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Edward with a proud face. Seymour said to Song Xiaofei, if our Seven-Nation Alliance does not agree to these conditions to you, we can still attack the city of Beijing, right? Thirty years ago, our British Empire and the French army of 5,000 troops visited the Old Summer Palace, and now we have more than 10,000 allied troops!

Song Xiaofei said with a straight face: "Then the general might as well try!" After 30 years of Westernization, China's national strength is no longer what it used to be, and in the past 10 years, this official has opened a military academy and trained Beiyang naval divisions, although it may not be able to beat so many of your warships, but there is still no problem in fighting to the death! Once the fight starts, if you want to land in Tianjin, it will take at least three to five days. We have also placed torpedoes and heavy artillery in the coastal waters to await you. I'm not afraid to tell you, there are still 20,000 new troops on land, and there are 20,000 Huai troops stationed in Zhili, and if you want to attack Beijing, it will be at least half a month later, I am afraid that by then the embassies of various countries will only be left with piles of white bones, how will you go back to see the Queen of England? ”

Edward. Seymour said: "What about the loss of our legations?" What about our dead compatriots? ”

Song Xiaofei said: "You can rest assured that once China establishes a new government, it will compensate all countries for their losses according to the price." My proposal, the general can consider carefully: after the coalition forces break through the city of Beijing, they will be stationed in the legation districts of various countries, and my 30,000 troops will take over the city. Otherwise, I will immediately send a telegram to my mentor Li Hongzhang, asking the southeastern provinces to send troops to King Qin, and mobilize 40,000 compatriots throughout the country to drive out foreigners, although you have many guns, but once every Chinese is thrown into the flood of expelling foreigners, I believe that you will fall into the vast sea of people's war! I'm afraid this is not what you want, right? ”

Edward. Seymour saw that Song Xiaofei was completely different from other Qing officials, and knew that this was a strong opponent, so he discussed with the generals of the coalition forces of other countries, and they all agreed to save people first. So Song Xiaofei secretly ordered Duan Qirui to take 2,000 new troops, put on the Japanese military uniforms that had been prepared, pretend to be Japanese soldiers, and enter Beijing with the Seven Nations Alliance. In addition, if possible, arrest the Empress Dowager Cixi.

Song Xiaofei took the remaining fifteen thousand new troops. The situation in Tianjin was quickly stabilized, and in the name of Li Hongzhang, 20,000 Huai troops stationed in the Zhili area were recruited, and the ground in Zhili and Shandong provinces was quickly controlled.

The Seven-Nation Coalition basically did not encounter large-scale resistance from the Qing army along the way, and Ronglu's 100,000 forbidden army. was bombarded by the cannons of foreigners, and more than half of them were killed and wounded. The army was defeated. dragged their braids one by one, wishing they had grown four legs, and fled for hundreds of miles all the way. And those boxers who were dressed in strange costumes and known as invulnerable were only revealed at this time, and they were beaten by foreign guns and cannons. The night pot dung bucket was used, and there were many casualties.

On the day when the Seven-Nation Alliance army entered the city of Beijing, the palace was already in chaos, and the sky was not yet clear. In the Yangxin Palace, the Empress Dowager Cixi, who received the news of the defeat, did not sleep all night, and her heart was haggard, Rong Lu rode a fast horse, looked panicked to the Forbidden City, and did not dismount according to the rules, went straight to the Yangxin Palace, and eagerly reported to the Empress Dowager Cixi: "Queen Mother, the big thing is not good, the Western soldiers have begun to attack Donghua Gate, you go quickly!" It's too late! ”

Li Lianying, who was sent out of the palace to inquire about the news, also hurriedly ran back from outside at this time, knelt down and said: "Lafayette, the streets are full of soldiers, they are shouting outside, they want to capture you alive, let's leave quickly." ”

Empress Dowager Cixi asked Rong Lu, "How many soldiers have come?" ”

Rong Lu said: "About 10,000 people." ”

The Empress Dowager Cixi asked angrily: "Your 100,000 forbidden troops can't defeat 10,000 foreign soldiers?" ”

