Chapter 37 Twelve pieces of iron from six states cannot cast this mistake

This morning, Zhou Jiaxun, Zhang Guangzao, and Liu Jie were about to hit the road.In the reception hall of the Beijing-Tianjin Ancient Road, Zeng Guofan brought Ding Qirui, Ma Shengwu, Zhao Liewen and others to set up a simple table of wine and dishes. He wanted to personally toast and farewell the Tianjin local officials who had served on behalf of the people. Unlike ordinary criminals, Zhou Jiaxun and others did not put on shackles, but took off their crests and official uniforms. All of them were gloomy and dejected. Welcome them into the inner room, and then respectfully invite them to take their seats.Zhou Jiaxun hurriedly said: "The old cousin came to see him off, and the criminal officer is very grateful. How dare he take the seat again."

Zhang Guangzao and Liu Jie also said, "Officers dare not!" "Today's affairs are different, you have the right to sit down for a while, the old man still has a few words to say." Seeing the sincere appearance of the scrawny governor, Zhou Jiaxun and others had no choice but to plead guilty and sit down.Ghoshha came up and poured each a glass of wine.Zeng Guofan raised his wine glass and stood up tremblingly, causing everyone in the seat to stand up in a panic. "Today is the day for the three of you to go to Beijing for trial. Everyone is in a bad mood, and they don't want to drink. I just want to say a few words in this way. I offer you three glasses of wine. Don't refuse, just listen to me. Speak from the bottom of your heart. Let me ask everyone to drink the glass of wine in their hands first."

Everyone didn't dare to refuse, so they had to drink it.Ding Qirui said: "Old Zhongtang, sit down and talk!" Everyone said: "Old Zhongtang, please sit down." "Everyone sit down!" Zeng Guofan sat down, and also called everyone to sit down, and then said solemnly, "I was ordered by the Queen Mother and the Emperor to come to Tianjin to handle the case of civil education. I have a lot of emotion, a lot of lessons, and a lot of regret. " Having said this, Zeng Guofan stopped, picked up a handkerchief and rubbed his dazed eyes.The two impressive triangular eyes in the past, because of the sagging eyelids and wrinkled corners of the eyes, and because of the lack of light in the right eye and weak vision in the left eye, have become like two dried up small loaches.Now he can't take the handkerchief out of his hand for a moment, he has to wipe it off after a while, otherwise the corners of his eyes will be sticky, making it difficult to distinguish people.Not to mention the resigned predecessors, even the incumbents are also worried. Everyone quietly listened to Zeng Guofan's hoarse and old heart song.

"Civil-religious conflicts can be found everywhere, but none of the consequences are as serious as Jin County. It is so sad that things have happened like this." Zeng Guofan has never drunk much. Since last year, due to his poor health, he almost He didn't drink at all, and just took a symbolic sip of the glass of wine just now.Now Ghoshha served him a cup of hot tea and he took a sip. "Fundamentally speaking, the vendetta of the people's religion is the fault of foreigners. There is nothing to say about it, but so many people believe in the rumor of gouging eyes and dismembering their hearts, which is puzzling; Isn’t this stupid? Some people actually believe it. Hey! It’s fair to say that the ignorant people are ignorant. Zhou Dao, Zhang Shou, and Liu Ling are all smart people who read and understand. I didn’t blame you. Come out with them to clear up these nonsense rumors!"

"Old Zhongtang is right to reprimand you. The humble rank is negligence. However, the foreigners are also unreasonable, and they refuse to cooperate." Zhou Jiaxun interjected. Zhang Guangzao took up the conversation and said: "At the beginning of May, a large number of children in the Yuyingtang fell ill and died. After the people learned about it, they asked the Yuyingtang to release all these children. There were also many people around that time. The nuns were afraid of accidents and suggested Five representatives were publicly elected to enter the hall for inspection. People were elected and were about to enter the hall. Feng Daye came, and the Chinese people were not allowed to enter, and they even cursed. This is also a point of suspicion for the people.”

Zeng Guofan nodded and said: "Feng Daye is an extremely arrogant person, I know that. But about the gouging of eyes and heart, I should explain clearly to Xia Fufu and others in the church. I think they will cooperate, and they will also cooperate." To refute the rumors! One more point, if you find that there are people surrounding the church, don’t wait for Feng Daye to come out, you should try to evacuate as soon as possible. As the saying goes, there are so many people mixed together, mud and sand, can you guarantee that there are no scoundrels and gangsters among so many people? They just want chaos Chaos is of great benefit to them. As parents, our first duty is to keep the place quiet. If the crowd had been dispersed earlier that day, everything would have happened later.”

