Chapter 20 Chapter Twenty

When Zhang San saw it, he was both surprised and happy, and exclaimed: "So it's Master Wan Ba."Wan Baye said happily: "Master Zhang is here too, happy Chinese New Year!" Zhang San said: "Happy Chinese New Year, during the day I saw you performing with your disciples at Longfu Temple!" Wan Baye waved his hand with a smile: "Happy Chinese New Year! Why did you come here?" Zhang San recounted how he saw Rong Lu lead a man to rob a woman, and how he and Li Sanrong's mansion rescued people.After hearing this, Xiao Yingbi slapped his thigh: "Oh, it turns out that Mr. Zhang is expressing justice, please sit in the room." A group of people came to the room, and Xiao Yingbi asked the boy to make tea for everyone.

After sitting down, Xiao Yingbi poked He Liu's nose: "Why did you sneak away to be the bodyguard of Rong Lu's old dog, and didn't even say hello to me." He Liu sighed: "My mother is sick and she is lying on the kang. I’m sorry, the little money earned in the Shanpu camp is nothing to waste, there’s nothing I can do, I went to Rong’s mansion to do some bodyguard work for a living last year.” Xiao Yingbi trembled angrily: “You can’t be a bodyguard for anyone. That old ghost full of evil is on the job, if you stay in Rongfu again, don't come to see me as a senior." Master Wan Ba ​​took out a handful of silver from his bosom, handed it to He Liu, and said: "To be a man, you have to do something. Be virtuous, don't let people poke your back! You first accept this little money, buy some delicious food for the aunt, and I will ask my apprentice to send you the money tomorrow! Do you live in Xizhuo Hutong? ?” He Liu nodded gratefully and accepted the money.After being silent for a while, He Liu said: "I will go to Rong Mansion to resign my post early in the morning." Master Wan Baye helped He Liu's shoulder: "That's right! We are poor, and we need to show some ambition. You can't do the thing of being a tiger's minion! Look at how miserable the girl is, after the Chinese New Year, she got married again. Originally, Double Happiness is coming, and she was almost buried with the dead." He Liu blushed, and stammered: "I I don't know how deep it is, how dare you not bow your head when you are under the low eaves." Buyingbi said bitterly, "Junior Brother, poverty cannot be removed! Even with a knife on your neck, you can't bow your head!"

Wan Baye diverted the conversation from Jianer, chatted for a while about visiting the temple fair during the Chinese New Year, and then turned to the business of Shanpuying.Zhang San looked at the young man, stroked his bald head with his hand, and praised him: "What a clever boy, I think this boy is promising." Little Yingbi smiled, looked at the young man, and said, "His family name is Shen, and he sells trauma. Medicine and Daliwan, his name is Yousan, his family is so poor that he has no money to learn art. He rushes from Tianqiao to Dafo Temple to watch wrestling all day long. I see this kid is smart, practical, and strong, so I will accept him. He became an apprentice." As he said that, Xiao Yingbi said to Shen Yousan: "Yousan, perform for the third master."!

Shen Yousan stood in front of Zhang San, bowed to him respectfully, and said, "Master Zhang, the disciple class has got an axe." After finishing speaking, he hit the ground several times with "hair loss" one after another, and then landed firmly on the ground. On the ground, everyone applauded in unison, Zhang San happily patted Shen Yousan on the shoulder, and praised: "He is a pillar of talent, he practices hard and is promising." Xiao Yingbi said: "Master Zhang, you also show your hand to let the apprentice Look, how about it?" Zhang Sanyi spread his hands: "How can I be conspicuous in front of so many high-ranking people." Wan Baye said: "Hey, Sanye, you are our eldest brother, you are better than me in terms of age and kung fu. We are tall, so you can show your hand." Zhang Sansi looked around and asked, "Do you have watermelon here?" Xiaoyingbi smiled and said, "The third master must have been drunk and confused, and regarded winter as summer. This winter Where did you get the watermelon?" Zhang San said: "As long as it's a melon." Xiao Yingbi said: "There is another melon, I saved a big pumpkin and put it under the window sill. You San, you carry it here." Shen Yousan agreed to attend , suddenly carried a heavy pumpkin into the house.Zhang San took the melon, weighed it in the palm of his hand, and asked again: "Is there any incense?" Xiao Yingbi found a bundle of incense from the drawer, Zhang San tore one from it, wrapped it around the oil lamp core, and lit the incense , Holding the pumpkin in one hand and the incense in the other, he said: "Everyone, please take a closer look." He poked the pumpkin with the incense, the incense head penetrated into the pumpkin, and the incense head was pulled out without any damage, and a hole appeared in the pumpkin.Baye Wan, Xiao Yingbi, He Liu, and Shen You looked at it and were dumbfounded.Xiao Yingbi said again and again: "Third Master's Kung Fu is really well-deserved, today I have learned it."

