When is the year of Wu Geng and when is the year of Wu Wu?

When was Wu Gengnian? This article is organized from the lecture "The Despair of Three Immortals: Zeng Guofan's Year of Wu Geng (1870)" by Wang Xuebin, an associate professor in the Department of Literature and History of the Party School of Fudan University. The lecture is a series of activities of the reading class for young scholars of modern history in China, Fudan University. The paper was published and the text was approved by the speaker.

Lecture site

First, the topic origin

As you may know, the works of the history of the late Qing Dynasty have emerged in an endless stream in recent years, especially the "amateur works" of "amateur players" have a great influence. This kind of writing is often inconsistent with historical facts. Secondly, the works written by many experts also have a problem, that is, they are limited by research. Generally speaking, there are several frameworks and paradigms in previous studies, such as historical view, modern history view, historical view and so on. However, if we use the research framework to analyze the characters, we will often make the boundaries of the characters clear. But the characters are actually vague, and it is difficult to measure and judge according to a certain or routine. Therefore, there may be some shortcomings in the study of people under this research paradigm.

The decade from 1860 to 1870 is exactly what we call the late westernization and the decade of self-improvement, during which many key figures appeared. One of them runs through-Zeng Guofan.

Therefore, the theme of this lecture is to glimpse an era through a person, "seeing things with people and knowing things with things." So what are the "three immortals"? "Zuo Zhuan" has a cloud: "There is great virtue, followed by meritorious deeds, followed by opinions. Although it will not be abolished for a long time, this is called immortality. " This is actually our ancient people's judgment on the character of great men, and it is also a higher standard for evaluating people. It is not easy to occupy one of these three. If all three are accounted for, it can be said that a generation is perfect. In the ancient tradition, "three immortals" may be relatively possible, because there were institutional advantages at that time, and individuals could make some political achievements and achievements on their own. However, after the contact between China and the West in 1840, the institutional advantage of traditional China was declining in the face of strong invasion. At this time, the "three immortals" are more difficult to realize and even become extravagant hopes. So why did Zeng Guofan's "Three Immortals" help the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom in his later years, but he was unable to meet the challenge?

Second, the era of Zeng Guofan

Zeng Guofan's era can be summarized and analyzed from three aspects. One is the general trend, the other is the rule of law, and the third is the rule of law. The general trend is simply that capital moves eastward. With the completion of the primary industry, Britain and other countries continue to export capital to other countries and open up markets. Behind these capitals is the possession of weapons of war, so why did a war break out with China later? Because China had not yet traded with it. Later, there were problems such as westward invasion and western learning spreading to the east.

Governance is two different ideological and cultural propositions in the ideological field, namely, seeking wealth from oneself, adapting Chinese style to the west, reforming politics and reform, and even the game process with the traditional mainstream ideology dominated by Confucianism. Zeng Guofan is in the initial stage of this game, and he is entangled with many so-called old and new figures above the imperial court.

Treatment is actually a question of system transformation. Here, I quote the viewpoint in the book "Harmony" by American scholar Starr Skochebo: "It happens, not makes; It did not start from the subjective efforts of the vanguard, but happened under specific structural conditions. " He believes that the main reason for the collapse of the whole kingdom or internal structure is the problem of the system. This view ignores people's subjective initiative, but from the institutional level alone, there seems to be no problem. So we went back to 1860, Xianfeng died, and there was a power vacuum in the court. Several games led to the heart. Since then, the court seems to be stable, but there are many hidden dangers in power. In order to ensure the rigor of this lecture, I will only explain the hidden dangers between 1860 and 1870:

(A) the superior power structure is unstable. At this time, because the emperor was young, Empress Dowager Cixi and Ci 'an listened to politics. For Prince Gong and the ruling king, there is a power difference between the two palaces and the prince, forming the structure of "young emperor and prince". The imperial power that originally belonged to the king was controlled by two forces. Obviously, this structure is unstable.

