Home Categories historical fiction The Complete Biography of Empress Dowager Cixi·Ranzhi Well

Chapter 58 Section fifty-eight

In Dongjiaomin Lane, the ministers of eleven countries are gathering in the Spanish Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the leader of the diplomatic corps.Because I replied to the Prime Minister’s Office the day before, requesting that the extension be limited to leave Beijing, and send troops to escort the note. At the end, I stated that I hope to get a reply at 9 o’clock this morning. The deadline has expired and there is no news. Further actions need to be discussed. Among the eleven ministers, most of them were timid. Therefore, German Minister Klinder's suggestion that according to the note from the previous day, no reply should be made, that is, all of them should go to the Chancellor's Office to negotiate face to face, and they might as well follow the predetermined steps, but the response was lukewarm.Some people advocated voting on this proposal, while others thought that other ways should be found, but the discussion was not resolved. After a long time of disturbance, Klind was about to withdraw.

"I sent someone to inform China's 'Ministry of Foreign Affairs' separately yesterday, and agreed to visit at eleven o'clock in the morning today. Now the time is coming, so I have to go to the appointment." Everyone advised him not to go, but Klinder insisted not to show weakness, so the meeting ended.Because the ministers of various countries have the same idea, Jing Linde's visit will definitely result in results, at least it can also find out the final attitude of the Chinese government. It is a smarter way to take appropriate countermeasures according to his report after he returns.

So Kelinde got into his big green woolen sedan chair, accompanied by Tong Shi and two attendants on horseback, and left Dongjiaomin Lane, meandering away from Wangfujing Street. This north-south thoroughfare, which was collected by the royal palace in the Ming Dynasty and gathered by the nobles in the Qing Dynasty, at this time, every house is closed and the people are extinct. Only the Boxers roared past, and everyone who saw Kelinde glared at him.But it's just this evil state, and there is no further action. The sedan chair reached the entrance of Zongbu Hutong in Dongdan Pailou, and the Dongtangzi Hutong where the Zongli Yamen is located was already in sight. Suddenly, a small group of soldiers from the Shenji Battalion rushed out, and the leader went straight to the front of the sedan chair. The menacing approach frightened the sedan chair driver. , Just as the car pole was unloaded from his shoulder, the pistol was already pointed at Klinder, and he fired randomly without any explanation.Seeing that the momentum was not good, Klinde's two attendants on horseback turned the reins, returned their horses and galloped southward, and fled back to Dongjiaomin Lane. Klinde died in the sedan chair.

The person who made the attack was an officer of the eighth team of Shenjiying Tingzi. His official title, in Manchurian, is called leader, and this leader's name is Enhai. He accidentally killed a foreigner and thought he had made a great contribution. , Leaving Klinde's body alone, went straight to Prince Duan's mansion to repay his merits.Prince Duan's mansion is usually tightly guarded, but these days the door is open for the Boxers, so Enhai met King Duan in the East Side Hall of Yin'an Hall without any difficulty. "Report to the lord, the leader killed a foreigner sitting in a sedan chair at the entrance of Zongbu Hutong."

"Oh," Duan Wang asked in surprise, "is it a foreigner sitting in a sedan chair?" "Yes! The foreigner sits in a big green sedan chair. There is also a small sedan chair, which is also a foreigner. It's a pity that he escaped." "Come on slowly! Come on slowly! The foreigner in the big green sedan chair must be the minister. Do you know which country's minister it is?" "have no idea." "What does this foreigner look like?" "You are not very old, in your thirties, with a cigarette in your mouth, you are very proud!" Enhai said, "Now I can no longer be proud!"

"Ah!" Zai Lan jumped up and said, "It's the German Minister Klind. Among the foreigners, he is the most arrogant." This time, there was loud cheers.Because last time there were two nominal peace groups frustrated by Klinde, King Duan and the big brother of the boxer group, they have always been worried about this.I don't want this person to have today! "Excellent! Killing the worst guy in one operation is a good omen!" Duan Wang said loudly: "There is a reward!" Enhai had already calculated that no reward from Duan Wang was needed, only Duan Wang's recommendation, because the reward was only a few dozen taels of silver, and the promotion was much more than a few dozen taels of silver.

"I don't dare to accept the prince's reward, I just ask the prince to cultivate it." "You want to be promoted?" Prince Duan thought for a while, and then revealed a secretive grin: "Do you know where Prince Qing's mansion is?" "Know." "You go to see King Qing right now and tell him that you killed the German envoy, just tell him what I said, and ask King Qing to recommend you." How did Enhai know that King Duan took this opportunity to ask King Laqing to "go into the water" and "destroy the ocean" together, so he happily agreed, kowtowed, and went straight to King Qing's mansion to ask for recommendation.

