Why does Cixi favor Li Hongzhang so much?

1898 10 The New York Times published a piece of political news from Vancouver, which was quite gossip and shocking. The report said that the cruise ship "Japan Empress" departing from Hong Kong and Yokohama brought back a batch of oriental newspapers, which said that Li Hongzhang and Empress Dowager Cixi had been secretly married. Although The New York Times, who has always been serious, reprinted this big news, he was dubious. The title uses a question: "Is Li Hongzhang married? Is Li Hongzhang married? The original report reads as follows:

Guangxu, the young emperor of China, was deeply depressed and angry because his mother, Empress China, got married again on the morning of September 22nd, 1898. She married Li Hongzhang, the most prestigious politician in China, in a small temple called Xinfa. Later, the newly married couple went to Tianjin for their honeymoon by train. In order to prevent others from following suit, they also demolished all the railways that passed along the way.

The world-famous newlyweds will have a happy time in Lushun Port. It is said that the purpose of doing this is not only to avoid the embarrassment of the emperor himself, but also to eliminate the anger of another politician, Rong Lu. Although Empress Dowager Cixi was pregnant with Rong Lu's child twice, in the end, this charming Empress Dowager Cixi became Li Hongzhang's private collection.

The news is obviously ridiculous. Not to mention whether Empress Dowager Cixi has the possibility of remarriage. From the perspective of Li Hongzhang, I dare not marry Empress Dowager Cixi into my own home. This is the essence of traditional Confucianism. If Li Hongzhang was so bold, how could Emperor Guangxu turn a blind eye and let this guilty courtier do whatever he wanted?

However, The New York Times has always been known for its seriousness. There must be a reason for it to send such gossip. But why do westerners think of kindness? Short? Kill the wheel? Dirt? Why didn't you shoot me? What's the point? What is hidden?

In fact, it is not surprising that such gossip political news appeared in the sensitive period after the failure of the Reform Movement of 1898. At that time, under the pressure of Cixi's iron fist, the failed reformists won the support and sympathy of many overseas media. As a result, a large-scale smear campaign was launched against the still attractive Empress Dowager Cixi. Since then, a large number of forged materials about Cixi have been regarded as historical materials and "exported" to all parts of the world after the Revolution of 1911. The New York Times saw such a shocking thing happened between Empress Dowager Cixi of China and a Westernization Minister, and immediately fired without thinking.

But the next day, The New York Times found that it was a fake news, so he corrected it in the newspaper with the title "Li Hongzhang is not married" and clearly pointed out that it was obviously an oriental joke. It is said that the false report quoted an article in China Post brought back by the cruise ship "Empress of Japan". So, what is the relationship between Li Hongzhang and Empress Dowager Cixi as the Minister of Westernization? In other words, why did Empress Dowager Cixi favor Li Hongzhang?

As an important official in the late Qing Dynasty, Li Hongzhang was always at the center of the whirlpool of various contradictions between the ruling and opposition parties in China in the second half of the19th century. After the Sino-Japanese War of 1894-1895, Li Hongzhang was demoted to Guangdong and Guangxi as the governor, and stayed for four years. It was not until Eight-Nation Alliance entered the Forbidden City that he had his chance again. This was the new appointment when Cixi fled: "The governor of Zhili was appointed by Li Hongzhang and concurrently served as the minister of Beiyang." In this way, Li Hongzhang was reinstated. But Li Hongzhang himself certainly didn't expect that the last year of his life would be full of twists and turns and humiliation.

/kloc-in the summer of 0/900, 78-year-old Li Hongzhang, after being transferred from the Governor of Guangdong and Guangxi to the Governor of Zhili and Minister of Beiyang, spoke the bold words of "Who else" on a ship called Ping 'an. At this time, nearly five years have passed since the defeat of the Sino-Japanese War. Beijing has been occupied by Eight-Nation Alliance, and Empress Dowager Cixi and Emperor Guangxu fled to xi 'an. At this time, Cixi, who fled for her life, urgently needs such a person to go to Beijing to clean up the situation: she has enough prestige and qualifications, can eat well in front of foreigners, can get the support of officials in the south who have not yet fallen, can have the courage to deal with major issues alone, can try her best to safeguard the interests of the court when interacting with foreigners, can guarantee the integrity of the empire, and most importantly, can be very loyal to Cixi herself. According to Cixi's calculation, there is only one official who is not Manchu, and that is Li Hongzhang. So, why does Cixi trust Li Hongzhang so much? There is another unknown story.

After the death of Emperor Tongzhi, Cixi, who didn't want to be the empress dowager, let her brother-in-law's son succeed to the throne. This is Emperor Guangxu. For the emperor's accession to the throne, not only Zong Renfu was very critical, but also many people in the ruling and opposition parties were dissatisfied with Cixi, saying that she was ill in the palace. It's hard to say whether she is really ill. At this time, local governors recommended doctors to enter the palace to see Cixi, and Li Hongzhang recommended Xue to see Cixi.

In fact, Xue is a spy sent by Li Hongzhang. He went to Beijing to show his loyalty to Cixi and told her that Li Hongzhang was loyal to her and could fully support her. With Li Hongzhang's Huai army stationed in the capital, Cixi has nothing to hide. So from that time on, Cixi's trust in Li Hongzhang was hard to see. She refused to listen to anyone speak ill of Li Hongzhang in front of her, whether it was true or not. This is an important guarantee for Li Hongzhang's 40-year career. Without the support and protection of Cixi, he could not have come this far. Of course, although Cixi trusted Li Hongzhang, it would be a big joke to say that Cixi and Li Hongzhang got married properly.

In this way, Li Hongzhang was ordered to clean up the mess. So, he secretly telegraphed to local governors: 10 million secrets. Twenty-three, each out of Beijing, so far no letter, countries have come to inquire. One enemy is many and the situation is not good. Russia occupied Guan Yu, and more than ten thousand Japanese left Hiroshima. Britain, France and Germany will also send troops. Collapse means at present, there is no way to save it. After October of the lunar calendar, the imperial court events were dominated by boxing bandits, and the report was afraid that something was not written by the two palaces. It will be like the story of Xianfeng eleven years later, but it can be settled. Today, as ministers of Xinjiang, all provincial groups will resist aggression and perish together. In order to protect the clan society in the whole southeast, the generals must take expedient measures to calm the hearts of all countries, but they still don't recite the 24 laws. The governors should contact each other and protect their own territory. Begging for instructions and quick decisions.

At this time, what Li Hongzhang never expected was that after signing the Southeast Mutual Insurance Charter, Eight-Nation Alliance Commander-in-Chief Wei Debing came to see you. This time, Vader did not ask Li Hongzhang to be president, but came to ask Li Hongzhang to hand over Empress Dowager Cixi, because Empress Dowager Cixi had declared war on Eight-Nation Alliance before fleeing xi 'an. The arrogant Vadexi believes that Cixi, who declared war on the West, is a war criminal and must be tried!

Li Hongzhang said that he didn't know where Empress Dowager Cixi was. However, Valdes said, "I know that Empress Dowager Cixi is in your home and in your bed!" " "Waders also took it out and published" Is Li Hongzhang married? "The New York Times's article as evidence. This surprised Li Hongzhang. It seems that Li Hongzhang had not seen the gossip news in The New York Times before this day; Waders didn't see The New York Times's article entitled "Li Hongzhang is not married" the next day. Of course, Wadesi takes The New York Times's gossip as evidence, which also shows that it is a long-standing thing for western powers to take gossip as evidence to discredit and attack others.