In the eyes of the ministers of various countries, the meaning of civil war is too general, and more importantly, the broadcaster did not identify himself, the revolutionary army's attack on Beijing is called a civil war, and the rebel army of the Qing government's attack on Beijing is also called a civil war, what kind of civil war is this? Just as everyone was getting more and more confused, the staff of the legation suddenly came in and called Zhu Erdian out, and in the room on the side, Counselor Ma Mule said to Zhu Erdian: "John, I just received the telegram that Shanghai has been occupied by the revolutionary army!" Fierce fighting was going on in Wuchang and Nanjing, and although the troops of the uprising did not identify themselves, it was speculated that they should be revived. ”

"Ahh Oh, God. Hearing such shocking news, Zhu Erdian finally stopped being elegant, "What about other cities?" ”

"John, the other cities have lost contact." Ma Mule said: "The news from Shanghai and Wuhan was sent by the fleet's radio to Nanjing, and then from Nanjing. What is almost certain is that the fighting in Beijing should also be waged by the Fuxing Society. "There is a radio station in Dongbianmen, not far from the embassy area, and there is also a radio station on the Lion Rock in Nanjing.

"Go and call Bai Laile!" Zhu Erdian said that at this time, he must understand the fighting situation in Beijing, and Bai Laile, as a military attache of the legation, has explored the revolutionary army and the new army everywhere, and he has the most right to speak.

"Sir!" Almost in the blink of an eye, Bai Laile, who had already gotten up and was on the wall tower to observe the battle situation everywhere, came over.

"Pereira, how's the situation outside?" Zhu Erdian lit the cigar and asked as he looked at the excited Bai Laile.

"Probably tens of thousands of people are attacking!" Bai Laile's first sentence made Zhu Erdian not think about smoking a cigar. "In addition to this, the rebels are attacking outside the city wall to the west, and there are Fucheng Gate and Xizhi Gate. I believe that Xizhimen must have been taken by the rebels, and the fighting over there has spread to the city, as well as the Summer Palace outside Beijing and the military camp to the south, and if you look closely, you can hear that there is fighting in these two places, and as far as I know, there are tens of thousands of people stationed in those two places, and there are tens of thousands of ......"

"Pereira. If what you say is true, it is not said that after dawn. What are we going to face is a new dynasty? Zhu Erdian threw the cigar in his hand and interrupted Bai Laile's words.

"Sir, the Qing government in Beijing does not have any regular troops, even the Praetorian Guards are just shows." Bai Laile said. "As for the patrolmen and the other soldiers, all they can do is catch the thief. Under the attack of tens of thousands of soldiers, Beijing will fall sooner or later...... Oh no, it's fallen now! ”

The news that came out of the mouth of Baille was worse than Zhu Erdian believed, and he could not imagine that the Qing government had collapsed in one night, and that the new ruler, Yang Jingcheng of the Renaissance Society, was not in the interests of Great Britain, as he had stated to Foreign Secretary Gray in his report a few months earlier. But. Even if he didn't like it, Yang Jingcheng's troops still came so suddenly. It's so fast that it's impossible to refuse, do you really want him to succeed?

"Pereira, is there a Qing army near Tianjin?" Zhu Erdian asked.

"Yes, sir! In the vicinity of Tianjin there are two towns, that is, two infantry divisions, the second of which is in Machang, the twenty-seventh in Baoding, and the first near Shanhaiguan, if I remember correctly. Bai Laile said.

"Okay, I see, you can go back." Zhu Erdian said, he reached out and picked up the cigar that was still on the table, took a deep sip, and went to his study.

Although he knew that the troops near Tianjin could be transferred to Beijing to quell the rebellion, and although he knew that Yang Jingcheng was not the ruler in the interests of the British Empire, Zhu Erdian still did not have the right to intervene in China's civil war without authorization, because the Ministry of Foreign Affairs had never given him this right. Compared to the previous minister, Sadaoyi, Zhu Erdian's rights were incomplete, and he only had the right to carry out the instructions of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and to report on the situation, and the other was to protect the rights of the expatriates - if necessary, he could order the soldiers to open fire.

