Chapter 2 Second grandfather Ronglu

Prince Chunxian had four Fujin [1], who gave birth to seven sons and three daughters.When he died, he left behind three sons and one daughter, the eldest being the fifth son, namely my father Zaifeng, who was eight years old at the time and inherited the prince.My two uncles, five-year-old Zai Xun and three-year-old Zai Tao, were promoted to Duke at the same time.From then on, my family began to receive new grace and blessings.However, the benevolence and blessings of the Jin Palace in the last ten years have been mixed with more suffering and humiliation of the Chinese people than in the past few decades, and they are also inseparable from the name Cixi.

A big event is that Empress Dowager Cixi proposed marriage to my father and mother.This Enguang can also be said to be a product of the Reform Movement of 1898 and the Gengzi Incident.First of all, this is a kindness to the loyal minister Ronglu who made great contributions to her in the Reform Movement of 1898.My grandfather Ronglu was from Zhengbai Banner, Manchuria, Guerjia family. During the Xianfeng period, he worked as a banker in the household department, Wailang, and was almost beheaded by Sushun because of corruption.I don't know how he got rid of this bad luck, and spent money to buy the title of alternate Taoist priest.This practice is the donation class widely implemented in the late Qing Dynasty, which is as legal as the imperial examination.In the early years of Tongzhi, my grandfather established Shenjiying (the royal army that used firearms), and Rong Lu was sent to serve as an errand, serving as wing commander and general soldier. He also served as the minister in charge of the Ministry of Internal Affairs. In the early years of Guangxu, he was promoted to Minister of the Ministry of Industry.Later, because he was accused of corruption and bribery, he was dismissed and demoted to Beijing.In the year of the Sino-Japanese War, Prince Gong went out to do military affairs. Rong Lu took the opportunity of going to Beijing to celebrate the Empress Dowager Cixi's birthday, sneaked into Prince Gong's side, and gained Prince Gong's trust.When he recommended Yuan Shikai to train the new army after the First Sino-Japanese War, he had already become Minister of the Ministry of War.At this time, he was far more sophisticated than before, good at spotting joints, and especially willing to spend money in front of the chief eunuch Li Lianying, thus gradually changing the Empress Dowager Cixi's impression of him.In the second year after he returned to Beijing, he got an assignment to review the rain damage of the Cixi Mausoleum project.The project was first inspected by a minister, who reported that the repair cost would cost 300,000 yuan.It is said that because the project was originally supervised by Prince Chun Yixuan during his lifetime, it was inconvenient to underestimate the quality of the original project, so the damage reported was not too serious.But Rong Lu is a different approach.He grasped the empress dowager's psychology, exaggerated the extent of the damage, and reported a repair fee of 1.5 million taels.As a result, the queen mother scolded the minister, and questioned the loyalty of the dead Prince Jin, but she had further appreciation for Rong Lu.

Rong Lu had Li Lianying as a good friend, and his wife was very good at currying favor with the Empress Dowager, so he was often called into the palace to chat with the Empress Dowager, so he became more and more familiar with Cixi's psychology.He knew the inside story of the quarrel between Cixi Guangxu's mother and son, and also knew the relationship between this quarrel and his own future. Of course, he was more willing to give Cixi advice in this internal strife.When Emperor Guangxu issued various edicts for reform and reform, those who were deposed and worried about being squeezed out of their positions only knew how to cry, and he had already arranged a plan for Cixi.At that time, some people called the two factions around the emperor and empress dowager the imperial party and the queen party.Rong Lu is the head of the Queen's Party, and Weng Tonghe is the head of the imperial party without real power.The reformers were able to contact the emperor because of Weng Tonghe's recommendation to Kang Youwei. According to the plan arranged in advance, Cixi first forced Guangxu to ask his teacher Weng Tonghe to retire and return home.It is said that before Weng Tonghe left, Ronglu held his hand and asked him with tears: How did you offend the emperor?Not many days after Weng Tonghe left Beijing, Rong Lu took office and became a scholar of Wenyuange University, Governor of Zhili and Minister of Beiyang.After Rong Lu got this position, he wanted to use the method of six ministries and nine ministers to abolish Guangxu and restore the Queen Mother to listen to the government. It aroused public outrage, and they dared not second their proposals, so they had to give up.But Ronglu's wish finally came true during the Reform Movement of 1898.The story of this incident is said to be as follows: First, Rong Lu decided to implement the coup when the Queen Mother and Guangxu inspected the new army in Tianjin.Guangxu knew the news and secretly notified the reformers to try to rescue them.The reformers pinned their hopes on Yuan Shikai, the Zhili inspector in charge of the new army, but ended up ruining Guangxu instead.When it was fashionable for the whole country to talk about reformation, Yuan Shikai had participated in the group strengthening society of reformers. When Weng Tonghe was dismissed and returned to his hometown, Yuan Shikai expressed sympathy to him and expressed his infinite loyalty to the emperor.Therefore, the Reform Party had great fantasies about him and suggested Guangxu to win him over.Guangxu summoned him, promoted him to be the Minister of the Ministry of War, and was in charge of military training. Then the Reformist Tan Sitong [2] went to his apartment in private and revealed the plan of the Reformist: during the military parade between Cixi and Guangxu, implement military remonstrance and punish the soldiers. Ronglu put Cixi under house arrest and supported Guangxu.After Yuan Shikai heard this, he was impassioned and took it up, saying: Killing Ronglu is as easy as killing a dog!Tan Sitong tentatively said: You don't have to do it, you can report to the Queen Mother of the West, and you will be rich and prosperous.He immediately stared: "Look who you think of me, Yuan Shikai!"But he sent Tan Sitong away, and rushed back to Tianjin that day to give a comprehensive report to his superior, Rong Lu.When Ronglu heard the news, he hurried north by train, got off at Fengtai and went straight to the Summer Palace, and told Cixi.As a result, Guangxu was imprisoned, Tan Sitong and other six reformers were killed, Kang Youwei fled to Japan, the Hundred Days Reform was a flash in the pan, and my grandfather, as Liang Qichao said, was a general and prime minister with power. It is also said in the "Drafts of Qing History" that he was favored by the Empress Dowager's trust stick.

