Chapter 9 Ruicheng's walk

During the Wuchang Uprising of 1911, the then governor of Huguang, Rui Li, was a key figure no matter what.After the uprising was successful, after the occupation of the three towns of Wuhan, there were no more than 4,000 people in the school. At the time of the uprising, there should be only a thousand people.Most of the soldiers did not rebel and were on the sidelines.At this time, if Ruicheng can calm down a little and lead the army to resist in person, it is really uncertain whether the leaderless rioters can succeed.Even if he followed Ye Mingchen's example and said "don't die, don't surrender, don't go", the ending may be a little different, at least, he will work harder to control Zhang Biao's resistance.Cao Yabo, a soldier of the New Army of the Revolutionary Party who witnessed the uprising, said, "If Ruili does not leave, the coaching team of the Governor's Mansion will not retreat, and the troops that have not responded have no purpose and become wait-and-see, and will be enemies of the revolutionary army. "It's really hard to say whether the uprising will succeed or fail.However, as soon as the guns fired by the insurgents here, he dug through the courtyard wall of the governor's mansion and slipped away, and slipped onto the warship Chuyu in the middle of the river, posing as if he was ready to escape at any time. .

For Ruicheng, almost everyone disliked him, and the old and young of the Qing Dynasty scolded him the most. After the fall of the Qing Dynasty, no one wanted to see him, and no one wanted to associate with him.Those who are inclined to revolution will definitely not feel grateful because his actions actually helped the revolution, but instead keep laughing at him, saying that he is a useless eight-banner playboy.There is also a legend that he was the younger brother of the Empress Dowager Longyu, who was brought up by his skirt. Therefore, he was not punished for the felony of abandoning his post and absconding.In fact, although Ruicheng is also a celebrity queen, he has nothing to do with Longyu. He is the grandson of Qishan, who was regarded as a traitor during the Opium War, and the son of General Gongtong.In fact, people may have confused another person, named Rei, with Rei.This person named Ruiyu is indeed related to Longyu, but he is not Longyu's younger brother, but Guangxu's uncle.This person is also an official outside, and he is a general in Hangzhou. He returned to Beijing when his term was over a year before Xinhai, so nothing happened.This Ruilu is a standard Eight Banners dude.Be a fancier, fight crickets, smoke opium, keep pets, everything is fine.The opium smoked is all boiled with special ginseng. It is said that smoking not only does not hurt the body, but also preserves health.The beloved big smoking gun is probably named after the famous Peking opera characters, such as Mei Lanfang, Shang Xiaoyun, etc., and it even confuses fanciers with smokers.He likes pet cats and dogs, to the point of obsession, even when he goes out for business, he also carries several dogs on the big sedan chair.Shanghai newspapers drew cartoons of him, showing his eight-carriage sedan chair with two dog heads protruding from both sides of the sedan chair curtain.He didn't think he was disobedient when he saw it, but was very happy.At the beginning, if it was this baby who was serving as the governor of Huguang, then he might not even have the ability to dig dog holes and run, and he would have to be a prisoner with a smoking gun and pets.

Speaking of which, Ruicheng is actually not a coward among the Manchurians.Back then, his grandfather was a competent official, and he handled negotiations during the Opium War. From today's point of view, it is not too much of a mistake.The emperor dismissed him and investigated him because he heard a lie, but things seemed to get worse later.Ruicheng himself was also a capable official at the time and was appreciated by Duan Fang, but he was a capable official with a lower grade than Duan Fang.He served as the chief minister of Shanghai and Jiangsu, and he was very effective in running new policies. The "Drafts of Qing History" said, "China and foreign affairs can recite their abilities." It is a bit exaggerated, but it is not false.During his tenure as governor of Huguang, he dealt with the riots of hungry people in Hunan and punished some evil gentry, and his reputation was also good.After the Wuchang Uprising, it was discovered that there were so many silver taels in the official treasury of Hubei, totaling more than 40 million yuan. Of course, there were credits from the previous generation Zhang Zhidong and Duanfang, which showed that he did a good job and was not a prodigal son.It is said that he is relatively clean and honest as an official, and he is not considered corrupt.

However, when the overall quality of the banner people is declining, individual competent officials actually have limited abilities.Even if he is a minister capable of governing the world, living in troubled times, just like Ding Wenjiang laughed at himself, maybe he can only be regarded as an idiot.This is true of Duan Fang, and so is Rui Li.The revolutionaries tried to make bombs in the Hankou Concession and exposed their strongholds. Some party members were arrested, and the roster of party members also fell into the hands of Rui Li.At this time, if someone comes hard, he will be arrested immediately according to the list and killed.If it is soft, the arrested party members will not be killed, but the roster will be destroyed in public, declaring that the past is not to blame.However, Ruicheng killed three people including Peng Chufan and hung their heads to show the public.However, he hesitated on the issue of whether to arrest the party members wantonly. He did not say that he would be arrested, and he did not say that he would not be arrested.Obviously, this kind of handling, whether it is hard or soft, is the most likely to cause trouble.On the night of the uprising, when he heard that the soldiers were rioting, Rui Li immediately called Zhang Biao to discuss with his staff. Some advised him to stick to it, while others advised him to hide.In fact, at this time, the guns of the insurgents hadn't hit the governor's mansion, and even the deployment of the attack had not been carried out.In the Qing Dynasty, local officials abandoned their posts and fled, which was a felony of beheading. As a member of the Manchus, Rui Li could not run away anyway.However, Chen Delong, the leader of the warship Chuyu, was also present that day. He said that the Governor's Mansion was too dangerous, and that the Chuyu was parked in Wuchang, and escaping to the warship was not considered an escape, but he could still command a counterattack.This was exactly what Ruicheng wanted, so when the cannon fired here, Ruicheng didn't even dare to go through the gate, so the entourage asked the soldiers to dig a dog hole with spears from the wall of the back garden of the governor's mansion. His sons, wives, concubines, servants and sons and daughters-in-law got out of the dog hole and fled to the warship Chuyu.At this time, there was not even a shadow of the rebel army outside the door.

The governor put on a pose ready to escape at any time, and the whole situation can be imagined.Even if they wanted to resist, they didn't have the heart anymore. Moreover, when they got to Ruicheng on the warship, they were half-baked and had no way to counterattack.The three towns in Wuhan collapsed like an avalanche.At that time, the Qing court was quite polite and gave Rui Li a punishment of dismissal and staying in office, which meant that he was allowed to commit crimes and make meritorious deeds. He has friendship with Ruicheng, and he is willing to take in such frustrated people in the political arena, so he hid in the Hartong Garden in the concession.The next punishment given to him by the imperial court was to arrest Beijing and punish him. However, at this time, the Qing Dynasty was already unable to protect itself, so it was naturally difficult to implement it.Ruicheng has been hiding in the Shanghai Concession, lonely and disgraced for four years, and died of illness in a miserable state.When the later survivors mentioned him, their teeth itch with hatred.We discussed together and said that we should give him a posthumous title, called "The Chief of Sin". I don't know if Xiao Xuantong, the abolished emperor of the Qing Dynasty, really has such a posthumous posthumous title?