The outer city is broken, the country has been broken, the capital is boiling, the land of is all rebellious, and the Qing Dynasty has reached this point, and it is time to lose the country.

The outer city of Guangxu 30 years is not better than the outer city of Guangxu 26 years, and it is not more than the outer city more than 100 years ago.

In the outer city, there are Han people who hang the white flag and the Manchu people who plant the white flag, and there are also Han and Manchu officials who are determined to die for the country.

Some old scholars of the Hanlin Academy, under the service of their sons and servants, were helped to step on the footstool, and it was often the sons who watched their fathers throw the ring, and when the sons followed and hanged themselves. Sometimes they also left a suicide note to their officials or family members, saying that "although they are Han Chinese, they have not surrendered to the enemy".

Some of the family members of the flag officials listened to the destruction of the outer city, especially those who were born in the eight nobles of Manchuria, and their surnames were often extremely strong. Hearing that the rebel army broke the city and entered Beijing, he was afraid of humiliation, so he ordered his family to dig two extremely deep pits in the backyard, and then gathered his family members, separated from men and women, and buried them alive in the pits.

In addition, there are several families who throw their families into water, [***], take poison, and even kill their flesh and bones first like Ming Sizong, and then commit suicide. Compared with the inner and outer cities to build their homes [***] and throw themselves into the water, there are not many Han people who are martyred, and only a few of them do not hesitate to bear the name of "Han Annihilation" behind them for the sake of the righteousness of the whole monarch and ministers, or hang themselves or take poison and martyrdom, I think they don't want to be worthy of being an example of Shilin.

But what? Often as soon as they hang themselves here, and take poison there, their bodies are often buried in the pit that their families have dug in a hurry, and as for their whereabouts, they have already had the rhetoric "have returned to their hometown", in order not to stain the family's name, this martyrdom of the loyalty of the monarch and the ministers, so it was "hidden" by their own families, and the person died, but the clan name still had to be protected.

In the streets, in the light of torches, groups of captives in uniforms and uniforms, bound by long strings of ropes, were escorted out of the city by soldiers, and from time to time some people held leaflets in their hands and shouted loudly.

The words "I am willing to surrender, I am willing to be the subjects of China" walked out of the abandoned houses or alleys, and the weapons piled up in a small hill at the corner of the street were piled up there, which were thrown by the surrendered Qing army, and occasionally some bold citizens came out to take a look.

In the alley that was not destroyed by the war, four soldiers with guns pointed to a dozen people in front of them, and these dozen people wearing uniforms knelt there, kowtowing their heads from time to time and begging to cry and shout words such as "Lord spare their lives", they cried and begged, but the soldiers who were covered with smoke and dust were unmoved, and the four of them glanced at each other, and each could see a trace of eagerness in each other's eyes.

With a muffled snort, the soldiers in the front row stabbed suddenly, "Huh! The soldier laughed and withdrew the bayonet, but the kneeling people knocked harder and begged for mercy, and no one fled, but knelt there resignedly, praying that the four would be kind.

"My lord, there are old and young in my family, please ......"

Before he could finish speaking, the soldier who had removed the bayonet from the tip of the spear slashed his neck with the bayonet, and the blood sprayed into a mist after the major artery was cut, and he fell to the ground clutching his neck and convulsed, and the blood mist splattered from between his fingers.

After a while, there were only a dozen corpses left in the alley, and the four people with guns on their backs did not have a trace of discomfort and nervousness, but laughed at the blood stains on their hands wiped in the dust, walked from the alley to the main street, and then disappeared in the large army.

When the Liberation Army that hit the outer city searched for the remnants of the enemy in the city door by door, it was also a chaos in the inner city, looking at the inner city from the air, in the night, dozens of hundreds of houses and nearly a thousand houses were burned, which was the flame of the loyal ministers who moved their families when the country was about to die.

Listening to the gradually sparse gunfire in the outer city, the Empress Dowager Cixi's heart tightened, and finally when the gunfire intensified again, the Empress Dowager Cixi, who felt the crisis of the situation, immediately ordered.

"Summoning the military aircraft and the Imperial Minister."

