Li Shan. The Minister of the Ministry of Households hid foreigners in Lishan, and his whereabouts were secret. The minister investigated and dealt with it. The minister went to the minister's house to search, but there were no foreigners. He should take the minister to the altar, burn incense and pay respects, and the gods would come down from the altar to denounce collusion. Foreigners, their whereabouts are secretive. The Shangshu looked panic-stricken, and he was immediately dismissed from his post and handed over to the prison of the Ministry of Criminal Affairs. If there is any danger, it must be the king's minister who will ask." Later Li Shan was murdered together with Xu Jingcheng and Yuan Chang. Two days before the Qing court declared war on other countries, that is, on May 23, the 26th year of Guangxu (1900), Klind, the German minister to the Qing Dynasty, clashed with the Qing army and was killed on his way from Dongjiaominxiang to the Prime Minister's State Affairs Office.Klind is a baron, born in Pusdum, Germany on November 20, 1853. He learned Chinese when he was young, and worked as a translator for the German consulate in Canton. In 1888, he was awarded the Kaiser Wilhelm first awarded the medal. In 1896, he served as the German Minister to Mexico. Later, he was transferred to China. His wife is American. At this time, the embassy area in Dongjiaomin Lane was on alert. Hearing that the Qing army and the Boxers were about to attack, they gathered all the overseas Chinese staying in Beijing in the British embassy. Tianjin for help.Since then, Chinese and Western soldiers fought fiercely in various markets in Beijing. The embassy area was besieged. Italian, Austrian, Belgian, Portuguese, and Russian embassies were all burned. Customs houses, churches, and the houses where missionaries lived were also burned.Since ministers, diplomats, and expatriates from various countries were trapped in Dongjiaomin Lane, the letters for help were dispatched by Hurd, the General Tax Department of the Customs, to Tianjin.Every time a letter is delivered, the special agent can get one hundred taels to five hundred taels of silver, which shows the difficulty of delivering letters at that time.And every letter said: "...the situation is very critical, please send troops to rescue as soon as possible." Nie Shicheng, commander of the left army of Wuwei, died in Tianjin. He was the first general to die for his country after the Boxing Revolution.The circumstances of his death were very tortuous. He fought on two fronts, resisting foreign soldiers on the one hand, and fighting against the Boxers on the other. He finally died in Balitai, Tianjin on June 13th. During the fist change, Nie Tucheng commanded the Wuwei Zuo Army to station in Lutai, and Yu Lu, governor of Zhili, transferred the second battalion of Nie Army to Zhuozhou, and the first battalion defended Jinjing Road.On the eighth day of May, the Boxers burned the Yangcun Railway, and Nie Jun sent a detachment to rescue them. Dozens of people were injured by boxers.When Cixi heard the news, she ordered Rong Lu, the president of the armed forces, to send a letter to Nie Shicheng, advising not to fight against the Boxers. Nie replied: "The regiment bandits harm the people, and Shi Cheng is responsible for guarding the land. There are bandits in the territory, and it is reasonable to eliminate them. He was severely punished, and Mi escaped to his death." So Nie Jun guarded Yangcun exclusively to stop the Boxers. On May 14th, the British Admiral Seymour led soldiers from all over the world to enter Beijing and pass through Yangcun. Nie's army refused to give way. Seeing that they were outnumbered, the foreigners turned back.The Qing court thought it was the Boxer Regiment's great contribution, and gave them a special reward, but it was not as good as Nie Jun.On May 20, Nie was ordered to attack the Tianjin Concession, and the eight-day battle was the only real battle between the Qing army and the foreigners. If it hadn't been for Nie's hard work, the foreign army would have already invaded Beijing.On May 