Chapter 3 Erqi's denial of the crime of treason
After identifying that Qishan had no motive for treason, it is necessary to analyze Qishan's crimes of treason one by one.
According to the descriptions of people at the time and the writings of later researchers, Qi Shan was charged with four crimes:
1. Advocating the relaxation of the ban, becoming the leader of the ban relaxation faction within the Qing Dynasty, and destroying the ban on smoking.
2. When the British fleet arrived outside Dagu Port, they took the opportunity to attack Lin Zexu, the anti-smoking leader, and advocated surrender.
3. During the presiding over the Sino-British negotiations in Guangdong, he did nothing to defend the war, and refused to send aid when Humen was in danger, resulting in the failure of the war and Guan Tianpei's death in battle.
4. Privately cede Hong Kong to the United Kingdom.
Are the above charges true?
Let's look at the first item first, about the smoking ban. The idea of relaxing the ban was conceived in Guangdong, where opium smuggling is the most serious.In order to curb the outflow of silver, some bureaucrats and scholars who have seen opium banned repeatedly tried to deal with the increasingly rampant smuggling activities by taxing legal imports and substituting inland cultivation. In 1834, Lu Kun, governor of Guangdong and Guangxi, made a trial attempt, but failed. In 1836, Xu Naiji, the Shaoqing of Taichang Temple who had served as the inspector of Guangdong Province, officially gave a performance, but he did not. Except for these two cases, we cannot find any other statements in Qing official documents advocating the relaxation of bans. It can be seen that those who held this view were only a few officials who were worried about current affairs, and did not form the so-called "releasing bans faction" within the Qing Dynasty. Many works on the history of the Opium War that are currently popular believe that the bureaucratic group that embezzled opium and bribed a large number of people is the agitator and supporter of the theory of relaxation.In my opinion, this statement is not only lacking in historical data, but also contrary to reason.Because, once the ban is lifted, opium will become a legal commodity, and the traffickers will not have to pay bribes.For these corrupt officials, it is most beneficial to maintain the status quo.The theory of relaxation of ban is beneficial to opium dealers both at home and abroad, big and small, but it is a blow to the interests of corrupt officials. Judging from various historical materials, we can't find Qi Shan's remarks about the relaxation of bans; and because there seems to be no "Relief of Bans" within the Qing Dynasty, it is impossible to say that Qi Shan was the leader of the relaxation of bans. In 1838, Huang Juezi, Minister of Honglu Temple, made a memorial, advocating strict prohibition, and Emperor Daoguang ordered the generals of the provinces to discuss the memorial.Qishan agreed to strictly prohibit.After that, according to the order of Emperor Daoguang, he carried out vigorous and vigorous tobacco inspection activities in Tianjin. From August to November 1838, a total of more than 150,000 taels of tobacco were seized.This number is only lower than that of Guangdong (more than 260,000 taels) governed by Deng Tingzhen, and higher than that of Hubei (more than 20,000 taels) governed by Lin Zexu, ranking second in the country.Recent studies have also proved that it was Qi Shan, not Lin Zexu, who prompted Emperor Daoguang to ban opium. It can be seen that Qishan has an outstanding performance in the anti-smoking campaign.Although this cannot prove that he is an official who strongly advocates strict prohibition, it is enough to deny his charges of relaxing the ban. Let's look at the second charge again, about attacking Lin Zexu and advocating surrender. It is said that Qishan took advantage of the opportunity of the British army to go north to Tianjin to criticize Lin Zexu. Its words only refer to the reasons for being attacked by Guangdong, the reason for being wronged, there is no way to reach the heavens, and beg to be played again."Maitland was the captain of the British ship Wellesley, and the person who went to receive the documents was Luo Ying'ao, a guerrilla from the rear battalion who supervised the bidding. Their conversations are no longer traceable.However, judging from the content of the British document submitted at this time, the phrase "being attacked by Guangdong" does not seem to be fabricated by Qishan himself to slander Lin. As for the punishment of Lin Zexu and the sending of another imperial envoy to Guangdong, this was originally done by Emperor Daoguang and had nothing to do with Qi Shan.However, the editors of the Daoguang Dynasty's "Preparation for Barbarian Affairs" mistakenly inserted the note that should have been attached to Qishan's memorial on September 2, 1840, after his memorial on August 17.This gives people a misunderstanding, thinking that it was Qishan