Text/Kingdom Building
On October 30, 1911 (the Ninth Chongyang Festival at the beginning of the ninth lunar month), the vigorous Chongjiu Uprising broke out in Kunming, Yunnan, and the revolutionaries overthrew the corrupt Manchu Qing rulers and established the Yunnan Military Governor's Government after a bloody battle. During the Chongjiu Uprising, Zhong Lintong, the supreme military commander of Yunnan at the end of the Qing Dynasty, was killed. Today, Xiaobian will talk to you about Zhong Lintong's murder.
First of all, I would like to introduce the basic identity information of Zhong Lintong. Zi Jiantang, a native of Jining, Shandong, date of birth is unknown (probably around 1863), graduated from Weihai Wubei Academy. In his early years, he joined the army, starting from the grass-roots level step by step, accumulating military merits and promoting daoists, and in 1909, he was transferred to Yunnan as the newly formed 19th town commander (equivalent to the division commander), and was the highest military commander in Yunnan Province.
Kunming, Yunnan Province, has become the cradle of revolutionaries since 1907, and a large number of middle- and high-ranking officers, including Li Gengen, Cai Yi, Luo Peijin, Tang Jiyao, Lei Biao, Xie Ruyi, Liu Cunhou, Li Hongxiang and others, are all hardcore revolutionaries. When Zhong Lintong was transferred to the 19th town system, the General Counselor (chief of staff) was Jin Yunpeng, the 37th Association (equivalent to brigade) was Cai Yi, and the 38th Association (equivalent to brigade) was Qu Tongfeng. Don't look at the senior officers in 19 towns, Cai Yi, is only a revolutionary, but the revolutionaries account for two-thirds of the officers below the standard (equivalent to regiments) and battalions, and the revolutionary situation is very good. Why is the revolutionary situation in Yunnan so prosperous? This is inseparable from the indulgence and help of Li Jingxi, the governor of Yunnan. It is said that when the secret agent presented the evidence of Cai Yi's conspiracy to rebel to Li Jingxi, Li Jingxi did not pursue it, and even if it was not pursued, he also showed the evidence to Cai Yi and gave Cai Yi 500 taels of silver as "living expenses" before leaving. What kind of result do you say you can achieve by "suppressing" the revolutionaries in this way?
In October 1911, large-scale revolutionary uprisings occurred in Sichuan and Hubei. In order to threaten and intimidate the Yunnan revolutionaries, Zhong Lintong gathered middle and senior officers to give a lecture, falsely claiming that the Sichuan and Hubei revolutionaries had been suppressed, and that the revolutionaries who participated in the rebellion were not only executed, but also the nine ethnic groups. The 19th Battalion of artillery with Xie Ruyi often made revolutionary remarks in public, and Zhong Lintong called Xie Ruyi out to receive reprimands. Zhong Lintong said to Xie Ruyi: "The imperial court spends a lot of silver to send you to study in Japan, and after you return to China, you should reuse it, so you should repay the imperial court well." You are good, seduced by the chaotic party, spreading rumors everywhere, disturbing the hearts and minds of the army, it is really a dung machine, a pig intestine, and the mud cannot support the wall. "Scolding Xie Ruyi for a dog's bloody head, looking at Zhong Lintong's posture at that time, he almost shot Xie Ruyi to death." Afterwards, Zhong Lintong was not relieved, and asked Li Jingxi to arrest Xie Ruyi and lock him up, and only after many people interceded did he release him.
On October 28, 1910, Li Jingxi, who smelled danger, suddenly ordered the weapons in the hands of the soldiers of 19 towns to be confiscated and stored, and the military began to panic. Cai Yi and other revolutionaries, feeling that the situation was serious, plotted to launch an armed uprising on the twelfth day of the ninth lunar month (November 2) of the same year, and as a result, the uprising was learned of by traitors mixed in the revolutionary ranks, and Li Jingxi and Zhong Lintong were informed. On October 30, the Ninth Chongyang Festival of the ninth month of the lunar calendar, Li Jingxi, who had received a secret report, consulted with Zhong Lin to disband the 19 town troops in order to prevent the revolutionaries in the new army from rebelling, and then tightly seal the arsenal to suppress the uprising. Cai Yi heard the reactionary intentions of Li Jingxi and others and revolted ahead of the same night.
After the battle began, many revolutionaries did not respond at the first time, and the battle was fought very hard. Zhong Lintong personally commanded the machine gun battalion to hold the strategic position, causing hundreds of casualties to the rebel troops. By noon on October 31, the revolutionaries who had heard the news had joined the battle one after another, the Qing army was not supported, it was defeated and fled, and the Chongjiu Uprising was victorious.
After the war, the governor of Yunnan, Li Jingxi, was captured, the envoy shizeng of Yunnan was killed, Jin Yunpeng, the general counselor of 19 towns, and Qu Tongfeng, the commander of the 38th Association, fled in disguise, and the Manchu Qing government's rule in Yunnan was overthrown.
Zhong Lintong was unlucky, and after his defeat, he was captured by Xie Ruyi's men and escorted to see Xie Ruyi. Xie Ruyi originally wanted to keep Zhong Lin with the same life so that he could do the work of appeasing the remnants of reactionary officers and men in 19 towns, saying: "The imperial court has exhausted its strength, so why not do something together and do something for the country and the people." Zhong Lintong was furious and shouted loudly: "Chaotic courtiers and thieves, I would like to crush the corpses of Er and others into ten thousand pieces." Kill if you want to kill, needless to say! The escort soldiers deeply hated Zhong Lintong for killing the revolutionary comrades, and raised their knives to slash at Zhong Lintong's body, and the blood flowed like blood. Xie Ruyi hurriedly stopped it, pulled it up and looked at it, already screaming for his life. The soldiers killed Zhong Lintong, still not relieved, cut off his head, and hung it outside the Great East Gate for public display. Later, it was Cai Yi, the governor of the Yunnan Military Governor's Mansion, who came forward to be buried.