Is Li Hongzhang a good guy or a bad guy in the late Qing Dynasty?

1896, Paris Games of All Nations. At the opening ceremony, the national flags of various countries were raised in sequence accompanied by the national anthem.

When it was China's turn, only the Yellow Dragon Flag slowly rose in silence. From beginning to end, there was no music, no applause, and no national anthem.

After a while, everyone present started laughing. They laughed at China, which is so big, that it doesn’t even have a national anthem.

Amidst the laughter, the old man in his seventies stood up on crutches and walked to the Huanglong flag. He straightened his back, looked resolute, and sang his hometown ditty "Jasmine" with great affection.

This old man is Li Hongzhang, a powerful official of the Qing Dynasty. In the history books, he is a sinner who lost his power and humiliated the country, and a powerful minister who betrayed his country in pursuit of glory.

Liang Qichao said: "I respect Li Hongzhang's talent, I cherish Li Hongzhang's knowledge, and I feel sorry for Li Hongzhang's fate."

Today, we don't read Li Hongzhang, we don't know what patriotism is, let alone No one knows how much courage it takes for a small person to carry a heavy load and move forward in the great wilderness of history.

01

In 1840, 22-year-old Li Hongzhang stood under the imperial list. He stretched his neck, eager to find his name on the list. But when I read the list from beginning to end, I didn't see the word "Li Hongzhang".

The father who accompanied him to see the list shook his head: "Let's go, follow me to meet someone."

The person his father took Li Hongzhang to meet was a famous person in the capital at that time. The prosperous Zeng Guofan.

From then on, Li Hongzhang became a disciple of Zeng Guofan and followed him to learn how to manage the world and apply it.

Three years later, Li Hongzhang walked into the examination room with confidence.

This time, he passed the Jinshi examination in one fell swoop and was appointed to study in the Hanlin Academy.

This year, Li Hongzhang was 25 years old and became the youngest person to succeed in the Qing Dynasty examination in thirty years.

Since then, Li Hongzhang’s official career has been booming. From being a seventh-rank editor in the third year of Xianfeng's reign to being a third-rank inspector with the title of candidate in the eighth year of Xianfeng's reign, he was promoted to the seventh rank in less than five years.

There are many turmoils in officialdom, and there are waves everywhere. His career as an official was so smooth that Li Hongzhang was squeezed out everywhere. It was already difficult for him to take a step forward.

In 1858, 35-year-old Li Hongzhang made a difficult decision: to resign from his official position and work as a staff member under his teacher Zeng Guofan!

Being an official is like walking on the road. It is not difficult to walk step by step. The difficult thing is to deal with the advance and retreat. The difficult thing is to jump into the sky and start another section when the road is exhausted. For more confidential insider information, please click on the picture in the article!

Li Hongzhang knew that if he continued, there would be only a dead end! It’s better to change the road and start again!

02

While working as a staff member in the Zeng Mansion, Li Hongzhang learned from Zeng Guofan, learning how he led troops to fight and how he handled government affairs. In the past three years, Li Hongzhang has made rapid progress.

Zeng Guofan had a habit of sitting around and talking with his staff when eating, talking about knowledge, economics, and how to behave.

Every time he had a meal with Zeng Guofan, Li Hongzhang benefited a lot. He said: "A meal with the teacher is better than a class."

1861 , the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom mobilized heavy troops to pounce on Shanghai. Shanghai was surrounded by heavy troops and was in danger.

Zeng Guofan sent Li Hongzhang to guard it. Li Hongzhang led the Huai army to Shanghai, and first gave the army a message:

"If we don't win the first battle, we will get out of Shanghai immediately!"

The Huai army consisted of 9,000 people at the time. , the Taiping Army had 100,000 people. Li Hongzhang did not fight hard, but only fought skillfully.

He had several camps set up and flags fluttering. When the Taiping Army saw the camp, they destroyed it with artillery. After a few rounds, most of the Taiping Army's ammunition had been consumed.