As a result, only three ministers of military aircraft came: Wang Wenshao, Lu Chuanlin, and Qu Hongzhen. The three of them had been living in the military plane, so they were able to come late at night.

"Just the four of you! You see, everyone else has left us and our mother and son alone! ”

At this point, a gust of night breeze entered the house, and the candlelight on the imperial case swayed, reflecting the emaciated face of the Empress Dowager Cixi and the bleak face of the emperor. The huge palace, how many times is well-dressed, graceful and solemn in the prosperous atmosphere, on the hearts of the monarchs and ministers, Yijue is extremely desolate in the world, and all of them burst into tears!

"Yixuan is gone!"

The Empress Dowager Cixi blew her nose and said again.

"Now I have to go! The three of you, be sure to go with us and your son. Wang Wenshao is so old, and I have to endure this hard trip, but this is also a helpless thing, fortunately, this road is not far...... Tie Liang, this road to the legation is pointing to you! ”

"Yes!"

Tie Liang hurriedly replied: "Minion, you must sacrifice your life to protect it!" ”

"Good!"

Empress Dowager Cixi turned her face and asked.

"What else does the emperor have to explain?"

"Wang Wenshao!"

The emperor said in a rare loud voice.

"You must come."

Wang Wenshao didn't hear clearly, kowtowed, but didn't stop talking.

Tie Liang, who was wearing a new army uniform and had two short spears pinned to his waist, asked again:

"Please the Queen Mother, the Emperor's decree, when are you going to leave?"

"I can't say that right now."

The Empress Dowager Cixi was inconvenient to make a strict request at this time, so she could only say in a consultative tone.

"It takes a few cars to move."

There are a lot of treasures in this palace, but they haven't been shipped away! Thinking that the gold and silver treasures she threw away in the year of Gengzi were plundered by foreigners, Cixi felt heartache, not to mention that this time was not as good as last time, last time there were loyal subjects and righteous people who gave them two flowers, this time ...... Hey...... "Yes!" ”

Tie Liang hurriedly kowtowed and replied.

"The minions do their best to prepare."

"That's right! You do your best, as soon as possible, and when you are ready, we will leave immediately. ”

Said to retreat from the court, the Empress Dowager Cixi returned to the dormitory, silently pondered for a while, and then returned to bed, but after sleeping for less than an hour, she had already woken up, and the original gunfire resumed, but if it was interrupted, it seemed that there were still some routs in the outer city attacking and disturbing the thieves.

So Cixi got up to wash, and when she was combing her hair, she only heard a series of strange sounds, breaking through the air, "meow, meow" like a cat's meow.

"So many cats?"

Before she could finish her sentence, the Empress Dowager Cixi noticed that there was a small thing jumping around on the brick floor, making a very solid sound of "Ka Ka Gege". When it stopped, a palace maid picked it up and looked at it, and she happened to know the goods, so she couldn't help but shout.

"It's a bullet!"

Just this sentence, like a thunderbolt on a sunny day, all frightened, the Empress Dowager Cixi was about to inquire about the origin, and heard a trembling voice outside the curtain.

"The thieves are about to enter the city! Galeries Lafayette doesn't want to go quickly? ”

When he looked closely, it was Tie Liang who was kneeling outside the curtain, and the eunuchs and palace maids who were walking around for a while all stopped, and their eyes were invariably focused on the face of the Empress Dowager Cixi.

"It's coming so fast!"

Empress Dowager Cixi walked to the curtain and asked.

"Where are the rebels?"

"It's attacking Donghua Gate!"

No wonder the bullets are flying! The Empress Dowager Cixi was really scared at this time, because as soon as the Donghua Gate was broken, there was Ningshou Palace to the north. The enemy has not only broken through the city, but has also penetrated deep into the Ouchi, which is really incredible!

However, her thinking became sharper, and she shouted, "Tie Liang! ”

"The minions are here!"

"Did you find the car?"

"Twenty-five carts!"

