Chapter 2 Chapter Two
During Hu Ke's one and a half years of recovery, Xu Xilin traveled more than half of China.
After escorting Hu Ke back to Datong School, Xu Xilin sent Chen Boping and Ma Zonghan to wait at the Bazi Bridge in turn. A few days later, they received the leaders of the Pingyang Party Zhu Shaokang and Zhang Boqi, and soon after, the leaders of the Wudai Party Wang Jinfa and Qiu Wengao. .In the next two or three months, Xu Xilin "walked for hundreds of miles during the day, and stayed in the Congshe at night", and went to Zhuji, Yiwu, Dongyang, Jinyang and other places, and contacted the Longhua Association, Shuanglong Association, and Fuhu Association. At that time, party leaders from various associations such as Shen Rongqing, Zhang Gong, Zhou Huachang, Liu Yaoxun and others secretly came to Datong Academy. Tao Chengzhang and Wei Lan also contacted many key members of the White Cloth Association to come.These people entered the special class of Datong Academy for study and training, and soon joined the Restoration Association.As the leaders of the various mountain church parties, these people can control hundreds of people at most, and command thousands of people at most. As a result, the power of the Restoration Society has been able to expand several times, gradually covering the entire Zhejiang Province.
The number of personnel in Datong Academy has increased significantly, and the goal has naturally become much larger.In order not to attract the attention of outsiders, Xu Xilin and Tao Chengzhang came up with many ways. For example, every time the school starts or the students graduate, they have to hold a banquet and invite all the officials and famous gentry in Shaoxing to come. When the opening or graduation ceremony is held, officials, gentry and students have to take a group photo together, and the photos are sent to the yamen and schools as a souvenir. Graduation diplomas must be stamped with the official seal of the government yamen before they are issued to students.After these few tricks, in the eyes of outsiders, Datong Academy has become a government-run prefectural school with a decent reputation, so naturally there will be no doubts about it.
Behind the auditorium of Datong Academy, there is a building that is often locked and no outsiders are allowed to enter and leave. A pair of couplets hangs inside.This couplet reads:
Every time Xu Xilin entered Baoxia, he would stare at this couplet in a daze.
Taste the courage, not forget the blood feud, repair the scales and raise the claws, and overthrow the Qing Dynasty. The meaning expressed in this couplet is exactly the belief in Xu Xilin's heart, the belief of the entire Restoration Society, and the belief of all revolutionaries at home and abroad.
The rapid expansion of the power of the Restoration Association in Zhejiang Province has made Xu Xilin more firm in this belief.
At the same time, he also saw that although the revolutionary situation in the south of the Yangtze River was rising day by day, compared with the active south, the north is still a backwater. If the flames of revolution can be burned to the north, the rule of the Qing court will be fatal. hit.
Because of this, at the same time that the Datong Academy was secretly training party members, Xu Xilin left the Datong Academy alone and went north to start activities.
On this trip to the north, Xu Xilin traveled all over half of China, and even went as far as the border area of Jilin.Along the way, he met many green forest heroes, but he never got the expected results. For example, when he arrived in the northeast, he contacted Feng Linge, a well-known local thief, but was rejected by Feng Linge. After Xu Xilin left, the later The Northeast bandit, who was competing with Zhang Zuolin for a while, turned his head and accepted the Qing court's offer to take the post of commander of the patrol battalion.
The huge contrast between the south and the north made Xu Xilin feel an unprecedented loss.
He realized that the rule of the Qing court in the north was still deeply rooted, and the power of the Manchu Qing Dynasty was still huge. Compared with the power of the Restoration Society and the entire Revolutionary Party, it was still too small. It is difficult to achieve final success in an armed uprising.
Xu Xilin's gaze began to shift, and he quickly aimed at another group—the new army trained by the Qing court in the New Deal.
After the "Gengzi National Change", the Qing government carried out new policies, stopped the military examinations, and eliminated the old army nationwide. As the assistant minister, Liang began to train the new army on a large scale.These new troops were organized and trained completely in accordance with the Western-style military system, and most of the conscripts were educated young people.These young people have read books and knowledge, dare to hold different political opinions, and are different from the old army officers and soldiers who blindly loyal to the imperial power, so they are a force that the revolutionaries can win and rely on.
"If you want the revolution to succeed, you must have an army," Xu Xilin said to Tao Chengzhang, "especially the new army!"
Tao Chengzhang agreed with Xu Xilin's opinion, but the new army was the Qing army of the Qing court, and if he wanted to control the new army, he had to break into the interior of the Qing court.
The way Xu Xilin thought of was to spend money to donate officials.
Many of the members of the Restoration Society are well-to-do, and it is feasible to donate part of their money to officials.So at the next meeting of the Restoration Society, Tao Chengzhang and Xu Xilin proposed that the top priority of the Restoration Society right now is to donate money to the government and then go to Japan to study military affairs. new army.
During the Guangxu period, it was already a public matter to buy and run an official. No matter who you are, as long as you have money, you can buy an official to be a public official. The reason why it is called "donation" is just to make it sound less harsh.
The donation of officials is open, and Xu Xilin's uncle Yu Liansan was the governor of Hunan, so the plan of donating officials by Xu Xilin and others was easily realized.
After spending a lot of money, Xu Xilin donated Taoist priests, Tao Chengzhang donated to Zhifu, Gong Baoquan, Chen Degu and others donated to Tongzhi.Xu Xilin was admitted as a scholar more than ten years ago, but he witnessed the corruption of the Qing court and was ashamed of being an official in his heart, so he gave up his official career. Unexpectedly, more than ten years later, he spent money to buy an official from the Qing court, although the purpose was essential The difference, but he still felt very awkward.
Soon after spending money to donate officials, Xu Xilin and others were allowed to go to Japan to study the army.Soon after, Tao Chengzhang, Xu Xilin, Gong Baoquan, Chen Boping, Ma Zonghan and more than ten people went to Japan to study in Japan, preparing to study the army in Japan.But at this time, the Ministry of Education of Japan had promulgated Order No. 19 at the request of the Qing court, that is, the "Rules for Banning Overseas Students in the Qing Dynasty", which strengthened the management of Chinese students studying abroad.At that time, it was Wang Kemin, the counselor of the Qing embassy in Japan, who was in charge of managing the affairs of overseas students.Under Wang Kemin's obstruction, Xu Xilin was finally not allowed to enroll because of myopia, and others were unable to enroll because they failed the physical examination.
After spending some time in Japan, Xu Xilin and others were forced to give up their plans to study abroad and return to China.When Tao Chengzhang and others gave up the idea of entering the military, Xu Xilin still insisted.If this path fails, he takes another one.
Xu Xilin went to Wuchang Mansion, Hubei Province, met with his uncle Yu Liansan, expressed his desire to enter the military and serve for the imperial court, and begged Yu Liansan for his recommendation.Although Yu Liansan had resigned from office due to illness, he still had a wide network of contacts. He didn't know that Xu Xilin was a member of the Restoration Association, so he recommended Xu Xilin to Zhang Zhidong, governor of Huguang.But Zhang Zhidong was old enough to suspect that Xu Xilin was related to the Revolutionary Party, so he didn't dare to reuse him, but he didn't want to show Yu Liansan's face, so he recommended Xu Xilin to Yuan Shikai, who was in charge of the real power of the Beiyang Army.Holding the letters of recommendation from Zhang Zhidong and Yu Liansan, Xu Xilin went north to meet Yuan Shikai, hoping to take this opportunity to enter the military training office that was responsible for training the new army.But Yuan Shikai is also a veteran of the Jianghu, and like Zhang Zhidong, he also suspected that Xu Xilin had a relationship with the revolutionaries, so he made many excuses, in short, he just refused to meet Xu Xilin.In desperation, Xu Xilin had no choice but to go back to Wuchang Mansion resentfully, and asked Yu Liansan to recommend other ways.
This time, after careful consideration, Yu Liansan finally decided to recommend Xu Xilin to his favorite student, Yu Curry Enming, who had just been promoted to governor of Anhui. Send it to Enming.
Enming is Yu Liansan's protégé, and he has always been grateful for his mentor's cultivation. After receiving Yu Liansan's recommendation letter, he immediately sent a letter to reply, welcoming Xu Xilin to Anqing Mansion.Xu Xilin then took Chen Boping and Ma Zonghan to Anqing Mansion to meet Enming.
Because he was recommended by his mentor, En Ming didn't have any doubts about Xu Xilin.After warmly receiving Xu Xilin, Enming appointed Xu Xilin as the general office of Anhui Army Primary School.This position is of little importance, Enming arranged this way in order to cultivate Xu Xilin step by step, let Xu Xilin start training from the bottom, and then he will be promoted after he has made a name for himself.
Xu Xilin naturally understood the meaning of Enming, so he acted conscientiously and promoted Tu Enming as soon as possible to obtain a more favorable position.
Not long after Xu Xilin became the general office of the Anhui Army Primary School, Liu Daoyi, Cai Shaonan and others who were sent back to China by the Chinese League, after a whole year of planning and preparation, took advantage of the "seal" of the Qing officials in December of the Han calendar. At that time, armed uprisings were launched in Liuyang, Liling, Pingxiang and other places at the junction of Hunan Province and Jiangxi Province.
The strength of this uprising was the relatively powerful Shantanghui in the local area, such as Hongjianghui, Gelaohui, and Wushishihui. More than 30,000 rebels wore white cloths on their heads, armed with earthen guns and broadswords, and mobilized to attack various counties. powerhouse.The local officers and soldiers were caught off guard, and they were in a mess, calling for help frequently.The Qing government urgently dispatched more than 50,000 Qing troops to the four provinces of Hunan, Hubei, Jiangxi, and Jiangsu to fight against it, and dispatched the navy to Jiujiang to block it.This is the largest number of troops sent by the Qing court to the south since the Taiping Rebellion.The rebel army fought fiercely against the Qing army for more than 20 times. They were finally suppressed because they were outnumbered. Liu Daoyi, Cai Shaonan and other revolutionaries died one after another.After the uprising was suppressed, tens of thousands of Qing troops were stationed in Liuyang, Liling, and Pingxiang counties, and carried out a three-month "cleaning of the countryside". No less than 10,000 rebels and their relatives were killed.
When the Pingliuli Uprising led by the Tongmenghui broke out, Tao Chengzhang, Gong Baoquan and others planned to mobilize members of the Tongmenghui in Zhejiang, Anhui, and Fujian provinces in order to echo each other and contain the Qing army. Jiangnan, Jiangbei, Jiangzuo, Jiangyou, Anhuinan, Anhuibei, Shangmin, and Xiamin were plotting to raise incidents at the same time.However, due to hasty planning, leaked plans, and failure to carry out the uprising, they were detected by the Qing government. Tao Chengzhang, Gong Baoquan and others were forced to flee to Japan to avoid the rumors.
Xu Xilin was far away in Anqing Mansion, Tao Chengzhang and Gong Baoquan fled overseas, the Datong Academy suddenly fell into a situation of no one to host, and the party members in the mountain halls all over Zhejiang Province were panicked. The "Heroine of Jianhu" Qiu Jin was ordered in danger. She disguised herself as a man and rushed from Shanghai to Shaoxing Mansion.
