Chapter 100 Section 100 Complicated Cases Involving Foreigners

Governor Chang Dachun asked a guard to invite Zeng Guofan to speak at the governor's office, saying that he had something important to tell.Zeng Guofan had no choice but to bring two personal guards, and walked to the signing room of the governor's yamen without any guard of honor. As soon as he entered the signing and deposit room, Zeng Guofan saw Zhang Tonglin, the acting director of Datong Mansion, sitting at the lower head and talking with Chang Dachun.When the three met Li, Zeng Guofan said, "I don't know what advice Master Chang has for calling the main hall here?" Chang Dachun smiled, but said nothing.

Zhang Tonglin cupped his hands and said: "The lower official got some news yesterday, so he rushed to see the two adults, afraid of being late." Zeng Guofan was taken aback, and asked, "But it's about Zhao Er?" Zhang Tonglin said: "Exactly! Xu, the donation committee member sent by my lord yesterday, observed Datong. The next official, according to my lord's wishes, sent a special person to visit all the names and surnames on the persuasion book, and sent another They also called two people from the Disaster Relief Bureau who worked for the great benevolent people into the yamen. Unexpectedly, the summoned people did not come, but a foreigner. Some of the subordinates of the lower officials knew each other, and they said they were from Yibang. A priest who came to Datong to preach has lived in Datong Mansion for half a year, trying to persuade people to believe in God. Datong Manor has no contacts with foreigners, and the subordinate officials do not understand foreign accents, so they find an excuse to hide in the lottery room, and let a capable The subordinates went to deal with him. Unexpectedly, the foreigner didn't speak any foreign language, but spoke a specious Shanxi dialect, and kept saying that he wanted to ask the subordinate officials for questioning. The subordinates knew that the subordinate officials always hated foreigners, so they evaded and said that the subordinate officials went to other places I went on an errand. Unexpectedly, the foreigner not only ignored it, but even started beating him with his palms, and called the people in the yamen pigs. The subordinate officials saw that the foreigners were getting more and more violent, so they had no intention of leaving, so they had no choice but to come out and face to face. Talk to the foreigner. The foreigner then stopped, but he kept asking the lower official to hand over Zhao Er, saying that Zhao Er was his man, and he believed in God or not the emperor. The lower official took a long time to talk. Fool him away. The foreigner left the magistrate's yamen through the front door, and the subordinate officials came to the provincial capital through the back door to meet the two adults."

Chang Dachun didn't wait for Zhang Tonglin to finish speaking, and hurriedly said: "Dasheng, this Zhao Er's case can no longer be investigated! There is a foreigner in it, and he is a high-level priest. The foreign priest is bigger than my Qing supervisor. , Fu! Check and check, don't take away the black yarn on our heads. Let Zhao Er go first, let's appoint someone else to handle it for the Datong Disaster Relief Bureau." "Wait a minute," Zeng Guofan pondered for a while, and asked Zhang Tonglin, "When did Zhao Er join the religion?" Zhang Tonglin spread his hands together and said, "Your official never interacts with people from the Disaster Relief Bureau, not to mention that Zhao Er's rank is higher than yours. How can I know when he met a foreigner?"

"Prefect Zhang," Zeng Guofan said with a serious face suddenly, "I'm going to tell you something you don't want to hear. Local parents are different from idle officials who return home for retirement. You should be well aware of everything; although you can’t do everything yourself, you must know the priorities. The Disaster Relief Bureau is next to your magistrate’s yamen. Ask about the situation of the Disaster Relief Bureau. Apart from envy, it is still blank, how can this work!" Chang Dachun never expected that in front of him, Zeng Guofan would be able to change his face and reprimand Zhang Tonglin, completely disregarding the affection of his fellow countrymen.Displeasure instantly appeared on his face, and he wanted to dissuade him with a few words, but he couldn't find the right words for a while.The face began to turn blue, purple, white, and red for a while.

Zhang Tonglin was already trembling with fright, knelt down on the ground, kowtowed and said: "Your Excellency taught me the lesson! I'm a low-level official, I'm a low-level official!" Zeng Guofan turned his head and said to Chang Dachun who was extremely embarrassed: "Master Zhongcheng..." Chang Dachun didn't allow Zeng Guofan to finish his speech, so he cut off the beginning of the sentence and said angrily: "Master Youtang, don't promote the lower officials, the lower officials are only acting!" Zeng Guofan said sternly: "The acting role is also the governor! Do you want to let the hall counselor of this department dare not take responsibility and blindly shirk? Or do you want to be dismissed?"

As soon as Zeng Guofan was serious, Chang Dachun's arrogance suddenly became lower, but his anger became more and more serious.After thinking for a long time, he said: "Zeng Youtang, it's not that Brother Yu is angry with you. Brother Yu has been an official in several provinces and has been bullied by the Manchus for more than 20 years. It's enough! Now we have to suffer from our own people. Angry. Tonglin was born in Hanlin and is famous all over the world. It’s not that you don’t know it, but because you can’t get along with the Manchus, you are still only a fifth-rank top wearer. Disheng, ask yourself, it’s not easy for me to be a Han official! "As he said, he was so angry that he shed tears.

