Mobie Village under lion mountain
----- traced Yang Zengxin's hometown
Du Xuewei
One. Walk into the village of Mobe
On January 17, the year of Gengzi, we returned to Kunming after finishing our trip to the western Yunnan border in Tengchong, Ruili, and Mangshi. After leaving the tour group, we took a train to Mengzi City in central Yunnan, with the wish that had not been realized for many years, that is, to be able to visit Yang Zengxin's hometown once. Mengzi City is the seat of the prefecture capital of Honghe Hani and Yi Autonomous Prefecture in Yunnan, with an area of 2,228 square kilometers.
Mengzi Is a county-level city, the hometown of pomegranates in China, and the birthplace of the Yunnan Bridge Rice Line. It takes more than two hours to drive from Kunming to Mengzi, and on the day we arrived in Mengzi City, we took a bus to the bus station to rush to Mobie Village on the same day. But when I went to the bus station, the shuttle bus to Baixiang on the road in the morning had been sent away, and there was no shuttle bus to baixiang on the road in the afternoon.
As it is close to the Spring Festival, we must end our trip to Yunnan before the Spring Festival. Moreover, it was only two or three o'clock in the afternoon, and there was still a long time before evening. But there was no shuttle bus, so we had to choose to stay in Mengzi City for one night and rent a car to Mobie Village the next morning.
The next morning, a taxi came to our hotel as promised, picked us up, and sped along the old, Jianshui, and far southeast directions. The village of Mobie in Baixiang, Qilu Road, is deep in the mountains about 50 kilometers southeast of Mengzi. The driver is a lady who introduces us to the customs and customs of the place along the way. The driveway is lined with emerald greenery, and the fruits of loquat plants on the side of the road are covered with shells. According to the master, it was covered to prevent mosquito bites.
The trolley passed through the mountains, and the fog and smoke in front of it were slowly moving and gathering, getting thicker and thicker. When the car reached the white hole, it turned to the country road. The township roads of Qibai Road Township are becoming more and more rugged and difficult to navigate. According to the on-board navigation, the car continuously turned left, right, right, left, turned for about an hour, and finally arrived at Mobie Village. But the master told us that this is just a small Mobie village, not the big Mobie village where Yang Zengxin's former residence is located.
Originally, there were two Mobie villages in Bailu Township, Xiao Mobie Village and Big Mobie Village. The distance between the two Mobie villages is not far, and there is a difference between big and small. Probably because the population of the mountains is increasing, the narrow area between the mountains is difficult to bear, so a new Mobie village has been created in the open area not far away.
Exterior view of Yang Zengxin's former residence
Yang Zengxin's hometown
Two. "Yang Zengxin Deeds Exhibition Hall"
When we arrived at Damobie Village, we stopped the car and asked where the Yang Zengxin Memorial Hall was, and we happened to ask the wife of the director of the village committee of Mobie Village. Several of the women were sorting the loquat they had harvested in the house and then packing the loquat into boxes. The village chief's wife said that the door key to Yang Zengxin's former residence was in the hands of the village chief, and ordinary people rarely came here. After she contacted the village chief by phone, the village committee chief told us to wait a little while, and when she came back, she took us to the Yang Zengxin Memorial Hall.
After we met with Yang Bo, the village director of Mobie Village, he took us to the Yang Zengxin Memorial Hall. On the way to Yang Zengxin's former residence, Yang Bo's master pointed to the mountain behind Yang Zengxin's former residence and said, "Do you look at that mountain like a fierce lion?" Hearing this, we all stopped and looked up at the mountain behind Yang Zengxin's former residence. I didn't think it was felt up close, but from a distance, the tall hill really looked like a head with its head held high, put away its front paws, and was about to take off into the air and pounce on the male lion in front of it.
Under the Lion Rock in The Village of Mobie
A tube of Zhu pen in front of the right side of Yang Zengxin's hometown
Approaching Yang Zengxin's former residence, I saw a plaque hanging in the middle of the first and second floors of an old building, "Watching the Tianshan Mountain: Yang Zengxin Deeds Exhibition Hall". When I saw this plaque, I immediately thought that this exhibition hall was obviously inspired and influenced by Yang Hao's book "Watching the Heavenly Mountains: Yang Zengxin and Modern Xinjiang".