Several people chatted intimately for a while, Zhang San said goodbye and went back to Luo's house.At the Luo Family Courtyard, I saw Mr. Luo Ying rushing over in a hurry, grabbed Zhang San, and complained, "You didn't even say a word when you went out. Where did this drunken man go?" Zhang San Hearing this, he laughed loudly and said, "I heard the excitement of firecrackers outside, so I went to find some cigarette butts. I was so happy!" In the spring of this year, with the support of some ministers, Cixi decided to use the Boxers to restrain foreigners, so she ordered the Boxers to enter the city.The Boxer Movement quickly developed into a prairie fire in Beijing.People gather together in groups of thousands and choose places to perform, claiming to help the eradication of foreigners and to embarrass foreign churches.The Boxers from neighboring states and counties entered Beijing first, and they pasted scarves around the church. In the first ten days of May, Boxers from Shuntian Prefecture and other prefectures and counties in central Hebei also entered Beijing through Chongwenmen, and their momentum became more and more intense.Boxers have one altar in one street, or one altar in two streets, or three or four altars in one street. The characters are all yellow, and the ridges are red. There are hundreds of people in each group, and more than a hundred people in less.The boxer altar in Yuqian Temple is the first dry-shaped group in Beijing. They wrap their heads with yellow cloth and their trousers with yellow cloth belts. There are a total of 100 people.In the early summer, there were more than 1,000 Boxers in Beijing, and there were as many as 100,000 people.Li Cunyi also rushed to Beijing from Tianjin with the Boxer Regiment. Zhang Decheng, the leader of the Zhili Boxer Regiment, led 3,000 Boxers into Beijing, and set up the regiment headquarters in the Yuanshun Escort Bureau of King Wu of the Sword. Participated in the Boxers and the red light.

On June 4, more than 400 foreign soldiers from the eight countries of Britain, Russia, France, Japan, Germany, the United States, Italy, and Austria were stationed in Dongjiaominxiang, Beijing. Beijing was defeated by the Boxers and the Qing army on the way, and fled back to Tianjin in embarrassment.At this time, the situation in Beijing was tense, and the Boxers began to attack the church.The ministers of various countries gathered foreigners in Beijing, priests of various churches and Chinese believers in Dongjiaomin Lane and Xishiku Church, and occupied the Suwang Mansion and private houses adjacent to the embassy, ​​repaired fortifications, and set up guard posts to prepare for resistance.At the same time, they attacked the Boxers. On June 15, the embassies of various countries arbitrarily delimited the embassy area, stipulating that Dongjiaomin Lane, Qianmen Dongcheng, Nanyuhe Bridge, Zhongyuhe Bridge, Taiji Factory, East Chang'an Street and Wangfujing Street are not allowed to communicate with Chinese soldiers and civilians, and sent Foreign soldiers guard.Heavily armed foreign soldiers patrolled the streets and killed dozens of Boxers in the temple near the Shuaifuyuan.A few days later, the Belgian embassy shot and killed 70 Boxers; British, American, and Japanese patrols killed 46 Boxers in a temple; German Minister Klinder led his entourage to kill 7 Boxers. On June 19, in order to prevent the situation from expanding, the General Administration of the Qing Dynasty issued a note to the various ministers, restricting them to leave Beijing with their families and companions within 24 hours.

Zhang San was very supportive of the Boxers, but he did not participate in the Boxers.He thought that if he secretly supported the Boxers, he might be more helpful to the Boxers.In order to support and respond to the Boxer Rebellion, he resigned from the post of general manager of Majiabao, and tried to be transferred to Chongwenmen area as a security inspector.He moved his family to live in a house in Yangyi Hutong behind Yu Qian's ancestral hall.This morning Zhang San went to inspect the streets, and when he came to the Dongdan archway, he happened to meet Zhang Jing Enhai from the Shenji camp leading a team to patrol the streets, and Enhai greeted Zhang San: "Master Zhang, I am not invited to have a drink for the housewarming. Zhang San laughed and said, "Come when you have time. I'm not the kind of person who says 'no one asks you when you're poor in the downtown area, but you refuse to make friends when you're rich in the mountains'." Said: "It looks like Lafayette is going to declare war on foreigners, and those foreigners don't want to be a master in our China!" Zhang Sandao: "It's time for us Chinese to feel proud, let foreigners also see, we Chinese are not What a mess!"

At this time, a sedan chair hurriedly came from the south, the bearers were two Christians, followed by two German soldiers.An old woman passing by couldn't dodge and was knocked to the ground.Seeing this, Enhai was furious, and shouted: "Who is in the sedan chair, stop the sedan chair quickly." But the sedan chair didn't stop.Enhai strode to catch up, grabbed the bearer's shoulders, and the sedan chair just stopped.The bearer panted, "This is the sedan chair of Mr. Klind, the German minister." Enhai said angrily, "The sedan chair has hurt someone, please stop!" With a sallow complexion and a arrogant smile on his mouth, he is Klinde.Klinde said: "Your government has informed the ministers of various countries to leave Beijing within 24 hours, otherwise I will not be responsible for protection. I will go to your prime minister's office to protest!" Enhai said: "Your sedan chair hurt this old woman, you She should be taken to see the wound." Klinde roared arrogantly: "I don't have that much time, I have to hurry!" En Haigai took out his pistol and said sharply: "On Chinese soil, if a sedan chair hits someone, it must be Stop and show the injured to the wounded." Klinder raised his hand, Zhang San saw that the situation was not good, and gently pushed Enhai aside. "Bang!" The gunshot rang out, and Klinde took out his hand and fired first. The bullet flew past Enhai's ears, hit the pillars of the Dongdan archway, and splashed a string of sparks.