The Datong Academy is the secret stronghold of the Restoration Society in Zhejiang Province. Qiu Jin took over the Datong Academy and actually became the head of the Restoration Society in Zhejiang Province.
After taking over Datong Academy, Qiu Jin established a good relationship with local officials and gentry, and strengthened liaison with various party associations. After gradually stabilizing the revolutionary situation in Zhejiang Province, she further strengthened military training in Datong Academy, and secretly established the Restoration Army.Qiu Jin planned to launch the Anhui-Zhejiang Uprising, so he sent Wang Jinfa to Anqing Mansion to contact Xu Xilin and ask for Xu Xilin's opinion.
When Wang Jinfa arrived in Anqing Mansion, Xu Xilin had just been promoted.
Because of his shrewdness and ability in handling affairs, Xu Xilin was promoted by Enming to be the head of the patrol school and the head of the patrol department, and was awarded the post of supervisor of the military training school.
The Anqing Police Academy is a school dedicated to training the backbone of the police. Each trainee trains for three months, and each trainee is issued a Mauser.Xu Xilin's assumption of the post of the Council Office is tantamount to mastering the real power of the Patrol Academy.All students in the school can carry guns. As long as these students are educated well, it is tantamount to mastering an army, so this new position makes Xu Xilin ecstatic.
Wang Jinfa brought Qiu Jin's plan to launch an uprising in Anhui and Zhejiang. Xu Xilin had already had this idea, so they hit it off immediately.Naturally, Xu Xilin was in charge of the uprising in Anhui Province, and Qiu Jin was in charge of organizing the uprising in Zhejiang Province. At that time, Anhui and Zhejiang provinces would uprising at the same time, echoing each other.But Xu Xilin knew that the conditions in Anhui Province were far less mature than those in Zhejiang Province, and it would take some time to prepare, so he asked Wang Jinfa to bring the message back, and asked Qiu Jin to continue secretly training the recovery army, and contact the uprising when the time was right.
After Wang Jinfa left, Xu Xilin began to strictly train the students of the Patrol Academy. At the same time, he instilled the ideas of national rejuvenation and revolutionary theories into these students, secretly developing the students into revolutionaries.In addition, Xu Xilin also learned from the revolutionary party that the Yuewanghui, chaired by Chen Duxiu, had recently absorbed several advanced people into the association. These people were all soldiers from the new army outside Anqing City.Xu Xilin found a way to get in touch with these soldiers, made a blood alliance with them, and became sworn brothers with Jinlan.
Xu Xilin's actions have attracted the attention of some old-fashioned people in the patrol school, such as Gu Song, the school's income and expenditure committee member.
Gu Song is a man from Manchuria, seeing that Xu Xilin often made bold remarks in class, and his whereabouts were secretive in his spare time, so he suspected that Xu Xilin was a member of the Revolutionary Party, so he quietly reported to Enming, hoping that the governor would take strict precautions against Xu Xilin, It is best to arrest Xu Xilin directly for interrogation, so as to prevent problems before they happen.
"The revolution didn't come out of bluffing, and the revolutionary party didn't just blah blah." En Ming listened to Gu Song's words, but smiled and said, "Xu Huiwan is bluffing, not revolution, you are overthinking."
From Enming's point of view, Xu Xilin is the cousin of his mentor Yu Liansan, and he was personally recommended by his mentor Yu Liansan. How could he be a member of the Revolutionary Party?Even though Xu Xilin often makes some bold remarks, in this era, it is inevitable for an intellectual youth like Xu Xilin to have some new ideas.
Although he subconsciously believed that Xu Xilin was not a member of the Revolutionary Party, En Ming decided to try it out to dispel the slightest doubt in his heart, so he sent someone to summon Xu Xilin.
"Xu will do it. Someone reported to me that you are a revolutionary party." When En Ming said this, his eyes were fixed on Xu Xilin's facial expression. "You are talented, capable, and a pillar of the imperial court." , you have to take care of yourself and don't provoke those rebellious parties, so as not to cause trouble to your upper body."
Xu Xilin didn't panic, and replied calmly: "I hope your lord will learn from you!"
Seeing that Xu Xilin was too lazy to argue, En Ming was completely relieved, and the only doubt he had was dispelled.He waved his hand, signaling Xu Xilin to step back.
In this short conversation, although Xu Xilin was very calm, his heart was really overwhelmed.
Soon after another incident happened, Xu Xilin couldn't sit still.
This incident happened in Shanghai. A member of the Restoration Society named Ye Yanggao was arrested because he was betrayed by a traitor. He was sent to Nanjing and interrogated by Duan Fang, Governor of Liangjiang.
Ye Yanggao couldn't bear the torture, so he confessed a list of members of the Restoration Society, but all the names on the list he gave were aliases and aliases of the members of the Restoration Society, which Duan Fang didn't know.
As the governor of Liangjiang, Duanfang was in charge of the military and civilian affairs of Jiangsu, Anhui and Jiangxi provinces, so he telegraphed Ye Yanggao's confession and the list to the governors of the three provinces, ordering him to be arrested immediately.
After Enming received the order, since Xu Xilin was in charge of the police department, he summoned Xu Xilin to discuss the arrest.
At Enming's place, Xu Xilin saw the list given by Ye Yanggao.
On the list, there is a person named "Guang Hanzi", and it is specifically indicated that this person has broken into the government.
Xu Xilin was greatly surprised, because this "light man" was none other than himself.
The alias of "Guanghanzi" means the people of the restoration of the Han nationality. When Xu Xilin joined the Restoration Association, he took the nickname for himself from the restoration purpose of "recovering the Han nationality, returning our mountains and rivers, promising the country with his body, and retiring after success". No.
Xu Xilin forced himself to be calm and steady, and expressed to Enming that he would investigate strictly.
It was the occurrence of this incident that made Xu Xilin completely unable to sit still.He knew that the uprising could not be delayed any longer, and if it was delayed further, there might be changes. By then, the half a year he had been in Anqing Mansion would be in vain, and all his efforts would be in vain.
Xu Xilin has already mastered a group of students, and the new army outside the city also has brothers worshiped by Yue Wanghui. But from a general point of view, the situation in Anhui Province is stable under En Ming's control, and the conditions for an uprising are not mature. difficult to succeed.
If there are no conditions, then only conditions can be created.
After Xu Xilin thought for a long time, he came up with a bold idea - to assassinate En Ming!
As the governor of Anhui, Enming is in charge of the military and political power of the province and is the backbone of the entire Anhui province. If he can be assassinated, even if the tree will not fall and the monkeys will disperse, the situation in Anhui province will be in chaos. The probability of success will be greatly increased.It's just that during his tenure as the governor of Anhui, Enming vigorously promoted the New Deal, boldly innovated education, and even hired people with new ideas such as Yan Fu, which was also a kindness to Xu Xilin.When Xu Xilin wanted to assassinate En Ming, it was inevitable that some emotional factors were mixed in it, but because of the uprising situation in Anhui Province, he couldn't care less.
After Xu Xilin made up his mind, he sent Chen Boping and Ma Zonghan to contact Qiu Jin. The two parties agreed to launch an uprising on May 28th of the Han calendar. At that time, Anhui Province, taking advantage of the opportunity of the graduation ceremony of the Anqing Police Academy, launched an uprising. , occupied Anqing City, and in Zhejiang Province, Qiu Jin led an uprising of the Restoration Army, captured Hangzhou Mansion, and then the two armies joined forces to attack Nanjing.
After making an agreement with the Zhejiang side, Xu Xilin began to secretly arrange for the final preparations before the uprising.
According to Xu Xilin's plan, on May 28th, the Patrol Academy will hold a graduation ceremony. En Ming and some military and political officials will be present at that time. Xu Xilin assassinates En Ming and other Manchu officials at the ceremony, and leads The cadet army revolted, and first captured the ordnance station, and after getting supplementary firearms, they captured key places such as the Telegraph Bureau and the Manufacturing Bureau. .
On the 25th, that is, three days before the graduation ceremony, Xu Xilin presented an invitation to Enming, inviting Enming to attend the graduation ceremony of the Patrol Academy to be held three days later.
Unexpectedly, after reading the invitation, En Ming said that on the 28th, his friend Zhang Cishan would celebrate his mother's 80th birthday, and he would go to congratulate him in person, so the schedule overlapped.
"Advance the ceremony two days," En Ming said without thinking, "it will be tomorrow."
As soon as the governor opened his mouth, the date was set.
Chen Boping and Ma Zonghan originally thought that the incident would take three days, but unexpectedly the date was suddenly brought forward to tomorrow, and they felt a little rushed, so they suggested to Xu Xilin to delay.
But Xu Xilin shook his head, gritted his teeth and said: "The arrow is on the string, you have to shoot it!"
