Page:Eminent Chinese Of The Ch’ing Period - Hummel - 1943 - Vol. 2.pdf/66

 holders of worthless coins are said to have thrown them into Su-shun's face as they passed him on the streets.

Su-shun also had a part in diplomatic affairs. Between July 1859 and May 1860 he and Jui-ch'ang 瑞常 conducted several conferences in Peking with the Russian envoy, General Ignatieff. Two separate treaties with Russia had been concluded in 1858 (see under ), by which she gained many concessions from China. To consolidate her gains in these treaties, the envoy came to negotiate a supplementary treaty. The negotiations began in 1859, just after the British and French fleets had been repulsed at Taku (see under ), and after had been punished for having granted too much to Russia in the Treaty of Aigun. For ten months the negotiations dragged on without results, and finally the Russian envoy withdrew from Peking. Su-shun, however, was on friendly terms with him personally.

In September 1860, after had failed to make peace with the British and French envoys at Tientsin, Tsai-yuan and Grand Councilor Mu-yin 穆蔭  were sent to Tungchow to forestall the Allied advance by peace negotiations. But on September 18 Tsaiyüan, acting on Emperor Wên-tsung's order, arrested the British interpreter, Harry S. Parkes (see under ), and his escort, and took them to Peking as prisoners. The Allied forces then attacked and defeated the Chinese troops near Tungchow. On September 21 Tsai-yüan and Mu-yin were replaced by I-hsin as negotiator for peace, but the Allies continued to advance on Peking. The following day Su-shun escorted the Emperor and the Court in their flight from the Yüan-ming Yuan to the Palace at Jehol, which they reached on September 30.

At the conclusion of the Convention of Peking and the evacuation of the Allied troops (see under ), the Court remained in Jehol. The Emperor entrusted the conduct of the government to the four adjutant generals, Tsai-yüan, Tuan-hua, Su-shun and Ching-shou (see under ). Early in February 1861 Su-shun was made concurrently an Associate Grand Secretary. By this time the powerful Grand Council was under the complete control of the four adjutant generals. The Grand Councilors, Mu-yin, K'uang Yüan (see under ), Tu Han (see under ), and Chiao Yu-ying 焦祐瀛, became tools of the adjutant generals in transmitting imperial decrees. When the Emperor lay dying on August 22, 1861, he was too feeble to write the edict naming his son,, successor to the throne. Hence, by his order, the edict was composed and written by the four adjutant generals and the four Grand Councilors. These eight men were entrusted with forming a co-regency during the minority of Tsai-ch'un and were given the titles of Tsan-hsiang chêng-wu ta-ch'ên 贊襄政務大臣, or Imperial Assistants in National Affairs. Any edict they issued, however, required the approval of the two Empresses, and Hsiao-chên (see under the former). According to a series of letters written by a clerk then in Jehol (published in 清列朝后妃傳稿 Ch'ing lieh-ch'ao Hou-fei chuan kao, 1929, 下/71–73), the co-regents attempted to ignore this restraint and thus came into conflict with the Empresses. When a censor suggested that the regency should be entrusted to the Empresses, assisted by a near relative of the Emperor (meaning I-hsin), Su-shun and the co-regents drew up a decree reprimanding him. The Empresses at first declined to approve this decree, but were forced by the co-regents to issue it. Moreover, as chief Minister of the Household, Su-shun controlled the expenses and supplies of the Empresses, and there were rumors in Peking that he was starving them.

Finally the Empresses conspired with I-hsin and to overthrow the regency. When the Court moved back to Peking, late in October 1861, Su-shun was entrusted with escorting the deceased Emperor's remains. The Empresses took the young Emperor to Peking a day in advance of Su-shun, ostensibly to be able to meet the funeral procession as it approached the city. But as soon as the Empresses reached Peking (November 1) a decree was issued for the arrest of Su-shun and the other co-regents. That night I-huan and another prince hurried with an escort of horsemen to Su-shun's encampment, where he was surprised in his bed and arrested, without opposition. In Peking the other co-regents were likewise taken unawares, and by the following day, when the edict ordering their arrest was made public, their fate had already been sealed. On November 8, Su-shun was beheaded at the public execution ground; Tsai-yüan and Tuan-hua were allowed to die less disgracefully by taking their own lives. Contemporary reports agree that before Su-shun was executed he mentioned the Empresses and I-hsin 668