Rong Lu said: "Humble and incompetent, the Qing Banner Army and the Forbidden Army are usually pampered, and they have not practiced foreign guns and foreign cannons, as soon as the cannons of the foreigners sounded, they were all scattered, and they could not form an army, and the minions killed five fleeing generals in a row, and they failed to prevent the rout." ”

Empress Dowager Cixi said: "The foreign guns and cannons of foreigners are so powerful? What about the boxers of the Boxers? ”

Rong Lu said: "The boxers are all farmers who pretend to be ghosts, and tens of thousands of people have been killed and blown up. ”

Cixi knew that the general trend was gone, and she was afraid that she would not be able to escape and be humiliated, so she put on the clothes of the empress dowager and prepared to commit suicide by throwing herself into a well in the backyard. Rong Lu hurriedly rushed over, hugged the Empress Dowager Xi, and said, "Empress Dowager, you are the lord of the Great Qing Kingdom, you can't do stupid things!" It's better to avoid it, Xu is the aftermath. ”

Empress Dowager Cixi said: "This Beijing city is full of soldiers, where can the mourning family go?" And the mourning family heard that the southeastern provinces have not been edicted to beg for help, where can the mourning family go? ”

Rong Lu said: "The governor of Shaanxi, Duanfang, is my white flag person, and the queen mother can go to Xi'an for temporary refuge." Now the foreigners mainly want to deal with Duanwang and fortitude, and the queen mother can order Li Hongzhang to go north and talk with foreigners. ”

When the Empress Dowager Cixi heard this, she said: "At a critical time, I am still reliable, so let's go to Xi'an." A quick telegram was sent to Li Hongzhang, ordering him to act as the imperial court with full powers and go north to negotiate with the foreigners. ”

Li Lianying brought a green coat at this time, which was the clothes of the palace maid, and asked the Empress Dowager Cixi to change into it. The Empress Dowager Cixi said: "How can the mourning family wear such tattered clothes, and what kind of system can they become? ”

Li Lianying said: "Lafayette, when it's time, you can just take a break." ”

The Empress Dowager Cixi thought about it, too, she was going to flee, and she didn't care about her identity and physique, so she hurriedly changed into this green clothes, Li Lianying stepped forward to help dress up as an old woman who had fled, unkempt, Li Lianying was not realistic enough, and said: "Lafayette, you cry a few times, there are some tears in the corners of your eyes, it looks like some." ”

The Empress Dowager Cixi brewed her feelings for a long time, but she couldn't cry, Li Lianying found some pepper, took a bowl of well water, sprinkled it in the water, and then smeared the water on Cixi's eyes, and suddenly, Cixi's tears flowed down.

Cixi decided to go to Xi'an, so she took Li Lianying and others to the backyard to find Emperor Guangxu and wanted to take him with her. Emperor Guangxu wore a black gauze robe, stood in the house, and burst into tears at the portraits of Emperor Kangxi, Emperor Qianlong, Emperor Daoguang, Emperor Xianfeng and others.

Cixi was very angry and said, "Your Majesty, the mourning family is not dead, you are crying and crying in black veil here!" ”

Emperor Guangxu cried: "As the king of the dead country, I am ashamed of the ancestors and ancestors who love Xinjueluo!" ”

Cixi said: "The Qing Dynasty is not dead, we will go to Xi'an together, Xi'an has Tongguan natural danger, easy to defend and difficult to attack, Shaanxi Governor Duan Fang is my bannerman, loyal." ”

Emperor Guangxu said: "When Li Zicheng broke through Beijing, Emperor Chongzhen hanged himself in the coal mountain, as the king of a country, I actually let the soldiers of the eight countries attack the city of Beijing, I committed suicide to comfort the ancestors!" ”

The Empress Dowager Cixi said: "Idiot, what's the use of your death!" At this time, the mourning family only knew that you were in trouble for changing the law and renewing it, so let's go to Xi'an first, and then think about it in the long run. ”

