Text/Goofy
When Zhao Erfeng is mentioned, people always involuntarily think of the Road Protection Movement in Sichuan. Because of an urgent telegram from the Qing court, Zhao Erfeng's fate was forever linked to that movement. People tend to think of themselves as executioners who suppress revolutions and massacre progressives. In fact, compared with those officials in Beijing in the late Qing Dynasty who only competed for power and profit, Zhao Erfeng was a person who made great contributions to the country.
01, the Taoist's flat edge strategy
Zhao Erfeng is a native of Tai'an, Shandong, born in 1845. He was a family of eunuchs, his father and three brothers were all jinshi and first, officials from the right way, and his brother Zhao Erxun later became the governor of the three eastern provinces. However, Zhao Erfeng had no connection with the imperial examination. Many times I have seen the imperial examination and the name of The Mountain of Fallen Sun. Later, the family paid for him a position called "Na Donation", began to serve in Guangdong, and then went to several counties as county commanders. Although Zhao Erfeng was not good at the imperial examination, he was a good official. During his tenure as a county commander, his style was strong, his vigorous action, and his decision-making was decisive. This late Qing Dynasty official, who could only prevaricate and embezzle, was in stark contrast.
In the official arena, ability is of course very important if you want to get promoted, but what is more important than ability is all kinds of intricate relationships. Whether you can be promoted quickly depends on whether you can control this network of relationships. At that time, Zhao Erfeng's ability was very outstanding, and he was appreciated by Xi Liang, the inspector of Shanxi. Zhao Erfeng then quickly seized this opportunity and gained Xi Liang's trust. Xi Liang then transferred him to Henan. Since then, Zhao Erfeng has been following Xi Liang. In 1903, Xi Liang was transferred to the governor of Sichuan, and Zhao Erfeng also entered Sichuan with him, promoting him to Yongning Daoist and later to Jianchang Daoist.
Daoists are equivalent to today's prefectural and departmental leaders. He successively served in Yongning and Jianchang, both of which bordered the Xikang region. This is a very special place, at that time, these areas were nominally ruled by the Qing Dynasty, but in fact they were ruled by toasts large and small. The management of toast in these areas is very chaotic, and the big and small toasts fight each other for territory, and the central government's decrees are not binding on them at all. It is no exaggeration to say that these regions are countries within a state. At that time, the Qing Dynasty was in the midst of internal and external troubles, and the British used India as a springboard and began to spy on Tibet. The important geographical location of the Xikang area is revealed.
During his tenure as a Daoist in Jianchang, Zhao Erfeng, with his outstanding vision and rich practical experience, wrote the "Three Strategies of Pingkang", which was reviewed by Xi Liang and played in the imperial court. In this recital, Zhao Erfeng proposed that in order to cut off the British attempt to invade Tibet and then enter the interior from the Kham area, it is necessary to strengthen the construction of the Xikang area, first of all, to increase the intensity of the return of the land to the stream, abolish the rule of the toast, and change the imperial court to set up counties and counties, and send down the circulation management. The second was the establishment of Xikang Province, and the establishment of governors of the three western provinces (Xikang, Sichuan, and Tibet), so that they could "take advantage of the covetousness of the Duying people and rule the Dalai Lama outside the country."
This was a very insightful recital, but since the imperial court was already in the late stages of the storm, there was no time to take care of the safety of this frontier land.
Later, the Republic of China government established Xikang Province in Kham District, which was based on Zhao Erfeng's recital.
02. Surround Sangphi Temple
In 1905, the Fengquan Incident broke out in Xikang.
Faced with the increasingly aggressive pace of the British, the Qing government had to consider the security of the Xikang area. In 1904, the Qing Dynasty sent Feng Quan, the deputy minister in Tibet, from Lhasa to Chamudo to manage Kawabe. In 1905, Feng Quan and others decided to immigrate to Batang from Sichuan and reclaim the happy tunbian area. This measure harms the interests of local toast. In addition, Feng Quan was arrogant and arrogant, had a deep prejudice against ethnic minorities, and relied on the power of the imperial court for prestige. This style of his behavior has further intensified the contradiction. In 1905, more than 100 people from Batang Zheng, Deputy Toastmaster, and monastery lamas killed Feng Quan and 50 guards, as well as two French missionaries, on the pretext of "Feng Quan coaching foreign exercises and sheltering foreigners." After that, Toast gathered about 3,000 people to block the streets and prevent the reclamation.
The murder of the chancellor of Chincha attracted the attention of the imperial court. Soon, the imperial court sent Ma Weiqi, the governor of Sichuan (Xi Liang had left his post), and Zhao Erfeng, a Daoist official from Jianchang, to negotiate.
It was in such a critical situation that Zhao Erfeng entered the Xikang area as a "firefighter."
The Qing army was well armed, and the Toast troops were difficult to resist. Although the Qing army quickly quelled most of the rebellion, it encountered difficulties at Sangpi Temple.
Located in Xiangcheng County, Ganzi Prefecture, Sichuan Province, also known as Jiarong Temple, commonly known as Sangpiling, Sangpi Temple was founded in 1654 and named Zhenkang District because xiang Qiuquza, the scribe of the Ninth Dalai Lama, served as the honorary abbot of the temple in 1811. This temple is special, its walls are even more built than the city walls, and they are very tall. In peacetime, it was a temple with a sacred symbol, and in wartime it was an extremely strong castle. More than 2,000 Qing troops led by Zhao Erfeng arrived here, but they were blocked here by Tusi's army and could not retreat.
Zhao Erfeng went deep alone, and it was difficult for logistical support to keep up. The Toastmasters of Sangpi Temple were well aware of this, and they wanted to attack in one fell swoop when Zhao Erfeng retreated without food and grass to wipe out the Qing army.
