Chapter 43 Section 43

Yang Futong died in battle on duty, but he died in vain. The court not only did not have a tribute, but also dismissed him from his post.Due to the insistence of Nie Shicheng, the admiral of Zhili, Yulu had to send troops to Zhuozhou, but it was not to encircle and suppress criminals who killed officials, but to intimidate them.As a result, the number of Boxers in Zhuozhou increased several times within two or three days, and what the Prime Minister's National Affairs Office was worried about finally happened. The worry was that the Boxers would destroy the railways and tear down the wires.On April 29th, on the railway from Liulihe to Zhuozhou in the west of Beijing, the tracks were dug for the Boxers, the sleepers were burned, and the telephone poles along the road were also sawed off.This happened in the afternoon, and in the evening, the Prime Minister's Office knew about it, because the train and telegram from Baoding to Beijing were blocked.

The next day, the first day of May, the railways, stations, and bridges stretching tens of miles from Liulihe to Changxindian were all destroyed. The whereabouts of Western Engineers are unknown. This time, the entire capital was shocked.But some are terrified, while others are pleasantly surprised.Rong Lu, who was worried about the Boxer Rebellion and had a relapse of his old illness, asked for a month's leave to recuperate at home, so he had to sell his leave quickly. He rushed to the Summer Palace by car and handed over a sign to see the Empress Dowager Cixi. "Lafayette, you really have to make up your mind!" Rong Lu said angrily, "Otherwise, I'm afraid there will be a catastrophe. Britain and Russia have notified the prime minister's office and decided to send troops to Beijing to protect the embassy. Discuss, we must follow the methods of Britain and Russia. The boxers will cause internal turmoil and foreign aggression, and that will be a big trouble."

"You say boxers, some people say they are righteous people. Who should I listen to?" Empress Dowager Cixi said, "I heard that your subordinates have a different view. Nie Shicheng is in charge of suppressing, and Dong Fuxiang is in charge of caressing. What do you say?" Rong Lu was momentarily at a loss for words.He can't say that Dong Fuxiang is domineering, and with the support of King Duan, he has become an unstoppable trend in the Wuwei Army.He had no choice but to answer like this: "The Boxers really weren't messing around, and of course they should be appeased, but burning down the railways and tearing down the wires like this is really outrageous."

"I think so too. But good and bad are different, and we can't generalize. The railway can't be demolished randomly, you have to send troops to protect it." "Yes!" Rong Lu replied, "The slaves have dispatched Nie Shicheng to send a special team to protect Lubao and Jinlu. In addition, Dong Fuxiang's Gan army has been transferred to protect the Summer Palace. However, if Lafayette does not come up with a big idea, This is a big deal!" 'How do you want me to make up my mind? " "Disband all the Boxers. If you disobey, send a large army to encircle and suppress."

"I'm afraid this will affect the hearts of the people." The Empress Dowager Cixi shook her head and said, "No matter what, the Boxers are always good to 'support the Qing Dynasty and destroy the foreigners'. People and religions are against each other. People, also owe justice." Hearing that he still wanted to protect the Boxers, Rong Lu knew that it would be difficult to listen to admonitions from the front, so he changed his mind and said to each other: "I have something to do with my servant. I can't sleep or eat. I have to explain it to Lafayette today. The Boxers are in Zhuozhou , Yizhou area, there are a lot of people, daring to fight against the army, it can be seen that there is no law. Yizhou used to be where the ancestral mausoleum was, and if there was any harassment, the slave would be punished with death. In order to protect the mausoleum, the slave had to resort to drastic means and plead guilty to Lafayette first. "

Hearing this, the Empress Dowager Cixi was terrified, "I can't bear this responsibility!" She said, "Let's talk about seriousness, but look at it, how can it be appropriate? In my opinion, the troublemaker is just the leader." A few people, 'one grain of rat droppings spoils a whole pot of porridge', those restless ones are really hateful!" This is a small step forward.Rong Lu thought to himself that the large-scale encirclement and suppression might not be able to catch up, so there is no need to speak too hard, and he should first obtain an order of "strictly arrest the bandit leader" before making sense.

