Chapter 173 Mother and Son Monarch and Minister (14-1)

At one o'clock in the afternoon, the sun was so scorching that the dogs stuck out their tongues, but there were many people standing under the scorching sun at Caishikou, most of them were white gowns and black mandarin jackets. Relatives and friends of Yuan and Xu's family came to see The last one. After all, the car from the Ministry of Punishment arrived, and drove straight into the official hall that was temporarily built with reed mats in the northern half of the alley.Xu Chengyu sat majestically, with a bright face, when he saw the clothes of Yuan Chang and Xu Jingcheng, he scolded the soldiers loudly: "What are you doing, why don't you take off the prisoner's official clothes?"

"Don't scold them!" Yuan Chang said loudly, "Although we were arrested and imprisoned, we were not dismissed according to the order. We were tortured as usual. As an official of the Ministry of Punishment, you don't even understand this rule?" Xu Chengyu was at a loss for words and was at a loss for a moment.I have served as a supervisor and beheader more than once, but I have never seen a person who is about to be executed, and I can still reason with it, so I am not prepared psychologically.I didn't know how to answer, and I couldn't even find words to cover up my embarrassment, but I just blushed in a daze.

"We are dead! But what is the crime, what kind of comment did we get, and we are punished?" Yuan Chang raised his face and asked, "Please understand the instructions from the supervisor and beheading officer, so that we can rest our eyes on the ground." "What kind of place is this?" Xu Chengyu became a little annoyed, "It's too late for you to reason!" Prisoner sentencing originally had a very strict procedure.Although the judgment of criminals does not require "three replays" like the court trial and autumn judgment, it must at least pass through the Criminal Division of the Metropolitan Procuratorate. "Hand over to the Ministry of Penalties for execution.It's just that in the chaotic world, everything is kept simple, and it is convenient to kill people. At this time, Xu Chengyu yelled, and the two heads fell to the ground very quickly.

※ ※ ※ The deaths of Yuan Chang and Xu Jingcheng added a lot of topics to people who enjoyed the cool air and listened to the sound of cannons.There is a legend, which is quite popular, that when Yuan Chang was about to be executed, he smiled at the executioner and said, "Wait a minute! Wait until I finish reciting a poem." The poem is a poem of Qilu: "Old Vimo, a layman in Shuangqiu, has done a lot of good things in the world. The orthodoxy has added new years, and the Qing Dynasty has reorganized the old mountains and rivers. The merits and demerits of Lu Wang helped the Zhou family, and Demai and Zhang Liang scattered the songs of embarrassment. Take care of me Going back today, laughing in the white clouds." It is said that the lingering sound of the word "haha" has not been broken, and the white blade has already been stretched.

This poem baffles people, and no one knows what he is talking about?Just like the two lives of Yuan Chang and Xu Jingcheng, what can be exchanged for, it is as confusing! What puzzled outsiders the most was that the killing of two ministers who were well versed in Western affairs did not mean that the imperial court was incompatible with foreigners.The first is: "Now all the soldiers are besieging the Xishiku Church. If any Christians escape, they must not be harmed. They should be protected by troops. If they can't defend themselves, they should find another good strategy. Don't use guns to bombard them." No need. For bombardment with guns, the only way is to "surrender", which is actually to make peace.

The scope of the second edict was expanded even further.The first edict was still an "instruction to the Minister of Military and Aircraft", and the outside world would not know that the imperial court had decided to "lend the net" to the religious people.It is said: "Because of the unresolved conflicts between China and foreign countries, the merchants, civilians and missionaries of various countries in China have nothing to do with military affairs. The governors are ordered to protect them as usual. Now that the Kinki army is gathering, the leaders of the troops from all walks of life should also look up to them. With this in mind, all foreign merchant priests should try to preserve it, so as to subdue the imperial court's intention to treat people far away."

In addition to protecting the foreign merchant priests, the religious people are also included in the protection, because this "is also the country's child, and there is no boundary to divide it. However, since the boxing religion started the war, most of the religious people have occupied villages, dug trenches and built fortifications. Those who resist the government and the army are tantamount to treason, and they must be strictly investigated and dealt with. The first thought is that it is driven by fear of crime, and if they can repent and recover from their misfortunes, they can still be lenient."