Everyone nodded, thinking to themselves: Yes, it will be fine to disperse early, and it is too late to regret now. Having said that, Zeng Guofan raised his wine glass again: "This is all over, let's not talk about it, please drink this second glass of wine." Everyone drank as ordered.Zeng Guofan looked at Zhou Jiaxun and others, and then said: "Thunder, rain and dew are all spring breeze. You are all beautiful and talented officials of the country. This year, you have been wronged temporarily for two years, and you will soon be able to recover and shoulder important responsibilities. The ancients said, Everyone is responsible for the rise and fall of the world, let alone you and me? We all have to learn a lesson from this matter. What is this lesson? It is that our Qing Dynasty must be self-reliant. For more than 30 years, the conflicts between us and foreigners are all my reasons Straight, he reasoned, but it always ends with me being disadvantaged and others gaining glory. The reason is that I am weak and the other is strong. Foreigners don’t reason, they only talk about strength and weakness. If we don’t strengthen ourselves, we will always be bullied by foreigners.”

The reception hall was silent, the dishes on the table were already cold, and no one wanted to touch them, and a few bitter hearts were confused: what Lao Zhongtang said was the key to friendship with foreigners, but our Qing Dynasty is such a loose sand, When will it be able to stand on its own? "When you assume office again, you must pay attention to foreign affairs in your own jurisdiction, set up one or two factories, and build more machines. If all counties and prefectures are like this, slowly, we will become as prosperous and powerful as foreigners Yes, this is the foundation of our self-improvement. Destroying churches and killing foreigners will not achieve this goal.”

"Old Zhongtang, set up a machine factory, one has no talents, and the other has no mother machine, what should we do?" Liu Jie asked.He is only in his forties this year, and he still has great ambitions. He believes in Zeng Guofan's words, he will surely recover after being wronged for a year or two, and his career in the future has a long way to go!This incident stimulated him too deeply.After all, he was also a genuine Qipin county magistrate, but he couldn't even protect his own nephew. In the end, he had to leave his wife and son and go to the military station far away.After all, isn't your country too weak?He secretly became cruel, and once he recovers, he will seek self-improvement!

"Liu Ming's Mansion!" Zeng Guofan's statement made Liu Jie, who had been dismissed, very grateful. "As long as you set up a machine factory, I will be responsible for providing all the personnel and mother machines." Liu Jie nodded heavily, his eyes filled with tears. "In addition, in order to prevent future disputes between the people and religions, I have written a note to the Queen Mother and the Emperor." Zeng Guofan turned to Ding Qirui and others and said, "There are several restrictions on the missionary work of foreigners in the note. For example, in the future the Catholic Church will also Well, the Yuyingtang is under the jurisdiction of the magistrate. One person in the hall or one person who died of illness must register, and the magistrate will enter the hall at any time to check. If anyone is abducted into the hall or resold, listen to the family to check , Redeem at a price. The priests are not allowed to intervene and help each other in disputes between the religious and the common people."

