Qing Dynasty officials during the Xianfeng Tongzhi period, if they were local officials, had many ways to die.
Fought with the Taiping Army and died in battle;
Defeated by the Taiping Army, captured and killed;
Did not win the Taiping Army, led to suicide, just like Zeng Guofan, diving... Of course, Zeng Guofan had a good fate and did not die; if his fate was not good, he died;
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The front line was frightened, strategized, overworked, and died of illness, such as Zeng Guofan's youngest brother Zeng Guobao, who died of illness in the Xiang Army's Jiangnan camp.
Others escaped from the battlefield and were sentenced to death by the imperial court.
However, as far as I know, no one died as strangely as Shen Zhaolin, the governor of Shaanxi and Gansu.
Shen Zhaolin, a native of Qiantang, was born in the sixth year of Jiaqing (1801), and only entered the army at the age of 35, and spent 16 years from Hanlin to a deputy ministerial official. The Taiping Rebellion quickly occupied a large area and set the capital at Nanjing, which was changed to Tianjing. In the third year of Xianfeng (1853), Shen Zhaolin suggested the establishment of regimental training, saying in the folding zi, "The province of Qibao should select two-thirds of the ten in the training of courage, and unite as township soldiers to train people with prestige." When there are police in this county, rescue each other. Their foreign provinces and counties must not be transferred to them, so as not to disturb them." This proposal was approved by the imperial court. Zeng Guofan, who was worried about Ding's father, began to emerge at this time.
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Shen Zhaolin spent most of his time as an official in the imperial court, and he made many suggestions on state affairs, many of which were adopted. In the first year of Tongzhi (1862), he was appointed governor of Shaanxi and Gansu, succeeding le bin, who was unfavorable. After arriving in office, he fought several victorious battles, but before long, something big happened.
According to the "Draft History of the Qing Dynasty", "In July, the division was still, the Second Pingfan Erdaolinggou, the rain and hail, the mountains and rivers suddenly erupted, and Zhaolin and Congxing did not serve in the army. The water receded, and the corpse of Zhaolin was obtained, and Yu Duan sat in the middle of the public opinion. ”
It turned out that he had encountered a flash flood and died in the line of duty.
Erdaolinggou in Yongdeng County, Gansu Province, I checked, this place belongs to the continental climate, the average annual precipitation of 290 mm, can be regarded as rain is scarce. Isn't it strange that Shen Zhitai died here?
Of course, in the folk records, this is not surprising at all.
It is said that when he was young, fortune tellers told him that when you encounter the Yellow Crane Tower, there will be murder.
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In order to ward off evil spirits, he also asked the famous Taoist priest to put on a full amulet; when he traveled through Hubei, he walked around Wuchang, afraid of seeing the three characters of the Yellow Crane Tower.
However, when I arrived in Shaanxi, I went to the countryside to run errands, and when I passed a village, there was a small building that was written on it - Yellow Crane Tower!
At that time, the clouds were thick, and it was raining heavily, and the attendants advised him to wait until the rain was over before leaving, but how could he stay on the edge of the Yellow Crane Tower? So he hurried forward and died in a flash flood.
It is a blessing not a curse, and it is a curse that cannot be avoided. Shen Zhitai's peculiar method of death is also enough to make people stunned.