Chapter 16 15. The Eight-Power Allied Forces captured Beijing

On July 18th in the twenty-sixth year of Guangxu (1900), the Eight-Power Allied Forces had crossed Tongzhou and marched towards Beijing. Dong Fuxiang led his military guards to besiege the embassy for more than a month. aid.When Cixi learned that Li Bingheng was defeated and died in the deep palace, she burst into tears and said to the princes and ministers: "What about our mother and son? Tell me!" But at this time, no minister could speak, and everyone looked at each other in astonishment. On July 19, Dong Fuxiang contacted the British and American troops at Guangqumen, while the Japanese and Russian troops attacked the inner city of Beijing.At dawn on the 20th, foreign soldiers entered from Guangqumen, Chaoyangmen, and Dongbianmen.British troops occupy the Temple of Heaven.Dong Fuxiang fled from Zhangyi Gate and plundered.Dong Fuxiang fought very bravely, but unfortunately he had neither political knowledge nor self-cultivation. At that time, Cixi relied on him as an important town, so how could he be undefeated.It is said that when he was in Beijing, he didn't pay much attention to Ronglu at all. Once Ronglu entertained the generals of the Wuwei Army, he actually called Ronglu "Zhonghua" during the banquet.When he besieged the embassy area in Dongjiaomin Lane, he asked Rong Lu to borrow cannons, but Rong Lu firmly refused, so during the Boxing Revolution, Rong Lu and Dong Fuxiang got along very badly.

On the 21st, the city of Beijing fell, and the Allied Forces of the Eight Nations successively entered and occupied the capital. At this time, most of the city was in rubble, especially near Dongjiaominxiang. The capture of Beijing by the Eight-Power Allied Forces was the culmination of military operations.The actual combatants in this battle included 6,600 Japanese infantry, 220 cavalry, 450 engineers, and 53 cannons; 1,830 Russian infantry, 180 cavalry, and 22 cannons; 75 people, 6 cannons; 4,000 French infantry, 16 cannons; about 2,000 others. The resistance of the Qing soldiers in the inner city was fierce.For the coalition forces, the Japanese army attacked the most bravely, so the Japanese army also suffered more casualties, with about 200 casualties, the Russian army also suffered 131 casualties, the American army suffered more than 40 casualties, the French army suffered 9 casualties, and the British army suffered 6 casualties, totaling about 400 people.There were more than 30,000 Qing soldiers guarding the city, and the number of casualties was about 4,000.

As the coalition forces invaded Beijing, the embassy district in Dongjiaomin Lane was also released from the siege, and many isolated Catholic churches were besieged and thus saved.Dongjiaomin Lane was trapped for nearly 50 days. Only 820 people, including diplomatic clerks from various countries, were able to fight. They took turns guarding day and night. The only weapons they relied on to resist were an American cannon, an Austrian cannon, an Italian cannon, and a Norwegian cannon. , there is also a cannon 50 years ago, which was temporarily bought in an antique shop, placed on a Russian gun mount, and stored with Italian gunpowder for firing.In the battle in Dongjiaomin Lane, 54 foreign soldiers were killed and 112 were injured, and 11 clerks were killed and 19 were injured.

After the Eight-Power Allied Forces occupied Beijing, it was divided into sections and ruled by the British, Russian, Japanese, American, French and German armies. The day before the fall of Beijing—July 20, Cixi summoned the Grand Scholars, the Six Departments, and the Nine Ministers, but no one responded. The Empress Dowager said to Zai Lan: "This is the end of the matter, and the only thing we have to do is leave. You can still help me." Guards?" At this time, the cannons were booming, the Xique Hutong area was raining bullets, and Tiananmen and West Chang'anmen had fallen one after another.

In the evening, there were only three military ministers in the palace, Wang Wenshao, Gang Yi and Zhao Shuqiao. Cixi said sadly, "Why, there are only three of you here. The others have all gone home, leaving my mother and son alone. The three of you must go with my mother and son." Then he said to Wang Wenshao: "I can't bear to suffer this kind of torture at your age, you can come later, we go first, both of them can ride horses, Must be able to escort." Before dawn on the 21st, Xu Huifeng, the new minister of the Ministry of War, entered the palace to thank him. When he arrived at Di'anmen, he heard crying and left the palace in a hurry.Zai Lan went to the palace to report to the Empress Dowager, saying that foreign soldiers were attacking the Donghua Gate, Ci Xi was wearing a blue cloth summer shirt, and her hairpin was too short for her hairpin, so she came out crying on foot.Guangxu also wore a black gauze gown, and Empress Longyu accompanied the Empress Dowager to the gate of Xihua.Empress Dowager Cixi rode in Zailan's car, Guangxu rode in Yingnian's car, and the attendants were Zaiyi, Puxian, Yikuang, Shanqi, Zaixun, Zailan, Zaize, Puxing, Pulun, Gangyi, Zhao Shu, etc. Qiao, Yingnian and Li Lianying.

