Editing Boxer Rebellion (section)

=== Conflict within the Qing imperial court ===
Meanwhile, in Beijing, on 16 June, Empress Dowager Cixi summoned the imperial court for a mass audience and addressed the choice between using the Boxers to evict the foreigners from the city, and seeking a diplomatic solution. In response to a high official who doubted the efficacy of the Boxers, Cixi replied that both sides of the debate at the imperial court realised that popular support for the Boxers in the countryside was almost universal and that suppression would be both difficult and unpopular, especially when foreign troops were on the march.{{sfnp|Esherick|1987|pp=https://books.google.com/books?id=jVESdBSMasMC 289–290}}<ref>{{Cite book |last=Purcell |first=Victor |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=2MeUoD9G9xAC&q=cannot%20rely%20charms%20heart%20people%20lose&pg=PA250 |title=The Boxer Uprising: A Background Study |publisher=Cambridge University Press |year=2010 |isbn=978-0-521-14812-2 |page=250}}</ref>