Aspen fleet incident

The incident of the Poplar Fleet was an attempt by the Qing government to buy western ships and guns and establish a modern navy under the auspices of Yixin. This incident began with the suppression of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom. "Today's trend ... first put out the twist, then rule Russia, and then rule Britain." [1](p482) Zeng Guofan folded up and said, "The Minister of Military Affairs promised to send a letter:' ... There is a navy in the upper reaches of the great river, but there is no ship in the middle. If you don't fight alone, you can't help the thief, and you are afraid of being suppressed by the Soviet Union and Chang, then the North Road will be hit by it. [2](p490) "To capture Suzhou, Changzhou and Jinling, you must have three naval divisions, but you can't succeed" [2](p7 1). 186 1 year, the Qing government decided to buy guns from Britain. Yixin and Hurd, an Englishman who was active in China at that time, agreed to hire a small number of foreigners to coach guns and sail. Before the artillery arrived in China, Yixin asked Zeng Guofan to equip the fleet with sailors in advance as soon as possible, in order to prevent the fleet from being "scheduled to be protected by China" by the invaders. Horatia Nelson Lay, an Englishman who was then the General Tax Department of China Customs, was entrusted to undertake this matter, and persuaded Colonel Xiali Aspen of the Royal Navy to help with the specific matters of ship purchase. Against the will of the Qing government, he signed Article 13 of the contract without authorization, stipulating that Poplar was the commander-in-chief of the fleet, and Poplar only carried out the orders of Emperor China conveyed by Horatia Nelson Lay, but not "any orders conveyed by other means". [3](p 162) Horatia Nelson Lay also promised to refuse to transfer the orders that Aspen considered unsatisfactory. Thoroughly exposed the plot and ambition of the invaders to control China's navy. When the news reached China, there was an uproar in one's hand and one's hand. CreditEase believes that this contract is "everything is decided by Aspen, who refuses to obey China, especially because he is not familiar with the system, so it is difficult to abide by it" [4](p75). He and Horatia Nelson Lay repeatedly argued and agreed on the "Five Ships Charter", which took back the command of the Qing government to this fleet. After Aspen led the fleet to China, he was greatly dissatisfied with the five articles of association. Together with Horatia Nelson Lay, he asked the Qing government to accept the thirteen contracts they signed, but Yixin refused. Zeng Guofan and Li Hongzhang also resolutely opposed the plot of poplar to control the Chinese fleet. At this time, the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom was in danger, the Qing army gained a strategic advantage, Nanjing was about to recover, and the matter of the fleet was not imminent. Moreover, there are more than 600 foreign officers, soldiers and sailors on this fleet, and their words are unreasonable and incompatible. If it is controlled by foreigners, it is a great shame to "regard the ship as an imported product and live in it, regard the president of Korea as a servant in the hall, and lean on the door to be humble" [5](p268). 1863165438+1October 2, at the invitation of Yixin, the Qing government refused to give in again and decided to dissolve the fleet. All ships are sold by Britain at different prices, and the proceeds are returned to China. More than 600 officers and men under Aspen are responsible for the monthly salary of 9 months, and ICBC's trip to China, * * 375,000 silver, and Aspen rewards 65,438+. 1864, Britain returned the money from selling ships to China, and the Aspen Fleet incident was calmed down. The Qing government spent nearly two years to improve the old navy by buying western ships, and spent hundreds of thousands of taels of silver, but it ended in a frustrating ending.

The Aspen Fleet incident was an attempt by the Westernization School headed by Yixin to save the country and survive in the military field. Its failure changed Yixin's thinking on China's military modernization, from "suppressing ships is more effective" at the beginning of the Westernization Movement [4](p7 1), directly purchasing advanced weapons from the west, developing to learn from foreigners, and further turning to the technical level.

The Double Connotation of "Summer Prevention" Revealed by Aspen Fleet Incident: Sovereignty and Cultural Concept

In the whole Aspen Fleet incident, the contradiction between Chinese and Western sovereignty runs through the whole story. Qing government officials, led by Yixin, fought fiercely with Horatia Nelson Lay and Aspen to control the fleet. However, in the middle of19th century, under the background of great social changes in China, the incident itself contained a deeper conflict, that is, the tearing of China's feudal traditional concept and the modern civilization of heterogeneous capitalism, which also constituted the two-layer connotation of CreditEase's "preventing summer".

(1) On the sovereignty level, "preventing summer" means ethnic conflicts in real politics. It is mainly manifested in the opposition between the "Thirteen Contracts" privately agreed by Horatia Nelson Lay and Aspen and the "Five Articles of Association" proposed by the China policy headed by CreditEase.