Then, taking Baodi religious people as an example, they disbanded on their own after being informed by Song Qingji, and specially stipulated: "All the religious people in various places, if they regret and surrender, the generals and the local officials should follow this as a whole. Killings are not allowed. The bandits everywhere, pretending to be righteous people, seek revenge and rob and kill those who will be investigated separately and punished at any time to clear the source of the chaos." Not only that, but also take extra care of the ministers of various countries.This was unanimously suggested by King Qing and Rong Lu on the inside, and Li Hongzhang and Liu Kun on the outside. The ministers of various countries in Beijing should be sent out of Beijing first.Therefore, the imperial edict specially ordered Rong Lu to "select and dispatch proper civil and military officials in advance, and bring them with capable troops. When the envoy leaves Beijing on a regular basis, he will be escorted along the way. If there are bandits watching and looting, they will be suppressed immediately. A little careless."

Since the decree was issued, the Prime Minister's Office naturally had to do everything possible to get in touch with the ministers of various countries. Unexpectedly, some of them were skeptical, and some were angry and ignored them. Initial negotiations failed to reach the point. However, those "great protectors" of the Boxers hated both of these two edicts.Especially Zaiyi, ordered Dong Fuxiang to increase his troops and step up the attack on the embassy, ​​but Dong Fuxiang ignored it. One leaf knows the autumn, and the trend of betrayal of relatives and relatives has become established, and they are more and more in danger!

There will always be two or three days when Zaiyi can't sleep all night, discussing with her heart, and then discussing with her cronies, thinking that riding a tiger is hard to get off, and the only way to drive the tiger away and preemptively is the best policy.So I drew up a list in my heart, the first batch was fifteen people, and I wanted to kill them to establish my prestige.The second batch will be dealt with according to the situation. If King Qing and Rong Lu do not obey orders, they will be killed again! So a single title was given to a memorial, listing fifteen people who were considered traitors who cooperated with foreigners inside and outside, and asked for the order to implement the law immediately.Among the fifteen people, the first is Li Hongzhang, the second is Wang Wenshao, and Chen Kuilong, the acting governor of Shuntianfu, is the second.In addition, governors such as Liu Kunyi and Zhang Zhidong, and ministers such as Xu Yongyi and Liao Shouheng are all included.

When the Empress Dowager Cixi saw this memorial, she found it to be of no small importance, and immediately ordered someone to seal it and hand it over to the internal memorial office, with a verbal order: "Give it to Ronglu, and come and open it yourself!" Rong Lu was naturally taken aback!While reading the full text carefully, Wang Wenshao arrived.Rong Lu knew that he was timid, so he quickly put the original fold into the yellow box, closed the lid, and kept it at hand.When the military plane was summoned, Li Wang Shiduo asked for leave, led by Rong Lu, went into the palace to hold the yellow box on the imperial case, and then performed the work.After everything is over, only this memorial is left, which has not been dealt with.Empress Dowager Cixi was silent, but the emperor just winked at Ronglu, encouraging him to speak up. Seeing this situation, Rong Lu knew that Empress Dowager Cixi was quite dissatisfied with Zaiyi's actions.I thought, this would save a lot of trouble, so I simply overthrew it entirely! So, he took out Zaiyi's memorial from the yellow box, raised it slightly, and said in a deep and indignant voice: "The breakup between China and foreign countries, the overall situation is so bad, it was all made by King Duan! There is another memorial today, and the slave really I don't know how badly King Duan wants to take over the world of his ancestors, and make such a mess before he is willing to stop?" "I don't think so either!" The Empress Dowager Cixi quickly interjected, and after a little thought, she said: "This excerpt, 'flood' it!" "Yan" means not to deal with it, the original is either kept in the middle, or submitted to the military aircraft department for filing.Rong Lu immediately replied: "Yes!" Kneeling down to meet each other, he turned to Wang Wenshao and said loudly, "Meet and thank you quickly!" Wang Wenshao didn't hear a word of the conversation between Rong Lu and Empress Dowager Cixi, but when he suddenly heard such a sentence, he thought it was some kind of reward