Part 24 (1/2)

I went out and crossed the courtyard and looked through the gate. Casting long shadows in the dying sunlight, the crowd was on its knees.

”Open it,” I said to Li Lien-ying.

Two of my eunuchs pushed the gate open.

The crowd turned silent the moment I appeared on the terrace.

I was expected to speak, and I had to bite my tongue in order to swallow the words.

I remembered my promise to Guang-hsu. My son was only exercising his rights as Emperor, I told myself. He deserved complete independence.

The crowd stayed on its knees. It hurt me to see that people were filled with hope in me.

I turned around and told Li Lien-ying to shut the gate.

Behind me the crowd stirred, rising to its feet and muttering louder and louder.

Later I would learn that Yung Lu had other reasons to join the dismissed officials. While working on building the navy, he kept an eye on foreign governments to make sure they were not connected with subversive elements in China. However, intelligence showed that British and American missionaries and English adventurers with military backgrounds were secretly agitating in favor of a const.i.tutional monarchy. Although Yung Lu's true purpose was to avoid being forced to crack down on reform, which by then had turned into a country-wide movement, he was especially alarmed by the high level of subversive activity going on at the j.a.panese legation. The suspected agents were members of the Genyosha Society, ultranationalists who were responsible for Queen Min's a.s.sa.s.sination in Korea.

Prince Ts'eng, his son and Prince Ch'un Junior were convinced that Kang Yu-wei was supported by the foreign powers as a cover for an armed coup.

Yung Lu said in a message to me, ”The Emperor's trust in Kang Yu-wei has made my work impossible.”

”I have no option but to support the throne,” I wrote back to Yung Lu. ”It is up to you to block any uprising.”

31.

Early one morning Yung Lu appeared unannounced at my palace. ”Ito Hirob.u.mi is on his way to Peking.” Ito was the architect of j.a.pan's Meiji Restoration and had served as prime minister during our recent war. He had played a leading role in the murder of Queen Min.

”Is ... Ito not afraid?” I asked. ”Guang-hsu could order his beheading for what j.a.pan has done to China.”

Yung Lu paused a moment and then replied, ”Your Majesty, Ito comes as the Emperor's guest.”

”My son invited him?”

”Ito claims that he has retired from politics and is now a private citizen.”

”Does Li Hung-chang know about this?”

”Yes. In fact, he sent me. While Li feels that it is no longer his role to offer the throne advice, he didn't want you to get the news from the Ironhats.”

”His enemies accuse him of being self-serving, but our friend has always embodied what is most kind and wise in the Chinese character.”

Yung Lu agreed. ”Li refuses to offer the Ironhats an opportunity to jeopardize the Emperor's reform plans.”

According to my son, Ito's visit was initiated by Kang Yu-wei and arranged by his disciple, a twenty-three-year-old scholar-adventurer named Tan s.h.i.+h-tung. I remembered Tan had written an extraordinary a.n.a.lytical essay on j.a.pan, and knew his father, who was the governor of Hupeh.

Like his master Kang Yu-wei, Tan had also failed the national civil service examination. He was quoted as having called the government post his father once offered him ”a beggar's livelihood.” Together with Kang Yu-wei, Tan became known for publis.h.i.+ng letters condemning the Imperial examination system. He was second in command in the Emperor's new council.

In my view, Tan's belief in Ito as China's savior was naive and dangerous. I did not doubt Ito's ability to manipulate the Emperor, so it would be pointless for me to try to persuade my son to dismiss Ito.

”You'd be a fool to invite yourself,” Yung Lu offered as we discussed Guang-hsu's meeting with the j.a.panese. ”They would just shut up and look for another opportunity to meet privately.”

Over the next few days Yung Lu and I sought Li Hung-chang's advice.

”The j.a.panese intelligentsia have already become part of the fiber of our society, as they had done in Korea,” Li warned in a letter. ”Ito's move will further j.a.pan's penetration.”

I begged Li Hung-chang to travel north to help. ”You must personally receive Ito so he knows that my son is not alone.”

Li did not respond to this plea, so I officially summoned him. I felt I needed his advice in person. There was no telling what might happen, especially as my son had not said a word to me about his plans.

After Yung Lu left at the end of each day, my frustration would overwhelm me. Li Hung-chang still hadn't responded, and I was worn out by the mere mention of Ito's name. I understood my son's fascination with the man. But if they met, Ito would quickly discover all the shortcomings of the Emperor of China.

I feared that my son would hastily move to replace China's feudal power blocs with j.a.panese sympathizers. In fact, he had already begun doing so. The pro-j.a.pan scholar Tan's appointment as emissary between Ito and Guang-hsu was but a prelude. The Emperor fancied China as a power broker among modern industrial nations-but j.a.pan would be calling the shots. And my son would be none the wiser.

On September 11, 1898, Yung Lu welcomed Ito Hirob.u.mi to China. The former prime minister was received in Tientsin. A few days later, on his arrival in Peking by train, Li Hung-chang met with him.

Yung Lu had few words to describe the guest. It was as if he wished to forget the experience as soon as possible. ”I have received five messages from the throne asking me to bring Ito to the Forbidden City,” Yung Lu said. Although he told me he was uncomfortable throughout the reception, he did his best to show hospitality.

”Ito must have sensed that our welcome was not heartfelt,” Yung Lu remarked. ”I don't know how he managed to maintain his poise and offer his grat.i.tude.”

It was from Li Hung-chang that I learned more details. ”Ito carries himself in the style of a samurai,” Li said. In his opinion, Ito was a genius. Li envied him his service to the j.a.panese Emperor and his success in reforming his country. Li would never forget the humiliation he had suffered before Ito at the negotiating table. ”Ito was shameless, virtue-less and ruthless. He was also the hero of his country.”

I remembered the nights when Li negotiated the s.h.i.+monoseki Treaty. I counted every tael of war compensation paid, every hectare of land we were forced to part with. Li Hung-chang's telegrams came like a snow squall in January. My eunuch wore out his shoes shuttling messages between Li Hung-chang and me.

It had been like talking to the Great Wall when I tried to make Guang-hsu appreciate Li's negotiating efforts. ”You should at least acknowledge that Li Hung-chang has been bearing the blame that should have been ours.”

”Li Hung-chang deserves nothing but our loathing,” Guang-hsu had responded.

Under the influence of Kang Yu-wei, my son ignored the telegrams Li sent concerning Ito's visit.

I was upset and said to my son, ”You don't get tired because Li is the one carrying the heavy load.”