Chapter 33 The old man suffered from vertigo, so he cannot accompany him

Luo Shuya arrived in Tianjin soon.The Minister Plenipotentiary of the French Empire in China was a trained professional diplomat.Like Feng Daye, he thinks he is the master of the poor and backward China, and he has no equal position in this country in the corner of his eyes.But his appearance is more elegant than Feng Daye, and his manner and conversation are not as rude as Feng Daye.When he was in France, he heard that China was like a sheep, obediently obedient to foreigners; During the past few years when he came to China as a minister, he discovered that the situation was not entirely the case.Even in officialdom, not all officials are like sheep and mud balls, but the majority of Chinese people are more like lions and tigers. They seem to have an instinctive hatred for the Catholic Church and missionaries. It's for France.The Youyang teaching case that broke out a few years ago has not been satisfactorily resolved so far.He had to go to Sichuan by steamer himself, intimidating Chinese magistrates along the way.Not long after he returned to the embassy, ​​he was both annoyed and timid about the bigger Tianjin religious case.First, Chonghou was dealing with it. He knew that as long as he sent a few notes in Beijing, Chonghou would follow through. Later, he learned that the Qing government sent Zeng Guofan to Tianjin, and this old man was no easier to deal with than Chonghou.He decided to go to Tianjin for a while.

"Good afternoon, Zeng Zhongtang!" Accompanied by Chonghou, Luo Shuya saw Zeng Guofan in court uniform as soon as he entered the gate, and he took the initiative to say hello first. "It's a pleasure to meet you, Mr. Minister." Zeng Guofan thought that he was a first-rank university scholar, and he couldn't be too humble in front of foreigners. He deliberately didn't leave the door, and only waited at the door of the reception hall. The host and guest sat down, offered tea, and after exchanging greetings, Zeng Guofan stopped talking. Luo Shuya saw that he was sitting on the grand teacher's chair, stroking his beard with his hands constantly, his face was serene, dignified, and there was a faint aura of a mountain collapsed in front of him without moving his face, and a thunderclap behind him without changing his face, she couldn't help being surprised inwardly.He has seen hundreds of officials in the Qing Dynasty, ranging from princes and ministers to state and county officials, and there is no second person who can compare with him.I wanted to wait for Zeng Guofan to ask questions, but seeing this scene, Luo Shuya thought, if she didn't speak first, the old man would probably sit still and stroke his beard until the tea was served to see off the guests, making you unpredictable, and finally walked away empty-handed, not knowing whether to laugh or cry.

"Zeng Zhongtang, your country's mob rioted, our country's consul was killed, the national flag was burned, the church was burned, the embassy, ​​nursery hall, and lecture hall were smashed, and as many as nine people died. This is an incident that our country has never encountered in foreign countries since the founding of our country.Our country was furious, and countries all over the world also condemned it. I wonder how Zeng Zhongtang views this matter?How do you plan to deal with it? "Luo Shuya said in proficient Chinese. "Mr. Minister." Zeng Guofan stopped combing his beard with his right hand, and said in a slow and heavy tone, "Regarding the losses suffered by your country during the riots last month, especially the killing of Mr. Consul and several other citizens of your country , I am deeply saddened, and will follow the orders of our empress dowager and emperor to seriously investigate and deal with it seriously. However, Mr. Minister, the cause of the matter comes from rumors of gouging out eyes and hearts from churches in your country, and Mr. Consul told me The imperial court ordered the officials to shoot and kill the county magistrate's family members, which is the trigger for the sudden change of the situation. I also want to remind Mr. Minister to pay attention to these two points."

It was these two points that hit the crux of the Tianjin teaching case, and Luo Shuya was secretly shocked: the old guy is really powerful.But Luo Shuya has no fear, he wants to erase these two vital points: "Zeng Zhongtang, the theory of gouging out eyes and heart is purely a malicious slander against our country. It is rumored all over your country, but there is no evidence for it. As a reason for besieging churches? Excuse me, but this just shows the ignorance of the people in your country. Feng Daye fired a shot to frighten the gangsters who surrounded him. County Liu ordered his family to die, which was purely by mistake.The people of your country use this as an excuse to commit atrocities that have disappeared in today's civilized world. "

"Mr. Minister." Zeng Guofan's face became serious. "The shooting on the bridge is said to drive away the besiegers. It may be justified. How about shooting at Chong Shilang's house? Hmm?" Chonghou heard the cold smell in the "hmm", he was afraid that Luo Shuya would become angry, so he hurriedly laughed to save the siege: "The junior also had a bad attitude that day, he quarreled loudly with Consul Feng, and the soldiers surrounded him, Consul Feng was in that situation It is also understandable to shoot down." Chong Hou knew that these words would make Zeng Guofan angry, so he hurriedly said to Luo Shuya: "Zeng Zhongtang has always held a friendly attitude towards your country, insisted on keeping the peace agreement, and did not want to cause military troubles. Currently, he is strictly ordering the arrest of the murderer, so as to rectify the country's law."