(2) There is no necessary top-level design. From the plan of starting the Westernization Movement in 1860 to the signing of treaty of shimonoseki in 1895, the Qing Dynasty never formulated a clear top-level design. This time is not long, the scale is not large, and the investment is not much, but the goal and blueprint are only from 1860? The memorial, that is, the six articles of association of statistical overall discretion, is now put forward for discussion and compliance. Cross the river by feeling the stones, but the ultimate goal is to cross the river, not to feel the stones. So I think there is a problem, lacking the necessary top-level design.

(3) The contradiction between the "Governor's Westernization System" formed in the counter-insurgency and the central government is prominent. At that time, in order to quickly pacify the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, the Qing Dynasty gave local governments great power. After pacification, it is not so easy to recover these powers. Therefore, the rise of Xiang Huai Army and the change of local power structure in the late Qing Dynasty were obviously related to the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom. Secondly, the Westernization Movement was carried out well in Liangjiang, Fujian, Zhejiang and Huguang areas, with the governors first, which had little to do with it. Eventually, the contradiction between the central and local governments became more and more obvious, and warlords became independent.

(4) In the ideological field, there has been a long-term struggle between the left and the right, and there is a dispute between the old and the new and between the north and the south. There have been many arguments between the old and the new on related issues. At the same time, there began to be a clear north-south flow on the field, and the trend was always in a weak position. So at that time, many of them were implemented after many twists and turns or even sneaking around.

This is the general trend of Zeng Guofan.

Third, the "Three Island Pass" during the Gengwu period.

Zeng Guofan is faced with the "Three Islands Pass" under this general trend, that is, appeasement, confession and restoration.

Appeasement policy

Zeng Guofan served as Governor of Liangjiang River for less than four years, where he was in a comfortable ruling environment and made outstanding achievements. But I don't want a person to work in the same place for too long, which will easily lead to solidification of interests and bring many problems. Therefore, after the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom was pacified in 1864, Zeng Guofan was promoted from Liangjiang to Zhili after several efforts. This is a place that many Qing dynasties dreamed of, because it is close to here and ranks first among the eight governors. On the 17th day of the first month of the eighth year of Tongzhi, the Empress Dowager summoned Zeng Guofan and said, "What's the urgent matter for you to go to Zhili?" He once said: "I obey orders, give priority to training, and then rectify the bureaucracy." It can be seen that this time in charge of Zhili, the Qing court hoped to train more elite soldiers, defend from the outside and defend from the inside, clarify the official management and relieve the suffering of the people.

Zeng Guofan found it difficult to govern after he took office. At that time, the area suffered from drought and flood one after another, which was not suitable for growing crops. In addition to natural disasters, there are also man-made disasters. Zeng Guofan said that the officials in Zhili were poorly managed, unable to train, with many constraints and rules that could not be broken. Therefore, Zeng Guofan mentioned in his letter to Li Hongzhang at the end of the year that "the strategy of self-improvement should be based on the southeast." Illustrates his helplessness in the government affairs at this time.

More unfortunately, 1870, Tianjin religious plan was introduced. According to records, in early June, residents found many places in Hedong. "The dead rot from the inside first, and this alone rots from the outside, and the chest and abdomen rot, and the intestines and stomach are exposed. It's really a big talk." Tianjin people began to discuss with the church. Because every family in Tianjin has a difficult experience, and the church is relatively closed to the outside world, and the vital interests and information overlap asymmetrically, rumors are everywhere. The most typical version is digging a pit and cutting the heart to make an alchemist.

At that time, three trade envoys in charge of Tianjin were Chonghou. He was a pioneer, and 1858 began to emerge and handled many foreign affairs. However, due to Chonghou's inability to quell rumors and public dissatisfaction, Tianjin's religious plan was promulgated.

What measures do French and China have to deal with emergencies? Let's look at France first. In the ninth year of Tongzhi (1870), on June 2 1 day, an assistant of Britain in Tianjin sent an urgent letter to London in the Atlantic Ocean. The letter arrived in Shanghai on June 27th, delivered a week later, and immediately sent to Cape Charles de Gaulle, the terminal of submarine cable to the Far East. On July 23rd, this telegram was taken by Charles de Gaulle. Two days later, the express telegram finally arrived in London. The content is: "France, the Church of Mercy, and France are all in the middle. The French consul and all the nuns and several other French people were killed! " In a flash, the whole of Europe was boiling. By this time, the Franco-Prussian War had broken out for a week.