Dr. Yang Hao's "Watching the Heavenly Mountains: Yang Zengxin and Modern Xinjiang" by Dr. Yang Gao of the Institute of Literature of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences has indeed had a great impact, subverting our previous simple understanding of Yang Zengxin's feudal bureaucracy. Teacher Yang's book "Watching the Heavenly Mountains: Yang Zengxin and Modern Xinjiang" has been reprinted five times before and after, which shows the far-reaching influence.
After Teacher Yang Sickle died in a sudden car accident, I edited a book "This Journey Is a Little Far: A Collection of Yang Sickle Memorial Essays" to commemorate it. At that time, China Pictures: Silk Road Observation magazine launched a "Yang Sickle Memorial Album". When I was preparing to compile a collection of Yang Sickle's commemorative essays, Mr. Yang's wife, Mr. Zhang Yiqing, also received more than ten commemorative articles, including a poem by Mr. Yang Shaoxuan, Yang Zengxin's grandson in Canada.
While preparing and editing this book, "This Journey Is A Little Far: A Collection of Commemorative Essays of Yang Sickle", the Institute of Literature of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences also plans to edit a book in memory of Mr. Yang Sickle, focusing on Yang Sickle's outstanding contributions in academic field. And the book I edited, "This Journey is a Little Far: Yang Sickle's Commemorative Essays", is mostly some commemorative articles of Yang Sickle's former friends, focusing on family affection and friendship. Faced with this situation, after consulting with the leaders of the Institute of Literature of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, Teacher Zhang Yiqing handed over to me all the more than ten commemorative articles in her hands, which also enabled me to smoothly conclude the book and finally publish it by the Xinjiang University Press.
Walking into the Yang Zengxin Deeds Exhibition Hall, there is a statue of Yang Zengxin standing inside, facing the entire exhibition hall. The exhibition hall is mainly based on pictures, supplemented by text introductions, detailing the historical migration and evolution of the Yang family, as well as the great achievements of Yang Zengxin's life.
In 1368, Zhu Yuanzhang made the capital nanjing. In 1381, after the Ming Dynasty army conquered Yunnan, a large number of inland people were relocated to border Yunnan. The ancestor of the Yang family, Yang Da, was appointed by the Ming court as JianshuiZhi County, Yunnan, and the Yang family moved from Shangyuan, Jiangsu (present-day Nanjing) to Jianshui, Yunnan, and then to Mengzi County, where they have multiplied and continued to this day for hundreds of years.
According to the "Yang Family Genealogy", Yang Dayu had a son, Yang Lian, who gave birth to Chongqiao, and Chongqiao gave birth to children JiYuan and Ji Xin. Yang Jiyuan also had three sons, namely, increasing age, increasing newness, and increasing Bing. Yang Zengling had a son, Yang Yingnan, who served as Zhi County, Moyu County, Xinjiang. Yang Yingnan also had four sons, namely Shao Biao, Shao Shi, Shao Rong, and Shao Bo. Yang Zengxin had five sons, namely Yang Yingqian (who married his wife Liu Ruojin), Yang Yingkun, Yang Yinggen (Li Tizhen), Yang Yinghuan (female), and Yang Yinglian (female). The eldest son, Yang Yingqian, also had Yang Shaoxin, Yang Shaozhen, and Yang Shaoxuan (bamboo character head). After that, there are the eighth and ninth generations of the Yang family.
Yang Bo introduced: Qilu Baixiang is a Miao township, and Mobie Village is a village composed of Han, Miao, and Yi ethnic groups. Villagers make a living by growing flue-cured tobacco, loquat and three-seven. There are now 3,000 to 4,000 acres of loquat planted in the village. There are about 170 households in the whole Mobie Village, about 700 people, 80% of whom are surnamed Yang, all of whom belong to the descendants of the Yang family. The entire Mobie Village Committee has more than 3,000 people. The exhibition hall of Yang Zengxin's deeds was built in 2015 by the county and township governments under the jurisdiction of Mengzi City with an investment of 1.2 million yuan in 400,000 yuan and 800,000 yuan. Yang Zengxin's old mansion was originally a courtyard, just located under the Lion Mountain, the right front of Yang's old mansion is a pipe of Zhu Pen, and in front of it is a brick platform, with excellent feng shui.