In the present situation, all he could do was to write a briefing informing London of the situation in Beijing and China, and then wait for London's instructions, and the other was to immediately notify the garrison in Tientsin to come to Beijing to protect the security of the legation. It took Zhu Erdian half an hour to draft the telegram, which was then escorted by soldiers to Dongbianmen.

And in this half an hour, the Japanese Minister Ijiin Hikoyoshi, who also returned to the legation, looked at Aoki Xuanchun in front of him, shook his head very hesitantly and said: "Aoki-kun, now the situation is not clear, and the legation has not made a unanimous decision, we will send troops alone, even if we can rescue the Qing Emperor, we will still be blamed by various countries afterwards." The best thing to do now is to wait for dawn or for the legation to make a decision. ”

"Your Excellency!" Aoki Xuanchun bowed deeply again, "Beijing is about to break the city, if you don't make a decision now, you won't have a chance after dawn." ”

"No matter how critical the situation is, we must wait for all the ministers to reach an agreement before we can act. Even if you don't agree with other countries, you have to agree with the British minister. Aoki-kun, don't forget jì, this is diplomacy! Ijiin Hikoyoshi looked at Aoki Nobujun in front of him, and once again admonished, but he also knew this person's temperament, and finally advised: "If you act alone, it is only on your own behalf, and the legation guards are not allowed to go out." ”

Aoki Xuanchun has a lot of power in Beijing, but it is not a military organization, and now he wants to find Hikoyoshi Ijiin, just to want the minister to agree to send the embassy guards, in this dark night, there are no guns in hand, and it is difficult to move an inch when he goes out.

Seeing that Ijiin Hikoyoshi said so resolutely, Aoki Xuanjun could only say: "Then please send a note to the British minister immediately and persuade him to let all the ministers take concerted action to rescue the Guangxu Emperor of the Qing State." ”

"I will!" Hikoyoshi Ijiin saw Aoki give in, nodded with satisfaction, and then went to the British Legation under the escort of the guards. At this time, the ministers of various countries who heard the announcement outside that they had agreed to transfer troops from Tianjin, but it was not clear what to do: the German minister Rex and the Austrian-Hungarian minister Nesse enjian yì sent out the guards. In order to protect the Qing Emperor, the acting minister of the United States, Willy, the French minister, and the Russian minister, Cousin, objected to this, and the British minister Zhu Erdian did not agree with this.

The reason why Germany and Austria wanted to protect the Qing emperor. In the past, Germany issued several arms loans of tens of millions of marks to the Qing State, and once the Qing State was destroyed, the Revival Council said before that it would not recognize those loans, then the two countries would suffer heavy losses; The American opposition was because there was no need to risk the lives of soldiers for the sake of an emperor, and France meant the same, but the French wanted to see the Germans suffer heavy losses, although Russia had the intention of intervening. But diplomatically, as long as Germany is involved, its position has always been on the side of France's allies.

The ministers of the big countries are divided into two factions, while the ministers of the small countries are on both sides. The radical ministers were on the side of Germany and Austria, and the moderate ministers were on the side of the United States, France and Russia. As soon as Hikoyoshi arrived in Ijiin, all the ministers looked at him, as usual. Japan should be on the side of its allies. But because of the interests of Manchuria, and because this was the best opportunity for Japan to intervene, what choice he would make was of great interest to the ministers present.

"Gentlemen, I think we should clear the guards and rescue the Qing Emperor." Looking at the eyes of the room, Hikoyoshi Ijiin said what he thought without hesitation. "With the barbarism of the Qing people, the rebels will definitely brutally execute Emperor Guangxu after he captures him. In the spirit of humanity and morality, the legation should be defenced. In order to protect the Qing Emperor, even if the Qing government is overthrown in the end, we should not let the massacre happen. ”

"Mr. Minister, even if we all admit that the rescue of the Qing Emperor is humane and moral, who can guarantee that we will find him? The rebels outside the city have now stormed the inner city. And just now, the rebel army of Chongwenmen has occupied Hubu on the west side of the legation, that is, Tiananmen Square, which is as far away as there, should also be occupied, and it is more likely that they have stormed the Forbidden City. Think about it, gentlemen, on what grounds do we enter the Forbidden City? If there is a war with the rebels there, then according to public international law, it must be us who will be condemned. The Americans are weak against the Europeans, but the American ministers are still very confident in the face of the Japanese, and Method's words constantly make the ministers of various countries nod.

