Chapter 17 Zonghenghe finally escaped danger

The situation is very unfavorable for Cixi, Cixi is in the hands of Luo Lihai, and the ministers of the DPRK and China dare not act rashly.Seeing that Zhang Yuhe showed murderous intent, but was blocked by Luo Lihai at the side, he advised Zhang Yuhe to see how Shangguan Jin would deal with it. After hearing what Li Lianying and Cixi said, Shangguan Jin felt a little relieved, and asked Cixi if he really intended to do this.Empress Dowager Cixi listened to politics behind a curtain for decades, and she was the only one who criticized and educated people. How could she want to be criticized by others like this today?Shangguan Jinming was asking, but he meant to accuse her of her past misdeeds and mess up the country.Although Cixi was in exile, after all, she was used to sitting in the seat of more than ten thousand people. Suddenly someone spoke to her in such a tone that she didn't know how to answer for a while, so she simply didn't speak.

Cixi didn't speak, but Li Lianying who was beside her was anxious. Li Lianying thought that even if you promise a few words casually, it's better than saying nothing!Heads can move at any moment if you annoy them. Seeing that Cixi was still silent, Li Lianying couldn't sit still any longer. The empress dowager was really not in a hurry.Li Lianying just wanted to break the silence and say something nice for Empress Dowager Cixi, but Zhang Zhankui stopped her. Seeing that she had to make a statement, Cixi went along with the flow and said that what the knights mentioned was what she always advocated, and it was only because of the unskilled employment that they ended up in this situation.

Seeing that the Empress Dowager Cixi finally admitted her mistake, Shangguan Jin thought that she could still influence Cixi, so he proposed to let Cixi meet his requirements before letting them go.After Cixi's statement just now, she no longer spoke incoherently, so she pretended to be calm and let them speak in detail. Seeing what Cixi said, Shangguan Jin thought that there was room for negotiation on this matter, so he put forward his own proposition: first, do not allow excessive taxation on the people and reduce taxes; second, appoint capable people and punish corrupt officials; third, To enrich the country and strengthen the army, actively resist foreigners; finally, and most importantly, the Taiping Army, Nian Army, Boxers and their families must not be arrested and killed.

When Li Lianying heard that she would not be killed if she agreed to these four conditions, she immediately knelt down with all the ministers and asked Empress Dowager Cixi to agree to this condition that was beneficial to the country and the people. Cixi thought to herself that she was still in danger, what would happen in the future, the situation was complicated and confusing, and she had no idea.But these four articles are not detrimental to Chao Gang. If the foreigners leave, I will still hold the power, and the four, forty, and four hundred articles you proposed will all be abolished at that time.

She thought so in her heart, but she praised Shangguan Jin again and again, saying that he was always thinking of the country.Considering that he was on Xishou Road and could not issue an edict to the world, after returning to Beijing, he immediately issued an edict to the whole country. Zhang Yuhe reminded Shangguan Jin not to believe it, but Shangguan Jin seriously verified Cixi's words, and Cixi responded that she would never break her promise. Li Lianying chimed in, saying that Lafayette is the lord of the people, so of course he can't count his words.Zhang Yuhe, on the other hand, thinks about the problem in the way of righteous men in the rivers and lakes, and they are only willing to let them go if they swear, but they don't know that officials are always the best at swearing, anyway, it doesn't matter if they don't come true.

Li Lianying thought to herself, what is the oath, if the oath works, how many people will be unlucky, so she made a heavy oath to guarantee that the promise just now will be fulfilled. Seeing that the matter had come to this, Zhang Yuhe had no choice but to insert the knife into the scabbard fiercely, and walked away angrily.Shangguan Jin felt very satisfied with the court's promise, so without saying much, he turned his head to greet Luo Lihai and the others to leave, and they were far away in an instant. Duan Wang Zaiyi snatched a quick gun from a guard, and was about to shoot at the flying shadow to save face, but was stopped by Gui Xiang.The reason is to avoid provoking them to go back and forth, and the situation will be difficult to deal with.

Seeing that those people had disappeared, Cixi breathed a sigh of relief, but her face was very ugly.Li Lianying hurried over to support Cixi.After resting for a while, Cixi regained her usual look and her tone calmed down.In order not to let the world know about the embarrassing incident of the imperial court just now, Empress Dowager Cixi strictly ordered not to spread it to the outside world.After hearing this, all the ministers followed suit. After resting for a long time, Cixi ordered to continue driving westward.After walking to Kangzhuang, the food was replenished, and we rested in this mountainous countryside for a while.They only found some millet to cook porridge for the Empress Dowager Cixi, after which she recovered a lot and her complexion seemed to look better.

After resting, they continued to march westward, and their hard work paid off, and they were finally not far from Huailai County.After traveling for so many days along the way, I can take a good rest when I arrive at the county seat.The lack of food and sleep for many days is really hard, especially those princes, who are looking forward to taking a good rest and eating a decent meal in Huailai County. But none of them expected that there was another problem before them.It turned out that there was a river in the east of Huailai City, which usually had no water, but unfortunately, it had just rained heavily, and the collected flood flooded the river quickly, and the turbid water rushed down.What's more critical is that there is no bridge to cross the river. If the foreign soldiers chase them at this time, they will really be in a dead end with nowhere to go.

