Chapter 185: Zeng Guofan's Immediate Judgment (2)

On the 10th day of June 1870, Zeng Guofan arrived in Tianjin and summoned the three ministers of trade to discuss countermeasures.

Zeng Guofan said: The teaching case of the Mercy Hall, the foreigners abducted my children in the Qing Dynasty, in the opinion of the great people, is it true?

Chonghou Dao: Lord Qiyu, the abduction and trafficking of Wu Lanzhen was actually bewitched by the three kings of the people; At the time of the multi-party triage, the public sentiment was agitated; The French consul Feng Daye was arrogant and arrogant, and openly shot the Qing Dynasty official, and the people were so angry that they beat the consul and more than 50 people to death, and burned down churches and other houses. Whether foreigners are involved in abduction is still being sorted out.

Zeng Guofan said: When Feng Daye opened fire, can the officers and soldiers of the Qing Dynasty fight back?

Chonghou Dao: At that time, the people were noisy near the church, and the momentum was surging; I was afraid, and hurriedly sent people to tear down the pontoon bridge to prevent the people from advancing; It was expected that Chen Guorui, the governor of Tianjin, led hundreds of troops, rode the bridgehead, rebuilt the pontoon bridge, and fanned the flames.

Zeng Guofan said: Chen Guorui and Feng Daye are all husbands, and both of them are innocent! Whether there is indeed evidence for the foreigner's eye-gouging and heart-splitting theory is the most important key in the case.

Chonghou Dao: Lord Zeng, hearsay, there is no conclusive human or material evidence.

Zeng Guofan said: Killing people to pay for their lives, and repaying debts has been a principle since ancient times. Tomorrow's meeting will be held, and the consuls of France, Britain, the United States, Russia, Prussia, Belgium, and Spain in China will be summoned to observe. I have heard that foreigners pay attention to justice, and we can also see it.

Chonghou Dao: Enlighten Lord Zeng, all the people gather, if there are variables, we will be in trouble.

Zeng Guofan said: The pacesetter of the governor's mansion, is it an ornament! My Daqing child, his chest and abdomen are rotten, his intestines are exposed, and his corpses are exposed in the wilderness, who is doing it recklessly? The court will be held to admonish the people and set the record straight.

That night, Zhang Guangzao, the former prefect of Tianjin, was a young child of the Catholic Church, and some of them were abducted. On the day the church was burned down, the parishioner Wang San was sent to the county, and the offender was confronted with the accusation, and Ming Yi used to lure Wu Lanzhen to abduct the population, abduct one person first, and give Dayang five yuan. Every morning in the Catholic Church, a pack of diplomatic Wulan treasures is used to abduct people abroad. And this medicine bag is said to have been given by Father Xie Gospel.

Zeng Guofan looked at it and said: Father Xie is dead, and there is no proof of death! Wang San and Wu Lanzhen's confessions, is it true?

Zhao Liewen said: Under the big punishment, or insincerely. Liewen was ordered by Di Shuai, and the people of Tianjin had a heavy difficulty and neglected women, and abandoned the baby girl in the wilderness; When the foreigners saw it, they built a nursery to take it in; When the people of Tianjin heard about it, they all gave abandoned babies to the church, and the foreigners did not refuse to say it, and even gave them two silver rewards; Diao people, such as Wu Lanzhen and Wang, took a look at this opportunity and abducted children to collect money. This spring, the plague was rampant, and there were also dead children in the nursery; Buried hastily, dug and bitten by dogs, and exposed to the wilderness.

Zeng Guofan said: Diao people mislead the country, and if you don't kill you, you can't understand my hatred.

The next day, the state clan was promoted to the court to inquire about the case, and then summoned the abductors and the parishioners to interrogate the abduction and trafficking of children and the gouging out of their eyes and hearts, whether they were indeed instigated by foreigners.

However, although the parishioners were severely punished, they still denied it in a categorical manner. They all said that they had been teaching for a long time and that there was no abduction.

Zeng Guofan was helpless, so he posted notices and offered a large reward, and inquired inside and outside the city of Jin, in order to seek competent human and material evidence.

However, after half a month, no one exposed the list and accused the foreigners of acting recklessly, and none of the missing children's homes sued the perpetrators.

The Minister of Commerce and Trade of the Three Mouths said sublimely: Lord Qiyu, from this point of view, the sudden death of a child in Tianjin has nothing to do with foreigners, and it is indeed caused by the plague.

Zeng Guofan said: What does Chongda mean?

Chonghou Dao: The foreigners shot first, the people of Tianjin fought and killed later, the two sides seemed to be able to offset each other, but the mob wantonly killed more than 50 people, this wind can not be long, I will, capture and kill seven or eight mobs to the anger of the people, and dismiss the three officials of Tianjin Province, government and county to please the foreigners, and compensate the silver two to calm the people's hearts.

Zeng Guofan said: At present, the foreigner warship has arrived at the mouth of Dagu, there are eight or nine, and there are still a lot of them later, and the heart of the foreign chief is clear at a glance. We are not trying to take care of the peace situation, but the fault lies with me, and I have to reluctantly obey the overall situation.

Chonghou Dao: Without further ado, the matter of capture and exile and compensation will be brought to the court.

Zeng Guofan sighed and said: Twenty-one foreigners were injured and killed, and I will check this number, which is enough to offset it. However, hundreds of people fight and kill, time passes, who has the intention of killing, who is ruthless, it is very difficult to identify, only the punishment is waiting, looking for the murderer.

Chonghou Dao: What's so difficult about this, it can be said in private, killing children and bad corpses, collecting and dispensing medicines, are indeed done by foreigners, and foreigners deserve death; Those who killed foreigners before came to the yamen to receive the reward.

Zeng Guofan said: Acting like this, going back on your word, and being ashamed of the people of Tianjin! We are secretly invited, and the exiled officials are given two taels of silver; and those who are beheaded shall also be compensated.

On July 20, 1870, the French minister Luo Shuya arrived in Tianjin, saying that Zeng Guofan, Chong Houdao: to repair the church, bury the great cause, investigate the magistrates, and punish the murderers, in addition to the three officials of Tianjin Prefecture and Admiral Chen Guorui, must be punished by the law, otherwise our warships outside the mouth of Dagu will act cheaply.

Zeng Guofan said: Compensation and repair, thick burial, and compensation matters, this minister will immediately prepare; Killing people pays for life, our country and your country have existed since ancient times; This minister will immediately arrest the murderer, but wait for the emperor's permission to behead him. As for the refusal of the officials and ministers of Tianjin Prefecture and the ministers, this minister will not be able to agree; However, if he neglected to take precautions in the first case and could not arrest the offender quickly, this minister immediately asked the emperor to dismiss him from his post and hand him over to the criminal department for punishment.

Luo Shuya said: Zeng was a heavy man and a light sentence, and China started its own provocation if he was not harmonious.

Zeng Guofan said: If the law does not blame the public, and wanton killing, there will be endless disasters.