from Empress Dowager Cixi, so they met and said, "Thank you, Empress Dowager, for your reward!" The Empress Dowager Cixi had a sullen face, not wanting to express anything, but the emperor grinned, this was the first time in more than two years that he smiled. ※ ※ ※ Back at the military plane, Rong Lu handed the Zaiyi original fold that he held in his palm to Wang Wenshao, "Old Kui," he said, "The Empress Dowager rewarded you with an old life!" When Wang Wenshao saw the case, he broke out in a cold sweat. After reading it, he realized the reason why Rong Lu didn't show it to him before. He bowed his hands and said gratefully: "Zhonghua, I am so grateful!" "Finally, the Empress Dowager is sage, and the major incidents have been resolved." Rong Lu said again: "The empress dowager said that it was 'flooded', so let it be buried in the bottom of the sea and never see the light of day." After finishing speaking, he folded Zaiyi's original paper over, blowing up the paper coal in his hand, and burning it on fire. ※ ※ ※ Even so, the content of the compromise leaked out.Chen Kuilong murmured in his heart, and carefully calculated, first, he was only acting as the governor of Shuntian Fu, and he felt that it was not worth it for others; Trouble, sooner or later he will fall into his hands; third, the overall situation is getting worse day by day, Shuntian Mansion has to deal with the court at the top, and appease the people at the bottom, and there are many high-ranking officials and dignitaries in the middle, who have things to ask, nothing else, just The job of catching a car is too much. Thinking about it this way, I decided to ask, find Rong Lu, and beg face to face.At first, Rong Lu refused to let him go, but finally when he talked about Zaiyi's sinister intentions, Rong Lu felt that he had to make arrangements for him.The next day, the Empress Dowager Cixi of the Ming Dynasty returned to her original post as the Governor of Shuntian Mansion, and Wang Peiyou, the acting official of the Taipu Temple, returned to her original post, while Chen Kuilong took over Wang Peiyou's affairs and acted as the acting official of the Taipu Temple. On the second day of such a change of generals, the situation took a sudden turn for the worse.The seven-nation coalition forces of Japan, Russia, Britain, the United States, France, Italy, and Austria, totaling more than 18,000 people, entered the capital on the 10th day of the seventh month after they were organized in Tianjin.As a result, Li Bingheng's Qin Wang's division, heard that the police were defeated first, and Song Qing, Ma Yukun, and Zhili Admiral Lu Benyuan's troops retreated without support.Yulu retreated to Yangcun, and the allied forces followed one after another. He had no place to stand on his own, and he didn't even have a chance to breathe.In the end, he avoided a coffin shop, and, perhaps out of emotion, he shot himself in the temple with a small tooth-handled pistol that he carried with him. When the news arrived in Beijing, the Empress Dowager Cixi was greatly shocked. She summoned the ministers of the military plane, the imperial court, and the prime minister's office. With red eyes, she only said: "The situation is so bad that you have to find a way!" The only way is to negotiate a peace as soon as possible, but Yuan Chang and Xu Jingcheng's blood is still wet, and no one dares to step on the tiger's tail.However, there are still some impassioned ones, and the most utterly loyal one is Li Bingheng who just came back from the front line! "Returning to the words of the empress dowager and the emperor, the army of the king of Qin will form an army in a hurry. Once he goes to the battlefield, he will inevitably be timid." He first defended his troops for failing to fight, and then said: "I have discussed with King Duan and King Zhuang. , They all say that the Boxers can still be used, but the ministers are not talented, and they are willing to lead volunteers and follow the example of the pioneers!" "It would be great if you could block it for a while." Empress Dowager Cixi said in a desperate tone: "Since the rules are set, you should leave early!" "Yes!" Li Bingheng replied, "I will lead the team out tomorrow." "Okay, okay!" The Empress Dowager Cixi said loudly to Wang Wenshao, Minister of the Household Department: "The Household Department will first allocate 50,000 silver as a two-month salary!" Wang Wenshao didn't quite understand what he heard, but there was nothing wrong with meeting each other, so he kowtowed and replied: "Yes!" "Thank the Empress Dowager for the reward!" Li Bingheng thanked him and said: "I also ask the Empress Dowager to reward me with something." "what would you like?" "I would like to ask the Empress Dowager to give me a sword, so that I