Tan Si was also the Sixth Gentleman of Wu Shu, and he was killed by Cixi at caishikou. Before we talk about whether he was cut thirty times before he lost his breath, let's talk about why Cixi hated him so much and tortured him with thirty knives.
Tan Sitong, Kang Youwei, and Liang Qichao are all reformers. They were very close to the Guangxu Emperor and wanted Guangxu to make the Qing Dynasty stronger by changing the law.
However, the reality is that Guangxu is just a puppet emperor, and he doesn't count. It was Empress Dowager Cixi who had the final say, and Empress Dowager Cixi was a diehard, and she was very opposed to these people who had changed the law.
Under this circumstance, in the eyes of Tan Si and these people, Cixi had no need to survive.
Assassinate Cixi
In cixi's later years, she did not work in the Forbidden City, but went to the Summer Palace. Tan Sitong, Kang Youwei, Liang Qichao and others discussed how to kill Cixi in the Summer Palace.
Because as long as Cixi was there, they could not do great things, at least they could not be reused by the Guangxu Emperor, and only when Guangxu became the person who held great power, they could really advise Guangxu.
Whether Guangxu can take power or not, the key is to see if Cixi will die?
If you want to say that you want to assassinate Cixi, Guangxu must also know it, otherwise, how could a few of their students assassinate Cixi?
Of course, even if Guangxu knew, he pretended not to know, he must have been behind the scenes to give them advice and recommendations for the right candidates, who in the end can kill Cixi?
Obviously, the Summer Palace where Cixi lived was heavily guarded, and if he wanted to kill Cixi, he had to surround the Summer Palace. However, they do not have the right to mobilize troops.
At this time, Tan Si and them thought of Yuan Shikai in Tianjin, and asked Yuan Shikai to help, at least Guangxu thought that Yuan Shikai was the one who was ostracized by Cixi, and Yuan Shikai and Guangxu also had contacts, and Guangxu felt that Yuan Shikai could be wooed.
Yuan Shikai betrayed Tan Sitong
Since Yuan Shikai can believe it, let Yuan Shikai help. But how to convince Yuan Shikai? Who's going to convince him?
Only Tan Sitong, who was born in the family of the official eunuch, carried a bit of narrow meaning. He was a responsible man, so he came to Yuan Shikai.
Although Yuan Shikai said that he was not reused by Cixi, he was also a petty officer in charge of the army. Killing Cixi was a rebellion, how could he possibly do such a thing?
When Tan Si confronted him, he said to consider it.
How could Tan Sitong let him think about it, this was a matter of losing his head. Seeing that Yuan Shikai did not agree, Tan Sitong wanted to take out the gun hidden in his body.
Yuan Shikai is a very smart person, he does not look at big things well. If the gun was really pulled out, his life would not be saved, so Yuan Shikai was forced to agree to kill Cixi with them. Moreover, Tan Sitong also promised that after the matter was accomplished, the emperor would reward Yuan Shikai.
I thought it would be done.
However, after Tan Sitong left Yuan Shikai, Yuan Shikai rebelled. He told Cixi about Tan Sitong's attempt to murder Cixi.
In this way, before they had assassinated Cixi, the matter was revealed, and they became wanted criminals.
Tan Sitong was killed, and Kang Youwei and Liang Qichao escaped
After being betrayed by Yuan Shikai, Tan Sitong and Kang Youwei, liang Qichao all had a chance to escape. Moreover, the three of them also discussed escaping, but in the end, Tan Sitong stayed. He said that any country that changes the law will go through bloodshed, and the bloodshed of China's change of law will start with him.
That's how he was arrested.
Kang Youwei and Liang Qichao went to the Japanese embassy, where they were sheltered by the Japanese, and eventually they also ran to Japan. The two men saved their lives.
Kang Youwei saved his life, but his brother became his substitute ghost, and Cixi ordered people to arrest Kang Youwei's younger brother Kang Guangren.
In the end, they were all killed at caishikou, known in history as the Six Gentlemen of Penghu.
Did Tan Sitong really have been killed more than thirty times before he lost his breath?
Tan Sitong was the mastermind of the assassination of Cixi, and Cixi definitely did not want him to die a painful death, and it was very likely that he would instruct the sword and axe hand to pay special attention to Tan Sitong.
Only by making Tan Si die with some pain can we make an example and let more people know that if they do something rebellious, this is the end.
Therefore, it is very likely that Tan Sitong was killed thirty times before he lost his breath.
Let's look at the relevant records and how it is said that Tan Si died.
According to the "Tan Si Tong Yi Witness", "The first knife killed Kang Guangren, and it was the turn of the fifth sword, oh my God! It was our turn on Mr. Tan's head. The knife used to kill officials in the former Qing Dynasty was different from the knife used to kill civilians, and the larger the official, the more blunt the knife. This is not called beheading, it is called sawing head, which is dozens of times more painful than beheading. And for this tragic situation that hurt into the bone marrow, the fifth tortured Mr. Tan, has always been indifferent, cutting more than 30 knives before he lost his breath. ”
Therefore, it is indeed possible that Tan Sitong was killed thirty times before he lost his breath.