Before Cixi set off, she did something that hurt Guangxu even more, that is, pushed Guangxu's favorite concubine Zhen down the well.Cixi thought that Guangxu treated her badly because Concubine Zhen provoked her.Concubine Zhen's younger sister, Concubine Jin, lagged behind, and finally caught up with Zai Xun, the queen of the palace, to catch up with the fleeing ranks. The scenery in the palace is miserable, some of the maids and eunuchs dived to death, some wrapped in soft clothes and escaped from the Anding Gate.There were a lot of broken soldiers entering the palace and looting, and the sound of cannons, gunshots and people's screams was in chaos.In the most prosperous era of the Qing Dynasty, the city of Beijing had 4 million residents, Fenggelonglou, and countless luxury. Since the foreign soldiers occupied it, there is only rubble left.

The two palaces and their party arrived in Changping, only to get three rides of filial camel sedan chairs from the Guangyu Camel Company. For three days away from the capital, they slept on a heated kang, with no quilts, bedding, change of clothes, or food, and they ate millet porridge.At this time, Gansu chief envoy Cen Chunxuan rushed from Changping to Guanshi to see him, and the Queen Mother cried bitterly to Cen.Li, a wealthy businessman in the city, lent 1,000 taels of gold to the Queen Mother, and then rushed to buy some supplies.The whereabouts of Pei Minzhong, the magistrate of Changping County, was unknown. Later, when Cixi arrived in Xi'an, he found him and ordered him to commit suicide.

On the 22nd, he left Juyongguan and arrived at Chadao. There were less than 200 servants and soldiers. Qin Kuiliang, the magistrate of Yanqing Prefecture, had not enough meals for the officials.On this day, Ma Yukun led his army to chase him.On the 23rd, Cixi transferred to Qin Kuiliang's sedan chair and arrived in Huailai County. The county magistrate Wu Yong took good care of her and presented Cixi with a leather jacket. The Empress Dowager was overjoyed.Wu Yong gave his wife's dormitory to the Queen Mother, his wife's room to Queen Longyu, and the signing room to Guangxu.Cixi kept urging dinner, and combed her hair herself.This situation is like: "A phoenix with falling feathers is not as good as a chicken".

On July 25th, Empress Dowager Cixi and Guangxu Qiluan traveled westward, arrived in Shanxi on the 3rd day of August, arrived in Datong on the 6th day, and arrived in Taiyuan on the 17th. A few miles away to greet you.Taking Fufu as the palace, all the curtains, curtains, mattresses and all the furnishings were made during the Jiaqing period when they were preparing to visit Mount Wutai. Later, before the emperor arrived, they were stored for use and stored in the Taiyuan treasury. At this time, they were used to welcome the emperor. like New.Empress Dowager Cixi suffered for many days, like a village woman, she was very moved to see the prosperous scene of Taiyuan, so she stayed in Taiyuan for 20 days, started driving south on the 8th day of the eighth month, entered Tongguan on the 26th day, and arrived in Xi'an on the 4th day of September. Go to the South Court Palace (the South Court is the Supervisory Office), and then move to the North Court.The Department of Fufu of the North College.The streets passed by the imperial driver were paved with loess, and the Shaanxi people hung lanterns and festoons, and knelt to the left of the road.

After Shaanxi Fufu was turned into a palace, all the decorations outside the courtyard were all in red, and the characters on the east and west gates were also painted with red lacquer. There are 250 guards and all guards of honor at the entrance.Next to it are the court room of the Military Aircraft Office, the court room of the six departments of Jiuqing, the court room of the members of Fufan, the guard office, etc. The lobby is vacant, the left room is the inner court room, and the right room is the retreat room.There is a throne in the Luan Pavilion covered with yellow cloth, and another throne in the second hall is also covered with yellow cloth. The room on the left is the meeting place, and the room on the right is the prince's office.There is also a throne in the three halls, with the Empress Dowager's Palace on the left and right, the Guangxu Palace on the east one, the Longyu Queen's Palace on the back three couplets, and the residence of Pujun's elder brother Pujun on the west three couplets.

