后娘养的中国 之 太平军之殇
2025-1-27
都说十年磨一剑，张戎的《慈禧太后》这本书，是继《毛传》之后的又一力作。总体感觉上是比毛传写得好，尤其是资料详实，经得起推敲。比起《毛传》多取自前苏联档案和个人回忆等孤证更接近于历史原貌。在第五章《现代化长征的第一步》（First Step on the Long Road to Modernity, 1861-1869)中，张戎详细地描写了继美国人华尔（Ward）殉难之后的洋人常胜军统帅英国人戈登，因为已经投降了的太平军将领被中堂李鸿章集体屠杀的事情，和大清帝国闹翻了的故事。张戎在这本小说中认为，国人不守信用出尔反尔忘恩负义，不值得信赖，视国人生命如草芥。想反，西方人则反而遵守规则，对普通中国人个人的生命，非常的重视。
Towards the end of 1863, Earl Li and Gordon laid siege to the city of Suzhou, famed for its silks and gardens and canals (some called it China's Venice), and strategically situated near Nanjing, capital of the Taiping. They persuaded eight defending taiping chiefs to surrender the city, promising them safety and high office in return. In his camp outside the city gate, Earl Li gave a banquet for the chiefs, to which Gordon was not invited. Halfway through the drinking, eight officers came in, each carrying a mandarin's hat of honour, with a red button on top and a peacock feather sticking up. The officers moved on their knees to the chiefs and offered the hats to them. All at the banquet got to their feet and watched. The chiefs stood up, untied the yellow headcarves they were wearing and were about to take the hats and put them on when, in a split second, eight swards were drawn, and the eight heads were held by their hair in the grip of the officers. Earl Li, who had absented himself from the banquet just before the officers entered, in order not to be present at the killing, had the chiefs killed to prevent potential treachery, as had happened before. Afterwards, his army raced into Suzhou and massacred tens of thousands of Taiping troops who thought they were safe.
正所谓兵不厌诈人心隔肚皮无毒不丈夫，这是中国人社会文化中最丑陋的一面和中国历史上最丑陋的一幕，也是李鸿章简历上抹不去的个人污点。只是在后人编写的清史稿《李鸿章传》中，对此轻描淡写不无洗地之嫌疑。说这不是李鸿章的本意，是他手底下人搞的鬼等等。
初，美人華爾所將兵名常勝軍，慈谿之役，歿於陣，其副白齊文懷異志，閉松江城索餉。鴻章裁其軍，易以英將戈登，常勝軍始復聽節制，命出海攻福山，不克而還。二年正月，兼署五口通商大臣。初，常熟守亳槆摇⒍谂e城降，福山諸海口俱下。偽忠王李秀成悉眾圍常熟，江陰援俑聪莞Ｉ健ｘ櫿码褐I國忠固守待援，而檄鼎新、銘傳攻福山，奪石城。國忠知援至，開城猛擊，俘斬殆盡，遂解常熟圍，進复太倉、崑山。因疏陳偾榈貏荩ㄈ愤M軍之策：學啟由崑山攻蘇州；鶴章、銘傳由江陰進無錫，淮、揚水軍輔之；太湖水軍將李朝斌由吳江進太湖，鼎新等分屯松江，常勝軍屯崑山為前軍援。李秀成糾合偽納王郜雲官等水陸十萬，偪大橋角而營，鶴章擊之，敗走，九月，复集，連營互進。鶴章立八營於大橋角，與之持。源章以冫幖髀罚驹诒o錫，援蘇州。乃令鶴章、銘傳守後路，抽銳卒會學啟合破偻停K、錫之俳源罄АＹ陷江寧、蘇、杭為三大窟，而蘇則其脊膂也，故李秀成百計援之。譚紹光尤兇狡，誓死守，附城築長牆石壘，堅不可猝拔。十月，鴻章親視師，以砲毀之，城贍帣嘞嗖拢反正，刺殺譚紹光，開門納軍。時降酋八人皆擁重兵，號十萬，歃血誓共生死，要顯秩。學啟言不殺八人，後必為患。鴻章意難之，學啟拂衣出，鴻章笑語為解。明日，八人出城受賞，留飲，即坐上數其罪，斬之。學啟入城諭定其眾，搜殺悍黨二千馀人。捷聞，賞太子太保銜、黃馬褂。十一月，鶴章等復無錫，進攻常州，以應江寧圍軍。學啟出太湖，圖嘉興，以應浙軍。鼎新等軍先入浙，收平湖、海鹽，贍帒佘姡凛m下。三年二月，學啟急攻嘉興，親搏戰，登城，克之，中彈死。四月，克常州，擒斬偽護王陳坤書，賞騎都尉世職。常勝軍慚無功，戈登辭歸國，乃撤其軍。
这时候四万万人加上满朝文武没有一个人敢说一个不字。戈登，也只有洋人戈登，对国人司空见惯见怪不怪出尔反尔不守信用屠杀自己同胞的恶行深恶痛绝出面反对，并大义凛然挂冠而去。慈禧皇太后赏赐他高官厚禄白银万两皆不接受，后来还是在李鸿章的斡旋之下，赏了戈登一件只有皇上才能够穿的黄马褂，草草了事。
Gordon, who had given the murdered chiefs his word and personally guaranteed their lives, was filled with a righteous wrath and resigned his conmmand of the Ever-victorious Army. Though he could, reluctantly, see Earl Li's point of view, he felt that as an English officer and Christian gentleman he had to disassociate his name from this act of Asiatic barbarity.... At Earl Li's recommendation, Cixi awarded him a singular honour: a mandarin jacket in the royal yellow colour, of a kind that only the emperor was allowed to wear. Gordon had given Cixi much food for thought about Westerners.
可惜一向标榜全世界最勤劳勇敢也最爱好和平的国人，早把中国人民最早的老朋友戈登将军给忘记了，只是在英国伦敦的的维多利亚广场，仍然有他的一尊纪念铜像。
或许，被国人忘记，对戈登本人和他的家人来说，估计还是最好的结果，否则他或者他的后人，会被当作镇压太平天国运动的侩子手，文革期间，早被批倒批臭，掘坟鞭尸砸烂毁坏八百回了。