Chapter 89 Section 89

From the tenth day of the eighth lunar month, King Qing became the emperor, and he decided everything, big or small, inside and out.Of course, the top priority is to repair peace with other countries, so I have called on the ministers of various countries for several days, one is to express condolences and apologize, to connect with each other, and the other is to inquire about the attitudes of various countries towards peace negotiations. The first person to visit was the British Minister Donale.Thanks to Hurd's mediation, Britain's attitude was relatively peaceful, and it made a very good suggestion, saying that although Spain did not send troops, but the Spanish Minister Geluogan was the leader of the diplomatic corps stationed in China, it might as well make more efforts.King Qing readily accepted, and sent a note to Ge Luoqian on the same day, asking for cooperation in maintaining order on the ground in Beijing.

Next, he called on the Japanese Minister Nishi Tokujiro.This time the allied forces attacked, the Japanese army was the most vigorous and ruthless, but after breaking the capital, the military discipline was the first. Not only did it protect the Forbidden City, but it also defended in sections, and the residents in the Japanese defense area were less harassed.Therefore, when King Qing met with Xide Erlang, he first expressed his thanks, and then expressed the hope that Japan would cooperate extraordinarily when negotiating peace. Nishitoku Jiro put forward two suggestions. He believed that the Chinese government could order the eradication of the boxers in Kinki by itself, and at the same time punish the culprits, showing sincerity of repentance, and the terms of the peace talks would be easier to negotiate.

Punishment of the culprit is almost the unanimous requirement of all countries, especially Germany is the most insistent, categorically stated that the culprit must be punished first before any discussion can begin.That kind of unyielding attitude, with no room for bargaining, made King Qing very uneasy. He returned to the mansion and immediately convened a staff meeting. "This time, because the German Minister Klind was killed, all countries urged Germany to send generals to take command. The Kaiser sent the old commander Waldsee, who is now on his way to the east." Shu Wen warned: "The capital has been broken, and The commander-in-chief of the coalition forces has not yet arrived. Once he arrives, it is difficult to say whether there will be another battle plan. Therefore, Germany's attitude is very important. It can take advantage of Waldsee's absence and make a move first to ease the tension. The overall situation has a lot to do with it. In my opinion, the prince should tell the truth."

As soon as this proposal came out, everyone agreed.But King Qing was still hesitating, and the result was a discussion without a decision.After Shu Wen and the others resigned, he left Chen Kuilong alone to discuss in secret. "Xiaoshi, there is one thing, you can probably imagine that the higher-ups are very suspicious of me, if you make a wrong step, you will lose your fortune. You see, if I punish the culprit, can I say it or not?" Of course not.Having said that, even if the Empress Dowager Cixi forgives her, Brother Zaiyi, Zaixun and others will hate her bitterly and try to fall.However, not talking about it is detrimental to the overall situation.Chen Kuilong thought about it for a while, and then he got hesitant.

"Punishing the culprit is a matter of course. Anyone can say it, and there is no need for the prince to play it." "It's a good thing to say. But there must always be someone who is willing to say it, especially if it is clearly stated. This is the general will of all countries." "Easy! Easy!" Chen Kuilong's method is not surprising. As long as King Qing distributed the telegrams to Li Hongzhang, Liu Kunyi, and Zhang Zhidong, he revealed that he hoped that the Chinese government would take the initiative to punish The intention of the culprit, there must be someone to make suggestions to the court.

In fact, Li Hongzhang had already made such a proposal without the need for King Qing's telegram, and punishing the murderer was just one of the conditions for him to go to Beijing to negotiate peace.Li Hongzhang arrived in Shanghai on June 25th. Although he was sick and refused to go north, he had already been secretly active in many ways. On the one hand, he detected the intentions of various countries, and on the other hand, he directly exchanged telegrams with "star envoys" such as Lu Haihuan in Germany and Yang Ru in Russia. , to seek relief.Li Hongzhang thought he had a deep relationship with Russia, and seeing that Russia was advancing into the three eastern provinces, and had little interest in business and overseas Chinese in the customs, he made a strategy of making concessions in the three eastern provinces in exchange for Russia's automatic withdrawal of troops in Beijing, so as to demand All other countries will do the same.In Li Hongzhang's view, this strategy is the key to the success or failure of peace negotiations. If there is no clue, he feels that "jumping into the fire pit" is also futile.