"That's good." Ding Qirui said hurriedly, "If this had happened earlier, there would be no civil-religious disputes!" "If such regulations come out first, and then the common people make trouble, that is our responsibility. I am also willing to be punished by the court." Zhang Guangzao said.He was extremely wronged, and he calculated well. After a few years of peace, he will return to his hometown to enjoy the blessings and spend his old age in peace.Just when the ship was about to dock, it was overturned.He does not have Liu Jie's self-confidence, he is very pessimistic, he always feels that this old life will die on the road to exile. "Old Zhongtang is thoughtful, I'm afraid foreigners won't agree." Xiao Shiben, the county magistrate, said something discouraging. "Xiao Mingfu's worries are not superfluous, and I'm just doing my duty." Zeng Guofan was not angry with this sentence.He raised his glass again, and said to Zhou Jiaxun and others, "This is the third glass of wine, please drink it down, I have one more important thing to say." Everyone drank it and listened in horror. "This time the three of you went to Beijing for trial, I feel very sorry. It's just that the French Minister Luo Shuya insisted on resisting your orders, dispatched a large number of warships, and threatened to blow up Tianjin into scorched earth and the Forbidden City. It was also because the old man lost his mind for a while. You have suffered undeserved grievances. These days, the old man is ashamed and guilty, guilty of gods, and deeply regretful." Zeng Guofan took out his handkerchief again to wipe his eyes.The handkerchief lingered on the eyelids and did not take it away for a long time.Zhou Jiaxun and others shed tears, and Ding Qirui and others were also very sad.Zhao Liewen persuaded: "My lord, you don't have to be too sad. You can understand your lord's painstaking efforts." "It's all the fault of the lowly rank, the old Zhongtang needn't be sad." Zhou Jiaxun said. "Don't feel bad for Zhongtang, it's all our fault." Zhang Guangzao said. "Your Excellency has also been wronged like us," Liu Jie said. "It is a great comfort to the old man that the three are so considerate." Zeng Guofan finally took off the handkerchief covering his eyelids, and his voice became hoarse and old. I was punished by exile. I have written to Prince Gong, asking him to say hello to the Ministry of Punishments, try not to go to Yili, go to the northeast. Between the white mountains and the black waters, is the birthplace of my Qing Dynasty. You can go and experience it. As long as the old man If you don’t die, after two years, I will definitely give you a guarantee, and ask the queen mother, emperor and generals to return to their posts." Zhou Jiaxun and others were very moved, and said together: "Thank you, Lao Zhongtang, for your care." "In addition, the governor's yamen gathered some money together. Although it is not much, it is a little bit of their heart. It will be used for redemption and travel expenses after the garrison. Huifu, you can give it to them!" Zhao Liewen took out three silver bills from the boot pages, five thousand taels each, and distributed one to each of Zhou, Zhang, and Liu, saying: "Old Zhongtang took seven thousand taels, and everyone in the shogunate was moved by Lao Zhongtang. , and gathered a little." Zhou Jiaxun and the others couldn't bear it any longer, their hands holding the bank notes kept shaking, tears welled up in their eyes, and they finally knelt down in front of Zeng Guofan together: "Thank you for your kindness!" "Get up, it's getting late, let's get on the road! Take care of yourself along the way, if you have something to worry about at home, write a letter to tell this old man." The three dismissed officials kowtowed three times to Zeng Guofan like wanderers on a long journey who wept farewell to their parents, then got up and walked out of the reception hall.When they went out the door, everyone was shocked.On both sides of the Beijing-Tianjin Ancient Road, hundreds of people from Jin County have already knelt down. Some have small tables with red candles and incense sticks in front of them, some have a boiled hen in front of them, and some are holding wine jugs. Holding the wine glass, especially the three apricot-yellow soft silk Wanmin umbrellas, they are particularly eye-catching.Seeing Zhou Jiaxun waiting to come out, the crowd shouted loudly: "Old Grandpa, you have been wronged!" "Old Father, you are Master Qingtian!" "Master, you can't leave!" The scene was very sad.Zhou Jiaxun waited for the tears just wiped away to roll down again.The three people holding the Wanmin umbrella stepped out of the queue, came to them, and offered the umbrella with both hands.Zhou, Zhang, and Liu each took a handful, choked up and said, "Thank you, folks!" Several gray-haired old ladies came out, each holding something in their hands: cooked chicken, boiled meat, eggs, pancakes Wait, force them to accept it.Zhou Jiaxun and others had no choice but to pick up a little bit. Seeing all this, Zeng Guofan felt ashamed, ashamed, remorse, and sorrow surged in his heart, like the muddy and swift sea water in front of him, hitting his heart, shaking his soul, gnawing at his limbs, whipping him. touching his cheeks. He didn't dare to go out the door, but leaned against the door frame, staring blankly at the extremely rare and heart-wrenching farewell picture in