In the year of Gengzi, when Cixi used Boxers to kill foreigners, and then used foreigners to kill Boxers in a catastrophe, Rong Lu's loyalty to Empress Dowager Cixi was further demonstrated.After the coup, Cixi spread the news that Guangxu was seriously ill in order to get rid of Guangxu.This conspiracy was discovered unexpectedly, and later foreigners came forward to see a doctor for Guangxu. Cixi did not dare to provoke foreigners, so she had to let foreigners see a doctor.This plan failed, and she came up with a way to establish an heir for Tongzhi first and then get rid of Guangxu.The crown prince she chose was Pu Jun, the son of Prince Duan Zaiyi. According to Rong Lu's idea, on New Year's Day, envoys from various countries were invited to congratulate him to show his support for this move.But Li Hongzhang's diplomacy failed this time, and the envoys refused.This matter is now very clear to people. It is not that the envoys are dissatisfied with Cixi's behavior, but that the envoys of Britain, France, the United States, and Japan do not like those queen party forces who are close to imperial Russia to gain too much power.Of course, the Empress Dowager Cixi has never dared to provoke foreigners since the day she came to power.Foreigners killed Chinese people and robbed China's treasures. These problems were not big to her, but foreigners protected Kang Youwei, opposed the abolition of Guangxu and the establishment of a crown prince, and directly expressed their opposition to her rule. This was the most unbearable thing for her.Rong Lu advised her not to annoy foreigners anyway, and things can only be discussed slowly, and about Pu Jun's status, don't make it too obvious. There is such a record in the "Drafts of Qing History": The foreigner was a stalker, and in Rong Lu's words, he was renamed Big Brother.Cixi followed Ronglu's advice, but because Pu Jun's father, Zaiyi, wanted his son to be emperor, together with a group of princes and ministers such as Gang Yi, Xu Tong and others, they gave Cixi another idea, using the boxers who opposed foreigners, to give Cixi The pressure of foreigners is to achieve the effect of losing both sides.The Boxer issue was the biggest headache for the Qing court at this time.Under the bullying and oppression of the foreigner churches, the people everywhere were not protected by the imperial court, but were jointly suppressed by the foreigners and the imperial court. As a result, armed struggles broke out spontaneously.After continuous struggles, the Boxers had formed a powerful armed force at this time. The imperial court sent troops to suppress it several times, but they were beaten to pieces.Whether to suppress or appease the Tuanmin has become a question of Cixi's hesitation.A group of princes and ministers headed by Zai Yi and University scholar Gang Yi advocated Fu, and first used it to drive out foreigners who interfered in the abolition of the establishment.Xu Yongyi, Shangshu of the Ministry of War, Lishan, Minister of the Ministry of Households, and Lianyuan, a cabinet scholar, firmly opposed this method. They believed that using the regiments to oppose foreigners would be catastrophic, so they advocated suppression.The opinions of the two factions are at loggerheads, and an unscreened emergency intelligence makes Cixi make up her mind.This information interpreted the atrocities committed by foreigners in various places as an attempt to force Cixi to return to Guangxu.Cixi was furious, and immediately issued an edict to appease the people in the regiment, ordered to attack the embassy and barracks in Dongjiaominxiang, issued internal money to the people in the regiment, and offered a reward to buy the heads of foreigners.In order to show her determination, she beheaded Xu Yongyi, Lishan, Lianyuan and others who were the main suppressors.Later, Dongjiaominxiang was not captured, but Dagu Fort and Tianjin City were lost successively, and the coalition forces came to Beijing.At this time, Cixi took out another hand, greeted the foreigners secretly, and sent someone to Dongjiaominxiang to make contact amidst the artillery fire.When Beijing fell, she fled to Xi'an. In order to further show that she was not the one who opposed the foreigners, she ordered the beheading of a group of ministers including Gang Yi and Xu Tong, who were in charge.In this turbulent situation, Rong Lu tried his best not to get himself involved in the whirlpool.He acted obediently according to Cixi's color, and did not disobey Cixi's intentions. At the same time, he also prepared Cixi's way out.He dispatched troops to attack the foreign barracks in Dongjiaomin Lane, but he did not send shells to the troops, and secretly sent fruit to the foreign barracks to express his condolences.The Eight-Power Allied Forces entered Beijing, and Cixi fled. He entrusted Li Hongzhang and Yikuang, who were in charge of negotiating peace, to grasp a principle in the negotiations: as long as Cixi is not held accountable and Cixi is not allowed to return to power, all conditions can be agreed.In this way, the Xin Chou Treaty of nearly one billion taels of compensation and interest was signed, and foreign troops were stationed in the capital.Rong Lu did this, and when he arrived in Xi'an, he was very favored and rewarded with a yellow jacket [3].Double-eyed flower feathers [4] sable, returned to Beijing with retinue, added Prince Taibao [5], transferred to Wenhua Palace University scholar In addition to these records in the "Drafts of Qing History", another thing worth mentioning is that the Empress Dowager recommended Ronglu's daughter Married, married Prince Jin Zaifeng as Fujin.

