It is always disgraceful to be a deserter, and the two palaces in the late Qing Dynasty were like dogs that lost their families, so why was cixi and Guangxu's escape route not as "calm" as the Xianfeng Emperor? According to common sense, with the old events of the Anglo-French coalition army advancing into Beijing, Cixi and Guangxu should have made sufficient preparations, so why could they frequently shed tears for a pot of mung bean millet porridge and five eggs on the way to the west?
First, flee or retreat, this is a question
As to whether the Ryomiya Nishikari had a planned "escape" or was forced to "retreat" helplessly. Although the Qing Dynasty did not have the saying that "the king died and the son of heaven guarded the gate of the country", the current enemy, the emperor and the empress dowager's hasty escape will always make people's teeth cold, and it is difficult to appease people's hearts and make a comeback. But if it is to persist in the face of a dangerous situation until the last moment to avoid the "rebellious" soldiers, it will appear that the royal family is tragic, and it can more stimulate the bureaucracy and the people at the bottom to hate and pity.
Above_The cartoon of Cixi Fleeing west drawn by the West
In many historical sources, people who are different about whether the escape of the two palaces is prepared or unprepared are all different, and they also have subjective views.
First of all, the official "Qing History Manuscript Dezong Benji" only says one sentence about this escape: "The name of the empress dowager is like Taiyuan." According to the official version, the Guangxu Emperor went to Taiyuan on cixi's orders, and did not mention fleeing, indicating that the imperial court was very concerned about its own face, and these old things that could not be looked back were hidden in the Spring and Autumn Style. If the official attitude toward this matter is deliberately vague, then the parties involved in the escape time and the notes of the officials are deeply remembered by this matter.
2. Memories of those who have experienced it
One of the first people closest to this escape was Rong'er, Cixi's personal palace maid.
Near the critical moment of escape, Cixi only took Rong'er and another Chuxiu Palace named Juanzi with herself. In describing the morning of the july 21 (the date of this article is the lunar calendar), Rong Er said: "Li Lianying did not know where to bring in a red bag, wrapped in Han Min's pants and shoes and socks, green leg belt and a black head rope, everything was available."
Above_Cixi dressed as Guanyin Bodhisattva, Li Lianying and Rong Ling accompanied the attendants
In this big bag, even the copper hairpins for women were prepared, and they were all carefully prepared clean, half-new and not old home-cooked clothes. If Cixi had not planned such an escape plan beforehand, Li Lianying would not have dared to enter these old Han clothes to the empress dowager, and second, she would not have had time to collect these disguised items.
It is well known that because of her escape, Cixi broke her long nails that she had carefully maintained for many years with scissors. In the Taiping years, Lafayette had a set of special tools for taking care of her nails every day, so roughly cutting short with scissors showed that she was already panicked, you know, the night before, she also let the palace maid soak her nails. If she really wanted to escape, she should have been prepared why was she in such a hurry?
In addition to the palace maids who were close to them, Fucha Dolji, a Qing palace guard on duty in Ouchi on the day of the escape, also had his own views on the escape of the two palaces. A few months before the escape, the palace guards vaguely felt that something was wrong. Around the summer of 1900, the Ouchi Guards received a notice that at the gates of Shenwu Gate, Donghua Gate, Xihua Gate, and Xiyuan, there were often horse caravans from the Summer Palace waiting day and night, saying that it was used to pick up and drop off military aircraft on duty at night, Zhang Jing, which aroused the suspicion of many people.
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Above_Late Qing Dynasty with knife guards
First, the management of carriages and horses in the palace has always been arranged by the Shangsi Yuan, and under the strict prohibition of the palace, why let the unknown horses from the direction of the Summer Palace wait outside the palace gate. Second, the military plane on duty at night, Zhang Jing, has its own duty room, and every night after the palace door is locked, there is no special situation that cannot be opened, and the military plane Zhang Jing is not a military aircraft minister, where is such a big identity and platoon? Combined with the fact that Cixi Guangxu's first stop after his escape was the Summer Palace, these guards recalled in hindsight that the horses and the abnormal behavior of entering and leaving the palace gate in the middle of the night were all drills for the purpose of escape.
At that time, Yin Chen Kuilong of Suncheon Province also thought that this was a planned escape in the "Miscellaneous Records of the Dream Banana Pavilion". From the 17th day of the 17th lunar month of the lunar calendar in 1900 to the 12th of July 1900, one of the important things he did was: "Prepare 200 large vehicles, in case Cuihua Xixing is used, in the name of false transport of military supplies, in order to calm the hearts and minds of the people." It can be seen from here that the two palaces have long been willing to flee, not only arranged the vehicles, but even the route has been arranged. So, with such adequate preparations, why is it that in books such as "The Tale of the Palace Women" and "The Talk of Gengzi Xi Hunting", Cixi and others are worried about their way out of the palace, and the car that should have been prepared when leaving the palace has become an ordinary carriage in the homes of three poor people?
Above_ Carriage of the city of Beijing at the end of the Qing Dynasty
Third, the plan cannot keep up with the rapid change
The first reason is that the car that was prepared in advance is gone. As mentioned earlier, Yin Chen Kuilong of Suncheon Province prepared two hundred vehicles for the two palaces, and at the same time, there were also vehicles guarding the palace gate day and night, practicing and running, why did they have nothing when the matter came to an end?
Because Cixi's escape was on the 21st day of the seventh lunar month, and Yin Chen Kuilong of The Suncheon Province had stepped down from his post as early as July 12. Wang Peiyou, who succeeded him as Governor Yin, did not know the inside story, but whenever there were people on the front line who had something to use, they allocated these vehicles, resulting in on July 15, when the military minister Zhao Shuqiao inquired about the number of vehicles, more than 200 vehicles disappeared.
