Chapter 4 Chapter 3 Empress Dowager Cixi declares war on eleven countries

In Gengzi, 1900, in mid-June, when the city of Beijing was burned to the ground by 100,000 Boxer generals and their envoys King Zhuang and King Duan, the old Empress Dowager Cixi expressed her gratitude to the Boxers. The policy of appeasement and suppression is still ambiguous, and there is no clear choice.She didn't know what to do with the western powers that forced her to take a position between peace and war day and night.The old queen is not a fool.She knew that the boxer's magic could neither help the Qing Dynasty nor destroy the oceans.Although she herself is "chanting mantras" day and night.

As for the viciousness of foreigners, she had already experienced it when she was an aunt.In the autumn and September of 1860 (the tenth year of Xianfeng), Concubine Yi, who was only 25 years old at that time, was driven out of the Old Summer Palace by the British and French allied forces.According to Western legends, she fled so frightened and hastily that even her favorite Pekingese poodle became a prisoner of the British army.The puppies don't know the hatred of subjugation. When they were discovered by the barbarian soldiers ordered to set fire, the little nobles were still chasing them for fun!

This story may be rendered by Western media.But the cute little pet "poodle" (now the market price in New York is at least 500 US dollars each), and many rare oriental animals, which were later favored by Westerners, were mostly burned to death when the British and French allied forces burned the Old Summer Palace. "Martyrs' Remains".The author studied in the United States in his early years, and in the New York Zoo, he saw the "four different images" originating from the Old Summer Palace. At that time, the noble concubine Yi was hunting with her husband in the autumn and north in the flames of war.The young husband died in one fell swoop.Have readers seen the beautiful little widow played by mainland actor Liu Xiaoqing?How poor she is.Husband's hatred for the country has not been reported, and he has kept the chastity and caressed the orphan for forty years, and now he still suffers from the old enemy's hatred.The hatred of the old lady can be seen; but the fear in her heart is not difficult to imagine.Unfortunately, she has now fallen into the siege of the Gang of Four that she cultivated by herself, and there is no mastermind.What is even more unfortunate is that when she was hysterical and in a state of confusion, suddenly there was a thunderbolt in the clear sky, and she received a top-secret information stolen by "Jiang Gan", saying that foreigners wanted to force her to "return to politics". The old queen felt that she was going to die anyway, so she might as well just "fight" and forget it-this was a fake play of "Jiang Gan stealing books" on the record.That's why the old lady decided to attack the embassy area and kill all the foreigners in China.If you want to know the details, you have to start with her return from the Summer Palace on June 9th.

When Cixi lived in the Summer Palace for a long time, she herself had a personal guard of hundreds of people.They also used the latest breech-loading steel guns at that time.But since these hundreds of young soldiers are serving as guards in the harem and imperial garden full of beauties, if they are healthy and healthy young men, they are too dangerous. .So the guard was made up of eunuchs.How can eunuchs fight with guns?Therefore, once Cixi returned to the palace, she transferred Dong Fuxiang's Gan army to the inner city of Beijing as the palace guards in her inner city. At this time, the imperial guards who served as the defense of Beijing's Jiumen City and the Boxer Regiment's Broadsword Squad patrolling the streets day and night were under the control of King Duan and King Zhuang.Even though the queen mother wanted to stop the "lucky bandits" from burning, killing and looting in Beijing, she gradually felt that she could not do what she wanted. ——Although the term "boxer" is still used in "Shangyu" (in the name of the emperor) and "Yizhi" (in the name of the empress dowager) at any time.

The Gan army is a strong force with field experience and illustrious military exploits, which is beyond the reach of the Boxers and the Nine Gates Forbidden Army.So the queen mother summoned Dong Fuxiang again and again to give her comfort.Dong Fuxiang also assured the Queen Mother that he could not only "kill outsiders" but also suppress the Boxers. ——Needless to say, Gan Jun is Cixi's trump card.Unexpectedly, on the first day Gan's army entered the city, they killed (Dong) foreigners by mistake and made the Queen Mother helpless.It turned out that Dong Fuxiang's "Gan Army" was also the worst-disciplined bandit army in Northwest China, who treated murder and arson as child's play.Now that the capital of Gongjie is the sole heir to the heavenly family, it is even more unscrupulous.Therefore, when the Gan army was ordered to enter Yongding Gate on June 11th (May 15th in the lunar calendar), it happened that Akira Sugiyama, secretary of the Japanese embassy in China, was on a business trip.The two sides met on the way.Dong Junying officer asked: "Who is it?" Shanshan felt that he was a diplomat and reported it according to the facts.Unexpectedly, what he encountered was an ignorant bandit army.Before he finished speaking, the battalion officer drew his knife forward, stabbed him in the stomach, and killed Sugi Shanbin at once.As soon as the cruel soldiers rushed forward, they not only dismembered Sugiyama's body, but also disembowelled him to remove his internal organs, and then threw horses and arrows, and abandoned him by the side of the road. (See Chai E's Chronicle of Geng Xin)

Sugiyama's death immediately became international news.The staff of the embassies of various countries in Beijing and the missionaries in the churches made people panic and feel insecure.Chinese religious people have always been called "two hairs" by boxers, and their crimes are second only to "old haired foreigners" (yellow-haired foreigners), and of course they know that disaster is approaching.However, some people who hated foreigners and opposed religion quite vented their accumulated anger and applauded. Needless to say, the death of Sugiyama caused shocks on all five continents.The reports of major newspapers and periodicals in famous cities in the world are not only headlines but also lace.The news also caused uneasiness in the Chinese imperial court.Obviously, the ink on the "Treaty of Shimonoseki" is still wet; Li Hongzhang's gun scars from being stabbed in Japan are still there, so how can he kill another Japanese diplomat?