Yang Bo, the village director, also said that the loquat cultivation in Mobie Village also benefited from Yang Zengxin. It was Yang Zengxin who introduced the seeds of loquat from elsewhere. I have some doubts about this, because Xinjiang is not rich in loquat at all, and Yang Zengxin has been in charge of Xinjiang for seventeen years and has never returned to Mobie Village. Apparently, Yang Zengxin's children followed Yang Zengxin's will and brought the seeds of loquat from elsewhere to Mobie Village.
Standing in front of the "Yang Zengxin Deeds Exhibition Hall", we looked ahead. Directly in front of the right hand of the exhibition hall is a straight and flat hill, just like a tube of Zhu pen placed in several cases, and not far in front of it is another small mountain, and the top of the mountain is neatly and flat, like a brick platform. It reminds me of a famous saying that Yang Zengxin once said: "To govern Xinjiang, it is enough for me to manage Xinjiang with a tube of Zhu Pen and a head!" It seems that Yang Zengxin's words at the beginning were not without reason. This also fully shows that the geographical environment in which a person is born still has a certain implicit significance for the growth of his life and the cultivation of his personality, and has entered his blood.
The exhibition and furnishings in the "Yang Zengxin Deeds Exhibition Hall" are divided into several units, namely, the origin of Yang Zengxin's family; Yang Zengxin's official experience in Gansu and Ningxia: Yang Zengxin's seventeen years of official experience in Xinjiang; calligraphy and banner works of family relatives and friends.
Director Yang Bo said: Yang's old house is the most spacious and well-built house in Mobie Village, which has been the office of the village committee from the early days of the founding of the People's Republic of China until the 1980s, and was also the office of the village primary school. Now the direct descendants of the Yang clan have scattered all over the world, and few descendants have returned to Mobie Village. There is also a row of houses in the side house next to the exhibition hall, but due to disrepair, it has been demolished and the foundations are still there. The Yang's Old Mansion Courtyard now has only a row of old mansions left, which has been repaired and turned into the "Yang Zengxin Deeds Exhibition Hall".
Yang Zengxin's father, Yang Jiyuan, was not able to win the jinshi after the middle move, but was selected to study politics in the Qing government' big selection. Yang Jiyuan successively served as a scholar in Luliang County, Qujing Province, Yunnan, and after three years of office, he was transferred to Chuxiong Province as a professor. For the sake of children's education, Yang Jiyuan has been taking care of the three yang zengxin brothers since he took up his post in Luliang County, Qujing Province, and has received a good education since he was a child.
Since Yang Zengxin was five or six years old, Yang Zengxin left Mobie Village. Until he went to Beijing to participate in the examination, after winning the jinshi, he returned to Mobie Village to become a relative, and then took his newlywed wife to Shaanxi and Gansu to take office, during which after the death of his father, Yang Zengxin returned to Ding You to keep the system for 27 months, and then served in Xinjiang for seventeen years, and never returned to Mobie Village. Therefore, before and after adding up, Yang Zengxin also lived in Mobie Village for about seven or eight years. Yang Jiyuan had three sons, namely Yang Zengling, Yang Zengxin, and Yang Zengbing. Later, when Yang Zengling went to Beijing to participate in the examination, he died of illness in Beijing and was buried in a place called Dong Tomb in Beijing. After Yang Zengxin's death, he was also buried in Changping, Beijing. It is not known how far his cemetery is from Yang Zengling's cemetery.
