As a symbol of the supremacy of imperial power, the Forbidden City was subjected to high-profile resistance by the Praetorian Guard, and it was really unprecedented to assist the rebels to kidnap the prince, but there was inevitability in chance, Guan Xuqing couldn't help but reflect on what he had done

He has always regarded the external enemy as the primary goal, and all the plans of action are also formulated around the fight against the external enemy, including the Sino-French War and this Sino-British war, and internally, he mainly takes pacification measures, which is inseparable from his position and class, after all, he cannot overthrow and rebuild this feudal dynasty like those revolutionary aspirants, so what he can do is to win over one faction and fight the other, and balance the forces between various interest groups, In order to promote the gradual replacement of the advanced classes with the proportion of the backward classes in the ruling group, will the backward classes so willingly withdraw from the stage of history? Otherwise, they are still an inherent class of vested interests, and it is impossible that this mutiny is nothing more than a general explosion of contradictions accumulated

I think of my opponent too simply, and I think I think too great, thinking that everything is in my own hands, but I don't know how small the power of one person is, how to compete with one or even several groups to reform the imperial examination, revitalize industry and commerce, abolish the old Eight Banners system, maintain a tough attitude towards the outside world, and strive for national power, these measures have indeed brought China on a road, but they have also offended almost all the forces within the feudal dynasty. But in fact, if such a big mutiny had not been accommodating, negligent, and acquiescing in other groups, I am afraid that I would not have believed the root cause of such a mutiny, because this time I violated the principle of supporting advanced groups and cracking down on backward groups that I had formulated at the beginning, and I personally promoted the development of history

Since the formation of the Praetorian Guard in the 10th Gyeonggi Battalion such as the Forward Battalion and the Xiaocai Battalion, the number of guards in the palace has been reduced to less than 1,000 people, and today the Imperial Forest Army and the guards have been transferred most of them because of the enemy's plan to transfer the tiger away from the mountain, and the garrison force in the palace at this time is only more than 100 Imperial Forest Army and more than 300 Praetorian Guards

Added to a piece of less than 500 people, and scattered on the other side of the palace, because Qidong heard the gunfire of Xihuamen and led most of the Praetorian Guards from the noon gate to Xihuamen, and was said by Zhang Zhankui's words, the whole person stayed there

At this time, he suddenly heard the gunshots in Donghua Gate, and he was not lightly frightened, why was the Qing Dynasty, which was still peaceful in the world yesterday, even the palace was full of smoke today, and all the guards were waiting for him to give an order, but Qidong couldn't say a word

"Your Majesty, the eldest brother has been safely rescued and killed the Praetorian Guard's traitor in Xihuamen, and the four-rank guard with a knife, Yilin A," Zhang Zhankui knelt down in front of Guan Xuqing

"Well, I know who instructed the nurse to interrogate, and how many accomplices there were," Guan Xuqing said coldly

"Your Majesty, there are a large number of chaotic attacks in Donghua Gate, just now the chaotic army has broken through Donghua Gate and entered the palace, and please ask the emperor and Niangniang to move quickly" Another guard hurriedly ran in

At this time, Guan Xuqing knew the seriousness of the matter, it was obvious that this was an organized and premeditated assassination operation, but the panic only lasted for a short time, he immediately calmed down and said, "What are you panicking about? Huang Feihong, Huo Yuanjia, and Zhang Zhankui each led twenty royal forest troops to protect the queen and Niangniang and retreat to the corner tower

The four corners of the Forbidden City Wall, each has a corner tower, the four corner towers are the same shape, respectively by nine beams, eighteen columns, triple eaves, seventy-two ridges, the top of the building is placed with a gold treasure item, from the appearance of the appearance is like a small tower, from the military point of view is an easy to defend and difficult to attack the bunker, although the rebel army can organize a team of more than 1,000 people in the capital, although it has been concealed from itself, but I believe that the rebel army certainly does not have heavy weapons similar to mortars

The sound of guns outside is getting closer and closer, and even the sound of the two armies shouting to kill can be heard, obviously Shi Duo They also know the truth of capturing the thief and capturing the king first, as long as they catch themselves, the overall situation will be decided, so at least half of the chaotic army is coming straight to Zhongcui Palace

The three of them ran out immediately after receiving the order

Although he kept telling himself not to be nervous, beads of sweat still kept seeping down his head, and then another guard hurriedly ran in: "The emperor and the rebel army have already hit the palace gate, and I ask the emperor and the queen mother to move the palace for the time being."

"What about Qidong? What about his Praetorian Guard? The Donghua Gate has been breached, are the other palace gates being attacked by the rebel army? Or did he defect too? Guan Xuqing scolded angrily

Now nearly 1,000 Praetorian Guards, except for those who died in Donghua Gate, the rest of the people did not dare to enter the palace rashly without receiving an order, and looked at the palace curiously at the gates of each palace What was going on

At this time, Feng Xianghua, who was working in the military aircraft department, also heard the gunshots, because firearms could not be worn in the palace, Feng Xianghua hurriedly said to the tea eunuch beside him: "Go, pass my order, let the Praetorian guards at the palace gate immediately enter the palace to escort and let Qidong bring me a Mauser pistol."

