Chapter 57 Section fifty-seven

At five o'clock, the sky was already bright, and the morning sun slanted down from the top of the three main halls, illuminating a large area of ​​gemstones, eyes with mottled feathers, radiant and extraordinary.But except for a very few people, most of them were gloomy and silent. In this embarrassing silence, the soft sedan chairs of the Empress Dowager Cixi and the emperor had already approached, so in front of the Palace of Qinzheng, the princes and ministers lined up to meet them.The class starts with relatives and then nobles, so the one kneeling at the front is Xiao Gong Wang Puwei, followed by Chun Wang Zai Li, and then Duan Wang Zai Yi, and the following Baylor Zai Lian, Zai Ying, Zhen Guo Gong Zai Lan and his younger brother Zai Ying.

This is a relative of Xuanzong's family, the emperor's first cousin and nephew. Next came the hereditary and unreplaced kings. Five of them were summoned. In addition to Qing Wang Yikuang and Zhuang Wang Zaixun, Su Wang Shanqi, Yi Wang Pujing, and Li Wang Shiduo were included in the shift of Minister of Military Aircraft.In addition, the six ministries and nine ministers, the governors of the Eight Banners, the minister of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, the Nanshufang Xingxing, and the Hanlin who is also a commentator on daily life are also eligible to participate in the court deliberations, and the ground was crowded with kneels.

The emperor's sedan chair was in front and stopped in front of the steps. When the sedan chair got out, the little eunuch helped him, and he knelt down to pick up the queen mother in front of Xiao Gongwang.Feng Yu went to the gate of the palace, Li Lianying on the right, Cui Yugui on the left, and helped the Empress Dowager Cixi ascend to the throne. The emperor, whose face was as pale as death, stepped into the hall with difficulty and sat on the right side of the Empress Dowager Cixi. After the princes and officials finished their ceremonies, the Empress Dowager Cixi made a well-prepared proclamation, which was long and eloquent. She did not deny that foreigners had "rude requests" to "return to the government", saying: "Return to the government." The government has its own balance in this matter, and no outsiders can interfere. The emperor is too weak, and listening to the government behind the curtain is a last resort." He also said: "It's more than forty years to try your best! On the night of May 20, foreigners dare to come It is beyond reason to want the Dagu Fortress, and it is even more arrogant for the ministers of various countries to interfere with the power to listen to the government. If there is a little appeasement, it will greatly hinder the state of the country, so how can we treat the spirits of the ancestors?"

Next is the Minister of the Han Dynasty: "You should remember that this dynasty has been more than two hundred years old. It is benevolent and generous, and it should be driven by hard work." There are many things to say. Surprisingly, the Empress Dowager Cixi expressed dissatisfaction with Emperor Sheng Zuren.She said: "Although the West claims to be a civilized country, their every move in China is to insult the sages and oppress the common people. The grudges are deep. I am courteous and courteous, but during the Kangxi period, the court reluctantly Xu Qi came to China to preach, so many years of enmity between the people and the religion is really a big shortcoming that the ancestors worry about for future generations!"

The last thing is to affirm the righteousness of the same hatred and hatred, saying that "our country has a total of 21 provinces, 400 trillion people, plus millions of volunteers, who are in dire straits, are loyal and self-directed, and even five-foot children are going to fight to defend the country. It’s a beautiful story through the ages.” By the way, during the Xianfeng period, the British and French allied forces burned the Old Summer Palace, which aroused old hatred and indignation, and said through gnashing of teeth: “That year when foreigners burned, killed and looted in the capital, we had hundreds of thousands of soldiers. , No one dared to stand up and block it. It was extremely shameful. At that time, the civil and military ministers waited and looked at each other, and since they missed the opportunity, the first emperor was heartbroken when he mentioned it. The current situation is changing, which is very different from that of the past. It is time to seize the opportunity. Plan revenge together, don't live up to my expectations!"

After all, I was tired after all.Li Lianying and Cui Yugui served tea and played a fan. The Empress Dowager Cixi took a breather and asked the emperor what he meant. When the emperor was questioned, his originally indifferent and gloomy face suddenly became angry, but he just disappeared, he wanted to speak, and struggled with himself for a long time before he began to speak hesitatingly. "It seems that the empress dowager should obey Rong Lu's request. The embassy should not be attacked, and foreigners should be sent to Tianjin. However, whether it is appropriate or not, I dare not decide whether it is appropriate to ask the empress dowager to order."

