Chapter 14 Chapter Four: The Unyielding Servant Forced to Flee Westward

Colluding with Duanwang Push Boxers Empress Dowager Cixi did not abolish Guangxu immediately after the Hundred Days Reform, but imprisoned him, and made Pu Jun the eldest brother, and Pu Jun was the son of Duan Wang Zaiyi.Later, considering the attitudes of various countries, we had to give up. At this time, the imperial court was corrupt and politically weak. Frightened by the strong ships and guns of foreigners, the Qing Dynasty retreated step by step politically, often cede land and pay compensation, which made people's lives difficult.Landless peasants all over the country rose up one after another, and the most influential one was the Boxer Regiment.Not only that, even missionaries from various countries are waiting for opportunities to carry out sabotage activities in the name of missionary work.

Of course, the imperial court would not sit idly by such blatant activities, but because of its lack of strength, it could not cut them off one by one. The short-sighted, corrupt and incompetent Qing government had no choice but to swallow their anger.French Catholic priest Liang Zongming and local parishioner Wang Zhizun led 30 to 40 parishioners to demolish the Jade Emperor Temple in Liyuantun, Guanxian County, smashed the statues, and wanted to build a Catholic church on the spot.The local people in 18 villages were naturally unconvinced when they saw that the foreigners were so arrogant and unreasonable, so they recommended six people including Wen Sheng Wang Shichang and Jiang Zhiliang to file a complaint in Guan County Government.The magistrate of Guan County knew that the reason was on the side of the common people, but because he was afraid of foreigners, he finally sentenced the people to win and Wang Shichang was removed from his student status.These six people refused to accept it, and sued the government again, and the government didn't want to take over this hot potato, and the six people sued the province again, and the province also had the same attitude.The lawsuit went on for two years, but Jiaomin still won.The common people saw the true face of the government, and saw that the government was afraid that foreigners would be like tigers, so they decided to use force to protect the temple.Led by 18 people including Yan Shuqin and Gao Yuanxiang, they organized a temple protection fair to fight against those Catholics.

In Shaliu'an Village, 30 miles east of Weixian County, there is a martial artist who is a descendant of Plum Blossom Boxing. His surname is Zhao, his given name is Sanduo, and his style name is Laozhu.He is generous and loyal, and always likes to fight against injustices.He has more than 2,000 apprentices, not counting his brothers, disciples and grandchildren, forming a very large force.At that time, most of the Catholics in China were rogues or local tyrants who had lost power, relying on the power of the church to blackmail the good people.Zhao Sanduo couldn't get used to it, and often expressed that they would teach them a lesson. Yan Shuqin and others saw that he had a sense of justice and was capable of wielding a knife and a gun, so they worshiped Zhao Sanduo as their teacher and learned some guns and sticks for self-defense.

And those religious people also reported to Liang Zongming about their organization of private armed forces, Liang Zongming also reported to the government, requesting to send troops to suppress it.Seeing that foreigners were involved in this matter, the government immediately sent a sentry to station in Liyuantun.Zhao Sanduo knew that this was directed at him. Although he was very angry, he was not confused. He knew that he could not go head-to-head with well-equipped officers and soldiers, otherwise he would be a dead end. , This is the origin of Boxing Boxing. The conflict between the church and Boxer is increasingly irreconcilable, and behind it is actually a game between the interests of the government and the people.The government was afraid of foreigners, so in the end Shandong governor Zhang Rumei had to send his personal guards to Liyuantun to forcibly demolish the Yuhuang Temple. This action seriously hurt the feelings of the villagers.Zhao Sanduo couldn't bear it anymore, secretly planned the uprising, and agreed to start the uprising on August 18th, the 24th year of Guangxu (1898).Their team totaled more than 3,000 people.They first fought a battle with the Qing army in Changjiatun, Qiu County, with mutual casualties and neither victory nor defeat.Later, the government dispatched a large number of reinforcements to defeat the Boxers in the south of Houwei Village in Wei County. Zhao Sanduo took his disciples out to seek refuge.

