Li Hongzhang (1823.2.15-1.11.7), whose real name was bronze seal, gradually became righteous (one word) in his later years. A native of Dongxiang (now Feidong County) in Hefei, Anhui Province, he is a Modian. Because it ranks second, it is also called "Mr. Li Er" among the people. An important military and political official in the late Qing Dynasty, the founder and commander-in-chief of Huai Army, and the main advocate of Westernization Movement. Li surnamed Xu moved from Hukou, Jiangxi Province to Hefei next season to avoid chaos. The Li family has been farming for generations and has never won a name in the imperial examination. It was not until Li Hongzhang's father Wen Li 'an was admitted to the Imperial Examination in the 18th year of Daoguang (1838) that he formed an indissoluble bond with Zeng Guofan. At the age of six, Li Hongzhang entered his family's library-Dihua Bookstore to study. He is a young and intelligent man. He studied classics under the guidance of Tang Bo Youxian and Hefei celebrity Xu Ziling, and laid a solid learning foundation. In the twenty-seventh year of Daoguang (1847), he was a scholar. At the same time, Zeng Guofan emphasized the study of the world when he was a student. In the third year of Xianfeng (1853), he was ordered to go back to his hometown for training, and led the troops to fight with Taiping Army many times. /kloc-in the winter of 0/858, he joined Zeng Guofan's shogunate to do business. 1860 unified Huaiyang navy. After the Xiang army occupied Anqing, Zeng Guofan recommended that "talents can be put to great use" and ordered him to return to Hefei to raise his courage. 1862 In March, Li Hongzhang's Huai Army was formally established. In the battle of Hongqiao, 3,000 Huai troops fought fiercely and annihilated 100,000 Taiping troops. From then on, Huai Army became famous, and Li Hongzhang was regarded as heartless. 165438+ 10 In October, Li Hongzhang was appointed as the governor of Jiangsu on the recommendation of Zeng Guofan. In two years, the Huai army increased from more than 6,000 to 60,000, becoming a well-equipped and effective local armed force in the Qing army. When Nanjing, the capital of Taiping Army, was conquered, Li Hongzhang was made the first earl of Su Yi, wearing a pair of eyes. On this basis, the Hou Huai warlord group gradually formed. Since the 1960s, Li Hongzhang has been actively preparing for the establishment of a new military industry, copying foreign ships and guns, and began to engage in westernization with the slogan of "self-improvement". Zeng Guofan succeeded as Zhili Governor and Minister of Beiyang Trade. From then on, he controlled Beiyang for 25 years, participated in the diplomatic, military and economic power of the Qing government, and became the most powerful border official in the late Qing Dynasty. Since 1970s, Li Hongzhang has further expanded his westernization career. Because he flaunted "self-improvement" and then "murder for money", he founded a series of private enterprises with "official supervision and commercial office" as the mainstay. At the same time, it began to prepare for the northern coastal defense, mainly outsourcing, supplemented by self-control, and built the Beiyang Navy in the 14th year of Guangxu (1888). In order to cultivate talents needed for "self-improvement" and "seeking wealth", various new schools have been established and people have been sent to study in Europe and America. These westernization undertakings had a far-reaching impact on the development of modern China society. 1895, the defeated Qing court ordered Li Hongzhang to go to Japan to make peace. 1900 On August 5th, Beijing fell under the siege of Eight-Nation Alliance in the name of protecting the embassy, and the government and the imperial court fled only two months after declaring war on foreign countries. Li Hongzhang, then governor of Guangdong and Guangxi, was reassigned to the highest position among Qing ministers: Governor of Zhili and Minister of Beiyang. The court asked Li Hongzhang to go north to make peace with foreigners who attacked the country. On June 55, 2008, +090 1+0, 15, Li Hongzhang and Prince Qing signed the Peace Outline on behalf of the Great Qing Dynasty. 190 1 1 year1October 7th, Li Hongzhang, who signed the famous unequal treaty in China's modern history with 1 1, died at the age of 78. Shi Wenzhong, Jinfeng first class. The author of the complete works of Li Wenzhong.
Li Hongzhang's early measures are advanced and represent the future development direction of China. But as far as their goal of "self-improvement" in China is concerned, it was impossible at that time. Because the core of Li Hongzhang's thought is still to serve the Qing Dynasty, he still wants to retain the feudal rule and the existing political structure, which means that the "modernization" he advocates is essentially conservative modernization and impossible to achieve. Liang Qichao said that Li Hongzhang "only knows westernization, but not state affairs", which is the most backward aspect of his thought and the root of his personal tragic life. The fame and honor behind Li Hongzhang are closely related to this. In a sense, Li Hongzhang is a rare tragic figure in the history of China.
Nowadays, when Li Hongzhang is mentioned, people often think of some humiliating events in China's history in the later period of his life, such as the defeat of the Sino-Japanese War, the signing of the treaty of shimonoseki and the Treaty of Xin Chou, and so on. Because of his direct participation in these events, Li Hongzhang inevitably became the object of criticism, and then became a symbol of national humiliation and a typical representative of "capitulators" and "traitors". But if we examine the truth of history and ask, "Why does Li Hongzhang always appear on this occasion, but not others?" You will find that the answer to the question is just the opposite. Li Hongzhang is not actually taking the traitorous route. He hoped to achieve China's goal of "self-improvement" through the Westernization Movement. Qi Chao said that "there is no such thing as westernization in China". But at that time, China didn't have the conditions of "self-improvement" at all, which led to the ultimate failure of his career and the fundamental reason for his ruin.