On the other hand, the Qing dynasty at that time. At this time, Shi Chong wrote a report to the yamen, explaining the whole story of the incident and explaining his embarrassment. Although it is an imperial envoy to handle diplomacy, the military power is in the hands of the governor of Zhili, in charge of the Daotai, the magistrate and the magistrate. Therefore, he thinks that he is "responsible for managing trade affairs and has no responsibility to maintain it", and he must ask Zeng Guofan, the head of Zhili, to take care of the overall situation. For the request of the confidant, Gong Wang got the message and ordered "Zeng Guofan went to Tianjin to check the documents" on the 23rd. On the 28th, the imperial court discounted again and appointed Chonghou as an imperial envoy to France. This means that the office will be upgraded to the general office, and the heavy responsibility of teaching plans will completely fall on Zeng's shoulders. When I heard about it, one of my reactions was "I'm not anxious", and I guess I'll be "afraid of something unexpected".

After Zeng Guofan arrived in Tianjin, he handed in a report on the case on 2 1, in which he carefully analyzed five reasons why Tianjin literati accumulated doubts and became angry: the church was closed all day and could not peep, and the suspicious person was one; People in China go to Renai Hall for treatment, but they can't stay long. The second is suspicious; There are suspicious things about the dead body of Compassion Hall, such as washing body and sealing eyes; Therefore, patients in Grace Cathedral, including relatives, are not allowed to meet, and four are suspicious; There are two or three dead people in the hall, and five suspicious people. "The people have accumulated these five doubts, and the public's anger is unstoppable." So I had hoped that the court would announce this situation to the world, hide the grievances of foreigners and release everyone's confusion. However, I don't know whether the people who respect the king intentionally deleted it or worshipped the thick and the dark. When the imperial court made it public, these five doubts were completely omitted, so Zeng Guofan's memorial was all about speaking for foreigners, and there was an uproar. Therefore, Zeng Guofan is even more difficult at this time.

Zeng Guofan

Ina? Is it intended to embarrass Zeng Guofan? In fact, it is not, because Zeng Guofan was easy to deal with the problem of lesson plans in Tianjin. Now it is also facing a crisis. This is the result of internal and external linkage and up-and-down interaction.

More than a year ago, when the Qing court revised the contract with Britain and France, the king of alcohol county, who had long lamented his brother's administrative style, could no longer hold back, and handed over a copy of "My humble opinion on respecting Chen" and "Six Articles of the Law on expelling foreigners", and publicly shelved their differences with respect.

"The governors tried their best to motivate the squire and all the people. The sages thanked the emperor. Fools used goods, burned churches, seized foreign goods, killed foreign businessmen and sank cargo ships. When Yi Tusi complained to the king, he used the word "check" to slow it down, and for a long time, he stopped with the word "the inconvenience of governing a province and people."

Intriguingly, Zeng Guofan was recommended to draft an opinion for Yi Xuan's memorial. Once "conceived at noon, released by Shen Chu in two minutes, with more than 600 words". This memorial to resume the debate actually deeply agrees with most of the opinions of the king of Chun County. "Except for the second article, the other five articles seem to have been adopted and implemented." Behind this, Zeng Guofan may have made a conservative compromise to the imperial court in order to protect himself.

After the religious incident in Tianjin, Cixi people "how to deal with it at this time?" Prince Chun's answer is still tough, thinking that it is necessary to stabilize people's hearts and be cruel to foreigners. Prince Gong, what's going on? Attitude is very different. At this time, if we still take a tough attitude, it may lead to a counterattack from Britain and France, so the Westernization School used negotiation skills to break them one by one. First, Li Hongzao, the leader of the Qing Dynasty, was repelled by wheel war, and then the Japanese people were forced to be silent, so that they agreed to compromise on Tianjin's religious plan. Hey? Wait on the spot, it's a narrow victory. It can be seen that the game between the factions behind the religious plan in Tianjin is more complicated.

