Gong Zizhen is a famous person in modern Chinese history. He has written a lot of poems, especially the famous line " I advise God to shake up , and is not limited in one style to reduce talents " is even well-known, and even Mao Zedong has quoted it many times. But what is surprising is that the dragon species sometimes really give birth to flea . The one who brought foreigners to burn the Old Summer Palace was Gong Zizhen's eldest son Gong Cheng ! And Gong Cheng was so rebellious that he was just to vent his personal anger! What exactly happened during this period? What makes the descendants of famous families who are well-read in poetry and books so disregard the national justice?
The Old Summer Palace is one of the famous royal gardens in my country during the Qing Dynasty. It has been built with a grand scale and beautiful scenery through the five dynasties of Yongzheng , Qianlong , Jiaqing , Daoguang , Xianfeng 日本日本日本日本日本日本日本日本日本日本日本日本日本日本日本日本日本日本日本日本日本日本日本日本日本日本日本日本日本日本日本日本日本日本日本日本日本日本日本日本日本日本日本日本日本日本日本日本日本日本日本日本日本日本日本日本日本日本日本日本日本日本日� contains many cultural relics, from celebrity calligraphy and painting to secret palace classics, from bells and tripods to gold and silver jewelry , all kinds of rare treasures are all included, and it was the largest museum and art museum in the world at that time.
During the Second Opium War, Britain and France formed a coalition to invade China. On October 6, 1860, a team of British and French allied forces, which had landed in Beitang, Tianjin, landed in Beitang, Tianjin, and rushed to Beijing without any major resistance. They went straight to the Old Summer Palace and plundered everything that could be taken away. If they could not be taken, they would be transported by carts or animals. If they could not be transported, they would be destroyed and destroyed at will... Then, a fire turned the treasure of our country's garden art and the essence of architectural art into ashes.
Usually, the palace and the emperor living in the palace are the primary targets of the robbers. However, the British and French coalition forces not only did not attack Beijing City , but also successfully avoided the tightly defended Jingdong area, and circled around Andingmen and Deshengmen , and ran straight from the north of the city to the Old Summer Palace. Obviously, foreigners who are not familiar with the language and are not familiar with the road, can have such a "precise blow". If there is no divine help, they will definitely be helped by others!
is good. The British and French coalition forces broke into the Old Summer Palace under the leadership of Gong Zizhen's eldest son Gong Cheng.
Why did Gong Cheng do this? This has to start with Gong Zizhen himself.
Most Chinese people should not be unfamiliar with Gong Zizhen. He is a late Qing thinker, writer and poet. He actively supports the improvement movement and the anti-smoking movement of Lin Zexu. He retains more than 300 articles and nearly 800 poems. In addition to the " Jiuzhou's angry and thunderous state in "Ji Hai Miscellaneous Poems", it is sad to see that all horses are silenced. I advise the heavens to shake up and reduce talents without any restrictions. " has been compiled into junior high school textbooks and has been cited by great people many times. In addition, its miscellaneous essay " Sick Plum Pavilion Records " has also been included in high school Chinese textbooks. The works were used in junior and high school textbooks at the same time. Apart from the great man and Lu Xun, it seems that only Gong Zizhen is the only one. His position in literary history and ideological history can be seen from this. No wonder Liu Yazi called him a "first-class person in three hundred years".
But Gong Zizhen's life was not smooth, especially 's career was bumpy. In the ninth year of Daoguang, after six examinations, 38-year-old Gong Zizhen finally passed the imperial examination, but because he was often criticized for current affairs and his writing style was too radical, it was not tolerated by examiners. He was ranked 19th in the third place for no reason and was not allowed to enter the Hanlin Academy . Gong Zizhen had no choice but to surrender to the cabinet secretary as a juren.
Although he was frustrated in the officialdom, Gong Zizhen, who was by nature, was free and happy in the love field. Not only did he often appear in the brothels, but he was also a master in the plays of literati, which caused him to be involved in a famous romantic case in history.
Although the Qing Dynasty won the world immediately, many people in its ruling group were impressed by the profound Han culture, including the Qing Beile Wang Yihui and his concubine, namely the concubine Gu Taiqing . Yihua not only often speaks poems with literati of the times, but also has art of elegance and poetry. Therefore, Gong Zizhen was often a guest of honor in Yihui's mansion. Literati have been passionate since ancient times. Over time, Gu Taiqing has added another feeling to Gong Zizhen in addition to admiration. Whenever he sees Gong Zizhen, he can't help but tremble his hands and blush his face. Of course, this cannot escape the eyes of the veteran Fengyue Gong Zizhen. In addition, Taiqing's lips and white teeth, his skin is like snow, and his figure is slim. He has long made Gong Zizhen think about it day and night, and he salivate. It’s just that the prince’s mansion is strict and the prince is in a high position and powerful position. He calls the wind and rain. The two dare not act rashly, so they did not cross the line. "It comes from emotion and ends from etiquette." It should be said that if things only develop to this point, it would be a beautiful story.
