Chapter 42 Section 42

The mystery of the fake emperor finally came to an end.According to news from Hubei, Zhang Zhidong personally interrogated Yang Guolin and confessed the truth. He said that his real name was Li Chengneng, and he was from Pingyao, Shanxi. .Later, under the instigation of a "bandit" Hong Chunpu, he conceived such a scam in a whimsical way.The original intention is from Lianghu to Guangdong, as long as the big official of the frontier gets into the trap, he intends to cheat a lot of money, fly away, and flee overseas.Is this true, and who is Hong Chunpu?Zhang Zhidong didn't even ask in detail, anyway, he was rebellious and cunning, and the crime was unforgivable. After the secret execution, the Secret Electronic Military Aircraft Office reported the news, and this serious public case was closed.

Some people said: The so-called "Hongchun Garden" that Li Chengneng spoke of was not real, and it was Li Laizhong, a native of Shaanxi, who instigated him to stage this absurd hoax.Since he was a child, he had been familiar with various legends about his "foreign fellows" King Li Chuang and Zhang Xianzhong, Hong Xiuquan's uprising in Jintian, and the beginning and end of the founding of "Tianjing", so he was quite ambitious and scheming .He secretly thought that there are three ways to start a business from the ancient emperors. One is to be powerful and famous, and in times of troubled times, everyone expects it to return and seize the world by uprising; The third is to use Shinto to set up teachings, to confuse the fools of the country, and to act according to circumstances.Missing one's own status and strength, there is only a third way to go.Therefore, there was a foreshadowing long ago, and a weird story was fabricated, saying that when his mother gave birth to him, he dreamed of a dragon, and there was a difference in the horoscope of "three hours".Don't say that "Sichen" is his brilliance, and leave a little flaw, which is easier to believe.Of course, he himself seldom mentioned these words, and sometimes even pretended to be secretive, lest he would cause trouble, and only used various hints to spread the difference of his life experience.To make good use of small favors and small favors, and to be in a hurry, he can really contribute money and strength, so in his hometown, he has formed some buddies.

It is also said that in the early years of Tongzhi, when the Northwest was in turmoil, Dong Fuxiang started in Anhua, surrounded by brave and hungry people, and gathered more than 100,000 people. They violated Suide and visited Yulin with great momentum, and were later defeated by Liu Songshan.When Dong Fuxiang was trapped in a critical situation, Li Laizhong saved his life, so they became brothers with different surnames.Dong Fuxiang later surrendered to become an official, and everything went smoothly. He once wanted to promote Li Laizhong, but he refused, and he did not admit that he had such a relationship with Dong Fuxiang.No one can tell the truth about it, but Li Laizhong's status has improved because of this.This is his brilliance again, if he admits it, he is only Dong Fuxiang's brother-in-law, and his status is not that high.

What Li Laizhong did was grinding with water. Although the kung fu is deep, it can't be a great tool after grinding it into an embroidery needle.However, since Zuo Zongtang's Western Expedition, Shaanxi and Gansu have focused on management, and the source of chaos has been curbed, and there is no opportunity to call for an uprising. It was not until Yuxian became enemies with foreigners in Shandong that he discovered an opportunity to take advantage of. When he arrived in Shandong, Li Laizhong quickly got on the line with Yihequan, and then instigated Zhu Hongdeng to start an uprising on the plain.Zhu Hongdeng claims to be a descendant of the Ming Dynasty, is a descendant of the Ming Dynasty, and aims to restore the Ming Dynasty, and of course opposes the Qing Dynasty.However, the banner of "helping the Qing Dynasty and destroying the foreigners" was played, which is contradictory and has another effect.It turned out that the slogan "help the Qing and destroy the foreign" was a shield to deal with the government. They didn't want to cater to Yuxian's appetite, and secretly sheltered them, causing chaos.In the end Zhu Hongdeng was defeated and captured, Yu Xian tried to excuse him, but Yuan Shikai took over as governor of Shandong, and on the second day after receiving the seal, he brought Zhu Hongdeng out of prison, issued a canonical punishment, and showed his head to the public.Then, they arrested Yihequan and used the method of "please enter the urn" to use them as live targets for the test of "invulnerability", forcing Yihequan to stop and flee north quietly.