28, armies from all over the world rushed to help Tianjin. The Nie army was unable to support because of the long-term battle and no help, but they still retreated to the vicinity of Tianjin. When the Nie army attacked the Tianjin Concession, the Boxers came out to help.Nie Shicheng was extremely dissatisfied with the Boxers, and especially believed that it was the Boxers who proposed to destroy the foreigners and cause troubles. Suddenly he ordered: "Attack the regiment bandits with all our strength tonight, and fight the foreigners tomorrow." So Nie's army went out and killed more than a thousand Boxers, and the two sides became deadly enemies.The next day, when Nie's army was fighting hard with the foreign army, the Boxers dispatched dozens of people to Nie's apartment and took all of Nie Shicheng's family members away. At this time, Nie Shicheng was in a very difficult situation. Because of the large-scale reinforcement of foreign soldiers, Nie's army was fighting hard with the foreign army. As soon as the truce was called off, he suddenly heard that his family, young and old, had been robbed by the Boxers, so he led his troops to pursue him.When Nie Jun was moving, the Boxers yelled, "Nie Jun is rebelling!" On the fourth day of June, Ma Yukun, the former army of the Wuwei, came to Tianjin for reinforcements. Nie Jun and Ma Jun fought together and fought hard for another ten days. On the morning of June 13th, Governor Yulu of Zhili summoned Nie Shicheng, and Nie was summoned to Zhitai Yamen.Before Yulu opened the middle door, Nie knew that there was something wrong, and when he entered the supervisor's office, Yulu stood waiting in the study room, his face very ugly, holding a telegram, and he will send it to Nie after seeing him.In the telegram was the imperial edict: Nie Shicheng trained the army with a new law, killed patriots without authorization, and the law will be rectified.Nie knelt down after reading.At this time, Yulu comforted Nie and said that the reason behind the decree was so unknown.Ask Nie to fight again. If he wins, Yulu will be able to protect him.After Nie Shicheng resigned, he wore court clothes and mended coat and went to the front to oversee the army to fight hard. He fought hard all day and night in Balitai, without food or sleep, and the soldiers suffered no casualties.The foreign soldiers watched from a distance with binoculars and saw someone in the Qing army wearing mended coats. They knew they were high-ranking officials, so they bombarded them.The generals Zhou Yuru and Yao Liangcai, the battalion officers Xu Zhaode and Song Desheng were all killed in the bloody battle.When Nie's body was buried, there were only more than 20 Qing soldiers wearing white belts to send him to the funeral, and no civil and military officials in Tianjin came to express their condolences.It was not until Yuan Shikai became the governor of Zhili that Nie's injustice was revealed. When the Battle of Tianjin was in full swing, the Qing government transferred Li Hongzhang to take over as Governor of Zhili and Minister of Beiyang, and sent Song Qing as Assistant Minister of Beiyang Military Affairs. On June 18, after three days of bloody battle, the Japanese soldiers first attacked the city gate, Tianjin fell, and Yulu committed suicide. After the foreign soldiers occupied Tianjin, their military discipline was very bad, and they committed all kinds of burning, killing and looting. The Russian and French soldiers were the most brutal and unreasonable, and the German soldiers were also rampant. In comparison, the soldiers of Britain, the United States, and Japan did not cause much trouble.The most mischievous thing is to arrange Lasvenans on the street to pull rickshaws, while foreign soldiers ride in them. Sometimes the pullers are asked to wear red caps with flower feathers. On June 23, the coalition forces gathered in Tianjin, ready to march towards Beijing, the capital of the Qing Dynasty. There were more than 34,000 coalition forces, including 10,000 Russian troops, 9,000 Japanese troops, 6,000 British troops, 2,600 French troops, and 2,500 American troops. 