Chapter 36 Serving Empress Dowager Cixi in Xi'an

After the Gengzi incident, Cixi fled in a panic and went all the way to Xi'an.Entering the territory of Shaanxi, the Queen Mother's airs, which had been discarded beyond the clouds on the way to escape, reappeared.Almost to Xi'an, Empress Dowager Cixi's heart became more and more peaceful.After fleeing for more than two months, I can finally enjoy the happiness of life.In order not to be too embarrassed when she arrived in Xi'an, she also specially ordered Li Lianying to rest in Weinan for a few more days, so as to ensure the royal demeanor and momentum when entering Xi'an.No matter how much you lose in front of foreigners (foreigners), you still play prestige in front of the common people. This is always the case with Chinese feudal rulers. The face lost in front of foreigners must be regained in front of the domestic people.

As soon as the Empress Dowager Cixi entered Weinan City, she put on the airs of the empress dowager, and Li Lianying also took the opportunity to rely on the Empress Dowager Cixi to support him and boss around everywhere, showing off her might.The common people just regret not letting their own children become eunuchs.Although the magistrate of Weinan County was dissatisfied, facing such a master, he just hoped not to cause a catastrophe, let alone complain.Fortunately, Empress Dowager Cixi only stayed in Weinan City for two days, and hurriedly got up and drove to Xi'an on the third day.

Xi'an, known as Chang'an Jingzhao in ancient times, is one of the four world-famous ancient capitals in the world. It is a representative of culture and has the reputation of natural history museum. It has a long history and is located in the middle of the Guanzhong Plain.This place has natural advantages, with Tongguan in the east, easy to defend and difficult to attack, the natural danger of the Yellow River in the north, and the Qinling Mountains in the south as a barrier.The emperors of all dynasties competed to build their capital in Guanzhong, in order to inherit the spirit of the dragon and achieve long-term peace and stability.From the Zhou Dynasty to the Han Dynasty, and from the Han Dynasty to the Tang Dynasty, more than ten dynasties have established their capitals here.Although the Empress Dowager Cixi did not have the vision to look forward to the general development trend of the world, she has the uniqueness of choosing the ideal place to live.

The scenery of Xi'an is even more dazzling.Mausoleums of emperors of all dynasties, inscriptions on steles, temples and pagodas can be seen everywhere.The Big Wild Goose Pagoda in Da Ci'en Temple and the Small Wild Goose Pagoda in Jianfu Temple face each other from a distance, and they seem to be telling each other their vicissitudes.The inscriptions and stone inscriptions in the forest of steles leave behind the eternity of time passing.Living in such an environment can really cultivate human nature and make people reborn. Empress Dowager Cixi, who had suffered all the way, was finally approaching Xi'an, and Li Lianying excitedly reported the good news to Cixi.Cixi couldn't help but lifted the car curtain and looked out, then put down the car curtain again.At this time, Luanjia had already arrived outside the city of Xi'an, and the city wall was faintly visible.Outside the east gate of Xi'an City, a group of officials from Shaanxi Province and local Xi'an had long been waiting to welcome Cixi.I saw them all well-dressed, waiting eagerly.

The leader among them is Lord Duan Fangduan, Governor of Shaanxi.Seeing that the holy driver was approaching, he hurriedly greeted the surrounding officials, big and small, to meet him. Li Lianying also hurriedly informed Empress Dowager Cixi that Xi'an City had arrived.Although Li Lianying lowered her voice, the accompanying officials and concubines in the harem heard it. Everyone booed in unison, and finally they didn't have to run away anymore. The Empress Dowager Cixi raised the curtain of the sedan chair and saw the tall city wall, which immediately touched her heart.Think of how honorable and glorious the imperial palace in the capital is.Looking at the city wall, thinking about the hardships of his journey, Cixi, who has seen the world, will inevitably shed tears.

Duanfang, governor of Shaanxi Province, led the officials of Shaanxi and Xi'an prefectures to kneel down to greet the holy driver, and then escorted them to the palace.Cixi was surrounded by a group of officials, big and small, and finally regained the long-lost feeling of being valued and held high, and regained her previous arrogance. Where is Cixi's palace?It turns out that Duanfang, the governor of Shaanxi, has been worrying about the affairs of the palace since he knew that Cixi was going to be stationed in Xi'an.Because of the tight finances in the province and the lack of time, we had to decide to vacate the governor's office and the governor's office as the palace.However, the Governor's Yamen and the Governor's Yamen were also built in the early Qing Dynasty. Due to the continuous disasters in Shaanxi in recent years, frequent uprisings, and panic, successive officials have no intention of repairing it, and it looks dilapidated.Now if it is to be used as the palace of Empress Dowager Cixi and Emperor Guangxu, it cannot be neither repaired nor repaired.Therefore, Duan Fang gritted his teeth again, allocated 100,000 taels of silver from the small treasury, summoned skilled craftsmen from all over the province and batches of wood, bamboo, and fabrics, and in just over 20 days, the governor The yamen and the governor's yamen have been renovated.Then, they collected all kinds of exotic flowers and stones, calligraphy, paintings and seal carvings from all over the province, and decorated the two yamen, which finally looked like a palace.