Early the next morning, in the Anqing Mansion Police Academy, Xu Xilin in military uniform stood on the steps outside the auditorium.He turned his head and glanced to the left. Chen Boping stood aside with a serious face, and then glanced to the right. Ma Zonghan, who was standing upright, nodded slightly at him, and then looked in front of him. The students lined up at the bottom of the steps early in the morning. , each with a gun on their backs, mighty and serious.The auditorium has been properly arranged and all personnel are in place, just waiting for En Ming and other civil and military officials to arrive. When Sishi was approaching, Enming's personal troops arrived first and asked all the students to unload their bullets so that all their firearms became empty. At the same time, Xu Xilin, Chen Boping, Ma Zonghan and others were asked to unload their guns from their waists.The guards did this out of the consideration of protecting the Governor. At that hour, the majestic En Ming came to the Patrol Academy surrounded by several civil and military officials. En Ming and the civil and military officials took their seats. After greeting for a while, Xu Xilin walked in and said, "My lords, please move to the outside field and watch the students perform as a show of favor." En Ming and the civil and military officials then moved to the outfield and took their seats on the stage. Xu Xilin immediately led all the students into the arena and saluted all the officials on the stage. En Ming was very happy to see the students who lined up neatly under the stage, and he couldn't help laughing, and even said a few words "good".Seeing that the governor was happy, the other civil and military officials all showed smiles. Only Yu Lang, the inspector sitting on the outermost side, didn't smile. At this moment, Yulang turned his head slightly, with a look of horror on his face.In his ears, Gu Song, who had always suspected that Xu Xilin was a member of the Revolutionary Party, was whispering to him: "Xu Huiban may be defrauded today, please tell Master Futai, don't stay here any longer!" Gu Song knew that with his own identity and status, Enming would never believe him if he reported to Enming, and there had been precedents for this, so he quietly told Yulang, hoping that Yulang would inform Enming and leave this place as soon as possible. Yulang glanced at Xu Xilin who was in the audience, and after a little hesitation, he stood up and walked towards En Ming who was sitting in the middle. All of this was seen by Xu Xilin, he knew that Gu Song had just listened to him and had already told Yu Lang the secret. Now it's time to do it. Before Yulang could get close to Enming, Xu Xilin suddenly rushed to the stage, knelt down on one knee, held the student roster in both hands, and said loudly, "Report to Mr. Futai, there are revolutionaries rioting today!" Xu Xilin's move was so sudden that all the officials present were taken aback, Yu Lang also stopped, and turned his head to look at Xu Xilin in surprise.After hearing this, En Ming stared at Xu Xilin in surprise, and was about to ask what was going on. At this moment, a mass of black objects suddenly flew up from the audience, passed over Xu Xilin's head, and landed in front of En Ming with a bang. This is a bomb thrown by Chen Boping in the audience. It turned out that Xu Xilin's report was the signal to do something. Although Xu Xilin rushed to the stage, he intentionally knelt at a place far away from Enming, and only waited for the bomb to kill Enming, then took out his pistol and shot the civil and military officials sitting on the left and right sides. What surprised Xu Xilin was that after the bomb fell on the stage, there was no earth-shattering bang. The bomb didn't explode. Everyone present was stunned, En Ming and the civil and military officials were frightened, while Xu Xilin, Chen Boping and Ma Zonghan were stunned. At this moment, time seemed to stand still. Xu Xilin quickly recovered from the accident, and hurriedly shouted: "Protect your lord!" After a few steps, he rushed forward to protect En Ming. En Ming panicked and asked, "Who caused the riot? Where is the Revolutionary Party?" Xu Xilin bent over abruptly, pulled out two pistols from his boots, pointed at En Ming, and said loudly, "It's a humble job!" Before the words fell, the gunshots rang out! Xu Xilin fired five shots at Enming. Chen Boping and Ma Zonghan in the audience also pulled out the pistols in their boots, rushed to the stage, and shot Enming each. A total of seven shots were shot at En Ming's body. Wen Xun, who was standing next to En Ming, rushed forward to cover En Ming with his body, but was shot through the back by the bullets that followed, killing him on the spot. Taking advantage of Lu Yongyi's blocking opportunity, Wu Xun's arrester Che Dewen ran out with the dying En Ming on his back. Enming's personal soldiers came back to their senses, helped lift Enming, ran out of the school, stuffed Enming into the sedan chair, dragged his feet outside the sedan chair, and carried him back to the governor's office as if flying. British physician Dai Huang rushed to the Governor's Yamen as quickly as possible for rescue.Even so, En Ming died in the end.Before dying, En Ming, who was full of regret, yelled "confused" twice, and died without breath. In the patrol academy, the civil and military officials who had been subjected to such a drastic change were so frightened that they ran away in a panic. Gu Song, who accused Xu Xilin of his hard work, just escaped to the stage, when Ma Zonghan caught up with him and kicked him to the ground.Gu Song hurriedly kowtowed to beg for mercy, but only heard a gunshot, and his head exploded. Xu Xilin took out a box, which contained bullets unloaded at the request of Enming's soldiers.Standing on the stage, he shouted loudly to the students in the audience: "I am a revolutionary, and now Futai is dead. Anyone who is willing to make a revolution, follow me!" The trainees had been educated by Xu Xilin for a long time, and most of them had accepted the revolutionary theory. At this time, their blood was surging, they went to the stage to receive bullets, and under the leadership of Xu Xilin, Chen Boping and Ma Zonghan, they marched towards the ordnance station located in the west of Anqing City.After Xu Xilin planned to capture the ordnance station, he obtained ammunition supplements, and then attacked the governor's office and other key places. The Ordnance Institute is divided into ground warehouses and underground warehouses. When Xu Xilin led the trainee army to arrive, the general office of the Ordnance Institute had already fled in a panic with the key to the underground warehouse, but the ground warehouse had not had time to lock it.The ground storehouse was almost empty, save for a cannon and a few shells.All the firearms and ammunition were hidden in the underground warehouse, locked by a thick steel door. The student army tried their best, but they couldn't get the steel door open. At the same time, the Qing army quickly closed the gate of Anqing City, and the Qing army from the arrest battalion and patrol battalion had already rushed to the ordnance station.Although Xu Xilin's brothers in the Yuewanghui instigated part of the new army, they were blocked outside the city gate and could not enter. The connection between the inside and outside of the rebel army was interrupted. Knowing that the situation was critical, Chen Boping ordered the student army to pull out the cannon, set it up in the back hall of the ordnance station, fetch the shells and load them into the barrel, and said to Xu Xilin, "Let's bombard the north gate tower and blow up the city wall!" Xu Xilin saw that the houses around the city tower were too dense, and once the city wall was bombarded, the nearby houses would also be destroyed, so he immediately stopped Chen Boping: "We are killing Manchu nobles, not Han people. Once we fire the artillery, we will burn everything!" Resolutely Don't let the guns be fired. In a short while, the Qing troops from the arrest battalion and patrol battalion arrived one after another, and surrounded the ordnance station. Xu Xilin and the cadet army were trapped in the ordnance station in a tiny place, but they still chose to stick to it and refused to surrender.The trainees took advantage of the solid walls of the armory, climbed onto the roof one after another, and shot at the Qing army.The two sides fought fiercely for more than two hours, and there was still no winner. In this round of fierce fighting, the ammunition of the cadet army was gradually exhausted, while the Qing army, under heavy rewards, launched a sea of people tactics, attacking in turn and attacking tirelessly. During the war to Shenshi, the Ordnance Institute was finally captured by the Qing army. Xu Xilin, Ma Zonghan and others were wounded and arrested. Chen Boping was shot and died. As the first criminal to assassinate En Ming, Xu Xilin was immediately taken to the governor's office for trial after he was arrested. The presiding officer Feng Xu and the inspector Yu Lang ordered Xu Xilin to kneel down, but Xu Xilin sat cross-legged on the ground, looked at the two of them coldly, and said with a sneer: "You two walk fast in the morning, if you take a step slower, Now it's lying on the ground." Seeing that Xu Xilin was still so arrogant at this point, Feng Xu couldn't help being furious, and shouted: "Master Futai has always treated you kindly, but today you have treated him like this! Animals know how to repay their kindness, but you are a dignified man. How can you be so heartless?" Feng Xu's words were also what Yu Lang wanted to say.Both of them couldn't figure it out, Xu Xilin was deeply appreciated by En Ming, and he was promoted one after another in a short period of time. It can be said that his future is boundless. En Ming is a good official, Xu Xilin naturally knows this.He was silent for a moment, and then replied: "He treated me very well, it was a personal favor, and I killed him today, it was a public enmity." Yu Lang scolded: "Since you want to assassinate Mr. Futai, you usually have the opportunity to visit Futai, why didn't you do it then, but you chose to do it today, and in public?" Xu Xilin raised his head and said: "The Fufu Office is a private room, but the school is a public land. A man should act in a way that is obvious to everyone. How can he be sneaky?" He changed the subject, "I want to ask you, is En Ming dead? No?" Yu Lang said without hesitation: "My lord Futai was only slightly injured. After the doctor's diagnosis and treatment, there is no serious problem. I will personally come to interrogate you tomorrow!" After hearing these words, Xu Xilin seemed to have received a blow to the head, and his expression immediately became fatigued. Unexpectedly, Yu Lang added a few more vicious words: "Are you convicted? Tomorrow I'm going to cut your heart!" As soon as these words came out, Xu Xilin immediately felt relieved. Because in Yulang's words, he mentioned the torture of cutting his heart and liver. The punishment of "cutting the heart" was a very special punishment at that time, which originated from the "horse stabbing case" among the "Four Strange Cases in the Late Qing Dynasty". In Nanjing on July 26, the ninth year of Tongzhi, Ma Xinyi, governor of Liangjiang, was assassinated in public. The assassin's behavior was very strange after the assassination. I am Zhang Wenxiang, and I am afraid that the world will not know.This is the "assassination case" that shocked the whole country. After the "horse assassination case" happened, Cixi issued a decree, ordering Zhili governor Zeng Guofan and criminal minister Zheng Dunjin to go to Nanjing to try the case. However, after half a year of interrogation, the truth was never found out. Zhang Wenxiang's motive for assassinating Ma Xinyi became A mystery with divergent opinions, and the final conclusion of the case is also muddled.Zheng Dunjin, Shangshu of the Ministry of Criminal Justice, lamented the darkness of the officialdom after the trial of the case. Instead of returning to the capital, he went directly to the doctor to beg for illness, and then resigned and returned to his hometown.Because of the many suspicions, this case, together with "Yang Naiwu and Xiaobaicai Case", "Famous Actress Yang Yuelou's Injustice Case" and "Taiyuan Miracle Case", was called "Four Miraculous Cases in the Late Qing Dynasty". After the "horse assassination case" was concluded, Zhang Wenxiang's final outcome was to cut open his abdomen and dig out his heart to pay homage to Ma Xinyi's soul. "Sacrificing the heart to sacrifice" has thus become a special type of punishment established by convention. Once it is used, it must be used to execute the assassin who assassinated the imperial court official. If En Ming hadn't died, Xu Xilin wouldn't have "cut his heart to sacrifice", but Yu Lang said "cut his heart and liver", and his tone was full of deep hatred, implying that En Ming was already dead up.Xu Xilin changed his mind for a while, then he understood, and immediately laughed maniacally: "You say that, then En Ming must be dead! I wish enough, and I will not hesitate to kill you tomorrow, let alone a mere heart? " Shocked by Xu Xilin's maniacal laughter, Yu Lang was speechless for a while. Feng Xu then interrogated and asked: "Which other accomplices do you have? Invite them one by one!" "There are a lot of revolutionaries," Xu Xilin replied, "I am the only one in Anqing Mansion." Feng Xu asked again: "Are you and Sun Wen in the same party?" "Sun Wen? Humph, he's not worthy to command me." Xu Xilin said with a sneer, "I did this alone, and I bear all the responsibility for the crime. Don't involve others!" After saying this, Xu Xilin laughed wildly again After counting, he shouted loudly: "Bring the paper!" After getting the paper and ink, he immediately picked up a pen and wrote a confession that was thousands of words long. Xu Xilin wrote in his confession: "I have been aspiring for more than ten years, and I have achieved my goal today. I planned to kill Duanfang, Tieliang, and Liangbi after killing Enming to avenge the Han people, but I actually killed Enming. After Mingming, he was captured immediately, which is really unsatisfactory." In order to protect the wounded and arrested students of the Patrol Academy, Xu Xilin wrote in his confession: "All the students are too low-level, no one is available, and they don't know. You killed I’m fine, cut my heart open, cut off my hands and feet, and cut my whole body into pieces, don’t kill students unjustly, I was the one who lured them.” The last few words read: “I know I’m going to die, but Take pen and ink, outline my purpose, and write a few words in person, so that all future generations in the world will know my name. It is a great honor!" The signature is "Xu Xilin, the man of light". After the case was concluded, Feng Xu ordered someone to find a photographer to take a photo of Xu Xilin and put it in the confession.After the photographer finished taking the photo, Xu Xilin said, "I was not ready just now. I didn't have a smile on my face. How can I keep it for future generations? Take another one!" The photographer had no choice but to take another photo of Xu Xilin. The revolutionaries assassinated the chief official of the frontier in broad daylight, which shocked the Qing court. After receiving the urgent telegram from Duan Fang, Governor of Liangjiang, the Military Aircraft Department immediately held a meeting to discuss the solution, and decided to "destroy the nine clans" against Xu Xilin. But Prince Su Shanqi was a more enlightened person in the Qing court. He believed that "destroying the nine ethnic groups is not a civilized legal system, and torture is especially harmful to the virtue of tolerance and benevolence." He changed his mind and ordered Governor Duan Fang of Liangjiang to punish him leniently. However, Duan Fang deeply hated the revolutionaries, so he sent a telegram to Feng Xu to "sacrifice his heart and sacrifice" Xu Xilin. At the same time, in order to quickly calm the situation and stabilize the morale of the people in the southern provinces, Duan Fang ordered Feng Xu to execute him immediately.