In the spring of the following year, Yuxian, the governor of Shandong, issued a notice to calm the people out of consideration of calming down the incident, and the boxers were able to go home.Zhao Sanduo was active in the three provinces of Hebei, Shandong and Henan, from Zaoqiang to Wuyi, from Wuyi to Jinxian, Zhengding, and then to Cangzhou, setting up altars everywhere to teach disciples.From then on, the boxing of righteousness and boxing spread north along the Grand Canal and became more prosperous day by day.It just so happened that Tianjin Beixiang unearthed a remnant stele during the excavation of the branch river. The handwriting was blurred. After careful identification, it turned out to be a ballad.The lyrics are: this suffering is not bitter, two four plus one five.The streets are full of red lights, and that's when it's hard.It turns out that Yihequan has two kinds of kung fu, one is golden bell jar, which is practiced by men, and the other is red light illumination, which is practiced by women, both of which are said to be invulnerable.

Yuxian was originally the governor of Shandong because of the support of King Duan, and he knew very well that King Zaiyi could not make his son Pu Jun the elder brother because of foreigners intervening in the court, so he hated them.Now, there is Boxer Boxing in my jurisdiction that claims to be invulnerable to weapons and guns, which can resist the guns and cannons of foreigners, so I rushed to Pegasus Express to report to Duan Wang, saying: Boxers in the Eastern Province are highly skilled, not only can avoid weapons, but also are invulnerable to guns. Bless the elder brother, who was born with this generation of geniuses, and help Allah.Wang Ye immediately summoned them and ordered them to guard the palace, preparing for the big brother to be true.

After receiving the secret report, King Duan was overjoyed. He believed that the reason why the Empress Dowager Cixi did not immediately abolish Guangxu and establish her elder brother was mainly because she feared that foreigners would forcibly interfere with strong boats and guns.Now, with the protection of this kind of boxers, it would be easy to expel the foreigners.At that time, the elder brother Pu Jun will be firmly enthroned, and he will also be the Supreme Emperor by the way.Not to mention Guangxu, even Cixi can be abolished together. Duan Wang, who was in a daze, didn't consider whether Yu Xian's statement was true, and immediately went to the palace to inform Empress Dowager Cixi that Yu Xian had sent a secret report, saying that there were such boxers with strange skills available.Cixi was more sober than King Duan. She didn't believe it at first, and refuted King Duan with the historical facts that Zhang Jiao and other monsters confuse the public at the end of the Eastern Han Dynasty, which eventually led to chaos in the world and the destruction of the Han Dynasty.

King Duan did not give up, and while praising Empress Dowager Cixi for her insight, he firmly believed that Yuxian was a loyal minister and would not deceive the court.For the sake of prudence, he suggested recruiting boxers to test first, and if there are strange skills, then recruit more, choose loyal and brave disciples from them, send them to the inner court to worship, and teach them to the guards and eunuchs, so as to eliminate foreigners in the future and avenge their hatred. The Empress Dowager Cixi was moved by his words, but she was still a little worried, so she asked Li Lianying for advice.The fact that Pu Jun, the son of Prince Duan, was the elder brother was made possible by Zaiyi's large gifts to Li Lianying. Moreover, King Duan knew Li Lianying's importance in front of Cixi, and he had already taken care of Li Lianying before reporting it to Cixi.Therefore, even if Cixi did not consult Li Lianying, he still had to find a way to speak for King Duan.Now that I have asked him, I have to express my support.However, Li Lianying was not the kind of person who was eager to show off. He was very tactful and said to Empress Dowager Cixi: Since King Duan said it, we might as well let Governor Yulu of Zhili try it.If it is effective, it can be discussed again.If it doesn't work, just stop immediately, and there will be no loss.