On the way to the palace, the Empress Dowager Cixi was worried that her residence was not ideal, so she asked Li Lianying to inquire first, and Li Lianying took the order to go. Li Lianying first went to the governor's office to have a look, and thought it was all right.Then I went to the Governor's Yamen, I saw that there are continuous buildings in the courtyard, the layout is exquisite, there are mountains and rocks dotted, flowers and trees are hidden, it really has the style of an imperial palace.But I feel a little awkward in my heart. Duan Fang is too good at doing things. I have to be careful to serve the Empress Dowager Cixi in Xi'an in the future, and I can't let others steal the limelight.

Li Lianying did not dare to delay, and immediately reported to the Empress Dowager Cixi that the Governor's Yamen and the Governor's Yamen were both good, but the latter was better.Therefore, Cixi decided to live in the Governor's Yamen. Huang Jia arrived in Xi'an on the fourth day of September in the twenty-sixth year of Guangxu (1900).At this point, Empress Dowager Cixi and Emperor Guangxu ended their panic-stricken escape experience, immediately healed their scars and forgot about the pain, and resumed their extravagant lives.Food, drink, and clothing are in line with the standards of the imperial palace, which makes the local people in Xi'an very dissatisfied.But local officials seem to have grasped at the straw of climbing upwards, and serve special meals in different ways every day.In the end, even Cixi got tired of it.

Fortunately, Li Lianying had a heart and found a delicacy that she had never eaten before, which made Cixi's appetite whet.It turns out that although there are many snacks in Xi'an, the officials have always thought that those are not elegant, so they have never served the palace.But Li Lianying knew Cixi's habits and knew that she loved to taste fresh food. As soon as she entered Xi'an, she sent a large number of young eunuchs to search for small restaurants in the city, and recommended them to Cixi if they thought they were delicious.Therefore, although he doesn't often go out to the gate of the palace, he has a preliminary understanding of what is there in Xi'an, and even the customs, products and landforms of Shaanxi.

Li Lianying introduced a very famous mutton steamed bun shop to Empress Dowager Cixi and Emperor Guangxu, and Cixi took Guangxu to eat this local snack. Mutton steamed buns have a long history. In the Song Dynasty, Su Shi had long delicacies and bear curds, and Qin cooked only yokan. The poem, this yokan is mutton steamed buns.The cooking technology of mutton steamed buns is very strict, and the cooking process of meat is also very particular. Emperor Guangxu was used to eating big fish and big meat, so he tasted this unique mutton steamed bun, and he really whetted his appetite.Empress Dowager Cixi also felt refreshed after eating, and blamed Li Lianying for not bringing her to eat earlier.Since then, some local snacks will often appear on the table of the Empress Dowager Cixi, which makes the Empress Dowager Cixi full of praise.