"Everyone has heard what the emperor means. Whether the embassy should be attacked or not, everyone can speak." "If you go back to the Empress Dowager," Zai Yi said loudly, "Nowadays the people are so excited, if you force them not to attack the embassy, ​​it may cause accidents. We must guard against this." "The people's morale must be maintained, and the embassy must also protect it!" Xu Jingcheng, the Minister of the Ministry of Civil Affairs, followed up his words: "China has made treaties with foreign countries for decades, and the enmity between people and religions happens all the time, but it is always nothing more than compensation for losses. But if you attack and kill foreign envoys, you will have to summon soldiers from various countries to conspire against me. How can you resist it? I don’t know where those who advocate attacking the embassy will put the souls of the clan society?”

This was a very powerful rebuttal to Zaiyi's words, so Yuan Chang, the official of the Taichang Temple, who had tried to remonstrate and persuade him to no avail for days, said almost in a roaring voice: "You can't rely on boxers, and you can't open up foreign provocations. Today, my minister I saw with my own eyes in Dongjiaomin Lane that the boxers were shot by foreigners' guns, and their corpses were in a mess, which shows that their sorcery is all deceit. I understand that each envoy's note please return to the government section. Interfering in the internal affairs of other countries is prohibited by the public law of all nations, and I guarantee that there will be no such note! The minister can conclude that it is forged."

Before the word "forgery" could be uttered, King Duan had already turned around. Although one foot was still kneeling, the other foot was already standing on tiptoe. He pointed at Yuan Chang and cursed: "You talk nonsense, you are a traitor!" The people in the court were so rude and ignorant of etiquette. The Empress Dowager Cixi felt that she was throwing a flag. She was very displeased, and immediately shouted: "Zaiyi! Look at you, how decent are you?" Zaiyi was still blushing and dissatisfied. Lian Belle, who was beside him, was also his brother, and pulled him hard so that he never spoke up to argue with the Empress Dowager Cixi.At this time, Zhang Hengjia, the Shaoqing of Taichang Temple, made a statement and strongly advocated that boxing bandits should be suppressed.It's just that his Fujian dialect is so strong that many people couldn't understand what he said, so in the middle of the speech, they were snatched away.

It was Chang Cui, the servant of the storehouse, who grabbed him and said, "I came from Tongzhou," he said, "If Tongzhou didn't have the Boxers, it would have been lost long ago!" "This is the public opinion!" Zaiyi reversed his tense expression, and praised calmly, "You must never lose your heart." "How can people's hearts be trusted?" The emperor said in a weak voice: "Scholar-bureaucrats like to talk about military affairs. In the battle of North Korea, the court was the main battle, and the result was a big defeat. Now the power of all countries is ten times that of Japan. A fluke."