After hearing Li Lianying's words, Cixi nodded again and again. This will not cause any loss to the court, even if it has no effect, just train soldiers.So, Enzhun Duan Wang went to handle it.Seeing Cixi nodding his head, King Duan happily withdrew immediately and ran to the Military Aircraft Department to draw up an order: Yulu summoned boxers and organized them into a group training, and tried it out first. Yulu was also a close friend of King Duan, so he immediately wrote a letter to Shandong and consulted with Yuxian.Seeing that his proposal was appreciated by King Duan, Yuxian was immediately elated, and soon sent a large group of boxers to Tianjin, where Yulu would test them one by one.The people Yuxian sent to Tianjin were all selected after thousands of selections. I saw that all of these people were physically strong and punched like the wind.But after all, guns have no eyes, so I dare not be careless.

Empress Dowager Cixi was deceived by King Duan and Li Lianying, saying that Yihe boxers were available.There are princes and ministers outside, and pets and prisons inside, they all tried their best to persuade, and the Empress Dowager Cixi finally believed it.Therefore, he ordered the establishment of a regiment training bureau, where boxers lived, and a banner of the Boxer Regiment was erected to teach boxers.In this way, everyone thought that Yihequan was really invulnerable.Thanks to the support of the imperial court, by the spring of the twenty-sixth year of the reign of Emperor Guangxu (1900), Shandong and Zhili had become Boxing Prefectures and counties, and their power developed rapidly.

