Chapter 185 Zeng Guofan decides the case at the opportunity (2)
On the tenth day of June in 1870, Zeng Guofan arrived in Tianjin and summoned Chonghou, the three ministers of commerce and trade, to discuss countermeasures.
Zeng Guofan said: According to the teaching case of the Mercy Hall, foreigners abducted our children from the Qing Dynasty in order to respect the views of adults. Is it true?
Chong Houdao: I would like to inform Mr. Zeng that the kidnapping and trafficking of Wu Lanzhen was actually caused by Wang San, the religious leader. During the multi-party trial, the people were agitated. The French Consul Feng Daye was arrogant and domineering and openly shot our Qing Dynasty official, and the people were agitated. , beat the consul and more than 50 people to death, and burned churches and other buildings. Whether foreigners are involved in the abduction is still being sorted out.
Zeng Guofan said: When Feng Daye opens fire, can our Qing officers and soldiers fight back?
Chong Houdao: At that time, people were making noise near the church, and the momentum was overwhelming. I was afraid, so I sent people to demolish the pontoon bridge to block the movement of the rioters. Unexpectedly, Tianjin Admiral Chen Guorui led hundreds of troops, rode horses to the bridge, rebuilt the pontoon bridge, and fanned the flames. .
Zeng Guofan said: Chen Guorui and Feng Daye are both common men, and they both deserve to die! Whether there is any evidence for the theory that the foreigners gouged out the eyes and disemboweled the heart is the most important key in the case. The foreigners will be able to straighten out the truth if it is false, and the foreigners will understand the truth if it is true.
Chong Houdao: Report to Mr. Zeng, but there is no conclusive personal or physical evidence.
Zeng Guofan said: Kill someone to pay for your life, and pay your debts for money. This has been the same since ancient times. Tomorrow there will be a court hearing. Traffickers, soldiers, soldiers, civilians and students from Tianjin, as well as consuls from France, Britain, the United States, Russia, Prussia, Belgium and Spain, all seven countries stationed in China must be summoned to observe. Hearing that foreigners insist on justice, we can also gain some insights.
Chong Houdao: I would like to inform Mr. Zeng that if all the people gather together, if there is another change, it will be extremely difficult for us to communicate.
Zeng Guofan said: The governor's model soldiers are just decorations! I have children in the Qing Dynasty whose chest and abdomen were rotten, their intestines and intestines were exposed, and their corpses were exposed in the wilderness. Who on earth did this? A court meeting was held to review the case, and the people were informed to set the record straight.
That night, Zhang Guangzao, the former magistrate of Tianjin, made a secret report: among the children in the Catholic church, there were some who were abducted by the priests. On the day the church was burned down, Wang San, one of the parishioners, was seized and sent to the county. He was confronted with the suspects and asked Ming Yi to lure Wu Lanzhen into abducting people. He first abducted one person and gave Dayang five yuan. Every morning, he gave a packet of Wulan precious medicine to the Catholic Church and ordered him to go out and abduct people. This medicine package was given by the priest Xie Gospel.
Zeng Guofan looked at the report and said: Father Xie is dead, and there is no proof of his death! Are the confessions of Wang San and Wu Lanzhen true?
Zhao Liewen said: Under severe punishment, one may not speak sincerely. Lie Wen, under the command of the Commander-in-Chief, visited incognito and found out that the people in Tianjin abandoned their baby girls in the wilderness because they were in serious trouble and looked down upon their girls. When foreigners saw it, they built a nursery to take them in. When the people in Tianjin heard about it, they all brought the abandoned babies to the hall, and when the foreigners came The person who refused to speak up was actually rewarded with silver taels; unscrupulous people like Wu Lanzhen and Wang San took advantage of this opportunity and abducted children to make money. The plague is rampant in Tianjin this spring, and there are also dead children in the nursery. They are hastily buried, dug up and bitten by dogs, and then exposed in the wilderness.
Zeng Guofan said: If you make trouble for the people and harm the country, you will not be relieved of my hatred unless you kill them.
The next day, the imperial vassal went to court to inquire about the case, and summoned the abductors and church members to interrogate whether the child abduction and eye-gouging and dismemberment were indeed instigated by foreigners.
However, although the disciples were severely tortured, they still categorically denied what they said. They all claimed that they had been practicing teaching for a long time and there was no case of abduction.
Zeng Guofan had no choice but to post notices, offering a large reward, and asked people inside and outside Jincheng to find witnesses and physical evidence.
However, half a month after the announcement, no one has come out to accuse the foreigners of their reckless behavior, and no one has filed a lawsuit against the missing children's home.
Chong Houdao, the Minister of Trade and Economic Cooperation of the Three Kingdoms, said: "I would like to inform Mr. Zeng that from this point of view, the sudden death of the children in Tianjin has nothing to do with foreigners and is indeed caused by the plague."
Zeng Guofan said: "What do you mean, Lord Chong?"
Chonghou said: The foreigners shot first, and the Tianjin people fought behind them. The two sides seemed to be able to offset each other. However, the mob killed more than fifty people wantonly. This trend must not last. My intention is to capture and kill seven or eight mobs to show the anger of the people and abolish Tianjin Road. The three officials of the government, government, and county tried to please the foreigners and compensated them with silver to appease people's hearts.
Zeng Guofan said: At present, eight or nine foreign warships have arrived at Dagukou. After hearing about it, there are still many. The feelings of the foreign chiefs are clear at a glance. We are not trying to please the foreign chiefs in everything so as to keep the overall situation in mind. However, the fault lies with me and I have to obey in order to keep the overall situation in mind.
Chonghou said: Without further delay, we will report the matters of capture, execution, exile and compensation to the court as soon as possible.
Zeng Guofan sighed and said: The foreigners wounded and killed twenty-one people. I will check this number and it will be enough to make up for it. However, hundreds of people are fighting and killing, and time has passed. It is difficult to identify who is murderous and who is ruthless. The only way to find the murderer is to serve with severe punishment.
Chonghou said: What's so difficult about this? You can say in private that killing children, dismembering corpses, collecting raw materials and preparing medicines is indeed done by foreigners, and foreigners deserve death. Anyone who killed foreigners before should come to the Yamen quickly to receive the reward.
Zeng Guofan said: If you act like this and go back on your word, you are unworthy of the people of Tianjin! We have made a secret report to ask the officials who have been exiled to give them a gift of silver; to the criminals who have been executed, they must also be compensated.
On July 20, 1870, the French Minister Luo Shuya arrived in Tianjin and told Zeng Guofan and Chonghoudao: In addition to repairing the church, burying Feng with a generous funeral, investigating the local officials, and punishing the murderers, the three officials from Tianjin Prefecture and Governor Chen Guorui must be brought to justice. , otherwise our warships outside the mouth of Dagu will act expediently.
Zeng Guofan said: "I will make arrangements for repairs, a generous burial, and compensation immediately. Killing someone to pay for life has been a tradition in our country and your country since ancient times. I will capture the perpetrator immediately, but I will wait for my emperor's permission to ask for execution." As for the officials and ministers of Tianjin Prefecture and County, I cannot agree to it. However, they failed to take precautions in handling the case and were unable to arrest the criminals quickly. I will immediately petition the emperor to dismiss them from their posts and hand them over to the Ministry of Punishment for punishment. , I would like to ask your minister to wait for confirmation.
Luo Shuya said: "Master Zeng's kindness was harsh and the punishment was light. The provocation of disharmony was the beginning of China."
Zeng Guofan said: If the law does not punish everyone, killing people wantonly will lead to endless disasters.