Yang Zengxin's tomb in Changping, Beijing
The preface to "Mengzi County Mobie Village - Yang Family Tree" says: "The Yang family is a scholarly family, with a tradition of cultivating and reading the family, and future generations of children and grandchildren should abide by the ancestral precepts and inherit the family tradition from generation to generation." ”
After the death of his father Yang Jiyuan, the eldest brother was the eldest, and after the death of Yang Zengling, the second eldest Yang Zengxin had already served as the governor and overseer of Xinjiang. On December 12, 1914, the then Governor of Xinjiang divided Yang Zengling's family property into four parts and gave it to Yang Zengling's brothers and sisters. The cable said: "I intend to divide the property left by my ancestors and Ru's father as four shares of the four brothers, in addition to repaying the ransom of Tian And Ru's sister's payment. Each manages each industry, each has its own portal. Ru and others should strive for their own strength, and everyone should aspire, and I will no longer be a horse or a cow for others. (Quoted from the telegram "Uncle Yang ZengxinQi 14 December 6" )
The descendants of Yang Jixin and Yang Zengling lived in Dajing Lane and Dasi Lane in Mengzi County, and were one of the four famous families of Zhou, Wang, Yang, and Hou in Mengzi County at that time.
Yang Bo, the head of the village committee, once led the descendants of the Yang clan to find three stolen graves in the mountains next to Mobie Village. Now in front of the three tombs, only the curtain wall of the tomb and three mottled headstones remain. The three tombstones were of Mrs. Yang Jia zhou, Mrs. Luo and Mrs. Zhang, and were first erected in the nineteenth year of the Republic of China (1930).
The stolen excavation of Yang Jiazu's tomb is probably the reason why Yang Zengxin finally did not have a soul to return to his hometown!
Before strolling through the former residence of the "Yang Zengxin Deeds Exhibition Hall" under the Lion Rock, I repeatedly recited Yang Zengxin's famous words, "To govern Xinjiang, it is enough to rely on my zhu pen and a head!" Yang Zengxin's bold words may be overconfident, and when Xinjiang is in turmoil, it is true that as Yang Zengxin said, it is enough to rely on one of his heads and a Zhu pen, but in the peacetime period of Xinjiang, is this enough?
As a result, yang Zengxin's various pasts in life also appeared in front of my eyes like a movie...
Hexi Corridor
Three. Yang Zengxin eunuchs lied to Shaanxi and Gansu
Yang Zengxin (March 6, 1864 ----- July 7, 1928) was born in Mobie Village in the third year of Tongzhi (1864). In the fourteenth year of guangxu (1888), shuzi was raised. In the following year, Jiecheng Jinshi signed a contract in Gansu, and was promoted from Zhongwei County to Hezhou Zhizhou and Prefect.
In the fifteenth year of Guangxu, Yang Zengxin was 25 years old when he returned to Mengzi, Yunnan, when he was young Shaohua, and he had to first return to his hometown to marry his father's wife, and then go to Gansu to take office.
During the Qing Dynasty, no matter how far away officials went to office, there were no advances. Yang Zengxin could not afford to hire a vehicle and could only lead a donkey to Gansu. Yang Zengxin walked in front, and his newlywed wife rode on the back of a donkey. From central Yunnan to Gansu, about 2,300 kilometers away, Yang Zengxin measured the size and vastness of the Manchu Qing territory step by step.
When the dusty servants, Yang Zengxin and his wife, who were tired all the way, trekked to the door of the Tianshui Tax Office to rest, and met an old man who sent him a travel fee, so that he could take a stagecoach and reach Lanzhou. Shortly after arriving in Lanzhou, Yang Zengxin was appointed governor of Weiyuan County, and was actually responsible for the work of Pingyuan County. But before he could take office, the Sino-Japanese Sino-Japanese War broke out, and Yang Zengxin was transferred to Qinwang by the Ningxia general Zhong Tai.
Therefore, since the fifteenth year of Guangxu (1889), Yang Zengxin first entered the career and successively served as the governor of Weiyuan, Tianshui, and Zhongwei County, although the tenure was not long, but it fully demonstrated Yang Zengxin's outstanding ability and talent.
During this period, Yang Zengxin's father died, and he returned to his hometown for 27 months. During the period of Ding Worry, Yang Zengxin carried a small basket to the market to buy vegetables, just like a rural pastoral life.
