How did the Qing government suppress and appease the Boxer Rebellion?

It is no accident that the Boxer Rebellion took place in Shandong. It is indeed a continuation of the conflict between people and religion, which has been greatly aggravated by German bullying and aggression. However, organized resistance from the people like the Boxer Rebellion is rare. In the past, conflicts between the people and the church were mostly orderly, dominated by local gentry, targeted at a specific church in a region, and usually passed through the government in the future, so as not to go too far. However, as soon as the Boxer came out, it was really out of order and became some arrangements beyond the administrative region. After the Boxer Rebellion was arranged, it was directly embarrassed with the parishioners and missionaries. According to the traditional practice of the Qing dynasty, this arrangement will be annihilated, because it is not a legal arrangement, but something outside the system. So at first, the official went all out to panic in it. Both Li Bingheng and Zhang Rumei, including Yuxian, are fighting the Boxer Rebellion. But another factor led to the change of annihilation policy.

Before the Reform Movement of 1898, even in Shandong, which was invaded by foreign powers, the government did not allow non-governmental forces to oppose the church. Because at that time, the central government adopted a concession policy to the western powers, at least the government had to openly safeguard the church. However, after the failure of the political reform, all imperial policies retreated, the new law was abolished, and even some reasonable policies during the Westernization Movement were abolished. At first, the imperial court engaged in the Westernization Movement and the Reform Movement of 1898, in order to cope with the pressure of western powers, especially to perfunctory the crisis of national subjugation in the Sino-Japanese War, and to learn from the West in order to perfunctory it. But now that politics has retreated and all kinds of new policies to learn from the West have been abandoned, how can we perfunctory the status quo?

Moreover, after the Western Empress Dowager did not engage in political reform, put Guangxu under house arrest and killed political reform officials, the contact between the powers and her was even worse. As we said before, the great powers had expected political reform in China, and they did have multiple mentalities: on the one hand, they felt that if you didn't change the law, we would be happy to divide you; On the one hand, I think if our country can reform itself, it means that you voluntarily join our system and become our small partner, so why don't we support it? Therefore, once China stopped political reform and retreated, the powers were very unhappy. Therefore, the biggest resistance to the abolition of Guangxu by Empress Dowager Cixi in the West comes not only from local governors, but also from ambassadors of various countries in China. The local governor was originally surrounded by aides who were inclined to the new law and were greatly influenced by foreigners. This scene can also explain why the situation of "mutual protection in the southeast" appeared later. It turns out that this important event in China's modern history was initiated by aides of Zhang Zhidong, Liu Kunyi and Li Hongzhang. At that time, these aides were disgusted with the practice of the Western Empress Dowager, and their ideas were improved by the governor, so the Western Empress Dowager was ruled by many parties.

After the Western Empress, she did not receive any standardized teaching. Her common sense mainly came from Beijing opera, which was still very rough at that time. First of all, she reflects some simple things like karma, filial piety and gratitude among the people. The resentment in her heart was gradually ignited, and the last stick added to the pyre was Tan Sitong's request to Yuan Shikai to surround the Summer Palace. So far, the western empress dowager has put all her work together and blamed Guangxu. She thought that the greatest evil of Guangxu was unfilial, and these things were assigned by Guangxu. In the past, it was like "killing mother". Because nominally, the Western Empress Dowager was Guangxu's mother, she felt very wronged. So she always wanted to abolish Guangxu, but she couldn't, and she was wronged. She has no affection for western powers, but now she is completely disgusted.

At present, there are also rumors that western powers want to persuade the Western Empress Dowager and force her to return to Guangxu. Do western countries have this idea? Yes, but they don't have such practical actions. At this time, external pressure led to a direct power struggle. Originally, it was the pressure of western powers on our country, but now it has become the pressure of the western empress dowager's desire for power. The western empress dowager is convinced that the foreign ministers in Beijing are forcing her. In this situation, she is likely to make a rude decision. Just then, the work of the Boxer Rebellion was reported by the following local officials, and the work changed. At first, some people ignored her and said that "the people's hearts can be won", and the court could not rely on the people. First, as we said, since the Opium War, there has been a myth in China that officials are afraid of foreigners, foreigners are afraid of ordinary people, and ordinary people are afraid of officials.

This kind of thinking is the logic of games such as mountain king, stick chicken, stone, scissors and cloth, which represents a mentality of our nation and a mindset. Although we later found that foreigners are not afraid of the people, this statement has not disappeared. Once the time is ripe, it will be used as a propaganda slogan to incite people in society. When the court found that they didn't have any capital, it thought of using the people to counter foreigners. So at this time, the court's policy orientation showed hesitation. But this hesitation began after the second half of 1899, when the central government was not sure about suppressing the Boxer Rebellion. Once this happens, the problem will be in trouble, and the Boxers will soon spread to various places, and the first thing to do is to develop their strength and enter the Gyeonggi area. If the imperial court is determined to encircle the Boxer Rebellion, they will certainly keep quiet.