The Qing Dynasty

Chapter 348 Hitting on Cotton

Teng Yuzao continued to instruct Liu Yuanshou, "Also, the armies of other powerful countries must also abide by my request."

"Otherwise, their captives will meet the same fate."

Teng Yuzhao must withdraw from the capital. He will never fight to the death with the coalition forces here.

Liu Shijiu suddenly said, "Marshal, in this battle in Dongcheng, we killed 20,000 to 30,000 foreign devils, and we have this convenient and easy-to-use small cannon."

"In my opinion, even if we defend the capital for a year or so, the foreign devils will not be able to do anything to us. Maybe we can even tear a piece of meat off them."

Teng Yuzao shook his head and said, "I also want to do this. After all, this is the capital. How can I give it up so easily?"

"However, the foreign devils are determined this time. There are more than 100,000 Russian troops outside the Great Wall, and the Japanese will dispatch troops at any time. Moreover, there are 30,000 German troops who will arrive in a moment. It is not a good idea for us to stay in Beijing."

"Commander!"

Just as Teng Yuzhao was about to continue speaking, Cao Futian suddenly ran down from the city gate tower in a hurry.

Although Cao Futian's independent column was also planned to participate in the breakout mission, his men still had to guard the south and east walls tonight.

Especially in the battle of Dongcheng, the situation on the battlefield was once very tense. Although Teng Yuzhao did not allow Wei Jinghai to mobilize other troops, Wei Jinghai still ordered Cao Futian to bring his guard battalion to Qihuamen and set up the command post on the city wall so as to be able to respond to the troops outside the city at any time.

Cao Futian walked quickly to Teng Yuzao and said, "My people report that many Russians have just arrived at the Japanese barracks at Xizhimen, and the Japanese outside Fuchengmen seem to be planning to leave as well."

"Also, the deputy chief of staff just called from Fuchengmen and said that the Gansu Army discovered outside the North Gate that the troops left behind in the North City had rushed to Xizhimen overnight and have now joined forces with the Japanese troops in the city outside Xizhimen."

"The chief of staff also said that the Japanese outside Fuchengmen are likely to move towards Guang'anmen. He asked you to rush to Fuchengmen immediately."

Teng Yuzao was stunned by what Cao Futian said.

It was obvious that the coalition forces were afraid and wanted to concentrate their forces to protect themselves.

Teng Yuzao said to Cao Futian, "Tell the deputy chief of staff that no matter what happens, the breakout plan cannot be changed before I arrive at Fuchengmen. If there is another emergency, tell him not to ask me for instructions and to handle it on his own."

"Also, all your men, withdraw from the city walls immediately, gather your troops immediately, and rush to Fucheng Gate to wait for orders."

He then said to Liu Shijiu, "The assault brigade should immediately rush to Fuchengmen as planned, and notify the guards behind them to speed up their actions as well. The entire army should rush to Fuchengmen and prepare to break out and evacuate the capital."

Before Teng Yuzhao arrived at Fuchengmen, he had already heard intensive gunfire outside the west city.

Although he was anxious, it was too dark to ride his horse at full speed. Teng Yuzhao could only suppress his anxiety and trotted all the way to Fucheng Gate.

In order to break out, after midnight, Wei Jinghai had already moved the vanguard army headquarters to a street-facing house in Fuchengmen as planned.

Listening to the gunshots gradually fading away, Teng Yuzhao felt confused, jumped off his horse and hurried into the command center.

Since it had just been moved here, the headquarters looked a bit messy.

More than a dozen staff officers were busy, some shouting into the telephone, while others were running in and out hurriedly arranging the communications battalion to convey orders.

As soon as he saw Teng Yuzhao, Wei Jinghai hurriedly reported the situation.

"Marshal, the situation has been confirmed. More than 20,000 Russians from the north city have rushed to the Japanese camp outside Xizhimen overnight."

"According to reconnaissance, as soon as the Russians arrived, they and the Japanese strengthened their positions overnight. Not only did they build sandbag bunkers, they also dug many trenches, as if they were worried that we would attack them."

"Also, the Japanese outside Fuchengmen began moving towards Guang'anmen half an hour ago. I asked Commander Liu to attack the Japanese in an attempt to tie up the main force of the 9th Division. At the same time, the 2nd and 3rd Mixed Brigade also attacked from inside the city."

"However, this time the Japanese were very determined to leave. They only left a small number of troops and fought while retreating. The main force retreated southward regardless of everything. It seemed that they had foreseen that we were going to attack them."

"In addition, the foreign devils stationed in the south of the city are now moving towards Guang'anmen after joining the American troops in the direction of Guangqumen. It seems that the foreign devils want to concentrate their troops to prevent us from attacking them again."