In the early morning of May 27th in the 33rd year of Guangxu, there was heavy rain in Anqing City. At the execution ground outside the Dongyuan Gate of the Governor’s Yamen in Anqing, Xu Xilin was generously facing his execution. Before he died, he left a message: "Fame and wealth are not what you want. If you get this today, you will die without regret!" Xu Xilin was beheaded by the executioner, and then his heart was taken out by caesarean section, which was used to sacrifice En Ming's spirit in heaven, and then he was cooked and served with wine by En Ming's personal soldiers. After Xu Xilin's death, Ma Zonghan was tortured for more than 50 days and refused to reveal any information about the Restoration Council. He was finally killed in Lujiqiao Prison, Anqing Prefecture. After Xu Xilin assassinated En Ming, all senior officials of the Qing court were in danger, and their faces changed when they talked about the revolutionary party.In order to save their lives, some of these senior officials lived in secluded places, some set up troops for self-defense, and some did not allow local officials to greet them when they traveled, so as not to attract the attention of revolutionaries. What's more, they even sent people to Tokyo, Japan in secret. Confidence to the revolutionaries, saying "willing to give ten thousand gold to buy his life". Sun Wen wrote after Xu Xilin's death: "At that time, people who admired righteousness heard the wind and rose up, and they did their part, and those who made their own way and quickly followed suit." The impact of Xu Xilin's assassination of Enming can be seen from this. After Xu Xilin's uprising failed and was executed, his younger brother Xu Wei was afraid of implicating himself, so he took the initiative to confess to the government about the Datong Academy in Shaoxing Prefecture, and at the same time confessed Qiu Jin, Tao Chengzhang and other members of the Restoration Society.两江总督端方电令浙江巡抚张曾扬查抄大通学堂，捕杀秋瑾等人。张曾扬得到命令后，立刻通知绍兴知府贵福执行。贵福身为满人，素来痛恨革命党，光复会就在眼皮子底下活动，他不仅没有察觉，甚至还与徐锡麟等人有过来往，是以又惊又怒，急令山阴知县李钟岳查抄大通学堂，捉拿秋瑾等人，并派出三百清兵前去协助。 当时绍兴城内以府河为界，河西属山阴县管辖，河东属会稽县管辖，大通学堂位于城西北一带，在山阴县的管辖范围内。 命令落到了山阴知县李钟岳的头上，但李钟岳却和贵福不是一路人。 李钟岳是汉人，与大通学堂的人多有来往，知道这些人多是才学之士。在大通学堂的众人之中，他尤其仰慕秋瑾的才华。他常拿秋瑾写的“驰驱戎马中原梦，破碎山河故国羞”等诗句来教育自己的儿子，带着责备的口吻感叹：“以一女子而能诗，胜汝辈多矣！”所以当捉拿秋瑾的命令传下来时，李钟岳的第一反应却是维护秋瑾。他急忙赶到府衙面见贵福，以该校并无越轨行动为由，希望能暗中调查清楚后，再定处置的办法。 贵福顿时火冒三丈：“这是抚台大人的命令，你延不执行，是何居心？” 李钟岳原本还想求情，但贵福愤懑的态度，让他不敢再多说一个字。 贵福决定亲自出马，由李钟岳陪同，亲率三百清兵赶往大通学堂，准备捉拿秋瑾等人。 而这一切，身在大通学堂的秋瑾并不知道。
秋瑾原本和徐锡麟约定在汉历的五月二十八日发动起义，她也将这个日期传达给了浙江省内各路山堂会党的首领。 但意想不到的是，嵊县的乌带党首领裘文高却擅自提前起义，与清军交战，后因孤立无援退至仙居；紧接着，武义县的龙华会首领刘耀勋被部下出卖，起义事泄，刘耀勋被清兵捕杀。 嵊县和武义县相继出事，浙江省风声骤紧。 这两个变故打乱了秋瑾原来的准备工作，不得不临时决定浙江省的起义后推半个月。 岂料一浪未平，一波又起，徐锡麟突然提前两日刺杀恩铭，安庆起义最终失败，令秋瑾的起义计划再次陷入了被动。 徐锡麟起义失败被杀的消息传出后，以光复军分协领身份在浙东集结民团义勇的竺绍康和王金发，因担心秋瑾还不知道这一消息，同时也为了找秋瑾商议对策，所以连夜带了三十几个人，快马加鞭赶往绍兴府。 竺绍康、王金发等人赶到时，已经是正午时分。然而大白天日头高照，大通学堂却大门紧锁。 王金发上前重重地拍门。 门内有学生把守，透过门缝看清门外是谁，急忙打开大门放众人进入，随即又快速地将大门锁好。 “秋督办呢？”王金发问。 “在里面！”学生朝礼堂的方向一指。 竺绍康和王金发等人急忙赶到礼堂，见到了正在议事的秋瑾和众师生。 原来天还没亮时，就有其他会党的成员快马来报，秋瑾便获知了徐锡麟出事的消息。变故已经发生，她急忙召集所有师生来到礼堂，先将这一沉痛消息告诉了所有师生，然后商讨接下来的应对办法。这一商讨，就是数个时辰之久，一直从后半夜讨论到了中午。 徐锡麟起义失败被捕，当晚便被处死，这意味着大通学堂很可能已经暴露，所以绝大部分师生要求提前起义，攻打府衙，斩杀贵福，迅速占领绍兴，再相机进取。从浙东赶回来的竺绍康和王金发等人也赞同这一提议。 但秋瑾却不赞成。 起义计划因故推后了半个月，此时各地的光复军尚未集结，仅凭大通学堂的这点力量，想要起义成功难于登天。这一点，身为光复军协领的秋瑾比谁都更清楚。所以她要求众人掩藏枪弹，焚毁名册，疏散学生，为革命的未来保留力量。 部分师生一心要为徐锡麟报仇，不肯就此放弃，竺绍康更是强烈坚持提前起义。众人意见难以统一，礼堂内长时间吵闹不休。秋瑾看得心急，却又劝服不了众人。 王金发原本赞成提前起义，但眼见众人如一盘散沙般争辩吵闹，一股无名之火顿时上冲。他奔到角落里，抱起一个圆口花瓶，“轰”的一声砸碎在地上。 这一声突如其来的巨响，惊得所有师生都安静下来，纷纷转头，将目光投向王金发。 “现在已经什么时候了，你们还在这里吵个没完没了！”王金发面色铁青，声如洪钟，“眼下情势紧急，全都给我闭上嘴，一切听秋督办的！” 王金发生得头角峥嵘，是以绰号“金发龙头”，原本面相就凶恶，再加上这极具威势的怒吼，那些原本义愤填膺的师生，皆被他震慑住了，不敢再发出半点声音。 秋瑾趁势招呼道：“时间紧迫，大家按我说的做，赶紧分头行事！” 师生们稍微迟疑了一下，没再提出异议，纷纷散了，迅速去藏匿枪弹，焚烧名册。 在人群散开的同时，秋瑾叫住了王金发，让王金发赶紧去西侧的平屋。胡客和姻婵住在那里，秋瑾不忘通知两人离开。 王金发飞步赶到西侧的平屋，然而屋门大敞，屋内却空无一人。 王金发找遍屋内屋外，没有找到胡客和姻婵，只好回去向秋瑾禀明情况。 胡客和姻婵虽说不是革命党人，但陶成章、徐锡麟、龚宝铨等光复会的重要成员，一直对胡客和姻婵礼待有加，秋瑾自然不希望两人出事，于是准备和王金发一起去西侧找找。 两人刚刚走出礼堂，把门的学生忽然飞奔而来，望见秋瑾和王金发，隔了老远就大喊道：“来了，来了！” 秋瑾心头一颤，问道：“来了多少人？” 把门的学生上气不接下气地回答：“街那头黑压压的，全都是官兵！” 秋瑾顾不上胡客和姻婵了，急忙命令所有师生从后门撤离。 王金发和竺绍康赶紧组织众师生走后门撤出大通学堂，忙活了一阵，才发现秋瑾站在礼堂外，似乎没有要离开的意思。 秋瑾一动不动地站在那里，微微仰起了脸，凝望着悬挂在柱子上的对联。 这是徐锡麟常凝望出神的那一副对联，原本悬挂在礼堂背后的抱厦里。秋瑾筹备起义，是以命学生将这副对联从抱厦里取出，悬挂在礼堂前的柱子上，让所有进出的师生都能看见，以表明革命的心志。 “秋督办！”王金发叫喊了一声。 见秋瑾无动于衷，王金发冲上前去要拉她走，却被秋瑾一把推开。 “革命是要流血的！”秋瑾后退了一步，盯住王金发道，“如果满奴将我绑赴断头台，一刀将我杀了，天下人便可认清满奴本性，革命至少可以提早五年成功！” 此时的秋瑾，已经抱定了必死的信念。 其实在昨晚听闻徐锡麟被杀的消息时，她就暗自打定了主意，不再活着离开大通学堂。 她已决心赴死，并用自己的鲜血，来唤醒更多的国人。 竺绍康和一些还没走的师生，都停下了脚步，震撼且惊诧地望着秋瑾。 “你们都不必劝我，我今日决意一死，死且不悔！”秋瑾的语气无比坚定，没有丝毫回旋的余地。 王金发还要再劝，却被秋瑾厉声斥退。 “学堂的所有师生都交给了你，你还不走，是想害死大家吗？”秋瑾杏眼圆睁，冲王金发怒吼道。 一旁的竺绍康知道形势紧迫，已容不得半刻耽搁，急忙冲上前来拉王金发走。 噼里啪啦的脚步声越来越清晰，三百清兵已经一路小跑接近学堂大门。王金发望了一眼大门，又望了一眼秋瑾，最后猛一跺脚，和其他师生一起，朝后门撤离。 望着众人离去的背影，秋瑾惨然一笑，闭上了双眼。 等她再睁开眼时，眸子里已是一片清澄。 她走回平日办公的屋子，整衣梳发，端坐于桌前。有成片的枪声传来，秋瑾的脸色却越发坚毅。她伸出手，拿起了桌上的笔……
大通学堂的师生前脚刚走，三百清兵后脚便团团包围了学堂。因不清楚学堂内的情况，众清兵不敢贸然冲入。 贵福下令鸣枪示威，成片的枪声顿时响起。 但大通学堂内始终没有任何动静。 贵福命令清兵撞破大门，强行冲入学堂。 李钟岳担心清兵开枪伤人，是以命令众清兵不许胡乱开枪，并且亲自带队冲在最前面，以免有不听话的清兵违令开枪。 一进入学堂，才发现四下里空空荡荡，安静得出奇，别说人了，连鬼影子都看不见一个。 李钟岳松了口气，他以为大通学堂的人都已经逃走了。 他知道秋瑾办公的地方，所以一个人直奔东侧的平屋。他担心大通学堂的人走得匆忙，万一有落下的资料，他好赶在贵福进来之前将其销毁。 李钟岳满以为学堂内的所有人都已撤走，哪知推开平屋的门却看见了秋瑾，这令他大吃一惊。 秋瑾端坐于桌前，桌上铺有纸张，纸上墨痕逶迤，另有一柄短剑和一把手枪放在一旁。 “你怎么没有走？”李钟岳讶然问道。 秋瑾没有回答，只是斜了李钟岳一眼。 这时，一小队清兵为了保护李钟岳的安危，紧跟着赶来东侧，冲入平屋，看到了秋瑾。这些清兵立刻缴了短剑和手枪，将秋瑾双臂反拧，抓了起来。 秋瑾没有抵抗。 清兵抓了秋瑾，押到贵福的面前。 贵福冷冷一笑，命令将秋瑾押往县衙。 秋瑾被带走后，李钟岳拿起了桌上的纸，那上面是秋瑾写下的绝命词： 这首绝命词可谓字字诛心，李钟岳每读一字，心就疼痛一下，好似有一把刀横在了心上，正随着词句一刀一刀慢慢地切割……
抓捕了革命党的重要人物，实乃大功一件，若能从秋瑾的嘴里挖出更多的信息，那功劳就更大了，日后升官发财，自然不在话下。打着这样的算盘，贵福在秋瑾被捕的当晚，便亲自到县衙大牢里审讯秋瑾。 贵福一口气问了不少问题，但秋瑾始终一言不发。等到贵福问累了，靠着椅背喘气时，秋瑾才终于开了口。 “我认得你，”秋瑾斜视着贵福，语气森然，“你来过学堂，还送过一副对联。” 这句话犹如平地惊雷，惊得贵福后背一寒。 贵福的思维猛然间转过弯来。秋瑾接办大通学堂后，曾邀请他参加学堂的开学典礼，他不仅去了，还送了一副亲笔书写的对联以示道贺。既然秋瑾还记得他，那当日典礼上的其他革命党人，多半也还记得他。这一点，让贵福不免心惊胆寒。这些年革命党人制造了不少轰动全国的刺杀案件，远的不说，就说几天前，安徽巡抚恩铭刚刚在巡警学堂被徐锡麟刺杀身亡。这些活生生的例子就摆在眼前，如何不让贵福担心？ 顺着这个念头继续往下想，如果秋瑾由他审结定罪，最后杀秋瑾的就是他贵福，将来革命党人要报仇，自然一个个都会冲着他而来。 这样的想法一冒出来，贵福便不敢再审下去了。 原本立功心切的他，竟然如逃跑一般急匆匆地离开了县衙大牢，转而命令李钟岳来审讯秋瑾。
翌日，天阴雨湿，凄风动幕。 山阴县衙的花厅里，公堂已经设好，李钟岳将在此审理秋瑾。 秋瑾被带上堂来，李钟岳破例设座，让秋瑾坐于椅上。 李钟岳看着秋瑾，沉默了好一阵，才问道：“你是革命党人？” 秋瑾朗声回答道：“是。” 李钟岳又问：“为什么要闹革命？” 秋瑾没有回答，反而盯着李钟岳，问道：“我所主张，是为男女革命，并未触犯法网，你为何逮捕我？” 昨天第一个冲进秋瑾办公处的人，正是李钟岳，听到秋瑾这样质问，李钟岳不禁长叹了一声。 李钟岳一直仰慕秋瑾的才情，此时却官犯有别，要在公堂之上审讯秋瑾，这令他的情绪十分低落。两句话问完，他就不知道该问什么了，索性将记录供词的纸张笔墨交给了秋瑾，道：“听说你文理尚优，那就随便写点东西吧。” 秋瑾也不推迟，提笔落墨，先写下了一个大大的“秋”字。微作停顿后，她一挥而就，又写下六个字，随即掷笔于地。 李钟岳取过纸来，只见七个刚劲逸丽的墨字落在纸上：“秋风秋雨愁煞人”。七字连而成诗，与堂外风雨映衬，令李钟岳心中更加悲怆。 李钟岳再叹一声。他仍不知道该问什么，默然了片刻，夸赞秋瑾的书法写得好。 片刻间的接触，秋瑾已经感觉到，眼前这个老人虽也是满清的官员，却和贵福等人全然不同。 秋瑾的语气温和了许多，说道：“没见过帖，字实不能写，文章倒是能作几篇。” 于是李钟岳便让秋瑾作文。 秋瑾道：“素不工书，不惯用毛笔，还请赐钢笔一用。” 李钟岳命人取来钢笔墨水，交予秋瑾。 秋瑾提笔疾书，写下千余言词，陈述她生平经历。 整个“审讯”过程持续了一个时辰之久，花厅内寂静异常，形同会客，哪里有半分审讯犯人的样子。 秋瑾写完后，将供词交给李钟岳。 李钟岳阅完供词，下令将秋瑾还押，然后拿着供词去见贵福。 一进入府衙，李钟岳还没开口，贵福便气势汹汹地责问道：“为什么不用刑讯，反而待秋犯如上宾？”县衙里早就有人将审讯的过程悄悄报告给了贵福。 李钟岳回答道：“秋瑾是女子，又是读书人，现在没有确凿的证据，怎能用大刑逼供？” 贵福知道李钟岳是在故意袒护秋瑾，再这样审下去，肯定审不出什么结果。但贵福害怕革命党人报复，又不敢亲自审讯，左思右想之后，他命下人备马，然后亲自赶赴杭州府，面见浙江巡抚张曾扬。 贵福向张曾扬禀报了审讯的情况，谎称秋瑾已经承认密谋革命。张曾扬急于完成端方交代的任务，不加复查，立即拟写了“就地正法”的手谕。 贵福连夜赶回绍兴府，召见李钟岳，向其出示了巡抚手谕，命其立即处死秋瑾。 李钟岳大惊失色，愤然质问：“供证两无，焉能杀人？” 贵福冷哼一声，说道：“这可是抚台大人的命令，你敢抗命不遵？” 李钟岳辩道：“案情尚未弄清就处死刑，人心必然不服，还望大人三思！” 贵福训斥道：“你还反了不成？！”又怒目瞪住李钟岳，厉声说道：“今日之事，杀，在你，不杀，也在你，总之与我无关。该怎么办，是你的事，你好自为之！”将巡抚手谕扔给李钟岳，丢下这句话，贵福拂袖而去。 李钟岳怏怏返回县衙，思索良久，始终想不出两全的法子。 渐渐子夜已过，到了丑寅之交，执刑任务已不容再缓。 李钟岳没有搭救的办法，只能命人将秋瑾带到公堂上，向秋瑾出示了巡抚手谕，说道：“我本想救你一命，但上峰必欲杀你，我只恨位卑言轻，无力挽回。杀你实非我本意，还请你原谅……”李钟岳越说越悲，不禁泪随声堕。 秋瑾知道了自己的结局，也知道李钟岳一直试图保护自己，说道：“李公盛情，秋瑾深为感戴，今生已矣，愿图报于来世。” 说完这话，秋瑾微微一笑。 这一笑之间，已是看淡生死，已是无悔无怨。 贵福派亲兵前来催刑，李钟岳被迫押秋瑾来到了轩亭口。 行刑之前，李钟岳问秋瑾还有什么要求。 秋瑾提出不要枭首、刑后勿剥衣服等要求。 李钟岳一一答应，再问秋瑾有没有遗言。 秋瑾摇了摇头，不再说话。 光绪三十三年六月六日寅时，鉴湖女侠秋瑾在绍兴闹市轩亭口赴刑。 秋瑾死后，李钟岳命人购买棺材盛殓，后来秋瑾的友人徐自华和吴芝瑛闻讯寻来，李钟岳悄悄将棺材转交，由徐吴二人将秋瑾移葬于杭州西湖西泠桥畔。 李钟岳在审讯过程中想方设法袒护秋瑾，触怒了贵福，被贵福告到了张曾扬处。秋瑾死后不到三天，李钟岳即因“庇护女犯”的罪名被朝廷革职。 被革职后，李钟岳离开了绍兴府，来到了杭州府。 在杭州府的寓所里，李钟岳终日闷闷不乐，常在家人面前念叨“我虽不杀伯仁，伯仁由我而死”这两句话，也常独自一人将密藏的秋瑾遗墨取出，对着“秋雨秋风愁煞人”七个字注视默诵，甚至为此泣下。 在痛苦和内疚的轮番折磨中，李钟岳渐渐产生了以身殉道的念头，最终在寓所里悬梁自缢。李钟岳自缢时，距秋瑾被害尚不足百日。 秋瑾遇难，李钟岳自尽，社会各界顿时一片哗然。 处死革命党人虽然有过先例，但秋瑾身为女子，还从来没有过女子因革命而被处死的事发生，何况此案证据不足案情未清便对秋瑾秘密处以极刑，因此各方舆论一时耸动，所有的责难都对准了绍兴知府贵福和浙江巡抚张曾扬。 贵福自知民怨太大，不敢继续留在绍兴府，遂请调浙江海运京局总办，嗣改任安徽宁国府知府，后以漕运劳保道员在任。张曾扬同样不堪舆论谴责，调任江苏巡抚