"Good! I'll leave right away. The Empress Dowager Cixi then ordered: "Hurry up and find the emperor!" ”

Under the Donghua Gate, the gunshots and cannons are endless, and the artillerymen of the first town of Beiyang, who regained the cannons, first bombarded nearly 2,000 shells on the arrow tower of Donghua Gate, and then under the cover of the cannons, they carried the siege ladder to attack the city, the bloodiest siege battle staged here, the ladder is not long enough to be a rope, the siege soldiers fell from the wall in the moat like dumplings, the river was dyed red with blood, when they were attacking the city, the gunners approaching the bridge deck continued to bombard the city gate with field artillery, Ignoring the bullets flying overhead.

The shouts of killing and screaming seemed to have become the only sound between heaven and earth, and the Beiyang officers and soldiers of the first town got the death order, either to lay down the Donghua Gate before the dawn, or to go up to the commander and down to the soldiers to cut off their heads.

"The Restoration Army of the Dog!"

He Zonglian, who was riding on the horse, cursed the Guangfu Army in his mouth and in his heart, from the siege of the city, the cannons they pulled from Tianjin, across the outer city, the inner city and the Forbidden City, shelled Donghua Gate, but the quasi-head was not as neat as when they hit the outer city, but more than a dozen shells fell to the side of the siege troops one after another, killing and wounding hundreds of people.

"Commander,"

Zhao Guoxian, who was riding on a horse next to him, spoke.

Although Nanjing still did not give the Beiyang Army an establishment, it is better for them to change to the military system of "the first division of the Liberation Army, the second division of the reading force" and imitate the military system of the Liberation Army to change the military system of divisions, brigades, regiments, battalions and companies, but their restructuring has not been confirmed by the staff of the Nanjing Liberation Army, but it has not been denied.

"This night is not as good as the day, and the shell calibration can't catch up with the day!"

"His uncle's!"

He Zonglian scolded.

"I understand what you're saying, big ...... The vice chairman of the committee has urged, and by dawn, we must take the inner city, and now the vice chairman can all point to ......."

He didn't continue to say the next sentence, the vice chairman said it clearly, and he criticized the credit for recovering the inner city to save himself, and Nanjing's attitude towards the vice chairman was very ambiguous, on the one hand, he urged the vice chairman to go south to perform his duties, and on the other hand, he did not give the Beiyang Army a setup.

Ay!

Thinking about it, He Zonglian sighed helplessly, and then set her eyes on the Donghuamen Arrow Tower that was blown down.

"Fight for this life, fight for the vice chairman!"

As he spoke, he listened to the sharp whistling in the air, and his brows furrowed...... At this moment, only a violent explosion was heard, and suddenly there was a shock on the city wall, and the explosion inside the city wall shattered thousands of city bricks and rammed earth.

"Good! Call them well, that's how it hits! ”

This shot only made He Zonglian, who was originally dissatisfied, immediately applaud, and the previous dissatisfaction could still be seen on his excited face.

"Pass the order, after the city is broken, those who trespass into the Forbidden City and Dongjiaomin Alley will be killed!"

Although he was excited, he had not forgotten Yuan Shikai's explanation, at this time, he must not make any trouble for the vice chairman, although the gold and silver treasures of the Forbidden City are attractive, but it must also be used by the head.

After a period of shaking of the ground, choking smoke and dust accompanied by the screams of the soldiers, Rong Qing, who was holding a waist knife, had a lot of blood on the yellow coat on his body, although he was a literati, but he had already cut more than a dozen deserters.

"Serve the country with loyalty!"

There are only these four words left in his mind, no matter what the court is, no matter what the queen mother is, now is the time for him to serve the country with glory and loyalty.

"Master, the city wall on the left has collapsed half inside, I'm afraid it's just a cannon effort!"

Leha, who was carrying a knife in one hand and a foreign gun in the other, came out of the smoke and dust, and shouted, he had taken care of the affairs of the house, and after lighting the fire of the burning house, he took the knife and went to the city wall.

"Leha, this lord is going to be a loyal minister!"

Staring at Leha, Rongqing's face showed some pain, Mrs. didn't bear him, the family funeral, even the house was burned, life was boring, and the rest was waiting for the moment when the city was finally broken.

"Master, when the time comes, Leha will take the first step and lead the way for the master!"

Lehajing, who was wounded, said a word, and there was another whistling sound in the air, listening to this whistling, Leha knew that the city was about to break!