Since June 25th, as the Russian army trapped Aihui, captured Yingkou, and invaded the provincial capital of Heilongjiang, Li Hongzhang's strategy of exchanging Russian concessions in the pass was gradually realized.Russia not only promised to withdraw its troops, ministers, and overseas Chinese from Beijing to Tianjin, but also accepted Li Hongzhang's request to advise the Kaiser on his behalf and agreed to withdraw its troops from Beijing.At this point, Li Hongzhang began to consider the schedule of his trip to the north. Beforehand, Li Hongzhang played alone, please punish the culprit, and played together with Liu Kunyi and Zhang Zhidong, saying that Russia should thank Russia for its kindness.At the same time, it is suggested that the governor of Zhili be ordered to suppress the bandits; send Yikuang and Ronglu to Beijing for a meeting;

The Edict of Guilt has been issued long ago, it was written by Wang Wenshao, the emperor blamed himself and his subordinates, and did not blame the Empress Dowager Cixi and her relatives.It is also possible to do so in the section of self-suppression of bandits. Tingyong, the feudal governor of Zhili Governor, has been instructed to handle it seriously.In addition, each section, "It should also be implemented as requested, but there is a sequence of things, and we have to sort them out."This is a hint that the time for punishing the murderer is not yet ripe.Of course Li Hongzhang can understand, the two palaces are still on the road, how can such a big event be done?At least he had to go to Taiyuan, so that "Xingzai" had the appearance of the imperial court, before he could talk about being held accountable and rectifying Ji Gang.Now that he has expressed his sincerity, Li Hongzhang decided to go north from Haidao after the Mid-Autumn Festival.

Departing on August 21 and arriving in Tianjin on the 26th, the Russian army was responsible for safety along the way, and during this half month, the Russian army in the three eastern provinces captured the capital of Jilin Province and Niuzhuang in Fengtian.General Heilongjiang committed suicide when the Russian army invaded Qiqihar in early August.When they first arrived in the two palaces in Taiyuan, they didn't hear anything about these situations. Although Li Hongzhang knew about it, he kept his mouth shut and dared not make a sound. In the capital, the local order is naturally improving day by day, but the attitudes of the ministers and coalition forces of various countries towards the Chinese government are becoming more and more tough.

"What does this mean?" Empress Dowager Cixi asked Wang Wenshao: "The armies of various countries are still occupying the capital, how can they return to Luan?" Wang Wenshao wondered if the Empress Dowager Cixi really didn't understand the intentions of other countries, or was she pretending to be confused?Anyway, he felt that this was something that should never be revealed.When the two palaces return to Beijing, all countries can request to see the emperor in the name of forcing the Empress Dowager Cixi to return to power. This was most explicit in the German Foreign Ministry's conversation with Lu Haihuan.The German Ministry of Foreign Affairs stated that the premise of negotiating a peace is to punish the murderer, and it depends on whether the power of the two houses has been left behind.If it has been left behind, the peace representatives sent will not be recognized by Germany.This seems to suspect that the two palaces have been held hostage by Zai Yi and others, and they are out of control, but in fact it means that the emperor's power has fallen into the hands of the Empress Dowager Cixi.