Cixi couldn't help lamenting that her life was miserable, could it be that she died here?Even the scheming Li Lianying was at a loss. Gui Xiang stomped his feet anxiously, looking up to the sky and sighing.Just at this moment, a local mountain dweller passed by and sighed when he saw a group of haggard, disheveled and decent people looking at the river, knowing that they were in a hurry to cross the river.Therefore, he told Guixiang that if he made a dash at this time, he might still be able to get through it. After a while, the upstream water would come, and the gods would not be able to get through it. He had to wait until the flood peak passed in three days.

As soon as Guixiang heard that there was a way, but considering the personal safety of the royal relatives, he asked this person to give it a try. Who knows, this person smiled and said: "You can try it, but I'm afraid it will delay time. When the time comes, there will be a mountain torrent." Come, but really can't make it through. At this time, Li Lianying also came over, and after hearing what the man said, she told the Empress Dowager Cixi exactly.The Empress Dowager Cixi consulted Li Lianying as usual. Li Lianying began to analyze step by step: firstly, he is a native of the mountains and has experience in this situation; secondly, if the flood came before crossing the river, it was inevitable that foreigners would chase after him, and he would have no choice but to catch him without a fight.Therefore, his opinion is that rushing to the past is the best, and he believes that auspicious people have their own appearance.

Cixi was frightened by the foreigners and the Boxers. She would rather take the risk of crossing the river than put herself in a dangerous situation, so she agreed to cross the river. Li Lianying made preparations for delivering the decree, but Zai Yi persuaded the Empress Dowager Cixi not to take risks on the grounds that her safety was difficult to guarantee. Most of the reason why Cixi has fallen into this position today is because of Zaiyi's bad ideas, and she always has a bad temper with him.Now Duan Wang Zaiyi came to prevent her from crossing the river again, so he asked him, what if foreigners chased him if he did not cross the river?What if so many people have nothing to eat or drink? Duan Wang Zaiyi was kind enough to persuade the Empress Dowager Cixi not to take risks, but when he didn't want to, he encountered a big problem, so he had to kneel down and even said that he was only worried about the safety of the Empress Dowager, and had no other meaning.Li Lianying was also afraid that Zaiyi would make Cixi angry again, and she would make an extraordinary decision at that time, and no one could undo it, so she quickly pretended to be angry and asked Duan Wang Zaiyi to step down quickly, Zaiyi was finally relieved, and thanked her. Guixiang was going to come in to persuade Cixi not to cross the river. Seeing that Zaiyi had hit a wall, he knew that Cixi was frightened by foreigners and Boxers. He would rather risk his life to cross the river than fall into their hands, so he declared that he would do it right away. ready, Cixi nodded and waved him out. Guixiang knew that crossing the river was related to Cixi's safety and his own future, so he didn't dare to be careless.He carefully selected 300 strong men from among the bodyguards and soldiers, 36 of whom helped carry the sedan chair, and the rest guarded and protected the sedan chair on both sides.After making careful preparations, she felt that there was no danger, so she asked Cixi to cross the river. Cixi ordered to start crossing the river, and everyone guarded Cixi's palanquin like stars holding the moon.When Cixi heard the roaring waves outside the sedan chair, she couldn't help being frightened.She couldn't help but look out from the sedan chair, and saw the rolling waves of the river, the torrent rushing forward, and the sound was like thunder.Cixi just didn't look at it, but felt dizzy for a while after reading it, as if she had fallen into the river. Since they didn't know the specific conditions of the riverbed, the bearers had no choice but to cautiously grope forward with one foot deep and one shallow foot.When we got to the middle of the river, firstly, the water was stronger, and secondly, this is where the river flows the fastest, so the palanquin shook even more violently.Cixi was so nervous that she chanted Amitabha.Fortunately, there were Gui Xiang and Li Lianying outside the sedan chair who kept comforting her so that she would not feel helpless and become more nervous. In fact, Gui Xiang and Li Lianying were not much more courageous than her, they just felt that yelling at each other could lift their spirits and they just crossed the river quickly.Cixi didn't know the specific situation outside the sedan chair. In fact, Gui Xiang and Li Lianying were greeting the people who led their horses, not encouraging the Empress Dowager Cixi.In any case, at least the Empress Dowager Cixi has something to rely on at this time, and she is satisfied when she knows the time of crisis and her cronies think about herself. After finally crossing the river, I looked back at the rushing river, and the water level rose by more than two feet, and the torrent was even fiercer than before.Cixi couldn't help being afraid for a while that if Li Lianying hadn't persuaded herself to cross the river quickly, she might really be in danger.Therefore, my love for Li Lianying has increased a bit. After all the entourage had crossed the river, they did not dare to stay, and went straight to Huailai County after a short rest.Previously, Wu Yong, the magistrate of Huailai County, had been reported by the front station personnel.Therefore, when Cixi and Guangxu's sedan chairs were still three miles away from the east gate of Huailai County, Wu Yong, the county magistrate, had already brought dozens of officials from Huailai County to kneel down to meet them.Cixi was finally greeted by local officials for the first time since she fled Beijing.Cixi also didn't care about seeing Dali, and ordered people to go to deal with the board and lodging matters of the team.Knowing that the Empress Dowager Cixi hadn't had a good rest for several days, Wu Yong hurriedly brought them into the city.