Zeng Guofan was dissatisfied with Chonghou's obsequiousness at first, but after thinking about it, it is not appropriate to have a falling out with Luo Shuya. If they really fell out, it would be very detrimental to the country, so he followed Chonghou's words: "Mr. Attitude? I can tell you, the attitude of our country’s imperial court is the attitude of this humble person. Specifically, one is to arrest the gangsters who abducted people and gouged out their eyes and hearts; Officials, the fourth is to apologize for your country's losses and make compensation as appropriate."

Seeing that Zeng Guofan's attitude was changing, Luo Shuya thought to himself that even Zeng Guofan, who is known as the first minister of ZTE in China, would not dare to fight against the French Empire to the end. The gangsters who gouged eyes and hearts did not involve our country. I appreciate this attitude. There are no people who abduct people or gouging eyes and hearts in churches and nursery halls in our country, but there is no guarantee that there will be no such people in your country I and the government of our country firmly support the punishment of this kind of bandit. I also appreciate the other articles. However, these words are too empty. His Majesty the Great Emperor of our country informs me to solemnly express my sincere respect to Gui Zhongtang and your The servant made four requests, please consider."

"Which four items, Mr. Minister, please mention them!" Chong Hou answered immediately, Zeng Guofan still looked peaceful and dignified, and kept stroking his beard with his hands. "First, restore the Church of Victory of Our Lady as it was." Luo Shuya's attitude was obviously toughened step by step. "Second, the funeral of Consul Feng Daye. Third, investigate and deal with the local officials. Regarding this point, I would like to explain, The local officials not only refer to the officials at the provincial, prefecture, and county levels in Tianjin who fanned the flames behind their backs, but also Chen Guorui, the commander-in-chief of Chuzhou Town, Zhejiang Province, who directed the people to make trouble by the pontoon bridge that day. Fourth, all the murderers who participated in the murder of our citizens must be Once captured and brought to justice, beheaded for public display."

Chong Hou wanted to say that he would do everything, but seeing Zeng Guofan's face darken, he dared not speak.Zeng Guofan was thinking in his heart: rebuilding the church and punishing the murderer are already under consideration; although the burial of Feng Daye is a bit awkward emotionally, as a consul, it is acceptable to pay more attention to the etiquette during the burial; Officials, especially including Chen Guorui, this is hard to accept.After being silent for a long time, Zeng Guofan said to Luo Shuya with a slightly calm face: "Mr. Minister, I have no right to give you a clear answer to these four requests. I will talk about them after consulting the Empress Dowager and the Emperor." As if he had something to say, he turned his face to Chong Hou and said, "Chong Shi Lang, you can accompany Mr. Minister to the post house to rest. The old man has suffered from dizziness again and needs to lie down." Holding his forehead.

When Luo Shuya got up, her face was sullen, but she couldn't find an excuse to attack, Zeng Guofan clasped his fists at Luo Shuya, showing a helpless look: "Please forgive me, Mr. Minister, the old man has been declining in recent years, and this troublesome drama is really unbearable. Mr. Minister is in his prime, and the old man is envious." Luo Shuya scolded fiercely in her heart: "This old treacherous politician!" She could only say a few polite words to leave, and left the Confucian Temple with Chonghou. Two days later, when Wu Rulun and Xue Fucheng walked into the Confucian Temple, Zeng Guofan asked eagerly, "How is the investigation going these two days?"