who first proposed to Emperor Daoguang to punish Lin.If we compare the Chinese-English documents in the British archives compiled by Sasaki Masaya, it is not difficult to find the mistakes.It can be said that Qi Shan acted completely according to the order and did not mix personal opinions. Here it is also necessary to briefly describe the personal relationship between Qi Shan and Lin Zexu. According to "Lin Zexu's Diary", the friendship between Qi and Lin began in June 1825.At that time, Lin, in his capacity as the former Jiangsu Inspectorate, where Ding You was registered, was "robbed of his love" and supervised the Jiangsu Gaojiayan River Project.Qi Shan came to inspect as the governor of Shandong.Not long after, Qi Shan moved to the governor of Liangjiang, and Tao Shu transferred the governor of Jiangsu to Nancao Shipping, and ordered Lin Zexu to take care of it.Lin returned home because of his illness, and Qi played for him.Since then, the officials have not been colleagues. According to "Lin Zexu's Diary", before the Opium War, Qi Shan and Lin Zexu met twice.The first time was in March 1837, when Lin Zexu moved to the governor of Huguang and left Beijing to take up his post. Qishan sent a welcome to Gaobeidian at the junction of Zhili and Shuntianfu.When Lin traveled to Baoding, the provincial capital, Qi led civil and military officials out of the city to meet him.After exchanging pleasantries in the office, Qi went to Lin's apartment for a "long talk".Afterwards, Lin paid homage again and "talked until evening".The next day, Lin Zexu left Baoding, and Qishan was "on duty for sacrifices, but he didn't come, so he was sent to the province to pay him."It is the officialdom to welcome and send off, but the two long talks seem to be personal friendship.The second time was in December 1838. Lin Zexu went to Beijing under orders and traveled to Ansu, Zhili (now Xushui, Hebei), when Qishan returned from Beijing, and the two "talked until evening". Later commentators said that Qi and Lin were hostile, referring to two things. One is that when Emperor Daoguang summoned Lin Zexu, he proposed to assist water conservancy, and then followed the order to play it.Qishan hated Lin Ze and Xu Yuezu as his substitutes, and they have been feuding ever since.Cha Lin wrote "Jifu Water Conservancy Discussion", and later "Revisiting and Observing the Overall Planning of Water Affairs", the central meaning of which is that in order to get rid of the disadvantages of water rice, water transportation, and river engineering, only in Zhili, especially It is the four prefectures of Tianjin, Hejian, Yongping, and Zunhua in the east. If they switch to high-yield rice, they can solve the problem of food shortage in the capital once and for all, and no longer need Nancao.North China more than a hundred years ago was not as arid as it is today, but growing rice in Zhili can solve the annual 4 million shi of the Nancao. Today, it still seems a bold statement.What's more, Lin Zexu also seldom said that it is not necessary to control the water first (at that time, the Chaohe, Baihe, and Yongding Rivers often had floods), and then cultivate the fields, but only need to practice "the method of ditches, which seems to be the best for making."Here, we don’t need to study whether Lin’s strategy is feasible or not. Qi Shan, who is the governor of Zhili and has to assume the new responsibility of Jingmi, is naturally unwilling and dare not use this strange strategy. He has suffered a lot; but it seems unnecessary to say that Qishan hated Lin because of this, so that he planned to frame him later.Because Lin's proposal has already been made, Qi only needs to make a statement, not to mention that there were many such incidents at that time, if you remember everything, you will never remember it. The second is that Lin Zexu met Qi Shan on the road in December 1838, and Qi told him, "Don't initiate border quarrels."Later, some commentators claimed that Qi threatened Lin and forced him to give up his position of strictly prohibiting opium.Check out the phrase "Don't provoke frontier quarrels", which comes from the book "Rongcheng Gossip" compiled by Lei Ting during the Republic of China, which was quoted from Dai Lianfang's "Libianxuan Zhiyan".Who and when the whispers of Ran Qi and Lin came out, and where the hearers got them are not explained.Looking at this article again, there are many mistakes, which makes people feel unreliable.Even if the phrase "don't start provocative borders" is really there, it is still a threat if it is an exhortation, and it can be analyzed again.Judging from the wars that took place later, if Qi Shan said this, it seemed to have a certain degree of foresight. To sum up, I think that before the Opium War, Qi Shan and Lin Zexu were naturally not congenial friends, but to call them incompatible political enemies lacks the necessary historical evidence.The accusation that Qishan took the British army to Tianjin and falsely accused Lin seems untenable.
