Chapter 20 Find out the news and drive back to Beijing

Cixi stayed in Xi'an for ten months, and finally waited until the signing of the "Xin Chou Treaty" on July 25, the 27th year of Guangxu (1901), which humiliated the country and humiliated the country.At the same time, in order to appease the anger of foreigners, the imperial court also used Duan Wang Zaiyi as a scapegoat to cut his job for the people and send him to Xinjiang.After Cixi resolved the matter, she finally saw the hope of returning to Beijing.She was not ashamed, but proud. She was very happy to be able to return to Beijing, but she didn't care about the impact of this unequal treaty on the country.On the one hand, she ordered Li Lianying to tell the ministers to prepare the guard of honor and drive back to Beijing; on the other hand, she sent Cui Yugui to go back to Beijing to inquire about the news.After Cui Yugui returned to Beijing, he first went to the homes of the ministers staying in the capital to check the situation, and then went to the palace to check. He found that everyone in the palace was safe and the palace was not damaged, but a lot of antiques and jewels were lost. Whether it was stolen by foreign soldiers or stolen from the palace, there is no way to investigate.However, the market was in order, the shops were operating normally, and the foreign soldiers were gradually withdrawing. It was safe to go back to Luan, so they returned to Xi'an overnight and explained the current situation in Beijing to the Empress Dowager Cixi in detail.

When Cixi heard that the imperial palace and the Summer Palace had not been damaged, she greatly appreciated Li Hongzhang, saying that he had contributed to the imperial court and that he would reward Li Hongzhang heavily after returning to Beijing. Because of some misunderstanding between Cen Chunxuan and Li Lianying in the case of Shi Xiang's buying an official, Cixi specially sent Sheng Yun, governor of Shaanxi, to supervise the board and lodging matters for Qianlu.Shengyun is coming soon because of Qiluan, so please hand over Fuzhuan.Empress Dowager Cixi issued an edict ordering Chief Secretary Li Shaofen to temporarily take care of Shaanxi Governor Dayin. At the same time, Pan Zengxiang was appointed to act as Chief Secretary, Daoist Wu Shufen was to act as the Procuratorate, Xi'an Prefecture Governor Hu Yansheng was in charge of Liangdao, and Alternate Fu Shiwei was to act as Xi'an Prefecture.

The continuous transfer and promotion of personnel caused an inexplicable excitement in Xi'an official circles. One person moved and the whole audience moved. Everyone was promoted to a level, and it was inevitable to congratulate each other and eat.People who didn't know the inside story thought that this group of people was promoted because Cixi was about to return to Beijing, and they were promoted for a while. In fact, it was all due to Yin Zi's credit, otherwise Cixi would not be so generous to promote them. Cixi was about to drive back to Beijing, and local officials and Beijing officials packed their bags.When the Empress Dowager Cixi drove back to the palace, of course she had to give gifts; the local officials also had to prepare gifts for the Beijing officials so that they could be promoted in the future.Therefore, all officials are busy on their own.On August 24th in the twenty-seventh year of Guangxu (1901), Cixi, Guangxu and others finally left the ancient city of Xi'an and embarked on the road back to Beijing.

During Xi'an's nearly one year as a palace, the market has flourished, which made Empress Dowager Cixi very satisfied.In fact, this prosperity was deliberately created by Shaanxi officials. The number of shops on the street has increased, but it is of no benefit to the working people. They all serve the sudden increase of officials.Moreover, in order to maintain the daily board and lodging of the Empress Dowager Cixi and the Beijing officials, the local officials imposed violent taxes on the surrounding farmers. Cixi not only did not bring blessings to the common people, but also made their lives increasingly difficult.Therefore, the common people not only have no intention of keeping them back, but also hope that they will leave early.