In the nineteenth year of Guangxu (1894), Yang Zengxin returned to Lanzhou after returning to Lanzhou after the expiration of his period of worry. According to the "Seventy Years of Storms in Xinjiang", the Ningxia general Zhong Tai was ordered to recruit the king of qin, and he knew that Yang Zengxin was shrewd and capable, so he put him in charge of the battalion affairs of the whole army and managed a battalion. Yang Zengxin trained soldiers during the day, and at night he also had to pick up lights and fight at night to sort out and write documents. "The verdict is like a stream, and Zhong Da laizhi." Later, the Sino-Japanese Sino-Japanese War ended with the Qing court signing the Treaty of Maguan, which humiliated the country. After the end of the war, Yang Zengxin also led his troops back to Lanzhou, and he became the governor of Zhongwei County.
For Yang Zengxin, who has just entered the career path, it is necessary to deal with the ethnic, religious, and sectarian issues left over from the "Hehuang Incident" in a timely, decisive, and prudent manner, so that society can settle down as soon as possible. In a very short period of time, Yang Zengxin solved the very difficult sectarian dispute problem in Zhongwei County, and the social order soon settled down. The great changes in Zhongwei County soon attracted the attention and weight of Tao Mo, the former governor of Xinjiang and later promoted to the governor of Shaanxi and Gansu. Naturally, this is indispensable to the strong sponsorship of ningxia general Zhong Tai. As a result, Yang Zengxin was soon promoted to the position of governor of the battalion.
Yang Zengxin believes that the economic backwardness and sectarian disputes in Zhongwei County are all due to the backwardness of culture. Cultural backwardness is also due to the backwardness of education, the ignorance of the people, and the lack of wisdom of the people, and the fundamental reason is still the backwardness of education. Therefore, Yang Zengxin held several positions, set up a college, and taught the children of local Hui and Han gentry to enroll. For a time, Zhongwei County respected teachers and re-taught and established education.
In the twenty-second year of Guangxu (1896), the viceroy of Shaanxi and Gansu abolished Zhongwei County, which was deeply affected by the "Hehuang Incident", and Yang Zengxin returned to the provincial capital and was immediately promoted to the prefect of Hezhou.
At this time, Hezhou was in turmoil and chuping, "the thorns of the earth and the earth, a hundred wastes are waiting to be revived", and the troops stationed in Hezhou alone included the Xiang army of Wei Zhongcheng, the Yu army of Niu Zongbing, the troops of Lei Zhengxuan, the viceroy of Shaanxi and Gansu, and the troops of Dong Fuxiang, the governor of Ganzhou, adding up to no less than hundreds of battalions, which became a great public security hazard in Hezhou. Yang Zengxin maneuvered among several units, did not favor one over the other, and the military and the people were harmonious and peaceful. Especially in dealing with the contradictions of the Hanhui dispute, Yang Zengxin's handling of things can be accepted and satisfied by all parties.
Yang Zengxin's works are exhibited in the Yang Zengxin Deeds Exhibition Hall
There was originally a long-deserted Fenglin Academy in Hezhou, and Yang Zengxin donated his own silver to repair it and expand it on a large scale. Later, he added Longquan and Ailian Colleges, invited local scholars to come and teach, and greatly changed and created a social atmosphere of Attaching Importance to Education and Talents in Hezhou.
Yang Zengxin worked in Hezhou for five years and won a reputation as "Yang Qingtian". The townspeople of Hezhou scrambled to erect a "Monument to Virtue and Politics" and a shrine to him. "Yang's rule of Hezhou is simply to the point of not closing the house at night, the road is not left behind, Enwei goes hand in hand, loves the people like a son, especially running schools, building roads, dredging canals, reclaiming wasteland, and the people of Hezhou are Xiandefuti."