Wu Rulun said: "I have asked about one hundred and dozens of children in Futu'an. They are all orphans who live on the street without father or mother. They are either in Tianjin, or in Jinghai, Baodi and other places. They were taken in by the Foundling Church. Asked how foreigners treated them, they all said that they were very good. They had food and clothes to wear. They were ten times and a hundred times better than wandering on the streets. The only bad thing was that they were forced to read the Bible and go to church. If you don’t love Chinese people, if you resist, you will be beaten.” "Did any of them see someone who had their eyes gouged out?" Zeng Guofan asked. "No, no one has ever seen it. It's just that when people are about to die, the missionaries wash their eyes with water and close their eyelids with their hands. These, the children said, the missionaries said that they can make the soul of the dead go to the ground in peace. Paradise.” Wu Rulun, a gifted scholar in Tongcheng, originally strongly opposed the church, but after two days of personal visits, he also expressed doubts about the theory of eye-gouging. "Looking at it this way, that is indeed nonsense." Zeng Guofan paced the room with his hands behind his back, and he had firmly established this view. "Shu Yun, did Wu Lanzhen find Wang San?" "I found it. Wu Lanzhen didn't want to look for it first, so I told him plainly that he was the cause of all the trouble. If Wang San wasn't found and the relationship between them was clarified, I would kill his head to appease the public anger. Now Wu Lanzhen was scared, so she called Wang San the next day." "What kind of person is Wang San?" "According to the humble official, this Wang Sanchun is a street rogue. The humble official has interrogated him twice. The first time he confessed was the drug given to him by the church Xia Gospel.The second time, he retracted the confession, saying that he made the drug himself, and that the purpose of abducting the child was to sell the child to someone else as a son and earn some money for it, which had nothing to do with the church.Truly a capricious villain. " "Put him in custody, and retrial in a few days!" Zeng Guofan ordered, "And Wu Lanzhen, also in custody, but separated from Wang San. Zeng Guofan was very irritable, and he was pacing faster and faster with his hands behind his back.After a while, he stopped abruptly, and turned to Wu and Xue, "Did you hear any discussions in the streets and alleys these two days?" Wu and Xue looked at each other without saying a word. "Didn't you get anything at all?" Zeng Guofan asked again. "My lord, it's not that there are none, there are many, and the whole city of Tianjin is talking about it." Wu Rulun has always been unable to hide his words, and when Zeng Guofan asked again, he broke the tacit understanding with Xue Fucheng. "I know there must be a lot of discussion. Please pick a few main ones to talk about, especially about the situation after we came." After walking a few more steps, Zeng Guofan felt tired, and he sat down, his eyelids drooping weakly. "The people talk about Chonghou the most, saying that he is a foreign slave and a traitor. Chonghou talks about it everywhere, and what the adults say in front of him, everyone will share in the slander, and he will share in the disaster. He said that the adults fully support him, so he is ignorant The foolish people also blame the adults. They say that the adults and Chonghou wear the same pants." Wu Rulun has a straightforward personality, and he knows what Zeng Guofan knows about his character, so he doesn't hide his words. Zeng Guofan became dissatisfied with Chonghou.If you slander, you will share, and if you suffer, you will share. This has been said, but it should not be said around.Is he trying to pull me out as his shield?The obsequiousness in front of Luo Shuya that day has made people not pleasing to the eye. Could it be that he has some kind of deal with foreigners behind his back?Be more vigilant in the future! "What else are you talking about?" "The four demands that Luo Shuya put forward in front of the adults that day have also been spread." Xue Fucheng replied, "The people in Tianjin say that none of these four requirements can be accepted. They say that King Chun is still patriotic. King Chun said that we should take advantage of this opportunity , kill all foreigners in China, burn their houses, and never allow foreigners to step into the gate of our Qing Dynasty, it is a pity that Zeng Zhongtang did not do this.” Xue Fucheng himself and Junjun Wang Yixuan have the same point of view, and the following sentence of "it's a pity" is from his own heart.Zeng Guofan opened his eyelids and glanced at Xue Fucheng. He had already seen Xue Fucheng's thoughts from these few words, and he also knew that Wu Rulun also had the same opinion as Xue Fucheng.Only Zhao Liewen was stable and far-sighted. On the way to Tianjin, Zhao Liewen used the four words "begging for perfection" to summarize the policy of handling the case, which was completely consistent with his thinking. Yesterday, Zeng Guofan saw the memorials presented to the court by Prince Chun, Cabinet Bachelor Song Jin, Imperial Court Attendant Yuan Baoheng, Cabinet Secretary Li Rusong and others from the Tang newspaper. It cannot be justified, but a tough attitude should be adopted.The one who spoke the most fiercely was Chun Wang, who said that he wanted to kill all foreigners, and that Xue Geng was