Regarding the 13th Treaty, "I intend to send Aspen as the president of the navy, and the National Assembly of Lee Tae will do so. Everything will be sent by Aspen and Horatia Nelson Lay, and the annual cost will be millions. Please manage all the customs duties and let them use them. I want to take this opportunity to transfer the rights of China soldiers to foreign countries. " [4](p 163~ 164) This completely violated the original intention of Yixin and others to buy western naval guns and build a modern navy on their own, which was explicitly rejected by the Qing government. Yixin "refuted Horatia Nelson Lay's harsh words from several months to January" [5](p268). After that, the two sides agreed to put forward "Five Articles of Association". According to the articles of association, China appointed the new fleet as "President of Wuzhi" and Aspen was invited as "President of China" for a term of four years. All matters concerning the fleet are handled by the presidents of the two countries through consultation. Fleet operations should obey the constraints and scheduling of local governors, and marching soldiers should be presided over by China; In addition, China personnel should be sent to study abroad from time to time. The "Five Articles on Ships" is actually a compromise plan, which partially acknowledges the fait accompli. Obviously, the Qing government had reservations about the attitude of the British people and dared not take too tough measures.

Personally, Yixin experienced the pain of the great powers in the Second Opium War, "burning and looting the garden, being suspicious and threatening" [4] and the great humiliation during the signing of the Beijing Treaty after the war, so he took an extremely tough attitude towards the incident of the Poplar Fleet. "Barbarians are rampant, and all flesh and blood are resentful. I have a rough understanding of justice and reason, and I have forgotten the great plan of the country. " [1](p483) However, as a mature politician, one must weigh the long-term advantages and disadvantages. "I will discuss the overall situation of the world ... If I sincerely take advantage of the situation, have priorities, swallow my pride and be lighter than trying, it will be worse than this" [1](p483). In this state of mind, Yixin first put forward the idea of self-improvement and resistance to aggression as the action theme of the Westernization Movement, and then formulated specific policies for various specific activities, which was nothing more than a fake. In the incident of the Poplar Fleet, Yixin's actions were also aimed at protecting Xia from foreigners as much as possible and protecting the sovereignty of the feudal state of the Qing government as much as possible.

1 Take China as a soldier as president and lead China with China.

In the "Five Articles of Association of Ships" agreed by Yixin and Horatia Nelson Lay after a heated debate, it is stated that "China sells steamboats and warships, and it is now agreed that China will appoint Wu Zhi as the captain" and "China people should be appointed to board the ship for internship at any time" [4](p 164). After that, Cai Guoxiang served as the president of the Han Dynasty, with seven people including Sheng Yongqing, who managed the ships and Chu Yong equipped them.

But because China knew little about western technology at that time, it was inevitable to invite western coaches. In Aspen's fleet, "navigation, shooting and all firearms must be supervised by Aspen together with the ship owner and crew to achieve practical results" [4](p 164). In this regard, Yixin is actually "deeply afraid that there will be disadvantages in the end." "The disadvantage of foreigners teaching me training is not in the exercise, but actually under the command of the enemy, that is, as the general of this army. If we treat our people as generals and are familiar with their laws, it will be difficult to succeed. It is inevitable that soldiers will come to block, so we have to use people temporarily. The arrogance of foreigners is indeed inevitable. " [4](p333~334) At the same time, Yixin repeatedly stressed that the ship "can't be hosted by foreigners for a long time" and "it is appropriate to be hosted by China" [5](p250). In addition, according to the articles of association, the western soldiers on board are under Aspen's jurisdiction, and shall not disturb the people, engage in all illegal activities or harm the interests of China. Violators will be severely punished by military law. At the same time, Yixin also restrained and supervised Zhongjun, and let Cai Guoxiang take another Zhongjun ship and park in the same place to prevent accidents.

As can be seen from the above, although the Qing government actually made concessions, the articles of association were much more favorable than the "Thirteen Covenants", and CreditEase did its best.

The Qing government held the power of finance and military pay and controlled the nature of the fleet.

Military pay plays a very important role, especially in the case of the armed forces in the late Qing dynasty, which is related to the people's hearts. In the "Five Articles of Association of Ships" drafted by Yi Xin and others, it is clearly proposed to control the financial rights of the fleet. "This naval division ... should pay salary, arms, fire food, coal, rewards and pensions, and all unexpected expenses ... it will be collected at the customs every month, and the detailed accounts will be reported to the Prime Minister's yamen for verification every three months." [4](p 164) In this way, Horatia Nelson Lay could no longer intervene in the activities of the Poplar Fleet, and the main duties of Poplar were limited to military training, while the entire naval fleet was directly in the hands of the Qing government. Although foreigners entered the hinterland of China, their influence had been eliminated and they could not pose a threat to the Qing government.

In this way, Yixin ensured the ownership of the Assyrian fleet by familiarizing the Qing army with western technology, enhancing its combat effectiveness and weakening the strength of Asi and others, and safeguarded the military security and diplomatic dignity of the Qing Dynasty to a certain extent. Although the issue of sovereignty conflict was only reached temporarily through compromise before the dissolution of Aspen Fleet, in this struggle, the Qing government showed its due courage and courage compared with previous diplomatic events and achieved certain victory.

(2) The cultural concept of "heatstroke prevention". In fact, it is a reflection of how Yi Xin and others found a theoretical destination for themselves and their westernization in the confrontation between traditional feudal culture and modern western civilization, which is different from that of traditional intellectuals and later reformists, and is different from what the die-hards who resolutely opposed westernization said at that time.