The old lady panicked. In addition to sending Rong Lu and Qi Xiu to apologize to the Japanese embassy, ​​she also summoned Dong Fuxiang and Zai Yi to reprimand them.But Fuxiang's face-to-face performance and Zaiyi's support finally made it impossible for Cixi to deal with the internal and external incitements.Fu Xiang said that if he was punished alone, he deserved the crime, but if this caused the Gan army under his command to turn into a mutiny, the public security in the capital would be greatly worried. ——The smart Cixi certainly realized that the "8341 Unit" at this time was in the hands of the two of them.If the two of them work together and refuse to listen to the words of the "Lafayette", Shakyamuni will have nothing to do!The decree to punish the murderer for Sugiyama's death had to be rejected.

It is said that when Fuxiang and Dai Yi withdrew from Majesty, Zaiyi patted Fuxiang on the back and gave Fuxiang a thumbs up, praising Fuxiang as a great hero and traitor. (See "History of the Qing Dynasty? Biography of Dong Fuxiang") With the development of the current situation, Cixi obviously knew that she had gradually lost control of the foreigner outside and the internal security. At this time, in Tianjin, Nie Shi became the "Allied Forces" to prevent Seymour from invading Beijing. Success was finally defeated and martyred.In order to rescue this out-of-control situation, she seemed to have secretly discussed with Rong Lu.The two decided on the most effective surefire plan!Urgently dispatched Li Hongzhang and Yuan Shikai to Beijing to resolve the national crisis.

Li Hongzhang was originally Rong Lu's political enemy.Li Xia was sent to Guangzhou because he was squeezed out by Rong Lu.But Rong Lu did not have the ability to deal with foreigners.Now that the barbarian situation is urgent, he and Cixi are at a loss what to do, so they have to instigate the old queen to quickly tune Li Hongzhang to return to the court. As for Yuan Shikai, he was originally Rong Lu's best friend.He has always been grateful and loyal to Rong.Now with heavy soldiers in hand, punishing justice and regiments like killing chickens and dogs is deeply loved by foreigners.Therefore, if Li and Yuan can return to Beijing together, all internal and external problems that Ronglu and Cixi feel difficult can be solved easily.

This is indeed the most brilliant move.Therefore, on June 15th, the Military Aircraft Department issued an order ordering Li Hongzhang and Yuan Shikai to come to Beijing quickly. ——At this time, because the Boxers pulled out the electric poles, the communication between Beijing and the outside world was cut off.However, between Ronglu and Yuan Shikai, the traditional post-horse of "Hundred Li Express" can still run without error; while Yuan and the three governors of the South, especially Li Hongzhang in Guangzhou, communicate day and night without interruption. Looking back at the crystal ball a hundred years ago, if Li and Yuan were summoned to return to the court at that time, the most tragic "eight-nation joint train" national humiliation in modern history of our country may be wiped out invisible.Unfortunately, Empress Xi canceled the order to summon Yuan immediately, and instead rewarded the Boxers heavily, determined to attack the embassy, ​​kill all foreigners, and decided to "declare war" with the eleven powers at the same time.

Why did the old man go crazy overnight, turn the original perfect plan around 180 degrees, and put the country and the nation in a hopeless situation?This was stimulated by the false information obtained by a small "Jiang Gan stealing books". ——The Yangtze River in the development of history has changed its direction for a little personal emotion, which is an endless disaster in history!In the winter of 1936, Young Marshal Zhang lost his temper. Didn’t he completely change the fate of our 50 million compatriots and friends, including you and me, so that today? On the day after Xihou decided to transfer Li and Yuanzhi back (June 16th), due to the tense situation, the old woman convened a large "imperial meeting" including six ministries, nine ministers, military aircraft, the General Administration, and the kings Baylor to discuss Discuss the peace and war plan and the decision to suppress the Boxer Regiment.This meeting was obviously controlled by the radical elements led by Duan Wang.In the meeting, Yuan Chang, Xu Jingcheng and others who were the leaders of the Peace School occasionally held the view that sorcery was unreliable, so they were stopped by King Duan.Cixi also believes that although magic is not usable, the human heart is.But on this day, the Boxers set fire to Dashilan, burning thousands of shops along Qianmen Street to ashes, which greatly disappointed the hearts of the people.Therefore, after the meeting, Cixi still asked Fang to return to Beijing from Zhuozhou to speak forcefully of the fortitude available to the boxers, and together with Dong Fuxiang "educated the boxers" and ordered them to disband. Those who were young and strong were immediately recruited into an army and strictly controlled. (See "Boxer Archives and Historical Materials", Volume 1, page 145.) Who would have thought that the "order to dissolve" was issued less than 24 hours ago, and the imperial order would go in the opposite direction! It turned out that at midnight that day, the court received a top-secret report saying that foreign ministers had decided to work