Early the next morning, in the Anqing Mansion Police Academy, Xu Xilin in military uniform stood on the steps outside the auditorium.He turned his head and glanced to the left. Chen Boping stood aside with a serious face, and then glanced to the right. Ma Zonghan, who was standing upright, nodded slightly at him, and then looked in front of him. The students lined up at the bottom of the steps early in the morning. , each with a gun on their backs, mighty and serious.The auditorium has been properly arranged and all personnel are in place, just waiting for En Ming and other civil and military officials to arrive. When Sishi was approaching, Enming's personal troops arrived first and asked all the students to unload their bullets so that all their firearms became empty. At the same time, Xu Xilin, Chen Boping, Ma Zonghan and others were asked to unload their guns from their waists.The guards did this out of the consideration of protecting the Governor. At that hour, the majestic En Ming came to the Patrol Academy surrounded by several civil and military officials. En Ming and the civil and military officials took their seats. After greeting for a while, Xu Xilin walked in and said, "My lords, please move to the outside field and watch the students perform as a show of favor." En Ming and the civil and military officials then moved to the outfield and took their seats on the stage. Xu Xilin immediately led all the students into the arena and saluted all the officials on the stage. En Ming was very happy to see the students who lined up neatly under the stage, and he couldn't help laughing, and even said a few words "good".Seeing that the governor was happy, the other civil and military officials all showed smiles. Only Yu Lang, the inspector sitting on the outermost side, didn't smile. At this moment, Yulang turned his head slightly, with a look of horror on his face.In his ears, Gu Song, who had always suspected that Xu Xilin was a member of the Revolutionary Party, was whispering to him: "Xu Huiban may be defrauded today, please tell Master Futai, don't stay here any longer!" Gu Song knew that with his own identity and status, Enming would never believe him if he reported to Enming, and there had been precedents for this, so he quietly told Yulang, hoping that Yulang would inform Enming and leave this place as soon as possible. Yulang glanced at Xu Xilin who was in the audience, and after a little hesitation, he stood up and walked towards En Ming who was sitting in the middle. All of this was seen by Xu Xilin, he knew that Gu Song had just listened to him and had already told Yu Lang the secret. Now it's time to do it. Before Yulang could get close to Enming, Xu Xilin suddenly rushed to the stage, knelt down on one knee, held the student roster in both hands, and said loudly, "Report to Mr. Futai, there are revolutionaries rioting today!" Xu Xilin's move was so sudden that all the officials present were taken aback, Yu Lang also stopped, and turned his head to look at Xu Xilin in surprise.After hearing this, En Ming stared at Xu Xilin in surprise, and was about to ask what was going on. At this moment, a mass of black objects suddenly flew up from the audience, passed over Xu Xilin's head, and landed in front of En Ming with a bang. This is a bomb thrown by Chen Boping in the audience. It turned out that Xu Xilin's report was the signal to do something. Although Xu Xilin rushed to the stage, he intentionally knelt at a place far away from Enming, and only waited for the bomb to kill Enming, then took out his pistol and shot the civil and military officials sitting on the left and right sides. What surprised Xu Xilin was that after the bomb fell on the stage, there was no earth-shattering bang. The bomb didn't explode. Everyone present was stunned, En Ming and the civil and military officials were frightened, while Xu Xilin, Chen Boping and Ma Zonghan were stunned. At this moment, time seemed to stand still. Xu Xilin quickly recovered from the accident, and hurriedly shouted: "Protect your lord!" After a few steps, he rushed forward to protect En Ming. En Ming panicked and asked, "Who caused the riot? Where is the Revolutionary Party?" Xu Xilin bent over abruptly, pulled out two pistols from his boots, pointed at En Ming, and said loudly, "It's a humble job!" Before the words fell, the gunshots rang out! Xu Xilin fired five shots at Enming. Chen Boping and Ma Zonghan in the audience also pulled out the pistols in their boots, rushed to the stage, and shot Enming each. A total of seven shots were shot at En Ming's body. Wen Xun, who was standing next to En Ming, rushed forward to cover En Ming with his body, but was shot through the back by the bullets that followed, killing him on the spot. Taking advantage of Lu Yongyi's blocking opportunity, Wu Xun's arrester Che Dewen ran out with the dying En Ming on his back. Enming's personal soldiers came back to their senses, helped lift Enming, ran out of the school, stuffed Enming into the sedan chair, dragged his feet outside the sedan chair, and carried him back to the governor's office as if flying. British physician Dai Huang rushed to the Governor's Yamen as quickly as possible for rescue.Even so, En Ming died in the end.Before dying, En Ming, who was full of regret, yelled "confused" twice, and died without breath. In the patrol academy, the civil and military officials who had been subjected to such a drastic change were so frightened that they ran away in a panic. Gu Song, who accused Xu Xilin of his hard work, just escaped to the stage, when Ma Zonghan caught up with him and kicked him to the ground.Gu Song hurriedly kowtowed to beg for mercy, but only heard a gunshot, and his head exploded. Xu Xilin took out a box, which contained bullets unloaded at the request of Enming's soldiers.Standing on the stage, he shouted loudly to the students in the audience: "I am a revolutionary, and now Futai is dead. Anyone who is willing to make a revolution, follow me!" The trainees had been educated by Xu Xilin for a long time, and most of them had accepted the revolutionary theory. At this time, their blood was surging, they went to the stage to receive bullets, and under the leadership of Xu Xilin, Chen Boping and Ma Zonghan, they marched towards the ordnance station located in the west of Anqing City.After Xu Xilin planned to capture the ordnance station, he obtained ammunition supplements, and then attacked the governor's office and other key places. The Ordnance Institute is divided into ground warehouses and underground warehouses. When Xu Xilin led the trainee army to arrive, the general office of the Ordnance Institute had already fled in a panic with the key to the underground warehouse, but the ground warehouse had not had time to lock it.The ground storehouse was almost empty, save for a cannon and a few shells.All the firearms and ammunition were hidden in the underground warehouse, locked by a thick steel door. The student army tried their best, but they couldn't get the steel door open. At the same time, the Qing army quickly closed the gate of Anqing City, and the Qing army from the arrest battalion and patrol battalion had already rushed to the ordnance station.Although Xu Xilin's brothers in the Yuewanghui instigated part of the new army, they were blocked outside the city gate and could not enter. The connection between the inside and outside of the rebel army was interrupted. Knowing that the situation was critical, Chen Boping ordered the student army to pull out the cannon, set it up in the back hall of the ordnance station, fetch the shells and load them into the barrel, and said to Xu Xilin, "Let's bombard the north gate tower and blow up the city wall!" Xu Xilin saw that the houses around the city tower were too dense, and once the city wall was bombarded, the nearby houses would also be destroyed, so he immediately stopped Chen Boping: "We are killing Manchu nobles, not Han people. Once we fire the artillery, we will burn everything!" Resolutely Don't let the guns be fired. In a short while, the Qing troops from the arrest battalion and patrol battalion arrived one after another, and surrounded the ordnance station. Xu Xilin and the cadet army were trapped in the