Chapter 45 Section forty-fifth

Therefore, the Empress Dowager Cixi immediately set off and returned to Xiyuan from the Summer Palace.According to the usual regulations, boats are always boarded from Kunming Lake, pass through Yuhe River, enter Deshengmen Xishuiguan, pass Jishuitan to Sanhai, which is called "returning to the sea".But since the beginning of May, the Boxers have been in groups of three or four, glaring at each other, and the banks of the Yu River are not very quiet, so on this day they had to enter the city by land in sedan chairs. As soon as he arrived in Xiyuan, the first person to be "called up" was Duan Wang Zaiyi.The Empress Dowager Cixi didn't really like this nephew and nephew and son-in-law. She never smiled when she met her, and this day was no exception. ?”

"It's because of the Chancellor's Yamen that they can come to make trouble. What the slaves mean, just cut this Yamen, and foreigners will have nothing to do!" Zaiyi said triumphantly. "Listen!" Empress Dowager Cixi said to the emperor sitting side by side: "What's his name?" This is very disdainful.Zaiyi was used to it, so she didn't feel uncomfortable, what was uncomfortable was saying this to the emperor, compared to that, how could the situation be so embarrassing?He couldn't help but blush and his neck was rough, as if he wanted to argue, but in the end he just swallowed two mouthfuls of saliva.

"Let me ask you, how many foreign soldiers have come these two days?" "No matter how many times you come!" Zai Yi replied loudly, "The Boxers are born geniuses, with infinite spells, and can beat up foreigners, so the foreign soldiers want to enter Beijing, and the slaves are not willing to stop them, anyway, they are here to die!" "Don't mess around!" Empress Dowager Cixi said with a serious face, "Without me, if you dare to kill a foreigner in Beijing, I will spare you!" "Without Lafayette's will, the servant would not dare."

"I asked you just now, how many foreign soldiers have come these two days, but you haven't told me yet!" "The slave doesn't know. The slave doesn't care about the Prime Minister's Office." Empress Dowager Cixi pondered for a while and said, "Okay! I will assign you to manage the Zongli Yamen." "Here," Zai Yi hurriedly met and said, "I beg Lafayette to take back his life." "If you don't care, don't care!" Seeing Empress Dowager Cixi's stern words, Zaiyi didn't dare to resign: "Your servant obeys the order.

But," he said, "the Zongli Yamen has to be replaced. " "Of course you can." Empress Dowager Cixi asked, "Who do you want to replace?" "The servant opened another order to ask for orders." "Okay!" Empress Dowager Cixi asked again, "How did you discuss with Ronglu and Chongli about protecting the capital?" "Dong Fuxiang's team was transferred into the city from Nanyuan today. In addition, two hundred soldiers from Hushen Camp and Shenji Battalion were sent to guard each city gate. Two hundred more soldiers from Hubu Street and Yuhe Bridge are enough!"

"Now there are only a few hundred foreign soldiers in the capital, so this arrangement is naturally enough. Don't forget, there are quite a few foreign warships in Haikou, Tianjin. If you go ashore and rush to the capital, you have to be careful!" "Lafayette Wan'an, although the number of officers and soldiers is small, with the Boxers around, it is enough to defeat the enemy." The Empress Dowager Cixi was silent, and after a while, she said lightly: "Let's wait and see!" She turned to ask again: "What does the emperor have to say?" "No."

The call ended without words.Waiting for King Duan to kneel and withdraw, then summoned Rong Lu.Without waiting for the Empress Dowager Cixi to inquire, he first reported two pieces of news: one was that the Beijing-Tianjin train was interrupted, and the train going south from the capital could only reach Yangcun, sixty miles away; the other was that Russia had transferred troops from Vladivostok four Qian is about to arrive in Tianjin, and the ministers of various countries in Beijing have gathered and decided to call the admirals of various countries stationed in Tianjin to send troops for reinforcements.