together to support Guangxu and drive away Cixi—this was the most feared move by Cixi after the Reform Movement of 1898, and now this most feared move is about to If it becomes a fact, how can you order the old woman to fly away?The sources of information are as follows: It turned out that at midnight on this day, someone suddenly knocked on the door of Ronglu privately, saying that there was a secret and urgent matter.It was only after Rong Lu met him that he found out that he was his confidant, the son of Luo Jiajie, who was then the Liangdao of Jiangsu Province, who came to inform him personally at the order of his father.This information reveals that the ministers of various countries have jointly decided to put forward four requirements to the Qing court: first, designate a place for the Chinese emperor to live;Three, take charge of the military power of the world on behalf of the world; four, order the empress dowager to return to power. After Rong Lu got this information, he was like a thunderbolt.He knew the good things he did when he was Empress Dowager Cixi during the "1898 Coup".Now the powers of the eleven countries ordered the Queen Mother to return to power and supported Guangxu's comeback.Guangxu is back, does Rong Lu still have a head?So Ronglu was rewarded, wandering around all night, walking around the room, knowing that a catastrophe was imminent.At dawn, he entered the palace for an audience and passed the information to Cixi.When the queen mother read the newspaper, she naturally burst into tears, filled with grief and indignation. This old shrew has been a dictator for forty years; she fears no one but foreigners.Now the foreigners are finally here to kill her.Before she was about to commit suicide, how could she manage the Qing Dynasty and the lives of the people?She just let loose and fought desperately with foreigners. After Xihou obviously discussed with Ronglu, he immediately held the second "imperial meeting".When she spoke in the meeting, she first called "Ministers"; when she was excited, she also called "Masters".In the 2,000-year autocratic history of China, the emperor and the empress dowager have never referred to their ministers as "princesses"; those who are as arrogant and domineering as Yehenala are naturally unprecedented, which shows that they are chaotic and at a loss.When she even cried and announced the "four pieces of information", the audience was stunned and at a loss.More than 20 of the fiercest relatives and nobles below King Duan hugged each other and cried together.Excited, they gritted their teeth and swore allegiance to the Queen Mother, fighting foreigners at all costs.The queen mother also said that since the foreigners have decided to go to war, the Qing Dynasty is now dead.Since war leads to death, and non-war also leads to death. The books included in Yaolu are also sufficient for reference, see pages 268-178.) After crying and fussing like this, the old queen mother also canceled the previous day's order to disband the Boxer Regiment...and strictly control it. Guangxu, Lishan, Lianyuan, Yuan Chang, Xu Yongyi, Xu Jingcheng, and After being reprimanded, they all stood aside, and the imperial court decided to use the Boxers to fight against the powers of the eleven countries at all costs; the Lord and the five ministers were also killed one after another. The "Second Imperial Meeting" on June 17 (May 21st in the lunar calendar) thus became China's imperial mobilization meeting.Gang Yi, Dai Xun, Zai Lian, Dai Yi, and Dai Lan were ordered to lead the Boxers.Zai Xun immediately replaced Chong Li as the commander of the infantry and the admiral of the Nine Gates.Since then, the nine gates have been opened, and Boxers from the surrounding suburbs have flooded into Beijing in large numbers.It is endless day and night (see "Geng Yu Chronicle").It is no coincidence that the Dagu Fort was also captured by the Allied Forces of the Seven Nations on this day. (During the Battle of Dagu, the U.S. Navy refused to participate, see the next article for details.) Since the situation in Beijing is so tense, the envoys of the eleven countries will naturally meet day and night to discuss countermeasures.Their first goal, of course, is to hope that the Chinese government will suppress bandits and build good neighborliness.During the assembly in the early morning of June 20, German Minister Freiher von Ketteler advocated that the participating ministers act collectively and go to the Zongli Yamen to ask for protection.The envoys were unwilling to go together, so Klinder acted alone, took his luxurious green woolen sedan chair, and brought a translator Herr Cordes (Herr Cordes) in a small sedan chair to the General Administration to negotiate.In the middle of the journey, he was shot and killed by Enhai, the captain of the Tingzi Spear Team of Zai Lanhao Xiashenji Battalion.The bearer was terrified that he threw the sedan chair and fled.Ke Jun, who was sitting in the sedan chair at that time, was also thrown to the ground, holding his buttocks and seriously injured. (According to "Jingshan's Diary", Yuan Chang collected Klinde's dead body, and Dai Lan wanted Dai Yi to order the beheading of the dead body and hang it in Dong'an Gate for public display. Historians may doubt that "Jingshan's Diary" is an honor Lu is a forgery. Even if it is a forgery, most of the stories in the book are credible. See "Gengzi Memorabilia" and Morse's first book.) As soon as