Emperor Guangxu still wanted to struggle, and Li Lianying had already sent someone to send coarse cloth clothes to change for him. Before Cixi left, she also thought of Emperor Guangxu's empress and Concubine Zhen, so Li Lianying sent someone to bring Concubine Zhen out of the North Third Institute behind Zhongcui Palace, but the figure of Concubine Zhen was gone! It turned out that the phoenix girl had already received the news of Song Xiaofei, and took advantage of the chaos in the palace to rescue Concubine Zhen together with the eunuch Wang Shang, the henchman of Emperor Guangxu, and the Empress Dowager Cixi couldn't take care of so much at this time, so she quickly ordered someone to bury some valuable jewels, gold and silver in the palace, worth about 100 million taels of silver, of which the phoenix crown on the head of the queen mother was inlaid by countless pearls and gemstones, of which only one pearl was worth about 10 million taels of silver. Then, Emperor Guangxu and his entourage pretended to be refugees fleeing from the capital and rushed to Xi'an.

On a small road leading from Beijing to Huailaiwei in Xuanhua Prefecture, Zhili Province, Ruan Zhongshu and Feng Guozhang rode tall horses, led 30 henchmen in Japanese military uniforms, and carried muskets, waiting for the arrival of the Empress Dowager Cixi and Emperor Guangxu, and the new army did not know what task they were going to perform.

After waiting for about three hours, and still no one was seen, Feng Guozhang rode forward and asked Ruan Zhongshu quietly: "Is the eldest brother's judgment accurate?" Will the Empress Dowager Cixi flee to Xi'an? If I were her, I would go to Manchuria or Mongolia, where there are many people who support her. ”

Ruan Zhongshu said: "I have followed the adult for more than ten years, and his major judgment has never been wrong. He said that the Empress Dowager Cixi will definitely come to Xi'an, and she will pass by Huailai, so it must be so, I'm afraid you won't be able to do it for a while. ”

Feng Guozhang rode on a tall horse, looked at the sun that was about to set, the remnant sun was like blood, and said: "My brothers once gave me Feng Guozhang a nickname, I don't know if you have heard of it!" ”

Ruan Zhongshu said: "What nickname?" ”

Feng Guozhang said: "Cold-blooded butcher! ”

Ruan Zhongshu said: "No wonder the eldest brother will send you here, if you send Wang Shizhen, his mind full of loyalty to the monarch will really not necessarily start." ”

Feng Guozhang said: "The governor doesn't often say that we are Han people, loyal to the monarch and patriotic, which is not necessarily the same as loving the Manchu court. Cixi, this woman is poor and extravagant, trapped in the fire and water of all the people, isn't it a fool to be loyal to her? ”

It was almost dark, the ragged Empress Dowager Cixi, Emperor Guangxu, Empress Dowager Longyu, Li Lianying, Rong Lu and other more than a dozen people arrived on this trail, they fled all the way here, for fear of arousing suspicion, and did not dare to bring too many guards, Feng Guozhang led the troops forward, interrogated in simple Japanese, Empress Dowager Cixi They thought they had met Japanese soldiers, pretending to be fleeing refugees, and said that they had not eaten for two days, Ruan Zhongshu pretended to be the translator of the Japanese officer, and ordered someone to take five boiled tea eggs and give them to them.

Li Lianying was accustomed to serving the master first, took five tea eggs, and peeled them with trembling hands before they were peeled, and gave them to the Empress Dowager Cixi, they had indeed not eaten for a day, and they were hungry, the Empress Dowager Cixi ate three tea eggs alone, and the remaining two tea eggs were given to Emperor Guangxu by Li Lianying.

All this was seen by Feng Guozhang, who was riding on a horse and observing carefully, he looked at Li Lianying's words and deeds, that is, a eunuch in the palace, and immediately determined that the woman who ate three tea eggs was the Empress Dowager Cixi, and the one who ate two tea eggs was Emperor Guangxu.

By the time the Empress Dowager Cixi finished eating the eggs, it was already dark, Feng Guozhang pulled out his Mauser gun and whistled the slaughter to his soldiers. (To be continued......)