Chapter 63: The Confrontation Between the Emperor and Empress

  On March 1, 1895, the Guangxu Emperor issued the "Imperial Edict on the Reform of Government", which was drafted by Weng Tonghe. This marked the beginning of the Hundred Days' Reform. Reformers across the country were overjoyed. Liang Qichao said: "It is a great event that has been going on for 4,000 years! All reforms are based on this edict, and the new policy begins today."

  The young Guangxu was pacing back and forth in the Forbidden City, planning his grand blueprint with great ambition, looking forward to a bright future for the Qing Empire. The Empress Dowager had told him yesterday: "Your Majesty handles things, I won't interfere." So he felt confident!

  Wishes are beautiful, but reality is cruel. Simple and lovely children do not know that the mouths of politicians are like public toilets, what they say is like people coming and going in toilets, forever different.

  Guangxu only had a three-day beautiful dream, and in just three days, Ronglu, Yikuai, Gangyi and other trusted officials of Cixi ordered willing officials to impeach his teacher Weng Tonghe, saying that Weng Tonghe was mistaken for the country, formed parties and disrupted politics, and wildly seized power, causing corruption in the Ministry of Revenue.

  Thus, an imperial edict was issued from the hand of Cixi, who was sitting in a pavilion beside Kunming Lake in the Yiheyuan, admiring the lotus flowers.

  Cooperating with University Scholar Weng Tonghe, recently handling affairs, many have not been allowed to cooperate, resulting in public opinion being dissatisfied, and repeatedly having someone impeach. Moreover, every time during the imperial audience, consulting on events, arbitrarily deciding yes or no, joy and anger visible in words and expressions, gradually revealing the situation of usurping power and being tyrannical, it is clear that he cannot fulfill the duties of a key position. He should be investigated and severely punished, but considering his many years of service in the Yuqing Palace, I am reluctant to immediately dismiss him, so he will be allowed to resign and return to his hometown, as a way of showing leniency.

  A clear sky with a sudden clap of thunder, Guangxu felt a chill all over his body. The old and trusted official Weng Tonghe was thus driven out of the capital in disarray. Li Hongzhang was already old and ill, unable to bear great responsibilities. Who else could be trusted in the Grand Council?

  At the same time as Emperor Guangxu's tutor Weng Tonghe was dismissed, Empress Dowager Cixi also summoned Wang Wenshao to Beijing and appointed Ronglu as acting Governor of Zhili Province to take charge of security in the capital. She ordered that all high-ranking officials above the second rank who were newly appointed must present a memorial to her to express their gratitude.

  The old ministers were not trusted by the Guangxu Emperor, and the young ministers could only be promoted to the third or fourth rank. The Guangxu Emperor had no wise advisors, so he spent his days looking at the memorials submitted by various officials, making decisions on his own, passing those he liked and putting aside those he didn't like. In this way, major state affairs were decided based on his whims, just like a child playing house.

  Tianjin, news from all over the capital poured into Ye Zhiqi's house like snowflakes. Ye Zhiqi exchanged letters with Li Hongzhang, Nie Shicheng and Ye Zhicha, among others. One letter from Nie Shicheng made Ye Zhiqi extremely vigilant. Nie Shicheng mentioned that a group called Yihetuan had appeared in certain areas of Shandong Province, but fortunately he had responded promptly and put it out in time. However, Ye Zhiqi knew that the Boxer Rebellion was about to rise.

  Fortunately, Ye Zhikui had a gun in his hand and was not flustered. After the Wu Yi army went through a march drill, the soldiers' willpower, endurance and combat effectiveness were significantly improved, which made Ye Zhikui overjoyed. It can be said that it was an unexpected gain. After discussing with the officials, they decided to implement a strategy of conducting a march drill every half month for the Wu Yi army.

  The commander of the leaves, intentionally or unintentionally, slowly expanded the scope of the exercise, gradually approaching Beijing from Tianjin. As the military exercise became a routine activity, the people and officials in the Beijing-Tianjin area also gradually got used to it, losing their initial surprise!

  Wu Yi's army received Ronglu's praise, and the imperial court also tried to create such an elite unit. As a result, all supplies of weapons and ammunition were given priority consideration. The head of the military equipment bureau was Jian Ren Shi Wu, who carried out Ye Zhi Kui's tactics of crying poverty, frequently asking the Ministry of War or the Governor's Office for weapons and ammunition, and proposing to Ye Zhi Kui that half of the ammunition be kept in reserve. In secret, he stockpiled a large quantity of guns and ammunition.

  Ye Zhi suggested to Wang Wenxu, who had not yet stepped down: "The Tianjin Machinery Manufacturing Bureau is an important military base. The original force was too weak and should be reinforced with heavy troops for defense."

  Wang Wenshao thought so too, and Ye Zhiwei immediately withdrew two teams of 500 soldiers from the new army to take turns keeping watch.

  The Tianjin Machinery Bureau, which was capable of producing firearms and ammunition, thus fell under the "protection" of Ye Zhiqi.

  On the 5th, Kang Youwei arrived in Tianjin from Beijing to seek advice from Li Timotai, the spiritual leader of the reformist party. Li Timotai was a thoroughbred Englishman who actively operated among high-ranking officials and repeatedly suggested putting China under British "protection", hiring foreigners to participate in government, attempting to influence the development of Chinese politics, unfortunately he encountered old foxes like Li Hongzhang, Zhang Zhidong, Zuo Zongtang at that time, so the result was not as expected.