In order to encourage the soldiers, Li Hongzhang personally supervised the battle. He took a big knife and stood at the front of the team with a serious expression: "Whoever dares to retreat in a moment, I will chop him down first!"

When the Huai army heard this, everyone rushed forward with all their strength. In the first battle after arriving in Shanghai, Li Hongzhang won cleanly and beautifully!

The moment he received the good news, Zeng Guofan made the decision overnight and recommended Li Hongzhang to take over as governor of Jiangsu.

Zeng Guofan may not have thought that when he handed over Jiangsu to Li Hongzhang, he also handed over the next few decades of the Qing Dynasty to him. For more confidential insider information, please click on the picture in the article!

Portrait of Zeng Guofan

03

After becoming the governor of Jiangsu, Li Hongzhang’s official career began to really soar into the sky. Li Hongzhang's official position law is to be promoted once every two years. Every two years, his official position will be promoted by one level, and he will rise steadily.

In 1864, at the age of 41, Li Hongzhang was awarded the title of first-class earl.

In 1866, at the age of 43, Li Hongzhang was rewarded with a yellow jacket for his meritorious service in the suppression of war.

In 1868, at the age of 45, he was promoted to the title of Prince Taibao, Governor of Huguang, and a high official in the border areas.

In 1870, at the age of 47, Li Hongzhang was appointed as the governor-general of Zhili; he was the first of the nine frontier ministers in the Qing Dynasty.

In 1873, at the age of 50, Li Hongzhang was officially awarded the bachelor's degree of Wuyingdian, officially becoming the first official of the Han Dynasty in the Qing Dynasty.

In the entire Qing Dynasty, Li Hongzhang was the only Han Chinese who could achieve the ultimate in officialdom. In a word, Li Hongzhang did his best to serve as an official. The only people with higher official positions than him were princes and emperors!

In the late Qing Dynasty, when betting against the world on the fate of the country, the fortunes of Western countries went up, while the fortunes of China went down.

In order to save China, the powerful officials of the late Qing Dynasty Zuo Zongtang, Zhang Zhidong, Zeng Guofan, and Li Hongzhang single-handedly extended the life of the Qing Dynasty.

Many scholars still evaluate that without the four famous ministers, the Qing Dynasty might have died 50 years earlier.

As an important minister in the late Qing Dynasty, Li Hongzhang worked hard to govern. China was in turmoil at that time. He held on to the big ship in the cold wind, fearing that it would sink at any time. Li Hongzhang wrote in a letter to a friend:

"Change will lead to newness, unchangedness will lead to decay; change will lead to liveliness, and unchangedness will lead to rigidity."

Li Hongzhang's first "change" is Transform China's physical strength and use weapons to strengthen China.

In 1865, he personally took action and asked someone to go to the United States to purchase machinery and hire senior technicians and craftsmen. In Shanghai, the Jiangnan Machinery Manufacturing Administration, the largest arsenal in East Asia, was established.

Li Hongzhang’s second “change” was to transform China’s brainpower and cultivate modern talents for China.

He selected smart children from various provinces to study in the United States. Thirty people every year, after fifteen years, return to the country one by one to serve the motherland.

These international students are all famous. Among them are Liang Jinrong, director of the telegraph, Tang Guoan, president of Tsinghua School (the predecessor of Tsinghua University), Liang Ruhao, founder of Jiaotong University, Tang Shaoyi, the first prime minister of the Republic of China, and railway engineer Zhan Tianyou.

It can be said that these people are all students of Li Hongzhang.

Li Hongzhang’s third “change” was to transform China’s industry.

We can see a clear list of Li Hongzhang’s industries:

In 1879, China’s first telegraph line;

In 1880, China’s first A shipyard—Tianjin Dagu Shipyard;

In 1881, China’s first modern coal mine—Kaiping Mining Bureau;

In 1882, China’s first naval base;

In 1885, China’s first army officer school—Tianjin Military Academy;

In 1888, China’s first purely modern fleet—Beiyang Fleet;

And the founder of many of these “firsts in China” is Li Hongzhang!

