Chapter 10 Section ten

Although there are a lot of news, there are only two most important things. One is that the emperor has indeed been imprisoned in Yingtai, and what happened to Concubine Zhen is even more cruel, and she has been thrown into the cold palace.In the north of Ningshou Palace, after Jingqi Pavilion, and east of Zhenshun Gate, there is a simple hut near the maid's residence. All jewelry was confiscated by Empress Dowager Cixi, and even a slightly better dress was not allowed to be carried. Another thing is that the Empress Dowager Cixi is determined to capture Kang Youwei, and she has sent secret messages from the Military Aircraft Office to Rong Lu, the governor of Zhili in Tianjin, Liu Kunyi, the governor of Liangjiang in Jiangning, Zhang Zhidong, the governor of Guangdong and Guangxi in Guangzhou, as well as the governor of Jiangsu, Shanghai Road, etc. Strictly take.There is another legend: Kang Youwei was accused of murdering the king in the telegram. He was a felon of treason and injustice.

"This legend is unreliable. It may be that foreigners are afraid of sheltering Mr. Kang, so they deliberately put a serious crime on them so as to resist the intervention of foreigners. However, I believe that Mr. Kang will be able to escape." Tan Sitong paused and said: "Concubine Zhen, Of course I can't take care of it anymore, the only big thing now is to rescue the emperor!" Wang Wu nodded and said nothing, Zhang Dianchen wanted to speak but didn't dare to speak, but finally because of the encouragement of his master and "Uncle Tan" winks, he uttered his words frankly with his bones stuck in his throat.

"Uncle Tan, I want to interrupt. If the emperor can be rescued from Yingtai, what should we do? Is there any place where we can hide such a big man?" "That's a good question!" Tan Sitong lowered his voice very low, "If the emperor can be rescued, he must be sent out of Beijing to find a safe place, such as the concessions in Tianjin and Shanghai, or foreign embassies as a last resort. Your Majesty As long as you get rid of the control of the Queen Mother, you can still issue orders, who dares to say that what he said is not an edict?" "Isn't that another court?"

"There is only one imperial court! The place where the emperor resides is called 'Xingzai'. No matter where he is, he can issue decrees. The governors of all provinces dare not disobey. As for the empress dowager's 'political training', it is a fake name, and it is simply put These are usurpers! They are puppet courts! Of course it doesn't count. " Junior brother Wang Wu didn't quite understand what he said, and the two looked at each other cautiously.I was afraid that Tan Sitong would find out, but let him find out. Of course, there must be a further explanation.

"I thought about this all night yesterday." He said, "It seems unbelievable, but it is actually possible. Because all countries now agree with our new policies in China, they admire the emperor very much. As long as the emperor can restore freedom, All countries will recognize the authority of the emperor. Once it is published on the news paper, the subjects of the world will know where the emperor is, and naturally they will listen to him, not the queen mother." Wang Wu and Zhang Dianchen still don't understand these words very well. Why does the emperor of China require foreign countries to recognize him?However, Wang Wu thought that there was no need to ask any more questions. Anyway, what Tan Sitong said, he would do well.

"Fusheng, let's discuss how to save the emperor!" "There are two ways to save the emperor." Tan Sitong asked: "There is a priest named Timothy Li, do you two know?" "I've heard of it." Wang Wu replied, "I'm not very sure." "This man is an Englishman . . . " Tan Sitong briefly talked about the life of Timothy Lee.This person is British, and he has been preaching in China for many years. He set up a Guangxi Society in Shanghai, with the purpose of collecting new knowledge from the world and enlightening the Chinese people.Four or five years ago, he had been to the capital, and he was extremely speculative with Kang Youwei, and was quite appreciated by Weng Tonghe. He accepted many of his new policy suggestions and planned to ask the emperor to implement them.

Not long ago, he came to Beijing from Shanghai to sponsor the New Deal and contribute more.According to the scheduled plan, both he and Hirobumi Ito will be hired as "consultants" to the emperor.Tan Sitong was also very familiar with Timothy Li, and he knew that he was enthusiastic and courageous, so he planned to invite him to come forward, contact the ministers of various countries, and intervene to restore the freedom of the Chinese emperor. After listening to him, Wang Wu said: "Fusheng, I'm going to say something unpleasant! Don't be angry when you hear that. "

"There, there, fifth brother, just tell the truth." "Our Chinese emperor has to rely on foreigners to save us. It's embarrassing to talk about it!" "Yes, yes!" Tan Sitong said fearfully, "It would be better if I could save the emperor myself." Zhang Dianchen's reasoning is very clear, and in just this moment, he has a great understanding of the whole situation.At first he didn't dare to refute his master, but the matter was too big and his own strength was too weak. If he didn't speak up when he knew it, he would miss a big deal and increase the blame, so he had to intervene.

