Chapter 52 Section fifty-two

The embassy did not dare to attack, the Xishiku could not be attacked, and the churches that could be burned were almost burned. The Boxers decided to show their prestige outside the front gate, the most prosperous place in the capital. The busiest area outside Qianmen is in the Dashilan area to the west, where the commercial essence is at its best.The famous opera gardens Guanghe Building, Sanqing Garden, and Qingyuan Garden are all here, so Dashilan is also a place of singing and singing. The leading brother walked for a while, and at a glance, he suddenly found a store with huge glass windows, and the bottles and jars inside were labeled in foreign languages. Looking at the signboard, it said "Lao Deji Pharmacy" ".I thought to myself, this pharmacy must be opened by "Er Maozi", so I started from here to make a name for myself.

The owner of Lao De Kee is really a foreigner, and he avoided it long ago.The clerk in the store wanted to buy and sell the money, which can be divided up. It is a costless business, so the door is still open for business.When he saw the Boxers coming to his door, he knew something was wrong, but it was too late to regret, so he had to bite the bullet and go forward and greet him with a smile. "burn!" The eldest brother only drank once, and his subordinates immediately started to attack.Setting fire is a very expert thing. When we found kerosene and poured it everywhere, the man was so anxious that he knelt on the ground and begged for mercy, kicking somersaults for the Boxers.

The shopkeepers on the left and right saw that they were about to suffer, so they hurriedly lit incense and came to plead for their lives. The senior brother waved his hands and said loudly: "Don't panic! Don't panic! This shop was opened by Er Maozi, so it must be burned. Only his family will be burned, and it will be natural to burn it all down." If it is extinguished, it will not burn the neighbors, so please rest assured that you don’t need to move the color and ask for trouble.” It is so categorical and so sure that people can't help but believe it.So, in the mood of watching the excitement, I waited quietly for Lao De Ke to become popular.

When everyone took a closer look at his finger, the person ambushing in a remote place had already used a "light picker" to light the waste paper soaked in kerosene. Burn will rise. "The sky is burning, the sky is burning!" The boxers clapped their hands joyfully, and some spectators echoed.However, in a blink of an eye, it was obvious that the situation was not good. Lao Deji was only half burned, but the flames had already spread to the east neighbor. Seeing this scene, the shops near Lao Deji were all shocked!Seeing the opportunity, they hurried back to rescue their goods, and the foolish ones really believed that the senior brother had the magic power to drive Zhu Rong away, and they all went up to ask for help.

"Elder brother, elder brother! Do your best, and quickly use your magic power to block the fire. Otherwise, it will be a disaster!" After finishing speaking, they kowtowed like garlic, and some of them were already crying. At this time, the fire was already quite strong. The sweltering weather on May 20th, the flames in the downtown area burned out, and a gap opened in the southwest, which happened to be a wind path. The wind helped the fire burn from southwest to northeast. The three roads west of the jewelry market were the first to bear the brunt. Gallery alley.Between Langfang Ertiao and Santiao, there is a north-south straight alley called Menjiao Hutong, which is the location of Guanghe Building. This day, Tan Xinpei’s "Lianyingzhai" was posted. When I was sitting, I found a fire and the audience scattered. Fleeing, the "soldiers" on both sides of "Shu and Wu" also suspended their disputes, disarmed their armor and threw their helmets, ignoring "burning the battalion for seven hundred miles", and came to save the essence of the capital first.

The fire is too intense, how can a few "foreign dragons" and buckets of water help?When we arrived in the middle of the day, Dashilan was surrounded by the Jewelry Market in the east, Guanyinsi Street and Yangmeizhu Street in the west, and Xiheyan in the north, forming a sea of ​​flames.Huo Laoya flew up to Zhengyang Gate by the wind, and even the city tower was on fire. Just when the fire was raging, the six ministries, nine ministers and Han Zhan Kedao were notified that the Empress Dowager Cixi and the emperor summoned them in Xiyuan.This is the so-called "Ting Yi", commonly known as "Calling Daqi", and it is not suitable for non-state affairs that are of great danger or urgency.And when calling Da Qi, those who bear important responsibilities often keep silent, but the junior ministers can speak freely, because the important ministers often have the opportunity to gain insight, and if they see something, it is not difficult to express it, and calling Da Qi is to consult and reach out to Yu. Minister.So a group of courtiers who usually care about the current situation and talk a lot, were very excited, forgot about the catastrophe outside the front gate for a while, and rushed to Xiyuan to wait for orders.