Cixi collected a lot of gold, silver and jewelry in Xi'an, and when she returned to Beijing, she needed a lot of chariots and horses to carry them all the way.Although there was a severe drought in Guanzhong at this time, the local officials, Empress Dowager Cixi and those princes and ministers were indifferent to it, but forcibly collected transportation, manpower and animal power from the people for their own selfishness. Of course, those Beijing officials would not personally conscript horses and cattle, so they assigned the task to local officials, and the local officials apportioned the tasks layer by layer.The Guanzhong Plain in August is the golden season for agricultural harvesting and farming. It is necessary to harvest crops such as corn, soybeans, and peanuts, as well as rush to plant wheat. It is the time of the year when carts and horses are most needed for farming.However, in order to drive back to Beijing as soon as possible, Cixi gave the local officials a death mission.Therefore, the hawks and dogs of the imperial court caught cars and people when they saw them, and they even caught young and old regardless of whether they were young or not.

The Qing Dynasty had a strict system, and local officials had to supply food according to grades when officials transited the border.Now that Empress Dowager Cixi has spent a lot of energy on the way back to Beijing, and most of the Beijing officials accompanying her are of high rank, it may be difficult to supply the places she passes by, so she decided to set off in three batches.The first group are those who are insignificant in Shaanxi, followed by those who accompany the driver on the way back to Beijing, and finally those who have no important positions in Beijing.Along the way, it is divided into the tip station (temporary rest) and the station (accommodation, rest) in order to coordinate the supply work.

Not only that, the method of food supply is also strictly determined according to the official rank.For example, the standard meal for princes and ministers is eight or eight seats per person, which is eight plates and eight bowls of chicken, duck, fish, etc.; six or six tables or several tables for the entourage and guards; A table, there are chicken and duck dishes. Because there are so many officials, there are hundreds of tables of this kind of dishes that are carefully prepared by the common people during the Chinese New Year.In all the states and counties we passed, the temporary kitchens serving food and drinks occupied half of the street.Coupled with the Eight Immortals tables arranged in unison, it is really a spectacular sight.The corruption in the officialdom has reached such a level, who would have thought that this is a sign of decadence at the end of a dynasty?

Cixi also specially organized a grand ceremony to drive back to the palace.The most conspicuous ones are the sedan chairs of Cixi and Guangxu. This kind of sedan chair is a bright sedan chair carried by eight, which is very luxurious.Li Lianying still rode beside Cixi's sedan chair all the time.Not only is the interior decoration of the sedan chair very exquisite, even the bearers wear red silk driving clothes, and everything is done according to the rules in the capital.In front of the sedan chair, there are imperial ministers and guards walking side by side, and further ahead are guards, and the guard of honor with twenty-four yellow dragon flags leads the way.Not only that, the avenue is also symbolically covered with loess, and there are escort sergeants standing on both sides of the avenue to show grandeur.At the same time, Shaanxi Governor Shengyun's Shaanxi Army, Gansu Admiral Deng Zeng's Ganjun Army, Sichuan Admiral Xia Yuxiu's Sichuan Army, and Zhili Admiral Ma Yukun's Yi Army all came to see them off, completely different from the embarrassment a year ago.

After the ceremony, Cixi and his party left the east gate of Xi'an, traveled forty miles that day, and settled in Lintong County.Because Cixi and the queen wanted to go to Huaqing Pool where Concubine Yang Guifei took a bath and experience the luxury and nobility of Huaqing Pool, so they rested here for the whole night. Continuing to advance east the next day, we will soon enter the boundary of Huayin County.Before departure, Li Lianying sent someone to send a letter to Liu Linli, the magistrate of Huayin County, his hometown, asking him to make reception and arrange accommodation when the Empress Dowager Cixi passed by Huayin County.Of course, Li Lianying didn't want to curry favor with a county magistrate, it was just because Liu Linli gave him a big gift.Liu Linli was so happy to see Li Lianying's letter that he danced happily, and he was secretly happy. If the reception work is done well, maybe his official position will be promoted again.Therefore, he sent people to look around and deal with it carefully.

On August 28, Liu Linli traveled 30 miles west to Fushui Town to meet Empress Dowager Cixi.On the way back to Huayin County, the people on both sides of the road knelt down and shouted long live, and brought out various local specialties to contribute one by one. In the afternoon of that day, Cixi lived in the county government. As usual, she summoned Liu Linli and asked about the sufferings of the people and the pros and cons of the place.Liu Linli has long memorized a set of words of welcome: Since the Empress Dowager came to Shaanxi, the weather has been smooth, the grains have been plentiful, and the people have enjoyed their work. These are the blessings that the Empress Dowager brought to the common people.Therefore, when the people of Huayin County heard that the empress dowager and the emperor's Luanjia were coming, they would not have traveled tens of miles away to meet Shengjia.