Regarding the marriage between my parents, I later heard from the old people at home that the Empress Dowager had deep intentions.It turns out that after the coup, the Empress Dowager was quite suspicious of Prince Chun's Mansion.It is said that there is a ginkgo tree in my grandfather's garden (cemetery), which grows very tall. I don't know who said in front of the queen mother that the emperor came out of the Prince Chun's mansion because there was a ginkgo tree on the cemetery of King Chun, and Bai and Wang were linked together. Isn't it just a royal character?When Cixi heard this, she immediately sent someone to Miaofeng Peak to cut down the ginkgo tree.What aroused her suspicion was not only the ginkgo tree, but more importantly, foreigners' interest in Guangxu and the Guangxu brothers.Before the Gengzi incident, she felt that the terrible foreigners were a little enamored of Guangxu, but they were not very polite to her.After Gengzi, the commander-in-chief of the Allied Forces, Waldsee, proposed that the emperor's brother be a representative to go to Germany to apologize for the murder of Minister Klind.After her father arrived in Germany, he was treated with great courtesy by the German royal family, which also made Cixi feel very uneasy and deepened her suspicion: the importance foreigners attached to the Guangxu brothers worried her more than Kang Youwei, the reformer.In order to eliminate this hidden danger, she finally figured out a way, which is to match Rong Lu and Prince Jin's mansion into in-laws.The Empress Dowager Xi is such a person. Whenever she feels insecure about herself, she must carefully consider and deal with it decisively. Before Gengzi fled, she still asked people to push Concubine Zhen into the well to drown. And why isn't it a poisonous hand for fear of leaving future troubles?Maintaining her own rule is the basis for her consideration of everything.In this way, my father returned from Germany in the twenty-seventh year of Guangxu, and met Luan Jia who was returning to Beijing in Kaifeng. It's time to get married.

[1] It means wife in Manchu language, but also the meaning of noble lady (one said it is the transliteration of Chinese wife). The Qing Dynasty system sealed the wives of the prince and the son of the prince, the main room was named Fujin, and the side room was sealed. It is side Fujin. [2] Tan Sitong (1865｜1893), courtesy name Fusheng and nickname Zhuangfei, was born in Liuyang, Hunan. He was one of the thinkers of the Reform Movement in the late Qing Dynasty. He was angry with the failure of the Sino-Japanese War. He founded the Computing Society in Liuyang and later organized the South Society. Run the Hunan Newspaper and become one of the leaders of the reform movement.After being betrayed by Yuan Shikai, he was killed, along with Lin Xu, Yang Rui, Liu Guangdi, Yang Shenxiu, Kang Guangren, etc. of the reformers who were killed together. They were called the Six Gentlemen in old history.

【3】Yellow mandarin coat is the yellow coat worn by the emperor when riding a horse. Wearing a yellow mandarin coat is one of the special graces given to meritorious ministers and workers by the emperor of the Qing Dynasty. [4] Hualing is an ornament on the top hat awarded by the emperor of the Qing Dynasty to meritorious officials.The royal family and senior officials rewarded peacock feathers, while low-ranking officials rewarded pheasant feathers (commonly known as old bird feathers, also known as blue feathers because they are blue).The flower feathers worn by the emperor's servants and workers have one eye, two eyes, and three eyes according to the rank of the official.

[5] Since the Shang Dynasty, all dynasties have generally set up Taishi, Taifu, Taibao, Shaoshi, Shaofu, and Shaobao as the officials who assist the monarch, and set up the prince Taishi, the prince Taifu, the prince Taibao, the prince Shaoshi, and the prince Shaobao. Fu and Prince Shaobao were the officials who counseled the prince.But in the end, it is usually a high official who adds a title to show favor, but has no real power.In the Ming and Qing Dynasties, courtiers also served concurrently, which is purely a false title.