In the twenty-seventh year of Guangxu (1901), due to Yang Zeng's outstanding achievements in the new policy, his intellect was soon promoted to Daotai. At that time, all provinces were practicing the New Deal, and the governor of Shaanxi and Gansu, Song Ling, sent Yang Zengxin to Beijing, Tianjin, Shanghai, Jiangsu, Zhejiang, Anhui and other provinces to investigate academic affairs, and hired teachers to come to Gansu to establish higher schools, and then founded armed equipment, army, teachers, patrols, and industrial schools. When he founded these academies, Yang Zengxin personally wrote charters, formulated rules, prescribed courses, planned training, and handled personnel affairs. In the face of such complicated affairs, Yang Zengxin not only showed outstanding ability to manage affairs, but also handled various affairs freely and in an orderly manner. As a result, the prosperity of education in Gansu Province has benefited from Yang Zengxin's active planning in that year. At that time, Yang Zengxin was also the general office of each school, and also managed the unified donation, patrol police and other positions, and also managed nine errands. Every day, he carries nine seals side by side, uses different seals for different things, and also receives guests, personally writes documents, handles government affairs, fast and fast, and never leaves a backlog of documents on the table. In his spare time, he also went to the academy to lecture and read. At that time, Yang Zengxin was in his prime, with excellent energy, diligent administration and love for the people, so he was quickly promoted.
Yang Zengxin, who was originally generous and open-minded, rigorous in his handling, diligent, honest and self-sustaining, selfless, and well-known, had a good future in Gansu's political circles, but all this was changed by the appointment of the governor of Shaanxi and Gansu. Seung-yoon is surrounded by a group of jealous villains who are hypnotic and slander Yang Zengxin. Therefore, Shengyun was extremely distrustful of Yang Zengxin and gradually opposed him. Yang Zengxin was very depressed, had nothing to do, and slowly became depressed.
Under these circumstances, Wang Shufeng, who was transferred to Xinjiang to serve as a vassal after yang Zengxin was also an official in Gansu, quickly learned of the situation, and he suggested to Lian Kui, the governor of Xinjiang, that Yang Zengxin, who was shrewd and capable and excellent in learning, be transferred to Xinjiang. At that time, Yang Zengxin had been an official in Gansu for eighteen years, and many years of experience had enabled Yang Zengxin to cultivate an open-minded and generous character. In Yang Zengxin's view, since he is depressed in Gansu, why not go to Xinjiang to develop?!
Xinjiang's landscapes and landscapes
Four. Yang Zengxin ruled Xinjiang for seventeen years
In 1907 (the thirty-third year of Guangxu), Yang Zengxin was transferred to the General Office of the Xinjiang Army Academy. The following year, he was sponsored by Lian Kui, the governor of Xinjiang, to enter Beijing and meet Empress Dowager Cixi and the Guangxu Emperor, who was transferred
Aksu Daoyin, Xinjiang. In the same year, under the recommendation of Wang Shufeng, the envoy of Xinjiang, he successively served in Aksu, Urumqi and other places in Xinjiang. In 1909 (the first year of Xuanun), Yang Zengxin was appointed as the Aksu Bingbidao, and in 1910 (the second year of Xuanun), Yang Zengxin was appointed as an envoy to Xinjiang. In 1911 (the third year of Xuanun), on the eve of the Xinhai Revolution, he was transferred to Zhendi Daoyin and the envoy of Xinjiang, becoming the most powerful figure in Xinjiang at that time.
In October 1911 (the third year of xuanun reunification), the Xinhai Revolution broke out, and the Brotherhood of Elders revolted in various parts of Xinjiang, and the revolutionaries established a military government in Ili. Yuan Dahua, the governor of Xinjiang, naturally understood Yang Zengxin's talents and promoted him to the post of inspector of punishment, after which Yuan Dahua fled Xinjiang and Yang Zengxin took over the post of overseer.
In January 1912 (the first year of the Republic of China), the Republic of China was established, and Sun Yat-sen served as the provisional president. The Xinjiang Ili revolutionaries launched an uprising, killed the Ili general Zhirui, and declared independence. Yang Zengxin suggested to Yuan Dahua, the governor of Xinjiang, that he recruit five battalions of cavalry and take command of himself. In February 1912 (the first year of the Republic of China), Yuan Shikai took the place of provisional president and appointed Yuan Dahua as the governor of Xinjiang. Yuan Dahua was not accepted, and sponsored Yuan Hongyou, the governor of Kashgar Province. On May 7, 1912, Brotherhood member Wei Dexi and others killed Yuan Hongyou. There is a saying that these Brotherhood members were bribed by Yang Zengxin to assassinate Yuan Hongyou and others. However, this claim has not yet been confirmed and certified. According to common sense, it is impossible. Just by looking at Yang Zengxin's later disposition of Bian Yongfu and other members of the Brotherhood, we can know how Yang Zengxin could have bribed Bian Yongfu and others to assassinate Yuan Hongyou?!