can use it to suppress the formation!" "Suppress formation?" Empress Dowager Cixi asked: "Do you want to set up formation?" "yes!" "That's good! I'll give you a sword." There are many good swords in the palace. After Empress Dowager Cixi retired from the court, she asked someone to take off a Longquan sword made during the Qianlong period and awarded it to Li Bingheng.He kept his word, and he led 3,000 people to the army the next day. In advance, imitating the saying of "going up to the altar to pay homage to the general", the leader of the boxer, who originally lived in Prince Zhuang's mansion, please go up to the high platform and sit upright.The spectators were amazed by the spectacle, and those who knew the etiquette said that it was a blasphemy of the imperial court system, but some people defended Li Bingheng, saying that what he worshiped was not the elder brother, but the imperial bestowed Longquan sword held in the elder brother's hand. faux pas. In addition to the sword, there are also magic objects for the formation, a long black flag called "Inviting Soul Banner"; a large flag embroidered with wind, cloud, thunder and fire, called "Huntian Banner"; Named "Thunder and Fire Fan"; a pair of silver bottles of different shapes, called "Yin and Yang Bottles"; a huge copper ring, a set of nine, called "Nine Links"; The hook is called "Ruyi hook"; there is another wooden tablet with flames painted on it, which is held by the little ghost in Yue Temple, called "fire tablet".Together with the Longquan sword, they are called "Eight Treasures". Li Bingheng led the 3,000 boxers in the "Eight Treasures" town formation, and as soon as they left the capital, hundreds of them slipped away.The Empress Dowager Cixi in Beijing, Xu Tong, Zai Xun and others were still hoping for good news, but the news that came from them was getting worse and worse. On July 14th, Caicun fell, and Song Qing retreated to Yujiawei in Tongzhou. On the 15th, the troops of Zhang Chunfa and Xia Xinyou, the teachers of King Qin, were defeated in Hexi. Four out of ten died, and Luhe did not flow.There is also Chen Zelin's Qinwang new army, which was near Hexiwu with Li Bingheng. When they heard the sound of artillery, they collapsed in an uproar, and Li Bingheng had to retreat to Tongzhou. At this point, except for Xu Tong and his student Qixiu, who also believed in the miracle of heavenly soldiers and generals descending to help in the battle, no one else had any hope of repelling the coalition forces.Therefore, everyone has their own plans.Of course, the Minister of Military Aircraft can't just do it for his own sake, he also has to take care of the Empress Dowager Cixi and the emperor. "It's better to plan a retreat for the two palaces in advance!" Zhao Shuqiao said to Gang Yi: "I think we can only go to Jehol." "This matter is very troublesome. How many people in the palace, how much luggage, how many cars have to be prepared?" "It doesn't matter!" Zhao Shuqiao replied, "Chen Xiaoshi prepared to have 200 vehicles there." "Let the rebels catch them all!" Gang Yi shook his head, "I don't think so. Besides, Chen Xiaoshi has already confessed." "Although he has been handed over, he is still in the Shuntian Mansion Yamen. In this situation, there is no need to divide each other. We can only use this task to impose on him." "Okay! Try it!" What kind of role is Chen Kuilong?Zhao Shuqiao's tricks can't move him.But Wang Peiyou was cowardly and incompetent, not only couldn't catch the car, but even the 80 cars that Chen Kuilong had handed over were borrowed by the Wuwei Army.At the same time, Rong Lu was afraid that if the Empress Dowager Cixi left, it would affect the hearts of the people on the outside, and on the inside, Zai Yi might steal her name and usurp the throne, so she didn't care about it at all. Zhao Shuqiao has been busy for a while, to see if there will be any results, so it will save trouble. There is absolutely no possibility of turning defeat into victory in the military!The only hope is to use the peace agreement to block the coalition forces outside the capital in time, and this hope rests entirely on Li Hongzhang.On the same day when the Kaiser announced that the veteran Waldsee would be the commander of the coalition forces, the imperial court decreed that Li Hongzhang was specially appointed as the Minister of Plenipotentiary.However, Li Hongzhang, who was staying in Shanghai, replied by telegram asking for a 20-day holiday on the grounds that he was weak and sick. So Zaiyi, who is stern and soft inside, is going to kill the minister to stand up again!Although his book refers to fifteen people, there are only two people who think they can move.One is Lianyuan, a cabinet scholar, who is a conservative. Fu's influence changed into a