ordnance station in a tiny place, but they still chose to stick to it and refused to surrender.The trainees took advantage of the solid walls of the armory, climbed onto the roof one after another, and shot at the Qing army.The two sides fought fiercely for more than two hours, and there was still no winner. In this round of fierce fighting, the ammunition of the cadet army was gradually exhausted, while the Qing army, under heavy rewards, launched a sea of people tactics, attacking in turn and attacking tirelessly. During the war to Shenshi, the Ordnance Institute was finally captured by the Qing army. Xu Xilin, Ma Zonghan and others were wounded and arrested. Chen Boping was shot and died. As the first criminal to assassinate En Ming, Xu Xilin was immediately taken to the governor's office for trial after he was arrested. The presiding officer Feng Xu and the inspector Yu Lang ordered Xu Xilin to kneel down, but Xu Xilin sat cross-legged on the ground, looked at the two of them coldly, and said with a sneer: "You two walk fast in the morning, if you take a step slower, Now it's lying on the ground." Seeing that Xu Xilin was still so arrogant at this point, Feng Xu couldn't help being furious, and shouted: "Master Futai has always treated you kindly, but today you have treated him like this! Animals know how to repay their kindness, but you are a dignified man. How can you be so heartless?" Feng Xu's words were also what Yu Lang wanted to say.Both of them couldn't figure it out, Xu Xilin was deeply appreciated by En Ming, and he was promoted one after another in a short period of time. It can be said that his future is boundless. En Ming is a good official, Xu Xilin naturally knows this.He was silent for a moment, and then replied: "He treated me very well, it was a personal favor, and I killed him today, it was a public enmity." Yu Lang scolded: "Since you want to assassinate Mr. Futai, you usually have the opportunity to visit Futai, why didn't you do it then, but you chose to do it today, and in public?" Xu Xilin raised his head and said: "The Fufu Office is a private room, but the school is a public land. A man should act in a way that is obvious to everyone. How can he be sneaky?" He changed the subject, "I want to ask you, is En Ming dead? No?" Yu Lang said without hesitation: "My lord Futai was only slightly injured. After the doctor's diagnosis and treatment, there is no serious problem. I will personally come to interrogate you tomorrow!" After hearing these words, Xu Xilin seemed to have received a blow to the head, and his expression immediately became fatigued. Unexpectedly, Yu Lang added a few more vicious words: "Are you convicted? Tomorrow I'm going to cut your heart!" As soon as these words came out, Xu Xilin immediately felt relieved. Because in Yulang's words, he mentioned the torture of cutting his heart and liver. The punishment of "cutting the heart" was a very special punishment at that time, which originated from the "horse stabbing case" among the "Four Strange Cases in the Late Qing Dynasty". In Nanjing on July 26, the ninth year of Tongzhi, Ma Xinyi, governor of Liangjiang, was assassinated in public. The assassin's behavior was very strange after the assassination. I am Zhang Wenxiang, and I am afraid that the world will not know.This is the "assassination case" that shocked the whole country. After the "horse assassination case" happened, Cixi issued a decree, ordering Zhili governor Zeng Guofan and criminal minister Zheng Dunjin to go to Nanjing to try the case. However, after half a year of interrogation, the truth was never found out. Zhang Wenxiang's motive for assassinating Ma Xinyi became A mystery with divergent opinions, and the final conclusion of the case is also muddled.Zheng Dunjin, Shangshu of the Ministry of Criminal Justice, lamented the darkness of the officialdom after the trial of the case. Instead of returning to the capital, he went directly to the doctor to beg for illness, and then resigned and returned to his hometown.Because of the many suspicions, this case, together with "Yang Naiwu and Xiaobaicai Case", "Famous Actress Yang Yuelou's Injustice Case" and "Taiyuan Miracle Case", was called "Four Miraculous Cases in the Late Qing Dynasty". After the "horse assassination case" was concluded, Zhang Wenxiang's final outcome was to cut open his abdomen and dig out his heart to pay homage to Ma Xinyi's soul. "Sacrificing the heart to sacrifice" has thus become a special type of punishment established by convention. Once it is used, it must be used to execute the assassin who assassinated the imperial court official. If En Ming hadn't died, Xu Xilin wouldn't have "cut his heart to sacrifice", but Yu Lang said "cut his heart and liver", and his tone was full of deep hatred, implying that En Ming was already dead up.Xu Xilin changed his mind for a while, then he understood, and immediately laughed maniacally: "You say that, then En Ming must be dead! I wish enough, and I will not hesitate to kill you tomorrow, let alone a mere heart? " Shocked by Xu Xilin's maniacal laughter, Yu Lang was speechless for a while. Feng Xu then interrogated and asked: "Which other accomplices do you have? Invite them one by one!" "There are a lot of revolutionaries," Xu Xilin replied, "I am the only one in Anqing Mansion." Feng Xu asked again: "Are you and Sun Wen in the same party?" "Sun Wen? Humph, he's not worthy to command me." Xu Xilin said with a sneer, "I did this alone, and I bear all the responsibility for the crime. Don't involve others!" After saying this, Xu Xilin laughed wildly again After counting, he shouted loudly: "Bring the paper!" After getting the paper and ink, he immediately picked up a pen and wrote a confession that was thousands of words long. Xu Xilin wrote in his confession: "I have been aspiring for more than ten years, and I have achieved my goal today. I planned to kill Duanfang, Tieliang, and Liangbi after killing Enming to avenge the Han people, but I actually killed Enming. After Mingming, he was captured immediately, which is really unsatisfactory." In order to protect the wounded and arrested students of the Patrol Academy, Xu Xilin wrote in his confession: "All the students are too low-level, no one is available, and they don't know. You killed I’m fine, cut my heart open, cut off my hands and feet, and cut my whole body into pieces, don’t kill students unjustly, I was the one who lured them.” The last few words read: “I know I’m going to die, but Take pen and ink, outline my purpose, and write a few words in person, so that all future generations in the world will know my name. It is a great honor!" The signature is "Xu Xilin, the man of light". After the case was concluded, Feng Xu ordered someone to find a photographer to take a photo of Xu Xilin and put it in the confession.After the photographer finished taking the photo, Xu Xilin said, "I was not ready just now. I didn't have a smile on my face. How can I keep it for future generations? Take another one!" The photographer had no choice but to take another photo of Xu Xilin. The revolutionaries assassinated the chief official of the frontier in broad daylight, which shocked the Qing court. After receiving the urgent telegram from Duan Fang, Governor of Liangjiang, the Military Aircraft Department immediately held a meeting to discuss the solution, and decided to "destroy the nine clans" against Xu Xilin. But Prince Su Shanqi was a more enlightened person in the Qing court. He believed that "destroying the nine ethnic groups is not a civilized legal system, and torture is especially harmful to the virtue of tolerance and benevolence." He changed his mind and ordered Governor Duan Fang of Liangjiang to punish him leniently. However, Duan Fang deeply hated the revolutionaries, so he sent a telegram to Feng Xu to "sacrifice his heart and sacrifice" Xu Xilin. At the same time, in order to quickly calm the situation and stabilize the morale of the people in the southern provinces, Duan Fang ordered Feng Xu to execute him immediately.
