Chapter 18 Mr. Ji Sa Zhenbing

Mr. Sa Zhenbing is always the object of my admiration. Since I was six or seven years old, I often heard my father say: "The model soldier of the Chinese navy is only Sa Zhenbing." Since then, I have always listened carefully. His words and deeds, everything I heard and seen about him, all increased my admiration for him.To this day, although there are many characters whom I admired in my childhood, I am discouraged and disappointed, but every time I think of him, I retain my confidence in human beings and encourage my courage to live upward. Most of the good words and deeds of Mr. Sa recorded below are derived from the conversations with his father. ——I can only roughly calculate the date of the fact. When I have collected more complete materials on his life in the future, I want to write a biography for him in detail. ——Here I thank my father, who knows what kind of impression should be instilled in the minds of young people.

Admiral Sa Zhenbing, whose name is Dingming, was born in Minhou, Fujian Province, born in 1860 (?), and entered Fuzhou Mawei Shipping School at the age of twelve as a student in the second class. At the age of seventeen or eighteen, he went abroad and entered Green-Wich College in the UK. After returning to China, he served as a full-time teacher at Tianjin Guanlun Academy.At that time, my father was a student in the driving class of Tianjin Naval Academy, and I have known him since then. When he was in Guanlun Academy, he used a special flat and small wooden bed in his bedroom, which was similar to the beds on a ship. His reason was, "Soldiers should not be greedy for comfort, and they should be on the shore as well as on the shore." It’s the same as at sea.” He is the most conscientious in teaching, and often rewards students with good homework with personal belongings, such as time watches. Sometimes, when the small and expensive items are used up, even the wicker chairs in his room are moved. go.After class, students are often taught to dig and build forts on the playground with shovels.At that time, the Guanlun School was on the south side, and the Naval Academy was on the north side, with a playground in between.Wu Zhongxiang, the general manager of the school, lives in the Naval Academy.Director Wu is a literati, and he doesn't like students doing "rough things".So when the students were actively working with their shovels and shovels, Mr. Sa always patrolled for them on the side of the playground, in case Mr. Wu's sudden inspection came.

My father and Mr. Sa have known each other since they both served on the "Haiqi" ​​warship (around 1900). At that time, he was the deputy commander of the navy and the owner of the "Haiqi" ​​ship. During the Gengzi Change, the orthodox commander of the navy, Ye Zuyu, was stationed in the sea and was trapped in Dagukou.Four torpedo boats, Hailong, Haixi, Qinghaihua, have been captured by the coalition fleet.At that time, the Haiqi, Haichen, Haichou, Haitian and other ships in the Beiyang Fleet were all berthed at Miaodao, Shandong. Hai Qi stood still. When the Boxers in Shandong killed the overseas Chinese, Mr. Sa asked all the priests and overseas Chinese in the Penglai area to disembark, entertained them graciously, and sent them ashore after the chaos.At that time, the USS Ore Agan, a large American cruiser, ran aground near Temple Island. Bo  Department of pancreas  Ren  side close  joking choke [Porphyro  Guo  vinegar * When his ship sailed south, Haiqi alone, the morale of the army was shaken, many soldiers claimed to be sick and went ashore for medical treatment, and fled in time, and finally the public opinion In a panic, they gathered people to petition and wanted to go south to avoid the enemy.The noise on the deck was unstoppable, and when his father tried his best to persuade everyone, Mr. Sa suddenly took a saber, walked out of the cabin, and shouted:

"Anyone who wants to go south will be killed!" He was always kind, but when he suddenly became angry, everyone was shocked and scattered, and Haiqi's soldiers calmed down. ——One day after the incident, Mr. Sa quietly handed his father a piece of paper, which was asked by his family in the Lv Zu Temple in Fuzhou when they could not hear from Haiqi. To commit evil. The way of a gentleman is long, and the way of a villain disappears." The two laughed endlessly. On the warship where Mr. Sa is, the discipline is clean, and he is always the champion of the whole army.He often donated money to repair public property. He often said to his father with a smile, "When a ship owner is a ship owner, he gives his wife a gold bracelet to wear. My gold bracelet is worn on my boat." The bore of a side cannon was scratched. (Water is also filled in the air-to-air gun to make up for the amount of gunpowder. The iron hole after the bomb uses an iron plug. The gunner misuses the wooden plug, so that the shell bursts when it is fired, and the fragmented bullet breaks through the barrel and comes out.) Worth more than 20,000 yuan, Mr. Sa donated the monthly salary himself, and compensated in installments.Later, it was heard by Ye Zuzhen, and it was also reported to Yuan Shikai, governor of Zhili, who immediately sent money to compensate, so now there is a shipside cannon on the Haiqi ship that Yuan Shikai bought and replaced.

On ships, especially on training ships, such as Weiyuan Kangji Tongji and other ships, he often taught students to swing sampans, swim, and shoot targets as daily lessons and entertainment.When driving, it is also dedicated to students and does not invite funatoes. (At that time, on other ships, there were boat households leading the port. The Hokkien so-called "qu hoof", that is, the people who lived on the boat.) Commander Ye often frowned and said: "Ding Ming is too willing to take risks, and he only likes to use young people!" In the decades at sea, the warship he was on has never been wrecked.

