Chapter 185 Zeng Guofan decides the case at the opportunity (3)
After the vassal of the country finished speaking, Shangshu said: I am investigating the case and the reason for the provocation. Because the traitors abducted people, involved the church, and mentioned that the eyes were dug out and the hearts were used as medicinal materials, it aroused suspicion and anger. In major changes, it is necessary to ascertain the true and false, so that we can distinguish right from wrong and show justice.
After the vassal of the state arrived in Tianjin, they conducted detailed inquiries about the people who were abducted by the religious people. Although Wang San confessed that he had given the medicine to Wu Lanzhen, he still confessed at the time. Moreover, his residence was in Tianjin, and Wu Lanzhen was originally given to Ningjin. It does not match, and there is no confirmation from the church owner.
More than 150 men and women were found in the Mercy Hall and they were interrogated one by one. They all said that they had been practicing religion for a long time and that their families had sent them to the hall to be raised. There was no evidence of abduction. As for the cases of eye-gouging and dissection, it was all a rumor. No solid evidence.
When the Chenguo vassal clan first entered Jin County, hundreds of people stopped by and asked for evidence of eye-plucking and heart-dissection, but no one was able to point out the truth. Inquiries also found that there was no missing child in or outside the city. Charge those with a case.
However, these rumors are not only found in Tianjin, but also in Hunan and Jiangxi in the past. In recent years, Yangzhou, Tianmen, and Daming and Guangping in this province have all been published. They may say that the church abducted Dingkou, or that the church dug out the eyes. The heart, or the church, seduces women. Although various cases in the palace were discussed and concluded, the truth and falsehood of the appeals were not clearly discerned.
There is no solid evidence for this detailed investigation. There are rumors that there are eyes, but it is nothing. The ferocious tribes of wild people are not willing to kill children, mutilate their corpses, and collect raw materials for medicine. Britain and France are famous powers, how can they be willing to do this cruel thing? If you decide it with reason, there will be nothing wrong.
The Catholic Church encourages people to do good things, and Emperor Sheng Zuren has long allowed it to be done. If it harms people's livelihood, how can it be tolerated in the Kangxi era? The original intention of the establishment of the Mercy Hall was similar to that of the Nursery. It was mainly dedicated to providing relief to the poor. It cost a lot of money every year. In the name of kindness, it was slandered by cruelty. It was suitable for foreigners. Anger and injustice.
There is also a reason why the people of Tianjin are suspicious and angry. They see that foreign churches have been closed all year round and are too secretive to see what is going on. Both the church and the Mercy Hall have cellars, and workers were recruited from other places to build them.
I personally inspected the site of the burned hall and found that it was a cellar that was used only to store coal to keep out the moisture. It had no other purpose. The people of Tianjin did not see everything, but they heard that the cellar was deep and children were trapped in it, and that it was not done by local craftsmen, so they were suspicious.
People in China who have the Most Mercy Hall to treat their illnesses are often detained without being allowed to come back. For example, He Wei, the daughter of Wei Xizhen, the former magistrate of Jinxian County in Jiangxi Province, took her daughter to the hall for treatment and refused to return for a long time. His father came to the hall and gently urged him to go home, but he refused to go back because he said that he had taken medicine and lost his original mind, which caused suspicion.
The Hall of Mercy takes in helpless children, including beggars, poor people, and the sick and dying. There is also a theory of baptism in that religion. The baptizer was dead, but the leader poured water over his forehead and sealed his eyes, saying that he could ascend to heaven.
The people were astonished when they saw him collecting the dying people and hearing that he personally washed the eyes of the new corpses. There are often dozens of people brought to Tianjin by car and boat from other places, but they can only be seen coming in but not coming out. They don't know why, which raises three suspicions.
There are many courtyards in the church, some are chanting scriptures, some are reading, some are servants, some are treating diseases, and the categories are different. There is a son in the front yard and the mother in the backyard. The mother is in the Mercy Hall and the son is in the Helou Church. They often look different from year to year. See, it causes four suspicions.