In the early morning of May 27th in the 33rd year of Guangxu, there was heavy rain in Anqing City. At the execution ground outside the Dongyuan Gate of the Governor’s Yamen in Anqing, Xu Xilin was generously facing his execution. Before he died, he left a message: "Fame and wealth are not what you want. If you get this today, you will die without regret!" Xu Xilin was beheaded by the executioner, and then his heart was taken out by caesarean section, which was used to sacrifice En Ming's spirit in heaven, and then he was cooked and served with wine by En Ming's personal soldiers. After Xu Xilin's death, Ma Zonghan was tortured for more than 50 days and refused to reveal any information about the Restoration Council. He was finally killed in Lujiqiao Prison, Anqing Prefecture. After Xu Xilin assassinated En Ming, all senior officials of the Qing court were in danger, and their faces changed when they talked about the revolutionary party.In order to save their lives, some of these senior officials lived in secluded places, some set up troops for self-defense, and some did not allow local officials to greet them when they traveled, so as not to attract the attention of revolutionaries. What's more, they even sent people to Tokyo, Japan in secret. Confidence to the revolutionaries, saying "willing to give ten thousand gold to buy his life". Sun Wen wrote after Xu Xilin's death: "At that time, people who admired righteousness heard the wind and rose up, and they did their part, and those who made their own way and quickly followed suit." The impact of Xu Xilin's assassination of Enming can be seen from this. After Xu Xilin's uprising failed and was executed, his younger brother Xu Wei was afraid of implicating himself, so he took the initiative to confess to the government about the Datong Academy in Shaoxing Prefecture, and at the same time confessed Qiu Jin, Tao Chengzhang and other members of the Restoration Society.两江总督端方电令浙江巡抚张曾扬查抄大通学堂，捕杀秋瑾等人。张曾扬得到命令后，立刻通知绍兴知府贵福执行。贵福身为满人，素来痛恨革命党，光复会就在眼皮子底下活动，他不仅没有察觉，甚至还与徐锡麟等人有过来往，是以又惊又怒，急令山阴知县李钟岳查抄大通学堂，捉拿秋瑾等人，并派出三百清兵前去协助。 当时绍兴城内以府河为界，河西属山阴县管辖，河东属会稽县管辖，大通学堂位于城西北一带，在山阴县的管辖范围内。 命令落到了山阴知县李钟岳的头上，但李钟岳却和贵福不是一路人。 李钟岳是汉人，与大通学堂的人多有来往，知道这些人多是才学之士。在大通学堂的众人之中，他尤其仰慕秋瑾的才华。他常拿秋瑾写的“驰驱戎马中原梦，破碎山河故国羞”等诗句来教育自己的儿子，带着责备的口吻感叹：“以一女子而能诗，胜汝辈多矣！”所以当捉拿秋瑾的命令传下来时，李钟岳的第一反应却是维护秋瑾。他急忙赶到府衙面见贵福，以该校并无越轨行动为由，希望能暗中调查清楚后，再定处置的办法。 贵福顿时火冒三丈：“这是抚台大人的命令，你延不执行，是何居心？” 李钟岳原本还想求情，但贵福愤懑的态度，让他不敢再多说一个字。 贵福决定亲自出马，由李钟岳陪同，亲率三百清兵赶往大通学堂，准备捉拿秋瑾等人。 而这一切，身在大通学堂的秋瑾并不知道。
秋瑾原本和徐锡麟约定在汉历的五月二十八日发动起义，她也将这个日期传达给了浙江省内各路山堂会党的首领。 但意想不到的是，嵊县的乌带党首领裘文高却擅自提前起义，与清军交战，后因孤立无援退至仙居；紧接着，武义县的龙华会首领刘耀勋被部下出卖，起义事泄，刘耀勋被清兵捕杀。 嵊县和武义县相继出事，浙江省风声骤紧。 这两个变故打乱了秋瑾原来的准备工作，不得不临时决定浙江省的起义后推半个月。 岂料一浪未平，一波又起，徐锡麟突然提前两日刺杀恩铭，安庆起义最终失败，令秋瑾的起义计划再次陷入了被动。 徐锡麟起义失败被杀的消息传出后，以光复军分协领身份在浙东集结民团义勇的竺绍康和王金发，因担心秋瑾还不知道这一消息，同时也为了找秋瑾商议对策，所以连夜带了三十几个人，快马加鞭赶往绍兴府。 竺绍康、王金发等人赶到时，已经是正午时分。然而大白天日头高照，大通学堂却大门紧锁。 王金发上前重重地拍门。 门内有学生把守，透过门缝看清门外是谁，急忙打开大门放众人进入，随即又快速地将大门锁好。 “秋督办呢？”王金发问。 “在里面！”学生朝礼堂的方向一指。 竺绍康和王金发等人急忙赶到礼堂，见到了正在议事的秋瑾和众师生。 原来天还没亮时，就有其他会党的成员快马来报，秋瑾便获知了徐锡麟出事的消息。变故已经发生，她急忙召集所有师生来到礼堂，先将这一沉痛消息告诉了所有师生，然后商讨接下来的应对办法。这一商讨，就是数个时辰之久，一直从后半夜讨论到了中午。 徐锡麟起义失败被捕，当晚便被处死，这意味着大通学堂很可能已经暴露，所以绝大部分师生要求提前起义，攻打府衙，斩杀贵福，迅速占领绍兴，再相机进取。从浙东赶回来的竺绍康和王金发等人也赞同这一提议。 但秋瑾却不赞成。 起义计划因故推后了半个月，此时各地的光复军尚未集结，仅凭大通学堂的这点力量，想要起义成功难于登天。这一点，身为光复军协领的秋瑾比谁都更清楚。所以她要求众人掩藏枪弹，焚毁名册，疏散学生，为革命的未来保留力量。 部分师生一心要为徐锡麟报仇，不肯就此放弃，竺绍康更是强烈坚持提前起义。众人意见难以统一，礼堂内长时间吵闹不休。秋瑾看得心急，却又劝服不了众人。 王金发原本赞成提前起义，但眼见众人如一盘散沙般争辩吵闹，一股无名之火顿时上冲。他奔到角落里，抱起一个圆口花瓶，“轰”的一声砸碎在地上。 这一声突如其来的巨响，惊得所有师生都安静下来，纷纷转头，将目光投向王金发。 “现在已经什么时候了，你们还在这里吵个没完没了！”王金发面色铁青，声如洪钟，“眼下情势紧急，全都给我闭上嘴，一切听秋督办的！” 王金发生得头角峥嵘，是以绰号“金发龙头”，原本面相就凶恶，再加上这极具威势的怒吼，那些原本义愤填膺的师生，皆被他震慑住了，不敢再发出半点声音。 秋瑾趁势招呼道：“时间紧迫，大家按我说的做，赶紧分头行事！” 师生们稍微迟疑了一下，没再提出异议，纷纷散了，迅速去藏匿枪弹，焚烧名册。 在人群散开的同时，秋瑾叫住了王金发，让王金发赶紧去西侧的平屋。胡客和姻婵住在那里，秋瑾不忘通知两人离开。 王金发飞步赶到西侧的平屋，然而屋门大敞，屋内却空无一人。 王金发找遍屋内屋外，没有找到胡客和姻婵，只好回去向秋瑾禀明情况。 胡客和姻婵虽说不是革命党人，但陶成章、徐锡麟、龚宝铨等光复会的重要成员，一直对胡客和姻婵礼待有加，秋瑾自然不希望两人出事，于是准备和王金发一起去西侧找找。 两人刚刚走出礼堂，把门的学生忽然飞奔而来，望见秋瑾和王金发，隔了老远就大喊道：“来了，来了！” 秋瑾心头一颤，问道：“来了多少人？” 