After the Opium War, while merchant ships of western powers forcibly entered China, modern capitalist civilization unconsciously penetrated into the thinking field of China people, impacting the feudal tradition of more than 2,000 years. Yi Xin, the core of feudal rule, lived in it, and his mood also changed subtly. On the one hand, I have been attached to Sri Lanka's native traditional culture, on the other hand, I was more or less touched by the advanced and powerful forces of western civilization, so I began to reflect on traditional culture incompletely, and since then I have sprouted a new exploration of saving the country. They dare to face the reality, "China's civil and military system, everything is far above Westerners, just firearms will not work" [4](p9). So "abandon China's old guns and shotguns and become a foreign gun team. Feng Guifen made an outline of this westernization thought with "China's ethics as the foundation and the country's prosperity as the supplement". In the westernization self-improvement movement advocated by Yi Xin and others, the modernization of the navy occupies a very important position. The Aspen Fleet incident was the beginning of the Westernization School's coastal defense thought, and the preparation of modern naval coastal defense became the social trend of thought of "learning from foreigners and strengthening ourselves". This incident itself is the product of coastal defense modernization, but modernization is not inherent in China's traditional culture, but grafted from western capitalist civilization. Therefore, the formation and dissolution of Aspen Fleet actually reflected the sharp conflict between western civilization and traditional ideas behind modern coastal defense thought, so that even Yi Xin and others who handled this matter were burdened with heavy historical burdens, and their own positioning was flickering and full of contradictions in the rapidly changing reference systems of different cultures. It is an embarrassing situation for the Westernization School to guard against the Xia invasion and reconcile the cultural field. They believe that China's inherent Confucian ritual and music education civilization is supreme and must be preserved and defended; However, China's old guns are not as good as those in the west. In order to meet the challenges at sea, it must follow the example of the West. Therefore, it is necessary to introduce technology and form the Aspen Fleet. However, this understanding contains the contradiction between purpose and means, and modern coastal defense against the background of capitalism is inconsistent with feudalism. At this level, the Westernization School is unconvincing. In the argument with the die-hards, they simply repeated that China is the body and the west is the use, but did not touch on the essence of the problem, that is, how to prevent capitalist technology from impacting the Confucian culture on which they depend.

As can be seen from the above discussion, under the background of the initial formation of the capitalist world market and the collision of various cultures in the mid-Kloc-0/9th century, the Aspen Fleet incident revealed a double connotation, namely, the contradiction between national sovereignty and cultural concepts, and China's concept of "preventing summer invasion" since ancient times was given a new meaning in modern times. Westernization school, as a political group advocating western learning in the Qing dynasty ruling group, typically embodies a strong state of cultural integration. Unable to solve the impact of technology and other so-called objects on traditional culture, they consciously or unconsciously avoided this field when propagating their own ideas or arguing with die-hards, mainly pointing to western learning to protect national sovereignty. This is a very striking phenomenon in modern political thought.

Abstract: The analysis of the separation of technology and cultural core of Westernization School and the reflection on the dispute between the two factions.

In 1950s and 1960s, the Westernization School headed by Yixin had several debates with the die-hards. The core of the debate is whether it is reasonable to introduce western technology into traditional China, which causes people to think. Yixin's concept of "heatstroke prevention" separates technology from the cultural core, and carefully proves that the introduction of technology has only superficial significance and superficial influence, and will not damage the ethical foundation. In these debates, the Aspen Fleet incident came crashing up and passed away quietly, which was ridiculed by orthodox scholars. "Invisible ingenuity is ten thousand times stronger than tangible ingenuity. Why change your mind?" [5](p59).

Here, the die-hards actually touched on the crux of the problem, that is, whether the introduction of technology is only superficial and whether it will lead to changes in the cultural core. They believe that learning from foreigners and imitating the West will inevitably lead to the collapse of China's traditional etiquette and morality. "To build foreign ships and vessels, you have to learn foreign learning, which means applying the essence of foreign learning to talents". "I'm afraid that all countries in the world say that national courtesy and shame are useless, and it's difficult to learn from foreign countries, so people's hearts will collapse. In this way, those who are here are shameless. Although foreign instruments are good, who is in a hurry with China? " [5](p59) From the historical perspective since the Western Industrial Revolution, technology has extended from the production field, thus shaping people's way of life. "Lifestyle influences cultural spirit" [6](p2). Modern capitalist civilization prospered from this. Therefore, any cultural change is comprehensive. "The rationalization of production means something more important-that is, the rationalization of human beings." [7](p 157) The die-hards' argument is not as useless as usually thought. Although they are defending the declining feudal ethics, their understanding is more profound than the Westernization theory which lacks system and logic, and it is more in line with the fact that western civilization conquered the world with advanced technology. Therefore, even if they don't reach such a high level subjectively, there is no reason to deny their rationality. On the one hand, the westernization thought inspired by the invasion of foreign powers impacted China's traditional ideas, on the other hand, it was revised by traditional culture. This contradictory mentality determines the tragic fate of the Westernization Movement. It was not until the rise of bourgeois intellectuals and the trend of reform extended the tentacles of change to the sensitive areas of the political system that the long-standing contradiction between Yixin and other Westernization officials was completely solved and the modernization of China Thought really began.