In the same way, Li Lianying also followed the same pattern, recruiting local opera troupes in Xi'an for Cixi, and also inquiring about more famous temples, so that Cixi could live as if she was in the capital as much as possible. Cixi has since fallen in love with Qin Opera. In Xi'an, both Cixi and Guangxu got a good rest.Especially Emperor Guangxu, his physical condition improved and his spirit improved a lot.Although he still thinks about Concubine Zhen and is still indifferent to the Empress, at least his eyes are more angry, and his attitude towards Empress Dowager Cixi has improved a lot. Although Cixi lived leisurely in Xi'an, she was disturbed by a news from the capital.It is said that foreign devils broke into the Summer Palace, ran amok in the garden, and destroyed many rare treasures.After all, Xi'an is not a place to stay for a long time. In order to return to Beijing, foreigners need to be persuaded to leave Beijing first, and some conditions must be agreed to.For this matter, the Empress Dowager Cixi began to be at a loss again. The first request of the foreigners to negotiate a peace was for the Qing government to deal with Zaiyi, Zhao Shuqiao and others who were the main fighters.But the main peace faction was killed by Cixi, and the declaration of war against the Eight-Power Allied Forces was also the war declared by the Empress Dowager Cixi. Now, in order to please foreigners, killing the main war faction is tantamount to slapping yourself, how can you justify yourself. Seeing the Empress Dowager Cixi in a dilemma, Li Lianying decided to persuade her to agree to the conditions of the foreign devils as soon as possible so that she could return to Beijing as soon as possible.Therefore, he tried his best to persuade the Empress Dowager Cixi to say that the great Qing Dynasty depends on the Empress Dowager Cixi to support the situation and determine the universe.Because of Empress Dowager Cixi, foreigners defeated the Boxers, which can be regarded as a great contribution to Empress Dowager Cixi.As for the foreigners, as long as the responsibility for declaring war is shifted to King Duan, they fully accept the terms of the foreigners.At the same time, it is suggested that the Empress Dowager Cixi hand over all matters related to peace negotiations to Prince Qing and Li Hongzhang.In this way, it is difficult for foreigners to say anything, and they will definitely withdraw from Beijing. Li Lianying knew that the Empress Dowager Cixi still had scruples about the main fighters, so she further persuaded that for the sake of long-term interests, she had to sacrifice the main fighters.The foreigners let the Empress Dowager Cixi see how powerful they are, and the Empress Dowager Cixi never dared to bargain with them. In order to return to Beijing as soon as possible, she had to sacrifice the main combat faction. On December 26, the twenty-sixth year of Guangxu (1900), the Empress Dowager Cixi issued an edict of guilt in the name of Emperor Guangxu, saying that since she had the opportunity to repent, she should receive an edict of self-blame.His words were very sincere, and the empress dowager of the Qing Dynasty was so gentle in front of foreigners.In this edict, Yikuang and Li Hongzhang were also instructed to strive to reach an agreement as soon as possible at all costs, and reiterated Empress Dowager Cixi's core thinking of foreigners to measure China's material resources and unite the country's favor. In fact, as early as the beginning of November in the twenty-sixth year of Guangxu (1900), envoys from eleven countries, including Russia, the United States, Britain, France, Japan, Germany, Italy, Austria, Belgium, Spain, and the Netherlands, sent a letter to Prince Qing. Yikuang and Zhili Li Hongzhang put forward the "Negotiation Outline", asking the Chinese government to build graves and monuments for the German envoy Klind and the Japanese embassy secretary Sugiyama Akira who were killed in China, and asked the Chinese government to send people to Germany and Japan apologized; asked China to deal with them severely according to the list of boxing leaders they listed; asked China to repair the tombs of foreigners destroyed in the war; prohibited China from buying weapons and ammunition, and demanded the demolition of Dagukou A fort; a requirement to garrison troops in an embassy These demands should be said to have completely trampled on China's sovereignty and interfered in China's internal affairs.Even Li Hongzhang, who was authorized, did not dare to make a decision without authorization and reported it to the Empress Dowager Cixi who was far away in Xi'an.The Empress Dowager Cixi, who was frightened by the foreigners, agreed to the peace terms proposed by the foreigners, no matter how detrimental to the national dignity. But the foreigners made an inch of progress, and demanded severe punishment of several Boxer leaders and ministers in charge of war between the DPRK and China.Empress Dowager Cixi had no choice but to ask Rong Lu to draw up the decree: Instructing the capital since May, boxers and bandits have occasionally caused chaos and started provoking allies.Now Yikuang, Li Hongzhang and envoys from various countries have negotiated a peace in Beijing, and the outline draft agreement has been drawn.Thinking back to the beginning of the disaster, it is actually the kings and ministers who were ignorant, arrogant and domineering, convinced of sorcery, and hijacked the court.It is impossible to resist the edict of suppressing boxing bandits.The anti-fist bandits believed in the boxing bandits and fought recklessly, causing the evil flames to explode, gathering tens of thousands of bandits under the elbows and armpits, and the situation was unstoppable.The master ordered the reckless generals to besiege the embassy.In a few months, it caused a catastrophe.The country is in danger, the mausoleum is shocked, the place is devastated, and the people are devastated.The dangerous situation between me and the empress dowager is unspeakable, and I am heartbroken to this day, with deep grief and indignation.It is the kings and ministers who believe in evil and indulge the bandits, endanger the clan society, and harm Li Yuan. Ask yourself what crime you should be guilty of?After two decrees before, I still feel that the law is light and sentimental and not enough to cover the innocent.It should be divided into different grades and punished.Zaixun, Prince