In fact, many people are familiar with the death of the Six Gentlemen in the Reform Movement of 1898, but they don't know much about Shen Zhu. But at that time, the death of Shen Zhu stimulated the society more than that of Tan Sitong. Zhang Taiyan believes that the value of Shen Zhu's death is greater than that of the six gentlemen of the 1898 Movement.
Why does the death of a young scholar cause so much anger among the people? This has to start with Shen Zhu's experience. Shen Zhu was born in 1872. His ancestral home is Jiangsu and he grew up in Hunan. He, Tan Sitong and Tang are fellow villagers in Hunan, and they are closely related.
After the failure of the Reform Movement of 1898, Shen Zhu went to Japan to study. 1900 returned to Shanghai after graduation, and together with Tang and others, they formed a reformed "Yishe", which was later renamed "Dushe".
Tang wanted to use Yishe to win over the revolutionary forces among the students studying in Japan and make friends with the domestic * * * production party forces. Finally, an army was formed to support the restoration of Emperor Guangxu. In this way, they belong to the constitutional monarchy, which is in the same strain as the Reform Movement of 1898.
Shen Zhu is the director of the Righteousness Society, presiding over traffic and running for it. So, after the failure of the autotrophic army uprising, he went to Beijing and secretly engaged in anti-Qing work. Shen Zhu studied in Japan and was good at Japanese, so he was hired as a reporter in China by Tianjin News.
As a reporter, it's inevitable to deal with social irregularities. As a Japanese newspaper reporter, Shen Zhu made friends with various dignitaries in Beijing and even met soldiers in Eight-Nation Alliance. On the one hand, it is to establish contacts and prepare for the revolution. On the other hand, they can also get first-hand information and pass it on to revolutionaries.
1903, Shen Zhu heard a news that China and Russia were about to sign a secret treaty, and the Qing government intended to hand over the sovereignty of highway tax rights in the three northeastern provinces and Inner Mongolia to Russia. Such important news is highly confidential. Shen Zhu only heard about it, and the details of the secret agreement are unknown.
In order to find out the specific content of the Sino-Russian Secret Treaty, Shen Zhu found the son of State Secretary Wang Wenshao and bought a draft of the Sino-Russian Secret Treaty, which recorded all the details of the Qing government's traitorous behavior. In order to let more people in China know, he sent the manuscript to News, a familiar Tianjin English newspaper.
Only such a newspaper with a foreign background dares to disclose such an important event. Even if the Qing government investigates afterwards, it will be afraid for a few minutes. Unsurprisingly, once the draft Sino-Russian secret treaty was published, it triggered a wave of discussions in China.
The Qing government openly betrayed the country and ceded sovereignty to others. Which citizen can accept it. Major news media at home and abroad have reprinted it. The Japanese press is particularly sensitive to this, so it published a special issue.
In addition to the sovereignty issue, the draft Sino-Russian Secret Treaty also stipulates that in order to facilitate Russian military transportation, the Qing government allowed the construction of railways leading to Vladivostok in Heilongjiang and Jilin, and the Russian military could transport military supplies by railway in wartime and peacetime. Opening up the right to build roads has greatly strengthened Russia's control over the Northeast and enabled it to compete for hegemony in the Far East.
The content of the secret agreement was exposed, and it was difficult for the Qing government to ride a tiger. Empress Dowager Cixi was furious and ordered an investigation into the matter. Soon she followed the clue and found Shen Zhu. One night in July 2003, Shen Zhu was arrested in his apartment in Beijing.
According to records, only one day after midnight, people who killed Shen Zhu with sticks appeared in the palace. Shen Zhu is stronger. I don't know whether the jailer's skill is poor or intentional. After playing with the staff for a long time, Shen Zhu was still very angry. He was covered in blood and his bones were broken. The jailer had to tear off Shen's clothes and strangle him. Shen Zhu's blood splashed on the wall four or five feet high.
Shen Zhu was the first journalist in China who died because of his remarks. He was only 3 1 year old. His tragic death caused criticism from public opinion at home and abroad. When the wives of western ministers meet Empress Dowager Cixi, they will fight for Shen Zhu.
The China Journal published a message of condolence:
"Shen Jun's death, ghosts and gods cry for it, people with lofty ideals drink blood for it, ministers of various countries are shocked by it, and Chinese and western newspapers spread it, that is, the day you died, you were still alive!"
Empress Dowager Cixi killed Shen Zhu and was reviled for a long time. She knows that she is rude. Therefore, for a long time after Shen Zhu's death, the Qing government did not disclose to the outside world what his charges were. Due to the extremely bad social influence caused by Shen Zhu's death, the Qing government took a restrained attitude towards eliminating revolutionaries. Zhang Taiyan, who was reported by the Soviet Union, escaped Zou Rong.
Shen Zhu left a photo, wearing a melon seed hat, jacket, broad forehead and face, high nose, a pair of contemptuous and playful appearance. His death was not meaningless. It was because of his revelation that the grief of the people of China was alleviated for a few minutes.