As for Cixi's declaration of war on foreigners, Zhang Zhidong, Liu Kunyi, Li Hongzhang, and others engaged in "mutual protection of the southeast" and made a view from the sidelines, in fact, it is difficult to comment on right and wrong.
At that time, Cixi was still hesitant about whether the boxers were suppressing or not, and whether to fight or fight was even more hesitant.
If she chooses peace instead of fighting, it is inevitable that people will point at her nose and scold her for being weak and deceitful, and foreign enemies will come to attack and even bow down to foreigners.
But if she chooses to fight and not make peace, she will inevitably have the scruples of defeat, once she loses, then she will definitely be scolded even more miserably, is it crazy and stupid? After being scolded, he had to accept all kinds of blackmail from foreigners.
However, Cixi did not care about this, she could not hear her scolding anyway, and the blackmail of the foreigners did not affect her from continuing to control the Qing Dynasty and continuing to squander the power and wealth in her hands.
The reason why Cixi suddenly decided to declare war after hesitating was that it was still a "oolong", and Duan Wang Zaiyi wanted to increase his chips by recruiting boxers, so he constantly instigated and seduced Cixi, saying that boxers were available, what was it used for? Of course, it is used to fight foreigners!
Why fight foreigners? Zaiyi's men forged a message that the foreigners wanted to force Cixi to return to power under the Guangxu Emperor.
As soon as Cixi heard this, she was instantly angry, the money can be lost, the land can be cut, but the power cannot be given up!
Therefore, she declared war on the great powers, and then asked Zai Yi and others to recruit boxers to deal with foreigners, saying that they were fighting with foreigners, but in fact it was just to pressure the foreigners, so that the foreigners gave up the idea of forcing Cixi to return to the government and support the Guangxu Emperor, at most she wanted to use the boxers to teach the foreigners a lesson.
Therefore, at that time, Cixi did not explicitly say that she would recruit boxers, nor did she let people die against the foreigners, in order not to completely fall out with the foreigners, and it would end well in the future.
Ronglu's Armed Guards Squadron "rumbled" in the direction of the embassy area with heavy artillery produced by the German Krupp factory, but in fact it hit the open space behind the embassy, and this Rongzhongtang also sent melons, fruits and vegetables to the foreigners trapped in the embassy one by one!
To tell the truth, there were a lot of Qing soldiers in Gyeonggi at that time, and they really wanted to fight, in Cixi's own words, just an embassy district, where is the reason why it can't be defeated?
Cixi said to fight, but in her heart she did not want to fight, which caused the people below to figure out what she meant, and then she was also perfunctory, such as Nie Shicheng, even if she died in battle, she would die in vain, and Dong Fuxiang and Gan Jun fought quite fiercely, but what was the use? Lafayette's mind he Dong Fuxiang did not understand.
Cixi's mistake was that she had already declared war, but she was still thanklessly leaving room, and as a result, when the foreigners came, she herself was frightened and fled the capital.
Moreover, Zhang Zhidong, Liu Kunyi, Li Hongzhang, and others set aside the Qing government's singing of "southeast mutual protection," and their behavior cannot be commented on in terms of right and wrong.
Cixi is crazy, is there any need for them to go crazy with her?
Cixi declared war on the foreigners for fear of being forced to return to power by the foreigners, but this did not have much impact on the governor of the southeast.
Whether Cixi returned to the government or not, to put it bluntly, no one at that time could move the positions of Zhang, Liu and others, because they were people who really held real power.
Since the rise of the Western Affairs Movement, the southeast has become an "industrial center", and the interests of the southeast governors are directly linked to the stability of the southeast.
What's more, the reason why the Qing army lost to the Eight-Nation Alliance was because of the number of troops? No, it was lost in Cixi's hesitant attitude, it was Cixi who wanted to fight but did not want to fight, or did not dare to fight, otherwise would there be a southeast governor leading the army to serve the king, and the Qing army in Gyeonggi would also be able to make hundreds of foreigners in the embassy and fight on the ground.
However, from another point of view, the southeast governors did not have a Qin king, resulting in the fall of the Capital and the ravages of foreigners, and the number of people who died was unknown.
Is this right or wrong for the Southeastern Overseers? If Liu Kunyi, Zhang Zhidong, and Li Hongzhang, the "three governors of the southeast," really wanted to enter Beijing, it would be very likely to reverse the situation with their strength, and even to change Cixi's decision was not impossible.
Of course, after the southeast governors engaged in "southeast mutual protection", they really ensured the stability of the southeast region, after all, the southeast area is an "industrial center" and an economic center, if it is really chaotic, let alone the Qing government, maybe the people's life is not much better.
In addition, because the southeast governors did not enter the capital, the princes in power in the capital did not understand foreign affairs and did not understand diplomacy, so that the capital was in a miasma, and Cixi fled in a panic, which was also an indirect hasty acceleration of the demise of the Qing government.
After Li Hongzhang was ordered to negotiate and sign a treaty, Cixi returned to the capital, how did he deal with the southeastern governors who were engaged in "mutual protection in the southeast"? I don't dare to ask about the guilt, but I can only discuss merit.
Liu Kunyi added the title of Prince Taibao, and Zhang Zhidong also added the title of Prince Shaobao.
Li Hongzhang, as a negotiator, did a good job in the aftermath for Cixi, which would be even more meritorious, if he had not vomited blood and died, how could the official title be less than Li Zhongtang?
Yuan Shikai also took over Li Hongzhang's class and sat in the position of viceroy and minister of Beiyang!
Therefore, Zhang Zhidong, Liu Kun, and other southeastern overseers engaged in "southeast mutual protection" and this matter cannot be discussed as right or wrong.