1901, also known as Xinchou year , what happened this year is engraved in the hearts of every Chinese, and whenever I think of it, I feel sad for it.
In this year, the Eight-Nation Alliance invaded China. On the 14th, Beijing fell, and the late Qing government was forced to sign the " Xin Chou Treaty " that was humiliating. This unequal treaty completely lost its sovereignty in the late Qing government!
What is even more jaw-dropping is that one of the additional clauses of actually stated that the Qing government should punish the "culprit".
In Chinese, the culprit is the main person causing the disaster, and in this clause refers to the group of people who had a relatively large influence and opposed foreigners during the Boxer Rebellion Incident.
The number of people is as high as 174, including royal relatives, high-ranking officials and nobles, civil and military ministers. Even Empress Dowager Cixi was among them. The wide range of involvement was caused by everyone for a while. Will the Qing government follow the instructions of foreigners and execute all of these people?
fuse
19th century, the impact of industrialization swept the whole world, and at this time, the Qing Dynasty , was like an old man in his twilight years, staggering with his steps and was left far behind.
895 War 's failure made many European powers more ambitious to divide the Qing Dynasty. The Qing government, which was not strong enough, was afraid of foreigners, but the people were not afraid at all, and hated them to the core. Because of their disappointment with the Qing government, some people launched the Boxer Movement , and fanatical missionaries became the first target. Since then, bloodshed incidents have occurred frequently across the country.
On this day, the German ambassador to China, " Clinder ", did not bring guards or other diplomats because of negligence. He only brought a servant who was used to translate for himself to negotiate with the yamen. This happened to the stage when the Qing government had a bad attitude towards foreigners. There were soldiers with guns everywhere on the road, and the atmosphere was quite depressing.
And one of them noticed the sedan chair on the corner of the street. Clinder, a soldier, also realized that the other party looked at him with a bad look. He didn't know whether it was out of self-protection or too nervous, so he took the lead in shooting with a gun, and the soldiers immediately fought back.
Not far away, the guards of the Belgian embassy heard the gunshots and thought there was a war, so they immediately fired a counterattack. For a moment, the scene was in chaos. When people came to their senses, Clinder in the sedan was already dead. Once the incident was reported, there was an international uproar. The German ambassador died in his own territory. The Qing government had an unshirkable responsibility. The foreigners seized this opportunity and dispatched their troops to Beijing on the grounds of suppressing the Boxer Rebellion.
June 17, Dagukou was captured; on July 14, Tianjin was captured; on August 14, Beijing was captured, and the panicked Empress Dowager Cixi evacuated overnight, was displaced for a month, and finally came to Xi'an.
These soldiers from all over the country looted everywhere in the city, countless cultural relics were stolen, , , the Old Summer Palace, , was burned, and the once prosperous , Beijing City, now only remains ruins.
Xinchou Treaty
There will always be someone to clean up the endgame. years old Li Hongzhang was pushed to the front of the stage by Empress Dowager Cixi.
He returned to Beijing in danger and began negotiations with foreigners. Germany, where the diplomat was killed, was still worried. During the negotiations, he proposed a jaw-dropping condition - "punishing the culprit" .
The list he took out was written with 174 names, including Xu Tong , Gangyi, Zaiyi and others. What shocked Li Hongzhang the most was the name of Empress Dowager Cixi.
The Germans believed that the real mastermind of the war was Empress Dowager Cixi, so she must be punished.
This proposal was naturally strongly opposed by Li Hongzhang. After Zhang Zhidong learned about this, he said to the British: "Our country ruled with filial piety. If you want to punish the respected empress dowager, it may lead to opposing unrest in various places."
The strong resistance of the ministers and the possible series of consequences made the foreigners a little shaken. In the end, they decided to open the Internet to Empress Dowager Cixi, but the others had no room for negotiation.
In addition, these foreigners also spoke out loud. The amount of compensation in the treaty was as high as 450 million silver. After adding the interest on installments, they were close to 1 billion silver. They also wanted the Qing government to allow it. All countries came to station troops, and if they agreed, the consequences would be unimaginable.
For Empress Dowager Cixi, this was also a difficult decision. The negotiations were delayed for a long time, and the two sides were in a stalemate. The foreigners took the lead in compromising, saying that the people who were executed could be replaced by exile, but not long after, they went back on their word and demanded that they all be executed immediately.
Li Hongzhang begged, which made Zai Yi, Zai Lan and Pu Yi save their lives, and the others have no room for maneuver.
Prelude to the Demise
In order to prevent another accident, foreigners began to press forward step by step, requiring ministers Zhao Shuqiao , Xu Tong, Qi Xiu, and governor Yuxian and others to be executed first.
But at this time Xu Tong He had passed away, so someone proposed that the father repay the debts and sons, and asked Xu Tong's son Xu Chengyu to replace his father. Empress Dowager Cixi was very angry when she heard this and felt that the country was too bullying, so she ordered Li Hongzhang to negotiate with him.
But the leaders of various countries refused to give in. Among them, the American minister replied: " This is a common method used by you in the Qing Dynasty. We will not agree. You must have a way to achieve the results we requested. . "
The national strength is weak and dangerous. In the end, Empress Dowager Cixi compromised. The last dignity she left for these officials was to allow them to commit suicide. The foreigners did not object. For them, the important thing was the result. 12 Qing Dynasty officials on the list were executed, and the officer who shot and killed Ambassador Clinder was beheaded by the downtown where Clinder was shot and killed. The Qing Dynasty prince traveled thousands of miles to Germany to The other emperor requested forgiveness.
Not long after, the foreigners threw out another list of local officials, with 142 names on it. They believed that the culprit of the war in had received the lesson they deserved, so they were willing to deal with the officials in these localities with ease.
So, three of them were sentenced, 11 were executed, 8 were exiled, 33 were removed from their posts, and the rest were dismissed or removed from office, a battle of great powers The carnival of our division, hundreds of people died, and their families were destroyed.
At this time, the Qing government, because of its incompetence, became a tiger whose teeth were pulled and their palms were broken. It suffered heavy losses and had no day to turn around.
postscript
After the signing of the "Xin Chou Treaty" , imperialism ruthlessly exploited the common people. Late Qing The court has thus become a puppet of the Western powers and is moving towards destruction step by step.
And this unequal treaty has also attracted many discussions and criticisms from later generations.
This is a disaster and a humiliation! But at the same time, it is also warning us that corrupt feudal rule is destined to be eliminated, and backwardness will be beaten. must continue to advance, innovate, and develop its national strength to become stronger!