In addition, in April and May of this year, there were incidents of kidnappers using drugs to charm people. At that time, there were too many dead people in the hall, and most of them were buried at night, or there were two corpses and three corpses in one coffin.
On the sixth day of May, there were two corpses, one in a coffin and one in a coffin, found by dogs in a graveyard in the east of the river. Guerrilla Zuo Guogui and others from Zhenzhong Camp in Tianjin once witnessed that all dead people rotted from the inside first, but this one rotted from the outside first, with the chest and abdomen rotten and the intestines exposed. As a result, false rumors arose, which led to five suspicions.
On weekdays, I have heard the words posted in various places and believed them to be solid evidence. However, I have accumulated these five doubts in them, and each of them is filled with hatred. When the kidnappers were involved in the church, the chest and abdomen were revealed in the grave, and the public's anger was unstoppable. When he went to the county court to interrogate Wang San, Consul Feng shot the officer, and the public was extremely angry. As a result, tens of thousands of people clamored and acted simultaneously, resulting in a sudden and dramatic change. The uproar is definitely abominable, but the accumulation of doubts is not something that happened overnight.
Now that we have found out the root cause, we can only rely on the Emperor's explicit edicts and send orders to all provinces, so that we know that the previous statements in the public notices about teaching people to dig out their eyes, dismember their hearts, and harm the living people are mostly false accusations. Announce it to the world, and the envoys will know it. In order to resolve the injustice of the foreigners and the confusion of the scholars and the people, please explain to the people of Tianjin the reasons why they are suspicious.
The atmosphere in Tianjin is strong and there are many people who love righteousness. Those who only agree with others are aroused by righteous indignation and should ignore everything. The main perpetrators of the crime and those who took advantage of the opportunity to rob should be arrested and severely punished for the future.
In China, the killing of officials should be justified according to their names. If it is more harmful to foreign countries, it will cause more lives than provocations, especially those who are unfaithful and unfavorable. However, there was no one who initiated the gathering at that time, and the real and evil had no name. The people of Jin County have not yet calmed down. There have always been people who are called chaotic people who form gangs and are fond of chaos and misfortune. They must be supported by military strength, which is enough to suffice. Pressure.
In a short time, three thousand men of Baoding Ming Army were mobilized in Jinghai. This army was led by Ding Shouchang, the Ming Dynasty commander. The officer is currently assigned to Tianjin Daocheng. As soon as the people's sentiments have calmed down, it will be entrusted with the task of arresting the murderer. The Taoist Superintendent of the Department will handle it together with the prefecture and county, and he will be able to do the job.
By the time Wulanzhen's confession had implicated the church, the minister Chonghou ordered the local officials to go to the church for inspection, which was actually to clear up suspicions. Recently, there are also rumors of church abductions in Jiangnan, and this is also the case.
Later, the death of Feng Daye and others, and the burning of the church and mansion, became a panic, which could not be stopped by human power. However, such a huge case occurred in the local area. After all, the government could not resolve it in ordinary times and could not prevent it in advance. The three members of the Dao, Prefecture and County have now been removed from their posts, pending investigation and handling, and will be replaced by officials from the vassal state of Chen.
Another film was released on the same day, and the names of the people killed have been confirmed. However, there are still five female corpses in the Mercy Hall, which have not been found. The rest have been coffins inspected and handed over to the British Consul Li Weihai for safekeeping. The three Russians have been confirmed to be buried by the country's consul. I would like to make a list and respectfully submit it to you.
French Minister Luo Shuya has already arrived in Tianjin to discuss the matter of compensation and repair of the church, and Yichen and others plan to send a manager immediately. As soon as I had a clue, I immediately continued the memorial. It accidentally killed a Russian person and destroyed the lecture halls of the United Kingdom and the United States. I also waited for the conclusion to write a separate memorial.
After ascertaining the general situation, I would like to report it in advance and ask the Empress Dowager and the Emperor for instructions. I would like to play.
