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If someone in the case of the murder of Minister Clinder, some people fooled the world with lies, he could only be Kodash.
But why does Kodash lie? One possible explanation is his guilt. was in chaos at that time, and Kodak jumped out of the sedan chair and fled without considering the minister. Afterwards, he felt guilty, so he had to say that the incident he had not seen clearly was a cold-blooded murder scene, which made him completely helpless. How did
1, , Clinder die?
It is necessary for me to go back to the morning of June 20, 1900 and carefully infer what happened?
When Minister Clinder came out of the Minister's Meeting, he was very angry and quite nervous. To hide his panic, he carried the revolver on his body. He hesitated for a long time whether to escort the German soldiers, and then followed Kodash's advice and did not escort the guards to avoid any trouble.
After sitting in the sedan chair, in order to observe the situation outside, the envoy made an exception to order the sedan chair owner not to put down the curtain. Kodash's report said that he was very impressed by the minister's "real manly spirit" at that time, so he also asked the sedan chairman to roll up the curtain. actually had a nervous mood at the time and lacked a sense of security. Kodash thought the minister did not carry a gun, so he did not take his "Winchester" pistol.
After leaving the embassy area, there were soldiers on the streets, and soldiers guarded every corner. These soldiers were curious about the foreigners' sedan chairs, but did not make hostile moves. The minister held a revolver in his hand and observed the ground nervously.
At this time, the elite palace troops of the Shenjiying Tingzi Team were responsible for guarding the Dongdan Pailou area. They may have received orders to prepare for war because the Chinese ultimatum will be limited to 4 pm on June 20.
In addition, they already knew that China was ready to declare war on the foreigners, so the soldiers in Dongdan Archway were on high alert. Zhang Jing Enhai and his subordinates are in charge of the section on the street corner.
They suddenly found two foreign sedan chairs appearing at the corner. Enhai ordered his subordinates to return to their posts in the battle. Minister Clinder was a soldier and had conditioned reflexes to Enhai and others' actions and also raised his gun to prepare. At this time, the minister's revolver may fire, or he may subconsciously fire the gun first. Manchu soldiers immediately fought back, and the Belgian embassy guards on the opposite side also shot themselves, thinking that the Chinese attack, all of which happened within a few seconds.
Kodas didn't see clearly what was going on behind the minister's sedan chair. When he jumped up, he was shot in his thigh. Shenji Camp saw that the foreigners stopped fighting back in the sedan chair, so they stopped shooting and went to the sedan chair to examine. They were angry at the shot in the sedan chair, so they pushed and shoved, but found that the foreigners in the sedan chair were on the verge of death.
Kodas jumped out of the sedan chair and fled, Enhai and others did not pay attention to him. They carried the minister to a nearby alley and found him dead. Enhai guarded the body, while ordering people to report to his superiors. During the time of guarding the corpse, he found the minister's silver pocket watch, so he took the lead.
At the same time, Kodash dragged his injured leg and walked through the streets and alleys without anyone chasing or harassing him.
Finally, he found the American Baptist missionary site, was first aided by American missionaries, and fainted. After waking up, he didn't understand what was going on, and he felt guilty about his escape.
But he soon heard that the minister was dead, and his statement became an isolated evidence, so he improved, so he began to compile the incident and portrayed the incident that he had not seen clearly as a dramatic murder case.
After his earliest statement has been reported by newspapers around the world, he will never be willing to correct it. In his post-war report to the Berlin government, he had to report truthfully on certain issues, which created a possibility that was contradictory to his earliest statement. After capturing Enhai, Kodash tried his best to draw a perfect testimony from Enhai's mouth.
En Haishi realized that if he insisted that this was an accident, he would lose the military spirit of being ordered and performing his duties, so he did not deny the order of the "Prince".
However, Enhai's personality and character are relatively upright, so his testimony did not meet Kodash's requirements at all, and it did not help Kodash or himself. After the incident, the officials of the Zongli Yamen were unable to figure out the cause of the accident. When Clinder's other horseback guard came to the General Administration to report the case, he found that there was only one chapter Beijing on duty.
2, Clinder's death declared war with the Qing court
After Zhang Jing surveyed the scene with him, he immediately determined that it was the Germans who fired the first shot. So in the afternoon of the same day, a note was sent to the German Pavilion, protesting that the two Germans were provoking first, causing the Chinese side to fight back and kill one of them.
At this moment, the ministry decided to reject the Chinese ultimatum in view of the murder of the German envoy. All diplomats have determined that the Qing court was the mastermind of Clinder's death.
The Qing court was also in a dilemma at this time. Regardless of whether Clinder's killing was an accident, he died in Chinese territory, and before the ultimatum was limited, China had an unruly responsibility.
The Qing court realized that Clinder's death had made the plan to escort the foreigners in Beijing out of Beijing impossible. However, since the ultimatum was issued, it was impossible to accept it, so there was a besiege of the embassy.
It should be noted that Empress Dowager Cixi had received a report of the fall of the Dagu Fort in the afternoon of that day. That is to say, the original idea of escorting the minister to Tianjin to block the arguments of various countries and slamming his attack on the fort is now meaningless.
