On June 21, 1900, Cixi issued an edict to the outside world, declaring war on all the powers that had diplomatic relations with the Qing Dynasty. Although the edict does not mention the specific countries that declare war, it uses a word that contains "contempt". Lafayette dared to play like this, and it was not without confidence, her confidence was that the Boxers who were "helping the Qing Dynasty and destroying the Yang" were being carried out at that time.
Empress
It is clear that Cixi's absurd move brought the Qing Dynasty into the ditch, and this year was the year of Gengzi, known in history as the "Gengzi Incident".
At the end of June, Cixi's heart was very flustered, and the news of the great powers sending troops gave her a very bad premonition, thinking left and right, and the uneasy Cixi drew up a telegram, intending to send a telegram to the provinces, asking the governors of the provinces to raise funds and mobilize troops, and organize the "righteous people" to destroy the enemy ("gather the righteous people, the qin king to resist the enemy, and tide over the difficulties together").
The so-called "electrification" actually means sending telegrams to relevant people; "electrifying the whole country" means that while sending telegrams to relevant people, they also publish them in newspapers and other media to tell the Chinese people what they want to do.
Sheng Xuanhuai
This telegram was transmitted to the Qing Dynasty Telegraph Bureau, because it was a telegram from the actual ruler of the Qing Dynasty, and the people in the Telegraph Bureau certainly attached great importance to it, and the superintendent (number one) Sheng Xuanhuai personally came on the scene and first saw Cixi's "instructions", Sheng Xuanhuai was still quite calm, but after seeing the content, he was also shocked. Boldly, he did a head-off thing - suppressed the telegram and reported the contents of the telegram to his teacher Li Hongzhang.
Li
At this time, Li Hongzhang was the new governor of Liangguang, and it was said that he was one of the objects of the telegram. After listening to Sheng Xuanhuai's report, Li Hongzhang was confused for a long time before he came back to his senses, knowing very well that Cixi's telegram was a confused order to destroy the country and absolutely could not be carried out.
Li Hongzhang's view is not unreasonable, the reason why the great powers have an excuse to send troops this time is entirely because the Boxers are attacking foreigners in various places and destroying the relevant interests of the great powers, if Cixi also chooses to stand on the side of the Boxers and openly fight against the great powers, the final injury will definitely be the Qing Dynasty, and it will still be a crisis of national subjugation.
But it should be known that Since ancient times, China has had a tradition in the official arena - the orders of the imperial court, even if they are wrong and absurd, must be completed without compromise. What can Li Hongzhang do? After thinking all night, Li Hongzhang really thought of a way to deal with it, and he sent a telegram to Cixi: "This chaotic life is also in order, and Guangdong does not follow the edict." The meaning of Li Hongzhang's words is: Such a ridiculous order must not have been issued by a wise person like you, and 80% of it was a traitor in the DPRK who tampered with the will, so I will not carry it out.
Under the contact of Li Hongzhang and Sheng Xuanhuai, the governors of the southern provinces responded one after another, did not carry out the orders, and even formed a political alliance called "Southeast Mutual Protection." (Yuan Shikai joined this camp with Shandong Province) The "Southeast Mutual Protection" camp and the great powers reached an agreement: each managed its own people and property -- the foreigners in the concessions were in charge of their own affairs, and the other provinces in China were in charge; the foreigners could only operate in the legal concessions, otherwise China would not be responsible for any accidents.
The Eight-Power Coalition
Such an agreement, which seems to have no loss of power and humiliation of the country, has also been spurned by all sides, and "patriotic scholars" have accused Li Hongzhang, Sheng Xuanhuai, Yuan Shikai, and others of being traitors to the country. However, combined with the later invasion of the capital by the Eight-Power Alliance, the war in northern China was incessant, and the wolf smoke came up, and the stability and calm in the south undoubtedly proved that this was a wise move.
Of course, some people may think that Cixi's convening of the Righteous People and the Eight-Nation Alliance was just the right move, but only for the Qing Dynasty, Sheng Xuanhuai Li Hongzhang's move was undoubtedly to prolong the national fortunes of the Qing Dynasty. What do you think?