Prince Qing's Mansion is no better than Prince Duan's Mansion, how could the guards let a small leader in?But Enhai came here with confidence, and he was unwilling to back down, and shouted loudly: "King Duan sent me here. There is an important matter, so I have to report to King Qing face to face." "What's the big deal, you tell me, I'll go back for you." "I don't know." Enhai replied, "The German envoy has gone to see Lord Hades!" Hearing this, the guards dared not be negligent, and hurried inside to report.King Qing was startled and amazed, and immediately sent a message to Enhai.

"who are you?" "The leader of the Eighth Team of the Shenji Camp, Enhai." "You want to see me?" "Yes." Enhai replied: "The German minister's name was Ke Hede. He was arrested and killed by the leader at the entrance of Zongbu Hutong. King Duan said that the leader had made great contributions and asked him to come to see the prince. , ask the lord to urge you to recommend the discount for the leader." King Qing was so frightened and angry that he wished he could kick Enhai, who was kneeling on the ground, in the face.But thinking of the words "Beat the dog to see the owner's face", it was inconvenient for King Duan to reprimand him because of his face, so he just said coldly: "I know! I will tell King Duan."

After finishing speaking, he turned back and went inside, changed his clothes, and passed the sedan chair to Xiyuan, where he went to discuss the matter with the Minister of Military Aircraft. There are only three people in Junji Zhilu, Li Wang, Wang Wenshao, and Gang Yi.After lunch, King Li was taking a nap. Wang Wenshao looked gloomy, but his face was red with fortitude and high spirits, as if he had just drank a very comfortable wine. "Ziliang!" King Qing said depressedly and angrily, "Have you heard that the soldiers of Shenji Battalion caused a big disaster?" "My lord is referring to the incident where Klinde was killed?"