To this day, the Steamship Merchants Company he founded still affects China. The predecessor of China Merchants Bank is a subsidiary company of the Steamship Merchants Company in the late Qing Dynasty.

However, after thousands of years of dust, ancient China is approaching its end.

She is tired, aging, and her glory is gone. Before modern civilization, she is in embarrassment. The storm is coming and the building is about to collapse. How can it be sustained by the support of a powerful minister like Li Hongzhang alone?

In 1881, after the Tangxu Railway, China’s first standard-gauge railway built by the Kaiping Mining Bureau, was opened to traffic, Li Hongzhang, the governor of Zhili in the Qing Dynasty, led his staff to inspect the railway.

04

In August 1871, when Li Hongzhang signed the "Sino-Japanese Amendment Treaty" with trembling hands, from that day on, he spent the rest of his life never-ending Sign the contract.

Li Hongzhang will sign contracts as many times as China is beaten.

At 2:30 in the afternoon on March 20, 1895, 73-year-old Li Hongzhang, supported by accompanying officials, climbed onto Chunfan Tower, the place where Shimonoseki negotiated peace, on crutches.

Before he sat down, Li Hongzhang saw the Japanese placing a spittoon next to his seat.

The crutch he was leaning on hit the ground and made a sound. He sat down with a serious face and said, "Your Majesty, Prime Minister, I am not old yet!"

The negotiation was in progress. For four days, the negotiations were at a stalemate.

At 4 pm on March 24, the third round of negotiations ended. Li Hongzhang walked out of Chunfan Building and took a car back to the post house.

As we approached the inn, a Japanese man suddenly emerged from the chaotic crowd and shot him in the face. Li Hongzhang was shot in the left cheek, his official uniform was stained with blood, and he fell in a pool of blood.

The followers were panicked and burst into tears. But the first thing he said when he woke up was:

"Don't cry, don't worry, I can't die! This blood can serve the country!"

He did not allow the doctor to give him any blood During surgery, the doctor simply sutures the wound.

Three days later, Li Hongzhang, his head wrapped in white gauze, sat at the negotiating table again. World public opinion was in an uproar and began to condemn Japan.

Under the pressure of public opinion, Ito Hirobumi took the initiative to reduce the compensation by 100 million taels of silver.

On the last day of the negotiations, Li Hongzhang was exhausted. At the negotiating table, we could not see the powerful late Qing Dynasty official Li Hongzhang, who had one person at the top and ten thousand people at the bottom. Instead, we could see a man buying vegetables in the vegetable market and bargaining. lonely old man.

He bargained with Ito Hirobumi: "Can we reduce it by another 50 million?"

Ito Hirobumi verbally rejected it. Li Hongzhang made another counteroffer:

"If 50 million taels is not enough, how about reducing the head office by another 20 million?"

In the end, the helpless Li Hongzhang even said: "Anyway, if we reduce it a little more, we will be fine." Just use it as my travel expenses back to China!" I still refused.

The country is weak, the country is weak, Li Hongzhang put down all his dignity, just to save a little money for China.

Everyone has only seen Li Hongzhang’s “treason”, but they have never seen the hardship of Master Zhongtang!

On April 17, 1895, the "Treaty of Shimonoseki" was signed. The 73-year-old Li Hongzhang set out to return to China with a tired and humiliating sand bomb. The moment the ship left Japanese soil. Li Hongzhang said to the people around him:

"I will never set foot on Japanese soil again in this life!" He has really had enough of this humiliation!

But what awaited him in China was not understanding and tolerance, but scolding and contempt.

He stood on the deck with a cane, looking down at the turbulent water. For a long time, he could not say a word.