Seeing that Chang Dachun got excited, Zeng Guofan had no choice but to stand up and said: "This department hall has offended me a lot, and I hope Lord Zhongcheng will forgive me. Zhang Taishou, please get up too! You two have misunderstood me! This department hall has lived in Beijing for more than ten years. Don’t you know the difficulties of my Han officials! But, since we eat the country’s salary, we have to do things for the country! Besides, the Qing Dynasty is not only owned by the Manchus, the Han people also have a share!” At this time Zhang Tonglin replied with lowered hands: "My lord has taught me the lesson, I will remember it."

Zeng Guofan sighed and said: "Let's talk about it, let's get angry, it's really tricky for the hateful and annoying Zhao Er to join the religion. Chang Zhongcheng, this Zhao Er is relying on the power of foreigners to swallow my donation. If he doesn't do it, what can he do?" I am sorry for the elders in Henan and Shandong! I have no face to face them! But if it is really done, it is easy to get into trouble with barbarians. Foreigners are beasts without fathers and kings. How dare he break into Beijing to find the emperor? !" Chang Dachun said: "Foreigners have powerful ships and cannons, and they have been domineering on the ground of our Qing Dynasty for a long time. Our horse-buying army in the Qing Dynasty is already afraid of being beaten! I heard people say that my Qing Dynasty is a little defensive. Hearing the whining sound of the foreign boat, he would be so frightened that he would piss his leather pants soaked. The Eight Banners are really dying! Disheng, let Zhao Er go. A man like you and me Communist Party member, how capable you are, how dare you make foreigners angry! Tong Lin, what do you think?"

Zhang Tonglin dared not make a sound with his hands hanging down. Zeng Guofan pondered for a long time before he said: "Chang Zhongcheng, Zhang Taishou, and Zhao Er's matter is according to the intention of our department. We should wait for the person who donated from Datong to come back and make a decision based on the actual situation. Cough, natural disasters and man-made disasters, the country is weak and the soldiers are exhausted. To punish a member of the Disaster Relief Bureau, you still have to act according to the face of foreigners. If things go on like this...cough!" Then he turned to Zhang Tonglin and said, "Prefect Zhang, you go back to Datong first. Due to the great contribution of the Datong Disaster Relief Bureau, Zhao Er has been appraised by the Ministry of Officials, and he will make a decision with him first, and find out Zhao Er's background. I think the mission of the priest is to come to Shanxi to preach, and a little Zhao Er How can you take it to heart! If you can fool him, you can do everything!"

Chang Dachun said worryingly: "Di Sheng, you look half-baked on the surface of foreigners, but your heart is no less than that of my Daqing people! How about you want to leave Hong Kong!" "It's all Qi Shan's harm to the country!" When Hong Kong was mentioned, Zeng Guofan became furious. "When two families fight each other, winning or losing is normal. How can one lose and talk about fighting? The foundation of the Qing Dynasty is the land. How can you give the land as you please?" After speaking, he stood up and bowed his hands to Chang Dachun: "The main hall will return to the official hall temporarily, and I will ask for advice when the people from Datong come back."

Chang Dachun just let out a long and worried sigh, bowed his hands politely, and said nothing. Zeng Guofan strode out of the signing room. Looking at Zeng Guofan's back, Chang Dachun suddenly said to himself: "This minister, who has never handled a barbarian case, how does he know how powerful foreigners are! Why hasn't the new governor been in office yet?" Li Bao hurried back with Xu Guan, who had gone to Datong to make a donation. Li Bao and Xu Guanguan first went to the small official hall to meet Zeng Guofan. Zeng Guofan was drinking tea slowly by himself, when he saw Li Bao and Xu Guan came in, he hurriedly put down his teacup.Li Bao and Xu Guanwan first greeted Zeng Guofan, and then Xu Guanguan said: "According to the order of your lord, I went to Datong to verify the donation. I have brought the businessmen who donated money, and a few others went to Mr. Zhao to spend money." Those who donated money to officials brought their careers along with them. These people are waiting in the hall." Zeng Guofan hastily pushed away the teacup, and sat down in the Grand Hall with Xu Guan and Li Bao. Xu Guan took several large volumes and placed them in front of Zeng Guofan. Zeng Guofan opened a file and saw a donor whose back was crossed with a red pen, so he asked Xu Guan, "What's going on?" Xu Guan replied: "There are a few more outside. They are all businessmen who have bought officials with money. I am afraid that I will not remember them, so I made a special mark. I brought these people here." Zeng Guofan asked Li Baochuan and those who had bought officials to come up for questioning.