new party, which was disgusted by Zaiyi.In May, he called "Da Qi" three times in a row. During the court meeting and the war, Zai Yi wanted to kill him, but because he was born in the "coated coat" of Prince Zhuang's mansion, Zai Xun had to save him.Just ignore him this time. The other is Xu Yongyi, Minister of the Ministry of War and Prime Minister.This person was originally from Haiyan, Zhejiang Province, and was born in Zhangjing, a military aircraft, but he was basically a juren, so he suffered a disadvantage in his official career. After Guangxu climbed to the position of Minister of the Ministry of Officials in the 19th year, he couldn't get up, and he was already seventy years old.Some people persuaded him to retreat bravely. His daughter's in-laws, Huang Tifang, one of the "Four Admonitions of the Imperial Academy", sent him a letter from Zhejiang. When he opened it, he found only the word "Shuizhuju".It turned out that this was the name of the Xu family's other business. Huang Tifang's meaning was of course to persuade him to retire to the forest and enjoy life in peace, but Xu Yongyi refused to persuade him. He also has his own ideas, he has worked hard all his life, and he is also an important figure in the imperial court. In seventy-three years, not to mention entering the cabinet to pay homage to the prime minister, he has not even won a first rank, so he is unwilling to do so.His plan is to always be a minister and then retire, and it's not too late. In this way, in November last year, the opportunity came.Sun Jianai, Minister of the Ministry of Officials, was excluded by the old faction because he was suspected of being a new party in running the Beijing Normal University.Sun Jianai was the number one scholar, the Ministry of Officials went to a number one scholar, and another number one scholar came, the minister of the Ministry of War, Xu Yun, transferred to make up for Sun Jianai's vacancies, and Xu Yongyi promoted Xu Yongyi's vacancies based on Rong Lu's recommendation. When he was a servant, the Han Shangshu was occupied by Xu Tong of the Han army, and when Xu Tong was promoted to a bachelor, he was still in charge of the official department, so Xu Yongyi was always his subordinate.But Xu Tong didn't think of the friendship of the same surname, and he was very at odds with Xu Yongyi.There are two reasons for this: first, Xu Yongyi is also the prime minister, and anyone who is engaged in foreign affairs is Xu Tong's enemy;A few years ago, he was friendly and persuaded him to withdraw as soon as possible, because he knew that Xu and Xu didn't get along well, and he was afraid that he would suffer from Xu Tong's poisonous hands.In the end, unfortunately, it hit the mark. In fact, Zaiyi didn't have much ill feeling towards Xu Yongyi, just because Xu Tong wanted to kill Xu Yongyi, so Zaiyi had no choice but to come to him for surgery. When the memorial was being drafted, Zaiyi arrived and advocated that Lishan, who had been imprisoned for a long time, be included, and Zaiyi naturally agreed.Zaiyi's move was not entirely to repair his personal grievances. In fact, it was the huge house of the Lishan Wine and Vinegar Bureau, which had been looted several times by the Shenji Camp, the Wuwei Army, and the Boxers, and it had become an empty shell.If Li Shan was not killed, there would be nothing to explain. The weather is also strange. From July 15th onwards, it seems to be shrouded in gloomy clouds and mist, and there are occasional drizzles. The bleak weather makes people feel like the country is ruined and their families are ruined.In this way, on the third day, Prince Zhuang Zaixun, commander of the infantry, was ordered by Zaiyi to send troops to arrest Xu Yongyi and Lianyuan at 8 o'clock in the morning.At the same time, Zaiyi went to the palace to play, saying that Xu Yongyi and Lianyuan colluded with foreigners, and the Lishan family dug tunnels to help Xishiku. When the Minister of Military Aircraft was called to the audience, the Empress Dowager Cixi had already made a hasty decision and sent an order to the Ministry of Punishment to summon the military aircraft to face him, but it was only a draft order.Rong Lu naturally wanted to argue, he said: "The news outside is very tight, and the capital is very dangerous. At this time, it seems inappropriate to kill the minister. Even if you are guilty, you must have a clear trial, not to mention that today is the death anniversary of Emperor Wen Zongxian, and the sentence will be suspended as usual. Can you temporarily suspend the sentence?" Hand it over to the Prison of the Ministry of Punishments, and wait until tomorrow to find out?" "Now I don't care about that much anymore!" Empress Dowager Cixi said: "To govern the troubled times, use heavy