4,000 Germans and 150 Austrian and Italian troops. The foreign soldiers set off from Tianjin, and the Qing army positions they encountered at the first stop were Beicang and Yangcun.In this area, the Qing Dynasty was heavily guarded, and Li Bingheng was sent by Empress Dowager Cixi to supervise the division.In the first ten days of June, when the air in the capital was heavy, Li Bingheng was ordered to rush into the palace to meet the Queen Mother. The Queen Mother asked him to lead the soldiers. The capture of Beicang was dominated by the Japanese army, and then they took advantage of the victory to attack Yangcun.The coalition forces were divided into three groups. The Russian and French armies attacked the left, the U.S. army attacked the right, the British army attacked the center, and the Japanese army responded from the right rear.The Qing army was not as stubborn in Yangcun as it was in Beicang, so it only took half a day for the coalition forces to conquer Yangcun. The Qing army's only line of defense preventing foreign soldiers from advancing from Tianjin to Beijing collapsed, and Li Bingheng committed suicide and died for his country. In northern China, it was a hot summer season. Although the foreign soldiers were handy and captured Dagu, Tianjin, Beicang, and Yangcun, they were also very tired.However, the speed of the soldiers is very important. On July 2nd, the generals of the coalition held a meeting in Yangcun. They believed that the Qing soldiers' morale had fallen and that they could not be defeated. If Beijing cannot be captured, the war cannot be successfully concluded.So the tired foreign soldiers only rested for one day, and then marched non-stop to Beijing the next day. When the Eight-Power Allied Forces marched on the capital of the Qing Dynasty, the governors of the southeastern provinces united to advocate self-preservation. This concept can be seen from the beginning of Yuan Shikai's actions.When Yuan was appointed governor of Shandong, Shandong was originally the birthplace of the rise of the Boxers, and was encouraged by the previous two governors Li Bingheng and Yu Xian. However, Yuan drove the boxers out of Shandong in a calm manner in Shandong, so during the whole boxing revolution, Shandong There was no war in the whole territory, and no foreigners and priests were killed.Although Yuan Shikai was a junior in the eyes of the governors and governors of the southeastern provinces, his talent and foresight had already impressed those seniors. Since the Boxing Revolution, the governors of the southeastern provinces have exchanged telegrams, discussing how to protect the environment and the people, and at the same time urge the government, hoping to remedy it.On May 24th in the twenty-sixth year of Guangxu (1900), Zhang Zhidong, Liu Kunyi, Yuan Shikai, Li Bingheng, Lu Fulin, Wang Zhichun, Songshou, Yu Yinsen, Yu Liansan and others jointly sent a telegram to Ronglu. The telegram was delivered to two places , one to the General Administration, and one to Ronglu.Rong Lu once presented this electric performance to Cixi, but the Empress Dowager did not accept it.Later, when Li Bingheng entered Beijing and was ordered to lead the army, Cixi once asked him why he was listed in this telegram, but he denied it, and said that Liu Kunyi added his name falsely, and he did not agree.The telegram reads as follows: "Foreign news from all over the world started quarrels with the boxers. If I don't suppress them quickly, it will arouse public anger. The Japanese TV said that if they are willing to suppress the bandits, there is still a chance. Incitement, you can’t avoid guns and guns. In the thirteenth year of Jiaqing, it was banned for a long time. If it really belongs to the righteous people of Zhili, why is Li Laizhong, a Shaanxi native, headed by it? Both Huayang and Huayang were harmed by it, and under the influence of imperial emissaries, they killed Xincheng and Laishui county magistrates arbitrarily. Why did the imperial court resist the decree? From Beijing in the north, to Tianjin in the east, to Baoding