3. Reasons for besieging the embassy
Shortly after Clinder was killed, the Chinese government formally replied to the ministerial mission, expressing its agreement to postpone the departure of Beijing, but the ground in the capital was unstable. Please do not go to the General Administration to discuss it.
English Dou Nale was optimistic when he just received this letter. He believed that:
"The murder of the German envoy forced the Chinese government to be vigilant and guide the policy towards peace."
However, he continued:
"The optimistic idea at that time did not take into account the powerful pro-war factions that existed in the court. The Zongli Yamen could no longer represent the government since early June, so the communication between General Administration and us only showed the attitude of some moderates."
This letter was the last communication before attacking the embassy. At 4 pm that day (June 20), the ultimatum expired and the Chinese army opened fire immediately.
A British sergeant chief salutes Captain Strauss and reports, "The attack has begun."
Captain Strauss replied, "Thank you, Chief Murphy." So, the farce-like siege of the embassy officially began.
In a sense, starting a war is a relief for both sides, and it at least ends the unbearable psychological suspense.
The death of the German minister made foreigners feel that they were almost fooled by the Chinese government. Now there is no other choice but to fight to the death. China also felt relieved. The news that the Dagu Fort was trapped has arrived in the afternoon, and the ultimatum itself has lost its effect. No matter what, the responsibility for the war comes from the foreigners. China has no choice but to fight.
China is not clear about what the purpose of siege of the embassy is.
seems to be trying to take foreigners as hostages, and you can make a move in the future, without the intention of killing them all. The declaration of war evokes the people's sentiment. Although its statement is extremely absurd, the declaration of war evokes itself is a masterpiece, but its ancient style is difficult to translate in English.
In fact, Empress Dowager Cixi realized that this was a mistake from the beginning of her declaration of war.
On June 21, the Qing court issued an edict calling on the military and civilians across the country to "share the same hatred of the enemy" and "strike the enemy with the invaders." People usually call this edict the "declaration of war."
In fact, this imperial edict is a war mobilization order issued by the country to call on the military and civilians to resist fools across the country, rather than a "declaration of war" to submit to foreign countries and declare that they have entered a state of war with the other side.
In fact, in this war, the great powers never declared war on China, and the Qing government never declared war on the great powers. The two sides have not even cut off diplomatic relations. The book " Chongling Newsletter Record " describes this war as being initiated by the Qing government, and calls this edict the "declaration of war" which intentionally distorts history and describes the Qing government's forced external resistance as actively declaring war. However, for the past century, people have been using the term "declaration of war" and have become a habit. In order to avoid entanglement in nouns, the word "declaration of war" is still used here, and only quotes are added to indicate objection.
4, Enhai's testimony
Another direct person who was killed by Clinder was Zhang Jing of the Tingzi Team of Shenjiying, and Enhai, an officer of the man, .
Enhai is the Shenji Camp Zhangjing commanded by Prince Qing Yili. 80 days after the murder of Minister Clinder, Enhai was arrested in the capital.
The first person to discover Enhai is a Japanese reporter. He found the silver pocket watch of Minister Clinder in a pawnshop in the Japanese-occupied area with the lettering "K". On the 2nd, the military officer of the embassy , Shibagoro, 6, followed the clues and chased him to Enhai. Shibagoro did not conduct a careful interrogation of him because after hearing this, the German authorities immediately requested to extradite .
Therefore, the main interrogation was conducted in the hands of the Germans. Enhai was arrested on September 8, and on September 13, German Admiral Bandemann in China had reported to the coalition commander-in-chief Wadesi , who was sailing to China at sea, saying that Enhai had confessed all and admitted that the order to assassinate Clinder came from the highest level of the Qing court.
From this we can see that the so-called Enhai confession was obtained at a lightning speed.
More importantly, the German administrative director in the occupied area of Beijing was Kodash himself, and he was also in charge of the task of interrogating Enhai, and even the translation was also him.
The existing "Enhai testimony" in Germany shows that Enhai's explanation of the case is very close to Kodash's conclusion. The questions raised in the interrogation of
are carefully designed to confirm Kodash's statement as the goal, so the reliability of "Enhai Testimony" should be greatly reduced.
Despite this, Kodash probably did not realize when finalizing the testimony that there are still several major clues of suspicion in the "Enhai Testimony".
First of all, there is a big problem with Enhai's statement that Kodash confirmed the so-called "high-level conspiracy" of the details. What Kodash is most concerned about is who is the mastermind behind it, and Enhai is unwilling to say from beginning to end that he was ordered by Duan Prince Zaiyi . He insisted that his boss was Prince Qing Yili, which made the German authorities very embarrassed.
Prince Qing is a famous peace faction and is the most willing German to accept the negotiation minister in Beijing. Enhai's statement is not conducive to the negotiation process.
According to the evidence records, Enhai said that the order of the "Prince" was received between 4 and 5 pm on June 19. The above said: "When you see a foreigner, you can kill him." Kodash immediately asked, "At this afternoon, he happened to go to the Zongli Yamen to do business, why didn't you do it?" Enhai immediately said that he had not received the order at that time. Kodash asked again, which "prince"? Enhai said that my boss was just Prince Qing, and Prince Duan was commanding the Tiger God Camp, not the Shenji Camp. The testimony record of
itself has major doubts. Even if a certain "prince" did issue this order, it can only be regarded as an order to massacre all foreigners, and there is absolutely no specific target, let alone a German minister as the target of assassination.
