(Vientiane Special Author: East-West Lookout)
On July 22, 1900, 117 years ago today, Chen Baozhen, who had captured the young lord of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, died
Chen Baozhen (1831 – July 22, 1900) was a Hakka hakka resident of Yining Town, Xiushui County, Jiangxi.
When he entered Beijing in his youth, when the Eight-Power Alliance burned the Yuanmingyuan, he was sad and indignant, and he slapped the table and wept. After returning home, he participated in the battle against the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom and designed to capture hong tianguifu, the young lord of the heavenly kingdom, which was deeply appreciated by Zeng Guofan.
Chen Baozhen was very supportive of the Penghu reform law, making Hunan an important venue for the change of law. He was dismissed from his post for recommending restoration personnel. Two years later, he died suddenly at the age of 69. It is also said that he was given a secret decree by Empress Dowager Cixi to commit suicide and hang himself.
Chen Baozhen's family has produced five outstanding figures in four generations, Chen Baozhen, Chen Sanli (son), Chen Hengke (grandson), Chen Yinke (grandson), and Chen Fenghuai (great-grandson), who are called "Chen's Five Jies".
In 1831, Chen Baozhen was born in Yining Town, Xiushui County, Jiangxi, from a Hakka family. In 1851 (at the age of 21), he was promoted in the township examination, and he followed his father to run a township regiment to resist the Taiping Army, and the Yining regiment became famous for a while. In 1860 (at the age of 29), he entered Beijing to participate in the examination and failed the list, stayed in Beijing temporarily, and befriended the four-square Yashi.
During Chen Baozhen's stay in Beijing, during the Second Opium War, the Anglo-French army advanced into Beijing, and the Xianfeng Emperor fled to Rehe. On October 18, 1860, when the Eight-Power Alliance burned the Yuanmingyuan, Chen Baozhen was drinking in the restaurant, and when he saw the fire, he was full of grief and indignation, and he clapped the table and wept, and his seat was moved.
In 1861 (at the age of 30), after Chen Baozhen returned home to visit his mother, he joined the "Guojian Camp" to defend the Taiping Army between Longshan in Hunan and Laifeng in Hubei. At that time, Shi Dakai attacked on a large scale, and the two armies held each other for several months, and the food was exhausted. Chen Baozhen went to Yongshun to collect grain, and after the aid arrived, Shi Dakai led the troops to retreat.
In 1862 (at the age of 31), he went to Anqing to pay homage to Zeng Guofan, the governor of Liangjiang, and was honored as a guest of honor and praised as a "Hai Nei Qishi". After Chen Baozhen returned to Jiangxi, he joined Xi Baotian's army, and on the way, he saw hungry people in several counties, so he repaired a book on Chen Jiangxi's inspector Shen Baozhen, and wrote in the letter that "relief cannot save people, and saving people cannot live, it is all white."
In 1864 (at the age of 33), the Xiang army captured the city of Nanjing, the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom was broken, the young lord Hong Tianguifu fled, Chen Baozhen offered advice to Xi Baotian, sent troops to ambush between Guangchang and Shicheng, and indeed captured the young lord of the kingdom, Hong Tianguifu, and more than ten important people. Afterwards, Xi Baotian wanted to protect him as prefect, but he did not accept it and stayed with Zeng Guofan.
In 1868 (at the age of 37), Zeng Guofan was transferred to the governorship of Zhili, and Baozhen was appointed as the prefect of Hunan. At that time, there was a Miao rebellion in Guizhou, and it had been using troops for several years, and Baozhen's new official took office, and the next year he quelled the Miao rebellion and promoted him to a Taoist.
In 1875 (at the age of 44), he acted in charge of The Yongjing Military Preparation Road in Chenyuan, Hunan Province, ruled the Phoenix Hall, and managed it well, resulting in a change in the local people's morale. In 1880 (at the age of 49), he was re-awarded Hebei Province (Hebei Province, Henan Province, Zhiwu Province). In 1882 (at the age of 51), he was promoted to zhejiang envoy, and was soon impeached and dismissed for the "Wang Shuwen case".
