On November 22, 1911, three years after the declaration of reunification, Manchu and Qing ministers were publicly executed by revolutionary forces. Thirteen shots had been fired before he died. People shouted with joy and felt sad at the same time, because the man who was executed was a good official who benefited the people, but somehow he ended up becoming a murderous maniac and finally begging for death.
The official was named Chen Zhaotang, and his father, Chen Shijie, was an assistant to Zeng Guofan and a prominent chancellor of the Qing Dynasty. He attaches great importance to his son's training. His sons Chen Zhaotang and Chen Zhaokui were admitted to the Hanlin Academy. Although Chen Zhaotang was eager to study and tireless, he never obtained an official position in the imperial examination. In the end, Chen Zhaotang donated 15 titles with the same knowledge and began his career, but he went through his mother's funeral and his father's funeral twice, and twice left home to observe filial piety.
In 1895, Chen Zhaotang really opened up his own business. At first, he served in Sichuan. During his tenure, he was fair and honest, swift and accurate in handling cases, 'judging suspicious prisons, leaving no letters in cases, and managing cases for more than a month'. In addition, local robberies are common and most of the bandits are bandits. Chen Zhaotang vigorously suppressed the bandits and maintained peace between the two sides. In addition, Chen Zhaotang also vigorously advocated literature and established Pingyun Academy to make literature popular.
In 1899, Chen Zhaotang was transferred to the Chongqing area, where bandits were powerful and unusual, and for many years they had not been cured, "a thousand years of robbery". Before leaving, the local people wept to Chen Zhaotang and were unwilling to break up with the good officials who had dedicated themselves to the people. After Chen Zhaotang arrived in Chongqing, he began to crack down on bandits and robbers, "killing 300 people at the age of one year", but Li Jianli, a local county, believed that Chen Zhaotang's theft control was purely illegal.
Chen Zhaotang worked as an official for five years. He was so poor that his cousin Xia Shouyan was promoted to special envoy in Sichuan. According to the case of the Qing Dynasty, Chen Zhaotang was transferred to Jiangxi as an idler, which dealt a big blow to his career.
Two years later, Chen Zhaotang was favored by Cen Chunxuan and moved to Guangdong to participate in the bandit crackdown. There was a popular saying at the time: "There are many thieves in all countries in the world, most of them are in China, most of them are in Guangdong." "Chen Zhaotang was transferred to Guangdong before becoming a murderous maniac.
During the suppression of bandits in Guangdong, it was very specific to treat the people as ants. As long as there are some thieves, they are treated as bandits of local law. In the later stages of the development of bandit suppression, Chen Zhaotang had lost his mind, seized some good people as top bandits, and played his own achievements in bandit suppression. Chen Zhaotang lived in Huizhou for three years, and more than 3,000 people died at his hands. Later, he was transferred to Chaozhou, where 300 people were killed, causing public outrage.
In 1911, the Wuchang Uprising began, and the revolutionary trend spread throughout the country. Chen Zhaotang was arrested by the Revolutionary Army. Everyone advocates shooting the murderer. Chen Zhaotang wrote a twelve-character will, saying that he knew he was guilty and was happy to die.