The governor of Liangjiang, Ma Xinyi, a feudal official on the Wei zhen side, was assassinated in broad daylight. The governor of Liangjiang died inexplicably, injuring the national body. Empress Dowager Cixi immediately ordered a thorough investigation of the matter, but Ma Xinyi, who should have been deeply aggrieved, repeatedly confessed to his family at the time of his death that he must swallow his anger before he could protect himself, which is the prototype of the story of "Submission of Names", one of the four most controversial unsolved cases in Chinese history - the thorn horse case.
On May 26, the seventh year of the Reign of Qing Tongzhi, Ma Xinyi, then the governor of Fujian and Zhejiang, was summoned to the Yangxin Hall of the Forbidden City. Empress Dowager Cixi ordered Ma Xinyi to succeed Zeng Guofan as governor of Liangjiang, while Zeng Guofan was transferred to the post of viceroy directly subordinate to zeng guofan. In the face of Ma Xinyi's promotion and knighthood, The Red Man An Dehai around Cixi sent him away with courtesy. But Ma Xinyi was faltering, completely different from the spirit he had before entering the palace. Ever since Ma Xinyi knew that he was going to take over Zeng Guofan's post, his hanging heart never let go, until two years later, he died tragically under the assassin's knife in full view of everyone.
Empress Dowager Cixi
When Cixi learned of this, she was very angry. He immediately appointed Zhang Zhiwan, the governor of Caoyun, to investigate the matter thoroughly. Cixi had high hopes for him, but Zhang Zhiwan did not give results for a long time. The imperial court official he had appointed died tragically on the street, but Zhang Zhiwan, who investigated the case, was so sloppy that Cixi was finally furious and issued three edicts in a row severely reprimanding him. Zhang Zhiwan did not intend to delay, but in order to calm the public anger, five months after Ma Xinyi's assassination, he finally submitted a report on the closure of the case to Cixi. In the report, Zhang Zhiwan repeatedly stressed that the assassin and Ma Xinyi had a personal holiday, and that Ma Xinyi's assassination was entirely an assassin's personal act, and that in the legal document as a compromise, Zhang Zhiwan actually used the four words "still credible" as the ending. Translated into the current language, it means "still credible".
Zhang Zhiwan, the Governor of Caoyun
Seeing these four words, Cixi angrily wrestled and thought, "Is this teasing the old lady?" I personally sent Liangjiang's henchmen, how could they die so inexplicably! Therefore, Cixi sent another important minister, the official Shangshu Zheng Dunjin, to re-examine the case. Zheng Dunjin did not dare to be sloppy, and when he arrived in Nanjing, he summoned relevant officials to inquire about the case. However, at the beginning, Nanjing officials shirked each other on the horse assassination case, and this situation did not surprise Zheng Dunjin. Zhang Zhiwan investigated the case for five months, but did not get a convincing conclusion, he knew that this was an extraordinary murder, Zheng Dunjin made up his mind, must find out.
Zhang Wenxiang assassinated Ma Xinyi
Early the next morning, Zheng Dunjin came to the scene of the assassination, and the guards witnessed the whole process of Ma Xinyi's assassination. On the day of the crime, Ma Xinyi chose to walk back home from Mido after the parade. Suddenly, someone shouted, "The marshal is wronged!" Blocking Ma Xinyi's way, Ma Xinyi immediately stopped and prepared to interrogate the matter. Just then, the accident happened unexpectedly, and the assassin was obviously well trained and stabbed at the point. But what is puzzling is that the stabbed Ma Xinyi screamed and looked for it. What is even more puzzling is that after the assassin assassinated, he had no intention of running away, and he kept shouting in his mouth, "The assassin is me, and I will use the army for a thousand days." This made Zheng Dunjin more and more convinced that this was not a simple revenge.
Movie "Submission"
At this time, in the Nanjing Tavern, a singing section about the horse stabbing case began to circulate. In the rumor, Ma Xinyi is portrayed as a villain who occupies his wife and betrays his friends, and the voice that Ma Xinyi shouts is found, which is also seen as a friend he recognizes and comes to take revenge. The movie "Submission of Names" is also based on this folk rumor, but is this really the case? Just when the rumors intensified, Ma Xinyi's son asked to see Zheng Dunjin. Ma Xinyi's son said that the rumors were nonsense, and what his father said was not looking for it at all. Their family's ancestral home is Shandong, and his father naturally has a Shandong accent when he speaks, so Ma Xinyi shouted out "tied up" at that time. In addition, he also revealed an important information to Ma Xinyi. When Ma Xinyi was dying, he repeatedly told his family that he could not go to Beijing to file a complaint, and if he wanted to save his life, he had to swallow his anger.
Hearing this, Zheng Dunjin suddenly realized. He had previously read Ma Xinyi's suicide note, and in the suicide note, there was no mention of the hope that the imperial court would thoroughly investigate the murderer. What kind of person could make the Imperial Court Yipin Commander so jealous? Zheng Dunjin panicked, at first he just had a premonition, this case is not ordinary, but the truth of the facts, I am afraid it is even more terrible. In the imperial court, there were only a few people who could have such rights, and who it might be, Zheng Dunjin already knew in his heart, but he did not have the courage to tell this secret.