Enhai was so angry that he raised his pistol and shot into the sedan chair. Klinde screamed and died in the sedan chair.The two foreign soldiers surrounded Enhai with guns, but they did not dare to shoot because they were afraid of the large number of soldiers in the Shenji Battalion.Enhai said loudly: "Don't risk your life in vain. Go back and tell your embassy that Mr. Klind started to provoke on the street and shot first. He was shot dead by my Shenjiying. I am Zhang Jingenhai of Shenjiying!" The foreign soldiers had no choice but to put down their guns. At this time, the two Christians carrying the sedan chairs ran away without a trace, and the two foreign soldiers had to lift up the sedan chairs and hurried southward.

Zhang Sandao: "This Klinde is blood-debt, and he deserves to die. I don't know how many Boxers he slaughtered." Enhai said: "I was in self-defense. He resisted arrest and was killed. He deserved it." On the second day, Cixi issued an edict to declare war, and appointed Prince Zhuang Zaixun and Tu Gangyi, the co-organizer of the university, as the commanders of the Boxer Regiment.Soon, the Boxers and the Qing army joined forces to burn down Dengshikou East Church and Yaojiajing Church in a dream, and began to attack the embassy area in Dongjiaomin Lane.They quickly burned and captured the Austrian and Dutch embassies. They also announced that Dongjiaomin Lane would be renamed "Qieyang Jiming Street" because there was a phrase in "Tui Bei Tu" that "ghosts are sad after the golden rooster crows". "Ming" is a homonym of the word, so Jiaomin Lane was changed to Jiming Street.Later, the Boxers and the Qing army captured the two embassies in Belgium and Italy, set fire to the British embassy from the Imperial Academy, and then captured the enemy fort in the family temple of King Su.

That night, the fighting that besieged the embassy area in Dongjiaomin Lane temporarily subsided. Since dawn, the artillery shells fired from the Forbidden City have also stopped.On this day, the cannon fired 147 rounds, and only seven or eight hit the barracks in the embassy area, and the rest either fell in the open space or hit the city wall.The city walls around Chongwenmen were riddled with holes.The moon was rising very high. Although no gunshots were heard, there were no pedestrians on the road, but there were countless corpses lying all over the streets and alleys near Dongjiaomin Lane. There were also flags scattered on the ground: red pointed flags , with the words "Following the Order of Yihe Tuanlian", "Yihe Shenquan" and so on; on the yellow rectangular flag, most of the words "Help the Qing Dynasty and destroy the foreigners" are written.On the ground lay the corpses of some foreign soldiers in military uniforms and Boxers with the word "Kan" nailed on their chests and covered in red clothes.At this time, both sides fighting in Dongjiaominxiang are resting, and this temporary silence breeds a more intense battle. At this time, there were several big fires burning in Beijing. The houses burned in Dengshikou and Goulan Hutong, as well as the church outside Shunzhi Gate, and so on. have a good time. At this time in the Ningshou Palace of the Qing Palace, Cixi looked at the candlelight in the capital with a sinister smile.Although Cixi was a woman, she was not a mediocre woman. She wanted to use the Boxer Rebellion, a popular movement, to curb the arrogance of other countries since the Opium War, and at the same time consolidate the declining rule of the Manchu imperial family in China.He is used to being domineering, and of course he can't stand being bullied by other countries. She looks for opportunities for revenge anytime and anywhere, because he not only wants to stand upright in front of the Chinese, but also wants to show off his might in front of foreigners from other countries and become an invincible queen.Until now, she has always held a hesitant attitude towards the Boxers. On the one hand, she needs to use this force to restrain foreigners, and on the other hand, she also prevents this force from capsizing her.Repeated false reports from Tianjin Yulu and Nie Tucheng, and the deception of Beijing Duan Wang Zaiyi, Zhuang Wang Zaixun, Minister of Military Aircraft Rong Lu and others made her feel that she did not need the country's soldiers or pay for the country. It's a great strategy.But at this time, seeing that the Boxers and Qing soldiers were unable to attack the embassy area repeatedly, she was secretly worried, so what should she do? ... The Boxers attacked the embassy area in Dongjiaomin Lane, and the foreign soldiers in the embassy area lost one-third of their troops. However, because the seven embassies were connected together, the British envoy Donal was elected as the commander, and they jointly defended. The soldiers and the foreign soldiers are in a see-saw state. That night, while Zhang San was at home, he was worried that the Boxers had been unable to capture the embassy area in Dongjiaomin Lane for a long time, when someone knocked on his door.Zhang San pushed open the door and saw the person's head wrapped in yellow cloth, wearing yellow clothes, with the word "dry" on his chest, covered in blood, and his left arm was wrapped with a white cloth, hanging on his chest.