The third crime charged against Qishan, namely his actions in Guangdong, is one of the key points of the third chapter of this book. Here we only briefly mention the issue of refusing to send more troops to Humen. According to Qi Shan's memorial, he arrived in Guangzhou on November 29, 1840, and received the seal on December 4.From November 29 to December 26, he was still obsessed with resolving Sino-British disputes through "enlightenment". On December 26, after receiving an ultimatum from Elliott, the next day, the troops were increased four times in Humen.From then to February 22, 1841, Qishan sent a total of 3,150 troops to Humen, hired another 5,800 soldiers, and dispatched artillery.The claim that Qishan refused to send aid, causing Guan Tianpei to defend alone and fail, cannot be established.
Finally, let's look at the fourth crime, about privately agreeing to Hong Kong, which is the main reason why Emperor Daoguang Ge Naqishan. On January 7, 1841, the British army captured Dajiao and Shajiao at the end of Humen Gate.Elliot subsequently proposed to occupy Shajiao and other demands.Qishan tended to be weak in the face of the strong offensive of the British army. The reply stated that if the British army retreated to Dinghai, Shajiao and other places, they could play Emperor Daoguang, and please give him a "residence" outside the Pearl River Estuary. On January 14, Elliot proposed to occupy Tsim Sha Tsui (now Kowloon) and Hong Kong.Qishan replied that he could only choose one place to "reside and moor the boat", and after the British side selected it, he would present the request. However, Elliot distorted Qishan's meaning and sent a note to Qishan on January 16, claiming that he would "take over as an island of Hong Kong".Attached to this note was another note, "a personal request" to release the two foreign businessmen. On January 18, Qi Shan sent a note to Yilu, which was vague, and the full text reads: Therefore, please release Nami, a black man from Hong Kong, and Shan Yani, a French national. This minister, Jue Gebutang, will immediately leave the staff, and bring them to your ministers and ministers for release.Note for this. (The emphasis is on the citation) On the same day, Qi Shan played to Emperor Daoguang, requesting that the British should be allowed to "stay in boats" in Hong Kong, following the precedent in Macao, and said that he had sent people to "survey Zhang", and that after Emperor Daoguang's approval, he would "discretionally restrict" with the British . Judging from the contents of Qishan's note, it was obviously a reply to Yilu's note requesting his release.Regardless of the original meaning of Qishan's context, Yilu seized the phrase "now everything has been settled" and announced on January 20 that he had reached a "preliminary agreement" with Qishan with four contents. The article is "Hong Kong Island and the port are ceded to the King of England..." On January 26, the British army occupied Hong Kong without any treaty basis. On January 28, James John Gordon Bremer, the naval commander of the British Expeditionary Force, sent a note to Lieutenant Ryan, the deputy general of the Qing Dapeng Association, requesting the withdrawal of the Qing troops stationed on the island.These actions of the British side illustrate the tyranny of the colonialists. According to the note from Bomei to Lai Enjue, the governor of Guangdong, Yiliang, impeached Qishan for "secretly agreeing" to Hong Kong.This shows that Yiliang doesn't know the truth. Recent studies have also proved that Qishan has not reached any treaty or agreement with the British side on the content of Hong Kong. To sum up, it can be confirmed that Qi Shan actually had the intention of allowing the Ying people to "stay" in Hong Kong, but did not "cede" them; After verifying the historical facts, none of the four charges related to Qi Shan's betrayal of the country can be established. However, if we let go of those specific accusations against Qi Shan and look at the problem from a more macro perspective, it is not difficult to see that the root cause of Qi Shan’s traitorous theory lies in: Therefore, "compromise" was regarded as "surrender", and "surrender" was promoted to "traitor".The hats were put on Qishan's head one by one like this. If we carefully examine Qi Shan's actions during the Opium War, it is not difficult to find that, except for some small things, Qi Shan deceived Emperor Daoguang, on the fundamental issue, he generally followed the principles of Emperor Daoguang. Although he was too persistent in the late stage of the Guangdong negotiations and did not hesitate to resist the order.Qi Shan did advocate compromise, but the compromise policy was not proposed by Qi Shan, but was ordered by Emperor Daoguang.Therefore, the responsibility for compromise should have been borne more by Emperor Daoguang, not by Qi Shan.If this is the case, according to the logic that compromise means surrender, and surrender means betrayal of the country, wouldn't Min Ning, the great emperor of the "celestial dynasty", want to "sell the country" to the "daoyi" himself?This is really unbelievable.