把门的学生上气不接下气地回答：“街那头黑压压的，全都是官兵！” 秋瑾顾不上胡客和姻婵了，急忙命令所有师生从后门撤离。 王金发和竺绍康赶紧组织众师生走后门撤出大通学堂，忙活了一阵，才发现秋瑾站在礼堂外，似乎没有要离开的意思。 秋瑾一动不动地站在那里，微微仰起了脸，凝望着悬挂在柱子上的对联。 这是徐锡麟常凝望出神的那一副对联，原本悬挂在礼堂背后的抱厦里。秋瑾筹备起义，是以命学生将这副对联从抱厦里取出，悬挂在礼堂前的柱子上，让所有进出的师生都能看见，以表明革命的心志。 “秋督办！”王金发叫喊了一声。 见秋瑾无动于衷，王金发冲上前去要拉她走，却被秋瑾一把推开。 “革命是要流血的！”秋瑾后退了一步，盯住王金发道，“如果满奴将我绑赴断头台，一刀将我杀了，天下人便可认清满奴本性，革命至少可以提早五年成功！” 此时的秋瑾，已经抱定了必死的信念。 其实在昨晚听闻徐锡麟被杀的消息时，她就暗自打定了主意，不再活着离开大通学堂。 她已决心赴死，并用自己的鲜血，来唤醒更多的国人。 竺绍康和一些还没走的师生，都停下了脚步，震撼且惊诧地望着秋瑾。 “你们都不必劝我，我今日决意一死，死且不悔！”秋瑾的语气无比坚定，没有丝毫回旋的余地。 王金发还要再劝，却被秋瑾厉声斥退。 “学堂的所有师生都交给了你，你还不走，是想害死大家吗？”秋瑾杏眼圆睁，冲王金发怒吼道。 一旁的竺绍康知道形势紧迫，已容不得半刻耽搁，急忙冲上前来拉王金发走。 噼里啪啦的脚步声越来越清晰，三百清兵已经一路小跑接近学堂大门。王金发望了一眼大门，又望了一眼秋瑾，最后猛一跺脚，和其他师生一起，朝后门撤离。 望着众人离去的背影，秋瑾惨然一笑，闭上了双眼。 等她再睁开眼时，眸子里已是一片清澄。 她走回平日办公的屋子，整衣梳发，端坐于桌前。有成片的枪声传来，秋瑾的脸色却越发坚毅。她伸出手，拿起了桌上的笔……
大通学堂的师生前脚刚走，三百清兵后脚便团团包围了学堂。因不清楚学堂内的情况，众清兵不敢贸然冲入。 贵福下令鸣枪示威，成片的枪声顿时响起。 但大通学堂内始终没有任何动静。 贵福命令清兵撞破大门，强行冲入学堂。 李钟岳担心清兵开枪伤人，是以命令众清兵不许胡乱开枪，并且亲自带队冲在最前面，以免有不听话的清兵违令开枪。 一进入学堂，才发现四下里空空荡荡，安静得出奇，别说人了，连鬼影子都看不见一个。 李钟岳松了口气，他以为大通学堂的人都已经逃走了。 他知道秋瑾办公的地方，所以一个人直奔东侧的平屋。他担心大通学堂的人走得匆忙，万一有落下的资料，他好赶在贵福进来之前将其销毁。 李钟岳满以为学堂内的所有人都已撤走，哪知推开平屋的门却看见了秋瑾，这令他大吃一惊。 秋瑾端坐于桌前，桌上铺有纸张，纸上墨痕逶迤，另有一柄短剑和一把手枪放在一旁。 “你怎么没有走？”李钟岳讶然问道。 秋瑾没有回答，只是斜了李钟岳一眼。 这时，一小队清兵为了保护李钟岳的安危，紧跟着赶来东侧，冲入平屋，看到了秋瑾。这些清兵立刻缴了短剑和手枪，将秋瑾双臂反拧，抓了起来。 秋瑾没有抵抗。 清兵抓了秋瑾，押到贵福的面前。 贵福冷冷一笑，命令将秋瑾押往县衙。 秋瑾被带走后，李钟岳拿起了桌上的纸，那上面是秋瑾写下的绝命词： 这首绝命词可谓字字诛心，李钟岳每读一字，心就疼痛一下，好似有一把刀横在了心上，正随着词句一刀一刀慢慢地切割……
抓捕了革命党的重要人物，实乃大功一件，若能从秋瑾的嘴里挖出更多的信息，那功劳就更大了，日后升官发财，自然不在话下。打着这样的算盘，贵福在秋瑾被捕的当晚，便亲自到县衙大牢里审讯秋瑾。 贵福一口气问了不少问题，但秋瑾始终一言不发。等到贵福问累了，靠着椅背喘气时，秋瑾才终于开了口。 “我认得你，”秋瑾斜视着贵福，语气森然，“你来过学堂，还送过一副对联。” 这句话犹如平地惊雷，惊得贵福后背一寒。 贵福的思维猛然间转过弯来。秋瑾接办大通学堂后，曾邀请他参加学堂的开学典礼，他不仅去了，还送了一副亲笔书写的对联以示道贺。既然秋瑾还记得他，那当日典礼上的其他革命党人，多半也还记得他。这一点，让贵福不免心惊胆寒。这些年革命党人制造了不少轰动全国的刺杀案件，远的不说，就说几天前，安徽巡抚恩铭刚刚在巡警学堂被徐锡麟刺杀身亡。这些活生生的例子就摆在眼前，如何不让贵福担心？ 顺着这个念头继续往下想，如果秋瑾由他审结定罪，最后杀秋瑾的就是他贵福，将来革命党人要报仇，自然一个个都会冲着他而来。 这样的想法一冒出来，贵福便不敢再审下去了。 原本立功心切的他，竟然如逃跑一般急匆匆地离开了县衙大牢，转而命令李钟岳来审讯秋瑾。
翌日，天阴雨湿，凄风动幕。 山阴县衙的花厅里，公堂已经设好，李钟岳将在此审理秋瑾。 秋瑾被带上堂来，李钟岳破例设座，让秋瑾坐于椅上。 李钟岳看着秋瑾，沉默了好一阵，才问道：“你是革命党人？” 秋瑾朗声回答道：“是。” 李钟岳又问：“为什么要闹革命？” 秋瑾没有回答，反而盯着李钟岳，问道：“我所主张，是为男女革命，并未触犯法网，你为何逮捕我？” 昨天第一个冲进秋瑾办公处的人，正是李钟岳，听到秋瑾这样质问，李钟岳不禁长叹了一声。 李钟岳一直仰慕秋瑾的才情，此时却官犯有别，要在公堂之上审讯秋瑾，这令他的情绪十分低落。两句话问完，他就不知道该问什么了，索性将记录供词的纸张笔墨交给了秋瑾，道：“听说你文理尚优，那就随便写点东西吧。” 秋瑾也不推迟，提笔落墨，先写下了一个大大的“秋”字。微作停顿后，她一挥而就，又写下六个字，随即掷笔于地。 李钟岳取过纸来，只见七个刚劲逸丽的墨字落在纸上：“秋风秋雨愁煞人”。七字连而成诗，与堂外风雨映衬，令李钟岳心中更加悲怆。 李钟岳再叹一声。他仍不知道该问什么，默然了片刻，夸赞秋瑾的书法写得好。 片刻间的接触，秋瑾已经感觉到，眼前这个老人虽也是满清的官员，却和贵福等人全然不同。 秋瑾的语气温和了许多，说道：“没见过帖，字实不能写，文章倒是能作几篇。” 于是李钟岳便让秋瑾作文。 秋瑾道：“素不工书，不惯用毛笔，还请赐钢笔一用。” 李钟岳命人取来钢笔墨水，交予秋瑾。 秋瑾提笔疾书，写下千余言词，陈述她生平经历。 整个“审讯”过程持续了一个时辰之久，花厅内寂静异常，形同会客，哪里有半分审讯犯人的样子。 秋瑾写完后，将供词交给李钟岳。 李钟岳阅完供词，下令将秋瑾还押，然后拿着供词去见贵福。 一进入府衙，李钟岳还没开口，贵福便气势汹汹地责问道：“为什么不用刑讯，反而待秋犯如上宾？”县衙里早就有人将审讯的过程悄悄报告给了贵福。 李钟岳回答道：“秋瑾是女子，又是读书人，现在没有确凿的证据，怎能用大刑逼供？” 贵福知道李钟岳是在故意袒护秋瑾，再这样审下去，肯定审不出什么结果。但贵福害怕革命党人报复，又不敢亲自审讯，左思右想之后，他命下人备马，然后亲自赶赴杭州府，面见浙江巡抚张曾扬。 贵福向张曾扬禀报了审讯的情况，谎称秋瑾已经承认密谋革命。张曾扬急于完成端方交代的任务，不加复查，立即拟写了“就地正法”的手谕。 贵福连夜赶回绍兴府，召见李钟岳，向其出示了巡抚手谕，命其立即处死秋瑾。 李钟岳大惊失色，愤然质问：“供证两无，焉能杀人？” 贵福冷哼一声，说道：“这可是抚台大人的命令，你敢抗命不遵？” 李钟岳辩道：“案情尚未弄清就处死刑，人心必然不服，还望大人三思！” 贵福训斥道：“你还反了不成？！”又怒目瞪住李钟岳，厉声说道：“今日之事，杀，在你，不杀，也在你，总之与我无关。该怎么办，是你的事，你好自为之！”将巡抚手谕扔给李钟岳，丢下这句话，贵福拂袖而去。 李钟岳怏怏返回县衙，思索良久，始终想不出两全的法子。 渐渐子夜已过，到了丑寅之交，执刑任务已不容再缓。 李钟岳没有搭救的办法，只能命人将秋瑾带到公堂上，向秋瑾出示了巡抚手谕，说道：“我本想救你一命，但上峰必欲杀你，我只恨位卑言轻，无力挽回。杀你实非我本意，还请你原谅……”李钟岳越说越悲，不禁泪随声堕。 秋瑾知道了自己的结局，也知道李钟岳一直试图保护自己，说道：“李公盛情，秋瑾深为感戴，今生已矣，愿图报于来世。” 说完这话，秋瑾微微一笑。 这一笑之间，已是看淡生死，已是无悔无怨。 贵福派亲兵前来催刑，李钟岳被迫押秋瑾来到了轩亭口。 行刑之前，李钟岳问秋瑾还有什么要求。 秋瑾提出不要枭首、刑后勿剥衣服等要求。 李钟岳一一答应，再问秋瑾有没有遗言。 秋瑾摇了摇头，不再说话。 光绪三十三年六月六日寅时，鉴湖女侠秋瑾在绍兴闹市轩亭口赴刑。 秋瑾死后，李钟岳命人购买棺材盛殓，后来秋瑾的友人徐自华和吴芝瑛闻讯寻来，李钟岳悄悄将棺材转交，由徐吴二人将秋瑾移葬于杭州西湖西泠桥畔。 李钟岳在审讯过程中想方设法袒护秋瑾，触怒了贵福，被贵福告到了张曾扬处。秋瑾死后不到三天，李钟岳即因“庇护女犯”的罪名被朝廷革职。 被革职后，李钟岳离开了绍兴府，来到了杭州府。 在杭州府的寓所里，李钟岳终日闷闷不乐，常在家人面前念叨“我虽不杀伯仁，伯仁由我而死”这两句话，也常独自一人将密藏的秋瑾遗墨取出，对着“秋雨秋风愁煞人”七个字注视默诵，甚至为此泣下。 在痛苦和内疚的轮番折磨中，李钟岳渐渐产生了以身殉道的念头，最终在寓所里悬梁自缢。李钟岳自缢时，距秋瑾被害尚不足百日。 秋瑾遇难，李钟岳自尽，社会各界顿时一片哗然。 处死革命党人虽然有过先例，但秋瑾身为女子，还从来没有过女子因革命而被处死的事发生，何况此案证据不足案情未清便对秋瑾秘密处以极刑，因此各方舆论一时耸动，所有的责难都对准了绍兴知府贵福和浙江巡抚张曾扬。 贵福自知民怨太大，不敢继续留在绍兴府，遂请调浙江海运京局总办，嗣改任安徽宁国府知府，后以漕运劳保道员在任。张曾扬同样不堪舆论谴责，调任江苏巡抚