"The situation is very dangerous! The slaves are restless day and night." Rong Lu said with a bleak face, "The Empress Dowager really has to make up her mind!" "Could it be," Empress Dowager Cixi asked, "Do foreigners really dare to come to Beijing?" "The servant dare not say." "How many foreign soldiers are there?" "There are about three thousand in Tianjin." "Have more than three thousand foreign soldiers scared you so much that you can't sleep or eat?" Hearing this, Rong Lu hurriedly bumped into each other and said, "I am not afraid of the more than 3,000 foreign soldiers in Tianjin. I am afraid of two things: first, when the war starts, all countries will send troops to reinforce them; There are many bandits, taking advantage of the fire to rob, the market is chaotic, there is no need to start a war with foreigners, we will lose ourselves!"

"This must be guarded against. I told King Duan to strictly control him. Also, Dong Fuxiang's Gan army sent him to protect the capital, so he has the responsibility to maintain the ground. You pass the decree to him and teach him to look at it carefully. Live in the Boxers!" Hearing this, Rong Lu was in distress. Many soldiers in the Gan army colluded with the Boxers. I heard that Li Laizhong was at Dong Fuxiang's side.Moreover, Zaiyi and Dong Fuxiang have secretly communicated a song called Wuweijun, which is actually beyond Ronglu's control.If these words were told truthfully, the Empress Dowager Cixi would ask: "So you can't control your subordinates?" But what's the answer?

Thinking about it this way, there is only Weiwei claiming to be right, but there is one sentence that must be said: "The slave asks Lafayette for an order, and must issue a strict order. Foreigners must not be killed, and the embassy must be protected." "That's what I mean too. Anyway, I will never start a war on my own! I will tell Prince Duan tomorrow. However," Empress Dowager Cixi asked, "If a war really starts, how sure are we?" The weight of this question is beyond the weight of a thousand pounds?Rong Lu thought to himself that the plan for peace and war depends on the Empress Dowager Cixi, and the attitude of the Empress Dowager Cixi depends on a word of his own.Don't say "I'm sure" for the sake of face-saving, it must not be done, but the language is vague, which makes the Empress Dowager Cixi misunderstand, thinking that the strength is not bad, and the number of victories and defeats is not yet known. If you want to get away with it, it is also a sin of self-mistake and wrong country, Gu En's dereliction of duty, and ten thousand deaths are not enough to atone for.

