In 1900, the Eight-Power Allied Forces invaded China and the war broke out, leaving northern China in a mess. Li Hongzhang was summoned to Beijing to negotiate with the Eight-Power Allied Forces. At the end of September, after Britain, France, the United States and Russia recognized Yi_ and Li Hongzhang as Chinese candidates, other countries also expressed their approval one after another. Negotiations started smoothly. No one expected at the time that the negotiations would last a year. Li Hongzhang proposed two negotiation options, one is to stay in the garrison for a long time, and the other is to lose money and leave; one wants to disarm others, and the other wants to give the other party a cheaper price in business; one is to be punished, and the other is to avoid the most important and take the easy. The king does not care.

Li Hongzhang even proposed to talk one by one so that they could be divided one by one. Two days after China proposed the peace talks outline, the top commander of the coalition forces, Vidsey, finally arrived in Beijing. Regarding the outline of the peace talks proposed by Li Hongzhang, Wu Fu was smarter than anyone else, and Vidaxi's attitude was to "ignore it." Cixi's problem cannot be circumvented. In order to ensure that Cixi would not be convicted, Li Hongzhang insisted on stating in the terms that "the penalty for marriage will not be increased." At this time, the words "China's national conditions" come into play. Li Hongzhang let the other party know that the Chinese people are based on filial piety and govern the country with loyalty. The Queen Mother is the mother of the country and must be respected.

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The negotiating parties disagree on almost all issues. Li Hongzhang wanted to make a ceasefire first and then make peace, while the coalition forces wanted to make peace first and then make peace. The coalition forces issued a long list of people to be killed, shut down, exiled, and property confiscated. Li Hongzhang believed that they should be strictly distinguished and protected as much as possible according to the empress dowager's imperial edict. The negotiations broke up unhappily, and the coalition forces continued to advance westward, sending troops to invade Xiling and Dongling of the Qing army and approaching Zhangjiakou to put pressure on Cixi. Coalition commander Vidsi said that if China does not make a decision that satisfies all countries, the coalition will attack Shaanxi and seize the real culprit! The next step is to fight psychological warfare. Cixi was worried every day in Xi'an. She said, "Whenever she thinks that she is the first disaster, she always feels uneasy." "She feels at a loss when she can't see the classics for a day. But every time, Seeing the telegram makes you less happy and more surprised. It really makes you timid." On November 21, she asked Li Hongzhang via telegram: "What are the clues about all the terms required by the great powers? I didn’t ask if there is anything I can’t do? It should be played truthfully and secretly.” Her attitude towards peace talks is very firm: "The overall situation is the most important, and the proposal may or may not be made."

It can be defeated, whichever is the lesser of two evils."

Li Hongzhang Playing divide and conquer, the negotiators from 11 countries seem to have a strong lineup. In fact, they are on the "grassroots" this time, and everyone has a career. Russia is thinking about the fat in the Northeast. Japan, the United States and other countries are right.

This heart is jealous. France is concerned about the smooth spread of Catholicism, while Germany wants to have a foothold in China. Li Hongzhang saw that their strange bedfellows were conveyed by Rong Hong, as long as she remained Cixi. Italy's "show", everything can be discussed

Italy", and then actively bribed Russia to mediate the matter. Soon, British Prime Minister Salisbury said to the Germans who first proposed punishing the murderer as a prerequisite: "It is absolutely undeniable that if the Empress Dowager Cixi is involved in this matter, people will risk abandoning the entirety of China." The risk of national organization is also detrimental to Europe. "As soon as the coalition forces here became a little loose, Li Hongzhang hurriedly sent a message to Cixi and asked the court to 'throw away the car to save the commander, and throw it out without an order.' Then the ministers from various countries unanimously requested that negotiations can only begin after the Chinese emperor and queen mother returned to Beijing. Cixi had no idea of ??returning to Beijing at this time.

After the negotiations reached a deadlock again, Li Hongzhang's usual strategy was to "delay and wait for change", which has proven successful time and time again. First of all, "Li Hongzhang is sick." Li Hongzhang is indeed ill. The 78-year-old was shot again in 1895. Bullet residue was still in the lower part of his eye. Coupled with the long days of hard work, he was definitely sick, but not sick yet. After a long delay, the turning point came. The Russians are preparing to supervise the three northeastern provinces in Northeast China, which has caused great anxiety in Japan, Britain, the United States and other countries. They did not insist on "severely punishing the culprits" and "returning the two palaces" as preconditions for peace talks, but were eager to start discussing the specific content of the peace talks. On the day before Christmas in the West in 1900, ministers from 11 countries including Britain, the United States, France, Russia, Germany, Japan, Italy, Austria, Spain, Belgium, and the Netherlands handed the "Peace Outline" to Prince Yi_ and asked for a quick reply.