Zhuang, connived at the boxers and besieged the embassy.Good at writing the notice of breach of contract, and credulously believing in bandits' words, killing many lives in vain, it is really stupid and stubborn, so he committed suicide, and sent Shi Ge Baoti, the governor of Zuodu, to monitor him.Zaiyi, the king of Duanjun County, advocated the death of the kings Baylor, believed in the boxers, made false claims to lead the war, and caused provocations. The crime is undeniable. He was resigned from the title, but he was afraid of his relatives, so he was given special grace, and all of them were sent to Xinjiang, where he was imprisoned forever, and he was sent to guard the retired governor Yuxian, who was formerly the governor of Shandong. He believed in the magic of boxers and bandits , until he boasted about it, so that the kings and ministers were instigated by him, and he was appointed as the governor of Shanxi. The Fa-rectification will be carried out immediately after the decree is passed, and He Fukun, the inspector, will be sent to monitor the ranks.The former co-organizer, the Minister of the Ministry of Officials, was resolute and sheltered the boxing bandits, causing great disasters, and wrote a notice of breach of contract, which should have been placed in the Tang Dynasty, but has been ordered to pursue the original officials and dismiss the county.He was dismissed from his post and retained Dong Fuxiang, the admiral of Gansu, and led the troops into the guard. His discipline was not strict, he was not good at negotiating, and he was reckless. In Gansu, he was famous for his achievements, and returned to Han Yuefu. He was very lenient and dismissed from the county bank.Yu Zaixun issued a notice of breach of contract without authorization, and once stopped it, the situation is understandable. Whoever is unable to fight, it is difficult to abdicate.With the ministry of grace, he was charged with a new prison sentence.Zhao Shuqiao was dismissed and stayed on as Minister of the Ministry of Criminal Affairs. He had no intention of envious of diplomacy on weekdays, and went to investigate the boxers.Beijing has no words of shelter and freedom, but it is sloppy and delayed, so En is charged with temporary imprisonment.Both Yingnian and Zhao Shuqiao are in Shaanxi.Xu Xiang, a scholar of the university, and Li Bingheng, the former governor of Sichuan who were demoted, all died in martyrdom, but they were all dismissed from their posts and revoked the sympathy code.After this surrender, all our allies should agree that the boxers caused the disaster, and it was actually caused by the culprit's surrender, which was definitely not the imperial court's original intention.I did not punish those who were responsible for the culprits lightly, even the subjects of the world know that this case is of great importance. ◇ The Empress Dowager Cixi obviously wanted to take a compromise, but unfortunately the foreigners were not relentless, and were particularly dissatisfied with the treatment of King Duan and Duke Lan, and demanded serious punishment.In order for her to return to Beijing as soon as possible, Li Lianying also instigated Empress Dowager Cixi to issue a decree, convicting them both of imprisoning pending execution, and sending them to Xinjiang, where they would never be taught back; Qiao and Yingnian were given to commit suicide; Qixiu, Minister of Military Aircraft, and Xu Tong's son were executed at Caishikou. It can be said that, except for Zai Yi and Zai Lan, the officials of the main combat faction were all punished, some were executed, some committed suicide, and some were dismissed. The situation in the national officialdom changed drastically for a while.However, at this time, the Queen Mother is only waiting for Yikuang and Li Hongzhang to sign treaties with the eleven western countries.Zaiyi and Zailan were exiled, Zhao Shuqiao, Zaixun, Yingnian, Yuxian, Qixiu, etc. were killed, and all the things that should be dealt with were dealt with, the anger of foreigners disappeared, and Lafayette's heart was relieved up. Li Lianying's mood changed with Lafayette's mood.Seeing that the situation had finally turned for the better, Cixi's mood naturally brightened. As for those ministers who were exiled and unjustly killed, she would not shed a single tear for them.When Cixi was happy, Li Lianying became energetic. On the one hand, he continued to flatter and flatter Cixi to win Cixi's favor; All officials, large and small, who met Cixi had to report to Li Lianying. Not only did they have to pay tribute to Lafayette, but more importantly, they had to bribe Li Lianying.Anyone who wants to have a smooth meeting must first clear the checkpoints set by Li Lianying. Sometimes the bribes used are much more than the tributes paid to Lafayette. On July 25th in the twenty-seventh year of Guangxu (1901), Yikuang and Li Hongzhang, the corrupt and incompetent plenipotentiaries of the Qing government, represented the Qing government in a meeting with Germany, Austria, Belgium, the West, the United States, France, Britain, and Italy. The envoys of the eleven countries, Japan, Holland, and Russia, signed the final protocol and signed the "Xin Chou Treaty". In this treaty, the foreigners extorted a huge amount of indemnity from the Qing government. China had to pay the big powers 450 million taels of customs silver, and asked to pay it back in 39 years, with an annual interest of 4%. The total principal and interest was 980 million. More than ten thousand taels.In order to protect the safety of foreign envoys, Dongjiaomin Lane was required to be designated as the embassy area, and the Chinese were not allowed to live in it, making it a real country within a country.At the same time, the foreign devils slaughtered China in matters such as diplomacy and trade.As a result, the coastal ports have become the world of foreigners, and most of the railways have been occupied by foreign devils. These seem to have nothing to do with Cixi.For her, the most important thing is that the large force of foreigners has withdrawn from Beijing, which is what she cares most about.For this short-term goal, she doesn't care about killing loyal ministers, signing treaties, flattery, and huge compensation.Cixi only wanted to return to Beijing. Ever since she got the news that the foreigners had withdrawn, she was eager to return and told Li Lianying to pack her things and prepare to return to Luan.