Several violent explosions in succession only caused the Forbidden City to shake with the ground.

The explosion only made Li Lianying's heart tighten.

"Does Galeries Lafayette change his clothes first, or comb his hair first?"

"Comb your hair?"

The Empress Dowager Cixi touched the back of her head, and Fang Shi suddenly realized that the last time she fled west, she was also dressed as a Han Chinese. The hairbrushed by the women of the banner people, the style is different from the bun of Han makeup, and it is divided into two strands of drooping, called "swallowtail", commonly known as "putting the head", if you only change your clothes and do not change your hair bun, it is still difficult to hide the truth.

"Let's change our clothes first!"

Transferred to the back of the dormitory, and when she took out a set of cloth clothes and skirts wrapped in yellow clothes, the Empress Dowager Cixi couldn't help but be stunned! She wants to get rid of the queen mother's clothes, which is equivalent to removing the identity of the queen mother, since then, maybe the order can't be done, maybe no one cares, when it comes to danger, if you can't deal with it well, and forget to put on the queen mother's style, maybe there will be an accident.

"No way!"

Staring at the cloth dress, she said in her heart.

"You can't be so casually condescending! To insult oneself is to insult the ancestors and ancestors of the Qing Dynasty! What's more, let foreigners see it! ”

This idea just came to me, and when I couldn't make up my mind, I heard a "meow" again, and a stray bullet flew in outside the window. At this time, she didn't think about it anymore, let the palace maid wait, changed her clothes and shoes, and staggered to the front, feeling very uncomfortable.

Walking to the mirror, the Empress Dowager Cixi looked at her body and laughed mockingly.

"I never thought that after four years, I would pretend to be a country grandmother again?"

"It's good to be like an elephant!"

Li Lianying held her arm and said, "The slave waits for Lafayette to comb his hair." ”

Li Lianying has not combed her hair for many years, but she is still very skillful, untying the "swallowtail", combing it slightly, and combing it into a falling horse bun with Chinese makeup.

"When the Boxers were in the year of Gengzi, where would you think that there would be such a day in your life?"

The Empress Dowager Cixi pretended to be open-minded and said.

"I didn't expect that I, a flag man, would be dressed as a Han again, so that I could live!"

Li Lianying didn't answer, paused and asked.

"Please Lafayette's will, in addition to the emperor and queen, who will send someone to accompany you?"

This made the Empress Dowager Cixi hesitate, there are so many palace dependents, it seems unfair to bring this or not that, and if you bring it all, it is a burden. After thinking about it for a while, he resolutely said, "Don't bring anyone!" ”

At this time, the emperor who was saluting in the Shouhuang Palace had arrived, and the Empress Dowager Cixi did not wait for him to kneel down and say goodbye: "How can you do this dress?" Change, change! ”

So the palace maids took off the red tasseled hat and robes for the emperor, and Li Lianying found a thin cotton robe made of half-old Xuanxi Xinghu crepe and put it on for the emperor. The emperor was thin, and the cotton robe was wide with large sleeves and no belt, which looked too unfitting, but he had no choice but to give in.

At that time, the concubines and concubines of the palace had been notified to gather in Ningshou Palace to ask for peace. The Empress Dowager Cixi is really a little ashamed to see people by herself, but since she is the master of the first palace, before she goes out, no matter what, she can't do without a word to explain.

"The thieves have counterattacked and entered Beijing!"

The Empress Dowager Cixi spoke very slowly, and her voice was not high.

"I can't help but leave with the emperor, for the sake of the future of the Qing Dynasty. You don't have to come with me just yet! Don't be afraid, be patient for a few days, and I will go to the legation with the emperor to see the situation and then issue an edict. ”

At this point, there are already sobbing voices. The Empress Dowager Cixi also felt embarrassed, wiped her tears with her sleeve, and had to say a few words to comfort everyone and confess.

"Actually, I can't bear to you, but the reason is forced, and I can't teach it!"

The Empress Dowager Cixi had an idea and told a lie.

