We read all the lead to present a different history.
As the saying goes, "the times make heroes", and the countless heroes who have emerged from ancient times to the present day have almost all shouldered the heavy responsibility entrusted by history in a specific historical environment and left a strong mark on the historical picture. These stars shining in the starry sky of history have made outstanding contributions to the development of the Chinese nation, and their life deeds have become well known. Today Ziyuan will tell you a little bit of a relatively unpopular historical story - the mysterious last words of lin Zexu, a modern national hero.
▲Old photos of the scene of qing people smoking opium
In the late Qing Dynasty, the West dumped a large amount of opium on China, the physical fitness of the people throughout the Qing Dynasty dropped sharply, and a large amount of silver also flowed out, and the Qing government faced a serious crisis. Lin Zexu, who was the governor of Huguang at the time, wrote to the Daoguang Emperor and requested a strict ban on smoking. The Daoguang Emperor himself recognized the dangers of opium, so he ordered Lin Zexu to be the minister of Chincha, responsible for supervising the ban on smoking in Guangdong. Lin Zexu was well aware that the scourge of opium in Guangdong was in Guangzhou, and after arriving in Guangzhou, he began to vigorously rectify it. After finding out the relevant situation of opium in Guangzhou, Lin Zexu directly sent people to raid major tobacco houses and confiscated nearly 20,000 boxes of opium. A few days later, Lin Zexu destroyed the seized opium in public on Humen Beach, dealing a heavy blow to the British and Qing opium merchants.
▲ "Humen selling cigarettes" scene restoration
Opium merchants hated him and took revenge for it, and the British government constantly put pressure on the Qing court, and there were people inside the court who secretly contributed to the situation. In the twentieth year of Daoguang (1840 AD), Lin Zexu was dismissed from his post and exiled to Yili. Ili is a bitter cold place, Lin Zexu is already old, and he often starves and freezes during the exile, so he has fallen a lot of diseases, and his health has deteriorated. In the thirtieth year of Daoguang (1850 AD), the "Jintian Rebellion" broke out, and the newly enthroned Xianfeng Emperor, in order to consolidate his rule, once again used Lin Zexu as a minister of Chincha. When he received the holy will, Lin Zexu was already plagued by a vicious illness, coughing, lung disease, hernia and other alternating attacks, but he did not push back, day and night rushed to Guangxi to take up his post, and finally died in Puning County, Guangdong Province, because of the boat and car.
▲Lin Zexu wax figure
Lin Zexu's sudden death is certainly heart-wrenching, but on the occasion of his death, Lin Zexu's three shouts of "Star Dounan" have made the world even more confused. Later generations have different opinions about these three words, and the mainstream view is that these three words are related to lin Zexu's death and are inseparable from the opium merchants. The three characters "Xingdou South" read very close to "New Bean Orchid", which is a street near the Thirteen Foreign Company in Guangzhou. When Lin Zexu smoked smoking in Guangzhou, he found a lot of opium from the business house of Wu Bingjian, the leader of the foreign firm, and often said that cutting off people's financial paths is like killing their parents, and Wu Bingjian naturally hated Lin Zexu. When he learned that Lin Zexu was going to Guangxi to pass through Puning, Wu Bingjian secretly ordered someone to poison lin Zexu to assassinate and kill Lin Zexu.
▲Portrait of Wu Bingjian
According to the "Puning County Chronicle", after Lin Zexu ate breakfast one day, he suddenly remembered that the cook who delivered the dishes today was different from the past, so he immediately sent someone to arrest him, but unfortunately there was no result. In the evening, Lin Zexu returned to heaven due to food poisoning, and people speculated that the cook was sent by Wu Bingjian. Of course, this statement is also flawed, as the minister of Chincha, food, clothing, shelter and transportation are all taken care of, and the probability of Lin Zexu dying of food poisoning is too small. Therefore, some scholars believe that Lin Zexu's three-character last words should express the regret that his ambitions have not been rewarded. The night before Lin Zexu's death, a meteor suddenly flashed in the dark night sky and fell toward the north, which was a warning to the heavens for Chinese who feared heaven and earth.
▲ Tsarist Russian army in oil paintings
The explanation of "big star falling, Ganchen meteorite" made Lin Zexu worried for a while, China was located south of the North Star, and Tsarist Russia was located north of the North Star. Lin Zexu, who has lived in Yili for a long time, knows a lot about the strong neighbors in the north and is well aware of its threat. At this time, the Qing Dynasty was weakened, surrounded by jackals, and the internal peasant revolt was intensifying, Lin Zexu was afraid that Russia would take advantage of the fire and loot, so he shouted the three words "Xingdounan" loudly at the time of his death, which was to warn the people of the country to beware of the invasion of Tsarist Russia. Unfortunately, there are still not enough historical materials to prove the views of either side, so the real cause of Lin Zexu's death and the three-word last words left behind have not been solved, and all the mysteries may only be left to future generations to unravel.
Resources:
"Qing Barnyard Banknotes", "Puning County Chronicle"