Agreement with the Viceroys of the Central ProvincesThe situation was somewhat relieved by the fact that the Viceroysof the central provinces refused to obey the order to rise and driveout the foreigners. They realized that China was not strong enoughto throw down the gauntlet to all the Western Powers. An agreementwas made by Chang Chih-tung， the Viceroy of Hunan and Hupeh，and Liu Kun-yi， the Viceroy of Kiangsu， Anhwei and Kiangsi， withthe foreign Consuls in Shanghai， guaranteeing to preserve peace intheir jurisdictions， provided the foreign troops confined militaryoperations to the North. It was understood that whatever mighthappen to the foreigners besieged in Peking， these Viceroys were not tobe held responsible. The Powers were satisfied， and the Viceroys issuedproclamations to the people informing them of the agreement， whichwas faithfully observed on both sides， and was the means of savingChina from wide-spread anarchy.
Edict of the Empress DowagerPeking was soon cut off from the rest of the world， andsurrounded by a hostile force， aided and abetted aided and abetted bythe Empress Dowager.
On June 24th she issued an edict to the following effect：“Whenever you meet a foreigner， you must slay him; if the foreignerattempts to escape， yon must slay him at once.“ Some one in Pekinghad the courage to alter the character “sha，” meaning “to slay，” to“pao，” meaning “to protect，” and thus the disastrous results of such anedict were partially averted. To the parts of China within the disturbedarea， the written text of the edict was sent by courier， and foreignerswere ruthlessly massacred at Paotingfu and Taiyuanfu.
On July 14th a deep gloom fell over Shanghai， when it wasreported that Sheng Hsuan-hwai， Director-General of Telegraphs， hadreceived a telegram from Yuan Shih-kai （Governor of Shantung） stating“Messenger from Peking， July 8th， arrived to-day， reports that theartillery of the Boxers and troops made a breach in the Legation walls，afterwards taking them by assault. Massacre followed， no one left alive.
Chinese losses enormous， foreign ammunition exhausted.“ AlthoughSheng Hsuan-hwai denied receiving this telegram， it was telegraphedto all parts of the word and for a time was generally believed， so thateven a day was appointed for holding a solemn memorial service in St.
Paul"s Cathedral， London.
In Shanghai there was much grief over what was supposed to bethe tragic end of friends and relatives.
Arrival of Li Hung-chang in ShanghaiAmong the officials who understood the madness of the policyof the Empress Dowager was the policy of the veteran statesman， LiHung-chang. Having received the appointment as Viceroy of Chihliand Peiyang Tachen （High commissioner of North China）， he leftCanton for the North on July 16th. Upon arrival in Shanghai heattempted to negotiate with the Consular Body， but was informedthat “if the Envoys were alive he must negotiate with them， and if theywere dead he must deal with the Home Governments.“ Although notpermitted to negotiate with the Consuls， he used his influence towardsrestraining the folly of those responsible for the uprising in the North.
Landing of Foreign TroopsThroughout this period there was great apprehension in Shanghai，and it was not until the British authorities sent a force of 3，000
Indian troops from Hongkong that a feeling of security was restored.
The Chinese authorities objected to the landing of these troops， andappealed to the American Government to uphold them in their protest.
Failing to get encouragement from this source， the Viceroys yieldedand the men who had remained outside Woosung since August 12thwere， much to the relief of the foreign residents， landed at Shanghai onAugust 17th.
The other Powers were unwilling to leave the duty of protectingShanghai and the Yangtze valley entirely in the hands of one Power，and on August 18th the French landed a hundred sailors， and after afew days， 250 Annamese tirailleurs. These were followed in a short timeby detachments of troops from all the nations concerned， and Shanghaitook on the appearance of an armed camp.
Relief of the LegationsIn the meantime， on August 14th， the Allied Force which hadadvanced on Peking from Tientsin， had succeeded in raising the siegeof the Legations， and the Imperial Court had fled to Sianfu. Great wasthe joy in Shanghai when news was received of the relief of those whohad been shut up in the beleaguered Legations for so many trying daysand a solemn Thanksgiving Service was held in the English Cathedral.
German Overseas Expeditionary ForceAt first Germany， having no troops in China and only a smallnaval force， had been unable to give assistance in suppressing the BoxerOutbreak. When the news of the murder of Baron von Kettler， theGerman Minister， on June 20th reached Europe， Germany at oncetook steps for organizing an overseas expeditionary force of 7，000 men，under the command of Count yon Waldersee， who was recognized bythe other Powers as commander-in-chief of the International Force.
When Count yon Waldersee arrived in Shanghai on September22nd， a general review of all the foreign troops in garrison was held onthe enclosure within the Race Course.
The force consisted of Rajputs， Sikhs， Baluchis， Ghurkhas，Volunteers， Artillery companies A and B， Customs company，Reserves， German company， Japanese， French， Light Horse， BombayCavalry， Annamites， French Mountain Battery， and German Regulars.
Count yon Waldersee arrived at eight o"clock in the morning，accompanied by Brigadier-General Creagh of the British Army， andcarried in his right hand the baton presented to him by the GermanEmperor at the time of his departure.
In the march past the Germans led the way. The short， quick stepof the little Ghurkhas aroused considerable interest， while the guns ofthe Royal Artillery， each drawn by six beautiful horses， excited generaladmiration.
It was the finest military display Shanghai had seen up to that
time.