"The Qing State was originally protected by all countries, and if the Qing Kingdom will be destroyed, who can guarantee that the new emperor will protect the interests of all countries in China? Gentlemen, from today onwards China will plunge into endless chaos, and we, we are obliged to stop this chaos. Seeing that his opinion was blocked, Hikoyoshi of Ijiin could only change his statement.

"We agree with Mr. Minister Yijiyuan mentioning that maintaining stability in China is in the interests of all the countries here." The German minister Rex finally saw that one of them agreed with him, and hurriedly intervened again to express his support.

After Rex finished speaking, the Italian minister Sforza also said: "Gentlemen, we must not allow turmoil in the Qing country, and it is the duty of friendly countries to protect the Qing Emperor Xià, I agree that the minister will send a guard to His Majesty's palace, if anyone stops it, it will be a declaration of war on all countries." ”

The situation seems to have become favorable, and Ijiin Hikoyoshi can't help but look at Zhu Erdian, whether the legation can send troops or not, now it depends on the attitude of the British. Zhu Erdian looked at the gaze of Hikoyoshi of Ijiin and smiled understandingly. But just as he was about to speak, he was called away by his assistant again, and after a while he returned to the house, looked at the ministers, and said with some disappointment: "Gentlemen, according to the news sent by the radio station, Shanghai, Nanjing, and Wuchang have all been occupied by the rebels, and as for other cities, because of the limitations of radio, these are the only things that can be obtained from outside. Gentlemen, Britain is not in favour of sending guards to protect the Qing Emperor, but countries that disagree with this may have the right to act freely, but the consequences of such action will be borne by the countries that act, and the legation will not be held responsible. ”

Britain has the most intelligence stations in various places, and the radio stations in Nanjing are controlled by the Lion Rock and Dongbianmen radio stations in its hands, Zhu Erdian also wants to protect the Guangxu Emperor as a bargaining chip with the new regime in the future, but after all, the legation is to discuss, the more discussed, the faster the rebel army advances, just when he wants to send troops in the name of the legation, the bad news comes again, Wuchang and Nanjing have been occupied by the rebel army, although these two places are not more prosperous than Shanghai, but they are more important than Shanghai, especially Wuchang, located in the middle reaches of the Yangtze River, once occupied by the rebel army, united Nanjing and Shanghai. The entire Yangtze River basin will be prosecuted. If there was a war here, it would be a disaster for the British merchants.

"Oh! Oh, God! The room was filled with prayers, some with amazement. Some of them regretted that Ijiin Hikoyoshi saw that the ministers of Germany, Austria and Italy, who originally wanted to send troops, had no idea of sending troops now, so he had to bow to everyone and say goodbye. When he returned to the legation, the military attache Inoue Icio hurriedly came over and reported: "Your Excellency, Aoki-kun has gone out with a squad of soldiers. ”

"Yaga!" Ijiin Hikoyoshi, who had known that Aoki would act without permission, still scolded in disregard of etiquette, and then asked urgently, "Do you know where he went?" ”

"Your Excellency, Aoki-kun didn't say where he was going. But if I don't think of a surprise, he should have gone to the palace. Inoue guessed that he actually wanted to go too. But he was responsible for the safety of the embassy and could not leave.

"There are too few people in one team, although the Qing people don't dare to stop us, you can send two more teams." When Inoue Ueo was disappointed. Ijiin Hikoyoshi suddenly wanted to increase his troops. "Remember, find Emperor Guangxu and try to avoid fighting."

"Yes! Excellency! Inoue said overjoyed.