On the morning of June 20, Enhai said in the record of the testimony that he and his subordinates were ordered to wait for the target of the attack. Soon, two foreign sedan chairs suddenly appeared near the Dongdan Archway, so he ordered his subordinates to enter the battle state, and he fired a shot as a signal and then started the attack.
What embarrassed the interrogator Kodash was the fact that Enhai then revealed that Minister Clinder also shot him. Moreover, when searching the minister's sedan, Enhai found an revolver , with 5 bullets in the chamber, and the sixth bullet had just been shot out. As for how Kodash could escape, Enhai said that he ordered his subordinates not to pursue "Your Administrator" because his mission was to guard the neighborhood.
is visible. This testimony is very conflicting with Kodash's statement in two aspects:
First, the order of the "Prince" (assuming that this order) is by no means an order to conspire to kill the German minister. At this time, the Qing court was ready to declare war and issued a note on the restriction order to leave the capital. It was inevitable that the foreigners should be controlled by force.
More importantly, Prince Qing Yili, who has always been cautious and careful with foreigners, is unlikely to issue such an order.
Nine months later, Enhai, who had been detained by the German army for a long time, was executed by the German army in Beijing.
It is said that before the execution, Enhai suddenly began to confess. He said:
I am just following the orders of my superiors, otherwise how dare I assassinate the noble German minister, as a small person? My boss promised to give him 70 taels of silver and a promotion level, and I agreed to carry out this task. After I completed the task, I only received 40 taels of silver, but I was not promoted. So I stayed in Beijing and waited for promotion, so I was arrested.
Enhai's statement here is completely different from testimony. The prince's order to "kill without any reason" became a murder contract, and the German minister also became the only target of the contract.
In fact, the top leaders of the Qing court could not know that the German minister was coming out on the evening of the 19th. The Chinese government also did not know that at the ministerial meeting on the morning of June 20, the German envoy was isolated, so it insisted on coming.
Even if some ministers come, China cannot confirm that they must be the German envoy. Therefore, the assassination "contract" against the German envoy is difficult to execute. Therefore, Enhai's so-called "final confession" is definitely unreliable. Either he was lying, or he had not made such a confession at all, it was impossible to rule out the ability of the German authorities to forge this confession.
From a personality perspective, Enhai is not a coward. When Enhai was arrested, the Bellow Interim Office reported to Berlin that the man was very hard and "confessed" the killing of the minister and "please accept the punishment immediately." Since the German authorities have obtained Enhai's testimony at an extremely fast speed, why have they kept detained him? Enhai has confessed all of them, and there must be ulterior motives for continuing to be detained.
Shortly after Enhai was arrested, the plenipotentiary and minister appointed by the Qing court Li Hongzhang had sent a power to Empress Dowager Cixi who was on the westward tour in mid-September 1900, and reported:
"I heard that Demen was arrested by the soldiers of the Demen in Beijing and confessed."
Li suggested modifying the statement that the Demen was "harmed by the rioters" in the previous "Edict" and admitting that the killing of the officers and soldiers would help to calm the wrath of Germany.
Enhai's boss, Prince Qing Yili, also reported to the court in October, saying that the Germans are the most difficult to deal with because of the murder of the minister. He suggested that the court explain to Germany that this fact was an accidental event, "so that the change would be in a hurry, and the head would be insufficient to protect it, and it was not from the original intention of the court." Prince Qing probably won't lie here.
The second aspect, "Enhai's testimony" contradicts Kodash's statement, because Minister Clinder did shoot a shot.
The question is how to explain the motives of the Clinder Minister, who is likely to observe some sign of danger and therefore fire a shot, or something else.
After the war, the German authorities did not mention this matter. General Lessel, commander of the German Expeditionary Force, even made up a new story, saying that after Enhai saw the sedan chair of the German envoy, he actually had time to ask his superiors for advice. General Lessel said that Enhai asked his superiors whether to kill "This German envoy who is very respectful to the Chinese?" The superiors immediately agreed. This statement can only be made up.
In short, if the minister fired a shot, it would be impossible to prove that Kodash's statement was correct. Because the minister could not have died without any awareness of what happened at that time. is possible that Kodash did not see the entire process of the incident, or that he deliberately concealed this important fact.
General Lesser is the host of the punishment of Eun Hae, and his details about Eun Hae's execution are also noticeable.Before this, the German Foreign Ministry asked whether there was a need to punish Enhai for the death penalty, because Enhai was just a soldier who carried out the order. Lessel replied that as a soldier, he agreed with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
But he also sought the opinions of Marshal Wadesi, who believed that the death penalty should be imposed, otherwise the Chinese would regard the release of Enhai as Germany's weakness. Lesser's record of the execution scene is similar to that of Wade's Diary. Enhai "has a calm expression and maintains dignity" and does not make any mercy statement.
(end of the text)
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