The ninth year of Xianfeng is a year that must be remembered for Zuo Zongtang. In this year, the famous "Fan Xiejing Prosecution Case" occurred, and Zuo Zongtang was impeached by The Governor of Huguang, Guan Wen. Therefore, Zuo Zongtang was the curtain under Luo Bingzhang, the inspector of Hunan, so he was accused of being "the first inferior curtain in the world". However, the Xiang army group headed by Hu Linyi and Zeng Guofan vigorously defended Zuo Zongtang, saying that "the country cannot go without Hunan for a day, and Hunan cannot go without Zuo Zongtang for a day."
The official Wen was on the left, and Hu Lin was on the left, and this sensational case of the government and the opposition soon attracted the attention of the Xianfeng Emperor, and then a classic official wisdom battle was staged. The result is not to press the table first, or start from the beginning.
The story of Fan Xie's case
In the fourth year of Xianfeng (1854), Zuo Zongtang was invited by Luo Bingzhang, the governor of Hunan, to enter the shogunate of Hunan for the second time, which lasted for six years. Because Zuo Zongtang took over the military and political power in Hunan, the two divisions of the departments of the government and the governor of the bureau, including Inspector Luo Bingzhang himself, became a companion.
In particular, Zuo Zongtang had a strange temper and acted uprightly, which damaged the interests of some people in the officialdom and society to varying degrees, so it was inevitable that he would suffer from the envy and opposition of these people.
Fan Xie was a native of Enshi, Hubei Province, and after joining the army, he had some military merits, plus he could drill the camp, and soon rose to the position of commander-in-chief of Yongzhou in Hunan. However, this Fan Xie is not a good bird, and the official voice is very poor. He often dispatched soldiers to do private work at home, and even his aunt's clothes were washed by soldiers.
Not only that, Fan Xie usually smoked, drank, and played cards almost completely, and all the expenses were reimbursed in the barracks. Just the embezzlement of military salaries alone has been documented as many as nine thousand and more than two. At that time, Hunan was the hardest hit area of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom Movement, and the finances were very tight, and Fan Xie dared to stand up to the wind and commit crimes, but it was not without reason.
The patron behind Fan Xie was none other than Guan Wen, the governor of Huguang, and Guan Wen's concubine was a relative of Fan Xie. Such a person with a very poor official reputation, Guan Wen also recommended him as the viceroy of Hunan.
Although Guan Wen was the governor, it was Luo Bingzhang, or Zuo Zongtang, who was specifically in charge of the military and political affairs of Hunan. It was against the rules of the official game to bypass Luo Bingzhang and recommend Fan Xie, so a few days later, Luo Bingzhang went to a stage of impeachment of Fan Xie.
Emperor Xianfeng's instructions were soon issued:
Fan Xie immediately opened the vacancy
。 The admiral did not succeed, but even the general soldiers were lost. However, Fan Xie and Guan Wen were well aware that Zuo Zongtang was the boss of Hunan, known as the "Second Inspector", and this impeachment fold must have come from his hand.
In order to take the initiative to escape punishment, Fan Xie also had to bow his head, he personally went to Changsha to pay respects to Zuo Zongtang, hoping to walk through the back door to see if there was a possibility of salted fish turning over.
Zuo Zongtang was an empty-eyed fanatic, the officials of Hunan were all subordinates in his eyes, Fan Xie was wearing a sinful body at this time, and there were things to come to the door, and the attitude should be humble. However, Fan Xie did not know which tendon did not turn around, and when he saw Inspector Luo Bingzhang, he still knew that he knelt on one leg to perform a great salute, but when he saw Zuo Zongtang, he only arched his hand to show a polite greeting.
Zuo Zongtang was already unhappy to see him, so he immediately shouted:
"When the military attaché sees me, no matter how big or small, please be safe." Why don't you please? ”
Fan Xie was usually used to being big, and he also forgot the purpose of his coming, so he bumped into a sentence:
"The imperial court system did not stipulate that military attaches should ask for peace when they saw the master. The military attaché was despised again, but after all, I was a member of the Imperial Court's Erpin Commandery, so why should I ask you for peace? ”
To say that Fan Xie's words are polite and courteous, there is nothing wrong with it, and the imperial court does have such regulations. But Fan Xie forgot that Zuo Zongtang was not an ordinary master, but a "second inspector". Zuo Zongtang did not expect him to have this attitude, and he couldn't help but be ashamed and angry, so he blurted out a scolding: "Wang Baguo, get out!" "After scolding, I didn't understand the hatred, I wanted to go up and kick it, of course, some people said that it was a slap."
Fan Xie soon went to Guan Wen to accuse Zuo Zongtang, who had already had prejudices against Luo Bingzhang's impeachment of Fan Xie, so he decided to join Zuo Zongtang and put him to death. This is the general experience of the "Fan Xie case".
The official text of the impeachment of Zuo Zongtang is also reasonable. Guan Wen said that Zuo Zongtang was an "inferior curtain" and that the Hunan Governor Fu Yamen was "one official and two seals". This means that the Inspector of Hunan has produced a bad-character friend Zuo Zongtang, who is tyrannical, overstepping his authority to interfere in politics, and his power is so sideways, what kind of system has he become, and whether the Manchu Jiangshan is going to change the sky.