Minister Klind died, Dongjiaomin Lane in Beijing became the "Pearl Harbor" of Empress Dowager Cixi.The matter has come to this point, and the crazy old lady simply took out hundreds of thousands of taels of "internal money" (her old man's private money), and rewarded the three armies and the Boxers who chanted mantras and boxed in Beijing and Tianjin, and asked them to Attacking the concession in Tianjin and besieging the embassy in Beijing must drive out all the foreigners in China to vent their anger. (See pages 615-618 of "Continuation of Archives and Historical Materials".) On June 21st (May 25th in the lunar calendar), her old man wrote twelve letters of renunciation in the name of the emperor, and compared them with Britain, the United States, France, Germany, Justice, Japan, Russia, Spain, and Belgium. The eleven powers of China, Netherlands, and Austria-Hungary declared war at the same time. ——With one edict to fight the world, the Empress Dowager Cixi became the bravest woman ever in human history. Isn't the Empress Dowager Cixi, who has 40 years of experience in the country, such a person!She was originally a "politician" who left a way out for everything!How did you do it this time?Fairbank's teacher Morse, who was watching from the sidelines at that time, made the most penetrating comments about her.Mo said: "The empress dowager had long avoided committing herself to any position from which she could not withdraw, but this time, the empress dowager had long avoided committing herself to any position from which she could not withdraw, but this time she was a politician. now the states man was lost in the woman...see 1 Moses, Vol. 3, p. 219.) [Note] Empress Dowager Cixi died overnight.She changed from a "politician" to a lively "woman". The observers, government officials, and historians at that time and later generations believed that she lost hysterically in this emergency. sanity.Although the author basically agrees with this statement, there are other explanations.That's because Xihou's mind is very cunning. In this desperate situation, she used the guise of a young general from the Boxer Regiment to "kidnap and blackmail" the envoys of the ten countries (the envoys of Germany are dead).Her "ransom" or "condition for release" is that the eleven countries change their policies toward China and don't want her to "return to politics."Otherwise, the "kidnappers" of the Boxers will "tear up their votes", and everyone will die together!Empress Xi is not a fool.On the contrary, she is the most scheming female strategist.The author made this "bold hypothesis", although it is difficult to "carefully verify", but it is reasonable in modern psychology and behavioral science. The bombing of "Pearl Harbor" by the old lady Yehenara has brought disaster to our nation.In the end, hundreds of thousands of lives were lost, and tens of thousands of priceless treasures from the Beijing court and citizens, plus 450 million taels of snow-patterned silver, were also lost.Readers of Chinese origin should know that you and my ancestors each lost one or two dollars at that time!It is hard to believe that the "Pearl Harbor Incident" of Mrs. Cixi started from the beginning to the end when Mr. Jiang Gan stole a piece of false information out of his own cleverness.Little did they know that the envoys of the eleven countries stationed in China at that time had their own ghosts and were jealous of each other. It was not easy to organize a collective action of the "seven-nation coalition", let alone put forward the "four major demands" concerning China's internal affairs.Among these four requirements, if the return of the Empress Dowager and the restoration of Guangxu can be realized, it may really have the power to revive the political situation in China at that time!But the resurrection of the Qing Empire has nothing to do with their eleven imperialism?They wouldn't make this request!Afterwards, when the Chinese side discovered that the great powers did not have such a request, everyone suspected that the information was forged by Prince Duan Zaiyi to deliberately stimulate the Queen Mother.In fact, how could Wang Duan and his gang have the talent of Zhou Yu?They can't create such brilliant false information!The source of this false information actually came from an editorial on June 19, 1900 (May 23, Qing calendar) in the English-language "North-China Daily News" run by a British businessman in Shanghai. This article was reprinted on the newspaper's weekly magazine "North-China Herald" (North-China Herald) the next day. Before this editorial manuscript was published, it may have been learned by Chinese employees of the newspaper office, and it was transferred to Luo Jiajie Liangdao Hearing. He was based on false reports or mistranslations by intelligence personnel, or maybe he himself changed his face, added fuel and jealousy to claim credit, translated it into Chinese, and then informed Rong Zhongtang. ——This Mr. Liang Dao fired us worth four Fifty million taels of snow pattern silver and a big joke of tens of millions of human lives. If we convert the market value of 450 million taels of silver one hundred years ago at that time into today's prices, the value is now US dollars With hundreds of millions of dollars in cash, our Mr. Luo Jianggan's oolong is really too big. In this editorial, the author did refer to the foolish intention of "the Empress Dowager and her clique" to "go to war with all the