He loves talents like his life, and he cares about officials and soldiers with great care.When going ashore on a business trip, when the wind blows, the sampan will use sails to save troops.When I go ashore to pay a visit, I don't bring the servants on board, but I borrow them from friends on the shore when necessary.He has held important positions for decades, such as vice minister of the navy, chief of the navy, governor of Fujian province, etc., and has never used a relative.When relatives come from afar to invest, they will give Sichuan capital or capital for business, and persuade them to go back, saying: "You have not received sea training, so you cannot take up positions in the navy."——Now there is a shop in Donghaichun on Liugong Island, It was opened by a certain gentleman of his relative, who specializes in selling tobacco, alcohol, soda, and the like, and is a navy business—only his brother-in-law Chen Jun once wrote the copywriting for the Tongji ship training, because the copywriting was written by literati.

Mr. Sa and his wife, Mrs. Chen, are very close couple.Once he was sick in Yantai, Mrs. Chen came from Weihaiwei to see the disease, but he dismissed him, and everyone said he was unreasonable.And since he was thirty-six years old, after his wife passed away, he placed his children in foster care with his father-in-law's family and lived as a widower for life.People asked him why he didn't continue, and he said: "If there is another woman in the world, I will marry someone who is like my wife." (According to Mr. Sa Fujun, the current director of the Ministry of Railways, the daughter-in-law is Chen's.)

His personal life is especially simple. He has never worn western clothes or lint cotton clothes. He usually always wears cloth shoes and stockings, woolen robes and mandarin jackets.Self-esteem is extremely thin, and he has never celebrated his birthday in his life, nor does he receive gifts from others.Without any hobbies, playing cards is a once-in-a-lifetime event. When you have to sit down, you will win or lose with copper coins. He lives in a house and always rents a dilapidated one, repairing it for the landlord himself, planting flowers and plants, laying double brick floors, opening doors and opening houses.

The furnishings in the house are also extremely simple, and the environment is desolate.When he was Vice Minister of the Navy, he bought a small house in Xicheng, Beiping, and gave this small house to a classmate after he went south.During his tenure as Governor of Fujian Province, he lived in the Yamen of the former Qing governor. The place was very large. He only left a few offices, and the rest were demolished together with the arrow road, and it became a main street. General Wei. The word "Suwei" is not enough for Mr. Sa, he is really a very funny and free and easy person.He likes small banquets in his life, and he is happiest when three or five friends have light meals.So when any group invites him publicly, he always returns the courtesy piecemeal, saying:

"When there are too many guests, it is difficult for the host to entertain well. It is better to have a small banquet, where the guests and the host can have a good time." When entertaining guests, all the food and equipment are always checked by themselves, and they must be neat and clean.I also like to entertain friends from Western countries.Although the furnishings in the house are simple, they are often changed in style.I use everything I own to play with. Knowing that others like it, I immediately give it to others. When I give gifts, I also go to the door to deliver them by myself, and never use servants.

He writes letters extremely detailed and thoughtful, every letter has the address of the month and day, and his handwriting is beautiful. He also likes to compose poems, and he often sings with his father.He usually advocates that naval schools should not hire Chinese language teachers. The reason is that the literati are decadent and the young soldiers should not be infected with the habit of corruption.He said: "I have been in the military academy since I was twelve years old, but Chinese is enough. The value of writing is self-study, and I don't care about learning to write stereotyped and soulless articles." I can still recite one of his poems in the Pinghan car The seven musts of writing are: "Xiaofa Xiangjiang is not yet cold, night passes by Rongze to feel the clothes, light car crossing on the Yellow River bridge, moonlight in the middle of the stream, so good to see." I think the last two sentences fully express his cleanliness. Superb personality! I haven't seen him for more than twenty years, and there are still a few indelible events in my memory: When I was five or six years old, he went to Yantai for inspection and stayed in the naval training camp. One afternoon, my father invited him to his house for dinner. The appointment was at 7:00, and at 6:55, my father took me to wait at the door and said, "Sa Junmen keeps watch on time. He often arrives at the master's door a few minutes earlier, and then comes in. We Don't make him wait long." We walked out, and sure enough, we saw him standing at the door wearing a blue woolen robe with a big smile on his face. He is also very gentle and considerate. Once when he came to our house to discuss business, there was a snack served inside, which was made by his mother, and his father accidentally told him about it.After talking about business, I went to the door and came back and said courteously: "Please thank your wife, today's snacks are really delicious." In my father's living room, there are always very few calligraphy and paintings, because he is not a connoisseur, and there are few photos, because he doesn't have many friends. However, after going south and north and moving several times, there is always a photo of Mr. Sa hanging in the living room, and a couplet written by him as a gift, which is "to be as poor as possible, to be a foreigner, and not to change the old feelings." I heard that his old man now lives in Fuzhou and sells calligraphy for public welfare.Relief relief in the disaster area is always his business, because in the red area of ​​Fujian Province, he is the only one who can pass through unimpeded.In Xiadu, Fuzhou, he built a model village with donations from the navy. The villagers loved him like a parent and built a pavilion for him. They would come to visit during festivals. During the Laba Festival, everyone would cook some Laba porridge for him. Take it home. In addition, there are many things about Mr. Sa that I heard from friends, which are extremely precious materials.It's late at night, so I'm sorry I won't write any more. Anyway, I want to write his biography, and many things might as well be written later.Here I just want to say my feelings: A few days ago, I saw the order of the Executive Yuan to "clarify corruption", which made me realize that there are so many corrupt officials today, and misuse of public property, although it is inevitable for the wise, because this is already a trivial and common thing!What disappoints me the most is that among our friends, those who have relations with the government, some are able to take advantage of the government, flaunting and boasting to each other. Fragmentary exploitation of this size! I don't want to mention the countless corruption facts that I have heard and witnessed. I just want to praise a clean and dignified personality, so that our friends who are struggling with corruption will not feel lonely when they look up... Here I respectfully wish him a long and healthy life.The night of March 23, 1936.