The sea breeze blew his thin body like a piece of paper. With a little force, he could be blown into the dust of history.

The signing site of the "Treaty of Shimonoseki"

05

When Li Hongzhang returned to China, there was a lot of curses in the government and the public, and his fellow officials began to isolate him.

And from beginning to end, what did he do wrong? He is just a pawn who cannot change the overall situation. He is just a 73-year-old man who is about to enter the loess. Although he said:

"The green mountains are as straight as strings, so it doesn't matter if you live in isolation. Rumors stop with the wise, and I have them all, so why should I be afraid of what others say!"

But by the second time In the year of 2016, I couldn’t stay in the country where there was so much criticism. In 1896, the 74-year-old Li Hongzhang had no choice but to go abroad to avoid rumors. Starting from Russia, he successively visited Germany, the United Kingdom, the United States and other European and American countries.

1896, Paris Games of All Nations. At the opening ceremony, the national flags of various countries were raised in sequence accompanied by the national anthem.

When it was China's turn, only the Yellow Dragon Flag slowly rose in silence. From beginning to end, there was no music, no applause, and no one sang the national anthem.

After a while, everyone present started laughing. They laugh at China, which is so big, that they don’t even know what the national anthem is.

Amidst the laughter, the old man in his seventies stood up on crutches and walked to the Huanglong flag.

He straightened his back, looked resolute, and sang his hometown ditty "Jasmine" affectionately.

In front of the arrogant Westerners, Li Hongzhang never groveled, but constantly defended his dignity. He was respected by Westerners, who called him the "Bismarck of the East."

In Germany, Bismarck met with Li Hongzhang;

In the UK, Queen Victoria awarded him the Order of the Earl;

In the United States, former President Grant’s wife awarded him the Li Hongzhang's precious cane was given to Li Hongzhang;

Li Hongzhang went abroad as ambassador

A year later, Li Hongzhang ended his trip around Europe and boarded the ship returning home.

When passing through Japan, the giant ship "Washington" he was on had to change to another ship in Yokohama before returning to China.

The Japanese Emperor and Prime Minister Ito Hirobumi knew that Li Hongzhang was coming, and hoped to use diplomatic etiquette and wait on the shore early. The attendant said to Li Hongzhang:

"Master Zhongtang, we have to go ashore to change ships." Li Hongzhang's face darkened instantly and he said nothing.

From the signing of the "Treaty of Shimonoseki", Li Hongzhang vowed never to set foot on Japanese soil again. He remembered this humiliation in his heart.

He will never come ashore! In the end, the entourage had no choice but to set up a plank between the two ships and lead to the other ship through the plank.

On a narrow wooden board between the tall ships, Li Hongzhang, a 74-year-old man with gray hair and a pale face.

He straightened his official hat and had a firm face. He leaned on a cane and took trembling steps. Every step was extremely difficult. Maybe when the wind blows, he will fall into the rough sea at his feet.

After boarding the ship, Li Hongzhang did not stay for a minute, nor did he meet the Emperor of Japan, but immediately set off on the vast Pacific Ocean.

Li Hongzhang is pitiful and proud! It's pitiful because I have no choice, but I feel proud all my life.

In 1896, Li Hongzhang sat side by side with retired British Prime Minister William Gladstone.

06

1901, the last year of Li Hongzhang’s life.

This year, he is 78 years old and talks less and less. He often sits alone in the courtyard with a rockery. More often, he is like a fish that has just landed, breathing heavily.

One day in early autumn, the city of Tianjin, which had been ravaged by the Eight-Power Allied Forces, was devastated and in ruins. In front of the ruins of the Governor-General's Palace of Zhili, Li Hongzhang, an old man in his seventies, lingered for a long time.

Suddenly he burst into tears like a child.

As you grow old, your body is like crossing the sea, and your facial features are full of disturbances.

Li Hongzhang's oil lamp was about to dry up, but he was sent to discuss peace with the Eight-Power Allied Forces. A weak country has no diplomacy. There is no discussion, it is just a signature.