The summoning place was in the East Room of Yiluan Hall, the residence of Empress Dowager Cixi. There were so many people in the room that the latecomers could only kneel outside the threshold.Sitting side by side, the two officials looked pale, especially the Empress Dowager Cixi, who was usually not so old, but now it was very clear. "The fire outside the front door, have you all seen it?" It was the emperor who spoke first, although his voice was low, but his tone was very harsh, "The imperial court issued repeated orders to disband and suppress the rioters, so the more troublesome the more the more unreasonable it will be! Think about it for yourself." , are you sorry for the court and the people?"

The princes and military ministers kneeling in front of the case were silent.In the stiff, stuffy, and suffocating atmosphere, a high-pitched Shaanxi-Gansu accent broke the silence. "The minister came from Dong Fuxiang just now. He said that he wanted to ask for an order to force him to drive out the rioters." This person is Liu Yongheng, a bachelor of the Hanlin Academy, from Qinzhou, Gansu, and a fellow villager with Dong Fuxiang.Regardless of whether his words were true or not, when Zaiyi heard that Dong Fuxiang was going to drive out the rebels, that is, the Boxers, he couldn't help feeling angry. It wasn't Dong Fuxiang who was annoyed, but Liu Yongheng, and he intuitively thought that he was lying.

However, he couldn't prove that Liu Yongheng was lying, so he straightened his waist without thinking, turned around and pointed his halberd, and shouted sharply: "Okay! This is the first good way to lose people's hearts!" The court is so rude, and Empress Dowager Cixi is silent, so no one dares to criticize him.In the silence, a voice came from outside the threshold: "My minister, Yuan Chang, has something to say." "Yuan Chang!" The emperor instructed: "Come in and tell me." So Yuan Chang entered the palace, found a space in front of the royal case, knelt down, and said in a loud voice: "The most urgent matter today is to deal with the disorderly people by ourselves! Otherwise, it is not enough to win the hearts of foreign ministers. Only after you have convinced the imperial court can you negotiate with them to prevent foreign soldiers from coming to Beijing. On the one hand, the provinces will dispatch troops to defend the capital. The method must be layered, step by step, and it is not appropriate to split up recklessly."

"The hearts of the people have changed now!" The Empress Dowager Cixi shook her head and said, "The most important thing is to obey the hearts of the people. What you play is unrealistic." "What the Empress Dowager said has changed the hearts of the people, it's nothing more than boxers from heretics! Don't rely on it. Even if there is magic, since ancient times, there is absolutely no one who can achieve great things by relying on magic!" "Spells are unreliable, so could human hearts be unreliable?" Empress Dowager Cixi quickly retorted, "Today's China is extremely weak, and what we rely on is human hearts. If people's hearts are lost, how can we build a country? In short, I invite everyone to come here today. , What needs to be discussed is how to deal with the foreigners who are constantly mobilizing troops and seem to be invading the capital?

If you have an opinion, please speak up. " So fiercely advocated a fight to the death, and mild suggestions were politely negotiated. Amidst the various lawsuits, a conclusion was gradually formed.First send people to persuade the coalition forces from Tianjin to retreat quickly. If they don't listen, Dong Fuxiang's Gan army will go south to block them. "Then," Empress Dowager Cixi asked, "Who should I send?" "My minister recommends Xu Jingcheng." Minister of Military Aircraft Zhao Shuqiao said. Xu Jingcheng had served as the minister of the six countries and had been in the West for more than ten years. Naturally, he was the most suitable person for this task, and Empress Dowager Cixi immediately agreed. Xu Jingcheng felt that it was his duty to accept the order, but asked to send an additional person to negotiate with him.As a result, Na Tong, the new prime minister, was selected, and Xu Jingcheng was quite satisfied.Because, first, she is capable and alert; second, she is protected by Prince Duan Zaiyi; third, she is quite trusted by the Queen Mother.With him in the same company, even if the mission cannot be achieved, he will not be solely responsible. After the "Da Qi" broke up, the Minister of Military Aircraft, King Qing, King Zhuang, and King Duan were summoned again, this time specifically to discuss how to deal with the Boxers.Because of Zaiyi's insistence, Empress Dowager Cixi reluctantly agreed, and Zaiyi and Dong Fuxiang tried to appease her.As for how the Boxers will be used after being caressed, another plan will be made.