In fact, Cixi's actions, of course, have their own deep meaning, she really does not intend to pursue the southeast mutual insurance officials, first, the southeast mutual insurance is indeed to protect the southeast of China, and on the whole, the officials involved in the southeast mutual insurance are still loyal to the Qing court, loyal to Cixi, after the imperial court fled to Xi'an, almost all the officials involved in the southeast mutual insurance have sent relief funds to the imperial court, which is a good proof, and it is also the largest capital that the Qing court can still re-reverse after the Gengzi State Change; Since the threat of foreigners has not been completely eliminated, and there is a new major problem of overseas Chinese, so at this time, the imperial court cannot afford to tear it down again, so it is necessary to appease these local officials.

Although the Qing court had already issued an order to recognize the correctness of the behavior of the southeast mutual insurance, this could not completely dispel the doubts of the local officials, so now to appease Yuan Shikai, he is also for other local officials.

At this time, Guangxu suddenly said: "Yuan Shikai." ”

Yuan Shikai's heart suddenly hung again, he betrayed the reformers and stood firmly on Cixi's side, but he completely offended Guangxu, although Guangxu was just a puppet emperor and could not pose any threat to Yuan Shikai, but when facing each other, Yuan Shikai was still the weak side, after all, Guangxu represented the supreme imperial power. Therefore, Yuan Shikai hurriedly bowed his head and bent over, and said, "The minister is here." ”

Guangxu said: "As the governor of Zhili, how do you manage the place, robbers are so rampant, even the convoy of the imperial court dares to rob and kill, fortunately, it is the escorted officers and soldiers who work hard to protect it, so that the queen mother and me can be saved." ”

Speaking of this, Guangxu peeked at Cixi, saw that Cixi's eyes were slightly closed, and he didn't seem to have the intention of stopping himself, and he couldn't help but be bold, to be honest, his resentment towards Yuan Shikai was even more than Cixi, because during the Wuxu Change, Guangxu had great expectations for Yuan Shikai. Yuan Shikai, who was directly subordinate to the inspector, added the official title of the right attendant of the Ministry of Works, although he was still in charge of training, but he was promoted from the third rank to the second grade, which can be regarded as the emperor's grace, but Yuan Shikai turned around and told Rong Lu and betrayed himself, so Guangxu naturally hated Yuan Shikai.

At this time, after the Wuxu coup, Guangxu saw Yuan Shikai for the first time, so he couldn't help but attack, and said: "The imperial court appointed you as the governor of Zhili, how much trust you have, but how did you become the governor of Zhili, even the chariot team of the imperial court was not spared. ”

Yuan Shikai couldn't help sweating on his forehead, although this uprising was actually not Yuan Shikai's responsibility, but this pot could not be carried out, and he hurriedly knelt on the ground, and said in a trembling voice: "The minister deserves to die, please punish the emperor." ”

Although Guangxu said a few cruel words, he didn't have the ability to punish Yuan Shikai for the crime, so he had to look at Cixi and said, "What does the queen mother mean?"

At this time, Cixi said: "Yuan Shikai, what is the origin of this guy thief, have you found out?"

Yuan Shikai hurriedly said: "Back to the Queen Mother, the minister has already found out." Speaking of Jing Tingbin, Zhao Sanduo and others' uprising after a brief repetition, the focus is on the fact that this uprising occurred before he became the governor of Zhili, and after he took office, he was busy welcoming the imperial court back to Beijing, so he failed to quell the rebellion in time, so that this thief actually disturbed the convoy of the imperial court, and then pleaded guilty again.

After listening to Yuan Shikai's words, Cixi said unhurriedly: "Then what do you think this gang of thieves should do?"

Yuan Shikai hurriedly said: "Return to the Queen Mother, after the minister escorts the Queen Mother and the Emperor and her entourage back to Beijing safely, the minister should personally lead the army to quell the rebellion of this gang of thieves and redeem the mistakes of the ministers." ”

Cixi nodded, turned her head and asked Guangxu again, "What does the emperor think?"

