席琳

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长枪队统帅英国人戈登（Charles George Gordon，1833-1885），于1863年因为在苏州已经投降了的太平军将领被李鸿章集体谋杀了的事件，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，也是李鸿章个人简历和顶戴花翎上抹不去的污点。只是在后人编写的清史稿《李鸿章传》中，对此事件轻描淡写不无洗地之嫌疑。说这不是李鸿章的本意，是他手底下人程学启（1829-1864）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�忠、董正勤舉城降，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�建三路進軍之策：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�西路，志在保無錫，援蘇州。乃令鶴章、銘傳守後路，抽銳卒會學啟合破偻停�蘇、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�址凑�，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�官軍，所至輒下。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。

而在《清史稿》《程学启传》中，则更为详细，虽然程学启是主刀之人，李鸿章也难辞其咎：

• 十月，李秀成纠李侍贤同踞无锡以为援，为刘铭传、李鹤章所缀，学启督战益急，连破贼於蠡口、黄埭，攻破浒墅关及十里亭、虎丘贼垒，於是苏州之围遂合。贼自盘门至娄门连垒十馀里，号曰长城，亦悉破。秀成知不可为，又江宁被围急，遂以城守付其党谭绍光，自出走。贼酋郜云官与副将郑国魁旧识，密介通款，学启与国魁及戈登单舸见云官於洋澄湖，令斩绍光为信。秀成行三日，绍光会诸酋议事，云官即座上杀之，开齐门降。明日，学启入城，贼酋列名者八人，云官外，曰伍贵文、汪安均、周文佳、范启发、张大洲、汪怀武、汪有为，皆歃血为誓，然未薙发，乞总兵副将官职，署其众为二十营，划半城为屯。学启佯许，密请李鸿章诛之。鸿章谓杀降不祥，且坚他贼死拒心，未决。学启曰：今贼众尚不下二十万，多吾军数倍，徒以战败畏死乞降，心故未服。分城而处，变在肘腋，何以善其后？鸿章乃许之。次日，诸酋出城谒鸿章，留宴军中。酒半，健卒百馀挺矛入，刺八人皆死。学启严阵入城，以云官等首示众众曰：八人反侧，已伏诛矣！贼党惊扰，杀其悍者数百人，馀不问，分别遣留，皆帖服，苏州平。

这时候大清国四万万人加上满朝文武都赞赏击节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。

穿黄马褂外号“中国戈登”的戈登

• Gordon, who had given the murdered chiefs his word and personally guaranteed their lives, was filled with a righteous wrath and resigned his command 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，只是在英国伦敦的维多利亚公园，仍然立有他的一尊纪念铜像。

• 戈登接手常胜军后一改华尔和白齐文的地痞作风，对部下要求极严，戈登统领的常胜军是一个既令人恐惧也令人尊敬的对手。在昆山之战中，常胜军还对俘获的八百太平军极尽优待，八百太平军彼等大喜，皆乃投于常胜军，反向敌军而誓战。

或许，被国人忘记，对戈登本人和他的家人来说，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，被国人批倒批臭，掘坟鞭尸，砸烂毁坏八百回了。