"Also, Ma Fulu just sent someone to say that since the Russians in the north of the city have already gone to Xizhimen, there are no more foreign devils in the north city, so they will not retreat westward with us. He has already led the Gansu Army out of the north city and will enter Shanxi via Datong."

"Now, what do we do?"

Wei Jinghai spoke very hurriedly, even showing a hint of panic.

It can be seen that Wei Jinghai was a little overwhelmed by the sudden situation and didn't know how to deal with it.

Teng Yuzao could understand Wei Jinghai's condition. He did not think that Wei Jinghai was not suitable for the position of deputy chief of staff.

After all, just a few months ago, Wei Jinghai was just a student at the Beiyang Military Academy.

According to the original breakout plan, Liu Yuzhi's First Mixed Brigade would move behind the Japanese troops outside Fuchengmen tonight. When the main force of the vanguard army in the city broke out, the First Mixed Brigade would suddenly launch an attack from behind the Japanese 9th Division, encircling the main force of the Japanese 9th Division from behind.

However, now all of this has come to nothing, and Liu Yuzhi's First Mixed Brigade has to go from secret to open, and it has lost its meaning as a killer move.

In the early morning breakout, Teng Yuzhao's main purpose was actually to severely damage the Japanese 9th Division outside Fuchengmen. In order to create better conditions for the breakout, he launched an attack on the German army in Dongcheng.

Even when the situation on the Dongcheng battlefield was tense, Teng Yuzhao did not easily use the second and third mixed brigades that he was preparing to use to attack the Japanese army.

But now, his powerful punch, which had accumulated sufficient strength, was like hitting cotton.

Teng Yuzhao thought for a while and said decisively.

"We fought too hard in Dongcheng, which frightened the foreigners. They were worried that we might take advantage of the situation to attack them and defeat their siege troops one by one, so they began to concentrate their forces overnight."

"In this case, let's temporarily let go of the Japanese Ninth Division. Since the Gansu Army has already left, let's start organizing the evacuation of the troops according to the original plan."

Three days later, in the morning, at the Governor's Office in Taiyuan, Shanxi.

Nearly half past noon, two sedan chairs arrived outside the governor's office at the same time.

The two sedan chairs, one is a large green cloth sedan chair carried by eight people, and the other is a sedan chair carried by four people.

The person who got down from the sedan chair carried by eight people was Prince Duan Zai Yi, who was dressed in the royal robes of a county king. The person who got down from the sedan chair carried by four people was Ronglu, who was dressed in the clothes of a first-rank civil servant.

Zai Yi walked down the sedan lightly, without even the help of Geshaha, but the expression on his face was quite complicated. Ronglu's health had not been very good recently, so he walked much more slowly when he got down from the sedan.

Zai Yi took a few quick steps forward and supported Ronglu, which surprised Ronglu, but he immediately understood Zai Yi's thoughts.

Unlike in the past, Cixi's attitude towards the military ministers and court officials who advocated war is now rather cold. It is normal for Zai Yi to keep his tail between his legs.

Although he thought so in his heart, Ronglu still hurried to greet Zai Yi.

But Zai Yi pulled him back and said with a smile, "Sir Rong, you and I are officials in the same court. Now is a time of trouble. All matters in the court, big or small, still require you and me to protect each other. Let's not talk about these empty formalities."

If Zai Yi is willing to humble himself, Ronglu will naturally not insist.

Without waiting for Ronglu to ask, Zai Yi asked Ronglu with a smile.

"Lord Rong must also want to see the Queen Mother about matters in the capital, right?"

Teng Yuzao's memorials, whether sent to the Grand Council or to Cixi, had to go through the Grand Council. Logically speaking, if Zai Yi did not take out the memorials, Ronglu should not have known the contents of Teng Yuzao's memorials.

But things are different now. He is still the chief minister in name of the Grand Council, but Gangyi, his right-hand man, has been suffering from diarrhea for many days in a row. Not only has he become extremely thin, but he is also a little dazed. I'm afraid he will not live long!

Gangyi was unable to manage affairs, Xu Tong was dead, and another capable figure in the Grand Council, Zhao Shuqiao, the Grand Councilor, Prime Minister of Commerce, Minister of Punishments and Prefect of Shuntian Prefecture, was suddenly dismissed by Cixi a few days ago without any clear charges. Everyone in the Grand Council was insecure, and many people had already begun to choose to retreat.

As far as Zai Yi knew, many people had already begun to secretly accept Ronglu, so Ronglu must have known the content of Teng Yuzhao's memorial, which arrived last.