codes, and if the order can be withdrawn, no one will listen to the imperial court at this time." Rong Lu can no longer fight.When he came out, he happened to meet King Qing, pulled him aside and said, "Today, Xu Xiaoyun is going to be killed again. It is really appalling. This person must find a way to protect himself." King Qing was also very anxious, "Yes!" He said, "Yuan and Xu Yisang, and another Xu Xiaoyun, there will be no helper for future peace talks." "I think, the prince and I will invite you again to ask for mercy. However," Rong Lu thought for a while and said, "The two of us are also suspected of being involved in the past two days. It is better to invite Yinxuan and Wenshan to go up together. The strength is relatively strong. .” "Okay!" King Qing agreed deeply, "Fortunately, they are all here." So Rong Lu went to the imperial court to ask for help, and first discussed with Chongqi; he said: "Although Xu Xiaoyun and I don't have a close relationship, we don't have any opinions. We can go together." "I feel the same way!" Rong Lu cupped his hands and said, "I'll go to Yueyinxuan again." Xu Tong listened to the reason for his visit, but did not answer. He sneered first, "Zhong Hua," he said, "You still want to pretend to be a good person? In my opinion, this kind of traitor is everywhere in the court. If you can kill a few more, you will be killed." Calm me down!" Hearing this, Rong Lu gasped, but he still didn't give up, and said, "How about reluctance?" "No!" Xu Tong flatly refused, "My son was ordered to be executed, how can I intercede on his behalf." Rong Lu gave up and returned, and said weakly: "No success!" In this way, at four o'clock in the afternoon, after all, Xu Yongyi, Lianyuan and Lishan were killed again.Then there was an edict: "Xu Yongyi, Shangshu of the Ministry of War, has been ginsenged many times. His reputation is very bad, and he handles foreign affairs, which will cause serious troubles; Lianyuan, a cabinet scholar, played arbitrarily when he was summoned, and his words involved discord. Both. Lishan, the secretary of the Ministry of Household Affairs, has been dismissed. His Japanese is so ambiguous, and he is always at odds. This minister has received a lot of kindness, and he is especially devastated. If he is not severely punished, how can he rectify the imperial court! Take Zhaojiong as a warning!" On the day Xu Yongyi was arrested and died, the forward of the coalition forces had arrived in Zhangjiawan, Tongzhou.There are 18,300 troops in the army and 70 cannons. Among them, the Japanese are the most ambitious, so they occupy half of them with as many as 9,000 people. The coalition forces in Zhangjiawan are also the Japanese army. Li Bingheng had just arrived at that time.When he left Beijing on July 13th, the allied forces had captured Beicang, and the army was blocked by the rout. Xia Xinyou asked him to retreat to Zhangjiawan, but Li Bingheng refused.On the fifteenth day of the seventh month, when I went to a place not far from Hexiwu, I saw Ma Yukun coming in a hurry. As soon as we met, he said, "Jian Shuai, we are outnumbered and outnumbered. Hurry up and retreat!" "What are you talking about?" Li Bingheng scolded loudly: "Military law never retreats. Now our army still has 30,000 to 40,000 people. If we push forward with all our strength, we can still stop the enemy." Seeing that the words were not speculative, Ma Yukun said a few perfunctory words, quietly retreated, and took the remnant with him, and went straight to Nanwan.But the Japanese army did not take Hexiwu, but directly attacked Li Bingheng's camp.Encountering Wan Benhua's first army, Li Bingheng ordered Xia Xinyou to flank him. They fought all day and night and ran out of ammunition, but the Japanese army suddenly broke away from the siege. Li Bingheng had no choice but to retreat to Zhangjiawan. That night, Li Bingheng approached Wang Tingxiang and Zeng Lianzhi, the editors of the Hanlin Academy who were in the army, to talk with each other. Recalling the situation in Beijing, they exchanged tears before they spoke. Wang Tingxiang was shocked, "Jian Shuai," he asked, "Why is this so?" "I'm thinking of the situation of the Shi Ge Department back then." At the end of the Ming Dynasty, Shi Kefa was stationed in Yangzhou, named the Four Towns of Moderation, but he failed to give orders and died in embarrassment.Now Li Bingheng is also restraining the Fourth Army, which is of little use, similar to the "Four Towns of Jianghuai" back then, and it is the same if they don't listen to orders.Feeling the past and appreciating the present, Li Bingheng will naturally cry. "When I first arrived in Beijing, Xu Xiangguo said to me as soon as he saw me: "Jian Weng, I will pay tribute to you forever." When I met the Queen