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This "Peace Negotiation Outline" is the blueprint of the "Xinchou Treaty": 1.

The Chinese prince sent a special envoy to Germany to apologize for Klind's murder and erect a memorial memorial at the place where he was murdered; 2. Severely punish the culprits and stop scientific research on towns that kill and abuse foreigners for 5 years; 3. China must use an excellent code of honor to Japan The government apologizes for the killing of Japanese shop assistants; 4. China must erect tombstones where people’s graves have been desecrated; 5. Do not allow the import of weapons and weapons manufacturing equipment to China; 6. Fair compensation for foreigners’ value and property losses; 7. Countries Garrison troops to protect the embassy and demarcate the embassy area; 8. Destroy the Dagu Fort; 9. The capital is stationed on the seaside by soldiers from all countries; 10. Permanently prohibit soldiers and civilians from joining groups hostile to all countries; 11. Revise the Merchant Shipping Treaty; 12. Reform the Prime Minister’s Office and the etiquette of ministers from various countries. After reading the terms, Li Hongzhang sighed repeatedly. He ordered that the original text be telegraphed to Xi'an immediately, and asked the person who sent the telegram to tell the other party that the draft of the telegram must be written with a heavy pen and submitted to Cixi. When the news reached Xihou, it caused an uproar. Everyone felt that the conditions were extremely harsh and difficult to accept. At the same time, Vadersi also put pressure on Li Hongzhang. In the end, Cixi approved the Outline because it was neither named as the culprit nor required her to hand over power.

On January 15, 1901, Li Hongzhang and Yi_ signed the "Peace Negotiation Outline". Li Hongzhang, knowing that his time was running out, wanted to end the negotiations as soon as possible. On behalf of the Qing government, he asked all countries to withdraw their troops as soon as possible, but the attitude of all countries was that they must treat others with their own treatment, and the amount of compensation must be fixed, otherwise they will never withdraw their troops. On February 21, 1901, a list of 12 people requested to be executed by other countries was received, namely: Ruijun Wang Zaiyi, Wang Zailan, Zhuang, Zuo Yingnian of the Duchayuan, Shangshu of the Ministry of Punishment, Yu County of Shanxi, and the Ministry of Rites.

Qi Xiu, Minister of Justice Xu Chengyu, bachelor Xu Tong, co-organizer of the bachelor's department Shangshu Gangyi, governor of Sichuan Li Bingheng, and admiral Dong Fuxiang of Shaanxi and Gansu. Except for Gang Yi, Xu Tong and Li Bingheng, all three of them died, but Zai Yi and Zai Lan "swarmed up"

Beheading and imprisoned awaiting trial, if you think you deserve your life, just You are sent to Xinjiang and imprisoned forever. "Except for Dong Fuxiang's "Everything Has Been Delayed," the rest either committed suicide or were executed.

In April, the Qing court received a list of local officials who the great powers demanded severe punishment, "involving as many as 142 "people", most of which were listed based on "hearsay evidence". The Qing government announced on April 29 and August 19 respectively.

In 2016, 96 officials were punished: among them "sentenced to death" 4, 11 were sentenced to death with a reprieve, reduced to permanent exile, 13 were exiled for life, 4 were imprisoned for life, 2 were imprisoned for a long time, 58 were not used, 2 were condemned, and 2 were wanted. "

Take the official position. "After Cixi killed more than 120 ministers in one breath, the whole world was

In addition, France demanded more than 70 million in compensation. They all asked for a lump sum payment of compensation in cash. Countries such as the United Kingdom, the United States, and Japan are afraid that excessive compensation pressure will weaken the purchasing power of the Chinese market and thus harm their own commercial interests. Therefore, they first need to know "how much money China can pay." The British attitude is based on Hurd's opinion. Hurd argued that "China has no reserves" and therefore reparations "cannot be paid in cash." China is a country that cannot make ends meet. "The total revenue is about 88 million, and the expenditure is said to be 101 million. Four points of revenue

One of them is used to pay the interest on the existing loan; as for the deficit or the difference between the required expenses and the revenue, It remains a liability because there are no funds to pay for it”. He also believes that "the most appropriate method of payment" is that "the governments of all countries should cooperate with each other"

Italy accepts the Chinese government's commitment to pay in annual installments over several years.