Guangxu hesitated, although he was a little unwilling to let Yuan Shikai go so easily, but he also said: "Please let the Queen Mother decide." ”

In fact, Guangxu's performance has already been calculated by Cixi, and Guangxu met with Yuan Shikai, which was also deliberately arranged by Cixi, although it was said that the local officials who participated in the southeast mutual protection should be appeased, but the court could not blindly show favor to the court, like Li Hongzhang, Zhang Zhidong, Liu Kunyi and other old ministers are honest and serious, and it is better to do so, but new ministers like Yuan Shikai are easy to be proud of their grace and have no court, so they must also fight from time to time, and the combination of grace and power is the way of the emperor.

And Guangxu is undoubtedly the best candidate to come forward to beat Yuan Shikai, and Cixi just pretended to be red-faced, so that he could beat Yuan Shikai, so that he would be more obedient to the court in the future, and at the same time it could also strengthen Yuan Shikai's loyalty to himself, because once Guangxu took power, the first unlucky person must be Yuan Shikai, so Yuan Shikai could only be loyal to himself in order to protect himself. So Cixi said, "That's it." Yuan Shikai, pacify this thief, and I'll leave it to you. ”

When Yuan Shikai heard this, he breathed a sigh of relief, and hurriedly said: "The Empress Dowager is the decree." ”

Cixi said again: "Then when can the imperial court leave?"

Yuan Shikai said: "If the queen mother and the emperor can leave, they can set off tomorrow, and the ministers have prepared everything for the queen mother and the emperor in Baoding, and the queen mother and the emperor will be satisfied." ”

Cixi nodded with satisfaction, thought for a while, and then said, "Okay, then leave tomorrow, you kneel down first."

Yuan Shikai kowtowed again, and then retired to Cixi and Guangxu, and when he walked out of the temporary line, Yuan Shikai found that his vest was already soaked with sweat. Lafayette's political skills have indeed been played to the realm of supernatural mastery, so whether it is the emperor or herself, she is playing with her.

The next day, Cixi did not wait for the arrival of the brigade behind, so she set off from Zhengding Mansion and went to Baoding, because Zhengding Mansion was too close to the place where Jing Tingbin and others revolted, and Baoding Mansion was not only far away, but also an important town in Zhili, Yuan Shikai had laid a heavy army in Baoding Mansion, so he could ensure that he had no worries when he arrived at Baoding Mansion.

Zhengding is not far from Baoding, the Qing court and his entourage only walked for one day, arrived in Baoding in the afternoon, and Yuan Shikai had already made full preparations in Baoding, held a grand and grand welcome ceremony, and also arranged a Western band, playing a Western tune. Yuan Shikai's military training is completely modeled on the Western military system, and even the military band has been introduced into the Beiyang New Army, and this time it is specially for the old lady to see these "rare things", so that her old man is happy.

It's just that Yuan Shikai was worried that the level of the military band of the Beiyang New Army was not enough, so he specially found a foreigner band, changed into a military uniform, and played military music, but Yuan Shikai didn't know that the piece played by foreigners was the French national anthem "La Marseillaise", which was a war song during the French Revolution.

Of course, Yuan Shikai's arrangement is not only a welcome ceremony, but also the palace in Baoding has already been arranged brilliantly. Magnificent, although not as luxurious as the Forbidden City, but compared with the place where Cixi lived along the way, there is indeed a world of difference, and Cixi and his party and other royal porcelain bowls and bowls, are also the latest customization, which is presented by Sheng Xuanhuai, at the same time Yuan Shikai also presented Cixi with 500,000 taels of silver, for the reward along the way back to Beijing, Lafayette reward, of course, can not be too shabby, and Yuan Shikai also presented a special gift to Cixi, a pair of parrots, one will say "Lafayette auspicious", the other will only say "Lafayette is safe." And they are all delicate, like a child, which is used for Lafayette to relieve boredom and comfort. In addition, Yuan Shikai also prepared a train back to Beijing for the imperial court, saying that he could reach Beijing within half a day to reduce the pain of the journey.