After Cixi arrived in Xi'an, she often suffered from stomach pains, dissatisfied with the water and soil, suffered from insomnia every night, and cried and laughed erratically.The eunuch beat his back day and night.Guangxu was relaxed and in good health. He occasionally laughed with the eunuch, but sometimes lost his temper with the eunuch.After the elder brother Pu Jun arrived in Xi'an, he didn't go out of the palace at the beginning, and raised a dog. Guangxu saw that he liked it very much, and asked for it to play. Pu Jun soon asked the eunuch to ask for it.At this time, Pu Jun had lost Cixi's favor and was often whipped. Someone sighed and said: "It's a pity that an alternate emperor may become a vacant prince in the future." This alternate emperor did not like reading, but was good at music, riding horses, Fist stick.Later, he often went to the theater with the eunuchs, wearing a Wei Tuo gold-rimmed felt hat, a blue leather robe, and a maroon Baturu collar jacket.He likes to watch and two plays the most, and sometimes he goes on stage to play drums and huqin himself.On October 18th, they competed for seats in the theater, and led the eunuchs and the Gan army to fight in the Qingxi Garden of Chenghuang Temple.He was also obsessed with a local prostitute, contracted syphilis, and still did not give up, and went out to seek the cure for the poison.Guangxu often sat and played with the eunuchs, especially good at painting big-headed ghosts. Sometimes he drew a piece of paper, filled it with Yuan Shikai's name and stuck it on the wall, shot it with a small bamboo bow, and then took it off and cut it into pieces.It shows how much he hates Yuan Shikai. When the military plane was in Xi'an, it was still Rong Lu who asked about things. Besides Rong Lu, there were Wang Wenshao and Lu Fulin.When the three ministers go to court, first the eunuch holds a disc, covered with red silk to guide, the king is the first, the honor is the second, and the deer is the last.Wang has gray hair and a thin face; his face is flat and freckled, he is of medium build and has foot problems; his face is swollen and he is listless.When summoned, Rong always speaks alone, and both Wang and Lu listen hard.All the ministers in the Xi'an trip only receive allowances, 120 taels per month for the first and second ranks, 60 taels for the third and fourth ranks, 45 taels for each of the fifth and sixth ranks, and 30 taels for the seventh and lower ranks, which is only enough to make ends meet. The Boxer Incident was the death knell of the Qing Dynasty.In addition to adding many humiliating conditions to end the Eight-Power Allied Forces' occupation of northern China, there is another more important thing that the old school princes and ministers should deal with as the chief culprit. Duanjun Wang Zaiyi was first relegated to Ningxia, and then sent to Xinjiang to serve as an army.Zhen Guogong Zailan was banished to Anxi. The eldest elder brother Pu Jun was deposed and expelled from the palace, living in the Eight Banners Guild Hall. Zhuang Wang Zaixun was banished to Puzhou first, followed by a concubine and a son, and then Ge Baohua issued an order ordering him to commit suicide.When Ge arrived in Puzhou, it was just dawn, and cannons were fired outside the door to greet him. King Zhuang cursed: "Why did you fire the cannons for no reason?" Said: "I knew I was going to die, and I was afraid that Lafayette would not live long." So he said goodbye to his family and said to his son, "I will do my best for the country, and don't give away my ancestors to foreigners." Rolling to the ground and fainting, Zai Xun committed suicide. Zhao Shuqiao, Minister of Military Affairs, also ordered him to commit suicide. When Zhao was sent to be guarded by the Ministry of Justice, tens of thousands of Xi'an gentry and people begged to spare Zhao's death, and Cixi could not bear Zhao's death. No.Cen Chunxuan held the edict to read it out. Zhao Xian swallowed the gold and survived when he was about two years old. He told his family what happened after the death, and wept bitterly for his mother who was more than 90 years old to see this tragedy, and said that it was because of her fortitude.Cen saw that Zhao's voice was loud and he couldn't die, so he ordered people to feed him with opium, and he still didn't die for two hours, so he fed him with arsenic, and then he lay down and moaned, beat his chest with his hands, and said "sad".At this time, another five hours passed, and Cen urgently waited for his order to be returned. He dipped a piece of leather paper into the liquor and palpated his face and seven orifices for a total of five times before he passed away.Zhao's wife committed suicide after touching the corpse and crying bitterly. Yuxian, the governor of Shanxi, sent the order to Xinjiang at the beginning, and traveled all the way with illness;Before Yuxian