Cixi was originally asking questions by the way, and didn't really want to solve people's livelihood problems.After hearing Liu Linli's flattering words, he couldn't help but smile, and when he was happy, he issued an order to exempt the villagers within three miles of the road from Fushui Town to Huayin County for this year's money and food.Liu Linli was overjoyed, and quickly received an order to thank him, because although the imperial court exempted these taxes, he could still collect them under other guises, and the money and food would fall into his own pocket. Cixi has been in a good mood recently. Firstly, the foreigners have withdrawn from Beijing, so she can return to Beijing in a fair manner; secondly, she has a good life in Shaanxi, and officials from various places often contribute local specialties, which are generally rare in Beijing. Seeing it opened her eyes.So, she decided to visit the scenery of Huayin County.The next day, I sent an order to drive to Yuquanyuan, and I wanted to climb the three peaks of Huashan. After swimming in Yuquanyuan, Cixi couldn't help being afraid when facing the rugged mountain road of Huashan, but the words had already been spoken, and it was difficult to take them back easily.When he was indecisive, Li Lianying, who was kind and understanding, saw that the Empress Dowager Cixi was afraid, so she quickly persuaded her.On the grounds that the mountain is steep and it is difficult to guarantee personal safety, Cixi was advised not to climb to the top of the mountain. Moreover, the Empress Dowager is a body of gold, and it is difficult for others to bear a mistake.Originally, Cixi had already retreated when she saw the Huashan Mountain standing thousands of feet high, but now hearing what Li Lianying said, she took advantage of the situation and decided not to go up. Back at the county government office in Huayin County, Cixi was still unwilling to go to the three peaks of Chenghua Mountain, so she ordered the number one scholar Lu Runxiang to write plaques and hang them in the temples of the mountain, which was a worthwhile trip. Cixi lived in Huayin County for three days. Because Liu Linli was considerate in serving him and provided timely supplies, and some officials knew about his relationship with Li Lianying, they all spoke well of Liu Linli in front of Cixi. Cixi was very satisfied with Liu Linli and couldn't help it. I can't help but praise him as an official who knows how to respect the court. With the personal praise from Empress Dowager Cixi, Liu Linli immediately felt arrogant. "Huayin County Chronicles" also records: Liu Linli built a stele of many blessings, longevity and many descendants outside the east gate of Huayin County. Not only that, but also imitated the practice of Empress Dowager Cixi, and engraved the four characters of Chunhua Qiushi written by himself on the east peak of Yueding. On the cliff stone. Liu Linli, who is good at drilling, was awarded by Cixi, and after Li Lianying's mediation, he was quickly transferred to the prefect of Longzhou and became a fifth-rank official. Although Empress Dowager Cixi and Emperor Guangxu were under a lot of pressure this year, Li Lianying, who was most trusted by Cixi, was the most powerful this year.The Empress Dowager Cixi trusted Li Lianying the most, and she let Li Lianying take care of her when she was away.Therefore, Li Lianying's power is greater than in Beijing.Those powerful Beijing officials had no choice but to be angry and jealous of Li Lianying because they were already in name only. Don't talk about the money handed over to Cixi for promotion, even if the magistrate wants to give Cixi a gift, he must also prepare a copy for Li Lianying, otherwise don't even think about presenting the gift to Cixi in person.Therefore, Li Lianying gathered a lot of money and jewelry during the year.Along the way, apart from Cixi's box, Li Lianying's box was the most eye-catching.Because Li Lianying had too many boxes for depositing money, she had to use Tianzi No. 1, Tianzi No. 2, etc. to number them.Because Cixi herself was involved in it, and Cixi's gold and silver treasures were obtained by Li Lianying's ingenious plan of losing the east and harvesting Sangyu, she also turned a blind eye to Li Lianying's search behavior. Cixi headed east all the way, passing through Shan County, Sanmenxia, ​​and Mianchi, and came straight to Luoyang.