Author: Jin Manlou
It is said that after the end of the Battle of the Yellow Sea between China and Japan, the "Dingyuan" ships hoisted the red flag and returned to Lushun to show their return from the bloody battle. Afterwards, Fang Boqian, the pipe of the "Jiyuan" who escaped from the battlefield, was arrested and imprisoned.
For the sake of many years of classmates, Lin Tai of the "Zhenyuan" pipe belt once wanted to intercede with Liu Butou, the pipe belt of the "Dingyuan", but was categorically rejected by the latter:
"I don't have to do this either. Moreover, in the Battle of Dadonggou, He Gu knew that the whole army would be overthrown, and he wanted to get out of the matter, and stood idly by to watch the fall of my generation, what was the overall situation? ”
In the end, Fang Boqian was corrected by the military.
Fang Boqian, Zi Yitang, a native of Fujian Houguan (present-day Fuzhou), a graduate of the first phase of the Fuzhou Ship Administration School, was later sent to study at the Royal Greenwich Naval School in the United Kingdom together with Liu Butou and others, and after the Beiyang Fleet was formed, he was appointed as the pipe belt of the "Jiyuan".
According to the recollections of the military foreigners, Fang Boqian liked to perform and talk well, and belonged to the more active generals in the army.
In addition, Fang Boqian's private life is also very enjoyable, and the Beiyang Fleet has built apartments in places such as Yantai, Weihai, Fuzhou, etc., and there are concubines in each place.
Fang Boqian's practice is in sharp contrast to Deng Shichang, the pipe belt of the "Zhiyuan", who lives alone on a warship and has only returned home three times in his military career.
Fang Boqian's attitude to life is related to his personality, and at the same time has a close relationship with the treatment of the Beiyang Fleet.
As a "Jiyuan" pipe belt, Fang Boqian's annual salary was close to 4,000 taels of silver, which was undoubtedly rare in China at that time.
In terms of career, Fang Boqian was also proud of the spring breeze, although he was not as good as Liu Butou and Lin Taizeng, who were more academically excellent, but after all, among the trainees in the same period, they were firmly in the position of fleet pipe belt.
Before the outbreak of the Sino-Japanese War, Fang Boqian also repeatedly sent a message to Li Hongzhang, asking him to quickly add fast ships, improve equipment, and gather the fleet into pieces, "if there is a problem, the whole team will go out to cruise in the Beiyang Sea, and if it encounters a warship, it will be convenient to invite an attack", which shows that his insight is not bad.
Moreover, at that time, Fang Boqian was able to communicate directly with Li Hongzhang, which was enough to prove his position in the fleet.
At least before the Battle of Toshima, Fang Boqian's performance was normal.
It has been speculated that Shen Shouchang, the first mate of the "Jiyuan", was shot in the head during the Battle of Toshima, and the blood of the brain plasma sprayed Fang Boqian's body next to him, and the latter lost his soul and seemed to be a changed person.
What is even more bizarre is that many witnesses have proved that when Fang Boqian led the "Jiyuan" to retreat westward, in addition to the white flag, he also hung the Japanese flag.
Some people may ask, where does its Japanese flag come from? How could you have thought of carrying the Japanese flag?
The tactic of flying the flag of other countries to confuse opponents was also adopted by the Japanese fleet, such as the British flag on its warships, which were changed to their own flags before the war began.
However, it is a bit strange to prepare and fly the flag of the enemy country in advance.
Of course, in the unfavorable situation of one enemy and three enemies, Fang Boqian led the "Jiyuan" to retreat in the Battle of Toshima, and the return of the ship was protected, and the matter of hanging the flag or escaping was not deeply investigated.
Unexpectedly, in the subsequent Battle of the Yellow Sea, Fang Boqian actually disregarded the overall situation and led his ship to escape first, which in any case could not be tolerated by the national law and accepted by the military law.
Afterwards, Li Hongzhang said when participating in the campaign of the fleeing general: "According to Ding Ruchang's investigation, after the sinking of 'Zhiyuan', the steward Fang Boqian fled first, which was really a retreat from the front, and he should ask the deputy general to immediately carry out the right law to suppress military discipline." ”
The irony is that Fang Boqian actually thought that he was a general soldier, and there was very little precedent in the history of the Qing Dynasty for the execution of the general soldier, and he thought that he was not a fluke in his dismissal.
It wasn't until the Qing court ordered it down that Fang Boqian wept bitterly and regretted it.
Song Qing
At this time, he also managed to beg Song Qing, a veteran general of the Yi Army, to intercede for it, who said coldly: "I hate that there is no right for the navy to live and kill." Self-fucking, then in July has been in front of the military to correct the Fa, Shang Fu Ling Er seriously misunderstood the national events! ”
On September 24 of that year, Fang Boqian was taken to lushun at the foot of the Golden Mountain and beheaded at the age of 42.
After Fang Boqian was put to justice, some people used the "Narrative of the Unjust Sea" to cry out for it.
And many years later, its descendants still have grievances for it. Although there may be some discrepancies in the details and motives, on the whole, the facts of Fang Boqian's case are clear, the punishment is appropriate, and it is not an unjust case.
Excerpt from the new book "Sighs in the Depths of History: Towards the Vast Past of the Republic of China" (Shandong Pictorial Publishing House, 2019)