When the Japanese sent troops again, Wang Menghui's vanguard had already entered the Forbidden City, and it was not easy to use artillery in the palace, but the bazooka was easy to use. Then knock down the Taihe Gate and pass through the Taihe Hall and the Baohe Palace. The inner right gate of the Qianqing Gate is the Heart Cultivation Palace. Qi Xiaomao, who rushed to the front, used shotguns, grenades, and bazookas to sweep the Eight Banners Guard Camp and Ouchi guards along the road all the way, these people are basically vulnerable, there are many people and grenades pass, and there are few people to go with shotguns.

Finally, in a courtyard with iron lions, under the incomparably bright flashlight, the three words "Yangxinmen" written in Manchu and Han characters appeared in front of the avant-garde troops, and a platoon commander at the front suddenly exclaimed, "This is the Yangxin Palace!" This is the Temple of Heart Cultivation! ”

Before the platoon commander finished shouting, a rocket shot by Qi Xiaomao flew to the door of the Heart Cultivation Palace, and the vermilion gate collapsed immediately with a "bang", and the Qing soldiers in ambush on the inside of the door exclaimed. Before the smoke cleared, several more bazookas flew in, and after a few booms, the soldiers' grenades were thrown over, and only when the inside was blown up did they rush into the smoke with bayonets and shotguns. Those Qing soldiers who were still unconscious in the explosion were immediately solved by them, but killing people was not their goal, it was their task to arrest people.

Li ignored these routs, and the soldiers in front rushed into the Heart Cultivation Palace. The East Warm Pavilion and the West Warm Pavilion, as well as the apse, are all targets for the soldiers to search, but there can be no movement here to throw a grenade over, Guangxu still has to be caught alive, it would be a pity to die under the grenade. Qi Xiaomao also entered the main hall of the Heart Cultivation Palace, and saw the Huang Chengcheng throne in the middle of the hall, the imperial case and the square plaque of "Zhongzheng Renhe" on the top of the flashlight, and the indescribable comfort in his heart, how many years, I always wanted to enter here, and today it is finally realized.

Qi Xiaomao sighed, and everywhere was the shouting of soldiers, and everyone shouted in unison: "Did you find it?" Did you find it? But none of them answered. Finally, a scream rang out from the apse, "The emperor has been caught!" The Emperor has been caught! The Emperor has been caught! The hearts of the soldiers in the hall were beating wildly, and Qi Xiaomao also ran over following the sound, only to see that a soldier over there was pressing a man in a yellow robe to the ground, and the rest of the soldiers were facing outwards to protect him.

"Liu Daring, don't fucking press it!" Qi Xiaomao looked at the soldier with an excited face and shouted, "Pull him up!" ”

"Yes!" Liu boldly shouted, and pulled the person up from the ground with a single drag.

The emperor in the dragon robe was together, but he was afraid to see people, Qi Xiaomao suddenly knew that this was a fake, the bayonet in his hand stretched out, and shouted: "Where is Guangxu?!" If you don't say anything, you will pick up your skin and hang up the bacon! ”

As soon as the commander drank, several other soldiers who came back to their senses also shouted: "Say it quickly, if you don't say it, you will be cut into a stick and thrown into the pigsty to eat!" ”

Everyone's words were as vicious as they were, but this fake man trembled all over, and was so frightened that he couldn't speak, and only waited for several bayonets to reach out in front of him, and then he shouted, "I am not the emperor!" I'm not the emperor! The words were sharp, and it turned out to be a eunuch.

Helping him stop those terrifying bayonets, Qi Xiaomao said: "You are also a fucking Han, why bother to beg for death for the Tartar Emperor, saying, Guangxu fled over there?" If that's right, there will be rewards in the future. If you lie to us, you will have no place to die! ”

"That's right! That's the truth, if you deceive us. Ran away from the Tartar Emperor, and I want you to die without a place to bury! Qi Xiaomao said, and the soldiers next to him also shouted. They weren't afraid that Guangxu would run away, but that Guangxu would be captured by other troops, if that was the case, then everyone's face would be lost.

