Tu Wensiu And The Garrison Of Talifoo, Although Driven To Desperation,
Could Not Discover Any Issue From Their Difficulties.
They were reduced to
the last stage of destitution, and starvation stared them in the face.
In
this extremity Tu Wensiu, although there was every reason to believe that
the imperialists would not fulfill their pledges, and that surrender
simply meant yielding to a cruel death, resolved to open negotiations with
Yang Yuko for giving up the town. The emperor's generals signified their
desire for the speedy termination of the siege, at the same time
expressing acquiescence in the general proposition of the garrison being
admitted to terms. Although the Futai and Yang Yuko had promptly come to
the mutual understanding to celebrate the fall of Talifoo by a wholesale
massacre, they expressed their intention to spare the other rebels on the
surrender of Tu Wensiu for execution and on the payment of an indemnity.
The terms were accepted, although the more experienced of the rebels
warned their comrades that they would not be complied with. On January 15,
1873, Tu Wensiu, the original of the mythical Sultan Suliman, the fame of
whose power reached England, and who had been an object of the solicitude
of the Indian government, accepted the decision of his craven followers as
expressing the will of Heaven, and gave himself up for execution. He
attired himself in his best and choicest garments, and seated himself in
the yellow palanquin which he had adopted as one of the few marks of royal
state that his opportunities allowed him to secure. Accompanied by the men
who had negotiated the surrender, he drove through the streets, receiving
for the last time the homage of his people, and out beyond the gates to
Yang Yuko's camp. Those who saw the cortege marveled at the calm
indifference of the fallen despot. He seemed to have as little fear of his
fate as consciousness of his surroundings. The truth soon became evident.
He had baffled his enemies by taking slow poison. Before he reached the
presence of the Futai, who had wished to gloat over the possession of his
prisoner, the opium had done its work, and Tu Wensiu was no more. It
seemed but an inadequate triumph to sever the head from the dead body, and
to send it preserved in honey as the proof of victory to Pekin. Four days
after Tu Wensiu's death, the imperialists were in complete possession of
the town, and a week later they had taken all their measures for the
execution of the fell plan upon which they had decided. A great feast was
given for the celebration of the convention, and the most important of the
Mohammedan commanders, including those who had negotiated the truce, were
present. At a given signal they were attacked and murdered by soldiers
concealed in the gallery for the purpose, while six cannon shots announced
to the soldiery that the hour had arrived for them to break loose on the
defenseless townspeople.
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