The Qing Dynasty

Chapter 544 The situation is tense
Teng Yuzhao's speech to Chinese and foreign journalists in front of the temporary headquarters in Yongqing was quickly rushed by these journalists to the nearby Langfang before dusk that day, and urgently forwarded to their respective newspapers using the telegraph lines there.

Because there was only a temporary radio operator in the Langfang telegraph office responsible for handling external affairs, several foreign reporters led by Morrison were unwilling to wait in line. Instead, they abandoned their photographers and equipment and immediately rode back to the closer Tianjin overnight, where they sent out their manuscripts overnight.

As a result, after receiving the urgent manuscripts sent back by these reporters, the editors of several major newspapers in Wuchang, Shanghai and Guangzhou were keenly aware of the importance of this press release and immediately started working on publishing a special edition.

In order to rush to publish the manuscript obtained by their reporters as soon as possible, which would definitely attract great attention from all walks of life in the country and even cause a huge response, the editors-in-chief of various newspapers invariably adopted the method of distributing special editions while printing, so as to send their first batch of special editions to the hands of ordinary people in the shortest time possible.

To the extent that several major cities such as Wuchang, Shanghai and Guangzhou all sent out their first special editions before dark.

There is no doubt that the scholars were all very excited after hearing Teng Yuzhao's speech!
Especially those young scholars, after reading Teng Yuzao's views on the humiliating peace outline that had been circulated in the form of a press conference, they all felt their blood boiling, as if Teng Yuzao had issued an inspiring cry for them.

Teng Yuzhao's clear-cut and impassioned statement on the peace outline seemed to be an expression of the long-accumulated resentment and depression in the hearts of all the scholars who were worried about the state of the country. This made them feel very excited, and scholars in various places immediately held mass demonstrations overnight.

Whether in Shanghai, Wuchang, Hankou, Hanyang or Guangzhou, scholars could be seen in the streets and alleys of the city reading and explaining Teng Yuzao's answers to reporters' questions to the illiterate people.

Immediately, a large number of excited citizens in Wuchang and Hanyang, and even workers from the Hanyang Gun Factory, began to gather at the riverside dock, preparing to take a boat to the Hankou Concession, ignoring the threat of warships from Britain, the United States, France, Japan and other countries on the river.

Fortunately, Master Qian was quite sensitive. After receiving the manuscript sent back by the newspaper reporter from Langfang, he arranged for the publication of the special edition and sent a copy of the manuscript to the Huguang Governor's Office inside the Wangshan Gate in Wuchang and handed it over to Zhang Zhidong.

While Zhang Zhidong shouted "Great! Teng Xingfu!", he immediately ordered the prefects of Wuchang, Hankou and Hanyang to lead people to the streets to maintain order.

A special person was also sent to lead the Huguang water warriors to immediately control the docks along the river, seize all military and civilian ships and transfer them downstream.

He also personally led the Huguang Governor's Office's standard camp by boat to the Hankou Concession and ordered his personal troops to line up to block all roads leading to the British, Russian, French, German, Japanese, American and other concessions in Hankou.

Since Zhang Zhidong received the copy sent by Master Qian first, and the special edition of Ta Kung Pao was first distributed in Wuchang, the people of Hankou and Hanyang received it a little later. Moreover, the number of special editions delivered was small, and they were snatched up at the dock. Now the consuls in the concessions still didn't know what had happened.

Therefore, the actions of Zhang Zhidong's personal army battalion scared the consuls of these foreign powers stationed in Hankou and made them break out in cold sweats. They thought that Zhang Zhidong was going to attack the concession and sent people to protest to Zhang Zhidong.

But soon these consuls received reports from the warships cruising on the river that a large number of young and strong civilians had flocked to the docks leading to Hankou from Wuchang and Hanyang. These civilians had been blocked at the docks by the police, and for some unknown reason, the Governor's Office had just hastily moved all the ships downstream.

It was not until then that the consuls from various countries, who were as anxious as ants on a hot pan, realized that something big must have happened and that Zhang Zhidong's move was to prevent the people from attacking the concession again and to protect them.

After understanding Zhang Zhidong's good intentions, the consuls of various countries immediately issued orders that as long as the people did not rush into the concession, no one was allowed to engage in provocative behavior, otherwise they would be forced to return home immediately.

As they were standing on the rooftops of the concession observing the situation, they saw a surging crowd of people flowing along the streets and alleys to the vicinity of the concession. Fortunately, the Governor-General of Huguang's personal army, who had been prepared, lined up to block the crowd, and the magistrate of Hankou led the yamen runners to dissuade the people. Only then did the emotions of the tens of thousands of people who had gathered gradually calm down.

While the consuls were recovering from the shock, they received telegrams from the consuls general of various countries in Tianjin.