Seeing Zai Yi was so straightforward, Ronglu did not hide anything and nodded.

"Exactly."

Zai Yi secretly observed the expression on Ronglu's face, but Ronglu's face was as calm as water, without the slightest ripple, which made Zai Yi a little disappointed.

Then he extended his hand and said, "Prince Duan, please go first."

Although Teng Yuzhao's memorial arrived last night, and what he reported was a big event, both of them chose to come at nearly half past noon, and there was a reason for this.

Cixi had a very regular daily routine and got up at three in the morning every day.

If Cixi did not get up on time one day, the palace maids around her would need to wake her up.

The palace maids were not allowed to shout loudly, but had to gently call out "Good luck to the Empress Dowager" by her bedside over and over again until she woke up from her dream.

The second thing Cixi did after getting up was to wash.

An ordinary person could finish the task in about five minutes, but it took Empress Dowager Cixi more than an hour.

First, the palace maids would open the gauze curtains that blocked the lights. When the servants outside who were ready to take their positions at any time saw this signal, they would immediately start to take their positions, some boiling water and some making tea, and they would all get busy.

The palace maids skillfully dressed Cixi and put on her shoes and socks, then clapped their hands, signaling that people outside could come in.

After receiving the instructions, the palace maid outside the door immediately brought in the water for washing face, then wrapped Cixi's hands with a hot towel and soaked them in hot water. After soaking in 2-3 basins of hot water, they would prepare to clean Cixi's face, which was actually washing her face.

Cixi's way of washing her face was different from others. She also needed to apply a hot towel to her face first and then wash it. After washing, the next group of palace maids would come up with Cixi's special skin care products, some to wipe her face and some to wipe her hands.

The third thing is to comb your hair.

Combing Cixi's hair was definitely a terrifying thing, because Cixi hated losing her hair the most. If the eunuch in charge of combing her hair combed her hair off and she found out, it would be a serious matter that would cost her her head.

Therefore, the eunuchs who have been trained are very experienced, their movements are gentle, and they can hide their fallen hair very well.

And the time for combing your hair should last at least 30 minutes.

The fourth thing is Cixi’s makeup time. This step takes the longest time, about two hours.

Before putting on makeup, Cixi would first drink a bowl of rock sugar and white fungus, then sit upright with her eyes closed, waiting for the servants to dress her up in various ways.

The fifth thing is to eat, and the breakfast time depends on Cixi’s mood.

Cixi had to have at least 100 dishes for every meal, including breakfast. She had to prepare dozens of kinds of porridge and dozens of kinds of dim sum. She could not eat many of the dishes, or only take a small bite, but this show was necessary.

Every morning she drank breast milk. Cixi believed that this could help maintain her beauty, so she had done so for many years.

Then, it’s time to take a walk.

After breakfast, Cixi would rinse her mouth with tea, and after a short rest, she would go out for a walk with Li Lianying, Cui Yugui and other personal eunuchs.

After taking a walk, she would go to court or handle state affairs. Cixi was very punctual in this regard, and the time would basically end at the Chenshi hour, which was eight in the morning.

The Shanxi Governor's Office had long been occupied by Cixi, and this place had temporarily become her palace.

As long as it was not a formal court meeting, Cixi generally liked to hold meetings in the flower hall. Today, Cixi was still waiting in the flower hall of the governor's yamen.

Since Yu Xian had been exiled, the position of Governor of Shanxi was given to Xi Liang.

Speaking of Xiliang, not only Cixi, but also Ronglu and Zai Yi, two important officials in the court who had always disagreed with her on political views, all had a good impression of him.

Xiliang was a member of the Bordered Blue Banner of Mongolia and became a Jinshi in the 13th year of the Tongzhi reign.

He served in the Tongzhi, Guangxu and Xuantong dynasties. He was an official for 37 years and was known for his integrity, diligence and pragmatism. He was an official with outstanding political achievements in the late Qing Dynasty.

Xi Liang had served in Shanxi for twenty years in his early years. In the twenty-sixth year of the reign of Emperor Guangxu, the Eight-Nation Alliance approached the capital. After Cixi issued an imperial edict in the name of Guangxu calling on all provinces to serve the king, Xi Liang, who was then the governor of Hunan, was one of the few officials who was ordered to lead his troops north, but he arrived a little late.

Before Xiliang arrived in the capital, Cixi, Guangxu and their entourage had already fled the capital. Xiliang chased them all the way to Taiyuan. Because Yuxian was exiled, he was appointed by Cixi as the governor of Shanxi to guard the rear.

The two of them waited outside the flower hall for a short while before being called in by Cixi.

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(End of this chapter)