On October 26, 1890, Fan Zengxiang, who had been Zhang Zhidong's aide, wrote a letter to Zhang Zhidong, reporting on the latest situation in the official field in the capital.
Zhang Zhidong
Fan Zengxiang mentioned that after someone entered Beijing, he bribed the military minister: "Giving six hundred to the great sage (the great sage did not thank him when he met), Xiang Wang Banzhi (who did not meet to thank him), Wen Chang two hundred (to meet and thank him), One hundred to Beichi (to meet and thank him repeatedly), and those who wore a battle skirt around their waists did not ask questions, and people thought that they had obtained the law." ”
The Dasheng, Xiangwang, Wenchang, Beichi, and waist-tied battle dresses here refer to Sun Yuwen, Prince Shiduo of Li, Xu Gengshen, Zhang Zhiwan, Erle, and Bu, respectively. Among these 5 military ministers, Shi Duo was the King of iron hats, Erle and Bu were scholars of Wuyingdian University, Zhang Zhiwan was a scholar of Dongge University, Xu Geng was a shangshu who was known as a "heavenly official", and Sun Yuwen He De could not collect the most money, twice that of Shi Duo?
Military Aircraft Division
This was because Sun Yuwen was gaining the trust of Empress Dowager Cixi at that time, holding real power and having great supernatural powers, and secretly surpassing Prince Shiduo of Li in the military aircraft. This can be seen from his nickname "The Great Sage".
Sun Yuwen, a native of Jeju, Shandong, was born in 1834 and was admitted to the Jinshi in 1856 and received the title of Bangyan. That year's title was obtained by Weng Tonggong, a Native of Changshu, Jiangsu Province. Sun Yuwen initially had a bad career, and in 1860, when he was handling regimental exercises, he was dismissed from his post and punished for refusing to pay taxes. In 1862, Sun Yuwen took out a sum of money to pay for the military, and was reinstated as an official, returned to the official field, and was moved to the Left Attendant of the Ministry of Works.
Sun Yuwen
In 1884, Empress Dowager Cixi dismissed Prince Gong from all his posts on the grounds that Prince Gong Yixuan had "entrusted him with obedience", and expelled Prince Gong's former class members, Ma Wuyingdian University Shi Baozheng, Li Hongzao of the Official's Department, Jinglian of the Bingbu Shangshu, and Gongbu Shangshu Weng Tonggong, and replaced them with 6 new recruits, namely Shi Duo, Erle Hebu, Yan Jingming, Zhang Zhiwan, Sun Yuwen, and Xu Gengshen.
Among these 6 people, the foreman of the military aircraft, Shi Duo, was ambiguous and had no opinion. Erle and Bu were reticent and reluctant to come forward. Yan Jingming resigned shortly after. Zhang Zhiwan is the oldest, 73 years old, basically in the state of "being a monk for a day and hitting a clock for a day". The Military Aircraft Department was headed by Sun Yuwen.
After all, Sun Yuwen was from the rank of eye, and his writing was very good, and he had a very good relationship with Prince Yizhen of Alcohol, and soon became a big red man in front of Empress Dowager Cixi. Not only that, Sun Yuwen also took the initiative to marry the grand eunuch Li Lianying and became a brother with him. Under the protection of Empress Dowager Cixi, YiZhen the Prince of Alcohol, Li Lianying, and others, Sun Yuwen's power fell to the opposition, and even the Guangxu Emperor did not look at it, "treating the emperor as a virtual instrument."
Empress Dowager Cixi
Here's a story.
In 1895, after Li Hongzhang signed the Treaty of Maguan with Ito Hirobumi, the Guangxu Emperor hesitated, did not want to approve the peace treaty, and planned to break the treaty and fight again. Sun Yuwen advocated the approval of the peace treaty as soon as possible, threatening: "The front line has been repeatedly defeated, and if the emperor does not sign the treaty. Then the dwarves will commit the crime of Kyoshi, why not? ”
The Guangxu Emperor rebuked: "The repeated defeats of former enemies are caused by lax rewards and punishments. This covenant is very important, and you want to force the signing of the contract to fail? The Empress Dowager should be asked to make a decision before making a decision. ”
The Guangxu Emperor
However, how could the old and sophisticated Empress Dowager Cixi take a stand on this matter? Empress Dowager Cixi asked the internal supervisor to pass on Yi's will and said, "Today, if you have a cold and can't see it, please handle everything according to the emperor's will." Eventually, under repeated persecution by Sun Yuwen, the Guangxu Emperor had to ratify the Treaty of Maguan on May 2.
Sun Yuwen is not only as powerful as Sun Wukong, but also good at change, and has different faces in front of different people. The only inconvenience is the insatiable character.
At the beginning of the article, it was said that someone sent Sun Yuwen 600 taels of silver. This is not a small amount, enough to buy a good house in the capital. Sun Yuwen did not think so, "condescending" to see the man, and even reluctant to say thank you or anything like that. This is because Sun Yuwen is accustomed to seeing big money, just a few hundred taels of silver, and it really does not enter his eyes.
The city of Beijing during the Qing Dynasty
Huang Yuen served as the prefect of Fuzhou prefecture in Fujian for many years and is expected to be promoted to fujian envoy. Huang Yuen sent a sum of money to Sun Yuwen, and Sun Yuwen directly refused: "You have been a prefect for 8 years, will you send such a little money?" Sun Yuwen was furious and transferred Huang Yu'en to Guizhou as an envoy. During the Qing Dynasty, Guizhou was remote and barren, and no one wanted to go to Guizhou to become an official. Huang Yuen quickly entrusted someone to send Sun Yuwen 10,000 taels of silver. As a result, before he arrived, he was appointed to be promoted to fujian envoy.
If officials refuse to send money to Sun Yuwen. What will be the consequences?
Zuo Zongtang had a general named Wang Debang. Wang Debang followed Zuo Zongtang in his southern expedition to the north, made many military achievements, and was appointed as a political envoy in Yunnan. After the outbreak of the Sino-French War, Wang Debang performed very well. After the war, Wang Debang was recruited into the capital and discussed promotion. When he went to see Sun Yuwen, he was asked for 1,000 taels of silver.
Wang Debang was born as a military attaché, with a personality of Geng Jie, who refused to give money, and scolded Sun Yuwen behind his back: "I am a state official, not a Sun family official." Why bother, why bribe? ”
When Sun Yuwen heard about it, he held a grudge in his heart. Empress Dowager Cixi was planning to promote Wang Debang to the post of Inspector of Yunnan, but Sun Yuwen pretended to say casually: "Wang Debang is not reasonable and is not suitable to be a feudal official." As a result, Wang Debang not only did not become the inspector of Yunnan, but was also transferred to Guizhou as a political envoy. Soon, Wang Debang died of grief.