Chapter 42 Cixi was impeached to defend her shortcomings

As Cixi's favorite minister, Li Lianying would inevitably do some extraordinary things and be impeached. Fortunately, the Empress Dowager Cixi came forward to save the day. In the later period of the Westernization Movement, foreign aggressive forces stepped up their attacks on China.Japan, Britain, Russia, and France invaded and occupied China's border areas one after another.In order to cope with this complicated situation, the Qing government appointed Prince Chun as the Prime Minister, Minister of Naval Office Affairs, Prince Qing of Qing County, and Beiyang Minister Li Hongzhang as ministers of the Council Office in September of the 11th year of Guangxu (1885). Zeng Jize served as an assistant minister and set up a naval office in the capital.

It is not easy to build a navy. The expenditure on the ships is very huge, but the treasury can't support them.The Empress Dowager Cixi herself didn't know the relationship between the navy and the Qing Dynasty, and she had to deduct part of the pitifully small navy funds for her own enjoyment. In any case, after many years of hard work by Beiyang Li Hongzhang, by the beginning of the twelfth year of Guangxu (1886), he had gradually purchased 28 warships of various types from Britain, Germany, the United States, France and other countries, including seven capital ships. Ships, including Dingyuan, Zhenyuan, Jiyuan, Jingyuan, Laiyuan, Zhiyuan, Jingyuan, etc.It is said that the Beiyang Navy at that time was ranked eleventh in the world.

In April of the same year, Beiyang Minister Li Hongzhang felt that the Beiyang Navy had been organized into an army, and asked the imperial minister to review it.The Empress Dowager Cixi immediately sent the Prime Minister and Minister of the Navy Yamen, Prince Chun Yixuan, to inspect the Beiyang seaports in person.Although Prince Chun is the biological father of Emperor Guangxu, he has always been timid and fearful. He offered to ask Empress Dowager Cixi's favored supervisor Li Lianying to accompany him to avoid suspicion in Cixi's heart.This move was in line with Cixi's wishes, so she followed the plan.Only Li Hongzhang wondered why eunuchs were sent to inspect.

It turned out that Li Lianying asked Li Hongzhang for money under the order of Empress Dowager Cixi.Li Lianying knew that eunuchs were not allowed to leave Beijing, and An Dehai was an obvious example.Therefore, he didn't dare to publicize, and went all the way to Tianjin in a low-key manner.Prince Chun and Li Lianying visited places as far south as Weihai and Yantai, and north as far as Lushunkou. Once, Prince Chun dared not take the big boat and asked Li Lianying to inspect it on his behalf.Li Lianying was sitting on the bow of the boat like a state official.And Ding Ruchang, Wei Rugui, Wei Rucheng, Ye Zhichao, Zhao Guilin, Gong Zhao and others stood behind.It was after this time that Li Lianying conveyed to Li Hongzhang the Empress Dowager Cixi's edict, saying that there was insufficient funds for the construction of the Summer Palace, and she hoped to raise funds again.Li Hongzhang also gave Li Lianying one hundred thousand taels of snowflake silver behind Prince Chun's back.

After returning to Beijing, Li Lianying, of course, praised the Beiyang Navy and said that Li Hongzhang had agreed to raise money. Cixi was very happy after hearing this. This matter was used as a handle by the supervisory censor Zhu Yixin, and he read Li Lianying's book, which said that he ignored the family law of his ancestors, left Beijing without authorization, and inspected the navy as a eunuch, which really harmed the dignity of the country.Empress Dowager Cixi issued a special decree, personally defending Li Lianying, and reprimanded Zhu Yixin for being alarmist and insincere, and questioned the lack of words, what is the reason?