Zuo Zongtang was imprisoned and almost lost his life
Guan Wen was an old bureaucrat, and his participation in the impeachment of Zuo Zongtang not only had a factual basis, but also made an extremely vicious attack. According to the Laws of the Great Qing Dynasty, officials connived at the dismissal of those who were befriended by their friends; those who were impeached by the guards of the shogunate were to be punished. Obviously, Guan Wen's move was not only aimed at Zuo Zongtang, but also implicated Luo Bingzhang and his former Governor of Hunan Zhang Liangji (who had also hired Zuo Zongtang as a curtain).
After the Xianfeng Emperor received the impeachment recital, he was originally extremely uneasy about Zeng Guofan, Hu Linyi and other Han ministers, and he did become vigilant. The Emperor issued an order to investigate Zuo Zongtang and give advice on how to deal with it:
"If Zuo Mou has an illegal situation, he will do the Fa-rectification on the spot."
。 So the situation is very serious.
Fortunately, Hubei Inspector Hu Linyi had a good personal relationship with Guan Wen, and under his mediation, Zuo Zongtang was not arrested and imprisoned in accordance with normal judicial procedures. XianFeng's edict was immediately celebrated by the officials in Hunan, and some people even secretly wrote it down on the gate of Zuo Zongtang's house
"Qinjia Inferior Curtain Deputy Hunan Inspector FuZuo Mansion"
, in order to vent the dissatisfaction in your heart.
In order not to implicate the others, Zuo Zongtang and Xianfeng proposed their resignation to Luo Bingzhang in December 9, and also ended his career as a closest confidant. Just when Zuo Zongtang's future was uncertain and his blessings were unpredictable, a rescue operation led by Hu Linyi, Zeng Guofan and others also began in secret.
People must be saved but they must be strategic
In the process of rescuing Zuo Zongtang, there were two key figures, one was Su Shun, who was in charge of the center, and the other was Pan Zuyin.
Su Shun was the first red man of the Xianfeng Dynasty, he was a nobleman of the clan, but he used Han bureaucrats very much, and Zeng Guofan was often promoted and reused by him. Sushun was also very concerned about this major incident in Hunan, but he was not in a position to personally intervene, so he handed the matter over to his close friends and instructed him to take action quickly.
At this time, some officials from Hunan in Beijing also began to take action, and Wang Minyun and Guo Songtao quickly found Sushun and asked him to intercede in front of the Xianfeng Emperor. But SuShun believed that someone must first stand up to protect Zuo Zongtang, and wait until the emperor asked him before he could speak from the side. So the person who plays it is critical.
Wang Minyun and Guo Songtao immediately remembered a person, Pan Zuyin. Pan Zuyin was a tanhua in the second year of Xianfeng, who was a bachelor's attendant in the South Study At that time, and was also a red person around the Xianfeng Emperor. His grandfather was Pan Shien, a well-known scholar of the Qianlong Dynasty, so he had many old friends in the dynasty and spoke with weight.
Why did Wang Minyun and Guo Songtao look for Pan Zuyin? That's the crux of the matter. First of all, Pan Zuyin was not from Hunan, and he stood up to ensure that Zuo Zongtang was not suspected; second, Pan Zuyin did not have any personal friendship with Zuo Zongtang, and the Xianfeng Emperor would not suspect his motives.
Since he was not from Hunan and had no friendship with Zuo Zongtang, why did Pan Zuyin want to keep the music? Guo Songtao then set up a good plan.
Guo Songtao and Pan Zuyin both worked together in the South Study, so they knew him better. Guo Songtao first wrote down zuo Zongtang's recital, and then brought three hundred and two silver tickets and went directly to Pan Zuyin's home to visit. Coincidentally, at this time, Pan Zuyin's life was quite difficult, and after the two met, Guo Songtao threw out the right topic, saying that he would let him play a person.
Pan Zuyin asked who Bao was playing, but Guo Songtao deliberately sold Guanzi, saying that the fold had been written, the name did not need to be asked, and if he agreed, the reward was three hundred gold. Because the two of them have been good friends for many years, they have always trusted each other, and it is not difficult to be a shunshui person now, not to mention the reward of three hundred taels.
After the two of them had drunk enough to eat, Pan Zuyin was still a little uneasy, but he had been pulled by Guo Songtao to the concert office and handed over the music to the eunuch of the music office. It was only at this time that Guo Songtao told him that Zuo Zongtang, the person who protected the music, was. Pan Zuyin had heard about Zuo Zongtang's situation in Hunan and knew that he was a talent, so he was satisfied.
Pan Zuyin's recital was quickly handed to the Xianfeng Emperor, who consulted Sushun, who happened to push the boat along the water, saying:
"Pan Zuyin's state ministers, what they guarantee will be credible, please forgive them, so as to see the after-effects."
Xian Feng ordered that the case be tried slowly, and there was room for maneuver.
Guan Wen is also very knowledgeable, knowing that there are many people in the dynasty who are protecting Zuo Zongtang, and he also sees the wind and makes the rudder, saying that Zuo Zongtang is certainly wrong, but after all, he is also a talent, and he can also forgive him this time if he is a first-time offender. Thus, the sensational "Fan Xie case" ended here.
Pan Zuyin has such a famous saying in the performance of Baoshou:
"The country cannot go a day without Hunan, and Hunan cannot go a day without Zuo Zongtang."
It was this sentence that saved Zuo Zongtang's life.
After Zuo Zongtang's departure, he has always been obsessed with Pan Zuyin's life-saving grace. We know that Zuo Zongtang has always been a person who goes his own way, never giving gifts to his colleagues, except for Pan Zuyin, who regularly sends a generous gift to Pan Zuyin every year.