Why does the UK Are people so brave? Because compensation depends on tax increases. As Hurd said, "If China's tariffs are raised to '100-50,' then the compensation problem can be solved without increasing other taxes." Paid by the great powers, especially the British, the number one trading country with China, - after being busy all day, Li Hongzhang finally fell ill on the way back to Xianliang Temple after meeting with the British and German envoys. Easy to get sick. This time Li Hongzhang was really sick, especially the negotiations with Russia that almost exhausted his efforts. In 1900, the Eight-Power Allied Forces sent troops to China, and the Russian Tsar Nicholas invaded Northeast China on a large scale in the name of suppressing the Boxer Rebellion. II was the commander-in-chief, and Kubatkin was the chief of staff. He mobilized 170,000 troops and various war supplies and marched northeastward in five routes.

Under the large-scale invasion of the Russian Fifth Route Army, the Qing army in Northeast China was defeated. The Russian army occupied the entire Northeast in just two months.

It took a year and a half from Russia's occupation of the three northeastern provinces in October 1900 to the signing of the "Peace Outline" between China and Russia in April 1902. During the past year and a half, China and Russia conducted a series of extremely tortuous and complex negotiations in St. Petersburg and Beijing. Because Russia insisted on occupying the three northeastern provinces, it insisted on negotiating alone with the Qing court. The Russian army occupied Fengtian on October 1, 1900, and then forced General Shengjing to sign chess, which obviously undermined the "independence" of the Qing Dynasty.

Sovereignty lies with the Central Government of China." After the contents of this charter were disclosed by our reporter in Beijing, Mo, it aroused strong reactions and accusations from other major powers. Britain and Germany reached an agreement after emergency consultations.

A principled agreement: first, countries shall not carve up China's territory; second, China's coastal areas are free and open to trade and economic activities of other countries. It feels that they do not have the strength to carve up China, France, Japan

Japan, the United States and other countries all echoed the suggestions of Britain and Germany. On the one hand, Russia publicly denied it and lied to its face; on the other hand, Yang Ru, the minister plenipotentiary of the Qing court, was forced to sign in order to create a fait accompli. . After Yang Ru refused, Russia asked Li Hong

Zhang Ya: If China "listens to other countries' slander and refuses to sign the treaty, the three northeastern provinces will forever belong to Russia."

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Li Hongzhang had begun to cough up blood. He was vomiting blood to the point of "endangerment". In his later years, Li Hongzhang no longer had the energy to talk to foreigners face to face.

The official reduced the loss to the lowest point - from the originally proposed 1 billion taels of silver to 450 million taels, which can be paid off in 39 years with an annual interest of 4%; 450 million taels is set for the 450 million people in China .

Li Hongzhang accepted the insult. On May 1, the powers issued a report stating that the total amount of compensation requested by various countries was "67.5 million pounds, approximately 452 million taels." Silver". All countries' final offers far exceeded their actual expenditures.

And losses. On May 11, Yi_ and Li Hongzhang "accepted 450 million yuan in exchange for payment

On September 7, 1901, Li Hongzhang and Yi_, on behalf of the Qing government, formally signed the "Final Protocol" of the "Treaty of Handover of the Three Eastern Provinces" with representatives of 11 countries, referred to as "The Times". Before and after the signing of the "Peace Outline" on September 7, 2011, Li Hongzhang had frequent contacts with the Russian ambassador and Witte's representative Pozdneyev. On November 7, Li Hongzhang died of illness under the "coercion and inducement" of the Russians. "It smells like the past.

Zhong, the Russian ambassador is still pressing for signatures." Li's death from illness felt like killing a rabbit and a fox to Russian Finance Minister Witte, who was in charge of the construction of the Russian Far East Railway at the time. He "found out at this time that everything needed to be started from scratch, because with the loss of Li Hongzhang and Xu Jingcheng, not only did our school have no pillars to speak of, but there seemed to be no one in the highest central authority." Be able to deal with foreigners bravely and responsibly.” Li Hongzhang, an important minister of the Qing Dynasty, ran out of oil and left. This day is November 7, 1901.