Li Hongzhang is called "Oriental Bismarck", Bismarck: I dare not call it "European Li Hongzhang"

Li Hongzhang had a conversation with Bismarck. Bismarck said to people after learning that Li Hongzhang was called "Bismarck of the East": I dare not call it Li Hongzhang of Europe. What happened? Speaking of Li Hongzhang, we have to start from the eve of the Sino-Japanese War. At that time, the situation of Beiyang Navy was already very bad, because Li Hongzhang was responsible for the formation of Beiyang Navy. Although Li Hongzhang wanted to equip Beiyang Navy with new ships and weapons, he had no money. Before the war against Japan, the Beiyang Navy had been stagnant for many years, and the original advanced Beiyang Navy had gradually separated from the development of the world. At that time, in the late Qing Dynasty, * * * allocated160,000 taels of silver to buy advanced German warships, but those who worked in Germany took 800,000 taels of kickbacks without authorization. It was only after the incident that it was exposed. As a result, people working in Germany said that the money was for Li Hongzhang and his family to travel. When fighting the Japanese, people headed by Ye Zhichao were on land, and people headed by Ding were at sea. Ye Zhichao is a very timid person and has no great command ability. When fighting in Pyongyang, Ye Zhichao's men left and knew who Ye Zhichao was. He led people directly to supervise Ye Zhichao, for fear that Ye Zhichao would escape. Later, in the confrontation between the two sides, Zuo died unfortunately, and Ye Zhichao fled directly, although the Qing army had the advantage at that time. Ding is our national hero. He died heroically in War of Resistance against Japanese Aggression. Li Hongzhang once ordered Ding to escape, but Dante refused Li Hongzhang's request. In the naval battle, Beiyang Navy didn't have lethal shells, only armor-piercing shells and training bombs. Just these shells, some can't be used yet, because some are full of sediment, and some have nothing in them. At that time, a shell hit the water and bounced off the Japanese Yoshino, but the shell did not explode, and only one of Yoshino's engines was damaged. It is difficult for such equipment to break down, which also led to the heroic sacrifice of tens of thousands of soldiers of Beiyang Navy, and the Beiyang Navy was completely annihilated. In the war, Li Hongzhang should be the most anxious person, because those who went into battle to kill the enemy were the people he brought out to train hard, and at that time, Li Hongzhang was also very clear that only Dingyuan and Zhenyuan ships in Beiyang Navy had attack power. At that time, he hurriedly requested to buy large ships and armored ships, but it was too late. The failure of the Sino-Japanese War made many people think that Li Hongzhang was an incompetent person. In fact, Li Hongzhang had no money at that time to mobilize the Beiyang Navy. Many people will ask, where did the money go? According to some historical records, the money in the state treasury was used for Cixi's hospital building and birthday. Li Hongzhang sent all the main forces of Xiang to the front line, hoping to win by decisive battle. Unfortunately, Li Hongzhang used the wrong person, and the strength of the two sides was very different. He was defeated in the Sino-Japanese War. On her birthday, Cixi also gave Li Hongzhang a three-eyed feather, but after the defeat, she took it back directly. According to Cixi's consistent style, after the defeat, compensation must be negotiated, so Cixi sent Shao Youlian and Zhang Yinheng as representatives to Japan for peace talks. As a result, the Japanese refused the two men, saying that they only saw Li Hongzhang. Li Hongzhang is very old. 1894- 1895 After the Sino-Japanese War of 1895, he looked even older. But the court ordered Li Hongzhang to go to Shimonoseki, Japan for peace talks. At the negotiating table, both sides refused to compromise, so they decided to talk another day. When Li Hongzhang came out, there was a man in the crowd. He took a weapon from his pocket and aimed it at Li Hongzhang. Li Hongzhang fell, and his assassin was quickly arrested, but Li Hongzhang survived without being fatally injured. The man who assassinated Li Hongzhang was Akio Toyoda. He wanted to keep the Qing Dynasty and Japan fighting by assassinating Li Hongzhang. However, the author believes that even if Li Hongzhang was sacrificed at that time, the Qing Dynasty would not avenge Li Hongzhang's war against Japan. However, Li Hongzhang was more emboldened at the negotiating table because of his injury. After all, the Japanese were indefensible, and finally the two sides reached an agreement. Li Hongzhang reluctantly signed treaty of shimonoseki. At the time of signing, Li Hongzhang deliberately wrote his name as "Su". Personally, his old man's experience in Shimonoseki is admirable. I am old, but I have to endure hardships and bear the blame of traitors. It is said that when Li Hongzhang left Japan, he swore that he would never set foot on Japanese territory again in his life. Later Li Hongzhang did it. After treaty of shimonoseki was signed, Li Hongzhang was ordered to visit western countries. First I went to Russia, and then I went to Germany by train from Russia. Li Hongzhang, who was in Germany, was examined by German doctors using new technology, and Li Hongzhang also named it "osteotomy". I also stopped by Hamburg to visit Bismarck, and two people who influenced the world got together on June 27th. Bismarck chatted with Li Hongzhang for a while, and then asked him: You have been the prime minister of China all your life. Do you think you have any contribution to be proud of? Upon hearing this, Li Hongzhang began to talk about how he destroyed the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom when he was young. As a result, Bismarck said to Li Hongzhang: It sounds good, but we Europeans feel that this is our internal struggle and we can't get on the table. Li Hongzhang was embarrassed after listening to his translation. Bismarck went on to say: in our Europe, although I was unified by force, we have never said this to the outside world. We only talked about how to fight foreign enemies. Bismarck said it bluntly. He is satirizing Li Hongzhang's failure in the Sino-Japanese War. After listening, Li Hongzhang was silent for a while, trying to adjust the atmosphere. He said that many people call me Oriental Bismarck now, and I don't think those people have ever met you in person. Bismarck laughed after hearing this: You are Bismarck of the East, but I dare not call Li Hongzhang of Europe. Afterwards, Li Hongzhang always thought Bismarck was satirizing him, because not long ago, Li Hongzhang signed the treaty of shimonoseki, which was a humiliating treaty. No one dared to compare himself with Li Hongzhang at that time. Li Hongzhang went to the United States after a tour of Europe, and then stayed there for a period of time before returning home by boat. Because there was no direct ship, we had to transship in Japan, but Li Hongzhang didn't disembark and go to the port for transshipment, but directly let people get a springboard between the two ships, so Li Hongzhang staggered to change the ship. Li Hongzhang's hatred of Japan can be imagined. What kind of person do you think Li Hongzhang is? What do you think of him?