in the west, and to Hejian in the south, thousands of miles around were disturbed. Drought, the people are in dire straits, it is for bandits, and the three should be suppressed. Destroying the electric wires and railways set up by the country, worth millions, hindering imperial edicts, delaying the march of the army, and burning foreign houses outside Beijing is useless. It is for robbery, and the four should be suppressed Also. Even if you don’t start a quarrel with other countries, you should punish them severely. What’s more, you have killed foreigners’ foreign houses and Japanese counselors for no reason. Now Haikou has been occupied, and the capital is full of foreign soldiers, with more troops and more ships. More and more, disaster is imminent. I can't bear to say that since ancient times, there has never been a country that was able to govern the country due to rampant massacres by the people in the country, and it has never been heard that a country that provoked quarrels with six or seven countries without a reason can be self-sufficient. The ammunition of officers and soldiers is limited, and the fierce battle lasts for a long time. I have no weapons to rescue, and the number of soldiers increased several times. All the mouths of the river and the sea are closed. They were invincible to the officers and soldiers. Recently, they were shot to death countless by foreign soldiers in Luofa, and they were defeated by foreign soldiers in Dongjiaominxiang. It has not been seen that they can avoid guns and guns. Respect the empress dowager's holy judgment, remember the importance of the sect society, hold firm opinions quickly, don't believe in lies, and issue decrees to suppress evil bandits, strictly prohibit violent troops, and do not allow trouble. Quickly comfort the embassies, and firmly say that there will be no harm I want to tell you that Li Hongzhang has been summoned, and that Li Daodang negotiated with other countries. Hearing that the United States did not fire artillery in Dagu, he first asked the US envoy to mediate and persuade them to stop the war. Send a decree quickly, stating the empress dowager's intentions, ordering the envoys stationed in various countries, and ordering an apology to the outside world. The counselors in Japan who have been murdered should be compensated, and they will try their best to protect them in the future. The priests of foreign merchants in all provinces should calm down the public anger, and they can do business in Xuzhou Rescue. The Zongshe is in danger, and there is no time to let it go. In a few days, there will be a big break, and there will be no regrets. Anxious and terrified, Bingheng and others share the same opinion. When this telegram was sent, the governors did not know that German Minister Klind had been killed in Beijing the day before. On the 8th day of June in the twenty-sixth year of Guangxu (1900), Shanghai "Shenbao" had a message translated from "Zi Linxi Bao": "At present, the governors of the southeast all aim to maintain diplomatic relations, suppress bandits and stabilize the people.照会各国驻沪领事，略谓：本部堂、本部院今已议定，无论北省有何举动，总当按照和约，力保各国官商，不使土匪横行，有伤各国旅人身家性命。惟各国须遣兵北上剿匪，不得调动大军至东南各省，致百姓骚扰，匪人伺隙滋生事端云。” 各省督抚和美英日等国首先接触的，是两湖总督张之洞，接着是两江总督刘坤一，而李鸿章则已奉调再度接任直隶总督，离开广东，到了上海。张之洞在五月廿六日曾有急电拍发给清廷驻美公使伍廷芳、驻英公使罗丰禄、驻日公使李盛铎，请他们分别译转各国政府。电文曰：“北方拳匪违旨滋事，各国人口物业致遭损害，京内京外数百里，华商华民财产焚毁亿万。至戕杀日本使馆随员乃各官办理不善之故，实非朝廷意料所及。现在我皇太后皇上已电召李鸿章来京，必使与各国妥商办理，免致失和。惟李中堂抵津，尚须半月，而各国日内进兵不已，设或再有战事，将来更难转圜，徒令各匪乘机肆恶，良民多遭惨害。今各省督抚并未奉有开战谕旨，可见朝廷并无失和之意，务望婉劝各国政府，迅电天津各兵官，力劝各国，暂行按兵停战，俟李中堂到京请旨开议，必当妥为了结，不启战祸，官兵方能专力剿匪。目下长江沿海一带，各督力任保护之责，诸国洋人均可无庸顾虑。若天津再有战事，则南方必将牵动，事机危迫，务祈迅饬施行，各省督抚意见相同，亦即有电达各国各部矣。” 美国国务院于1900年6月22日（即光绪廿六年五月廿六日）有一个备忘录给美国政府，备忘录说：“中国公使今早来访，把适才收到的两湖总督张之洞电文的大意，通知了国务卿，这和昨天收到的刘坤一电文大意相似。他说东南诸省现在平静，他和刘坤一是完全能而且决定要维持和平，并且在他统辖下的五省内，制止对于外人任何的危害。他请求美国方面要电示美司令官在这些省份内，当和平尚未破裂的时候，不要派遣任何军队或海军进入扬子江，并且要我们和其他各国开会，请求采取同样的步骤。伍廷芳先生希望美国在此点上的决定，尽可能的赶快通知他”。同一天美国务卿海约翰给清公使伍廷芳一函：“您给我的张之洞、刘坤一两总督的电报我已经呈给了总统。他对于电报内所提的保证，就是这些出色的封疆大吏们，决定而且相信他们的力量能够维持他们省份内的秩序，以及保护在他们管辖下的外人生命与权利的几点，很是高兴。他授权给我来对您保证，在做到这种情形时，他就无意派遣任何陆海军到不需要他们的地方。我高兴地通知您，我已经把总督们的保证，连同我对您的复文，通知了我们驻伦敦、巴黎、圣彼得堡及日本的代表。”