rectified the law, there was a book of final life, and there were two couplets of self-examination: One for: I kill people, and the court kills me, who said it is inappropriate?The most pitiful thing is that my mother is ninety years old, and the charming daughter is seven years old, so immature and difficult to be perfect, it is unavoidable to hurt kindness and filial piety. The minister dies in the country, the wife and concubine dies the minister, what regrets the husband has!I am only ashamed that I have been serving the emperor for 20 years, and I have been in charge of the government for three provinces. The second is: The minister's crime should be punished, the minister's ambition is unparalleled, the life and death of Nian Xiaozi are bright, it is not as if he will end up in the three-character prison. I bear the favor of the king, who will solve the worries of the king, I hope you can make up for it, and you must comfort the hearts of the two palaces as soon as possible. Dong Fuxiang, who besieged the embassy, ​​has been appointed as the admiral of Gansu and was ordered to dismiss him.Dong wrote to Rong Lu to express his dissatisfaction: "...Xiang humiliated Huiyan, the commander-in-chief, and all his actions were under the command of Zhongtang... If Zhongtang ordered something extraordinary, Xiang would risk his life to follow it; Zhongtang wanted to appease the boxers , Zexiang protected Li Laizhong; Zhongtang wanted to attack foreign countries, Zexiang desperately fought to the death; now that Yuxiang is alone, and the soldiers under his command are disbanded, he is not reconciled, and there are those who want to win the power of Zhongtang. Xiang wants to serve the country and fights to the death The officers and men complained, and Xiang could not suppress it, only the Zhongtang picture." Rong Lu got the book and paid Dong Fuxiang 500,000 gold. Gang Yi, the Minister of Military Aircraft, was also the culprit, but he died of diarrhea on the way west. On the way to escape, he died of depression and did not even have a coffin. Former Zuodu censor Yingnian was imprisoned, stuffed his mouth with mud and died. During the occupation of Beijing by the Eight-Power Allied Forces, the affair between the commander-in-chief of the Allied Forces, Vadersi, and the courtesan Sai Jinhua was the most widely recited by posterity. Have not met. "Meilen Zhangjing's Notes" recorded this matter more credibly, and it is transcribed as follows: "When the German and French allied forces marched westward from Baoding, their advance team was bombed by landmines near Niangziguan, and the entire army was wiped out. The commander-in-chief of the allied forces, Marshal Waldsee, was furious when he heard the report, and ordered the Beijing prefect ( In fact, the chief of military law of the German army) Ge Er, sent 26 military medical officers and 52 corporals to 13 gates in Beijing. All men who entered and exited the city gates were compulsorily inspected in accordance with the physical regulations of the German army for enlisted soldiers. The result was every 100 People, who are between 18 and 60 years old, there are 95 of them fit the physique of the German soldiers, so they stopped going west. The translator of the German Gezhifu is Ge Linde, the third assistant of Xiamen Customs. Sucking drugs, so the brothels in Shitou Hutong, if there are German soldiers invading Jews, they must rely on the competition to ask Glinde for forgiveness or investigation. At that time, Ding Shiyuan and Wang Wenqin's son went to Saiyu to pay their respects.Sai said: Master Ge, we have known each other for more than a month, and I begged you to go to the South China Sea for a tour. Although you promised, you have not seen it.Ge said: Marshal Waldsey works in Ziguang Pavilion in the South China Sea, and the military order is strict. Our little translators are not allowed to bring women in.At this point, Ge Sui asked Ding and said, I heard that your Excellency has visited Wa Shuai several times, and yesterday he also visited the Chief of Staff. In order to deal with the aftermath of the burial, may your Excellency bring him into the temple?Ding said: Yes, but men's clothing is required for the competition.Saiwen was overjoyed, so Niding proceeded.Ding said: I have to first check to see if there are any loopholes in your men's clothing, and then decide.Sai Sui wore braids, a four-piece leather hat, wiped off makeup, a squirrel robe, and a golden velvet mandarin jacket.Pretending to be, Ding and Wang felt that he looked like a young man, so they said: "It looks like it, what will happen to Lianbu?"Ding Wang encouraged Sai to buy a pair of satin boots to decorate his lotus.Sai Sui ordered the kiln crew to come immediately to buy boots and wrap the feet with two large pieces of flannelette.After putting on the boots, I tried walking and felt quite