That There Was Ample Justification
For This Apprehension The Second Attempt On The Person Of The Emperor
Clearly Revealed.
Whatever dangers the emperor might be exposed to in the
streets of Pekin, where the members of the hated
And dreaded secret
societies had as free access as himself, it was thought that he could feel
safe in the interior of the Forbidden city - a palace-fortress within the
Tartar quarter garrisoned by a large force, and to which admission was
only permitted to a privileged few. Strict as the regulations were at all
times, the attempt on Kiaking and the rumors of sedition led undoubtedly
to their being enforced with greater rigor, and it seemed incredible for
any attempt to be made on the person of the emperor except by the mutiny
of his guards or an open rebellion. Yet it was precisely at this moment
that an attack was made on the emperor in his own private apartments which
nearly proved successful, and which he himself described as an attack
under the elbow. In the year 1813 a band of conspirators, some two hundred
in number, made their way into the palace, either by forcing one of the
gates, or, more probably, by climbing the walls at an unguarded spot, and,
overpowering the few guards they met, some of them forced their way into
the presence of the emperor. There is not the least doubt that Kiaking
would then have fallen but for the unexpected valor of his son Prince
Meenning, afterward the Emperor Taoukwang, who, snatching up a gun, shot
two of the intruders.
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