Chapter 26 Duanfang: the most famous victim

During the Revolution of 1911, although there was a revolution, the intensity of the violence was not so great.Most of the Manchu local officials and the Eight Banners garrisoned, as long as they don't resist, they can probably save their lives.In many places, even nuisance never happened.Of course, Manchu officials who resisted fiercely were quite rare, and of course not many committed suicide.Except for Xi'an, the banner soldiers all over the city made a relatively tenacious resistance. After the failure, the general committed suicide, and many bannermen died.The missionaries in Xi'an said that the revolution killed 6,000 Manchus.In their pre-revolutionary propaganda, the revolutionaries hated the Manchus so much that they gnashed their teeth and wished they could eat their flesh and blood, but when they were really full of revolutionaries, they became more polite.During the Wuchang Uprising, some soldiers and family members of the banner camp died, but most of them were caused by rebellious soldiers and hooligans who took advantage of the chaos.After they stopped resisting, the revolutionaries did not go after the poor.None of the Manchu students in Wuchang Army Middle School died when the whole school participated in the uprising. For the sake of their classmates, they were all released.There are quite a few flag officials in various places, but as long as they give up their power, they are probably fine.The most unlucky one was Duan Fang, a Manchu bureaucrat who came out of Wuchang to Sichuan to suppress the road protection movement. He said he was going to suppress the road protection movement, but in fact he never let go of a single shot, but he was in Zizhou, Sichuan, The soldiers of the new army who were taken had their heads cut off.

Duanfang was at the end of the Qing Dynasty and definitely belonged to the leader among the Manchus.The three talents under his banner, Da Rong (Qing), Xiao Na (Tong), and Duan Lao Si (Fang), Duan Fang are outstanding, leaving much more traces in history than the first two.This man is open-minded and capable.In the years when the Manchus were generally low-energy and low-energy, it was very eye-catching, and it was also appreciated by the Empress Dowager Lafayette.He has held the positions of the two most important frontier officials in the Qing Dynasty, the governor of Liangjiang and the governor of Zhili.As early as the Reform Movement of 1898, he was one of the few supporters of the reform among the Manchus.In the late Qing Dynasty when the constitution was being prepared, he pushed it very hard.Among the five ministers who went out to inspect the constitution, he was the most important one.It is said that after returning from the investigation, Cixi asked him about the establishment of a constitution, and he replied that if the imperial court can establish a constitution, the emperor can be hereditary.In a word, Lafayette calmed down.When he was in the local office, he vigorously reformed and guarded against the revolutionary party at the same time, but he dealt with it relatively mildly.The well-known revolutionary Zhao Sheng, who was dubbed the Xinjun Biaotong (regiment leader), was discovered by him, but he was not beheaded, but expelled.Chen Daogong, the leader of the Jiangsu Revolutionary Party, was arrested by him. Not only was he given preferential treatment in prison, but he was finally released.From then on, Chen Daogong changed his name to "Tao Yi" to commemorate his savior (Duanfang word Tao Zhai).If someone like Liu Shipei was not a virtuous corporal who was grateful for Duan Fang, he might not have been accused of a traitor and cast himself under Duan Fang's shadow.If it weren't for Cixi and Guangxu who turned up too early, Duanfang lost his backing, catastrophe suddenly fell, he was plotted by political opponents, impeached, and lost his love, as a rare Manchu capable minister, he should be in the later political situation, play a more important role.He was impeached for disrespect at Empress Dowager Cixi's funeral. The so-called disrespect was nothing more than sending people to take pictures along the way at the funeral-a crime that has something to do with fashionable advanced culture, but it is just nonsense.The real reason is that he and Yuan Shikai are relatives of sons and daughters, and they ran into the muzzle of Yuan Shikai when the relatives in power wiped out Yuan Shikai's forces.The young relatives and nobles of the Manchus headed by Zaifeng, during the short period of three years in charge, mainly took power into the hands of the Manchus themselves, but first gave a talented official who belonged to them to him. Dismissal, it is difficult not to collapse.

In the countdown months of the Qing Dynasty, Duanfang was reappointed and ordered to supervise the Sichuan-Han and Guangdong-Han railways, and to do the most unacceptable and most offensive event for this doomsday dynasty.Now it seems that this is the incident that killed Duan Fang. Otherwise, Duan Fang, who is at home, has accumulated a lot of money. If he wants to do something after the revolution, his old friend Yuan Shikai will agree, and he does not want to do it. If you are a survivor, you can hide in Qingdao as much as you can, and sing poems and drinks with a group of comrades, drink wine, make poems, complain, and enjoy the rest of your life.After taking over, Duanfang, who had just arrived in Wuchang, caught up with the road protection movement in Sichuan.Due to his duties, he cannot stay out of it.I had no choice but to ask for a new army with multiple bids (regiments) from Ruicheng, the governor of Huguang, and went to Sichuan to suppress it.

However, entering Sichuan was not an easy task at that time.When he entered Zizhou with his troops, Zhao Erfeng, the governor of Sichuan, had already started killing and caused a catastrophe, and there were wars everywhere in Sichuan.Of course, the smart Duan Fang didn't want to go through this muddy water, so he stopped in Zizhou and waited and watched.At the same time, he continued to make gestures to express his understanding of the road protection movement and to release all those arrested.Not only the former nursing governor Wang Renwen was impeached, but even the current governor Zhao Erfeng was impeached.However, the goodwill he released was useless in the face of the deteriorating situation.Comrade armed rebels are becoming more and more radical.Stopped in Zizhou, ate beef and old wine recipes, and the peaceful days did not pass for a few days, and Wuchang behind was bombed.After the Wuchang Uprising broke out and succeeded, although Duanfang deliberately concealed the news of Wuchang, the soldiers he led became restless.Originally they were the brothers of the uprising soldiers, and the number of revolutionaries in them was no less than that of the troops in Wuchang.There is no definite news about the rebellion of the old camp, but there will always be clues. If there is no rebellion, how can we stand it?Duanfang also smelled it, and wanted to escape, because he was unfamiliar with the place.The local gentleman was asked to help, but the imperial envoy was too famous and made too much noise, and no one dared to take the blame.It is not safe to flee alone, and there are wars everywhere.While hesitating, he found that all the soldiers he brought had their braids cut.Duanfang told the soldiers that he was originally a Han Chinese, surnamed Tao, from Zhejiang, and his ancestors threw the flag in the early Qing Dynasty.The confession at this time is of no avail.Soon, Duanfang and his younger brother, who were innocent at all, were dragged out by soldiers.He said to the soldiers, I have treated you well.The soldier said, that is a personal favor, and what we are asking for is justice against Manchuria.He also said, the silver from Ziliujing will arrive soon, you can take the silver and let me go.The soldiers simply fell silent.In the dead silence, Duanfang and his younger brother were pressed on a four-legged bench and cut off their heads after several knives. They were packed in a prepared wooden box and brought back to Wuchang.At that time, there were wars everywhere in Sichuan. If the Hubei army who entered Sichuan did not kill Duanfang, they would be regarded as enemies. It was hard to say whether they could retreat unscathed.Therefore, Duanfang's head became a pass. On the way back to Hubei, when passing by a place, Sichuanese would open the box to see Duanfang, and then serve wine to see him off.

In this way, Duanfang became the most famous victim at the time of the fall of the Qing Dynasty.When a dynasty ruled by a foreign race falls, those who die are often the best people of the nation, such as Duanfang and Liangbi.