Li Laizhong was exceptionally vigilant, and before he became famous, he only stayed behind the scenes, so although Zhu Hongdeng was poked, he was able to retreat unscathed.Of course, he will not give up. At the same time, he can see very clearly that from governors to prefectures and counties, there are few people like Yuan Shikai, but there are many people like Yuxian. On the topic of "supporting the Qing Dynasty and destroying the foreigners", there is indeed still room to be written. When he arrived in Zhili, Li Laizhong took a fancy to Tianjin.The people in Tianjin are noisy, and they are the easiest to stir up, especially with the teaching case in the ninth year of Tongzhi. New hatreds arouse old hatreds, and it is easier to start.So Li Laizhong stayed in Yangliuqing, Tianjin, and watched the changes silently.

Li Laizhong has heard about the inside stories about Empress Dowager Cixi's eldest elder brother, and the rumors that King Duan is eager to become the Supreme Emperor.However, Zaiyi's strength is not easy to measure, and the court's attitude towards Yihequan is sometimes lenient and sometimes strict, and there is no consensus, which is also confusing.In this way, in February, Li Laizhong finally saw the way. The guiding light was an edict issued on February 13th: "Deng Huaxi, the governor of Shanxi, was transferred to the governor of Guizhou, and Yuxian made up for what was left." Yuxian was the most dissatisfied with foreigners. The affluent Shanxi is the court's heavy use of him, and the heavy use of Yuxian can also be regarded as one of the signs of the court's appeasement of Yihequan.Li Laizhong also found out that Yuxian was released as the governor of Shanxi because of the recommendation of King Duan and the resolute approval of the Minister of Military Affairs.This makes it clearer that King Duan, Fortitude and Yuxian have similar tastes, and they can all become the "protectors" of Boxing Boxing.

The catastrophe happened!Yulu received a letter from Gaolou Youbei, and sent a commander, Yang Futong, to lead a team to Laishui for "camera management".At that time, Zhu Fu had already exhausted himself physically and mentally to lure six boxers in Gaolou with good words, and Wang Zhankui brought them back to Dingxing.At the same time, forty cavalry troops were left to garrison Gaolou as a guard. The next day, Yang Futong's team arrived, and Zhu Fu had to accompany him to the countryside again. When he arrived at a place called Baibu Village, hundreds of boxers suddenly came and surrounded the government army.Yang Futong flew Gaolou's cavalry to support him, and attacked inside and outside, killing dozens of boxers before they could break through.

Seeing this scene, Zhu Fu didn't dare to go any further and went back to the city alone.Yang Futong and the reinforcements went to Gaolou, but before they entered the village, dozens of Boxers swooped on them.The cavalry fired a row of guns, and the boxers retreated to a large empty courtyard. Their tactics were ineffective, they attacked for Yang Futong, captured nine people alive, and beheaded more than twenty, which showed a bit of prestige. Unexpectedly, the Boxers under the Baoding Prefecture swarmed up in these ten days, and it has become a prairie fire.The Dagu Yihe Regiment from Zhuozhou, north of Laishui, set up an ambush on the mountain road. Yang Futong was outnumbered and trapped in the ravine with only two horses beside him. Of course, he was killed.Suffering more than 50 injuries, his face and limbs were completely destroyed, and he died a miserable death.

When Yulu got the report, he turned pale with fright, and called the two divisions of Fan and Standard for a meeting.Tingjie is in charge of suppression, and Tingyong is in charge of consolation, and they are at loggerheads.Yulu was in charge, but he was afraid that the officials would speak and the court would reprimand him.Just when he was hesitating, a decree came: "Si Tingjie, the governor of Zhili, transferred internally, and used Si Tingyong as the governor of the governor." What else do you say now?Yulu can only follow Tingyong's path!He made up his mind that since the imperial court intended to reuse the Boxers, he had to go ahead.What's more, the people are very high-spirited, and they all believe that the Boxers can "help the Qing Dynasty and eliminate the foreigners", and believe that in the spring, there will be a long drought and the plague will prevail, and "as long as the foreigners are wiped out, it will rain naturally to eliminate the disaster."How can I go against the trend?

Therefore, there are two officials in the governor's yamen, who are immediately reused.One is Xu Qideng, the military inspector who is responsible for liaison with various military camps, and the other is Tan Wenhuan, an alternate Taoist.Xu Qideng was originally a remnant of the White Lotus Sect, and he was also the internal response of the Boxers who ambushed Yulu, while Tan Wenhuan tried his best to speak well for the Boxers, preaching how brave the Boxers were, but there were other reasons. It turns out that there are different types of candidates and different talents. The so-called "immortals, tigers, and dogs" are dogs wagging their tails, majestic tigers, or unrestrained immortals. It all depends on whether each person can be an official.If you don't know how to do it, you will listen to the drums at the gate, and you will serve the nobleman's color every day, all you get is a blank stare.I will do it, even if the qualification is to donate classes, I can't match the "right way" and can't make up for the real shortage, but I can take advantage of "errands", and some errands, such as the general office of the manufacturing bureau, are as lucrative as the customs road. , Salt transportation and so on.Moreover, if there is a real shortage of Taoist priests, they can only occupy one vacancy, but they can take up several vacancies. Therefore, there are some red alternate Taoists, with a great reputation and luxurious living, which is really enviable.