Therefore, although King Qing, Li Hongzhang, governors of various provinces, and even ministers staying in Beijing such as Kungang appealed to return to Luan, they either avoided talking about it or used the capital's "city gate streets" to be guarded by foreign soldiers at this time. "For the reason, it is believed that "please return to Luan urgently, and it is not a compromise on the matter." Seeing this situation, Li Hongzhang knew that there was no need to talk about returning to Luan, but he had to punish the culprit.So an electronic performance was sent in Tianjin: "Please thank Russia, thank the German envoy, punish the culprit, and hope to discuss an armistice as soon as possible." So on the second day of the eighth lunar month, Taiyuan issued three edicts, two of which were clear, one of which was: "The German envoy Klind in Beijing was killed by the soldiers before, and he was deeply regretted after the decree. Since the minister was stationed in China, Handling all matters of negotiation and making peaceful compromises, I am deeply saddened by the remembrance. An altar will be given as a sacrifice, and a scholar from Kungang will be sent to lay a memorial ceremony for it today. When the coffin returns to China, it will be taken care of by the ministers of Beiyang and Beiyang. When we arrive in our own country, we will offer another altar for offering sacrifices, and send Lu Haihuan, the right servant of the household department, to lay a memorial ceremony for him. This is to show that I am deeply thinking about our diplomatic relations, and that I will never forget my regrets." The other is the "punishment of the culprit" that has attracted attention both at home and abroad.It is not the imperial court's original intention to say that China and foreign countries started quarrels, which turned out to be extraordinary.The cause of the disaster is "all because of the kings and ministers who sheltered the boxers and provoked allies, so that they worried about the clan society and spread the relocation by public opinion. I can't help but take the blame and blame myself, and the kings and ministers should also pay attention to each other. Lightly, be punished." A total of nine people were punished.The leader is Prince Zhuang Zaixun, followed by Prince Yi Pujing, Baylor Zaiying, and Zailian. Together, these four writers "resigned from their titles." It was Zaiyi, the king of Duanjun, who added the word "leniency" and punished him with three items: All errands were withdrawn, handed over to the clan's government for strict discussion, and the salary was stopped. The lesser ones are Fuguo Gong Zailan and Zuodu Yushi Yingnian of the Metropolitan Procuratorate: "They are all handed over to the Yamen for strict discussion." Finally, Gang Yi and Zhao Shuqiao were handed over to the Ministry of Officials for discussion. Another court post was dedicated to replying to Li Hongzhang: "All the verses played have been carried out today, and decrees were issued respectively. The scholar of the university accepted this decree and went to Beijing to start the discussion today without further delay." But Li Hongzhang still stayed in the court. In Tianjin, the main thing is that the commander of the coalition forces, Waldsee, is about to arrive. Li Hongzhang met him in Germany. Secondly, Li Hongzhang decided to take over the post of governor of Zhili in Tianjin, and he will hold the military power in his hands first. Wadesi arrived in Tianjin on the fourth day of the eighth lunar month.This sixty-eight-year-old veteran is an old bachelor who has not yet married. He has served as the chief of the German general staff, has the qualifications to be prime minister, and is also an earl like Li Hongzhang.With equal status and being the commander-in-chief of the Eight-Power Allied Forces, it is absolutely impossible for Li Hongzhang to visit Li Hongzhang first. In order to maintain his personal prestige, Li Hongzhang is also inconvenient to visit for advice.Therefore, it was only a side idea, and the entrusting person hinted at Vadsi and invited Li Hongzhang to meet.Unexpectedly, Waldsee had a serious personality, and before coming east, he had been ordered by the Kaiser to treat the Chinese government with a strict attitude, so he ignored it. Seeing that things were hopeless, Li Hongzhang had no choice but to go to Beijing.On the 18th day of the eighth month of leap, I arrived in Beijing and used Xianliang Temple as my mansion. I met King Qing, and then I heard the Chief Taxation Secretary Hude, accompanied by him, and visited the ministers of various countries.After returning to Xingyuan, a telegram was sent immediately, asking the kings and ministers who caused the chaos to be punished severely, and not to follow suit.The electronic performance clearly pointed out that this is the unanimous opinion of the ministers of various countries. If they don't listen to it, not only will it be difficult to negotiate peace, but the coalition forces may also commit crimes. At that time, the two palaces were driving, and they had passed Shanxi Wenxi and were about to arrive in Linjin.Among the accompanying military ministers, Fortitude knew that he was the chief culprit. He was full of sorrow and regret, and after the fatigue of the journey, he was already sick.A few days ago, I received a telegram from Beijing, saying that the ministers of various countries said to Rong Lu, who was originally in Baoding and was sent to participate in the peace negotiation, that he would not receive protection because the military guards who besieged the embassy were his subordinates, which was tantamount to refusing him to enter Beijing. .If Rong Lu is still like this, it is conceivable that he hates the culprit so much that his illness has increased a bit. Now Li Hongzhang's telegram has become a reminder of fortitude, and