At this time, the Beijing rebels, refugees, and boxers heard the news that the Eight-Nation Alliance was approaching step by step, or they either searched, bought, sold, or robbed the vehicles on the market. The Military Aircraft Department retreated to the second place, and it was impossible for the Shuntianfu to prepare dozens of vehicles on its behalf. Of course, at this time, there are naturally many vehicles in the palace, but when the escape, the vehicles in the palace will become the guiding lights of the Eight-Nation Alliance to pursue the two palaces, and at the same time, the palace car will inevitably make the people of the world feel turbulent.
The Eight-Power Coalition that invaded Beijing in 1900 included Australian soldiers, Japanese cavalry and Indian Sikh soldiers, and Indian lancers
Aishin Kyora Zaixun (24 January 1854 – 21 February 1901) was a minister of the late Qing Dynasty
The second reason was that Cixi, who had been living in the deep palace for a long time, was blinded by Prince Zhuang Zaixun and Duanjun Wang Zaiyi, together with other main battle factions. At that time, Zaixun and Zaiyi killed Xu Yongyi, the military attendant Who were at odds with their political views, and Xu Jingcheng, the left attendant of the Rebbe, under the pretext of the will of the two palaces, so that the ministers of the DPRK and the Central Government were even more silent and did not dare to say more.
At that time, on the forward route of the Eight-Nation Alliance, the Qing army had five armies, including Yuan Shikai's new army, Dong Fuxiang's Gan army, and Nie Shicheng's Wu Wei army, etc. These troops were all trained in western france, which were placed high hopes by the imperial court, and even if the combat strength was not as good as that of the Eight-Nation Alliance, they should be able to hold out for a period of time.
It was on May 25, 26, and 29 in Guangxu 26. Cixi also specially ordered the reward of grain, rice, silver, and so on to the officers, soldiers, and the Boxers. However, these people of the Boxers also had friction with the officers and soldiers in the resistance, especially in the face of a weak situation, not only did not know the defense, but even openly retreated, and kidnapped the family of Nie Shicheng, who had had a festival with them. At the front, Nie Shicheng had no choice but to return to the army, and at this time the Boxers lied that "The Nie Army was anti-enemy" and engaged with it, resulting in Nie Shicheng, the main force against the coalition army, being attacked on his back, and finally losing his life.
Above_ After the Eight-Power Alliance occupied Beijing, the sphere of influence was divided
The third reason is that due to Lafayette's blind declaration of war, some people of insight and feudal officials in China believe that such an edict is "chaotic", so many local officials did not participate in this absurd war.
According to the records in the Qing Shilu Guangxu Shilu, between May and July of the 26th year of Guangxu, the imperial court often saw the request: "He also instructed Zhang Chunfa, the viceroy of Hubei, and Chen Zelin, the commander of Jiangxi, to quickly lead the troops north." Starry Night rushed to the Beijing Division. Listen to the call. "Decree to the governors of the provinces. Send a battalion team to Beijing. At your disposal. Strictly urge the commander to lead all the members. That is, the starry night and the journey north. No delay. And so on.
In this noisy "chaotic life", the attitude of the provincial governors is to wait and see, or hesitate, or refuse to carry it out. In particular, the "southeast mutual protection" proposed by Li Hongzhang, Zhang Zhidong, Liu Kunyi and others had the greatest impact, and also narrowed the harm of the Boxer Rebellion and the Eight-Nation Alliance to the area of Zhili and Shandong as much as possible. At the same time, it also led to the Gongwei Jing Division, and the troops who came to Qinwang were greatly reduced, so the center made a serious mistake in estimating the time of the battle. After receiving the news of the coalition army entering Beijing in a hurry, he could only flee in a hurry. This planned and step-by-step "retreat" turned into a sudden escape.
Above_Boxer flag
It is worth mentioning that the "Draft History of the Qing Dynasty" mentioned that the destination of this escape was originally Taiyuan, so why did he later flee to Xi'an?
All because Yu xian, the governor of Shanxi at that time, was an out-and-out main war faction, and because he was seriously xenophobic and supported the Boxers when he was serving as a political envoy in Shandong, he led to the Eight-Power Alliance's march into Beijing to prepare for peace talks, and listed it as one of the first evils that must be severely punished.
After a farce declaring war on all countries, the Great Qing Dynasty was disgraced, and even if the official hiding of the "Western Hunt" was good, posterity could feel the ugliness of the two palaces like "dogs that lost their families" from the historical materials at that time. As for Prince Zhuang, Duanjun Wang, Yuxian and others who wanted to profit from the tide, they were also exiled, or given death, or beheaded, only to be rolled over, "measuring the national strength of China and marrying the happiness of the country."
Text: Wei Siwei
Resources:
[1] Draft History of the Qing Dynasty, Zhonghua Bookstore, 1977
[2] Qing Shilu, Zhonghua Bookstore, 2008
[3] "Palace Women Talk about the Past", Jin Yi Shen Yiling, Palace Press, 2010
[4] Memoirs of the Late Qing Dynasty Guards Fucha? Gong Gong 2011 Palace Press
[5] "Miscellaneous Notes on the Dream Banana Pavilion", Chen Kuilong, Zhonghua Bookstore, 2018
[6] Cixi in the Eyes of the Japanese, Akijiro Tahara, Palace Press, 2013
The text was created by the History University Hall team, and the picture originated from the Internet and the copyright belongs to the original author