humiliating the former emperor.Zeng Guofan was very disturbed after reading the Tang newspaper.These clear discussions only talk about reason and ignore the situation of the country. They seem to be the most loyal and patriotic to the monarch, but in fact they put the monarchy in danger.They don't take actual responsibility, they only rely on their mouths, and if they cause trouble, they will hide away, and the civil and military people who have to do things have to clean up the situation. These empty talks could have been completely ignored, but what is annoying is that they can sensationalize and win the support of public opinion, which is very difficult for the players in the game; especially the king of wine who knows nothing about the world, but wants to use the king's uncle to make a fool of himself Discussion, gaining a good reputation, and making people criticize are not easy to write.Clearing up the wrong country!Zeng Guofan thought, these four words are really the truth that has not been published through the ages. "How is the arrest of the murderer?" Zeng Guofan didn't want to listen to the public's comments anymore, he decided to ignore these rumors and follow the policy he had set. "The murderer hasn't been caught yet, and the civilians didn't come to expose it." Wu Rulun said, "People from the Water and Fire Association secretly spread the word that whoever informs is a traitor and a traitor. Kill him first." "On the contrary, isn't this a public confrontation with the court?" Zeng Guofan was so angry that he knocked on the handrail, "Who is the leader of the Water and Fire Society?" Xue and Wu glanced at each other, but remained silent. "Do you know?" Zeng Guofan asked sharply. "Sir, we don't know." Xue Fucheng replied. "Call Zhang Guangzao!" The decree to dismiss Zhou Jiaxun, Zhang Guangzao, and Liu Jie has been issued a few days earlier. Please use Ding Qirui, the chief minister, as the acting Tianjin Taoist, and the third-rank Taoist, and Ma Shengwu, the Jinzhou magistrate, as the acting Tianjin magistrate and magistrate. The magistrate Xiao Shiben acted as the magistrate of Tianjin, and the Queen Mother also agreed.Zhou, Zhang, Liu and others moved out of the yamen and rented another house to live in Tianjin, waiting to be dealt with.Zhang Guangzao hurried to the Confucian Temple upon hearing the news. "What kind of gang is the Water and Fire Society?" Zeng Guofan asked Zhang Guangzao when he saw Zhang Guangzao entering the house. "Returning to my lord, the Tianjin Water and Fire Association has a long history, and has always had craftsmen and Haihe porters as its main members." "Why not ban it?" Zeng Guofan hates gangs of people the most. He believes that these are the actions of those who are not in their duty. As long as there are gangs, society will not be peaceful. "Responding to my lord, the members of the Water and Fire Society have always kept themselves safe, and have never done anything wrong, so they have not been banned." Zhang Guangzao bent down and answered, his head and face were covered with sweat due to fear. "Stay safe?" Zeng Guofan sneered, "People who keep their own laws will never form cliques. I don't understand this at all. How can you be the official of the people's parents? No wonder there is such a big incident in Tianjin." "Yes, yes!" Zhang Guangzao became even more frightened, sweating profusely. "Delinquent dereliction of duty, dereliction of duty." "Let me ask you, who is the leader of the Water and Fire Society?" "On the day my lord entered the city, among the crowd kneeling to greet him, the second person who stood up to speak was Xu Hanlong, the leader of the Water and Fire Society." Zeng Guofan remembered that it was a thick, dark, middle-aged man who said a few things about his doubts about the church, and he praised him for being somewhat reasonable at the time. "This is a terrible person!" Zeng Guofan immediately thought of the Hunan Chuanzihui, Banbianqianhui, Hongheihui, Yichongxianghui, and the Gelaohui in the Hunan Army. He must take this opportunity to ban them! "After the man finished speaking, a few people stood up beside him and admitted that he had killed the foreigner. Are those also members of the Water and Fire Society?" Zhang Guangzao remembered that Liu Aizi, Feng Laizi and Xu Hanlong had come to the prefect's yamen to look for him together, and guessed that they must be in the same group, so he said, "Those people also belong to the fire and water society." "Ji Xunbu!" Zeng Guofan shouted to the back door, and Ji Xunbu came out in response. "Hurry up to the magistrate's yamen and pass on the order of the governor. Immediately arrest the leader of the Water and Fire Society, Xu Hanlong, and the gangsters who should have killed foreigners, and ban the Water and Fire Society!" Ji patrolling agreed, turned around and left. "Slow!" Zeng Guofan called out. "Ask Ma Shengwu to offer a reward again: Anyone who comes to report the murderer, regardless of whether it is true or not, will be rewarded with five taels of silver; whoever gets the real murderer after the report, will be rewarded with fifty taels of silver!" Zeng Guofan thought: After banning the deceptive Water and Fire Association, arresting their leaders, and offering heavy rewards, there will always be people who are greedy for profit and report.He was satisfied that he had dealt with it decisively.Now, what he expected was that the case of the three foreign corpses in Haihe would be solved by Zhao Liewen.