Wenxi's condition has suddenly worsened.Wang Wenshao played the Empress Dowager Cixi of the Ming Dynasty and allowed him to return to Taiyuan to recover from his illness, but when he arrived at Migratory Bird Town in Dequwo, he could no longer go on the road. On this day, the two palaces crossed Fenglingdu and entered Tongguan.Empress Dowager Cixi left Zhuang Wang Zaixun in Puzhou, Hedong, and Duan Wang Zaiyi in Tongguan, and was not allowed to go to Xi'an.At the same time, call Yikuang and Li Hongzhang to know how to punish the minister of the king who caused the disaster more severely. You may wish to make a secret performance to make a decision. That is, on this day, Baoding was occupied by the French, British, German and Italian coalition forces. The coalition office was established, and the military law office was organized. Tan Wenhuan, an alternate priest of Liangtai, interrogated the case of 15 British and American priests who were massacred in Baoding on the first day of July. Not only did Baoding fall, officials were arrested, but the coalition forces also had a sneak peek at Shanxi.The Empress Dowager Cixi, who has already arrived in Xi'an, knows that the culprit will be severely punished. If there is no quicker solution, troubles will emerge one after another.Sure enough, on September 18th, it was reported that Tingyong, Kuiheng, and Wang Zhankui had been executed with the approval of Wa Dexi. Tan Wenhuan was transferred to Tianjin and his head was displayed to the public for six days.This was already frightening, but the next day Li Hongzhang sent a telegram, which was even more frightening. It turned out that when the Boxer Rebellion was at its peak, the tombs of many famous priests who died in the middle of the earth, such as Matteo Ricci, Nan Huairen, and Tang Ruowang, were stolen and destroyed. In order to retaliate, Wadesi even threatened to send troops to Yizhou. , there will be actions that are not conducive to Xiling. Sejong Tailing Mausoleum, Renzong Changling Mausoleum, and Xuanzong Muling Mausoleum are located in Yongning Mountain in Yizhou, collectively known as Xiling Mausoleum.The effect of such a disposition is to issue a serious warning to Xi'an Xingzai. If the Empress Dowager Cixi still wants to protect Yiqin, the three emperors Yongzheng, Jiaqing, and Daoguang may have tragic disasters behind them. Empress Dowager Cixi has the responsibility, and she can't bear the charge of "not perishing herself, but prolonging her ancestors".Moreover, if foreigners can disturb the Xiling of Yizhou, they can also disturb the Dongling of Changrui Mountain in Zunhua, which will be even more serious!In addition to Shizu Xiaoling Mausoleum, Shengzu Jingling Mausoleum, Gaozong Yuling Mausoleum, Wenzong Dingling Mausoleum, and Mu Zonghui Mausoleum, his Wannian auspicious soil, which has spent tens of millions of silver, is also in the Putuo Valley to the east of Dingling Mausoleum. Being invaded by foreigners and breaking Feng Shui is a matter of death. Therefore, while the Empress Dowager Cixi sent urgent telegrams to Yikuang and Li Hongzhang to "really question the German envoys in Beijing", she had to consider aggravating the punishment of the culprit.As soon as Li Hongzhang's replay of "Foreign soldiers tend to advance and stop, they are all dispatched by Dewa Shuai, and Vadsi resides in the Yiluan Palace without permission, and he refuses to meet, and there is no way to discuss together", then there is a "cause the ministers, In the past, a decree was issued to punish them separately. Now in the capital area, the boxers have not been wiped out, so that the place has been corrupted, and the people have been devastated. If you don’t punish them severely, you will not be able to subdue the hearts of the world and release the regrets of allies.” issued the enactment. This second time to punish the culprit, the first to bear the brunt is Zai Yi, who is in the same class as Zai Xun.Pu Jing, Prince Yi, and Bai Le Zaiying, the second son of Prince Gong, were also imprisoned by the clan's family. Zai Yi's brother Zai Lian was ordered to "close the door and think about his mistakes" and was placed under house arrest. In contrast, Zai Lan is much cheaper, and the punishment is "stop public salary, downgrade transfer".This is because he was sent as an imperial minister at the beginning of August, and the military aircraft had to show favor, and the Empress Dowager Cixi also felt that he still had room to be sent away, so she specially extended her favor. As for relatives and nobles, Yingnian's punishment was the lightest, demoted to a second level; Yuxian's punishment was the heaviest, "sent to the extreme side, served as a drudgery, and never released", because he "connivened boxing during his tenure as governor of Shanxi, Bandits, harming the priests and teaching the people, and acting willfully and recklessly".Originally, the crime of resoluteness was the most serious, but Zhao Shuqiao was forgiven by the Empress Dowager Cixi for his death, so he was punished by "dismissed and retained", and he was still his minister of military affairs. At the end of the last edict, there was a statement in which the Empress Dowager Cixi said through the mouth of the emperor: "The whole story, but I know very well, that is, like Prince Yi Pujing, Baylor Zailian, Zaiying, Chinese and foreign ministers participated in the performance repeatedly, and none of them have ever heard of it. He pointed out that even if the ministers of various countries played electronically, they never mentioned it, and I still punished them all according to the facts. It can be seen that I punish all ministers with justice, without favoritism, and it should be understood by everyone at home and abroad." This is for foreigners, especially I hope Vadsi can listen to it.However, the Empress Dowager Cixi was disappointed!