But God intends to achieve a bad fate. Yihui, who was in her prime, suddenly suffered from an unknown serious illness and died after only one month. Yihui's "exit" made the two of them no longer have any worries, and soon they fell in love with each other and had an affair. As a result, the matter was not confidential, and it was discovered by Yihui's son soon and expelled Gu Taiqing from the palace. Gu Taiqing, who was used to living a life of luxury, had to stay on the streets from then on. When the matter was about to come, Gong Zizhen "retreated" and did not dare to publicly express her feelings for Gu Taiqing. fled from the capital in panic and went to Yunyang Academy in Danyang, Jiangsu to teach. But is the king of the world under the ? How could Gong Zizhen escape from Yihui's son's pursuit? A few months later, he was poisoned by people. This is the Lilac Blossom Case in history.
Gong Zizhen's ups and downs in life had a significant impact on his son Gong Cheng's life and psychology. The Gong family has been a romantic family of books for generations and the family has the best collection of books in Jiangnan, which makes the talented Gong Cheng loves reading since childhood. What is particularly valuable is that Gong Cheng is very talented in language. During his time in the capital, Gong Cheng not only mastered Manchu, Mongolian, Tanggute in Qinghai-Tibet region, but also mastered Western languages such as English and could speak a pure "London accent". However, Gong Cheng, who is unruly and introverted, and is flirtatious, not only inherits the outstanding talent and romantic nature of his father, but also has a critical spirit of reality that his father does not have. He only took the imperial examination once, and because he ranked after Sun Shan, he gave up his pursuit of fame and fame. This is not that Gong Cheng is unwilling to make a name for himself, but that he is dissatisfied with China's imperial examination system, itself, and believes that its name is to select talents, but it actually distorts nature and suppresses talents, so he is unwilling to "play with it". Therefore, Gong Cheng’s lack of fame and fortune is not really for the sake of "lying down", but because of his dissatisfaction with society and reality, it is precisely a reflection of his resentment that he values fame and fortune but fails to obtain. Although Gong Zizhen's murder was caused by Manchu, it was ultimately due to personal grudges, but under the influence of the above mentality, Gong Cheng recorded all this on the Qing government. Although he could not do anything to the prince or the Qing government for a while, his anger was accumulated in his heart, looking for the "crater" anytime and anywhere.
Gong Cheng came to Shanghai and was in the ten-mile foreign market immersed in individualistic culture. Gong Cheng naturally became more indulgent and romantic, more sensual and lusty, and was full of money.
Chinese people have always paid attention to the five relationships, namely the five relationships of the king and minister, father and son, husband and wife, brothers and friends. But Gong Cheng did not recognize these at all, but only recognized the couple. But he treated his wife as if nothing had happened. The couple had never met each other for ten years. At first, his wife often came to ask for living expenses with her two sons, but she was scolded by Gong Cheng and then rushed out. Over time, the wife and his sons broke off contact with him. As for the younger brother of the same-woman, Gong Jiaxiu, he was even more like a passerby. However, Gong Cheng regarded a concubine as a treasure and never left her for a moment.But the concubine is only a side room after all, and cannot represent a complete husband-and-wife relationship. Therefore, Gong Cheng admitted that his five relationships had lost four and half of them, leaving only ", half-lun ", and gave himself the number "half-lun". People at that time called it " Gong Banlun ".
Gong Banlun is so indifferent to his father, and he often enjoys "washing".
Gong Zizhen is very crazy himself. is quite disdainful of articles about his father and uncle who are both Jinshi, and often calls his uncle a misunderstanding, and his father is at most half-clear. Odor is sometimes inherited, and Gong Cheng 's attitude towards his father is even more than that. Whenever he sorted out his father's collection of essays, he always placed his father's card in front of the case and then changed his father's manuscript arbitrarily. And while he was rumoring, said: "What kind of mess is written about? It's embarrassing!" When he was deeply in love, he even picked up a bamboo whip and hit his father's tablet, saying: "It depends on my own father, I will help you modify it so that you won't be laughed at in the future."... In the era of "father is the leader of the son", if you even despise your father, you can imagine your attitude towards others.
In this way, it may be due to his "funny" son, Gong Zizhen's poems and essays that can be passed down to future generations. As for Gong Zizhen's true level, what have been "corrected" by his son, and which are Gong Zizhen's original work, there may never be an answer.
Although Gong Cheng is unrestrained, he is famous after all. In order to bring him into the palace, the Governor of Liangjiang, Zeng Guofan, invited someone to a banquet. After learning about his intention, Gong Cheng snatched the frown in person in the table and said, "With your status, at most, I will be the supervisor. But don't think about it, will I be willing to stay under you? So don't say more, I will only talk about the romance tonight, don't talk about it." At this point, I hate it so much that I "had shaved my head"?
Since ancient times, Gong Cheng's "mouth cannon" has been awesome, but his path is getting narrower and narrower. He has almost no friends around him. In addition, he is a sour literati with neither life experience nor business acumen, but his expenses are very high. He soon fell to the point where he had to make a living by selling his father's collection of books.