Mother and King Duan, I was always eager to encourage me, forcing me to fight. However, taking What are you fighting for?" According to Li Bingheng, he once asked the Prime Minister's Office for a map of Tianjin, but he didn't respond.He also asked Rong Lu for ammunition, and Rong Lu replied him, writing to send Shandong.But when I asked the next day, I said I forgot! "How could Rong Zhongtang forget?" Wang Tingxiang said: "It was deliberately not to give it, so why would he be willing to invite the commander in chief?" "Yeah! But I didn't know it at the time. Later, I found out that it was not the way. I offered three strategies..." "Have you offered three strategies?" Wang Tingxiang said in surprise, "I've never heard of it!" "Without the following, naturally everyone will not know." "So, what are the three strategies?" "The first strategy is to send the envoys back to the country and transfer the Gan army to the current enemy." "This first strategy won't work!" Wang Tingxiang said with a smile, "How can the Gan army be willing to confront the enemy?" "It was intended to make him difficult." "He is the King of Difficulties, why it doesn't work. What about the second strategy?" "The second strategy is to kill Yulu to encourage the army." Wang Tingxiang was silent, thinking to himself, if the army is defeated, he should be killed, so Li Bingheng doesn't know what to do with himself today. Because there was something on his mind, Li Bingheng never heard clearly the third strategy that Li Bingheng said.But it has nothing to do with the grand purpose. The above two strategies are not good, and the third strategy is the worst strategy, let alone talk about it. "I'm thinking, the Shige Department worked so hard in the Jianghuai area back then, but in the end they couldn't avoid being trapped. Who are you! Called King Qin hastily, how can you turn around? This trip is nothing more than trying to fulfill the wishes of the ministers. ! Bingheng bid farewell to the princes today!" The staff present here were all horrified and moved, but they all suffered from having no words to comfort them.One of them is Hanjun, whose surname is Ma, and his first name is Zhong Qi, and his style name is Weichun.After Xun Chen, he succeeded You Viscount. His official position was a second-class guard, and he was an old friend with Li Bingheng outside the pass. Later, he entered Li Bingheng's shogunate and accompanied him to Jingqin King from Jiangnan.At this time, he replied loudly: "If Jian Shuai dies for the country, the funeral will be on me!" Someone would make such a promise, Wang Tingxiang thought to himself, this is a character from the Warring States Period and Eastern Han Dynasty, who has been extinct for a long time!Let's see what Li Bingheng said? Before he could finish thinking about it, Li Bingheng threw himself on the ground, saying with mixed feelings, "Weichun, then, I will trust you!" Zhong Qi hurriedly knelt down to help each other, with four arms intertwined, and looked at each other with tearful eyes. Everyone present saw it in their eyes, felt sore in their hearts, and felt at a loss what to do. "Life and death are not ordinary things!" Li Bingheng laughed to himself, "I still have one important matter to explain." Then he shouted: "Li Sheng!" Li Sheng is Li Bingheng's old servant, and he came up to him, holding a red lacquer tray in his hand, with seven or eight envelopes of plum red paper on it, I don't know what is inside? "Let's make up our own minds! A mere Cheng Yi, a little expressiveness, is not enough to express my gratitude to you for your help in times of adversity." Then Li Sheng brought the tray in front of the guests, but he didn't take it at first, and reached out to take one in front of Zhong Qi.Next was Wang Tingxiang. After thinking about it, he also took one.With these two people at the beginning, everyone felt that it was not difficult to reach out. In a short while, all the Muyou received two hundred taels of Cheng Yi. "Everyone, please get ready!" Li Bingheng said, "I'm going to take a breath too." So Zhong Qi got up first and left the room, one by one silently following behind him.The last one was Wang Tingxiang. When he walked to the door, he turned around and asked calmly: "Can Jian Shuai delay his death for a while?" "Oh," Li Bingheng asked, "is there still something I can do for the country?" "I was thinking, everything about the Boxers is really groundless, why is it so touching? There must be some truth in it. Maybe there will be a miracle in the end, and I don't know." It turned out that Wang Tingxiang was also superstitious about the Boxers, so he had this delusion.Li Bingheng was inconvenient to say that he "didn't realize it until he died", so he just smiled and replied: "Mei Cen, this