Chapter 44 Section 44

"Zhan Ru!" Rong Lu asked calmly, "Do you know why the superior sent you there?" "Holy will is unpredictable, please give me advice." "The Empress Dowager is the best. The British and French allied forces are always guilty of internal crimes. Burning the Old Summer Palace is a great shame. However, revenge is not easy. Like today's practice, you can only call for disaster. The Empress Dowager also knows that the Boxers are not reliable, and, moreover, very annoying The Boxers..." "Oh!" Zhao Shuqiao interrupted the master unconsciously.

"You don't believe me, do you? Zhan Ru, listen to what I tell you, and ask if it's true or not. I will never lie to you." According to Rong Lu, the boxer tricks had already been brought to the palace by King Duan.Many eunuchs were practicing secretly.Once, the elder brother dressed up as the "Second Senior Brother", with a red scarf on his head, a red belt around his waist, and a waistcoat embroidered with Li Gua.When they were having fun, the Empress Dowager Cixi was furious when she saw it, and scolded her at that time. "Not only was he scolded, but he was also punished to kneel down for a stick of incense. That's not counting, even Mr. Xu Yin was out of luck, so he called him into the garden and gave him a harsh speech. That's enough to see."

"No wonder!" Zhao Shuqiao said, "Yin Lao's face was very ugly a few days ago." It turns out that when the eldest elder brother entered school, he specially opened the Hongde Hall as a study room, and Yizhi sent Chongqi as the master, and Xu Tong was in charge of the classics. The name of this mission was "Take care of the Hongde Hall".In Tongzhi and the early years of Guangxu, this position was held by special relatives and nobles, and it was invisibly given the important task of restraining the emperor.So Xu Tong took care of the Hongde Palace, and he had to be careful about all the words and deeds of the elder brother. Now that he is wearing the attire of the second brother of the Boxer Regiment, in the eyes of the Empress Dowager Cixi, he is "self-willed and obscene", so of course Xu must be blamed. Tong.When Rong Lu told this story, he meant to show that the Empress Dowager Cixi didn't pay much attention to it, and she didn't like the Boxers.

In Zhao Shuqiao, there is no reason for unbelief, but I just feel a little surprised.However, it is not surprising to think about it carefully. Using a person does not mean admiring a person. Now he really understands that his mission here is not to appease or disband the Boxers, and he does not need to take any responsibility for dealing with the aftermath. It is purely to be the eyes and ears of the Empress Dowager Cixi, just to have a look. "I fully understand Zhongtang's advice. Is the Boxer usable? I will stand on the sidelines, find out the truth, and play back according to the facts."

"Exactly!" Rong Lu patted his arm and said, "I'm relieved when you say that. Zhan Ru, I've always admired your vision. The higher-ups have found the right person for you." The day before Zhao Shuqiao arrived in Zhuozhou, the Boxers suffered a big loss in Huangcun, west of Beijing.Nie Shicheng was ordered to protect Lubao and Jinlu Roads, led a team through Lugou Bridge, and found that the Boxers were going to destroy the railway.First the ceremony and then the soldiers, again and again, failed to disperse by force, and then went on a large-scale suppression, killing as many as 488 Boxers.

This time, Zhao Shuqiao's situation became very difficult.Although he knew that the trip was purely for "seeing", the boxers gathered inside and outside the city of Zhuozhou were said to have 30,000 people, and the leader was Cai Pei, who claimed that foreigners would attack Zhuozhou and the officials would defend the city.There is a red scarf on the city wall, tens of thousands of heads, swords and spears like a forest, the state officials have nothing to do, only hunger strike to kill themselves.Under such circumstances, Yin He Naiying of Shuntian Mansion arrived with Zhao Shuqiao, the Minister of Military Aircraft who was in charge of Shuntian Mansion, how could he just do nothing?

After some twists and turns by the local gentry, the Boxers sent four senior brothers to meet Zhao and He in the lobby of the Zhuozhou yamen.Sitting in rows from east to west, seeing each other with respect, ignoring the dignity and decency of the imperial court, they just couldn't care less. "You are all good citizens of the imperial court. You are loyal and brave, and the empress dowager appreciates it very much. However," Zhao Shuqiao said, "no matter who you are, you must abide by the law. Although you are doing this out of "helping the Qing and destroying the foreign ''s loyalty, after all, is breaking the court's law! Listen to my advice, everyone go back to their hometowns, and go to the regiment training, if the court decides to start a war with foreigners, there must be a chance for you to succeed in your career."

