Jung Lu’s valedictory Memorial has never been published in China, but those in attendance on Her Majesty reported that it affected her very deeply. On the day after it reached her, she issued the following Decree:—
“The deceased Grand Secretary, Jung Lu, was our senior Grand Councillor at a time of critical danger to the State, and his sage counsel and eminent services to the Throne have never been sufficiently appreciated either in China or abroad. He was absolutely indispensable to us, and we depended entirely upon his advice. Two months ago, owing to his ill-health, we were compelled to grant him leave of absence, but, unfortunately, all remedies have proved unavailing, and he has passed away. We have perused his valedictory Memorial, full of a deep and touching earnestness in regard to the future of our Empire and the condition of the Chinese people; and in recalling all the incidents of his distinguished career the violence of our grief can only find expression in tears. Following upon the posthumous honours already conferred upon him, we hereby decree that a second Imperial sacrifice shall be offered to his spirit on the day before his remains are removed for burial, and, furthermore, that the record of his life be transmitted to the Historiographers’ Department for inclusion in the annals of our Dynasty. All faults that may have been recorded against him shall be expunged, so that the depth of our sincere affection for this faithful servant may be made manifest.”
Jung Lu was sixty-seven years of age at the date of his death (April 11th, 1903), and it is probable that had it not been for the severe hardships and mental strain which he endured during the Boxer crisis, he would have lived much longer to serve his Imperial mistress. By his death Prince Ch’ing and his corrupt following rose to increased power (Prince Ch’ing being the only available Manchu of rank sufficient to succeed Jung Lu as head of the Grand Council), and they have retained it, in the subterranean labyrinths of Palace intrigues, ever since.
Jung Lu was essentially a middle-course man, striving earnestly for that “happy mean” which the Empress Dowager professed to desire. Had he lived, it is safe to say that he would not have approved of the haste with which she proceeded to sanction the undigested programme for constitutional government, and with his advice against it the Old Buddha would probably not have persisted in the idea. He had repeatedly urged her, before the return of the Court, to make it quite clear in her Edicts that a reform policy was necessary for the preservation of the Empire, but, like the late Prince Ito, he was all for a slow and cautious procedure, and present-day observers of events connected with the constitutional government programme can hardly doubt the wisdom of his advice.
The following is a translation of his, hitherto unpublished, valedictory Memorial, a document which throws valuable light on the coup d’état and the relations between Tzŭ Hsi and the Emperor at that time. In other respects it confirms many conclusions wherein Jung Lu’s authoritative testimony was lacking to complete an otherwise satisfactory chain of evidence.
“I, your slave, Jung Lu, a Grand Councillor and Grand Secretary of the Wen Hua Throne Hall, having grievously failed to requite the favours of your Majesties, now that my breath is almost spent, respectfully upon my knees do present this my valedictory Memorial, and beg that your Majesties may be pleased to cast your divine glance upon it.
“I, all unworthy, have received no small bounty at the hands of your Majesty the Empress Dowager, and had hoped that Heaven might grant me length of days, wherein to display my utmost endeavour in your Majesty’s service. Respectfully I recall the fact that I began my career of service as an Imperial guardsman, and was on duty with H.M. Hsien-Feng in his excursion to the hunting park at Mulan (Jehol) in the tenth year of his reign. At that time the situation of the Empire was one of great danger; within there was the grave peril of the rebellion, while from without the English and French barbarians had captured our sacred capital. We witnessed the violation of the Imperial shrines and saw the sacred chariot of His Majesty leave Peking, in accordance with the principle laid down by Mencius that a sovereign should leave his capital when it is threatened by invasion of barbarians.
“After the Court’s arrival at Jehol, I had the honour of attending on your Majesty the Empress Dowager as Chamberlain, and when His Majesty Hsien-Feng lay on his deathbed, I had the honour to warn your Majesty and the Empress Consort that the Princes Cheng and Yi were conspiring against the State. After the death of His Majesty, those wicked Princes usurped the Regency and for many days your Majesty was in danger so great that it may not be spoken of by any loyal subject. Happily, your Majesty, acting on your own firm initiative and by the favour of Heaven, dealt with those abominable traitors in the twinkling of an eye and rescued the State from its dire peril. For years thereafter you carried on the Regency, rebellions were suppressed and peace reigned within the four seas.
“Your slave received many marks of the Imperial favour and rose to be Minister of the Household; I was thus constantly in attendance on your Majesty. When the late Emperor T’ung-Chih mounted the dragon and ascended on high, it was to me that your Majesty confided the duty of bringing the present Emperor Kuang-Hsü to the Palace. Favours vast as the universe have I received, and for these I have made no return.
“While acting as Captain General of the Peking Gendarmerie, I incurred your Majesty’s displeasure; thereafter for seven years I awaited, without incurring, the fitting penalty for my offence. Later, when His Majesty came to his majority and you were pleased to hand over to him the reins of government, you conferred on me the post of Tartar General at Hsi-an. Subsequently I was recalled to my former position at the capital. In the 24th year of Kuang-Hsü (1898) your Majesties determined on the introduction of European methods of government and the Emperor summoned me to audience and conferred on me the post of Viceroy of Chihli at Tientsin where I was ordered to select and introduce reforms based on foreign methods in order to remedy the weakness of China’s administration. But who could then have believed that the damnable treasons of K’ang Yu-wei should be the means of thwarting your Majesties’ great plans? His Majesty the Emperor, by giving ear to the lying inventions of that traitor and his associates, if only for a little while, undoubtedly allowed his filial piety to suffer temporary decline. This was particularly the case when he wrote with his own Imperial hand a Decree stating that his reform proposals were being blocked by your Majesty and that, as you were opposed to the spirit of progress, your interference in State affairs was a danger to the nation. Towards me also His Majesty displayed his divine wrath, so that once more had your slave deserved the penalty of ‘axes and halberds.’ But when I sought your Majesty in secret audience and laid before you the details of the plot, once more did your Majesty, without a moment’s hesitation respond to our prayer and resume the control of affairs, swiftly visiting upon evildoers of that treacherous crew the might of your august displeasure.