The eunuch listened to them and trembled. Another voice sounded, but it was no longer a northeast dialect, but a river dialect: "Don't be stunned." If you know, just say it, we are a revolutionary party, and after today, the world will not be surnamed Aixin Jueluo. If you have made a meritorious service. You can also be a general manager in the harem. If you want to go home, you can go home and be a rich man, but if you don't say it, then you will really die without a place to be buried. ”

In a panic, he suddenly heard the local sound, and the eunuch finally said tremblingly: "The emperor asked Mr. Li to run away with him, and went to the back, to the back." ”

"Back? Which is behind? Where the hell are they going? There's always a place, right? He asked again.

"Xiyuan, Mr. Li said he was going to Xiyuan." The eunuch's voice was slightly more normal.

"How long have you been gone?" This time it was Qi Xiaomao who asked. Xiyuan has long been occupied, and Guangxu really passed. That would most likely be captured by other units of the 2nd Army.

"Just go, just go!" The eunuch turned his head and looked at the dark-faced anti-thief leader and said.

Finally understood where to go, Qi Xiaomao said: "Chase after someone quickly, don't arrest other troops." ”

Guangxu was awakened in his sleep like yesterday, he just woke up and didn't know what was going on, he just thought that he was catching a thief, and accidentally let go of the gun, but the gunshots were continuous, and more and more dense, and in the end, there was an explosion of "boom, boom, boom......". At this time, he had fully understood the severity of the matter, but at such a night, he couldn't tell what was wrong, whether it was a mutiny, a mutiny, or a coup?

Crossfirefights of a different nature had different results for him. Rebellion and mutiny are not fatal, because the initiator must eventually surrender to him, otherwise the foreigners will not be able to explain, and the aftermath will not be able to be dealt with after the war, so turmoil of this nature is not what Guangxu is worried about. What he is really worried about is the coup d'état, those princes and ministers collude with the outside soldiers, in a vain attempt to change the emperor to gain power, the coup d'état is just a change of slave for the foreigners, as long as it does not damage their interests, and at the same time give more benefits, they will not oppose but will agree, and the situation after the turmoil is also very stable, as long as a holy decree is issued, there is no problem even if it is not explained, after all, the throne is only a family affair of the Manchurians, and it is not the turn of the Han people to intervene.

While Guangxu was thinking about this, Li Lianying from outside came over, "Long live the lord, Yulang Baylor, and Shu Qing'a, the commander of the Praetorian Guard, ask to see you." ”

"Good! Hurry up, announce it! Guangxu said hurriedly, but after he finished speaking, he regretted it: "No, don't let them enter the hall, you let people ask him what is going on outside?" Whose people are putting the guns? ”

Yu Lang is the minister on duty, and Shu Qing'a is the assistant commander of the Praetorian Guard. However, the two officers are not small, but they only have two battalions of Shu Qing'a in their hands, and the other troops are all in Xiyuan or go to the west to resist the enemy. Shu Qing'a's two battalions were stationed in Nanhaizi, next to the Forbidden City, which was also a garrison of the Praetorian Guard, so they did not move Xicheng.

At midnight, there was a sudden burst of gunfire and cannons, Shu Qing'a was very panicked, the phone connecting the military camp outside the city was completely different, and under the black light, he could only let his subordinates be on guard. It wasn't until this side of Chongwenmen was captured by the enemy that Yu Lang, who risked his death, took him to report to the inner court urgently, wanting to protect Guangxu from Di'anmen and Dongzhimen to escape outside the city.

Judging from the gunfire everywhere, Yu Lang's judgment is correct, now the enemy is only attacking in the west and south, and there is no gunfire in the east and north, but in addition to the hundreds of people on the Chongwenmen side of the attack on Tiananmen, along the Chongwenmen Street, the other hundreds of people have been advancing to the north, only controlling Jianguomen, Chaoyangmen, and Dongzhimen, while the Deshengmen and Andingmen in the north are responsible for the 5th Brigade of the 3rd Division responsible for attacking the Xiyuan Praetorian Guards, this is the North Garden, where thousands of people are stationed in the military camp. The South Garden, the West Garden, and the North Garden were all occupied, and the entire capital's urban defense system finally collapsed. (To be continued......)