Let's look at the first item first, about the smoking ban. The idea of relaxing the ban was conceived in Guangdong, where opium smuggling is the most serious.In order to curb the outflow of silver, some bureaucrats and scholars who have seen opium banned repeatedly tried to deal with the increasingly rampant smuggling activities by taxing legal imports and substituting inland cultivation. In 1834, Lu Kun, governor of Guangdong and Guangxi, made a trial attempt, but failed. In 1836, Xu Naiji, the Shaoqing of Taichang Temple who had served as the inspector of Guangdong Province, officially gave a performance, but he did not. Except for these two cases, we cannot find any other statements in Qing official documents advocating the relaxation of bans. It can be seen that those who held this view were only a few officials who were worried about current affairs, and did not form the so-called "releasing bans faction" within the Qing Dynasty. Many works on the history of the Opium War that are currently popular believe that the bureaucratic group that embezzled opium and bribed a large number of people is the agitator and supporter of the theory of relaxation.In my opinion, this statement is not only lacking in historical data, but also contrary to reason.Because, once the ban is lifted, opium will become a legal commodity, and the traffickers will not have to pay bribes.For these corrupt officials, it is most beneficial to maintain the status quo.The theory of relaxation of ban is beneficial to opium dealers both at home and abroad, big and small, but it is a blow to the interests of corrupt officials. Judging from various historical materials, we can't find Qi Shan's remarks about the relaxation of bans; and because there seems to be no "Relief of Bans" within the Qing Dynasty, it is impossible to say that Qi Shan was the leader of the relaxation of bans. In 1838, Huang Juezi, Minister of Honglu Temple, made a memorial, advocating strict prohibition, and Emperor Daoguang ordered the generals of the provinces to discuss the memorial.Qishan agreed to strictly prohibit.After that, according to the order of Emperor Daoguang, he carried out vigorous and vigorous tobacco inspection activities in Tianjin. From August to November 1838, a total of more than 150,000 taels of tobacco were seized.This number is only lower than that of Guangdong (more than 260,000 taels) governed by Deng Tingzhen, and higher than that of Hubei (more than 20,000 taels) governed by Lin Zexu, ranking second in the country.Recent studies have also proved that it was Qi Shan, not Lin Zexu, who prompted Emperor Daoguang to ban opium. It can be seen that Qishan has an outstanding performance in the anti-smoking campaign.Although this cannot prove that he is an official who strongly advocates strict prohibition, it is enough to deny his charges of relaxing the ban. Let's look at the second charge again, about attacking Lin Zexu and advocating surrender. It is said that Qishan took advantage of the opportunity of the British army to go north to Tianjin to criticize Lin Zexu. Its words only refer to the reasons for being attacked by Guangdong, the reason for being wronged, there is no way to reach the heavens, and beg to be played again."Maitland was the captain of the British ship Wellesley, and the person who went to receive the documents was Luo Ying'ao, a guerrilla from the rear battalion who supervised the bidding. Their conversations are no longer traceable.However, judging from the content of the British document submitted at this time, the phrase "being attacked by Guangdong" does not seem to be fabricated by Qishan himself to slander Lin. As for the punishment of Lin Zexu and the sending of another imperial envoy to Guangdong, this was originally done by Emperor Daoguang and had nothing to do with Qi Shan.However, the editors of the Daoguang Dynasty's "Preparation for Barbarian Affairs" mistakenly inserted the note that should have been attached to Qishan's memorial on September 2, 1840, after his memorial on August 17.This gives people a misunderstanding, thinking that it was Qishan who first proposed to Emperor Daoguang to punish Lin.If we compare the Chinese-English documents in the British archives compiled by Sasaki Masaya, it is not difficult to find the mistakes.It can be said that Qi Shan acted completely according to the order and did not mix personal opinions. Here it is also necessary to briefly describe the personal relationship between Qi Shan and Lin Zexu. According to "Lin Zexu's Diary", the friendship between Qi