  This time, he met Kang Youwei. As soon as they met, Li Timotai warmly grasped Kang Youwei's hand and said: "Kang, you are China's Ito Hirobumi!"

  Kang Youwei was overjoyed and replied, "You're too kind, I'm a loyal reader of the Globe Magazine, your reformist ideas published in it have deeply attracted me, you are my teacher."

  Li Timotai smiled faintly and said, "I have lived in China for many years and have also deeply studied the Meiji Restoration of Japan. I think that if you want to become rich and strong, you must not only emphasize 'Western technology', but even more so 'Western politics'. I think your government's reforms are too conservative and should learn from our Western countries, hiring us as consultants to help with decision-making for reform." Li Timotai didn't know that taking big steps can easily lead to getting egg on his face.

  Kang Youwei exclaimed with great joy: "If you can help our Qing dynasty, it will be a fortunate event for our Qing dynasty. I will memorialize the Emperor to invite you as an advisor for our reform efforts. I heard that Japan's Itō Hirobumi has just resigned from his position as Prime Minister (actually because he was forced to resign due to his inability to suppress bandits). Mr. Itō and my friend Youling (Yan Fu) were classmates in England, and I and Youling would like to invite him to come to China for a visit. Please convey this invitation on our behalf."

  "Alright, I'll definitely pass it on," replied Timothy Li. "I'm in frequent contact with Mr. Ito."

  Kang Youwei and Li Timotai had a pleasant conversation, Kang Youwei made two powerful foreign friends, he was delighted, his steps were also bigger, thinking that he still had to go to another place, he couldn't help but look forward to it.

  Ye Zhiyun had received a visiting card from Kang Youwei the day before yesterday, saying that he would come to visit today, so he had no choice but to stay at Ye's mansion and wait for Kang Youwei.

  Fortunately, it wasn't long before a servant came to report that Kang Youwei had arrived. Ye Zhihui didn't go out to greet him, and he wasn't very familiar with Kang Youwei either, so he just let the servant lead him in.

  Kang Youwei stepped forward and said, "I've long heard that General Ye is young and vigorous. I didn't expect him to be even younger than I imagined. Truly, he's a remarkable young man." Kang Youwei was a natural-born orator, and his flattery wasn't bad either.

  Unfortunately, Ye Zhiwei didn't fall for his tricks. Kang Youwei is like a bamboo, looking sturdy with knots and branches, but actually empty inside. Be careful not to be deceived by him.

  Ye Zhi Kui replied with a non-committal tone: "I don't know what brings Mr. Nanhai to my humble abode?"

  Kang Youwei said solemnly: "The rise and fall of the world, a single man has responsibility, let alone General Ye, you are in a high position with great power, should think more for our Great Qing. Now that His Majesty is working hard to reform and strengthen, we as his subjects should support him with all our might. General Ye, you have also studied in Germany, understanding the gap between our Great Qing and Western countries. If our Great Qing does not seek to change and strengthen itself, it will eventually be swallowed up by these ferocious nations."

  Ye Zhi Kui said in a loud voice: "Nanhai, you're exaggerating, aren't you? Now that our great Qing dynasty is at peace, who dares to offend us? Even if there are some petty thieves sneaking around, they'll have to ask my knife first! Besides, I, Ye Zhi Kui, am just a humble commander, focusing on training soldiers for our great Qing. I don't have time to bother with other things."

  Kang Youwei listened with a gloomy expression, "You are just a junior officer under the command of the governor, but you have already become a high-ranking official at such a young age. I am still just a small sixth-grade official, so I had to ask again: 'What does General Ye think about reform? General Ye is so young, he won't have the same views as those stubborn and conservative ministers in the court, thinking that the laws of our ancestors cannot be changed, will he?'"

  Ye Zhui hummed and said, "Whether or not to change the law is not up to me Ye to decide. If the imperial court wants me to change it, I'll change it; if they don't want me to change it, then I won't." Ye Zhui also didn't take his words to an extreme.

  Kang Youwei was still not satisfied with this answer and continued to press: "General Ye came from the Beiyang, now Grand Secretary is the Empress Dowager's confidant, but I don't know which court you are referring to, the Empress Dowager or the Emperor."

  Ye Zhi Kui was secretly annoyed, "What's wrong with you? Why do you want to force me to take a stand?" He could only pretend to be stupid and curiously ask: "Aren't the Emperor and Empress Dowager from the same family?"

  Kang Youwei was speechless for a moment, and he couldn't openly provoke the relationship between the Emperor and the Empress Dowager. He had to take a step back and say: "General Ye is indeed clear-sighted, but unfortunately, when the time comes, you may not be able to control your own fate."

  Ye Zhiwei said slowly and calmly: "The imperial court has me train a new army, all because of one word 'new'."

  Kang Youwei's eyes lit up, and he thought to himself that Ye Zhiqi was a comrade who could be united with, but was too timid to speak out. He became enthusiastic again, and Kang Youwei swindled another 1,000 taels of silver from Ye Zhiqi for the cause of reform before leaving the Ye residence with a flourish.

  After Kang Youwei left, Ye Zhi Kui finally came to his senses and secretly regretted not bringing Jian Ren Shi Wu today, otherwise he would not have been deceived into losing money.