Tan Wenhuan is well aware of the samadhi. It's just that his luck is not good, and he has failed several times when he seeks to do errands. When it comes to critical moments, he is always taken away by powerful people.At this time, observing the current situation silently, those who advocated Westernization in the DPRK and China lost their power greatly, and the Boxers had a large number of people, and the banner they played was very beautiful, so they could do something.He was born late, and he often sighs to himself that he failed to catch up with the Hongyang Rebellion, otherwise, he would have been a high-ranking official long ago if he had a background in military merit.Now there is a great opportunity for the Boxers to "help the Qing Dynasty and destroy the foreigners", how can we let it go lightly? He had this kind of calculation in his mind, he had never dealt with a large group of bandits, but there were only two ways of suppressing and appeasement.If this was done as early as possible, then the Boxer Regiment in Fufu would have to set up a bureau to manage it. If nothing else was said, only the food and military uniforms would be handed over, and there would be endless wealth.Therefore, based on Xu Qideng's relationship with Li Laizhong, he kept lobbying in front of Yulu, persuading Yulu to accept the Boxers for his own use, to report to the imperial court for his favor, and to ask for wealth and honor for his descendants.After a long time, Yu Lu was also quite tempted. Now that he is determined to follow Tan Wenhuan's words, of course Tan Wenhuan's counselor is indispensable. "Yihequan is taught by the gods. The things they do are absolutely beyond the power of the gods. For example, burning churches in Laishui and punishing religious people. A teacher recites the mantra once, stamps his feet, and immediately six Ding Liujias appear on the ground. , obeying orders. There are more than 30 religious people in Gaolou Village, more than 100 people big and small. They disappeared in a blink of an eye. Deputy General Wang personally inspected the fire scene, and even the corpse capital was never found. Commander," said Tan Wenhuan, "Just think, this is something that ordinary people can do." "Yes!" Yu Lu looked forward to it, "I don't know where the Boxer teacher is, can you please come and see him?" "This teacher's name is Zhang Decheng. He is in Duliu Town, Jinghai County. He presides over the 'No. 1 Altar in the World'. Please come and see me. I'm afraid..." Tan Wenhuan deliberately didn't say anything, waiting for Yulu to ask.Sure enough, "What?" Yu Lu asked, "You won't come to see me?" "It's not that he doesn't want to. Because Guan Shengdi Jun descended from the mortal world, he always put his body on Mr. Zhang's body, and his status is different. He dare not insult the gods." "What does it take to not be insulting?" "This," Tan Wenhuan hesitated, "I don't dare to say it because of my humble position." "It's okay to talk about it." "You have to use the gift of the king." "This is embarrassing!" Yulu replied, "It doesn't matter if I use my obedience. If I use the king's ceremony, I have to ask for an order. Let's take a look and talk!" Yulu's attitude reached Zhang Decheng's ears that day.After waiting for another three days, news of the imperial court's handling of the case of killing an official in Zhuozhou also came. This is very true news. When the memorial to Yang Futong's murder arrived in Beijing, Gang Yi read it and said, "You shouldn't hurt the righteous first!" Of course, the righteous refers to the Boxers. Mob killing officials has always been regarded as a crime of lawlessness and treason.Because the imperial court set up officials to rule the people, but the people actually killed the officials, which is tantamount to disobedience to the imperial court's rule.In order to maintain prestige, if such a case occurs, a large army must be sent to suppress it. The first offender will certainly be caught, and innocent people will be implicated.Now that a lieutenant general died in such a tragic way, the Minister of Military Affairs of Pingzhang State Affairs actually blamed "should not hurt the righteous man first!" But how can the "righteous man" be silent and do nothing? "It will come when it will happen!" Li Laizhong said to Zhang Decheng, "Just let it go! I'll go back to Xi'an, Shaanxi can create a situation, go out of Tongguan, pass Fenglingdu to connect with Shanxi, and then go out of Niangziguan to Zhengding, sweeping the Hebei, why worry about the failure of the big event?"