One
In October 1860, the autumn wind gradually rose and the sunset was like blood.
In the Second Opium War, the Anglo-French army invaded the capital. At that time, the Xianfeng Emperor did not live in the Forbidden City, but in the Yuanmingyuan, located in the northwestern suburbs of the capital. When the British and French troops learned of this news, they immediately marched to the Yuanmingyuan.
The Yuanmingyuan was a large imperial garden built during the Qing Dynasty. Since 1707, the Kangxi Emperor, the Yongzheng Emperor, the Qianlong Emperor, the Jiaqing Emperor, and the Daoguang Emperor have spent more than 100 years building the Yuanmingyuan, building it as a place with a grand scale, exquisite architecture, gorgeous decoration, and a large number of rare cultural relics and treasures, known as the "Garden of Ten Thousand Gardens", and the French writer Hugo praised it as "a model of ideals and art".
How big is the Old Summer Palace? It covers an area of more than 350 hectares, equivalent to 4.8 Forbidden Cities.
How beautiful is the architecture of the Old Summer Palace? It brings together many famous gardens in Jiangnan, and transplants many Western garden buildings, the palace is golden and brilliant, the pavilions are exquisite, and the garden scenery is beautiful.
How many cultural relics and treasures are hidden in the Yuanmingyuan? There are precious calligraphy and paintings, gold and silver jewelry, Song and Yuan porcelain handed down from generation to generation, all of which are rare treasures...
According to normal thinking, the Xianfeng Emperor should organize a living force and fight hard to protect the Yuanmingyuan and protect the heirlooms left by the ancestors and the ancestors. However, when the Anglo-French coalition forces were still on their way to the Yuanmingyuan, the Xianfeng Emperor was frightened and scattered, and despite the objections of his ministers, he fled the Yuanmingyuan with his concubines and princes and nobles overnight and ran to the summer resort in Chengde, Hebei Province, to "hunt".
The Draft History of the Qing Dynasty records the following: "Wenzong Xingrehe".
Two
Before leaving, the Xianfeng Emperor arranged for Prince Gong Yixuan to be the "Minister Plenipotentiary of Chincha's Cheap Actions" and had full authority to handle all the aftermath. Obviously, the Xianfeng Emperor was handing over the mess to Prince Gong. Prince Gong is not a fool. As soon as the Xianfeng Emperor left on the front foot, he left the Yuanmingyuan on the back foot, and did not return to the capital, but went to Changxindian.
Changxindian is located on the west bank of the Yongding River in Fengtai District, and this location is very delicate, and it is a necessary route for the southwest region to enter Beijing; in other words, it is also a necessary place to leave Beijing and go to the southwest region.
What did Prince Gong think, wasn't it clear at a glance?
When the Anglo-French army attacked the Yuanmingyuan from the northeastern outskirts of the capital, the Qing army was not completely wiped out. The monks Greenqin and Ruilin each commanded an army. However, when the monks Greenqin and Ruilin encountered the Anglo-French coalition forces in the north of the capital, they only symbolically fired a few shots, and they collapsed at a touch and fled.
Therefore, the British and French troops came to the Front of the Yuanmingyuan unscathed. The day was October 6, 1860.
Wait, the Yuanmingyuan is a very important imperial garden, the emperors of the Qing Dynasty often took refuge in the summer and worked here, how can there be no army to protect it? In fact, the Qing Dynasty deployed an Eight Banners force of several thousand people near the Yuanmingyuan. However, before the British and French troops arrived, they fled on their legs.
Three
The first to enter the Yuanmingyuan were the French troops. In the evening, a group of French troops broke into the Yuanmingyuan and found a group of Yuanmingyuan eunuchs, about 20 people, inside the Xianliang Gate.
What is a skilled eunuch? At the beginning of the Kangxi Emperor's pro-government, a group of young and strong eunuchs were selected in the court, trained in the art of capture and fighting, and used them to capture the powerful minister Aobai. Beginning with the Yongzheng Emperor, the Ministry of Internal Affairs, in accordance with the practice of the Kangxi Emperor, trained a group of young eunuchs who were good at grappling and fighting, and listened to the emperor to protect the emperor's safety. This is the skilled eunuch.
The person who commanded the eunuchs of the Yuanmingyuan was called Ren Liang. Ren Liang's position is the chief of the Eight Pins. When he heard that the Anglo-French army had invaded the Yuanmingyuan, he did not retreat, but took these more than 20 skilled eunuchs, armed with large knives and spears, and killed the French army...
It's a battle of disparity in strength. In terms of numbers, the French army is far more than the technical eunuchs; in terms of weapons and equipment, the French army is even more crushing the technical eunuchs. However, the brave eunuch bravely attacked bravely, still wounding two French officers, leaving the invaders feeling a little panic and fear.
When the French army calmed down from the initial panic, they opened fire. After a burst of intensive gunfire, the blood of the eunuchs stained the steps and royal roads inside the Xianliang Gate red, and all of them were martyred.
Four
In the Qing Dynasty, eunuchs were the lowest-ranking group of people in the imperial palace. Except for a very small number of eunuchs who were trusted by the emperor, the vast majority of eunuchs were of humble status, and no one looked down on them. However, no one thought that when the emperor and the prince fled one after another and the army fled without a fight, it was a group of eunuchs who did not look at each other in ordinary times and stood up to defend the dignity of the royal family.
The tragic battle in the Yuanmingyuan was not included in the official annals of history. However, an epitaph unearthed in 1983 allows us to remember Ren Liang's name and remember this tragic battle.
The owner of the epitaph is Ren Liang, who led the Yuanmingyuan Jiyong eunuch, that is, "the Leader of the Yuanmingyuan Jiyong Eight Pins, Zhen Liang Zi Mingting Rengong". The inscription reads: "On August 22 of the 10th year of Xianfeng, the Duke of Mingting was in and out of the Xianliang Gate when he encountered the enemy and was martyred. The three learnings of skill and courage, the people in the public read his life and flew straight, when the errand was cautious, when he encountered this big festival, it was really admirable. Because of the establishment of the inscription, his name is recorded, in the hope of immortality. Brave Mingting, do not be afraid of death. If you read Houlu, you must be faithful. Fight hard and outnumber the crowd. Martyred, loyal and courageous. Xianfeng Xin Youyu April Hejian Wang Yunxiang wrote and wrote the three studies of skills and courage. ”
Ren Liang's rank was Eight Pins, which was far lower than that of the chief eunuch of Zheng Sipin, and if compared with local officials, it was roughly equivalent to the positions of county clerks and teachings. Most of the eunuchs in the Yuanmingyuan were uneducated and illiterate. They may not understand the principle that "the rise and fall of the world is the responsibility of the husband", nor may they understand that "who has not died since ancient times?" Leave Dan heart to take care of the great righteousness of Khan Qing". At that moment, what came to their minds might just be the duty of guarding the Yuanmingyuan: I was guarding the Yuanmingyuan. If you want to come in and make trouble, step over my corpse first!"
So they took the most rudimentary weapons, and with the heart of death, they rushed to the well-armed invaders without hesitation.
"Although there are tens of millions of people, I am going to die!" What noble emperors, princes, generals, and nobles did not do, they did.
Lu Xun once said in the article "Have Chinese Lost Self-Confidence": "Since ancient times, we have had people who buried their heads in hard work, people who worked hard, people who asked for the people's lives, and people who sacrificed their lives to seek the law,...... Although it is equivalent to the so-called 'correct history' of the emperors and generals, they often cannot hide their glory, which is the backbone of China. ”
In my opinion, this group of Yuanmingyuan technical and courageous eunuchs is a well-deserved backbone of China.