"So you know. This matter is very difficult. What do you think should be done?" "What does the prince mean?" "I think it must be played back immediately." "Then, you don't have to be so fussy, do you?" "Zhang Huang?" King Qing was displeased, "Zi Liang, what do you mean by that?" "My lord, please sit down!" Gang Yi helped King Qing to sit on the kang, pulled up a stool by himself, sat opposite him and said calmly: "My lord thinks that the embassy can be leveled overnight, and foreigners can escape with their lives." Rarely, killing one or two more now, what's the point?" "Wrong, wrong, big mistake!" King Qing took a deep breath, "Ministers are not comparable to religious people. If there is no immediate and proper disposal, the countries will take this as a great shame and humiliation, link up and conspire against me, how can this be a trifling matter about?" Before he could finish a sentence, a Sulla hurried in, bent his knees and said loudly, "Call!" This is to summon a military plane.Due to the restriction of the system, it was inconvenient for King Qing to accompany him to the meeting, so in a hurry, he only held back King Li and said, "Please perform for the part about the murder of the German minister. I am here to wait for the order." King Li agreed to meet with Wang Wenshao and Gang Yi in the East Room of Yiluan Hall, and he was very responsible, and he was the first to hear about the things entrusted by King Qing. After explaining the situation in general, King Li added two more words taught by Fortitude: "It is said that the envoy fired first, and the soldiers of the Shenji Battalion did it. It is their own fault." Regardless of whether it is self-inflicted or not, foreign ministers are always killed, and this is exactly what many ministers, including Rong Lu, have repeatedly advocated must be avoided!Empress Dowager Cixi was a little uneasy, and immediately sent an order to summon Rong Lu to visit. This is another "independent confrontation", revisiting the matter of escorting ministers from various countries to Tianjin.Rong Lu asked for this request several times, but when Empress Dowager Cixi accepted his suggestion at this time, Rong Lu's answer was quite surprising. "It's too late to go back to Lafayette! The servant dare not say that he will be able to send the foreigners to Tianjin safely." Empress Dowager Cixi asked in surprise: "What is the reason?" "Dong Fuxiang has long been freed from the restraint of slaves! As for the Boxers, even the slaves were scolded by them." "Is there such a thing?" "How dare the slave lie in front of Lafayette? The Boxers really dare to stop the slave's sedan chair, pointing at the slave's nose and scolding." "What are you scolding?" "Traitor!" "That's out of the question!" Empress Dowager Cixi thought for a while and said, "But it doesn't matter, anyway, someone will take care of them tomorrow. What do you think about the murder of the German minister?" "As long as you don't attack the embassy, ​​you can still calm them down." "What are you talking about!" Empress Dowager Cixi suddenly became angry: "You only know how to calm down other people's anger, who will calm down my anger?" Rong Lu didn't dare to argue, but just bumped into each other and said, "I'm ashamed of myself!" "We want to declare war, but don't teach us to attack the embassy." Empress Dowager Cixi's expression eased: "It's hard to say." "Yes!" Rong Lu replied: "However, there are many princes and ministers living in Dongjiaomin Lane. Xu Tong escaped, and King Su, who is in his sixties." "It doesn't matter! I've already told King Qing that he must send someone to bring them out." Empress Dowager Cixi said again: "I also told King Duan, and asked him to tell Dong Fuxiang to start the war after all the people are brought out." Things have been like this, and there is no way to recover. Rong Lu feels that he can only try to keep the southern provinces.After thinking about it for a while, he said euphemistically: "Liu Kunyi, Zhang Zhidong, and Li Hongzhang all sent telegrams to Beijing, hoping that the overall situation will not be broken. They are far away in the south, so I don't quite understand the situation in Beijing. , always let them know the imperial court's last resort, so that they can get together and support the overall situation." "That's very true." The Empress Dowager Cixi said, "You discuss with them and draft a manuscript to read!" The so-called "they" refers to the minister of military aircraft, and Rong Lu only consulted with Wang Wenshao when he retired, drafted a telegram carefully, wrote a performance, and sent it up together in a yellow box, waiting for the imperial order. This telegram is very different from the previous day's oral order: "The military provocation has begun, we must urgently recruit volunteers, unite the hearts of the people, and help the officers and soldiers", as well as the finalized but not yet issued edict for declaring war. "Bandits", saying that they "hatred religions and made enemies of foreigners. Churches taught people, burned and killed them day after day, spread too much, and were in a dilemma." Briefly explaining the difficult situation of the imperial court, in short, he lamented in a daze: "The foreign soldiers gathered in Jingu, and the conflict between China and foreign countries has already been accomplished. It is hard to predict how to deal with it in the future." : "The governors of all provinces have received the great kindness of the country, and they have shared weal and woe with each other. At this point in the current situation, everyone should try their best to repay the situation. They should make overall plans according to the situation in their own provinces, how to protect the territory in terms of general selection, military training, and salary raising. How to support the capital and keep the court from being impoverished? Seek practicality in everything.” As for the southeast coast and the Yangtze River, where outsiders can go, there are special instructions: “The provinces along the river and the coast have been coveted by outsiders for a long time. , It is especially important, if you hesitate to wait and see, and miss the opportunity, the state affairs will inevitably come to an end. How can the overall situation be imagined? It is because the governors and governors encourage each other, connect with each other, and work together to save the crisis. The situation is urgent, and we hope it will come." Since the early years of Tongzhi, all the governors and officials have been asked to use this subtle reminder tone, and unless it is absolutely necessary, they will never use any words that are "respectful and respectful" without any excuses.From the Empress Dowager Cixi's point of view, this edict was to ask the border officials to work together to face the national calamity, and there was a vague intention of not being remote. In fact, Rong Lu and Wang Wenshao jointly drafted this short telegram, carefully deliberating every word, and concealed many mechanisms.It turned out that Sheng Xuanhuai, who was in Shanghai, was contacting Zhang Jian and his group of celebrities who value practical economics. They were instigating Liu Kunyi, the governor of Liangjiang, and Zhang Zhidong, the governor of Huguang, to plan a policy of mutual protection in the southeast. , I deeply agree with it, but it is inconvenient to participate in it openly, so I use this edict to seek a basis for Liu, Zhang and others.The spread of boxers and bandits in the capital led to a dilemma of suppression and appeasement, but the other provinces did not have such difficulties. The so-called "each should make overall plans according to the situation of the province" means that it is not necessary to take the actions of the imperial court as the criterion, and "to protect the territory from outsiders' occupation", It was published before "helping the capital and not making the imperial court trapped", it also clearly pointed out the importance and urgency. As for the six words "seek reality in everything", it has more profound meaning; it means that as long as it is beneficial to the country, it is not only not for remote control , don't even pay attention to the declaration in the encyclical.This is a foreshadowing in advance of the declaration of war that will be issued soon. After sending special envoys to the telegraph offices in Tianjin and Shanhaiguan to issue the telegram, Rong Lu finally breathed a sigh of relief.
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