led his Gansu Army to attack the foreign legations in Beijing but was unable to conquer the legations despite a few months of siege. Ronglu was unable to stop him. Prince Duan and his followers continued to press the attacks against foreigners and kill any official in the imperial court who opposed them.

When Beijing fell to the forces of the Eight-Nation Alliance, Empress Dowager Cixi and the Guangxu Emperor fled to Xi'an.