On June 30, 1912, the Ili revolutionary party Cai Leshan, who had already been recruited, rebelled against the water, and Yuan Dahua sponsored Yang Zeng to be the new governor of Xinjiang. When Yang Zengxin took office, he raised an army to suppress Cai Leshan. Earlier, the revolutionary Feng Temin was wanted by Zhang Zhidong, the governor of Huguang, to flee to Ili for propagating the revolution in Wuchang and establishing a new Iraqi military government. Feng Temin took a fancy to Yang Zengxin and recommended Yang Zengxin as the military governor, and then the Governor of Xinjiang cooperated with the new Yi military government. In order to take Yang Zengxin into his wing, Yuan Shikai appointed him as the governor of Xinjiang and the envoy of the government, and secretly ordered him to strictly guard against the activities of the revolutionaries.
In this way, Yang Zengxin relied on more political experience and military strength to quell the peasant revolt in Hami, divided and suppressed the local Brotherhood and peasant uprisings, negotiated peace with the Ili military government and reached a unification, and gradually eliminated the influence of military government figures and seized real power. From then until the seventeen years of his assassination, although he nominally accepted the jurisdiction of the Beiyang government, he pursued the practice of "recognizing the temple and not recognizing people" and always maintained peace and stability in Xinjiang.
Before Yang Zengxin was assassinated, he took a group photo with his subordinates and colleagues
On June 3, 1914 (the third year of the Republic of China), Yuan Shikai abolished the governor and disbanded, Yang Zengxin expressed his support, so he was appointed as the inspector of Xinjiang and the rank of general, supervising the military affairs of Xinjiang. In 1915 (December 12, the fourth year of the Republic of China), Yuan Shikai was restored as emperor, and Yang Zengxin was made a first-class earl. On the 25th, the Yunnan warlord Cai Yi organized the defending army to beg Yuan, and the whole country responded, Yang Zengxin hurriedly announced his support for the republican system, indicating that he would not participate in the melee between the warlords of the Zhi, Anhui, and Feng dynasties, and wrote a hanging league in the lobby of the Overseer's Military Office: "The republic has just opened its grass, and it is shameful to call the five hegemons and seven heroes, and there is no question about the Central Plains; the border court has a Taoyuan victory, and the twisting rate returns to the north, and the hun nightmare is a Taigu people." ”
After the situation in Xinjiang was basically stabilized, Yang Zengxin concentrated on eliminating the hidden dangers of dissidents under his subordinates, restricting the power of various princes and nobles, developing production, recuperating, and gaining support from all walks of life.
On February 14, 1917 (the fifth year of the Republic of China), Yang Yi, who was sent to Xinjiang by the Yunnan Protectorate Army, secretly plotted to declare independence among senior officials under the pretext of his fellow villagers, and Yang Zengxin took the opportunity of sending Liu Zhangyao, an inspector of the Ministry of Education of the Beijing Government, to shoot and kill Xia Ding, an aide-de-camp with revolutionary ideas, and Li Yin, the commander of the artillery battalion, during the banquet, arresting and killing Yang Yi, Du Guozhen, the general office of the Military Uniform Bureau, Liu Yingfu, director of the Police Department, and Wu Mingkui, the mining inspector. Yang Zengxin wrote in his diary: "If you know its harm, you should remove it before it has occurred, and there is no or appeasement." ”
For the sake of peace and stability in Xinjiang, after Yang Zengxin killed Xia Ding and Li Yin, he also cut off his desire to return to his hometown. The soldiers of the Yunnan Protectorate Army came to Baixiang on Mengziqi Road and excavated the ancestral grave of Yang Zengxin's family.