In 1886 (at the age of 55), Zhang Zhidong, the governor of Liangguang, came forward and sent Chen Baozhen to the Guangdong Arrest Bureau to manage public security. In 1888 (at the age of 57), at the mouth of the Yellow River in Zhengzhou, the imperial court sent Li Hongzao, the head of the imperial court, to inspect the situation of river workers, and Chen Baozhen went to Xiang to help plan. In 1889 (at the age of 58), Wang Wenshao, the governor of Hunan, recommended Chen Baozhen and was transferred to Hubei the following year, where he successively served as an envoy and envoy to Hubei.
(Chen Baozhen's former residence in Phoenix)
In 1894 (at the age of 63), the Sino-Japanese Sino-Japanese War was on the verge of breaking out, and the Qing court granted Chen Baozhen the right envoy to be directly subordinate to the envoys, summoned to the capital, discussed military strategies, and put forward the "Sixteen Articles of Military Affairs" such as "Gu Qifu", "Choosing Military Generals", "Strict Defense", "Jian Junshi", and "Raising Urgent Funds". Seeing that the Guangxu Emperor was exhausted for the war, he asked Guangxu to read the Kangxi Emperor's "Imperial Compilation zhou yi compromise" in order to stabilize his mind in the midst of great changes.
In 1895 (at the age of 64), after the defeat of the Qing court, Li Hongzhang signed the "Treaty of Maguan" with Japan to pay compensation for the cession of land, And Baozhen cried bitterly that "the country is not destroyed", and Shang shu was distressed and said that Chen Li had gained and lost. After Li Hongzhang returned to China, BaoZhen was reluctant to see him. Bao Zhen said: "Old ministers like Li Gong, who know that they cannot fight, should not let the letter be written directly, and express the seriousness of the matter with their lives and positions. Today, because they are afraid of the discussion between the DPRK and the Chinese people, they are afraid of their sins and blame, and they are desperate to bet on the size of China and the weight of the clan society, how can the minister only care about his own advance and retreat? ”
(Scene at the time of the signing of the Treaty of Maguan)
After the Sino-Japanese War, Chen Baozhen was recommended by Shangshu Ronglu of the Military Department to be the Inspector of Hunan. Bao Zhen has been an official in Hunan for many years, and he is familiar with local people's feelings, and once said to people: "I want to serve Hunan's heart, just like Lian Po wanted to serve Zhao Guo before." ”
At that time, Hunan was in the midst of a severe drought, thousands of miles of red land, and hungry people were everywhere, and a total of more than 20 prefectures and counties were affected, of which Liuyang, Liling, and Hengshan were the most serious. The situation was urgent, and Chen Baozhen left Tianjin directly to take up his post. Before leaving Tianjin, he sent a telegram requesting assistance from the provinces, and received five or six hundred thousand taels of gold, and the three prefectures and counties that suffered a heavy disaster relief.
After the preliminary investigation, an order strictly prohibiting the export of rice from the country was issued to ensure the supply of grain and rice. This move caused dissatisfaction among the rice merchants, and more than a thousand rice boats gathered on the shore of Dongting Lake to forcibly leave Xiang, and BaoZhen sent a general soldier to lead the army to block it, killing the people who gathered the crowd on the spot, and using iron fist means to quell the mutiny and reassure the people. Thanks to proper measures and timely disaster relief, hundreds of thousands of people escaped the fate of death.
Chen Baozhen was very supportive of the Penghu reform law, making Hunan an important venue for the change of law. At that time, those who participated in the activities to change the law in Hunan included Huang Zunxian, Jiang Biao, Xu Renzhu, Ouyang Zhonghu, Xiong Xiling, Liang Qichao, Tang Caichang, Tan Sitong, Pi Xirui and his son Chen Sanli.
Chen Baozhen actively participated in the restoration. He ordered the hunan prefectures and counties to order the Xiang Journal, and sponsored the Shiwu Academy in Changsha to give lectures at the Nan Society. In 1898, in a coup d'état, he was dismissed from his post for recommending Liu Guangdi and Yang Rui for the crime of "attracting adultery and evil". Moved to Xishan Qinglu, Nanchang, Jiangxi.
He died suddenly on July 22, 1900, at the age of 69. It is also said that he was given a secret decree by Empress Dowager Cixi to commit suicide and hang himself. Chen Baozhen's family has produced five outstanding figures in four generations, Chen Baozhen, Chen Sanli (son), Chen Hengke (grandson), Chen Yinke (grandson), and Chen Fenghuai (great-grandson), who are called "Chen's Five Jies".