What did Li Hongzhang say when he first came to America to see tall buildings?

When it comes to the late Qing Dynasty, many people will feel heartache. At that time, China, a big country, was extremely passive and bullied by foreign powers. In the late Qing Dynasty, China became a fish on the chopping block, and its ideological, cultural, scientific and technological industries fell behind everywhere. Although the national conditions were chaotic at that time, there were many famous ministers, such as Zuo, Zhang Zhidong and Li Hongzhang.

When it comes to Li Hongzhang, many people think that he is a traitor who has signed numerous unequal treaties. However, with the sinking of history, some people think that what he has done is difficult, so the evaluation of Li Hongzhang is mixed now. However, when Li Hongzhang visited the United States in 1896, he once said something that made China people feel very sad.

Li Hongzhang, born in 1823, was very smart and studied hard since he was a child. At the age of twenty, he was a scholar, a scholar and a disciple of Zeng Guofan. Although Li Hongzhang is a scholar, his time in the civil service is not long. After the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom Movement broke out, Li Hongzhang was forced to lead the troops to war. Because of his active suppression, his position in the DPRK has also improved, and he was soon named Su Yibo.

186 1 year, the westernization movement broke out. In order to promote the industrial development of the Qing Dynasty, Li Hongzhang took an active part. In order to improve the maritime military strength, Li Hongzhang and his men set up four navies, among which beiyang fleet, regarded as the ninth in the world by the Yearbook of the United States Navy, is one. Then, due to improper management in the later period, 1894, beiyang fleet was completely annihilated in the Sino-Japanese War. Later, the Westernization Movement failed.

1895, Li Hongzhang said that the emperor was too young to be reviled, so he spontaneously went to Japan to sign the treaty of shimonoseki. During the signing period, Li Hongzhang was assassinated by the Japanese army on his way back to his apartment. The bullet hit his left cheek directly and he was bleeding profusely in an instant. The people accompanying him panicked for a moment, and Li Hongzhang endured the pain and said to everyone: The blood shed by this shot can serve the country.

This matter passed back to the Qing Dynasty. Instead of being angry, the Qing government felt that it was Japan's fault, so it could be the capital for our negotiations. On the third day after the assassination, Li Hongzhang sat at the negotiating table with his head wrapped in gauze and asked the Japanese government to reduce the amount of compensation, but it was rejected by Japanese Prime Minister Ito Bowen.

Finally, Li Hongzhang, who was repeatedly rejected, said that he would reduce his travel expenses to return to China anyway. After the signing of treaty of shimonoseki, which humiliated the country, Li Hongzhang received endless abuse. He told his entourage that he would never set foot in Japan again in his life, when Li Hongzhang was 73 years old.

1August, 896, Li Hongzhang went to the United States. Although the Qing government sent envoys to the United States many times before, they were not as heavy as Li Hongzhang. The American people are very curious about what the prime minister of the Qing Dynasty looked like, so on the day Li Hongzhang arrived in the United States, he gathered at the port to see his style.

At that time, American industry developed rapidly and there were high-rise buildings everywhere. Seeing this, Li Hongzhang felt a lot, because compared with the low-rise bungalows in China, the advanced in the United States is really far behind. He looked at the tall buildings and sighed, "There are many tall buildings in your country, but the Great Qing Dynasty couldn't build such tall buildings." . It is hard to avoid being a little sad to hear such a sigh again today, but it can also inspire us to go forward bravely and not forget the national humiliation.