Cixi was also very satisfied with Yuan Shikai's arrangement, and decided to rest in Baoding for a few days, and wait for the baggage to come, anyway, it only took half a day to get to Beijing.

Of course, the imperial court still has a lot of business to do in Baoding, and it is about to return to Beijing, first of all, it is to send an edict to reward the meritorious ministers, so in the name of Guangxu, the edict is issued: Prince Qing Yixuan rewards the prince with double wealth; Rong Lu rewards the double eye dazzle and adds the title of the crown prince; Wang Wenshao and Zhao Shuqiao reward the double eye dazzle feather; Li Hongzhang adds the title of the crown prince; his son Li Jingfang is the right waiter of the Ministry of Rites, and Li Jingmai is the alternate of the Sanpin Jingtang; Zhang Zhidong, Liu Kun and the crown prince and Taibao, Yuan Shikai and Sheng Xuanhuai add the title of the prince and the young prince; and the rest of the officials also have their own rewards.

And the former household department Shangshu Lishan, the military department secretary Xu Yongyi, the official department of the Ministry of Officials Xu Jingcheng, the cabinet scholar Lianyuan and Taichang Temple Secretary Yuan Chang several heirs of the official positions, these people were originally opposed to Cixi's reuse of the Boxers, and the war with other countries, the result was either the imperial court, or died in the rebellion, and now it has been proved that their original proposition is correct, so it is natural to restore their reputation.

At the same time, taking advantage of this celebratory atmosphere, Cixi specially summoned Emperor Guangxu to see him, and gently encouraged him, saying: "At this time of national crisis, it is advisable for mother and son to work together to help the difficult times." I have now made up my mind to remove the name of Pu Jun's eldest brother. ”

Guangxu was very relieved to hear this, the eldest brother has always been a piece of his heart, and then he felt that he finally had a bad breath, and hurriedly thanked him, saying: "The emperor's father Shengming, Pu Jun has bad intentions, stubborn and stupid, remove his eldest brother, and the child is very much in favor." ”

In fact, Cixi understands very well that it is impossible to restore the relationship between the emperor and the queen before Wuxu, but after the Gengzi State Change, Cixi also completely broke off the idea of replacing people, and Guangxu is still the emperor in name after all, so it is also necessary to ease the relationship between the emperor and the queen, at least on the surface. And after the reward, there will be punishment, Zaiyi, Zaixun, Zailan, who advocated relying on the Boxers and going to war with various countries, as well as the big brother are naturally the objects of punishment, and take the opportunity of removing the big brother to set the punishment for this group of people.

So the next day, Guangxu officially issued an edict, removing the prince of Duanqin Zaiyi and Zhuang Zaixun, and demoting him to the Duke of Zhenguo; Fuguo Gong Zailan was demoted to the general of Fengguo; Pu Jun removed the name of the eldest brother, and immediately left the palace, and was rewarded with eight points of public title, and after the edict, the sun left the palace.

The Qing court and his entourage stayed in Baoding for 6 days, and waited until the baggage behind them arrived in Baoding, and then left Baoding by train, and Yuan Shikai prepared a total of 22 carriages for the train for the Qing court. Among them, there are 4 first-class carriages, all of which are decorated with yellow Shao velvet and yellow satin. Cixi and Guangxu each use one section. The rest of the cars are for the palace concubines and princes, ministers, fortunes, wives, and internal supervisors. And the luggage alone was loaded with nine carts. Yuan Shikai was also personally escorted into Beijing with the car.

At two o'clock in the afternoon of January 7, 1902, the train arrived at Yongdingmen in Beijing, and the platform issued a tsunami of "long live".

The Qing court, which had been away from Beijing for 17 months, finally returned to Beijing. After years of sowing and returning after the catastrophe, Cixi, Guangxu and Baiguan saw that the palace was still there, and they couldn't help but cry.