"Otherwise!" Zaiyi had no courtesy of a courtier, and actually retorted bluntly: "Dong Fuxiang is brave and good at fighting, and he has contributed a lot to the suppression. If Dong Fuxiang had been reused back then, he would not have been defeated by Japan." "Huh!" The emperor sneered, with a look of contempt, but finally said: "Dong Fuxiang is arrogant and difficult to control, and the soldiers of all countries are fine and powerful, how can they be compared with others?" Seeing Zaiyi's lack of words, the Empress Dowager Cixi was a little anxious. In a hurry, she just wanted to find a close friend to support Zaiyi, so she saw Lishan at a glance and said without thinking: "Lishan, you understand the situation outside. , Do you think Boxers can be used?" Li Shan was quite surprised.He has always been concerned with court chores and temple plans, not only is he self-aware, he never dares to take part in his opinions, Empress Dowager Cixi never asked him, this day is nothing more than saluting with the class and listening to him.Who knows that he will be asked, and he is stunned for a while, unable to answer. However, this is only a very short moment.Once he had settled down, he immediately had something to say, which was straight out of his heart without consideration: "The Boxers are not bad at heart, but most of their spells are ineffective." This time, Empress Dowager Cixi had a big accident. He was originally expected to speak for Zaiyi, but it backfired.Annoyed, Zaiyi couldn't take it anymore without opening her mouth. "Using boxers is to take their loyalty, why ask about their spells?" Zaiyi said sharply, "Lishan must have colluded with foreigners, so today's court meeting dares to argue for foreigners! Please issue an order from the empress dowager Responsibility to set up a mountain to retire the foreign soldiers, the foreign soldiers must listen to him." This statement made Lishan furious, and he told the Empress Dowager Cixi without hesitation, "It was King Duan who first advocated the war. Now that the foreign soldiers are retired, King Duan should take the lead. The slaves have never fought foreigners before." I don’t know why King Duan accused the slave of colluding with foreigners? If there is any evidence, please submit it to the empress dowager and the emperor, and immediately punish the slave and die without complaint. If there is no evidence, he is the king of the county and the slave. There is nothing we can do about him, the only option is to ask the Empress Dowager to take the place of the slave." After saying that, "Dongdong" bumped their heads twice. "You are a traitor!" Zaiyi roared in front of the imperial court, furious and angry: "How many people outside are saying that you live in the wine and vinegar bureau, dig a tunnel to connect to Xishiku, send noodles and vegetables, and don't ask foreigners to follow the teaching of foreign slaves. The people starved to death..." "Zaiyi!" The Empress Dowager Cixi thought he was too ridiculous, and shouted loudly, "This is the time to get angry!" "Empress Dowager Shengming..." "You don't need to say too much!" The Empress Dowager Cixi interrupted Li Shan's words, and her expression was also very stern.Then, he cut through the mess with a sharp knife and made a conclusion: "Today, it is not that China is willing to start a quarrel with foreigners. It is the foreigners who bully others so much that China has to deal with them to the end." Speaking of this, use The extremely majestic voice said to the emperor: "Emperor, explain it to everyone yourself!" This is forcing the emperor to declare war himself.If the Empress Dowager Cixi made a decision alone, the emperor would naturally swallow his anger and accept it.But knowing that there is no way to do it, but doing it by force, just to show off the momentary ambition, regardless of the disaster of subjugation, but will ruin the Qing Dynasty for more than two hundred years, and ten thousand deaths are not enough to atone for it, and impose it on the head of the emperor who completely violated his heart. In fact, this is something he can't accept anyway. However, under the prestige, how can resist?The emperor has the determination to resist, but lacks the strength to resist. At this moment, he is like falling into the water and will perish. As long as he can find foreign aid, even if it is a piece of wood, or anything that can be climbed and escaped, all will be sent. hope. The emperor just wanted to find someone to speak for him, and to use that person's mouth to tell the reason why he couldn't fight.At this time, he felt like falling into the water and begging for help. He only wanted something to rely on. Before stepping down from the throne, one person was chosen, that is Xu Jingcheng.He knelt not too far away, but leaned to one side, closer to the emperor and farther to the empress dowager. The emperor walked up to him, grabbed his hand and said, "Xu Jingcheng, you have been abroad, and you have worked in the prime minister's office for many years." , you always know the situation outside. If you can fight or not, you have to tell me!" Speaking of the last sentence, I choked up.The emperor's voice was not very loud, so it became more and more blurred. To the Empress Dowager Cixi, it became "You want to save me!" Immediately, he became angry and angry, and Xu Jingcheng's answer could not be heard clearly. Xu Jingcheng's voice was not high, he said: "Injuring the envoys and destroying the embassy is an extremely serious case. In international diplomacy, such cases are rare. Please be extra cautious, Your Majesty." I also know that I should be cautious, but how can I be half-divided?Thinking of this again, all kinds of grievances rushed to my heart, and a moment of sadness came from it, and I pulled Xu Jingcheng's sleeve, crying uncontrollably. Of course Xu Jingcheng was moved to the point of crying, Yuan Chang knelt beside Xu Jingcheng and said loudly: "Please don't be sad, Your Majesty, and now Chen Zhong's arbitrariness can still save the overall situation." The four words "Chen Zhong Arbitrary" just touched the deep pain in the emperor's heart, and tears poured down like rain.Seeing this scene, Empress Dowager Cixi shouted sharply: "What kind of dignity is this!" After this drink, it was not the courtiers who were surprised, but the emperor. He unconsciously let go of his hands, covered his sleeves and turned around. When he returned to the throne with difficulty, the Empress Dowager Cixi had already signaled the imperial ministers to end the court meeting, and broke up unhappy. situation.