Taiping Heavenly Kingdom Movement
Four years ago, after Zeng Guofan destroyed the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, he knowingly disbanded the Xiang Army he had founded. However, Cixi was still uneasy about Zeng Guofan, who was then the governor of Liangjiang, so four years later, Cixi could not wait to send Ma Xinyi to replace Zeng Guofan. He wanted to borrow the hand of Ma Xinyi to rectify the remnants of the Xiang Army. After taking office, Ma Xinyi, who had a strong nature, first adopted the means of weakening military salaries in an attempt to sanction the Xiang Army. This move affected the interests of too many people, and it was rumored that shortly after Ma Xinyi arrived in office, he received an official letter with no other words on it, only a dead horse.
Tianjin Teaching Case, a bloody case triggered by rumors
Ma Xinyi was a feudal official of Cixi's pro-faction, and the risk of assassinating him was by no means ordinary, and among the Xiang army, it seemed that the only person in the Xiang army who had the ability to plan this plan seemed to be Zeng Guofan. But Zheng Dunjin was very determined, and Zeng Guofan at that time did not have time and energy to plan the horse assassination case. Because at that time, Zeng Guofan was in the predicament of the Tianjin teaching case. The people of Tianjin clashed with French missionaries, triggering a bloody case of dozens of people, and warships of seven countries, including France, Britain, the United States and Russia, gathered in Tianjin to exert pressure on the Qing government by force. Cixi immediately approached Zeng Guofan, who was recuperating at home, to deal with the matter. When Zeng Guofan submitted the investigation report of the Tianjin teaching case, Cixi deleted the five reasons for Zeng Guofan's defense of Tianjin Shenmin in the report, resulting in Zeng Guofan being spat upon by the people as a traitor. Zeng Guofan, who had already suffered from illness, was scolded by thousands of people, and he had even written his will, so how could he have the energy to send someone to assassinate Ma Xinyi?
The process of the horse stabbing case came to a standstill again, and at this critical moment, Yuan Baoqing, the governor of Jiang Ning, came to ask for a meeting. He told Zheng Dunjin that just as the warships of france, Britain, the United States, and Russia were assembling in Tianjin, a minister reminded Cixi that at this time, more attention should be paid to the water defense of Shanghai and Jiangsu. This was exactly what Cixi wanted, so she hurriedly ordered Ma Xinyi to rectify the Yangtze River Water Division in the name of deployment.
At this time, the entire Yangtze River was controlled by Huang Yisheng's hands, and If Ma Xinyi wanted to rectify the Yangtze River Water Division, it would be equivalent to taking power directly from Huang Yisheng's hands. Huang Yisheng was definitely unwilling to hand it over easily, and Huang Yisheng was a close associate of Zeng Guofan, if this matter was really planned by Huang Yisheng, even if Zeng Guofan did not know it, it was impossible not to be implicated.
Zheng Dunjin was shocked, at this time, what he had to face was not a person, but a political group that could not be shaken, and thinking of the rumors in the tea house liquor store, Zheng Dunjin was even more chilled, the murderer not only wanted to kill Ma Xinyi, but also after his death, with a strong public opinion to smear him, so that he could never turn over. With such painstaking efforts, Ma Xinyi must have a bigger secret behind him.
The Heavenly Treasury has accumulated a great deal of wealth
Zheng Dunjin rushed to Ma mansion overnight, and under zheng Dunjin's repeated persuasion, Ma Xinyi's son finally revealed a terrible secret to him. It turned out that Ma Xinyi had gone to serve as the governor of Liangjiang, and in addition to cutting off the forces of the Xiang Army, he also had the secret mission of tracking down the Heavenly Kingdom Sacred Treasury. Legend has it that there were 18 million taels of silver in the Heavenly Treasury of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, while the Treasury of the Qing Court at that time had only 200,000 taels of silver. This made Cixi salivate. Such a huge wealth was lost to the people, making it difficult for the rulers of the imperial court to sleep and eat, so they ordered Ma Xinyi to thoroughly investigate the matter.
Ma Xinyi went to Jiangning alone, which was tantamount to entering the Dragon Pond Tiger's Den alone, but he still went to serve as the governor of Liangjiang without hesitation. Although the name of the Xiang Army was absent, its power was deeply rooted, and it was difficult for the central imperial court to shake it. Even if the imperial court was informed that the horse stabbing case was related to the Xiang Army, the upper head might not have the determination to tear up the face and completely break with the Xiang Army. The Heavenly Kingdom Sacred Treasury could not be touched, and if it was investigated deeply, it would inevitably expose Ma Xinyi's secret mission of carrying the Empress Dowager. The open and secret struggle between Cixi and Zeng Guofan will inevitably cause shock to the government and the public once they are made public, and if they provoke a mutiny in the Xiang army, the consequences will be even more unimaginable. Zheng Dunjin, who had once made up his mind to thoroughly investigate the matter, chose to protect himself at the last moment. In his note to Cixi, he wrote that Ma Xinyi's assassination was entirely his personal grudge with the Assassins and had nothing to do with others. And at the end, he wrote the words "still credible".
When Cixi saw such a recital again, she seemed to understand the intention and no longer pursued it. Four years ago, after Ma Xinyi came out of the Yangxin Temple, he understood how terrible the enemy he was facing was, and he also knew that he was just a pawn in the hands of the right.1. However, he still threw himself into it with a lot of enthusiasm, and perhaps that thorn was also a relief for Ma Xinyi. After his death, Ma Xinyi was transported back to his hometown in Heze, Shandong for burial, and for his death, the imperial court was also extremely solemn. Since then, the position of governor of Liangjiang has still been in the hands of the Xiang army, and others have not dared to get involved in the slightest, and the thorn horse case also marks that the political situation of emphasizing the localities over the central government has become inevitable, and the source of the division of modern warlords has begun.
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