and Lin began in June 1825.At that time, Lin, in his capacity as the former Jiangsu Inspectorate, where Ding You was registered, was "robbed of his love" and supervised the Jiangsu Gaojiayan River Project.Qi Shan came to inspect as the governor of Shandong.Not long after, Qi Shan moved to the governor of Liangjiang, and Tao Shu transferred the governor of Jiangsu to Nancao Shipping, and ordered Lin Zexu to take care of it.Lin returned home because of his illness, and Qi played for him.Since then, the officials have not been colleagues. According to "Lin Zexu's Diary", before the Opium War, Qi Shan and Lin Zexu met twice.The first time was in March 1837, when Lin Zexu moved to the governor of Huguang and left Beijing to take up his post. Qishan sent a welcome to Gaobeidian at the junction of Zhili and Shuntianfu.When Lin traveled to Baoding, the provincial capital, Qi led civil and military officials out of the city to meet him.After exchanging pleasantries in the office, Qi went to Lin's apartment for a "long talk".Afterwards, Lin paid homage again and "talked until evening".The next day, Lin Zexu left Baoding, and Qishan was "on duty for sacrifices, but he didn't come, so he was sent to the province to pay him."It is the officialdom to welcome and send off, but the two long talks seem to be personal friendship.The second time was in December 1838. Lin Zexu went to Beijing under orders and traveled to Ansu, Zhili (now Xushui, Hebei), when Qishan returned from Beijing, and the two "talked until evening". Later commentators said that Qi and Lin were hostile, referring to two things. One is that when Emperor Daoguang summoned Lin Zexu, he proposed to assist water conservancy, and then followed the order to play it.Qishan hated Lin Ze and Xu Yuezu as his substitutes, and they have been feuding ever since.Cha Lin wrote "Jifu Water Conservancy Discussion", and later "Revisiting and Observing the Overall Planning of Water Affairs", the central meaning of which is that in order to get rid of the disadvantages of water rice, water transportation, and river engineering, only in Zhili, especially It is the four prefectures of Tianjin, Hejian, Yongping, and Zunhua in the east. If they switch to high-yield rice, they can solve the problem of food shortage in the capital once and for all, and no longer need Nancao.North China more than a hundred years ago was not as arid as it is today, but growing rice in Zhili can solve the annual 4 million shi of the Nancao. Today, it still seems a bold statement.What's more, Lin Zexu also seldom said that it is not necessary to control the water first (at that time, the Chaohe, Baihe, and Yongding Rivers often had floods), and then cultivate the fields, but only need to practice "the method of ditches, which seems to be the best for making."Here, we don’t need to study whether Lin’s strategy is feasible or not. Qi Shan, who is the governor of Zhili and has to assume the new responsibility of Jingmi, is naturally unwilling and dare not use this strange strategy. He has suffered a lot; but it seems unnecessary to say that Qishan hated Lin because of this, so that he planned to frame him later.Because Lin's proposal has already been made, Qi only needs to make a statement, not to mention that there were many such incidents at that time, if you remember everything, you will never remember it. The second is that Lin Zexu met Qi Shan on the road in December 1838, and Qi told him, "Don't initiate border quarrels."Later, some commentators claimed that Qi threatened Lin and forced him to give up his position of strictly prohibiting opium.Check out the phrase "Don't provoke frontier quarrels", which comes from the book "Rongcheng Gossip" compiled by Lei Ting during the Republic of China, which was quoted from Dai Lianfang's "Libianxuan Zhiyan".Who and when the whispers of Ran Qi and Lin came out, and where the hearers got them are not explained.Looking at this article again, there are many mistakes, which makes people feel unreliable.Even if the phrase "don't start provocative borders" is really there, it is still a threat if it is an exhortation, and it can be analyzed again.Judging from the wars that took place later, if Qi Shan said this, it seemed to have a certain degree of foresight. To sum up, I think that before the Opium War, Qi Shan and Lin Zexu were naturally not congenial friends, but to call them incompatible political enemies lacks the necessary historical evidence.The accusation that Qishan took the British army to Tianjin and falsely accused Lin seems untenable.
