Chapter 15: Chaos in the capital
The Ming and Qing dynasties directly under the capital Forbidden City was full of prosperity in the past, after the wind and rain, this huge Forbidden City was how prosperous in the past, how attractive eyeballs, all kinds of ancient courtyards, the old city wall, the colorful Beijing rock sugar gourd, all kinds of belly, haggis, the sound of selling constantly, and in the laughter and laughter, people do not know that a storm is coming, people do not know, a bloody storm is about to set off a storm of historyγγγγγγγγγ The last year of the Qing Dynasty in 1900 Gengzi year was destined to be unpeaceful, many disasters and difficulties, the crumbling Manchu ** just after the defeat of the Sino-Japanese First Sino-Japanese battle, the weak and incompetent Qing ** lost money, signed a series of unequal treaties with China, the backward Manchu ministers, the Empress Dowager Cixi who listened to the government for their own rights to house arrest the Qing Emperor Guangxu, for the right like the Western powers openly declared war, the last years of the Qing Dynasty, when the powers tried to let Cixi return to the Guangxu Emperor, so that they could get greater benefits in the future. But they ignored Cixi, and Cixi also had a feeling that she had been tricked by foreigners, and the angry Cixi launched an edict declaring war on the 11 countries. At that time, the edict of declaration of war was not issued, but was stopped by the Minister of Post, and only for the governors to see. The general meaning of the edict is to mobilize the whole country into a state of war readiness, and at that time entering a state of war readiness is a sign of a declaration of war. Fortunately, the other governors did not carry it out, and only let Cixi toss around in the capital.
At that time, the Boxers were also besieging foreign embassies in the capital, but the foreign embassies also had a certain number of troops to defend them, because the Boxers were backward in equipment, so they were never able to break through the embassies. In the end, Cixi was also anxious, and she couldn't even attack a foreign embassy in her own territory, and her face was too loud. At that time, Cixi was particularly tough to transfer heavy artillery troops, thinking of using heavy artillery imported from Germany to flatten the embassy. At this time, many people thought that Cixi was crazy, and the two armies did not fight each other, but this time Cixi actually wanted to bombard the embassy.
Of course, it was impossible for Cixi to personally command the artillery, and this task fell to Zhang Huaizhi, the assistant commander of the artillery. At that time, Zhang Huaizhi also muttered, if he didn't fire the cannon, then Cixi would let his head fall to the ground in minutes, but if the cannon was fired, then he would still let his head fall to the ground when he was liquidated in the future. Heavy artillery bombardment of the embassy is a matter of minutes, but the impact is great. And the shelling of the embassy, this is likely to lead to a full-scale war. With the national strength of the Qing Dynasty at that time, it was simply not enough to launch a full-scale war, and if it really happened, then the Qing Dynasty was very likely to be destroyed. Historical issues are in his hands, and his decisions will affect history to a great extent.
Zhang Huaizhi didn't dare to make a decision on such a big matter, so he specially consulted the master, who was the Minister of Military Aircraft, Rong Lu. At that time, Rong Lu didn't dare to give an order easily, but Zhang Huaizhi made it clear that if you don't give an order, I won't open fire, and I will explain what happened in the end. Disobeying Cixi's order, no one can afford this crime. What's more, there were many ministers who were in charge of peace at that time, but these people were either exiled or beheaded, and for a while, everyone was in danger for fear of touching Cixi's bad head. In the end, Rong Lu had a good idea, and it was this trick that saved the Qing Dynasty.
Didn't Cixi just want the embassy to be bombarded with heavy artillery? Then bombard. Rong Lu and Zhang Huaizhi said: "There are cannons here, and the sound can be heard in the palace." Zhang Huaizhi pondered and instantly understood what to do. After Zhang Huaizhi returned to the unit, he immediately ordered a bombardment of the open space around the embassy. After the order was issued, the sound of heavy artillery bombardment resounded throughout the city of Beijing, and Lafayette's mood in the deep palace instantly improved a lot. Then Cixi came forward and issued an order to see if there was anything wrong with the foreigners and rescue them. In fact, Zhang Huaizhi's heavy artillery did not bombard the embassy, but this matter passed like this, and I have to admire Rong Lu's cleverness.
There's a saying that goes like this: "You have the right to shoot, but you also have the right to raise the muzzle of the gun an inch." Zhang Huaizhi used it very well here, which not only satisfied Cixi's intention to open the cannon, but also avoided war, just because he deviated the muzzle of the cannon a little. Many times the fate of history will let a small person make a decision, and if Zhang Huaizhi really bombarded the embassy, then the Qing Dynasty was very likely to be destroyed. But if it is not bombarded, then there is a high probability that he will hit the ground directly on the head. But there are also many people who think that Zhang Huaizhi should bombard the embassy, do you think it should? For Li Ming, there is no turning back from the start of work, and the arrow has to be sent on the string, Dongyang devil, is the scourge of this country still light?
All this peace is finally about to be broken, Li Ming thinks that we must fight this battle, and it hurts... At worst, it is like a great power that does not hesitate to go to war in an all-out wayγγγγγ