Part 17 (1/2)

I never expected that the restoration of my retirement home would become a scandal. It began with a gesture of piety. When I decided to settle in the Summer Palace-originally called Ch'ing I Yuan, Garden of Clear Rippling Waters-it was Prince Ch'un who insisted that it be restored. As chief minister, he spoke on behalf of the Emperor. Ch'un meant to provide me with a comfortable home, which I gratefully accepted.

I did not want to embarra.s.s Prince Ch'un by pointing out that he had resisted the same idea when it was proposed by Tung Chih after he mounted the throne back in 1873. At that time Ch'un claimed that there was a shortage of funds. How, I wondered, would he raise the funds now? I could only conclude that he wanted to keep me strolling in my gardens rather than meddling in state affairs.

I remained pa.s.sive because it was time for Prince Ch'un to step into my shoes. As the minister of the Board of Admiralty, he had been a roaring tiger, tearing apart Li Hung-chang's effort to modernize China. What surprised me was his unlikely collaborator, Tutor Weng. Weng was a liberal and a strong advocate for reform who had supported Li's initiatives. But when he became Prince Ch'un's new minister of revenue, he discovered that he didn't like sharing power with Li. Prince Ch'un and Tutor Weng had already sent numerous memorandums denouncing Li and my approval of Li's projects. Both men were convinced that they could do a better job if they were given total control.

I had hinted to Li Hung-chang about what would be coming when I retired. It was frustrating to witness how Li was forced to endure humiliation, attacks on his character, even a.s.sa.s.sination attempts. The only thing I could do was show him how much I valued him. In a message delivered to Li by Yung Lu, his closest ally at court, I wrote, ”If it becomes too much, you have my permission to take a leave of absence for any reason.” I told him that I would grant any amount of compensation he might claim.

Li Hung-chang a.s.sured me that would be unnecessary and that my understanding of his sacrifices was all he needed to carry on. ”It is not at all a good time for experimenting or allowing the stubborn-minded Ironhats time for self-discovery,” I wrote him, ”but that is how things are for me here.”

I had lived with my husband in the Summer Palace. It was divided by lakes, called North Sea, South Sea and Middle Sea. Unlike Yuan Ming Yuan, which was a man-made wonder, the Summer Palace was designed to harmonize with nature's ways. The Garden of Clear Rippling Water, surrounding the palace itself, was only a small portion of the greater park area. Across its expanse, airy pavilions sat amid the lush green landscape, and the three large lakes glinted between shallow hills. My memories of the place were more than fond.

It was Guang-hsu who finally convinced me to allow the restoration to take place. He personally read his statement to the court urging the start of construction. ”It is the least China can bestow on its Grand Empress, who has suffered so much.” I could see that Guang-hsu was attempting to a.s.sert his independence, and I felt that I needed to support him.

When loyal ministers wrote to warn me of a ”father-and-son plot” that intended to isolate me politically, I wrote on the back of their letters, ”If there is a plot, it is one of my own design.” I was more concerned about where the money would come from. The first priority of the admiralty and revenue boards was to establish China's navy, and I wanted that priority honored.

In June, Guang-hsu published his decree regarding the restoration of my home: ”...I then remembered that in the neighborhood of the Western Park there was a palace. Many of the buildings were in poor condition and required restoration to make them fit for Her Majesty the Grand Empress's use as a place of solace and delight.” He conferred a new name on the Garden of Clear Rippling Waters: it would now be known as the Garden for the Cultivation of Harmonious Old Age.

After demurring, I issued an official reply: ”I am aware that the Emperor's desire to restore the palace in the west springs from his laudable concern for my welfare, and for that reason I cannot bear to meet his well-meaning pet.i.tion with a blunt refusal. Moreover, the costs of the construction have all been provided for out of the surplus funds acc.u.mulated as a result of rigid economies in the past. The funds under the control of the Board of Revenue will not be touched, and no harm will be done to the national finances.”

My statement was meant to mollify those who opposed the plan, but I ended up falling into a trap. Soon I would be locked in two battles, an experience I would barely survive.

The first battle would be started by Tutor Weng. When the scholar-reformer was given the highest power, he encouraged Guang-hsu's already great pa.s.sion for reform. When he could have played a moderating role, Tutor Weng instead pushed him harder, setting the Emperor on a course that would ultimately prove disastrous both for our family and for China.

