Chi-jui, after his dismissal, resolved not to participate in political affairs, but as he has had a share, however insignificant, in the formation of the Chinese Republic, and having served the Republic for so long he cannot bear to see its destruction without stretching out a helping hand.  Further, he has been a recipient of favours from the defunct dynasty, and he can not bear to watch unmoved, the sight of the Ching House being made the channel of brigandage with suicidal results.  Wherever duty calls, Chi-jui will go in spite of the danger of death.  You, gentlemen, are the pillars of the Republic of China and therefore have your own duties to perform.  In face of this extraordinary crisis, our indignation must be one.  For the interest of the country we should abide by our oath of unstinted loyalty; and for the sake of the Tsing House let us show our sympathy by sane and wise deeds.  I feel sure you will put forth every ounce of your energy and combine your efforts to combat the great disaster.  Though I am a feeble old soldier, I will follow you on the back of my steed. (Sgd) Tuan chi-jui.

Following the publication of this manifesto a general movement of troops began.  On the 5th July the important Peking-Tientsin railway was reported interrupted forty miles from the capital—­at Langfang which is the station where Admiral Seymour’s relief expedition in 1900 was nearly surrounded and exterminated.  Chang Hsun, made desperate by the swift answer to his coup, had moved out of Peking in force stiffening his own troops with numbers of Manchu soldiery, and announcing that he would fight it out to the bitter end, although this proved as false as the rest had been.  The first collision occurred on the evening of the 5th July and was disastrous for the King-maker.  The whole Northern army, with the exception of a Manchu Division in Peking, was so rapidly concentrated on the two main railways leading to the capital that Chang Hsun’s army, hopelessly outnumbered and outmanoeuvred, fell back after a brief resistance.  Chang Hsun himself was plainly stupefied by the discovery that imperialism of the classic type was as much out of date in the North as in the South; and within one week of his coup he was prepared to surrender if his life and reputation were spared.  By the 9th July the position was this:  the Republican forces had surrounded Peking:  Chang Hsun had resigned every appointment save the command of his own troops:  the Manchu Court party had drafted a fresh Edict of Renunciation, but being terrorized by the pigtailed troops surrounding the Palace did not dare to issue it.