Although Cixi was deceived, there are still loyal people in the court who do not believe in this kind of magic.University scholar Ronglu repeatedly reported to the Empress Dowager Cixi that the Boxer Regiment was all vain, and even if there was a small efficacious effect, it was heresy and absolutely unreliable.Helplessly, the Empress Dowager Cixi was controlled by King Duan on both sides, and all the people praised the Boxers, and Rong Lu, who was weak and weak, could only sigh at himself. Because Cixi won the invulnerable Boxers, she suddenly felt that her waist was much stiffer, so she prepared to declare war on foreigners.Her first thought was to let the Boxers besiege the embassies of various countries.While defending, the embassies of various countries consulted with the prime minister's office and questioned them severely.However, the Prime Minister's Yamen was under the management of Duan Wang Zaiyi, and no one paid any attention to their official documents.Dan Wang was also overjoyed at the killing of the secretary of the Japanese embassy, ​​Sugiyama Kage, and the German minister, Baron Linde, by boxers. Of course, foreigners will not suffer from being dumb, so they contacted the eight countries to form an army and threatened to ask the imperial court for the Dagukou Fort.Duan Wang Zaiyi, however, was dazzled by the victory, saying that as long as there are this group of boxers to serve, no matter how many foreigners are fearful, he resolutely asked the Empress Dowager Cixi to declare war on the Eight Kingdoms. The Empress Dowager Cixi was still hesitant at the beginning, and Wang Zaiyi took the opportunity to present a forged diplomatic note, falsely claiming that the Empress Dowager Cixi would return to Emperor Guangxu, abolished her elder brother Pujun, and allowed 10,000 foreign soldiers to enter Beijing.Cixi was very angry, and did not distinguish between true and false, she immediately decided to declare war on the eight countries, and ordered all the ministers to go to court the next day to discuss the war. The next day, in the main hall, Rong Lu expressed his strong opposition to this seemingly child's play state behavior.Cixi reprimanded Rong Lu for being good at talking, but not having a good idea to fight against the enemy. After hearing this, Rong Lu had to kowtow. Seeing that Rong Lu was also scolded, all the military ministers dared to disobey Cixi's intentions, so they had to echo Cixi with one voice.When Emperor Guangxu saw that Empress Dowager Cixi made decisions without his own consent, he really regarded his ancestors' society as a child's play, so he bravely spoke for Ronglu.Unexpectedly, Li Lianying, who was behind Cixi, acted like a tiger, and gave Guangxu a vicious look.Just this one look made Guangxu's heart tremble in fright, his body trembled, and he almost fell off the dragon chair. Seeing that the scene was very tense, fortunately Zhao Shuqiao, Minister of the Ministry of Justice, came out to rescue the siege, and asked the Empress Dowager Cixi to issue an order to wipe out the foreigners in the mainland, so as to prevent other countries from spying on our military situation with evil intentions. Zhao Shuqiao's behavior not only diverted Cixi, Li Lianying, and Zaiyi's anger towards Guangxu, but also saved Guangxu.Only then did Cixi turn her anger into joy, and ordered the Minister of Military Aircraft to consider the replay. Later, Xu Yongyi, Minister of the Ministry of War, Lishan, Minister of the Ministry of Households, Xu Jingcheng, Minister of the Ministry of Officials, Lian Yuan, a cabinet scholar, Yuan Chang, Minister of Taichang Temple, etc. also stood up to express their opposition: declaring war with all countries in the world is outnumbered and will result in defeat.As soon as foreign aggression comes in, internal strife follows, and there will be endless troubles.Yuan Chang, Minister of Taichang Temple, said that foreigners are usually peaceful and reasonable, and will not interfere in China's internal affairs, and questioned the authenticity of the content of the note.This hit the sore spots of Duan Wang Zaiyi and Li Lianying.Duan Wang Zaiyi immediately became angry from embarrassment, saying that Yuan Chang was a traitor and even spoke for foreigners. Cixi ordered Yuan Chang to withdraw, so that no one would stand up to oppose it.Seeing that the goal had been achieved, Cixi ordered the Military Aircraft Department to issue a decree to declare war, telegram it to all provinces, and ordered Rong Lu to notify the envoys of all countries to leave Beijing as he wished, and send troops to protect him and send them to Tianjin. Liu Kun, governor of Liangjiang, saw that something was wrong, so he contacted Li Hongzhang, governor of Guangdong and Guangxi, and Zhang Zhidong, governor of Huguang, and jointly agreed that the area under their jurisdiction would not go to war with foreigners, which stabilized part of the situation. Soon, the coalition forces of Britain, France, Germany, Russia, the United States, Austria, Italy and Japan began to attack Dagukou. There were more than 23,000 of them in total. Eight thousand people, the Italian soldiers are the least, only fifty people.Unexpectedly, Luo Rongguang, the admiral of Dagukou, was greedy for life and afraid of death. He ran back to Tianjin without contact with the enemy, and the fort of Dagukou fell.Yulu was the only one left to retreat to Beicang with Song Qing and Ma Yukun.The Boxer Regiment, which was originally valued by the imperial court, could not be dispatched and commanded uniformly because they did not govern each other. Not only could they not fight with the government forces, but they killed each other, so that foreigners took advantage of the opportunity to enter. The Eight-Power Allied Forces were victorious and took the opportunity to attack Beijing. When they arrived in Langfang, they encountered resistance from the Boxers and suffered heavy casualties. They had to retreat to Tianjin and wait for an opportunity to advance again. The situation was not as smooth as expected, so all the ministers dared not tell Cixi clearly, only King Duan bravely told the truth.But the ministers still said that the city of Beijing was so strong that foreigners could not invade it. Unexpectedly, Ronglu had found out that the note was fabricated by King Duan and reported it to Empress Dowager Cixi.Empress Dowager Cixi reprimanded King Duan for boldly deceiving the court, and exposed his conspiracy: King Duan just wanted his son Pu Jun to ascend the throne, so that he himself could supervise the country and hold real power. The Empress Dowager Cixi was really angry. She has always been extremely sensitive to power, but now that Prince Duan dares to covet power, how can she not be angry?Cixi warned King Duan to be careful, otherwise his family property would be confiscated and he would be driven out of the capital. King Duan had never been reprimanded by the Empress Dowager Cixi since he started his career. It was the first time he was so severely reprimanded.Seeing that the Empress Dowager Cixi was really angry, Li Lianying, who knew how to protect herself, only wanted to protect herself and dared not intercede with King Duan. In this series of incidents, Li Lianying really managed to hide from the court.There is no sign of him anywhere in the open, but he is always building bridges and leading the way in the dark.It was his collusion with King Duan that was able to influence Cixi's decision to go to war, so that the situation blew up and became difficult to deal with.