After the end of the First World War, the situation around Xinjiang was even more chaotic, the "October Revolution" broke out in Russia, the Red Army and the White Army fought, many Kazakh refugees poured into Xinjiang, and some of the defeated White Army also carried weapons into Xinjiang. Yang Zengxin placed these inevitable places out of humanitarian spirit, but he also avoided the pretext of interfering in the internal affairs of other countries. In the war against the Russian Red Army and the White Army, Yang Zengxin strictly observed neutrality, disarmed all white bandits entering Xinjiang, and carried out scattered arrangements, so as not to create excuses for the Soviet And Russian Red Army to pursue and suppress them across the border.
The most important goal of Yang Zengxin. On the one hand, it "pulled out the outside world" and signed a series of treaties with Britain and Russia through diplomatic efforts to ensure the stability of the border; On the other hand, "Annei" adopted policies tailored to local conditions in Xinjiang to develop production and improve people's livelihood. As for the political situation in the interior east of Jiayuguan, he appeared as a calm bystander and would never intervene. The policy of "recognizing the temple and not recognizing the gods" adopted is to avoid the melee of the warlords in the interior from spreading to Xinjiang.
Photo of Yang Zengxin before his assassination
Four. They all died and were buried in Beijing
In 1924, Yang Zengxin, the governor of Xinjiang who had been in power for thirteen years, said in a telegram to his daughter Yang Yinghuan: "Zengxin is old, born into The Jade Gate Pass, and death is unknown." I should be loyal to Xinjiang, and finally Xinjiang! There was a wisp of sadness and a wisp of helplessness in his words!
I didn't think yang Zengxin was a slur. Four years later, on July 7, 1928, he was shot seven times and died in blood during the first student graduation ceremony held at the first student graduation ceremony held by the Xinjiang Russian Law and Politics School. At this point, Yang Zengxin, who had been in charge of Xinjiang for 17 years, was martyred at the age of 66.
For Yang Zengxin's assassination, it seems to us today that It should be Yang Zengxin's own fault. Why? Imagine if Yang Zengxin handed over the Xinjiang regime to Fan Yaonan in the later period, it should be a blessing for the people of Xinjiang! When it comes to Fan Yaonan's talent, he is undoubtedly a talent. The reason for the tragedy of Fan Yaonan's assassination of Yang Zengxin is really the inevitable result of Yang Zengxin's employment policy for many years. Fan Yaonan was originally a candidate sent by Li Yuanhong to Xinjiang to prepare to succeed Yang Zengxin, and in his post of director of foreign affairs, he took the lead in abrogating a series of unequal treaties signed with Tsarist Russia before Xinjiang. However, in Xinjiang, there was no name of Fan Yaonan on the list of core personnel in Xinjiang's new government. In Yang Zengxin's consciousness, he was wary of Fan Yaonan everywhere. He can use Fan Yaonan, but he reuses Fan Yaonan, and he does not let Fan Yaonan leave Xinjiang, always holding Fan Yaonan in the palm of his hand, driving Fan Yaonan crazy alive, and then forcing him to take excessive behavior, setting up a situation to assassinate Yang Zengxin, and finally he was also killed, and embarked on the end of the two of them. I thought that this responsibility should mainly be counted on Yang Zengxin. In our view today, saying that you are a talent does not reuse you, but it is also called: attach importance to talent! But if you don't let you go, let you struggle in the palm of his hand, can't move, will you be desperate?
Tian Shan Mountains
After Yang Zengxin was assassinated, the question surrounding who assassinated Yang Zengxin's true culprit was still a cluster of doubts. Although Yang Zengxin's student Jin Shuren also captured all the murderers of Yang, Fan Yaonan, and sentenced them to death, it seems that the real murderers are someone else.
Luo Shaowen once speculated in his "Western Regions Hook Sink" that the warlord Feng Yuxiang assassinated Yang Zengxin's real murderer. To this end, the Nanjing government also detained Jin Shuren, and the relatives and descendants of Fan Yaonan, the so-called "true murderer of Yang Yang", are also constantly appealing to the Nanjing government. So who is the real murderer of The Assassin Yang? Or leave it to future generations to study and reveal the secret!
Completed on April 18, 2021
This article was published simultaneously on the WeChat public account: Du Xuewei's "Sky in the Western Regions"!
The author is in front of "Watching the Heavenly Mountains: Yang Zengxin Deeds Exhibition Hall".