is not enough to slow down my death!" Mei Cen is Wang Tingxiang's nickname.Hearing what Li Bingheng said, he was deeply disappointed, and left with his head down. That night, he was either packing up his luggage or asking where it was safe. Only Wang Tingxiang did nothing, sitting under the lamp, his mind was burning, and everything since he met Li Bingheng was on his mind. In addition to being impressed by Li Bingheng's acquaintance, he must of course ask himself, is it too much to brag about the Boxers, praise it as loyalty, and praise it as a miracle?What puzzled him the most was that Li Bingheng seemed to have no confidence in the Boxers, but why did he use the "Eight Treasures" to suppress the formation.Even use the story of "climbing to the altar to pay homage to the general" to raise the value of the Boxer Regiment? "I don't understand, I don't understand!" He could only sigh: "Perhaps in any troubled world, right and wrong must be unclear. The more unclear right and wrong are, the more urgent the chaos will be." But there is one thing, he thinks it is very clear, Gang Chang is loyal and righteous, and should not be ignored. Since there is Li Bingheng's loyalty to the dead country, there should be Li Bingheng's righteousness as a dead friend! Thinking of this, I feel much better.I fell asleep, and I didn't know how long before I was awakened by the sound of the cannon. "Master Wang! Master Wang!" Wang Tingxiang lifted the curtain and saw that there were two people standing in front of the bed, one was Li Bingheng's old servant Li Sheng, and the other was his twenty-year-old son Wang Lufeng. "Father!" Wang Lufeng said, "Uncle Li begs my father to go back to Tongzhou quickly. The meaning is very urgent and earnest! Father, I have packed all my luggage and prepared my horse. Please get up quickly, old man." "Master Wang, please hurry up." Li Sheng also said, "The foreigners are approaching, and Tongzhou may be closed if it is too late." "It doesn't matter if you close the city, I won't leave." "Father, father, why don't you leave, old man?" Wang Lufeng almost cried, "Don't disappoint old man Li's kindness." After finishing speaking, he and Li Sheng helped Wang Tingxiang up.Chu Qiu wore simple clothes, so he forced him to put on a "two-section shirt" made of silk and bamboo cloth, pulled it away and left.Teased and helped to get on the horse, in the twilight morning light, he went straight to Tongzhou. Along the way, the soldiers were defeated and wandered, which was horrible. When they arrived in Tongzhou, Wang Tingxiang changed his mind again and insisted on refusing to enter the city. He wanted to go back to Zhangjiawan and live and die with Li Bingheng. "I don't know where Uncle Li is? Maybe he's gone to the former enemy! Dad, why don't you go to the city to take a break and find out the news, and it's not too late to find it. Otherwise, if we miss each other, it will be wasteful." !" Wang Tingxiang thought about what his son said, and it was not unreasonable, so he was willing to enter the city.Once in the store, he didn't go back to his room, but sat in the locker room. Whenever a visitor came to the door, he inquired about the situation in Zhangjiawan and Li Bingheng's whereabouts. In the evening, there was definite news that Zhangjiawan's garrison was defeated without a fight. Li Bingheng wrote letters all night, until the day was bright, and committed suicide by swallowing gold.Among the rioting soldiers, I am afraid that there will be nowhere to find the corpses. Li Bingheng's death was expected, Wang Tingxiang didn't cry much, but insisted on finding the corpse.Wang Lufeng refused to listen to his persuasion all night, so he had to accompany his father out of the city.The horses they rode had already been snatched by the rout soldiers, and there was no other means of transportation, only walking. Walking along the way, asking all the way, some people answered "I don't know", some people said they were a "crazy old man", and they didn't even bother to answer.In the afternoon like this, news came later that Tongzhou had also fallen. Searching all the way to Luhe and visiting along the way, no one knows where Li Bingheng's body is?But the sky darkened, the autumn wind hit the body, and it was full of desolation.As far as the eye can see, there are nothing but the ignorant people who are on the road, weeping and crying. So Wang Tingxiang stared blankly at the corpses floating in the Lu River, and suddenly shouted: "Jian Shuai wait for me!" Then he jumped into the Lu River! "Father!" Wang Lufeng yelled sadly, and hurried to the water to save his father.The old man was never rescued, and he almost died. Fortunately, there are many refugees who know the nature of water, and finally Wang Lufeng can survive.