"Chirp", the already frightened eunuch stumbled out with trembling legs

Outside the Xihua Gate, a guard said to Qidong: "Head, there seems to be something big inside, why do these gunshots continue?" Listen, there is also a police officer who seems to have been assassinated by the emperor."

"What?" Qidong suddenly came back to his senses and hurriedly said: "Go, inform all the brothers, immediately go to Zhongcui Palace to escort the car, immediately send a telegram to Wu Yaotian, the commander of the 22nd Division stationed in Tianjin, and immediately return to the capital to help."

"Yes," the guard took the order and hurried away

In Zhongcui Palace, Guan Xuqing was still sitting upright, although his heart was burning, but on the surface, he was in his chest, and he didn't show any panic at all

The rebels who attacked Zhongcui Palace were stubbornly blocked by the Imperial Forest Army, and the chaotic army that rushed into the courtyard was suddenly knocked down by a row of neatly shot shots, and countless eunuchs holding temporary steel knives from both sides of Zhongcui Palace also rushed out and entangled with the rebels

The rebels were mainly selected by Shi Duo from his own personal soldiers, originally only more than 700 people, and later added some of the hereditary Prince Huan's personal soldiers on the Zailian Mansion, this time the total number of people in the palace was more than 1,200 people

Originally, Shi Duo wanted to kidnap the eldest brother first, and let the emperor send a large number of Praetorian Guards to look for opportunities everywhere to storm the palace, but due to the revelation of the kidnapping, he had to act in advance

In addition to kidnapping the eldest brother, he also embezzled education funds, instructed his subordinates to pretend to be refugees to rob weapons in the military camp, and formed a party for personal gain

If Guangxu is allowed to find out his head, it will be as simple as killing an ant to kill himself at that time, and it may be difficult to have a chance of winning in advance

Just when Guan Xuqing was thinking about it, there was a loud noise from outside, and the noisy shouting and killing sound rushed straight into the courtyard, and from Guan Xuqing's position, he could almost see the cold light of the bayonets on the rifles of the rebels, and at this time Guan Xuqing couldn't sit still anymore anyway

Beside Guan Xuqing, there were more than ten Royal Forest Soldiers such as Dadao Wang Wu, Yanzi Li San, Xun Enping, and less than 50 Imperial Forest Soldiers and two or three hundred young eunuchs armed with big swords outside the courtyard, resisting the attacks of nearly 700 rebels

"Please move the emperor" More than a dozen guards knelt on the ground together

"Wang Shang, send a few eunuchs to rush out, so that the 22nd Division in Tianjin will immediately return to Beijing to rescue, and the rest of the people will follow me to drive the Zhonghe Palace," Guan Xuqing said

"Chirp" Wang Shang was quite calm at this time

But before the eunuchs sent out of the courtyard could escape the courtyard, they were knocked down in a pool of blood......

Guan Xuqing saw all this in his eyes, and his heart was anxious At this time, he only hoped to take advantage of the many palaces in the Forbidden City and fight with the rebels to fight for each courtyard and courtyard, so that he could hope to drag until the reinforcements arrived, although he didn't know where the reinforcements would come, but he believed that the gunshots in the Forbidden City would definitely cause the vigilance of the yamen in the capital, and he still firmly believed that Qidong would not betray him so far, and he must have been stumped by something, besides, all the members of the military department in the Forbidden City were there, and they could also order the nearest troops to return to Beijing for rescue

Just when Guan Xuqing was moving with more than a dozen guards, he suddenly heard the explosion of a grenade in Zhongcui Palace, Guan Xuqing was happy in his heart, he was sure that this was not a chaotic army, because just now the chaotic army attacked Zhongcui Palace for nearly 20 minutes without using a single grenade, if the chaotic army had this kind of equipment, it would have been used long ago, and it was obvious that their reinforcements were coming, but I don't know whose troops it was

"Your Majesty, the Praetorian Guards under the command of Qidong have arrived and are mixed with the rebels, the two sides are inseparable, we came to escort them, the rebels are numerous, and there are many scattered rebels searching around the palace, the emperor still hurriedly moves the corner tower" A soldier of the Royal Forest Army with a black face full of smoke and dirt said breathlessly

"Hmph, go tell Qidong that I don't want him to simply escort and defend, I want him to take the initiative to attack and wipe out those rebels," Guan Xuqing roared

"Chirp"

Guan Xuqing sat firmly on the dragon chair in the Zhonghe Palace, thoughtfully, as if everything outside had nothing to do with him and the brutal fighting outside continued, and every minute and every second, someone fell, and the blood stained this palace that symbolized the supreme power An hour later......

Finally, the 22nd Division led by Wu Yaotian arrived, and the rebels melted down as quickly as snow meets sun, and the rain washed over the filthy ground, believing that when the sun rises, the dynasty will be renewed