"I've already told King Qing! He will negotiate with the ministers of various countries, and if he wants to come to the ministers of various countries, he will not leave you in trouble last time, so he will definitely protect you well, and go back separately! ”

The concubines in the palace, no one dared to argue with the Empress Dowager Cixi, and looking at it like this, it was obviously impossible to flee with the two palaces, and it was obviously impossible to go up, so I didn't take them away last time, how could I still take them this time.

Thinking about it like this, no one made a request to obey, and everyone knelt down.

"The queen mother, the emperor is a lucky star all the way, and I said early...... Back to Luang! ”

Then in front of the door of the line, waiting to kneel to send the two palaces to open the feet, when the last two words were spoken, everyone cried, everyone knows, afraid that the emperor and the queen mother will leave like this, there is no possibility of returning to Luan.

This great Qing kingdom is about to fall...... In the Empress Dowager Cixi, of course, she can't care about any etiquette at this point! He hurried to the west, followed by the emperor, the empress, the eldest brother, and a large group of eunuchs and palace maids.

When I arrived at the gate of Dexihua, I saw three women in Han costumes kneeling to pick up the car, and when they approached Fang Shi, they saw that it was the two daughters of Concubine Jin and King Qing, Sangege and Sigege. Concubine Jin didn't wait for the Empress Dowager Cixi to speak, and said first.

"The servant followed and went to serve Lafayette."

"Alright! You follow. ”

Empress Dowager Cixi nodded, and asked King Qing's two daughters.

"You two sisters, why are you here?"

"The slave's Amma, call the two slaves to serve Lafayette!"

Although on the occasion of this hasty resignation, the Empress Dowager Cixi was still sane and clear, and understood King Qing's move, so she said that she would never collude with foreigners and betray the Empress Dowager now or in the future, and sent these two women to accompany her, which really meant to be kept as hostages, so she readily agreed.

"Good! Good! Come with me. ”

And he asked, "What about you, Amma?" ”

"Wait outside [***]." Sangege pointed to the outside of the palace gate and said.

[***] Outside the waiting guards, not only King Qing, but also a group of princes Baylor, as well as the military squire and infantry commander Tie Liang, the commander of the right wing of the Yamen, and so on.

The crowd hurriedly saluted, and the Empress Dowager Cixi said.

"Get up and speak."

"Yes!"

King Qing agreed. Stand up first.

"Just these cars?"

King Qing No, the rest of the princes naturally wouldn't speak, so Tie Liang stood up and said.

"The queen mother, the emperor is ready to take the car here." The Empress Dowager Cixi nodded, and didn't say anything, this place is not far from Dongjiaomin Lane, even if you walk, you can get there, but you still have to get in the car, who knows how long that Rongqing can keep, in case he falls...... Thinking of this, Cixi hated why she was confused for a while, so she hurriedly said something urgently.

"Don't talk so loudly! It's a handlebar-style thing to go back to catch the car, and you are not allowed to interfere! ”

Empress Dowager Cixi said again.

"When everyone got into the car, they all put down the curtains so that no one could see it."

After speaking, taking King Qing's two daughters into the car, Li Lianying walked in front of King Qing and said in a low voice.

"Lafayette's meaning, from [***] out of the Forbidden City, this is magnificent. Lord, do you think it's okay to go like this? ”

"It's nothing, it's the soldier who guards the north entrance of Dongjiaomin Lane, and I've already sent someone to deal with it first."

King Qing didn't say that his family, young and old, had already entered the legation, but they were just living in the compound.

"That...... Gonggong Li, when the time comes, when you get to Dongjiaomin Lane, Tie Liang and their guns will have to be handed over, you have to talk to the Queen Mother! ”

"Hmmm! It's still King Qing, hey! Don't talk about the old slave, the safety of the queen mother and the emperor can all be pointed to you. ”

Just when the handlebar whip was raised and the wheels began to move, the Empress Dowager Cixi opened the curtain and looked at the Daqing Gate in front, but saw that the white flag had been planted on the city, and her face changed...... It actually fell.

Tie Liang also saw this scene, this half-time effort, he was preparing how to escort the Queen Mother and the Emperor to Dongjiaomin Lane, but he ignored the city defense, this white flag ...... "...... of a thousand knives!" ”

Before he could finish scolding, a burst of gunfire suddenly rang out from nearby.

(To be continued)