"The Assassination Case", one of the four great cases of late Qing Dynasty, was first adapted into a movie in 1973 and put on the screen. In 2007, the famous director Chen Kexin, starring Jet Li, Andy Lau, and Takeshi Kaneshiro, starring the three powerful actors of "Come to the Name" once again reproduced this late Qing curious case that was evaluated by later scholars as "destroying the Qing Dynasty". Although the "horse stab case" in history is full of doubts and confusing, it is generally believed that this is an almost open struggle between Zeng Guofan and the late Qing court.
In the 9th year of Tongzhi in the Qing Dynasty, Ma Xinyi, the then Governor of Liangjiang River, was assassinated on his way back to the Governor’s Mansion on foot. The government and the people were shocked and the whole country concerned. The Liangjiang area has been managed by Zeng Guofan for many years and is the core area under the control of the Hunan Army Group. The transfer of the Empress Dowager Cixi to the Governor of Liangjiang, who was not born in the Hunan Army, is undoubtedly a check and balance on the Hunan Army Group. The assassination of Ma Xinyi was undoubtedly a powerful counterattack from the Hunan Army Group and even Zeng Guofan.
After Ma Xinyi was assassinated, Zeng Guofan, who was seriously frustrated in the "Tianjin Religious Case", was transferred to the governor-general of Liangjiang, but his prestige was not as good as before. The imperial court's pressure on the abolition and suppression of the Hunan army also increased significantly. The direct consequence of the wrestling between Zeng Guofan and the Empress Dowager Cixi was that the southeast coastal defense forces established by the Hunan Army regressed in an all-round way, causing the British, French, American, and Japanese powers to frequently provocation in the southeast. The "Tongguang Zhongxing" was ruined and the Qing Dynasty was destroyed. completely changed.
The historical truth of the "Assassination Case" has not been verified. Later scholars and people who eat melon have never stopped exploring and researching this strange case. However, few people paid attention to the victim of the "Assassination Case"-Governor Ma Xinyi of Liangjiang River. It seems that this official from Heze, Shandong Province was the political victim of the battle between the two powers.
What kind of character is Ma Xinyi in history? We can roughly draw conclusions from several points of fact:
1. Liangjiang area, as the nest of the Hunan Army Group, is a base area operated by Zeng Guofan, a big man who is almost a monster, for more than ten years. It is huge and intricately rooted. . If Ma Xinyi is an incompetent person, can he be transferred to the governor-general of Liangjiang by the Empress Dowager Cixi and go head-to-head with the Hunan Army Group?
2. After the suppression of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom Movement, Zeng Guofan took the initiative to abolish the Hunan army in order to avoid the high-powered tremors and the rabbits and dogs; Zeng Guofan was transferred to the governor-general of Zhili. Abolished; Ma Xinyi's appointment as Governor of Liangjiang, in addition to investigating the treasures and secrets of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, he also shoulders the important task of further abolishing the Hunan Army. Several abolitions have caused serious dissatisfaction with the Hunan Army Group. If Ma Xinyi is a weak and incompetent generation, can the task of dismantling the Hunan Army be completed?
3. Most of the Hunan troops who were dismissed have fallen on the ground as bandits, or entrenched islands, river mouths as pirates, and even attacked the canal transport several times as enemies. After Ma Xinyi took office, he stubbornly wiped out Nantian pirates, gunboat damage, and Qi pirates. Can he be a small person in such a performance?
In the 27th year of Daoguang, Ma Xinyi was awarded the "Born of the same Jinshi" with the result of "Sixth in the Top Three", and was awarded the "Prestigious County". The so-called "ready-to-use", that is, the domineering status of "no matter whether it is a single month, you can choose when you encounter a vacancy", is almost the same as "taking office immediately". You must know that Jinshi in the Qing Dynasty still needs to continue to study for three years in the Hanlin Academy. Ma Xinyi, who was "born with Jinshi", can be so reused, which shows that he is by no means idle.
"Drafts of Qing History · Biographies One Hundred and Thirteen" records in detail Ma Xinyi's promotion process from "starting at Zhengqipin County, from official to first-level governor". It is worth noting that this seemingly weak scholar was promoted almost every time because of his outstanding military exploits; more importantly, Ma Xinyi almost held all levels of local officials in the Qing Dynasty.
Xianfeng five years, because of the merits of the Taiping Army, Ma Xinyi was promoted to prefect, and was given Hualing (note: Qing Dynasty civil servants are only qualified to wear flowerlings at the rank of governor and admiral above); Xianfeng seven years , Was appointed by the imperial court as a Zheng Sipin Taoist due to military exploits (department-level official position, enjoys a slightly lower salary at the provincial and ministerial level); Xianfeng nine years, acting as a prosecutor (acting provincial and ministerial deputy official)); In the second year of Tongzhi, he was promoted to chief ambassador (deputy governor of real power); in the third year of Tongzhi, he was promoted to governor (a veritable official in Xinjiang).
Note that during this period, Ma Xinyi also experienced a more serious defeat and the influence of the speed of promotion of Ding You due to the death of his mother and Ding You due to the death of his father. In the five years of Tongzhi, Ma Xinyi was promoted to governor of Fujian and Zhejiang; for seven years, Ma Xinyi was promoted to governor of Liangjiang. That is to say, in just 18 years, Ma Xinyi, who was born as a scholar, has been an official at the division level, and with the performance of the god of war on the battlefield, he has served as prefects, prefects, Taoists, prosecutors, chief envoys, and governors. , Governor, important local officials at all levels do not fall, step by step promotion, until the deputy state-level member of the first grade.
Although the "Assassination Case" in the 9th year of Tongzhi stopped him at the official position of Cong Yipin, he was given a shirt by the court after his death, as a gift from the Crown Prince Taibao, and as a captain Yuqi. Yun Qiwei has a posthumous posthumous post, and he enters the Xianliang Temple," and was even built by people in Jiangning, Anqing, Hangzhou, Haitang and other places; even officials in some areas of Liangjiang have been prescribed by the imperial court to make sacrifices on a regular basis. Although Ma Xinyi was a political victim, he had no regrets for having such a glorious life!
References: "Drafts of Qing History·Biographies of One Hundred and Thirteen", "Records of Qing Shilu·Records of Mu Zong", "The First Strange Case of the Late Qing Dynasty-Assassin's Case"