(2) Make up positions

1870 is an eventful year. On August 22nd, at around 10 am, outside the school on the west side of the municipal government office, Ma Xinyi, the governor of Liangjiang, just finished reviewing the soldiers' drills. According to Zhang, a scholar in Jinling, it rained in Mao Mao yesterday, so it's sunny and not stuffy today. The weather is clear and cool, and natural tourists are blocked. When passing through the arrow path, suddenly a man rushed out of the people to "stop crying and grievances", and the horse "took shape, and one man removed the blade from behind, so the soldiers were not as good as the first aid." The horse was stabbed in the ribs. "I can't speak, my breath is like silk, and there is no blood at the edge."

The horse stabbing case sounded the alarm for us. The court first sent Zeng Guofan to Liangjiang to deal with the aftermath and transferred Li Hongzhang back to Zhili from Shaanxi. However, Li Hongzhang found that the religious plan in Tianjin was a hot potato, so he postponed the departure time several times and stopped to wait. At present, Zeng Guofan is on pins and needles and needs his disciples to help him out. Li Hongzhang, who has worked hard to be an official all his life, naturally doesn't want to lose his hard-won red top black veil because of the lesson plan. Anyway, Zeng Guofan has been burned in the frying pan, so why throw it in again? You might as well use an oil pan like a pot to cool it. No wonder Mr. Jiang Tingfu commented that "Li Hongzhang's personality can enter people's hearts, but it can't". "When you look at Li Zhi's collected works, you can only see his works and not his life."

So the court ordered Wei Xiao, the general of Jiangning, "to supervise all officials in the department to try their best to hold a trial, and to find out the reasons for the assassination and the absence of the special envoy at the first time and truthfully state the facts." A few days later, the Qing court sent Zhang Huitong, the governor of grain transportation, to investigate the case, and the court demanded that "the investigation of the plot should be accurate without any ambiguity".

Zhang's investigation found that the case was caused by personal grievances, and the murderer was related to Ma Xinyi because of his personal tragic experience. He assassinated Ma Xinyi. "Repeated questioning, unwavering, and his confession is credible for no other reason." Deeply dissatisfied with this result, Cixi talked with Zeng Guofan on June 20, 65438/KLOC-0, and ordered Zeng Guofan to assist the presiding judge Zheng Dunjin in thoroughly investigating the case. For Zeng Guofan, although he can protect himself from accidents, once the culprit behind him is found to be related to Xiang Huai, how to deal with it is indeed extremely difficult.

165438+1October 8, Zeng Guofan, who stayed in Beijing for a long time, finally set off. It should have been an action to rehabilitate important officials, but it secretly set the tone for the wrestling game between the central and local governments.

This time, when we looked at the investigation, Zheng Dunjin, the presiding officer, was also dying, so the Qing court had to buy it off and try it according to Zheng Dunjin and others. Identification of the murder weapon, no medicine, and no one else is responsible. Zhang will be executed within this year, and he will pick his heart and make a sacrifice in front of Ma Xinyi's coffin to show his loyalty to the country. ”。 It can be said that the final result is that the imperial power and the bureaucratic group reached a compromise. The Qing court tried to put pressure on Zeng Guofan through retrial in order to touch the truth as much as possible, but Zeng Guofan and even Zheng Dunjin used the existing laws, regulations and reasons to dispel oversight's will.

Mr. Qian Mu once said, "Modern people generally say that China people don't. In fact, China's traditional problem is too big to do anything. " . In fact, that is to say, the king's laws are strict, the rules are heavy, and the shackles also provide a great space for bureaucratic groups to play and become the basis for resisting imperial power.

(3) the aftermath

In fact, if you look closely at the draft of the Spurs case, you will find that he has leaked some. In the closing statement of the two palaces, I mentioned an experience: at the end of Tongzhi three years, Zhang learned that the country had died and went to Zeng Guofan's general Huang Taishou. Zhang's reliance on Huang means that he entered the Xiang army. Later, Huang gave Zhang Qian and dismissed him, probably related to the background of Zeng Guofan's abolition of Xiang Army. Because of this, Wenxiang Zhang has become an unemployed refugee and is heading for the point of no return. This does involve serious problems caused by a large number of disarmament after the counter-insurgency.

