The thorn horse case put the Xiang army on a horse, and the small cabbage case was also colored.
The "thorn horse case" seems to be Cixi's compromise, but Cixi's wrist is so good. In fact, two of the four strange cases of the Manchu Qing Dynasty, the Thorn Horse Case, the Yang Naiwu case, and the Xiao Cabbage Case, were interlocked by Cixi to suppress the Xiangjun clique.
【"Retreat to advance" in the "Thorn Horse Case"】
In 1890 (the ninth year of Tongzhi), Ma Xinyi, the governor of Liangjiang, was stabbed to death by Zhang Wenxiang in broad daylight. This was the first time in more than 200 years that the Qing Dynasty had been assassinated by a feudal official, and the Qing Dynasty was shocked inside and outside.
After the incident, Cixi transferred Zeng Guofan to preside over the trial of the case. The facts of the case are very simple on the surface, but there is no truth for a long time, and it has dragged on for a year and three months, and the case hastily closed. The characterization was: "The remnants of the Taiping Army took revenge for their own interests", and Zhang Wenxiang was executed.
However, in this case, Zhang Wenxiang's motives have been passed down in many versions in the folk.
◆ Version 1, Zhang Wenxiang, Ma Xinyi, and Dou Yihu, originally worshiped the three brothers. Ma Xinyi, however, betrayed his friends for glory, killed his brother Dou Yihu, and occupied his brother's wife. Zhang Wenxiang avenged his brother and stabbed Ma Xinyi to death. This statement later became the plot of "Submission of Names".
◆ Version 2, the Xiang army broke through the base camp of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom and embezzled huge wealth. After pacifying the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, the Xiang army flew high and low, causing the imperial court to be jealous. Cixi promoted Ma Xinyi to the xiang army's territory, which was to use Ma Xinyi to suppress the Xiang army.
After Ma Xinyi became the governor of Liangjiang, he not only vigorously suppressed the Xiang army, but also secretly investigated the smuggling of wealth by the Xiang army, which provoked a backlash from the Xiang army. Behind the horse stabbing case, the mastermind is likely to be the brothers Zeng Guofan and Zeng Guoquan.
◆ How did Cixi deal with it?
The accidental death of a feudal official, whether it was the commander of the Xiang Army or not, could also implicate a large number of officials of the Xiang Army. However, the Great Qing Dynasty, which had been swept away by the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, had just stabilized, and the power of more than a dozen Xianghuai governors in the whole country had already increased.
Cixi did not dare to take too big a step and pull the egg, and the Xiang army could only be slowly cleaned up.
It seems to be a compromise, but Cixi let Zeng Guofan try the case, which is meaningful. Obviously, this is to retreat into the advance, the army of Zeng Guofan was sent, and Zeng Guofan was asked to show his posture.
Of course, Zeng Guofan could not let the pot of the "thorn horse case" be put on the head of Xiang Jun. But he wanted to give Cixi an explanation—how? It was to take the initiative to disband the Xiang Army, to prove that the Xiang Army would not fall behind and show loyalty to Cixi. Cixi also went down the slope of the donkey, hastily closed the case, and did not expand the scope of the attack.
["Fuss" in the "Yang Naiwu and The Little Cabbage" case]
Three years later, in 1872 (the twelfth year of Tongzhi), the "Yang Naiwu and Xiao Cabbage" unjust case occurred in Hangzhou. For the imperial court, this is a small criminal case, why did it cause an uproar in the whole country? How could it alarm the imperial court, and the Punishment Department personally went out on horseback?
The sympathy of zhejiang officials who were originally in Beijing for Yang Naiwu and the officials of the Xiang military department in Jiangsu and Zhejiang provinces clashed, which caused people to pay attention.
Cixi keenly seized this opportunity, and what Cixi had to do was to expand the scope of the attack and complete what she did not dare to do in the "thorn horse case".
Although the Xiang Army had only partially abolished, the officials of the Xiang Army were still deeply influential. At this time, the situation had stabilized, and Cixi could act boldly.
Therefore, with the impetus of Cixi, the unjust case of "Yang Naiwu and Xiao Cabbage" was rehabilitated, which was transformed into a blow to the heads and faces of the officials of the Xiang Military Department. More than 100 officials in Zhejiang were wiped out, most of them from the Xiang military department. There was a great change of blood in the official field in Zhejiang, and the Xiang army was basically uprooted in Zhejiang.
[Young Marshal Erzhu] said: From the "thorn horse case" to the "Yang Naiwu and The Little Cabbage" case, we can see Cixi's ability and old-fashioned handling of things. The figures who have been able to seize the authority of the Great Qing for 50 years can be seen in the means of conspiracy.
Unfortunately, after all, she only has the "little wisdom" of playing with power, not the "great wisdom" of the world.