What did Li Hongzhang, an important official in the late Qing Dynasty, see when he visited the United States?

1895 (Guangxu 2 1) is not a good day for Li Hongzhang who just signed a contract to return to treaty of shimonoseki. The whole country kept cursing and denouncing his traitorous behavior, and imperial academy jointly impeached him. Finally, the Qing court had to recall Li Hongzhang, remove the post of governor of Zhili and minister of Beiyang who had been re-elected for 25 years, and nominally change it to? Working in the cabinet? , the essence is empty, without any real power. Li Hongzhang's road to being an official seems to have come to an end.

However, during the Sino-Japanese War of 1894-1895, Russia intervened to return the Liao State and reached a private agreement with Li Hongzhang. The downfall of Li Hongzhang inevitably made Russia's overall plan a complete failure, so Russia invited the Qing Dynasty to send it on the grounds of the coronation of Russian emperor Nicholas II? A royal prince or a college student? Let's go The Qing court was grateful for Liao's return, and naturally did not dare to neglect it, but it was impossible to send a prince, and no one else could. This matter naturally fell on Li Hongzhang, and the Russian ambassador also strongly recommended Li Hongzhang. In the end, the Qing court reassigned Li Hongzhang as an imperial envoy to Russia to congratulate him and was fully responsible for paying reparations to Russia. As a result, Li Hongzhang embarked on the road of visiting other European countries.

Li Hongzhang's trip, on the one hand, is to personally inspect the western society, on the other hand, he also wants to take the opportunity to propose to the big powers to modify tariffs, so as to change the serious obstacle of unilateral tariff reduction to China's economic development since the treaty of nanking. During Tian Bei's visit to Europe, the US envoy to China invited Li Hongzhang to visit the United States after his visit to Europe, and then Li Xinran promised to return to China, thus opening Li Hongzhang's visit to the United States.

1896 On August 28th, Li Hongzhang arrived in new york Port and was warmly welcomed by all walks of life in the United States. When the ship arrived in Hong Kong, a delegation of senior officials of the US government greeted him, and the son of former President Grant boarded the ship to meet him, and the navy and battery fired a salute to show their grandeur. The gongs and drums are loud, firecrackers are ringing, red flags are flying, and people are crowded. ? On that day, the whole new york was deserted, and the news of Li Hongzhang's visit made the front pages of major newspapers. The shore was crowded with people. From the port to the residence, the audience saluted, escorted by military police, greeted by luxurious cavalry, greeted by senior officials from new york and Washington, and finally led them to the most luxurious Dolf Hotel in China. To this end, Li Hongzhang and his party are quite proud. After all, they have never received such courtesy in European countries before.

The next day, American President Cleveland, who was on vacation at the seaside, specially rushed to new york to meet with Li Hongzhang and his party, and extended a warm welcome to Li Hongzhang. The two sides also held friendly and worthless talks on bilateral relations, bilateral economic and trade relations, US immigration policy and other issues. In particular, the issue of negotiating to raise tariffs in China was discussed by US Secretary of State olney. If all countries allow it, beauty will follow? Prevaricate over the past for various reasons.

In the following days, a reporter from an American newspaper interviewed Li Hongzhang. He expressed his dissatisfaction with the American Chinese Exclusion Act and accused the Irish of adding fuel to the fire because they were jealous of China's intellectual character, but this did not achieve any practical results. On the contrary, the diet, clothing and supplies of Li Hongzhang and his party have been widely concerned. As the first China politician to visit the United States, American newspapers are mysterious? Oriental color? Make a big fuss about gimmicks and report a feast for Li Hongzhang to go to the United States.

Americans on the other side of the ocean are full of curiosity about bird's nest and shark's fin. All Americans were dumbfounded when they learned that the bird's nest was formed by the saliva of swallows and the shark's fin was the soft tissue on the fish back beam thrown away by Americans when handling raw fish. The American media used this long report, from diet to travel, even including the English-speaking parrot brought by Li Hongzhang, to satisfy the curiosity of the American people.

In addition, representatives of the church and China Trading Company also expressed their heartfelt welcome to Li Hongzhang's arrival. Li Hongzhang expressed the similarities between Confucianism and the universal values of Christ, while Americans compared Li Hongzhang with Confucius. The Chinese General Chamber of Commerce hosted a banquet in honor of Li Hongzhang and his party, and every household hung flags to welcome him. Due to too many people coming and the traffic jam, Li Hongzhang had to get off and walk.

Also during his visit to the United States, Li Hongzhang visited the US Congress, saw 20-storey buildings, took the elevator, learned and ordered people to try cycling, and made many jokes. For example, when entering the elevator, I mistakenly thought it was an independent room, saying that the space was too small and there were no tables and stools; After seeing the tall buildings, I don't think China can afford to build such buildings at all. It can be said that Li Hongzhang's visit to the United States is like traveling through time and space and seeing the future world. After all, at that time, the United States was a new force, the first generation of infrastructure enthusiasts, and the whole country showed unprecedented vitality.

Unfortunately, Li Hongzhang's trip to the United States, though informative, did not have the same effect on China as the visit of Iwakura Mission in Meiji period did on Japanese development, and did not even cause any waves in the history of China's development. On the one hand, Li Hongzhang's personal influence is not as good as we think he should be; On the other hand, under the decadent politics of the Qing dynasty at that time, substantive social reforms were simply not allowed.

Moreover, Li Hongzhang himself, out of his basic position of maintaining the rule of the Qing government, is unlikely to promote any social changes when he is in his seventies. Since I have been on the wrecked ship of Qing Dynasty for so long, I should continue to muddle along, make money and be a paperhanger of Qing Dynasty. What? Bocao's way of governing the country will one day return to Huahai, change course and be more open? It can only be self-deception nonsense.