great powers" and emphasized that the clique should be expelled from Beijing if it did not self-destruct.We hope to restore Emperor Guangxu.We should make it clear to the Chinese people that the current war is all started by the Queen Mother.We are only fighting against a usurped government in Beijing, not against China." It's just a newspaper editorial.Replacing Empress Dowager Cixi with the restoration of Guangxu might even be contrary to Britain's China policy at that time!As for the collection of money and food, and the joint management of the military, they were all imposed by intelligence personnel.At this time, Britain and the United States are trying to prevent Russia, Germany and other countries from engaging in carve-up activities, which is not good for themselves.They hope that China, the most incompetent government, will have territorial integrity and independent sovereignty.The interests of the concubine are shared equally, and the status quo is maintained.At that time, the United Kingdom controlled more than 70% of China's foreign trade, and nearly 90% of China's import and export shipping; the United States had no colonies in China to expand outward, so "maintaining status quo" (maintaining status quo)— — It is the so-called "Open Door Policy" (Open Door Policy) that is most beneficial to Britain and the United States. In fact, after the Eight-Power Allied Forces, the U.S. and Britain joined forces to maintain the power of Empress Dowager Cixi, the chief war criminal. Their intentions were exactly the same as the United States and Britain jointly maintained the throne of Japan's chief war criminal, Emperor Hirohito, after World War II.The old queen made a lot of chaos because of a piece of false information. She really didn't have enough knowledge, and there was no one in court.If Li Hongzhang was still in the prime minister at that time, if he asked his foreign staff Timothy Richard, Sir Robert Hart or Martin Martin to wait until the embassy asked him, wouldn't everything be cleared up?Why would the old lady hang herself to die? At that time, the southern governors of China all hired "foreigners" for consultation and running errands in foreign-related incidents, so the intelligence was relatively well-informed, and the negotiations could also grasp the key points.Most of these foreigners, such as Timothy Lee, were loyal and loyal to their employers, and were highly praised in Chinese official circles.This kind of service provided by foreigners was gradually replaced by the "doctoral gang" who returned from studying abroad in the early years of the Republic of China.In the era of warlords in the early Republic of China, the leaders of the various armies left them behind from wearing suits, riding in cars, playing tennis, buying arms, and signing treaties.The following two parties, the National Party and the Communist Party, used to have returned overseas students as the backbone, and foreign-related incidents were less troublesome to outsiders; but in the "Xi'an Incident", didn't there be a Tanner running around?When Mao Zedong came to power, he relied on the wisdom of the sky, and all returned to indigenous methods of steelmaking. After fighting against the United States and the Soviet Union, there was only one great ally left, Albania.Later, when the Empress Dowager Jiang (Qing) came to power, "overseas relations" were simply "connecting with foreign countries".If the old Empress Jiang and her Gang of Four are really in power, maybe she will also make a "simultaneous declaration of war on eleven countries"!How can Mrs. Jiang's fierceness and ignorance be inferior to Yehenala's? Of course, these remarks are too far from the topic, but on the modern Chinese stage where historical dramas are constantly repeated, it may not be a waste of ink to compare Liu Xiaoqing, who plays the imperial concubine, and Wang Ying, who plays the golden flower. . ——Chairman Mao and his Gang of Four and the Queen Mother and her Gang of Four did exactly the same thing in making steel by indigenous methods. Furthermore, Empress Xi's decision to declare war with the Eleven Kingdoms may also be due to her own clever and stupid strategy-she may want to use the Boxers to hijack the ministers of the great powers to force the coup d'état of the great powers to force her to "return to power".If it fails, the Boxers will be used as a scapegoat!The method is exactly the same as Mao Zedong's use of the Red Guards 70 years later.Let's continue. The Empress Dowager declared war on eleven great powers at the same time in the name of the emperor. The first wartime policy of her and her Gang of Four was to reorganize the Boxers into the "Eight Banners" and the Forbidden City would be guarded under the unified command of King Duan.After June 22, edicts were also issued by King Rui.The imperial army also obeyed the order of the king (see "Zi Lin Xi Bao" after June 24).King Duan issued an order to the whole country to raise funds and dispatch troops, so that King Qin could fight against the enemy.Therefore, the imperial court has repeatedly decreed the governors of the whole country, the ministers and workers, "Now that China and foreign countries are at war, there is no tendency to discuss peace immediately... All generals and governors, etc., must first sweep away the word "harmony" from their hearts..."Be sure to destroy the ocean to the end" ... (see "Boxer Archives and Historical Materials", Volume 1, pages 