The telegram was sent to all consuls of various countries stationed in the Qing Dynasty, requiring them to strictly restrain the overseas Chinese in their areas and avoid any disputes with Qing officials and people in the near future.

In addition, Teng Yuzao's answers to reporters' questions are also attached.

Although the measures taken by Zhang Zhidong were relatively timely, some foreign companies outside the concession were still affected. There were even a few unlucky foreigners who did not have time to return to the concession and were physically attacked. Fortunately, they were rescued in time by the Hankou police who were maintaining order and sent back to the concession.

Not only in the three towns of Wuchang, but also in Guangzhou and Shanghai, people took to the streets to demonstrate that night, but none of them were as serious as in the three towns of Wuchang.

The news in these two places seemed to lag behind a little. The next day, all the large and medium-sized cities that received the news had varying degrees of public demonstrations and protests. Almost without exception, there were boycotts of foreign goods in various places.

In Baoding, the nominal capital of Zhili and the site of the peace negotiations, the people there not only took to the streets to protest, but also attacked Yikuang's temporary residence in Baoding. Fortunately, after seeing Teng Yuzhao's answers to reporters' questions, the cunning Yikuang hurriedly escaped through the back door and hid in the Governor's Mansion guarded by the vanguard army, thus escaping the disaster.

The angry people even demolished a section of the railway and threatened to ban foreigners from coming to Baoding for negotiations.

This time, Cixi reacted very quickly. That night, she issued an edict to the country in the name of Guangxu, solemnly declaring that this peace outline was made by the traitor Yikuang who deceived the court without the knowledge of the court, the Empress Dowager and himself. The court would not recognize such a peace outline that would lose power, humiliate the country and undermine the national dignity.

Yikuang was also dismissed from his post as the initiator of peace talks, and his hereditary title of Iron-hat King was revoked. His case was handed over to the Ministry for discussion and punishment according to the law.

At the same time, in addition to expressing deep concern for Li Hongzhang's health, the imperial edict also highly praised Teng Yuzao, saying that Teng Yuzao was the pillar of the Qing Dynasty and the pillar of the country. "

"Appoint Teng Yuzao as the deputy envoy for peace talks, and together with the imperial commissioner Ronglu, reopen peace talks with the foreigners, strive to facilitate the withdrawal of foreign troops as soon as possible, restore domestic stability, and provide assistance to the people in Zhili affected by the war as soon as possible.

It was particularly emphasized that the final text of the negotiations must be reviewed by Teng Yuzhao and signed personally before it could take effect, otherwise the court would not recognize it.

It was also specifically emphasized that if Teng Yuzao was unable to get away due to busy military affairs, Teng Yuzao could appoint capable personnel who could fully represent Teng Yuzao himself to participate in the negotiations.

In a word, even if Teng Yuzao could not participate in the negotiations this time, he had to appoint someone who could absolutely represent him to participate in the negotiations. Moreover, although the Imperial Envoy Ronglu was the chief envoy for the peace talks, the final peace talks had to be signed by Teng Yuzao, the deputy envoy, before the court would approve it. In other words, Teng Yuzao, the deputy envoy, had the power to veto the peace talks.

The implicit meaning is that no matter how this peace agreement is negotiated, it is all related to you, Teng Yuzao. Whether it succeeds or not, and whether it is good or bad in the end, you, Teng Yuzao, cannot be separated from it.

This quick and decisive move of Cixi really produced good results after it was published in the newspaper the next day. The evaluation of the court, especially Cixi, in various parts of the country immediately changed drastically. Negative ratings decreased sharply, and positive praises suddenly increased.

Immediately afterwards, Zhang Zhidong was the first to send a telegram to Cixi, praising her wisdom and saying that the Huguang Association would firmly support the Empress Dowager's efforts to maintain the state system.

At the same time, Zhang Zhidong also made it clear in the telegram that Huguang would withdraw from the so-called Southeast Mutual Protection Agreement from today. Except for the clause that strictly restricted the Boxer Rebellion, there was no need to abide by other clauses. Huguang would firmly support the vanguard army in resisting the invasion of foreign powers.

Zhang Zhidong made no secret of this telegram to Cixi, and immediately sent it to the whole country in the form of a telegram.

This statement by Zhang Zhidong, a high-ranking official whose reputation in the domestic court was second only to Li Hongzhang, but whose reputation among the people was far higher than Li Hongzhang, immediately aroused enthusiastic responses in various places, and the people all praised Zhang Zhidong for his deep understanding of righteousness.

Zhang Zhidong's telegram not only triggered heated discussions among the people, but also immediately attracted the support of local governors. Not only the two governors-general, the governor of Yunnan and Guizhou, the governor of Sichuan, the governor of Fujian, the general of Xi'an, the governor of Shanxi, the governor of Henan, the governor of Shanxi, the governor of He, and even the new governor of the river, Xiliang, and Yuan Shikai all sent telegrams across the country to express their support for Cixi's move.

