Two years ago, said the Empress, she had invited the foreign ladies to her Court, and had noticed their delight at the reception she gave them, although she well knew that their sympathies were with the Emperor, and against her. She would again allure them to her side with rich gifts and honeyed words.[88]
20th Day of the 6th Moon (16th July).—Bad news from Yü Lu; Tientsin has been captured by the foreigners, who now swarm like locusts. Not one of the Grand Councillors dared to carry the news to Her Majesty, so Prince Tuan went in boldly, and informed her that the foreign devils had taken the city, because the Boxers had been negligent in the performance of their prescribed rites; Peking, however, would always be perfectly safe from invasion. Early this morning Jung Lu had informed the Old Buddha that he had ascertained beyond doubt that the document, which purported to come from the Foreign Ministers, demanding her abdication, was a forgery. It had been prepared by Lien Wen-chung, a Secretary of the Grand Council, at Prince Tuan’s orders. The Old Buddha was therefore in no soft mood; angrily she told Prince Tuan that, if the foreigners entered Peking, he would certainly lose his head. She was quite aware of his motives; he wanted to secure the Regency, but she bade him beware, for, so long as she lived, there could be no other Regent. “Let him be careful, or his son would be expelled from the palace, and the family estates confiscated to the throne.” His actions had indeed been worthy of the dog’s[89] name he bore. Prince Tuan left the palace, and was heard to remark that “the thunderbolt had fallen too quickly for him to close his ears.”
Jung Lu has won over all the military commanders except Tung Fu-hsiang and his staff, and they have come to a general understanding that the bombardment of the Legations must cease. Jung Lu has explained, as his reason for not allowing the heavy artillery to be used, that it would inevitably have inflicted serious damage on the Imperial shrines and the Ancestral temple.
The Old Buddha is sending presents to the Legations, water-melons, wine, vegetables, and ice, and she has expressed a wish that Prince Ch’ing should go and see the Foreign Ministers.
They say that Hsü Ching-ch’eng is secretly communicating with the Legations.
A messenger with twelve dispatches from the Legations was captured to-day and taken to Prince Chuang’s Palace. Three of the twelve were in cipher and could not be translated by the Tsung Li Yamên interpreter, but from the others it was learned that the foreigners had lost over a hundred killed and wounded and that their provisions were running very low.
Chi Shou-ch’eng has gone to T’ai-Yüan fu to see Yü Hsien, his father-in-law. The latter has memorialised the Throne, reporting that he cunningly entrapped all the foreigners, cast them into chains and had every one decapitated in his Yamên. Only one woman had escaped, after her breasts had been cut off, and had hidden herself under the City wall. She was dead when they found her.
Rain has fallen very heavily to-day. Liu Ta-chiao brought me 8 lbs. of pork from the Palace kitchen, and I sent a large bowl of it to my married sister. Towards evening a detachment of cavalry, with several guns, passed my door. They were Li Ping-heng’s men, on their way to mount these guns on a platform above the Forbidden City wall, as a precaution against sorties by the foreigners. There has been heavy firing all night, and it is reported that foreign devils have been seen in the neighbourhood of the Ha-Ta Men.
21st Day of the 6th Moon (17th July).—A lovely day. I walked over to call on Prince Li and Duke Lan. The latest rumour is that Yü Lu’s troops are in flight and harrying the country side. They are said to be clamouring for their pay, which is months in arrears, and have plundered both Tungchou and Chang Chia-wan most thoroughly. Both the eastern gates of the City are now kept closed, and the northern gate (Anting men) is only opened occasionally.
Yang Shun, the gate-keeper, has returned from his home at Pao-ti hsien, east of Peking, where he reports things fairly quiet.