natural.Ding said that if Sai can ride a horse, he can be brought in as a follower.Sai was very happy, so please try to ride the follower horse brought by Ding and Wang.So Ge, Sai, Ding, and Wang rode four horses and marched through the stone alley. They felt that there was no flaw, so they went together at about ten o'clock the next morning.Sai means Liu Ding, Wang and Ge three people live together there.After getting up the next morning, Ge went back to the office of the polishing factory. Ding, Wang Nai, the groom and Saiyou Ding rode four riders out of the stone alley, passing through the Yueqian gate of Guanyin Temple to the three gates of Jingshan.The US soldiers guarding the gate asked Ding, "Where are you going?"Ding confronted Marshal Wa.The US soldier is the entry into the four horses.French sailor gatekeeper, where to go?Ding is the same as before, and the French soldiers are also allowed to enter.When crossing the Jinaoyuyu Bridge, Saiyu the third rider shouted, "It's a beautiful view, it's beautiful!"Ding said: "Don't make a sound."Go to the gate of the South China Sea and tell the gate guards to visit Marshal Wa.The soldier said, "Marshal Wa has gone out this morning."Ding said: Is the chief of staff here?Bing said that he also went out with Marshal Wa.Because it is not allowed to enter.And when you return to Saiyu, the bell has already rung.After lunch, Ding and Wang returned to their apartments respectively.Ding lived with Zhong Guangsheng in Qiantang and Shen Jin in Liuyang, who helped Ding handle the burial. Seeing Ding Chi's return, they said that Ding did not return last night, there must be something wonderful.Ding then explained everything to the two of them in detail.Zhong and Shen retreated to their rooms, and each played a draft, one to Li Boyuan, the editor of Shanghai Youbao, and the other to the editor of Shanghai News, saying that Sai Jinhua was summoned to Ziguang Pavilion, and how she and Marshal Waldsey spoke vividly. Therefore, after returning to China, Marshal Vaderxi published the boxing suppression diary to prove it.The fool made another book, hurting people with rumors, spreading falsehoods, and those who really don't deserve to laugh.After Wa Shuai stopped moving westward, the ministers and Li Wenzhong began to negotiate peace terms. " After the allied forces occupied Beijing, they licensed the troops to rob publicly for three days from July 20 to 22, and then continued with private looting.According to the report submitted to the German government by the commander-in-chief of the Allied Forces (October 22nd in the Western calendar), he gave a very detailed account of the looting by the armies of various countries, and a part of it is copied as follows: ... Now countries are blaming each other for the robbery, but at that time the fact that all countries had completely robbed together always existed. On the British side...all the looted objects must be handed over, piled up in the embassy hall, and officially auctioned;The money obtained from this is distributed according to the level of the official rank, and its nature is slightly like that of gold plundered in wartime.For this reason, no Englishman regards robbery as an illegal act.Moreover, the British military officer said for the rest of the time: the Indian army-the (British) army here is almost entirely Indian. ——It is absolutely incomprehensible that robbery does not follow victory after victory.The armies of all the countries here all agree that Indian soldiers are the best at finding gold and silver treasures hidden everywhere. On the Japanese side, such looted goods are returned to the country as usual.The money obtained from this is quite a lot.According to the report of the Japanese general, the proceeds of looting in Tianjin alone amounted to two million taels. As for the United States, robbery was originally prohibited; but the U.S. military is quite shrewd and clever enough to break this prohibition and do whatever it wants. The method of looting by the Russian army seems rather crude.And at the same time, smash everything into pieces without any plan. ... The French army has never been left behind by the (plundering) armies of other countries. In addition, Wadsi also mentioned the looting of the Qing Palace and the Summer Palace.He concludes this report by saying: "All the damages and robbery losses in China this time can never be ascertained in detail, but the number must be extremely significant....Because of the rape of women that occurred during the robbery, the cruelty is still random killings, arson without reason, etc. , the number is extremely large, and it is also the cause of increasing the suffering of the residents." Another employee of the British embassy, ​​Fortnenwell, who personally participated in the rape and looting activities, wrote "The Boxer Embassy Besieged", which is more vivid.