"Since Lafayette ordered so, I will try my best to do it. However, there must be a will before we can work hard." "Of course there must be a decree." The Empress Dowager Cixi said, "You go down first and pass on my words to Gang Yi and them. When you 'meet' with them later, bring me the written decree." So Rong Lu knelt down and withdrew, and returned to the Junji Zhilu at the gate of the palace. He saw Gang Yi talking a lot, and he heard Su La report: "Rong Zhongtang is here!" Then there was no sound from inside. Rong Lu intentionally slowed down his pace, pretended to be quite tired, and entered the room holding the door frame.Everyone in the room, except Li Wang Shiduo, stood up; because Rong Lu's job is the Bachelor of Wenyuan Pavilion, and his position among military ministers is second only to Li Wang.

"Zhonghua's vacation is sold out!" Li Wang said earnestly, "That's great! There are so many important things waiting for you to discuss." "What?" Gang Yi then asked, "Is your illness well?" "Excellent?" Rong Lu shook his head, "It's almost time to deliver the pass!" This nail was not small, and her resolute face was ugly. Zhao Shuqiao was afraid that the situation would become tense, so she hurriedly said loudly: "You three, please sit down in the hall!" Add a sentence: "Let's take a long-term view."

So resolutely said with a sullen face: "Zhanru, please tell me about the rude demands of foreigners." There are two military ministers and prime ministers: Wang Wenshao and Zhao Shuqiao.Wang Wenshao was far more qualified than Zhao Shuqiao. If there was a statement, Wang Wenshao should speak up, but Gang Yi didn't care about it, and only ordered Zhao Shuqiao, whom he had attracted, to speak.Wang Wenshao, who was so tactful that he didn't feel angry at all, didn't think he was disobedient, but Rong Lu was quite aggrieved, and half of it was intentional to make trouble with fortitude, so he quickly interfaced: "Needless to say! The troubles are all caused by yourself, so what are you talking about? "

"Discuss slowly! Discuss slowly!" Li Wang was afraid that they would have another dispute, so he stopped in the middle and said, "The foreigners want to send troops to Beijing to protect the embassy. Whether this matter can be approved, I'm afraid I have to ask for an order." "It's not a solution to ask for orders for everything. We still do things here." Rong Lu said: "It's okay for countries to send troops to protect their embassies." Is it?" He said angrily, "Under the chariot, the foreign soldiers are showing off their power, and the national dignity has been demolished."