Fortunately, Gong Banlun is proficient in foreign languages such as English and French, and soon became interested in the British from the Shanghai Customs and Taxation Department. He hired him as an aide and translator, and made suggestions for him to engage in various businesses in China. As soon as he entered the foreign gate, Gong Cheng immediately changed his robe and jacket that had been shiny all year round, wearing a suit and lace, a top hat, and a civilized stick , and was so glorious.
When the British and French coalition forces attacked Beijing, because Witoma served as the translator of British ambassador to China Erkin , Gong Cheng also followed the British army invading Beijing to return to Beijing through Tianjin. It would be no big deal if Gong Cheng just used to do things for foreigners as a means of making a living, but the problem is that Gong Cheng's mentality has long been distorted. He went north with a revenge mentality. Therefore, along the way, he always ran around and seemed excited and enthusiastic, giving foreigners many bad ideas.
When the British and French coalition forces learned from the Russian diplomats that the Emperor Xianfeng had fled to the Rehe , there were heavy troops deployed in the east of Beijing, and the north of the city was relatively empty, they hesitated for a moment what to do next. At this time, Gong Cheng even reported himself and said that the best treasures of the Qing Dynasty were collected in the Old Summer Palace. You might as well take them down there first. Moreover, you are familiar with the road and can lead the way.
Just like this, foreigners were able to avoid the real and go straight to the Old Summer Palace.
As soon as they entered the Old Summer Palace, these robbers were stunned by the countless magnificent treasures, and they tore off the so-called "noble" and "elegance" veils, and wantonly plundered their favorite gold, silver, jewelry and cultural and artistic treasures. They smashed the vases and mirrors, tore off the paintings and scrolls, and broke the silk warehouse... They took away everything they could take away. According to statistics, the British and French forces snatched up to 1.5 million cultural relics from the Old Summer Palace! All those who can't be brought with them were destroyed.In order to cover up the evil behavior, on October 18, British commander Erjin ordered the burning of the Old Summer Palace on the pretext of the Qing army's abuse of prisoners of war. The three hundred years old Summer Palace was destroyed in the fire.
And what about Gong Cheng? In this process, he was far from just leading the way. He himself took the initiative to participate in the plunder of the Old Summer Palace cultural relics and snatched away many treasures with his own hands. His behavior not only nailed himself to the pillar of shame in history, but also threw away his father's face completely. After the Old Summer Palace was burned down, the panicked Qing court hurriedly sent Prince Gong to discuss peace in order to make peace. During the negotiations, Yi Yi was secretly happy to see Gong Cheng sitting by as a translator, thinking that Gong Cheng would provide some convenience. But unexpectedly, Gong Cheng made things difficult for all kinds of difficulties. Yi Lian was furious and couldn't help but ask: "You have been favored by the court for generations, why do you want to be accomplices for the tiger?" Unexpectedly, Gong Banlun was not guilty at all, but instead vomited out the dissatisfaction he usually suppressed in his heart like a bamboo tube and sniffed out the dissatisfaction he usually suppressed in his heart : My father is a well-educated man, you don't even give him a Hanlin, and finally died under Manchu. I am well-educated, who has seen it differently? I am so poor that I have to work for foreigners to make a living. Who has ever taken care of me? What kind of kindness do I have received from you? You call me a traitor, but I think you are a traitor." The words made Gong Gong dumbfounded and could not say anything.
Although the foreign devils used Gong Cheng, they actually did not take this kind of person who forgot the master seriously. quickly kicked Gong Banlun and did not take him with him. Gong Banlun had to return to Shanghai and continued to live a drunken life of gambling, smoking cigarettes, and visiting the kilns with the treasures he stolen from the Old Summer Palace. Gong Cheng was so absurd. Even his beloved concubine felt that her future was bleak and she didn't want to "done" with him anymore, so she secretly "echoed" with others. From then on, Gong Banlun disappeared.
Gong Banlun finally squandered all the money he sold the stolen money, but refused to put down his figure and worked as a hard worker. He had to live a poor life on the streets. Under the double pressure of hunger and coldness and the people's coldness, Gong Cheng became mentally ill and often Go to Shiliupu Wharf to compete for food with stray dogs, and hide from the rain and cold under the bridge hole... In 1870, Gong Banlun finally finished his absurd and sinister life, and died by the Huangpu River in a cold night. There was no one around, only a wild dog was with him!
As for the Erjin who directly ordered to burn the Old Summer Palace , there was no good ending. In early 1861, after Erkin returned to the UK, he was commended by Queen Victoria of and appointed him as the governor of India. However, after just over a year, the room where he lived was suddenly hit by lightning and caught fire. Erkin was in a desperate situation and had no time to escape, so he was buried in the sea of fire. He burned the Old Summer Palace and died in the fire, which was in line with the old Chinese saying: "Those who play with fire must burn themselves", which is really worthy of sin.