Jiang Fangzhen, a famous military strategist, once commented on Xiang Army: "Xiang Army is a miracle in history. Scholars have never used militia to build military honor since ancient times. As the saying goes, three years does not make a scholar, but a scholar is accomplished. Although scholars are bureaucrats in disguise, militia are bandits in disguise. Therefore, the Xiang army became a bureaucrat at the end, the supervisor became a bandit, and the society also. "

Although Jiang's statement is short, it concisely combs out the vein of differentiation after the Xiang army captured Jinling: scholars turned into bureaucrats and were upper class; The militia evolved into bandits, which is the bottom. How to properly arrange such a large number of soldiers has become a key issue. If it is not handled properly, it will become a potential factor affecting stability and even political stability.

Party member, who had worked for this project, was forcibly dismissed and was suspected to be a communist, killing Ma Xinyi, the governor of Liangjiang. Zeng Guofan must not let the abolition of Xiang Li connect the society with the important cases of the court. Once this matter is exposed, it will be a disaster for hundreds of thousands of veterans; For the incumbent Hunan and Chu bosses, they will also be severely punished; For the local political situation, it will inevitably bring great shock. So Zeng Guofan should be able to hide for a while and a day. However, he clearly knows: "Bandits gather and disperse without a trace, die for no reason, collude and spread, and are unbreakable. After a long time, it is difficult to guarantee that it will not be stolen. It is not only a hidden danger in my hometown, but also a deep worry in other provinces. "

As a native of Hunan, Zheng Dunjin must be well aware of Zeng Guofan's "anxiety" and the difficulty in handling the Spurs case, so he had to choose silence and join hands with Zeng to keep this secret. However, the consequences of this expedient measure are left to future generations.

It can be seen that Wenxiang Zhang has struck a powerful Ma Xinyi, and also an imperial myth that can't convince the public: Is this kind of "Zhongxing" reliable?

Fourth, summary.

The domino effect of 1870 has caused many problems. One is the asymmetry of diplomacy in Qing dynasty, which led to the inability to properly handle diplomatic issues. The second is the disunity of higher group interests between courts caused by external problems. The so-called factions and opinions have great differences and disputes continue. The third is that many places are unwilling to intervene in the face of many thorny problems. For example, Li Hongzhang postponed his trip to Tianjin three times and five times to avoid being involved in this dispute. Fourth, the improper placement of veterans leads to the deterioration of local ecology, which brings many unstable factors to the local and empire.

Finally, summarize the lecture from Tang Degang's perspective. Mr. Tang once put forward the theory of "Three Gorges in History", and he divided the institutional changes in China for more than 4,000 years into three stages: imperial system and civilian rule. It will go through two historical Three Gorges, that is, it will go through two historical stages of transformation. Starting from the imperial system, it happened between Shang Yang and Qin Huang Hanwu and lasted for about 300 years. The transition from imperial rule to civilian rule took place after the war. He also said that about 200 years later, around 2040, the history of China will complete the second "Three Gorges of the Yangtze River" and usher in a new era of "the two sides will widen until the low tide, and there will be no wind to stir my sails".

Because of the need of work, I once took a speedboat in a canyon in Guizhou, which was very, of course, a little uncomfortable. The owner of a speedboat often turns sharply. At that time, I wondered why he kept turning all the way. Later, the master replied that in many places, there are circumfluences and eddies on the water surface, which are reefs. To make sure they don't hit the rocks, they need to turn quickly. This reminds me of a problem. In the course of history, we will encounter many visible stones and know how to avoid immediate risks. But it's more underwater reefs. Therefore, during the period of 1860- 1870, Zeng Guofan encountered many visible or even invisible risks. If we can dig out the risks behind historical research, our history will be richer.

Secondly, I think history is a basic subject with strong characteristics, and we should not just read books when studying history. You should contact the grassroots. Because only by contacting the grassroots can you really feel the rules of the game behind it, and your academic research can really stand the test.

The above is related to Geng Wunian, and it is about Zeng Guofan's sharing. I hope this will be helpful to everyone after reading Wuwu Year!