front of him. Suddenly, a young man dressed as a scholar of sixteen or seventeen rushed out of the crowd, holding a large white paper in his hand, and ran straight to the official reception hall.Fearing that he might be an assassin, Zhao Liewen hurried forward to stop him.The young man shouted: "The whole city of Tianjin is covered with obituary notices. I'm afraid Mr. Zeng won't see them, so I specially gave him one." "Hui Fu, let him come here." Zeng Guofan waved his hand weakly. The young man strode over.He stuffed the paper to Zeng Guofan, turned around and ran away immediately.When Zeng Guofan looked at it, it read: The unfilial man Zeng Guofan committed a lot of crimes and would not perish by himself. The calamity extended to Xu Hanlong, Liu Zunxia and Feng Huhua, and died in August of the ninth year of Tongzhi in August of Tongzhi.All those who are filial, loyal, righteous, honest and shameful will mourn this obituary.The lonely and mourning son Zeng Guofan wept blood and mourned, his nephew Chonghou bowed his head in pain, and his brothers Zhao Liewen, Wu Rulun, Xue Fucheng, etc. wiped their tears and worshiped after the mourning service. Zeng Guofan only felt that there was darkness in front of him, and his body had already collapsed on the threshold.Zhao Liewen, Ding Qirui and others hurriedly helped him up.After a long time, he slowly opened his left eye, and saw Zhou Jiaxun, Zhang Guangzao, and Liu Jie still tearfully saying goodbye to the people who were seeing them off.He let out a long sigh from the bottom of his heart, and said with infinite sorrow: "You can't make such a mistake by gathering the iron from the six states!" Chonghou soon found out what Zeng Guofan said to Zhou Jiaxun and the others in the reception hall and the gift of fifteen thousand taels of silver notes.He was afraid that Zeng Guofan would change his attitude, and that what was already a foregone conclusion would change again, so he tentatively proposed, using the excuse of visiting a doctor, to ask the court to send more officials to Tianjin so that Zeng Guofan would have time to recuperate.Zeng Guofan also felt that he was too guilty, and hoped that someone would share the responsibility with him, so he immediately agreed.So Chonghou turned up and said that Zeng Guofan's old illness had relapsed and he was seriously ill. Please send more officials to Tianjin as soon as possible.The Empress Dowager ordered Ding Richang, the governor of Jiangsu, who was known as a capable member of Westernization, to come to Tianjin to organize the meeting.And because Ding Richang traveled northward from Suzhou by sea ship, and it would take ten days to arrive, Mao Changxi, Minister of the Ministry of Industry, was sent to Tianjin first.Soon, Chonghou was ordered to go to France as an envoy, and Mao Changxi acted as the three Ministers of Commerce and stayed in Tianjin.At this time Ding Richang also arrived. On the way, Ding Richang gave a report to the court, saying: "Since ancient times, outsiders have not forgiven the difficulties in the situation. However, if they sing a hundred harmony, it is enough to look at the big plans. Every time I study up to this point, I can’t help but cry bitterly.” As soon as he arrived in Tianjin, he rebuilt the church with great fanfare, repaired the nursery hall, tortured and interrogated the detainees, and comforted them with good words. Foreigners, completely disregarding public opinion, boldly promote their own intentions.Everyone in Tianjin called him "Ding Guizi" and "Ding Xiaoren".He also posted headless notices everywhere, exposing his illegal activities of embezzlement and bribery during his tenure in Su Fu.Ding Richang didn't care at all, just laughed it off.He said to the people around him: "Who is an official without being scolded? The bigger the official, the more people scold him.The prime minister can punt a boat in his belly, he scolds him, and he does his own thing. He also invited two foreign doctors for Zeng Guofan to cure his dizziness and eye diseases, and comfort him to recover from his illness. Don't worry about the sky falling, and he will take care of everything. He is not afraid of beheading and exile. Zeng Guofan originally had a bad impression of Ding Richang because of his incorruptibility as an official, but now he was overwhelmed by his courage to defy all opinions and dare to act, and he unknowingly became more courageous.He is no longer self-pitying, self-condemning too much.In letters and conversations, they often say things like: "I would rather offend Qing Yi than bring trouble on Junfu".With a wider heart, the body is much better.Only then did he understand why Li Hongzhang admired Ding Richang, knowing that his conduct was not strict, but he wanted to use him again.Zeng Guofan felt that Li Hongzhang and Ding Richang had other characteristics, which he himself did not possess. Just as the Tianjin teaching case, which caused a sensation at home and abroad, was coming to an end, another bizarre case broke out in Jiangning City—Ma Xinyi, the governor of Liangjiang, was stabbed to death in broad daylight!When the news came out, the government and the public were shocked, and the Empress Dowager Cixi quickly ordered Zeng Guofan to be the governor of Jiang, and was responsible for investigating this strange case; at the same time, Li Hongzhang was transferred from the governor of Huguang to the governor of Zhili.