The second battle would be my fight against taking the responsibility for China's lost war with j.a.pan. Years later, when all of the men ran away from blame, I would be the one to bear the disgrace. What could I do? I had been fully awake, yet I did not escape the nightmare.

”In the end,” one future historian would write, ”the Board of Revenue did remain inviolate, but important funds, estimated at thirty thousand taels, were defrauded from the Board of Admiralty for Grand Empress Tzu Hsi-the amount would have doubled the entire fleet, which would have enabled China to defeat its enemy.”

Unfortunately, I lived to read this criticism. It was when I was old and dying. I couldn't, didn't and wouldn't yell, ”Go and take a look at my home!” The money I was charged with stealing would have built it three times with pure gold.

24.

Our troubles with j.a.pan over Korea had been going on for a decade. When Queen Min of Korea called for help, I sent Li Hung-chang. The Queen was under the threat of j.a.panese-backed mobs. I took the matter personally. I knew that I would seek the same help if such a thing should ever happen to me.

It took two years for Li Hung-chang to work out an agreement with j.a.pan's prime minister, Ito Hirob.u.mi. Li convinced me that the agreement would prevent the escalation of the Korean situation into a full-scale Sino-j.a.panese military confrontation.

I frantically did what I could to get Li's draft agreement approved. The Manchu Clan Council hated the very existence of Li Hung-chang and did their best to block his effort. Prince Ch'un and Prince Ts'eng said that my living in the Forbidden City for so long had warped my sense of reality, and that my trust in Li Hung-chang was misplaced. My instinct told me, however, that I would end up with Queen Min's own troubles if I relied on the Manchu royals instead of Li Hung-chang.

As a result of my advocacy, the Li-Ito Convention was signed. China and j.a.pan kept peace for a while. The Manchus stopped their campaign for Li Hung-chang's beheading.

But in March of 1893 Li sought an emergency audience with me at the Summer Palace. I was up before dawn to greet him. Outside in the garden, the air was crisp and cold, but the camellias were blossoming. I served Li hot green tea, for he had been traveling all night.

”Your Majesty.” Li Hung-chang's voice was tense. ”How have you been?”

I sensed unease and asked him to come to the point.

He knocked his forehead on the ground before letting out his words. ”Queen Min has been deposed, Your Majesty.”

I was stunned. ”How ... how could that happen?”

”I don't have all the information yet.” Li Hung-chang rose. ”I only know that the Queen's ministers were brutally murdered. As of this moment, Korea's radicals are staging a coup.”

”Does j.a.pan have a role in it?”

”Yes, Your Majesty. j.a.pan's secret agents infiltrated Queen Min's palace disguised as Korean security guards.”

Li Hung-chang convinced me that there was nothing I could do to help Queen Min. Even if we could mount a rescue mission, we didn't know where the Queen was being held or even if she was still alive. j.a.pan was determined to swallow Korea. The conspiracy had been kept alive for over ten years. China had been taking turns with j.a.pan in backing rival factions in Seoul.

”I am afraid that China alone can no longer stop j.a.pan's military aggression,” Li said.

The next weeks were tense, my days harried, my nights sleepless. Exhausted, I tried to supplant the worries of the moment by returning to something even more potent, replaying my earliest memories of my hometown of Wuhu.

Staring at the golden dragon ceiling above my bed, I recalled the last time I was with my best friend Gra.s.shopper. She was kicking the dirt with her feet, her legs as thin as bamboo stalks.

”I have never gone to Hefei,” she said. ”Have you, Orchid?”

”No,” I replied. ”My father told me that it's bigger than Wuhu.”

Gra.s.shopper's eyes lit up. ”I might get lucky there.” She lifted her blouse to reveal her belly. ”I am sick of eating clay.”

Her belly was huge, like a bottom-up cooking pot.

”I haven't been able to s.h.i.+t,” she said.

I felt extremely guilty. As the daughter of the local governor, I had never known hunger.

”I am going to die, Orchid.” Gra.s.shopper's tone was flat. ”I will be eaten by a tableful of people. Will you miss me?”

Before I could answer, she went on. ”My younger brother died last night. My parents sold him this morning. I wonder which family is eating him.”

Suddenly my knees gave way and I collapsed.

”I am leaving for Hefei, Orchid.”