Having said that, it is inappropriate to express an eager remonstrance, so I made up my mind first, and after a little preparation, Fang Shi replied cautiously and slowly: "The Beiyang led by the slave is not the Beiyang led by Li Hongzhang. It is said that the Wuwei Army is not comparable to the Huai Army. The Wuwei Army is actually only the Fourth Army. The rear army Dong Fuxiang, together with the Hushen and Shenji Battalions, will be responsible for protecting the capital from today. Of course, it will be under the control of King Duan; Stationed in Jinzhou, defending Shanhaiguan, must not be mobilized; the right army Yuan Shikai is in Shandong, and he wants to defend Jiaozhou Haikou, so there are not many troops that can be transferred to the north; the former army Nie Shicheng is now stationed in Yangcun to protect the two railways. Nie Shicheng will stop it even if he tries his best. However, the Boxers and Nie Shicheng are in trouble, and they have to deal with foreign soldiers and the Boxers. There is nothing more holy than Lafayette, I am somewhat sure, I really can't bear to say it!" After finishing speaking, we met again and again.The underside of that brick was hollowed out when it was built, and when they met, the "dong, dong" sounded very loudly. Empress Dowager Cixi froze, fanning her fan impatiently.Li Lianying caught a glimpse of it just behind the screen covering the throne, and hastily covered it up, fanning the Empress Dowager Cixi with a huge goose feather fan. "What's cool?" "There are iced rose water, sour plum soup, and honeysuckle water." "Bring it here!" Empress Dowager Cixi said again, "Give Lord Rong a bowl too." So Li Lianying did it herself and directed the eunuch to bring a dining table, besides iced drinks, there were also refreshments.The Empress Dowager Cixi ordered Rong Lu to stand up and finish drinking a bowl of honeysuckle dew while standing. "Go and have a look!" Empress Dowager Cixi said to Li Lianying, "Go down! No one is allowed in the hall." "Cha!" Li Lianying rushed out of the hall, only to hear two crisp applause, and then the eunuchs in the hall retreated and gathered around Li Lianying. The Empress Dowager Cixi didn't speak until this time, her voice was low and hoarse, "I also know that we can't start a war with foreigners! Once we start a war, we can't rely on Beiyang alone." She continued, "The three important places of Liangjiang, Liangguang, and Huguang, Not necessarily willing to try our best, things are very difficult.” "Yes!" Rong Lu replied, "Liu Kunyi, Li Hongzhang, and Zhang Zhidong all played electronic music, and I strongly advocate caution, and don't provoke yourself by yourself." "However, foreigners are pushing forward step by step, making progress, and agreeing to do the same thing, but what will happen in the end if this goes on like this?" Sure enough, he made an inch of progress, and in the end he must ask the empress dowager to return to power.Not only could this not be tolerated by the Empress Dowager Cixi, even Rong Lu did not want such a result to happen.However, in front of the emperor, I had to take it from my heart, and it was not appropriate to say it explicitly. So he thought for a while, and said very tactfully: "Negotiate and see the person. As long as you find the right person, you will never let the foreigner speak up and make any unreasonable demands." "This negotiation is not with a country. This person is very difficult to find. Rong Lu, who do you think is suitable?" When asked this question, Rong Lu was both pleased and emotional.What is gratifying is that the Empress Dowager Cixi is not obsessed with obsession after all. What she feels is that she played a chess game at the beginning. She hoped that she would not use it, but she finally had to! "If you go back to Lafayette, you have to transfer Li Hongzhang back to Beijing to handle this negotiation." "I think so too." Empress Dowager Cixi turned her face and asked, "What does the emperor think?" "Li Hongzhang is very appropriate. But..." The emperor hesitated to speak. "Go ahead." The Empress Dowager Cixi said in a friendly manner, "There are no outsiders here." "Yes!" the emperor said in a low voice, "I'm afraid Li Hongzhang won't come." "Why? Let me tell you a reason." "The Boxers are making such a fuss about the law, no matter how capable a person is, I'm afraid they won't be able to negotiate this." "Since you plan to negotiate with foreigners, of course you can't let them make trouble." Empress Dowager Cixi asked Ronglu solemnly, "Are you sure about dealing with the Boxers?" "Yes!" Rong Lu replied unequivocally, "The servant sent Yuan Shikai to Beijing to suppress the Boxers." "You have to caress first and then suppress, and if you don't care, then suppress." "Yes! That's for sure." The Empress Dowager Cixi nodded, took a sip of the rose dew in front of her slowly, wiped her mouth, and calmly, as if she was handling trivial housework. "That's it, but it's not appropriate to show any signs first. Only the three of us know about this matter. You should telegraph Yuan Shikai first and ask him to prepare." She paused and said, "It's all done! Come and tell me , I have my own way." "Yes!" Rong Lu said again, "I want to fix a date." This is a further call for a definitive decision.The Empress Dowager Cixi thought for a while, and resolutely replied: "Three days!" "My servant spent these three days preparing." Rong Lu said again, "The ground is very chaotic now. He Naiying is on a business trip to Zhuozhou, and has been promoted to be the deputy capital censor. The new Shuntian Prefecture Yin Wang Peiyou is now acting as Taipu Siqing. If there is no one, the servant asks for an order, can you send the Prime Minister Chen Kuilong to act as the agent." "Yes." Empress Dowager Cixi said, "I will invent the decree tomorrow."