221-222). On July 14, Tianjin fell, and the imperial order supervised the war again, emphasizing that "the fall of Tianjin and the martial law of the capital, there is absolutely no reason to make peace without fighting" ( See ibid., page 366). At the same time, they also issued an order to abolish foreign exercises and foreign clothes throughout the country, and resumed martial arts tests with swords, bows and stones! But what power does the Qing court have at this time to resist the invasion of the eight-nation coalition?This is clearly a mantis' arm.As soon as the war started, Li Hongzhang believed that it was useless for the provinces to support the king.If Gai doesn't wait for King Qin's soldiers to arrive, Beijing will fall, and the imperial court will "move westward". (See "Li Hongzhang Chronicle (Daily) Genealogy" page 413, citing "Li Wenzhong's Official Telegram" to Yuan Shikai's telegram.) Li Hongzhang is not the only prophet!Liu Kunyi, the governor of Liangjiang, Zhang Zhidong, the governor of Huguang, Xu Yingku, the governor of Fujian and Zhejiang, and especially Sheng Xuanhuai, the minister of railways, all knew the truth.This is common sense, and it doesn't wait for the wise to understand it; it's just that the central government under the control of King Duan is too ignorant and ignorant.Therefore, the governor of the Han nationality in the southeast region used the excuse of the court order as a "corrective edict" and refused to follow the "disorderly order".They negotiated with the coveted imperialists to engage in "mutual protection in the southeast". Historians of later generations who were full of revolutionary spirit also criticized the "mutual protection in the southeast", but they didn't know that if the "mutual protection" was not carried out at that time, the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River would also be in the flames of war.Before the edict to declare war was issued, the British threatened to open talk to Goodnow, the US Consul General in Shanghai, to occupy Jiangyin Fort, Jiangnan Shipyard and the entire Wusong area.To test the response of the United States.As soon as Liu Kun got the report, he secretly sent JC Furguson, a foreigner and beauty, to communicate with Gudner, and secretly reported to Washington to try to stop it.In addition, they also dispatched troops and generals determined to resist by force, and the British stopped when they knew it was difficult. (See "National Archives and Archives Secret Collection Original File," Gudner's Secret Report to the Under Secretary of State, June 29, 1900.) In Wuhan, Zhang Zhidong also tried his best to maintain local stability and reduce the excuses for foreigners to invade (see the appendix above).At the same time, various officials discussed together, and if Beijing fell and the two palaces were in trouble, they would elect Li Hongzhang as president to support the crisis (at this time, Sun Yat-sen also came to the same goal by different routes and made the same suggestion).Hongzhang is also quite interested in the position of "Bo Li Xi Tiande" and "President".Later, Cixi and Guangxu fled to Xi'an safely, and the discussion went to bed. (See page 432 of Chronicle, citing Guowen Weekly.) Governors Zhang, Liu, and Li, to be honest, are all traditional politicians who are familiar with the books of sages!I hate the fate of the country.The situation is stronger than people, but long-term development does not develop. Xihou's second trick after declaring war is to offer rewards to capture foreigners and kill them all. In Chinese historical stories, there is a rumor of "Killing Tartars on August 15th". It is said that when the Mongols invaded the Central Plains, there were Tartar spies living in every house.On a certain Mid-Autumn Festival, folks used mooncakes as the media, and the whole country killed all the Tartars at the same time within one day.Now that China and the rest of the world have declared war this time, the academician Xu Tong and others also asked the Queen of the West to issue an edict, "No matter in any province or place, if there are foreigners in the grave, just listen to the common people and wipe them out" (see "Boxer Archives and Historical Materials", Volume 1, p. 196 ).The infantry commander Prince Zhuang Zaixun and others also posted notices all over the streets of Beijing, offering rewards for the killing of foreigners.The reward stipulates, "Fifty taels for killing a foreigner; forty taels for a foreign woman; thirty taels for a foreign child." (See the same book, volume two, page 842.) After De was beaten to death, he not only confessed to the murder, but he was still waiting to receive the reward. When the author served Columbia University in the past, Professor Luther Carrington, a senior friend, often laughed at himself that his life was only worth thirty taels of silver when he was young.Because he was surrounded by Dongjiaomin Lane with his missionary parents in the year of Gengzi.He was only six years old then.The rich family has been preaching in Tongzhou.When the incident happened, he was elected to the nearest embassy in Beijing and escaped unharmed.All other European and American missionaries who had the misfortune to preach in Shanxi died. At that time, Yuxian, the governor of Shanxi, when he was ordered to arrest missionaries and believers, he lied about "centralized protection" and gathered more than 40 foreign missionaries, men, women and children