The third crime charged against Qishan, namely his actions in Guangdong, is one of the key points of the third chapter of this book. Here we only briefly mention the issue of refusing to send more troops to Humen. According to Qi Shan's memorial, he arrived in Guangzhou on November 29, 1840, and received the seal on December 4.From November 29 to December 26, he was still obsessed with resolving Sino-British disputes through "enlightenment". On December 26, after receiving an ultimatum from Elliott, the next day, the troops were increased four times in Humen.From then to February 22, 1841, Qishan sent a total of 3,150 troops to Humen, hired another 5,800 soldiers, and dispatched artillery.The claim that Qishan refused to send aid, causing Guan Tianpei to defend alone and fail, cannot be established.
Finally, let's look at the fourth crime, about privately agreeing to Hong Kong, which is the main reason why Emperor Daoguang Ge Naqishan. On January 7, 1841, the British army captured Dajiao and Shajiao at the end of Humen Gate.Elliot subsequently proposed to occupy Shajiao and other demands.Qishan tended to be weak in the face of the strong offensive of the British army. The reply stated that if the British army retreated to Dinghai, Shajiao and other places, they could play Emperor Daoguang, and please give him a "residence" outside the Pearl River Estuary. On January 14, Elliot proposed to occupy Tsim Sha Tsui (now Kowloon) and Hong Kong.Qishan replied that he could only choose one place to "reside and moor the boat", and after the British side selected it, he would present the request. However, Elliot distorted Qishan's meaning and sent a note to Qishan on January 16, claiming that he would "take over as an island of Hong Kong".Attached to this note was another note, "a personal request" to release the two foreign businessmen. On January 18, Qi Shan sent a note to Yilu, which was vague, and the full text reads: Therefore, please release Nami, a black man from Hong Kong, and Shan Yani, a French national. This minister, Jue Gebutang, will immediately leave the staff, and bring them to your ministers and ministers for release.Note for this. (The emphasis is on the citation) On the same day, Qi Shan played to Emperor Daoguang, requesting that the British should be allowed to "stay in boats" in Hong Kong, following the precedent in Macao, and said that he had sent people to "survey Zhang", and that after Emperor Daoguang's approval, he would "discretionally restrict" with the British . Judging from the contents of Qishan's note, it was obviously a reply to Yilu's note requesting his release.Regardless of the original meaning of Qishan's context, Yilu seized the phrase "now everything has been settled" and announced on January 20 that he had reached a "preliminary agreement" with Qishan with four contents. The article is "Hong Kong Island and the port are ceded to the King of England..." On January 26, the British army occupied Hong Kong without any treaty basis. On January 28, James John Gordon Bremer, the naval commander of the British Expeditionary Force, sent a note to Lieutenant Ryan, the deputy general of the Qing Dapeng Association, requesting the withdrawal of the Qing troops stationed on the island.These actions of the British side illustrate the tyranny of the colonialists. According to the note from Bomei to Lai Enjue, the governor of Guangdong, Yiliang, impeached Qishan for "secretly agreeing" to Hong Kong.This shows that Yiliang doesn't know the truth. Recent studies have also proved that Qishan has not reached any treaty or agreement with the British side on the content of Hong Kong. To sum up, it can be confirmed that Qi Shan actually had the intention of allowing the Ying people to "stay" in Hong Kong, but did not "cede" them; After verifying the historical facts, none of the four charges related to Qi Shan's betrayal of the country can be established. However, if we let go of those specific accusations against Qi Shan and look at the problem from a more macro perspective, it is not difficult to see that the root cause of Qi Shan’s traitorous theory lies in: Therefore, "compromise" was regarded as "surrender", and "surrender" was promoted to "traitor".The hats were put on Qishan's head one by one like this. If we carefully examine Qi Shan's actions during the Opium War, it is not difficult to find that, except for some small things, Qi Shan deceived Emperor Daoguang, on the fundamental issue, he generally followed the principles of Emperor Daoguang. Although he was too persistent in the late stage of the Guangdong negotiations and did not hesitate to resist the order.Qi Shan did advocate compromise, but the compromise policy was not proposed by Qi Shan, but was ordered by Emperor Daoguang.Therefore, the responsibility for compromise should have been borne more by Emperor Daoguang, not by Qi Shan.If this is the case, according to the logic that compromise means surrender, and surrender means betrayal of the country, wouldn't Min Ning, the great emperor of the "celestial dynasty", want to "sell the country" to the "daoyi" himself?This is really unbelievable.