The four elder brothers rolled their eyes at each other for a while, and Cai Pei replied: "The one named Nie who has benefited from the foreigners and helped the foreigners kill his own people is a traitor! If the one named Nie is not dismissed, everything will be discussed. He wants to see if he is superior or inferior, how much Taoism does he have?" Zhao Shuqiao was startled and angry, but she didn't dare to explode. She kept claiming to be a "righteous man". Ken backs down.When it came to dark, there was no result, but neither of them wanted to break up, and they agreed to talk again the next day.

That night, the officials and gentry held a banquet to meet the wind, and after the food was filled, Zhao Shuqiao, who has always had a big appetite, couldn't eat.After the hasty feast, I went back to the hotel alone, wandering around the room, asking each other from heart to mouth, until it was almost dawn, I stopped and said to myself: "I have to borrow the Nie Gong Pavilion!" Having made this decision, Fang Shi undressed and went to bed.When I woke up, I saw the servant opened the curtain and said, "Master, please get up! I have an invitation from the middle hall."

"Where is Gang Zhongtang?" "Zhizhou Yamen." The servant replied, while handing a copy of the mansion note that had just arrived to Zhao Shuqiao's hand. Then I saw that the first edict had Nie Shicheng's name at the beginning, but I couldn't see two lines, and my body was half cold. The edict actually accused Nie Shicheng of not attacking the Boxers without authorization. In order to cause a change, the only admiral is to ask" words.The final punishment was to issue an edict to "strictly admonish" and return the troops to Lutai for stationing.

"It's over!" he said.After thinking all night, the plan to use Nie Shicheng to suppress the Zhuozhou Boxers completely fell through. What to do now?He was thinking that Yang Futong and Nie Shicheng were lessons learned from the past. If he refused to accommodate, then he would not even need to see Fortitude. It would be best to pack up and return to Beijing immediately and resign from office. A first-rank official and a minister of military affairs with the position of prime minister.How many people can reach this position? Zhao Shuqiao was stunned for a long time, then sighed and said, "Oh! My mother is in the hall..." "Zhan Ru, you probably don't know that the foreign soldiers have already entered Beijing! The foreign aggression is urgent, and it is too late to clean up the hearts of the people. How can they kill each other? Nie Gongting is so confused that the empress dowager is furious. As for Dong Huizi, he is domineering." Very well, his Gan army may not be reliable. The reliable one is the Boxers. If you look at the crowd, it is not due to loyalty. How can there be such a scene? Now there is no other way to go, but to recruit the righteous people. With the help of the Ministry of War, with the help of their magical fists, they wiped out the foreigners in one go." Said resolutely, "I asked for this job myself. Fortunately, I arrived early and there was still time to redeem it. Zhan Ru, you must Stop being stubborn." "Zhongtang is right!" He Naiying said, "Now that Nie Gongting has been reprimanded by the order, it is enough to calm the spirit of justice. I think, let Zhongtang preside over the negotiation." He turned his face and asked again: "What do Mr. Zhan think?" Zhao Shuqiao thought to herself, at this point, saying anything is superfluous, so she smiled and replied: "The two masters have seen this, how can Shu Qiao praise it again. Now that Zhongtang is in charge of the bureau, it seems that I can do it." Return to Beijing and return to life." Gang Yi nodded and said, "Alright! You go back to Beijing first. When the Empress Dowager summons you, just say: Everything has me. " "yes!" So Zhao Shuqiao left for Beijing that day.Entering the city early the next morning, as usual, he went to the palace gate first to say hello, and the Empress Dowager Cixi summoned him immediately. The first sentence she asked was: "What's going on? Do you think the Boxers will make trouble out of control?" "It doesn't matter." Zhao Shuqiao had nothing to answer for a moment, so she could only perfunctory: "I think it doesn't matter." The word "it doesn't matter" was vague when he uttered it, but it was not annoying to the ears of Empress Dowager Cixi.Because for many days, when she heard people talking about the uprising and the regiment, she either praised it or slandered it.Some people have a clearer mind and a more peaceful discussion, such as Qing Wang and others, but they are both ambiguous and do not make affirmative words.When talking about the original intention of the Boxers, it is said that loyalty and righteousness are desirable, but they are afraid of causing chaos. When talking about the magic of the Boxers, it is said that the world is so big that there are no wonders, or that they really have supernatural powers, which is unknown.Anyway, it is the Empress Dowager Cixi, there is no difference between saying it or not. At this moment, I can hear an important sentence, which is "it doesn't matter"!For forty years, the Empress Dowager Cixi was confident that she could control anyone and everything, except that the Boxers were as stupid as deer hogs.When the chaos becomes serious, and the wolves run wild and are not restrained, how can we get it?Since "it doesn't matter", let them make a fuss and teach foreigners that the people are open-minded and should not be insulted. If they want to preach and do business in China, they must ask the imperial court for protection.In that case, regardless of whether the establishment is abolished or the reserve is established, the ministers of various countries will not dare to meddle in their own affairs!