The two sides thus confronted each other at Sampi Monastery for four months.
Zhao Erfeng was 61 years old at that time, and he was already an old man with a gray beard. The insistence of the Kham area, which has very bad conditions, shows the resoluteness of its flat edge heart.
At this time, his aide Fu Songzhong gave him an idea, saying that the rebels had actually held out for several months, indicating that there was no shortage of water in the temple. Usually there will be wells in the temple, but it cannot support so many people to consume them for a long time. That means they must have a water source accessible from the outside to the temple. As long as this water source is found and cut off, there is no water in the temple, and it is bound to be self-destructive. Zhao Erfeng's eyes lit up, and he immediately sent people to look for water sources around the temple. Sure enough, fu Songzhao said that the water source was quickly found and cut off. There was no water in the temple, and a pot of porridge was made in a chaotic manner. Zhao Erfeng saw the opportunity and attacked Sangpi Temple in one fell swoop.
The leader of the rebels was killed at Sangphi Monastery, and the toast and lama Tongtong who participated in the rebellion were killed. The Qing Dynasty appointed Zhao Erfeng as the Minister of Border Affairs of Sichuan and Yunnan, and Zhao Erfeng took advantage of the situation to promote the reform of land and return to the stream, setting up counties and counties in the local area, dispatching officials, checking household registration, and stipulating taxes. Before the return of the land to the stream, there were 138 toasts in the entire Kham district, of which the four largest were Batang Toast, Mingzheng Toast, Litang Toast, and Dege Toast, under the iron fist suppression of Zhao Erfeng, these four large toasts were eliminated, and the rest of the small toasts were powerless to resist and could only be rehabilitated according to the orders of the imperial court.
03. Operate Xikang
From entering Kang in 1905 to leaving in 1911, Zhao Erfeng served as the Minister of Border Affairs of Sichuan and Yunnan, the Minister of Stationing in Tibet, and other positions for 6 years before and after Xikang, and also acted as the Governor of Sichuan for a period of time. He vigorously promoted the reclamation of immigrants in the Xikang area, recruited immigrants from the Sichuan region, and the government issued the necessary grain, agricultural tools, and seeds to encourage them to reclaim the Kang area. In addition, transportation was built and new schools were opened. In addition, he changed the slavery practices of the Toast era and instilled the idea of equality among the people, which was very rare at that time. He once issued a proclamation saying: "At present, the Han people and the Tibetan people are all equal, and there is no reason for inequality between the Tibetan people and the Tibetan people." Er, who did not know this meaning, thought that the people who were toastmasters were already confused, and even more so, the people who were lamas were particularly ignorant of the matter. A lama is a monk, and he should not have a family, but he should have a people? "This is undoubtedly of progressive significance for the local people."
In addition, Zhao Erfeng also implemented an autonomous policy, that is, to elect a "head man" in the village gathering area to be responsible for managing the affairs of the village, and the remuneration of the head man was raised spontaneously by the villagers. The head man is elected every three years, and the competent person can be re-elected, and the incompetent villager can be replaced and re-elected. This is probably the earliest practice of autonomy in China.
04. If he did not go to Sichuan to take up his post, what would be the result?
In February 1908, Zhao Erfeng's elder brother Zhao Erxun took over as governor of Sichuan, and Zhao Erfeng was appointed minister in Tibet, but still concurrently served as the minister of border affairs between Sichuan and Yunnan. In April 1911, Zhao Erxun was transferred to the governorship of the three eastern provinces, and Zhao Erfeng succeeded his brother as the governor of Sichuan. After receiving the order, he was reluctant to leave Kham, fearing that the policies he had pursued there would be rejected by his successors. For the sake of safety, he recommended his aide Fu Songzhong (傅嵩炢) to the imperial court to succeed him. It was not until the imperial court agreed to his recommendation that he set out for Chengdu.
On August 2, Zhao Erfeng arrived in Chengdu. At this time, the road protection movement in Sichuan was in a period of high rise, and the situation was in full swing. The imperial court demanded that Zhao Erfeng suppress the unrest as soon as possible, and Zhao Erfeng arrested Pu Dianjun, Luo Lun and other "leaders", and after the news came out, the people went to the Governor's Palace to petition, during which the guards and the people had friction, and the guards shot and suppressed, resulting in the "Chengdu Blood Case". Immediately after, on October 10, the Wuchang Uprising broke out. The imperial court was extremely dissatisfied with Zhao Erfeng's performance and removed him from his post as governor of Sichuan.
On November 22 and 25, the Revolutionary Army held a congress of Sichuan officials and gentry in Chengdu, announcing independence from the imperial court and the establishment of the Sichuan Military Government of the Great Han Dynasty. In the early morning of December 22, Yin Changheng, then the "military minister of the Sichuan military government of the Han Dynasty," led his troops to arrest Zhao Erfeng, who had already left the governor, and killed him at the "Mingyuan Building" at the age of 66.
From today's point of view, looking back at Zhao Erfeng's life, it is really sighing. His management of the Xikang area is of great positive significance to the reunification of the country. Just because he suppressed the road protection movement, he was nailed to the "pillar of shame", and his merits were inundated by history and forgotten consciously or unconsciously.
When commenting on Zhao Erfeng, later generations once said: "Zhao himself is also sensitive and honest, and does things fairly. Although the close relatives of the offender do not forgive a little, the Kang people are more convinced. "I often wonder what would have happened to his fate and the vigorous movement if he had arrived in Chengdu a few months late after receiving his appointment. Will his merits be on par with Zuo Zongtang's recovery of Xinjiang? This is just a hypothesis and cannot be confirmed.