in the whole province, who were either deceived or arrested, and all were gathered under his governor. Come in the yamen.On July 9th, he stripped them all of their shirts, made them kneel in Yaqian Square, and beheaded them one by one.An old bishop with a Marx-style white beard got up and asked Yuxian why he killed innocent people.Yu Xian drew out his saber, and chopped ten thousand without saying a word.The blood on the old bishop's face was like a fountain, and his white beard suddenly turned into a red beard.Yu Xian added a few more knives and killed the old man.On this day, he killed a total of 46 missionaries and their family members, including 15 men, 20 women and 11 children.It is really worse than tigers and wolves, extremely cruel. (See Guan He's Chronicles Before and After the Gengzi Religion in Shanxi Province and Li Hongzhang's Chronicle (Daily) Genealogy, page 450 and Robert C. Forsyth's The China Martyrs of 1900 Page 30 below.) There are different opinions on how many missionaries Yuxian killed in Shanxi Province.Because priests come from different countries in the West.Statistics are not easy to complete.As for how many "ermaozi" (religious people) and people related to foreign affairs he killed.Then it is even more impossible to calculate. While massacring foreigners and Ermaozi, the Gang of Four, who are determined to seize power and help the Qing Dynasty destroy foreigners, also want to establish their prestige in the court, using the "two dragons, two tigers and thirteen sheep" named by the Boxer Regiment to sacrifice to the flag. . Four days after the declaration of war against the foreign powers, the four brothers Zaiyi, Zai Xun, Zai Lian, and Zaiying (the second son of the late Prince Gong Yixin) led more than 60 boxers and axemen to go to Yingtai. Zaitian (Emperor Guangxu) was killed.Although this act of "killing the emperor" and "killing the dragon" was stopped by the Queen of the West, this "dragon" would be better off dead than alive.Not only was he humiliated by King Duan and King Zhuang in the imperial meeting, but it is said that even a fourteen-year-old "big brother" (Zaiyi's son Yu) also referred to him as "Er Maozi".In this way, it is self-evident who is the authoritative figure who is under the old queen and above ten thousand people. (See "Jingshan's Diary" and various miscellaneous works, the stories are mostly credible.) As for the "two tigers" - Li Hongzhang and Yikuang - Li was sent to Guangzhou, far away, out of reach, and the Gang of Four had nothing to do with him.It is said that when Hongzhang first heard the news of the decentralization, he was overjoyed.Gai Yi is far away from the tiger's mouth, and he feels both physically and mentally happy.Now "Northern affairs are in great trouble" and the mess is being cleaned up, "whom I can give up" (Hong Zhanghao's words, see "Nian (Ri) Genealogy" for both), and you can't kill them.Yikuang's crime was only "too soft" to foreigners (see "China's Major Events in the Past Forty Years"), and it was not enough to kill.The really unlucky ones are the "thirteen sheep". Who are on the list of the "thirteen sheep" are different.But they are the same as other similar "Thirteen Taibao", "Eighteen Arhats", "Twenty-eight Bolsheviks" and so on. The top few are always fixed. The first five sheep of the "thirteen sheep" should be the five "five ministers" who were killed because of their efforts to suppress boxing and negotiate peace.Former ministers stationed in Germany, Russia and other countries, Xu Jingcheng, the heir to the left servant of the Ministry of officials, and Yuan Chang, the minister of Taichang Temple, were killed on July 28.Xu Yongyi, minister of the Ministry of War, Lianyuan, a scholar of the cabinet, and Lishan, the former minister of the household department, were killed on August 11. It is said that five ministers were killed in a row within ten days (see "Historical Materials Series? Boxer", Volume 1, page 22 ), and within a short period of time, Beijing was also captured by the coalition forces. Why did Cixi kill the lord and ministers in one go during the desperate period when she abandoned the city and fled?This is where some great dictators (male or female) are at their most vicious.All autocratic tyrants are vengeful to those who dissent.She ran away in defeat this time, and her life is still alive.But she must not allow herself to die before the aliens, so that the aliens have room to communicate with the enemy.Before she left, she only killed Concubine Zhen but not Guangxu.However, if the foreigners really wanted to force her to hang herself, the queen mother must hang herself after the emperor.Friends, is it strange?When our Jiang Gong retreated from the mainland, we killed Yang Hucheng and kept Zhang Xueliang. Wasn’t it a double play? If Baodao was not defended at that time and Jiang Gong fled to Switzerland, would the young commander survive to this day? ——This is the same reason! Yun Yuding, the author of "Chongling Chuanxinlu", didn't understand this reasoning, and he blamed Duan Wang Zaiyi for killing five ministers in a row.Yun said: "First, Zaiyi tried his best to fight abroad, fought many battles, but failed. He wanted to attack Huanwen Fangtou's old wisdom. He killed many ministers and forced him to go up with demonstrations." This is nonsense too.May I ask Zaiyi, the teacher of a playboy, what kind of "wars" have he ever had?Yes, he played Dongjiaominxiang.The author lived in