"National character! Hmph," Rong Lu sneered, "It's really a disgrace to the national character if the Boxers go on like this." "I see it this way," Li Wang hurriedly acted as a peacemaker again, "Let's ask for an order! It's best to find Lao Qing again and invite him together!" "That's true. Originally, this matter should be sponsored by the Prime Minister's Office." Rong Lu immediately turned to Sura, "Go and see, King Qing is probably here." "Here we are," Wang Wenshao said at this moment, "with Prince Duan. Come back here." "Then we'll talk about it later." Rong Lu continued, "I just came down from the top, and the Empress Dowager has an order, let me convey it." After stating the purpose, he immediately called "Dalami" to draw up the purpose.Now Ronglu and Gangyi have another dispute. One advocates strictly prohibiting the Boxers from causing trouble, and the other thinks that the troublemakers are not the real Boxers. They must not be generalized.Qixiu helped Gangyi speak, Zhao Shuqiao mediated, and Wang Wenshao didn't speak much, but he agreed with Ronglu's proposition in his tone. Bandit gangs and mingling in the meantime", such as "killing military personnel, burning electric poles and railways, it seems that they are not afraid of the law, and they are no different from rioters", and they are ordered to "send the commanders of the army and local civil and military personnel to quickly and strictly arrest the bandit leaders. Dismantle the hostages".If you dare to "stand up and resist, you should take action immediately."The Boxer Rebellion was not mentioned in the last edict, which was Rong Lu's concession, and the exchange condition was that "all churches, religious people, and local officials should be effectively protected." When the words and sentences of the draft were carefully drafted, the eunuch came to urge them, and the Empress Dowager Cixi summoned them immediately.Every day, the military planes met as usual, and the emperor was present, but only when the Empress Dowager Cixi pushed his hand, he dared to speak, and it was nothing more than repeating the imperial edict and adding a few superficial words. After reading the draft of "Strictly Take the Bandit Leaders", the Empress Dowager Cixi agreed to send it out; then she said, "The Boxers in Zhuozhou have a large number of people, and the good and the bad are mixed. Is there a lot of rebellious people or a lot of righteous people? Should it be disbanded or reorganized? What do you think? No, it’s mostly because of hearsay, so I’m not sure. I think, whether to send someone down, to see clearly, what to do at that time, then I can make up my mind.” "Yes!" Li Wang replied, "Send someone to see, please order!" "This is a local matter, let Shuntian Mansion go!" The governor of Shuntian Mansion is named He Naiying, from Lingshi, Shanxi Province, also Xu Tong, a member of Qixiu Road, Rong Lu thought to himself, sending this person is of course to say good things for the Boxers, at least one more person should be sent, so as not to be biased. listen.Therefore, I suggested: "He Naiying is afraid that she can't see it all by herself. I ask for orders. Can I send more officials to investigate?" "Alright!" Empress Dowager Cixi admired Zhao Shuqiao's shrewdness and ability, and he was also in charge of the governor of Shuntian Prefecture, so he had no shirkable responsibility, so she said, "Zhao Shuqiao, you have worked hard." "Yes!" Zhao Shuqiao accepted the order happily. "Go and come back quickly, be sure to read carefully." "Yes!" Zhao Shuqiao replied, "I will meet He Naiying as soon as I turn around. If I can make it in time, I will leave Beijing today." "The embassies and churches should be protected." The Empress Dowager Cixi asked, "I heard that the embassies of various countries are going to send troops! Rong Lu, what do you think we should do about this matter?" "If there are not many people, maybe he might as well." Rong Lu replied, "You should ask Prince Qing about this matter." "King Qing already has a broken piece. Just like what you said, there are only 300 foreign soldiers. It's okay to let them go to Beijing." If something goes wrong, we can't blame it all." The Empress Dowager Cixi actually meant this. Invisibly, it was tantamount to encouraging the Boxers to provoke the embassy. Rong Lu felt it was inappropriate, but there was no need to argue. Since the Empress Dowager said that "the embassy and the church should be protected", she just followed the order and sent more troops to protect it. up. So, as soon as he retreated, Rong Lu immediately dispatched troops, first sent two battalions to Haidian to protect the Summer Palace, and then called Nie Shicheng to dispatch effective troops to protect the two railways of Lubao and Jinlu. Make trouble, encircle and suppress immediately, and kill them regardless.” Then Chongli, the commander of the infantry, was informed to send more soldiers to the embassy area in Dongjiaomin Lane, patrolling day and night, and strictly defending.Such a rough arrangement, sent someone to take the business card, and invited Zhao Shuqiao to dinner. Zhao Shuqiao was recognized by her fortitude, and she was not very close to Ronglu. She was suddenly favored and was full of surprises.The joy is that Rong Lu's move is very important, but the surprise is that the fortitude is narrow-minded. When he learns about this, he must be jealous, and he is afraid of trouble in the future.After thinking about it for a while, I decided to go to see Fortitude first. "You go!" Gang Yi replied, "Listen to what he has to say." "Yes!" Zhao Shuqiao said docilely, "Come out from him, and I'll see Zhongtang again." "No need!" Gang Yi sympathetically said, "You have to leave early tomorrow morning and go home early to rest. Just remember that the hearts of the Boxers are available, and you must not discourage them. Take him at his word." "Yes! I remember Zhongtang's words."