Zhu Yixin originally wanted to impeach Li Lianying, but unexpectedly he was questioned by Cixi, so he had to submit another memorial to show his innocence: the so-called ministers who do not treat their difficulties mean that they will travel far away with their relatives, and the servants will accompany them to show sympathy. In the imperial court, it is a song style, while in the courtiers, it is a creative idea.It is rumored that the ministers of Beiyang greeted Prince Chun with a boat, Wang Fu accepted it, and the eunuchs took it to watch and listen. Seeing that Zhu Yixin was making progress, Cixi was even more angry, and decreed that Zhu Yixin should be demoted to the master.But Li Lianying was at ease, because Zhu Yixin didn't realize that the root of the matter lay with Cixi herself, so Cixi couldn't deny herself, right?Prince Chun Yizhen knew the stakes, so of course he came out to speak well for Li Lianying, and insisted that Li Lianying did not hand over foreign officials or interfere in political affairs during the naval inspection.But all the ministers insisted on it, insisting that Li Lianying interfered in political affairs.

This year Li Lianying was thirty-nine years old, and he had been the head of the third rank Dingdai Hualing for eight years, and he was already a very deep person in the city.He knew that Cixi was covering for him, so he didn't have to come out and say anything.Sure enough, the matter ended hastily with Zhu Yixin's failure. The 10th day of October in the 20th year of Guangxu (1894) was the 60th birthday of the Empress Dowager Cixi. In order to show her maternity, tolerance and grace, Cixi decided to hold a large-scale event.In order to organize these activities well, on the first day of the first lunar month of that year, he ordered Emperor Guangxu to issue an imperial edict to increase the promotion of officials for Chinese and foreign ministers, promote the second concubine Jinzhen to concubine, and give the chief eunuch Li Lianying a three-rank reward. Adding the second rank of Dingdai set a precedent for eunuchs in the Qing Dynasty, allowing him to monopolize the coquettishness.Of course, the Empress Dowager Cixi also added the emblem herself. After Cixi Duanyou Kangyi Zhaoyu Zhuangcheng, she added the words Shou Gong Qin Xian and ordered the repair of the Huangji Hall.

Just as Cixi was making preparations to celebrate the Longevity Day, the Sino-Japanese War of 1898-1898 broke out unexpectedly in August.The young and vigorous Emperor Guangxu was very determined to fight, and hoped to defeat the Japanese invading army as soon as possible, so he appointed Li Hongzhang as the commander-in-chief of this war. Since the war is going on, Cixi must of course pretend to save money and order some simplification. In fact, there is no sign of simplification in the scale of the birthday celebration. Amidst the rumble of cannons, Cixi spent her 60th birthday in the Old Summer Palace with joy and laughter.Due to various reasons, the war gradually became unfavorable to the Qing Dynasty.Many ministers impeached Li Hongzhang.

Empress Dowager Cixi issued a decree, ordering Weng Tonghe to go to Tianjin to meet Li Hongzhang, and severely reprimanded Li Hongzhang for the crime of defeating the army and harming the country.Li Hongzhang knew very well that what the Qing Dynasty was facing would be a situation where the country would lose its power, and it could not be restored by one person, so he took the blame and resigned.Although the imperial court agreed to his punishment due to the pressure of public opinion, it revoked the punishment of Li Hongzhang shortly afterwards, continued to reward Li Hongzhang with a yellow jacket, and appointed him as the first-class peace ambassador to Japan to discuss peace and armistice matters. Guan was also humiliated. The book "Five Thousand Years of Wonderful Sites in China" mentioned: Li Hongzhang started negotiations with Japanese plenipotentiary representatives Ito Hirobumi and Mutsu Munemitsu on the Chunfan Building in Shimonoseki.After three negotiations, Li Hongzhang found it unacceptable to face the arrogant attitude of the Japanese to force China to cede Liaodong, Taiwan, and Penghu Islands, and to compensate military expenses of 300 million taels of silver.At this time, the telegram sent to him by the imperial court made Hongzhang decide to handle it at his own discretion, but he was confused. Li Hongzhang was worried and felt physically and mentally haggard.On the afternoon before the final signing, the Japanese side's requirements were extremely strict, and Li Hongzhang was not allowed to make excuses or say anything more.Li Hongzhang hoped that Ito Hirobumi would reduce another 20 million taels of silver, and kept seeing until dark. Li Hongzhang even begged with tears, but Ito Hirobumi did not make any concessions at all.