"Master, you old man has to listen to Uncle Tan! This matter seems to be embarrassing, but there is nothing you can do about it. It's like a big family making housework, and there is no way to be a junior. You have to entrust a few friends to mediate, that's also true." Yes." Zhang Dianchen immediately dropped a sentence: "I think it's better to have a two-pronged approach. On the one hand, we ask Uncle Tan to talk to Timothy Li, and on the other hand, we make preparations. If Timothy Li can't handle it, he will take over immediately. You Look, is this the right thing to do?"

Tan and Wang have no reason to disagree with this two-pronged compromise approach.But the next question is, how can the emperor be rescued from Yingtai?The two of them could only look at each other. In Tan Sitong's mind, only the vague imagination of "Kunlun slaves" flying over the walls in the legend of the Tang Dynasty, when it came to the situation, he realized the difficulty of the situation, looked at Zhang Dianchen and said, "You have an idea!" "No one has ever done this before!" Zhang Dianchen replied, "We have to think a little bit, a little bit, before we can figure it out."

"Yes, yes!" Tan Sitong asked again: "Look, where should we start thinking?" "Of course, we need to figure out the place of Yingtai first. What kind of layout is it? How many roads are there for entering and exiting? Are there any guards around?" "I've been to Xiyuan once." Wang Wu said, "That was many years ago. I only remember that Yingtai is in the South China Sea." "Slow down! Wait for me to think." When Tan Sitong was concentrating on recalling, Zhang Dianchen had already brought a pair of brushes and inkstones, removed the cups and plates, laid out paper and rubbed ink, and waited for him to draw a map. "It's roughly like this." Tan Sitong spoke while drawing.First draw a round pool, which is the South China Sea, and a piece of land extending into the water from the north is Yingtai. The main house of Yingtai is called Hanyuan Hall. The stone steps of the water can be used to moor a boat. Behind the Hanyuan Hall, there is a tall pavilion surrounded by the left and right extension towers, named Xiangluan Pavilion, from this south to the Yingxun Pavilion, collectively named Yingtai.Xiangluan Pavilion faces the north facing main hall, which is the Hall of Qinzheng where the emperor summoned his ministers and workers when he was in Xiyuan. "That's pretty good." Wang Wu nodded and said, "Once you draw it, I almost remember it." "Uncle Tan," Zhang Dianchen asked, "I've been asking you for advice. I know the north side of Yingtai. What about the east and west sides?" "There is a wooden plank bridge in the east, leading diagonally to the Xiyuan Gate; in the west, across the water, there is probably a pavilion called Liubei Pavilion, also known as Liushuiyin. I have never been there." "What about the south?" "The south bank is called Baoyue Tower, which was specially built during the Qianlong period for Concubine Rong of the Ministry of Hui to live." "Oh, oh," Zhang Dianchen suddenly realized, "I see. From the area around West Chang'an Avenue Huihuiying, looking north, there is a tall building in the imperial city. Presumably it is Baoyue Tower?" "You're right! The purpose of building the Baoyue Tower at that place was to allow Concubine Rong to lean on the railing to see the scenery of returning to the camp, and to comfort her homesickness." "Yes!" Zhang Dianchen thought for a while and said, "Since Baoyue Tower is at the root of the imperial city, it is always relatively desolate. I think there may be a solution in the south." Hearing this, Wang Wu cheered up, and hurriedly asked: "Dian Chen, tell me, what do you plan to do?" "I don't dare to say it at the moment. You know the old man. I have a cousin who works in the office of the General Administration Department. He lives in the Shuangta Qingshou Temple. There can be a place to support him." Wang Wu couldn't help but be disappointed with such a vague sentence.But Tan Sitong feels that this is more or less a clue, so let's talk about it from this point. "My cousin listens to me the most, if the emperor can be rescued from Yingtai, it would be a safe place to hide with my cousin." Zhang Dianchen said, "However, it will be difficult in the future! " "It's my business in the future. As long as I can rescue my cousin Ling, I can ask the British or Japanese embassy to send a car to pick him up." "Okay!" Wang Wu first determined the scope of responsibility, "Let's just discuss the section from Yingtai to outside the wall of Baoyue Tower." Although it is only a short distance away, within the Forbidden Garden, it is as dense as Pengshan Mountain.After careful consideration, Zhang Dianchen proposed two things that must be done.The first is to contact the trusted eunuchs around the emperor; the second is to bribe the person in charge of the boat in Fengchen Garden, because the emperor wants to get out of Yingtai and has to sail by light boat.But if you can find an internal response in the guard camp, then everything will be convenient. Speaking of this, it was nearly midnight, and Wang Wu suddenly remembered that Qin Zhifen hadn't explained what Qin Zhifen entrusted. "It's ridiculous! I've never done such a thing!" Qin Wujiu will go there."