But China is so big, if it doesn’t send Li Hongzhang, who can it send?

This year, Li Hongzhang and King Qing Aisin Gioro Yikuang attended the signing ceremony of the "Xinchou Treaty". As the highest representative of China at the time, King Qing should be the one to sign.

When King Qing was about to sign, the old man said:

"The most difficult word to write in the world is your own name. You still have a long way to go. This treasonous treaty is still Let the veteran sign it."

That year, Li Hongzhang was 78 years old and King Qing was 63 years old.

Li Hongzhang took the pen from King Qing's hand and signed the three words "Li Hongzhang" with trembling to look like the word "Su". These three words were squeezed together, making him look weak and miserable. .

After signing the treaty, Li Hongzhang coughed violently and vomited blood.

Two months later, Li Hongzhang's condition took a turn for the worse.

After the Eight-Nation Allied Forces entered Beijing, Cixi and other ministers fled the capital. The only person in charge of affairs in the Qing Dynasty was Li Hongzhang, who was in a hospital bed.

On November 7, 1901, in front of Li Hongzhang's hospital bed, several Russian envoys came and forced him to sign the treaty on Russia's occupation of Northeast China. At this time, Li Hongzhang was exhausted.

But the Russians were arrogant and forced him to sign immediately.

After signing, Li Hongzhang vomited blood and could not breathe.

The people around him cried: "I still have something to say to Zhongtang, we can't just leave!"

Li Hongzhang's eyes widened, and the people around him said to him: "The Russians said After Zhongtang leaves, he will never embarrass China!"

Li Hongzhang's eyes were bright and he opened his mouth as if he wanted to say something. The people around him said again: "I can't handle the unfinished business, please don't worry!"

Hearing this, Li Hongzhang closed his eyes. After his death, there was a lot of crying throughout the Qing Dynasty.

Li Hongzhang signed the "Xin Chou Treaty"

07

"The Washington Post" commented on Li Hongzhang and said: He has repeatedly saved the Chinese people from troubles caused by ignorance. He was rescued, but he was reviled and criticized every time.

Li Hongzhang himself once summarized Li Hongzhang’s life like this:

“I was given a bachelor’s degree as a young man, a soldier in my prime, a border leader in my middle age, and a foreigner in my later years. All along the way, I encountered misfortune.”

As far as career and fame are concerned, Li Hongzhang was lucky.

In times of crisis, he recognizes the talents of the world. He seized all the opportunities provided by the times and rose to the top.

However, the difficulties and hardships of this world are not only the source of all his glory, but also the source of all his humiliation.

Li Hongzhang helped the building to collapse and spent all his efforts to build an empire that was in its twilight years. Although there was a small revival, it could not escape the torrent of history.

The current situation is difficult, and the war is still going on. In the vast history, everyone is just a drop in the ocean, all resistance is always powerless, and all dignity is just a mockery of oneself.

If he was not the first person to sign, maybe he would not bear so much infamy.

During his life, he tremblingly signed more than 30 unequal treaties. He knew very well that from the day he signed, he would be infamy for the rest of his life.

But history is like this. If it were not Li Hongzhang, another "scapegoat" would be chosen mercilessly.

This is his misfortune, and this is also the misfortune of every Chinese at the right time.

Both feet traverse the waves of the world, and one shoulder carries all the sorrows of the past and present. Li Hongzhang has transcended eras in his life, but he still has to look back and try his best to support a big country, taking two steps with difficulty, taking one step back, and striving to take two more steps.

It is full of history of blood and tears, but there is no lamentable song. For the times, Li Hongzhang was very small, but he was an insignificant figure in the great waves of this era, and in the end, history sighed heavily.

Today, if we don’t read Li Hongzhang, we won’t know what patriotism is, let alone how much courage it takes for a small person to carry a heavy load and move forward in the great wilderness of history