Dongjiaominxiang (Academy of Social Sciences Guest House) for two weeks a few years ago.In the alleys and alleys around countless circles.A closer look at the situation revealed that Dong Fuxiang and Zaiyi's attack on Dongjiaomin Lane was nothing more than a civil "fight with weapons".Compared with the scale of "fighting" by the Red Guards, it may be far behind!What is this "attack" called?As for punishing ministers to force them, it is also nondescript compared with the story of Huan Wen abolishing Haixi public and establishing Emperor Jianwen.May I ask Zaiyi's "up" is Guangxu?Or West Empress?If it is Guangxu, why bother to "force" it?It's Empress Xi, how dare he? Zaiyi dared not punish ministers.The minister was punished by the queen mother; the bad reputation was only carried by the king. As for the attack on the embassy, ​​"it will not succeed" is a fact.But although this is the general's uselessness, the fact is that the queen mother still has a way out.Let's listen to the story of the old queen's oral history of attacking the embassy when she was fleeing.The old woman said: I was originally determined not to break face with foreigners.For a period of time, because the foreigners bullied me too much, I couldn't help feeling a little angry.But although they didn't stop (Dai Yi, Dai Xun, Dai Lan) from doing it, they still didn't make them mess around to their heart's content.Once the anger is over, I will turn my head around, leaving room for everything.If I really let them make trouble with all their heart, is there any reason why an embassy can't fight it? ! ("Jianzhi Gengzi Xishou Cong Tan") What Lafayette said is true, but to our oral history veterans, she is still not quite honest and candid. ——She didn't mention that she was stimulated by "Jiang Gan stealing books".At that time, she decided to fight the foreigners and die together.But between the "one fight" of "together to the end", the old fox still left a way out.She asked the generals Rong Lu, Zai Yi, Zai Xun and others who appeared to be armed with heavy troops to fight against the foreigners on her behalf.If the foreign minister's life is lost, and there is still room for negotiation, then she will use excuses such as "the concubine learned about it in the deep palace" and "will accept the order of the foreign king" to transfer the responsibility to the powerful generals. A push on the head.Thank you for killing the murderer, she can still be her queen mother. ——In fact, it turned out to be like this. Unexpectedly, Rong Lu is also a Cao Cao.He didn't dare to attack the embassy against the Queen Mother's order.But if the embassy is really razed to the ground and several foreign ministers are killed, in the future foreigners will track down the murderer, and the Queen Mother will be forced to arrest the murderer, so why not move his head.So he first pretended to be sick and asked for leave, and surrendered his military power.到后来懿旨难违，他非出头下可时，他只有故作积极，三令五申督贵董福祥的甘军拚命去打。董福祥是个大老粗，在中堂严令之下，他就认真的打起来了。自六月二十日起一连四天，甘军每日开炮多至三百余发。烟雾弥漫、炮声震天。北京与外界交通完全断绝。在这种情况之下，区区东交民巷岂不早巳夷为平地？各国公使和教士，断无生存之理。因此伦教各报已刊出英国公使与海关监督等人的报丧“讣闻”。 可是这时在广州看报观战的李鸿章，他和荣禄虽是政敌，却英雄识英雄。六月二十二日鸿章在广州便向媒体透露，使馆无恙，请各界放心，因为他知彼知己。荣禄既未调用他那有德式装备的“武卫中军”，光靠董福祥的土匪军是攻不下使馆的，因为“甘军无大跑”。董福祥所使用的全是一些土炮。只听炮声响，不见弹下来也。（见《字林西报》专栏。） 李鸿章是说对了。使馆被攻，死伤不少，但并末被攻破。果然六月二十五日荣禄便奉太后懿旨停攻使馆，并慰问各国公使。廷谕并向拒奉乱命的东南督抚一再解释，不得已宣战之苦衷（见《义和团档案史料》诸书）。在停攻期间，一时西瓜蔬菜等慰问品满车而来，送往使馆。使在一旁观看而口渴如焚的甘军士兵气愤不已。太后意旨前后矛盾若此，荣禄如真把使馆夷平，那还得了？所以荣禄不但对被围敌人暗通款曲，他并且真的“里通外国”，令人假扮走私窃贼，大量接济使馆守军火药子弹，以加强防御。他怕洋人如真的“弹尽粮绝”被董福祥的甘军攻破，则朝廷和老佛爷，尤其足荣禄自己，都不得了也。须知荣禄那时所接济洋人的军火可不是甘军所使用的土火药啊！他走私去的可能都是德制后膛枪的“七九钢弹”（？），锐利无比。所以在六月二十八日停战期满，甘军又恢复攻击。其后“谈谈打打”，双方又械斗了五十余日，使馆始终屹立不动。而围攻的甘军和义和团则死伤干余，均荣禄里通外国之结果也。 上节所述的吾友富路德教授那时才六岁。他就时常违父母之命，爬上墙头“观战”。五十年后他还用他那地道的通州话向我们笑说庚子遗事。真是绘影绘声。 富先生是笔者在哥大二十五年中所遇最可爱可敬的一位老辈汉学家。他的汉语比我说的也纯正得多。他精通汉籍，也深爱中国。为人处世也简直是传统中国里的一位儒家老辈。他是胡适之先生的挚友。也是胡适在一九二七年回哥大接受传士学位典礼中的宾相。他佩服胡适佩服了一辈子。因为他没有适之先生那样的精明和调皮。他浑厚得像传统中国农村中的老农夫。富先生是笔者所认识的前辈之中唯一见过“义和团”的老学者。在退休之前他是哥伦比亚大学东亚语文系（原名“中日文系”）里的“丁龙讲座教授”。这个讲座是为纪念一位可敬的华侨工人丁龙而设的。笔者对丁龙的故事曾另有记述，不再多赘。然据我所知，坐在这个“讲座”上的“教授”，只富路德一人在道德学问上受之无愧；继他之人则是个下流不通的痞子。 笔者今乘重治拳乱史的因缘，提一提这位拳乱目击者，也算是对他老前辈一点点私淑的纪念吧！（关于这一段拳乱史，中文档案笔记至伙；西文史料如摩尔斯前着，赫德回亿录，RC Forsyth与AH Smith等人的著作和汉译Bertram L. Simpson而化名BL Putham Weale所著《庚子使馆被围记》，均足汗牛不及备载。） 慈禧或松或紧、或真或假，把东交民巷围攻了五十余日的“行为”，可能还有一层地不愿告人的动机——行为科学上所谓“刺激－生机－反应”是也。她想以生死交关的危机，诱迫十国的“钦差大臣”（此时克林德钦差已死了）保证不要她“归政”；也就是撤销蒋干先生偷来的那四条秘密的要求。无奈这四条要求原不存在，而十公使也不是老太后肚子里的蛔虫，不知如何反应。好在他们内有粮草、外有救兵。他们就冒着生命的危险，死守待援了。 至于老太婆说：“难道一个使馆有打不下来的道理？！”她说这话确是胸有成竹的，因为她还有德国克虏伯厂制造的重炮没有动用呢！三十多年之后，当“五次围剿”胜利在望时，《大公报》记者范长江为当局向“朱毛”致意，不是也说蒋委员长对他们“手下留情”吗？因为中央军里最新式的德制武器都还未对他们使用呢！既然手下留情，为何又一定要打呢？贤明的读者，就自己去回答吧！ 老太后的德制大炮在哪里呢？原来它是配备在荣禄的嫡系部队“武卫中军”的炮队里。当董福祥猛攻使馆十数日不得下，端王乃以上谕调中军分统（军阶略近旅长）张怀芝派“开花炮”助攻。这位张分统是“天津武备学堂”的毕业生，与曹锟同学。这个武备学堂原是李鸿章授命戈登（Charles George Gordon）主办的，是中国第一座新式军校。这时武卫中军所用的德制“开花（弹头爆炸）大炮”连后来德国军官都自叹少见。因此张怀芝奉命之初自觉是立功的机会。他乃在城头架好大炮，瞄准使馆区，只要放三五炮下去，各使馆就成为尸体狼藉的一堆灰烬了。正当他要下令开炮时，这位三十九岁的军官忽然灵机一动——他知道炮声一响，后果就难以收拾了。他又改令缓发。随即自己下城直趋荣禄官邸请示，要他的顶头上司手写一道发炮的命令以为凭据。荣禄不敢亲发命令；也不敢不发命令。双方僵持甚久。这一来，怀芝更不敢离开荣府。自作主张，便在荣府赖着不走。最后荣禄缠他不过，乃支吾其辞说：“横竖炮声一响，里边（宫里边）是听得见的。”——这是荣中堂在中国近代史上一句不朽的名言；而张怀芝这位后来官至安徽巡抚，民国时代袁皇帝曾封为男爵不受；其后又做到山东督军，和徐世昌任内的参谋总长的大军阀，也不是个笨人。他闻言大悟。乃匆匆赶回城上，谎说炮位不准，需重测方位，遂把目标定向使馆后之空地。众炮齐发，轰了一天一夜未停，直至上谕再次停攻始止。使馆虽饱受虚惊，宫中府中均至为欣慰。（见《义和团史料》下册，页五六二，引《春冰室野乘》。上昌路德老师与其它西文史料，也颇有惊人的叙述；张怀芝故事散见中英文传记，及《民国人物小传》第五册，页二八〇。） 庚子年围攻使馆的闹剧就这样一松一紧、亦真亦假的闹到八月十四日，使馆内被围洋人与中国教民忽闻哈德门外有机枪声，知洋兵已攻破北京，因当时中国军队尚无机枪也。是日下午二时在数百洋人一片欢叫声中，一大队打着英国旗帜的印度锡克兵（Sikhs,上海人俗呼为“红头阿三”者），一举冲入巷内。五十天使馆之围是结束了；中国的首都北京也就沦陷了。 * 原载于台北《传记文学》第六十二卷第一期