Chapter 68 Section 68

Ronglu's cannon finally had to be used, and this time it was Zaiyi who entered the palace to invite him. The concern that "the cannon has no eyes and will hit the hall" must of course be brought up. Zaiyi said nothing, saying that the cannon mounts were built outside the Dong'an Gate, and the artillery shells were fired from north to south. The British embassy was just about to explode, and it will never endanger the important places. Empress Dowager Cixi felt that what she said was reasonable, so she called Ronglu into the palace and confessed to her face to face.This time there was no excuse, Rong Lu had no choice but to agree, but on one condition, the cannon could not be lent to the Gan army, and he had to send his own team to operate it.Empress Dowager Cixi also agreed.

Cannon is in the Wuwei Central Army under the command of Ronglu himself. There is a special "flowering artillery team". The commander is Zhang Huaizhi, whose style name is Zizhi.The brains of the artillery department are relatively clear. Zhang Huaizhi pulled the cannon into the city, set up the cannon position, and calibrated the gauge. He thought to himself, if this cannon goes down, the ministers of various countries gathered in the British Legation will die nine times and kill a Klinder. , has caused an uproar, killing all the ministers of various countries, isn't the responsibility even heavier?

Thinking about it this way, he strictly admonished the "cannon target", and anyone who gave the order to fire unless he was personally present at the scene should refuse.After repeated instructions, Fang Shi got on his horse and went straight to Ronglu's mansion to ask for an audience. When Rong Lu had time to meet with an artillery commander, he sent someone to ask, why do you want to see him?Zhang Huaizhi replied: "The cannon has been calibrated. As long as the cannon is fired, it will definitely hit the British Legation. If it falls elsewhere, I would like to lead the army. However, without Zhongtang's handwritten order, I will never fire the cannon!"

"What's the matter? Is there still a note from Zhongtang?" "Yes!" Zhang Huaizhi replied, "It must be done." The visitor did not say a word, turned around and went inside, telling the truth about Zhang Huaizhi's attitude.After Rong Lu listened, he was silent and just walked around in circles in the study. This is the biggest problem he has encountered since he became an official, and it is also the most difficult decision in his life in public and private accidents.If he disobeyed the order, not to mention that he would fall out of favor from now on, and Zaiyi, surrounded by foreigners and the Boxers, became dizzy, mad and mentally disturbed. Maybe he would do something unexpected, and his life might be lost.If the guns were fired according to the order, the disaster would be out of control.Fame in one life is the second most important thing to pay for, and the culprit will be punished in the future. The letter handed over to Zhang Huaizhi is an ironclad proof that capital crimes are hard to come by.

After lingering for an hour, Zhang Huaizhi got impatient and asked someone to press him for questioning. Rong Lu had no choice but to reply, "Tell him, you have already given him an order, what more do you need?" The visitor conveyed it as he said, but Zhang Huaizhi was more calm, "That's right," he said, "Zhongtang gave me the order to fire the cannon into the city to bombard the British Legation. However, the artillery rules are different from others. , everything has been arranged, and the commander has to personally order: 'Let go!' before he can let go. Excuse me, and then go back with Zhongtang. Excuse me, excuse me!" Then he gave a military salute.

This person had no choice but to walk for him again, but just as he turned around, he stopped for Zhang Huaizhi again. "Please slow down! There is a saying, please do tell Zhongtang that you need a written order!" Zhang Huaizhi added: "There is no evidence for what you say." "Okay! I'll speak for you." The man spoke with a Shandong accent and sneered slightly: "My fellow, you probably don't want to be that leader anymore." Having said that, he tactfully transferred the conversation for him, Rong Lu sighed and said: "This guy is so powerful! It's almost killing people."

So, Fu hesitated again, asking each other from heart to heart, and finally came up with a plan to balance both ends.But this strategy can only be understood, not explained in words, if Zhang Huaizhi can't comprehend it, it will still be a waste of time.Thinking of this, he sighed again, "Look at the good fortune!" He said, "Tell him that there is no handbook, and the cannon must be fired. Anyway, the palace can hear it." "yes!" "You heard my words clearly!" Rong Lu specially reminded: "According to my words, tell him exactly what I said, neither one word missing nor one more word!"

The man repeated it, and every word was correct, and he came back and said to Zhang Huaizhi: "Zhongtang said: 'There is no handbook, and the cannon has to be fired. Anyway, the palace can hear it!'" Zhang Huaizhi was stunned. "Here," he asked, "what does Zhongtang mean?" "Who knows? Go home and think about it slowly!" Zhang Huaizhi got on the horse in dismay, walked all the way, thought all the way, and when he was about to reach Dong'anmen, he suddenly realized the magical effect of Ronglu, and suddenly felt light and smooth all over his body.After getting to the gun position, I fiddled with the gauge for a long time before giving the order to fire.

"Pay attention to the target, right ahead, the British Legation." Zhang Huaizhi shouted the five characters "British Legation" very loudly, stopped for a while and shouted: "Let go!" The cannon eye pulled the breech bolt in response, and there was a loud noise, and the shells burst through the air, flying over the city wall, and then there was another loud noise, and the smoke and dust filled the sky between Zhengyangmen Street and Chongwenmen Street in the outer city, but the shells were unknown. Where did it land?