At 4:00 pm on March 24, Li Hongzhang was assassinated by members of the Japanese right-wing group Shendaokan.Shortly thereafter, Ito Hirobumi came to the post house and informed Li Hongzhang that the Emperor of Japan had ordered a truce.Li Hongzhang's trip to Japan finally came to fruition. On April 17, Li Hongzhang signed the Treaty of Shimonoseki.When he returned to Beijing with the "Treaty of Shimonoseki" and a bandage on his face, he found that he had become a public enemy of the whole country.The imperial court had no choice but to use him as a scapegoat to alleviate the resentment of the people of the country.

On April 14th in the 22nd year of Guangxu (1896), the coronation ceremony of Emperor Nicholas II of Russia was held. Coronation.However, the Russian Minister Kashini believed that Wang Zhichun was not qualified to take up the post due to his shallow qualifications, and Li Hongzhang was the only one who was qualified. Li Hongzhang was employed again, and signed the "Sino-Russian Secret Treaty" with the Russians in Moscow, also known as the "Treaty of Mutual Assistance against Enemies" and "Treaty of Defense Alliance".Under the guise of common defense, Russia coerced the Qing government to agree to give up the land in the three eastern provinces for them to build the Middle East Railway and so on.From the Empress Dowager Cixi down to a group of enlightened figures who claim to be proficient in Western affairs, they did not hesitate to bribe the Russians to obtain the protection of the Russian Covenant. Unexpectedly, the "Sino-Russian Secret Treaty" triggered a wave of imperialist powers in the world to carve up China, forming a chain effect.Soon, Russia, Germany, and France intervened in Liaodong. Russia occupied Luda, Germany occupied Jiaozhou Bay, Britain occupied Weihaiwei, and France occupied Guangzhou Bay.The Qing court dared not speak out against it. In December, An Weijun, the supervisory censor of Fujian Province, in view of the signing of a series of treaties that forfeited power and humiliated the country, such as the "Treaty of Shimonoseki" and the "Sino-Russian Treaty", went to Shushu to participate in Li Hongzhang, and involved Li Lianying, the second-rank chief executive: Moreover, it is said that the negotiation came from the Empress Dowager, and the eunuch Li Lianying was at the right side of the court, but the minister did not dare to believe it.who?Now that the empress dowager has returned to the government, if she is still restrained by troubles, how can she deal with her ancestors above and her subjects below?Who is Li Lianying, who dares to do political affairs?If it is true, how can the law be tolerated by the law of the ancestors? ◇ Fujian Taoist censor An Weijun secretly criticized Li Lianying for secretly colluding with the Russian minister and participating in state affairs. In fact, he opposed Cixi's single-handed power.He was sent to the army by Cixi.However, his patriotic deeds were known to all and respected wherever he went. There is such a record in "A Brief History of Qing Officials": Because it is said that the queen mother is in trouble, why she made false remarks against her ancestors and subjects all over the world, and she was dismissed from her post and banished to Zhangjiakou.During the exile, the local officials treated each other as guests and hired him to give lectures at Luncai Academy.According to the "Drafts of Qing History", the censor An Weijun was convicted of crimes with his words, and his reputation shocked the world, and many people honored him.Visitors gather at the door, those who give away are stuffed in the road, or give words, or give money, food, food, and food are all supplied.Even Wang Wu, the righteous hero of the capital, volunteered to be his bodyguard. From these historical records, we can know that people in the government and the opposition were very dissatisfied with the behavior of the Empress Dowager Cixi who betrayed the country and sought glory, lost power and humiliated the country. inevitable. During the ten years from the 12th year of Guangxu (1886) to the 22nd year of Guangxu (1896), every time Li Lianying was impeached, she was safe and sound under the protection of the Empress Dowager Cixi.The Empress Dowager Cixi displayed her power again and again, killing chickens and monkeys. On the surface, she was defending Li Lianying, but in fact she was maintaining her own authority.