Analysis of information sources in references of the Wikipedia article "Siege of the International Legations" in English language version.
provocations by foreigners.
li hung-chang ownership of the Chinese telegraph.
moored unmolested in the Chinese port; friendly exchanges took place for a few weeks; in Peking, the court, breathing war, was hampered by its generals, and by Li hung-chang in particular, who simply did not obey and send the reinforcements Tz'u-hsi ordered to the troublespot
But for the strong stand taken by some of the Viceroys, notably Chang Chih-tung, Yuan Shih-kai, Liu K'un-i, Tuan Fang and Li Hung-chang, the bloodshed would doubtless have been a thousandfold worse. Happily there were men in China at this crisis who were prepared to take the consequences of disobeying the Dowager