He Arrived At Pekin In August,
1878, And Was Received In Several Audiences By The Empresses While Waiting
For His Full Instructions From The Tsungli Yamen.
He did not leave until
October, about a month after the Marquis Tseng, Tseng Kwofan's eldest son,
set out from Pekin to take the place of Kwo Sungtao as Minister in London
and Paris.
Chung How reached St. Petersburg in the early part of the
following year, and the discussion of the various points in question,
protracted by the removal of the court to Livadia, occupied the whole of
the summer months. At last it was announced that a treaty had been signed
at Livadia, by which Russia surrendered the Kuldja valley, but retained
that of the Tekes, which left in her hands the command of the passes
through the Tian Shan range into Kashgar. Chung How knew nothing about
frontiers or military precautions, but he thought a great deal about
money. He fought the question of an indemnity with ability, and got it
fixed at five million roubles, or little more than half that at which it
was placed by the later treaty. There was never any reason to suppose that
the Chinese government would accept the partial territorial concession
obtained by Chung How. The first greeting that met Chung How on his return
revealed the fate of his treaty. He had committed the indiscretion of
returning without waiting for the Edict authorizing his return, and as the
consequence he had to accept suspension from all his offices, while his
treaty was submitted to the tender mercies of the grand secretaries, the
six presidents of boards, the nine chief ministers of state, and the
members of the Hanlin. Three weeks later, Prince Chun was specially
ordered to join the Committee of Deliberation. On January 27 Chung How was
formally cashiered and arrested, and handed over to the Board of
Punishment for correction. The fate of the treaty itself was decided a
fortnight later. Chung How was then declared to have "disobeyed his
instructions and exceeded his powers." On March 3 an edict appeared,
sentencing the unhappy envoy to "decapitation after incarceration." This
sentence was not carried out, and the reprieve of the unlucky envoy was
due to Queen Victoria's expression of a hope that the Chinese government
would spare his life.
At the same time that the Chinese refused their ratification to Chung
How's treaty, they expressed their desire for another pacific settlement,
which would give them more complete satisfaction. The Marquis Tseng was
accordingly instructed to take up the thread of negotiation, and to
proceed to the Russian capital as Embassador and Minister Plenipotentiary.
Some delay ensued, as it was held to be doubtful whether Russia would
consent to the reopening of the question. But owing to the cautious and
well-timed approaches of the Marquis Tseng, the St. Petersburg Foreign
Office acquiesced in the recommencement of negotiations, and, after six
months' discussion, accepted the principle of the almost unqualified
territorial concession for which the Chinese had stood firm. On February
12, 1881, these views were embodied in a treaty, signed at St. Petersburg,
and the ratification within six months showed how differently its
provisions were regarded from those of its predecessor. With the Marquis
Tseng's act of successful diplomacy the final result of the long war in
Central Asia was achieved. The Chinese added Ili to Kashgar and the rest
of the New Dominion, which at the end of 1880 was made into a High
Commissionership and placed under the care of the dashing General Liu
Kintang.
The close of the great work successfully accomplished during the two
periods of the Regency was followed within a few weeks by the
disappearance of the most important of the personages who had carried on
the government throughout these twenty years of constant war and
diplomatic excitement. Before the Pekin world knew of her illness, it
heard of the death of the Empress Dowager Tsi An, who as Hienfung's
principal widow had enjoyed the premier place in the government, although
she had never possessed a son to occupy the throne in person. In a
proclamation issued in her name and possibly at her request, Tsi An
described the course of her malady, the solicitude of the emperor, and
urged upon him the duty of his high place to put restraint upon his grief.
Her death occurred on April 18, from heart disease, when she was only
forty-five, and her funeral obsequies were as splendid as her services
demanded. For herself she had always been a woman of frugal habits, and
the successful course of recent Chinese history was largely due to her
firmness and resolution. Her associate in the Regency, Tsi Thsi, who has
always been more or less of an invalid, still survives.
The difficulty with Russia had not long been composed, when, on two
opposite sides of her extensive dominion, China was called upon to face a
serious condition of affairs. In Corea, "the forbidden land" of the Far
East, events were forced by the eagerness and competition of European
states to conclude treaties of commerce with that primitive kingdom, and
perhaps, also, by their fear that if they delayed Russia would appropriate
some port on the Corean coast. To all who had official knowledge of
Russia's desire and plan for seizing Port Lazareff, this apprehension was
far from chimerical, and there was reason to believe that Russia's
encroachment might compel other countries to make annexations in or round
Corea by way of precaution. Practical evidence of this was furnished by
the English occupation of Port Hamilton, and by its subsequent evacuation
when the necessity passed away; but should the occasion again arise the
key of the situation will probably be found in the possession not of Port
Hamilton or Quelpart, but of the Island of Tsiusima. Recourse was had to
diplomacy to avert what threatened to be a grave international danger; and
although the result was long doubtful, and the situation sometimes full of
peril, a gratifying success was achieved in the end.
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