Only the Governor-General of Liangjiang Liu Kunyi and the Governor of Anhui Wang Zhichun remained silent.

At the same time, the morning newspaper of that day also published an article jointly issued by the leaders of the coalition forces headed by Waldersee.

In the article, they severely refuted Teng Yuzhao's claim that Yikuang colluded with the Allied Forces to sell out national interests, and claimed that they signed the peace outline after fair and just negotiations.

The military commanders of the great powers also claimed in the article that Yikuang and Li Hongzhang were both plenipotentiary envoys appointed by the court. They were plenipotentiary representatives of the Qing court. The outline they signed was fully legally binding. They expressed the strongest condemnation of Cixi's flip-flopping behavior.

They also threatened that because of her lack of trust, Cixi was no longer able to lead and represent the Qing court. From now on, they would only negotiate with the representatives sent by Emperor Guangxu and would no longer pay attention to Cixi.

It was also claimed that Cixi would be subjected to the most severe punishment by the Allied Forces.

Alexeev, the commander of the Russian expeditionary force, the governor-general of Kwantung Province and commander of the garrison, and the commander of the Pacific Navy, also clamored, "Russia is organizing a million-strong army at home, which will soon go to the Far East. Before the army arrives, the 200,000-strong army in the Northeast will immediately enter Zhili."

He also clamored to dismember the Qing Dynasty.

At the same time, a large number of foreign warships appeared at the Wusongkou and the Pearl River Estuary. Even the warships of the great powers cruising on the river between Hankou and Wuchang fired demonstration shots at the empty river surface.

Zhang Zhidong was surprisingly tough in response to the provocative behavior of foreigners.

Not only did they immediately send a stern note to the foreigners in the Hankou Concession, but they also immediately pulled out the Seventh Regiment of the New Army and two brigades of the Hubei New Army that had been prepared in advance and lined them up along the river.

Dozens of 87mm cannons and hundreds of other caliber cannons in the warehouse of the Hanyang Gun Factory were also handed over to the Seventh Regiment stationed in Hanyang and Hankou and the two Hubei New Army groups. All the 87mm cannons that could pose a threat to the shallow-water gunboats of the great powers on the Yangtze River were deployed along the river.

At the same time, the Seventh Regiment not only surrounded the concession, but also forced its way into the concession, disarmed the foreign troops stationed in the concession, and occupied the docks along the river.

They also warned the foreigners in the concession that no one was allowed to move around at will, otherwise they would bear the consequences. It was as if they were holding the foreigners in the concession hostage.

The coalition's remarks and subsequent provocative actions immediately triggered a wave of protests from the domestic people. Almost all large and medium-sized cities that learned the news launched protests against foreign goods. Large numbers of ships carrying foreign goods drifted along the coast and the Yangtze River, not daring to dock.

This tense situation was broken again after only a few hours.

Not long after newspapers were sent out in various major cities, Ta Kung Pao took the lead in issuing a special edition. Soon after, newspapers in all large and medium-sized cities also rushed to issue special editions before noon.

All these special editions reported only one thing, that is, the vanguard army launched a fierce attack on the coalition forces in Beicang early this morning.

According to on-site witnesses of a Ta Kung Pao reporter, the vanguard troops, with the support of a town's heavy artillery fire, launched a fierce attack on Beicang. The intensive and fierce artillery fire even turned the night sky of Beicang red.

As of five in the morning, the vanguard army had captured the Beicang Granary, Hanjiashu, Taohua Temple and other outer positions of the Beicang coalition forces, and was currently launching a fierce attack on Mujiazhuang behind Beicang. The coalition forces defending the outer periphery of Beicang suffered heavy casualties and were completely defeated.

In addition, at 3:00 a.m., fierce fighting broke out in Lutai. Hundreds of thousands of vanguard troops attacked Lutai with overwhelming force in just over two hours, cutting off the Tianjin-Shanhaiguan railway.

It was reported that most of the nearly 50,000 coalition forces stationed in Lutai were annihilated, and the remaining troops all fled towards Dagukou and Tianjin. Currently, the vanguard troops attacking Lutai are clearing out the remaining enemies, and part of them are attacking Yangjiapo and Hangu in the direction of Dagukou, with the spearhead heading straight for Dagukou.

Another powerful force has crossed the Tianjin-Tangshan Canal and is moving towards Qilihai and Chadian outside Tianjin, completely cutting off the land route between Tianjin and Dagukou. The Tianjin coalition forces, including the commanders of various coalition countries headed by Waldersee, are completely surrounded by the vanguard's superior forces.

These two battle reports immediately drew people's attention away from Empress Dowager Cixi's edict and once again became the headlines of people's discussions. Teng Yuzao's popularity and reputation also reached their highest point again.
(End of this chapter)