Let's take a closer look at these events in the last years of his life. 1894, in the Sino-Japanese War of 1894, the Japanese army easily wiped out the only naval fleet "Beiyang Navy" in China at that time, and the whole country was in an uproar, accusing Li Hongzhang of command mistakes. But let's think back. Without Li Hongzhang's painstaking efforts, Beiyang Navy did not exist at all. It is his suggestion to build a new navy. He did everything possible to ensure the supply of funds for the navy. He sent naval officers abroad for training. Every armored ship purchased by the fleet from abroad, he personally went to the dock for inspection. But it was such a fleet that he spent countless efforts to build, but it was easily defeated in the end. Li Hongzhang's operational command error may be one reason, but does it not include other inevitable factors? The trend of the times tells us that the victory or defeat of this war was actually doomed before the war. Furthermore, if it weren't for Li Hongzhang's Beiyang Navy, China's defeat might have happened many years ago. As for why Li Hongzhang signed the treaty of shimonoseki and the Treaty of Humiliating Ugliness, the reason is even simpler: there are no other officials in China who know diplomatic negotiations except him. After the failure of the Sino-Japanese War of 1894-1895, Li Hongzhang, as a representative of the Qing government, went to Tokyo for armistice negotiations, and finally signed the treaty of shimonoseki, agreeing to cede Taiwan Province Province to Japan. This is unforgivable, but "Enemy at the Gates, it is hard to hide his words" (in Liang Qichao's words), such a result would be hard to avoid if it were someone else. With the signing of the Xin Chou Treaty, Li Hongzhang became more passive. At that time, Eight-Nation Alliance occupied Beijing, and the Qing government fled to the west. When he fled for his life, he remembered Li Hongzhang, who had been stepping down for nearly five years at the age of 80, and ordered him to go to Beijing to preside over the negotiations with the Group of Eight and clean up the mess in Beijing. Everyone knows that this appointment is extremely dangerous and has no benefit to individuals, but Li Hongzhang decided to go north in order to serve the country (Qing Dynasty) and died in Beijing after several months of negotiations.
It can be seen that a large part of Li Hongzhang's notoriety is "self-inflicted". If he had not actively promoted "self-improvement" measures, these incidents might not have been borne by him. He not only took personal responsibility, but also shared the notoriety for the decadent Qing Dynasty. Unfortunately, Li Hongzhang was chosen by history as the main individual to bear the failure of China in the19th century, not because of his incompetence and traitorous behavior, but precisely because he wanted to change the destiny of the country, so he had to bear the resulting responsibility. Defending Li Hongzhang's actions is not the main purpose of this paper, and there are many papers and monographs in this field. I was just thinking, he's been dead for a hundred years. If he didn't fully evaluate his "self-improvement" measures before his death, we should be able to objectively evaluate their great influence on China in the 20th century. We can't just see the flowers and fruits and forget the beginning.
Li Hongzhang joined the army as a scholar. When the country was weak and surrounded by great powers, he strongly felt the threat of western advanced technology and military equipment to China. So he realized that poverty leads to change, and change leads to communication. It can be said that his "change of outlook" was earlier than Kang Liang's. Later, he devoted himself to almost all emerging and adventurous undertakings of the Qing government, such as industry, transportation, minerals and education, and did a lot of practical things. This new policy, which was later called "Westernization Movement" by historians, brought great impact to modern society in China, and the west regarded it as the starting point of China's modernization. Li Hongzhang is a complicated person. He believes that compared with western powers, China is weak, and once a dispute occurs, it is difficult to get the upper hand, let alone win the battle. He put forward that "under the current situation, we must reform from the outside and from the inside", and his thoughts contain the elements of loyalty to the monarch and serving the country. He advocated Westernization, established modern enterprises, and founded Beiyang Navy, in order to enrich Qiang Bing and gradually reverse the unfavorable overseas situation. Li Hongzhang is also a generation of diplomats. His diplomatic characteristics are: 65,438+0, making peace with the outside world, making concessions through compromise, in exchange for others' understanding, tolerance and peace, in exchange for rest and development time; 2. The essence of barbarian control is to sacrifice local interests to "friendly countries" in exchange for the constraints of "enemy countries"; 3. Believe in the binding force of international law. As an important minister of the DPRK and China, according to realistic conditions, with strategy and strong will, we will maximize the realization of national interests.
Throughout the Qing Dynasty for more than 200 years, Li Hongzhang took the Han nationality as an exception and served as the Chief Cabinet Secretary in Wenhua Hall. Wearing a dazzling feather. In the once-in-a-lifetime troubled times, he propped up the crisis and shouldered the burden of the world. He is in a high position and rich in the world. He experienced the hardships of his official career and enjoyed the prosperity of the world. He is not afraid of being scolded by the world. He has the courage to do everything and has been an official for a long time. Loyal to the monarch, also know that there is a way to resist. Recognize utility regardless of honor, recognize character regardless of character. "Quiet" is the way Zeng Guofan and Li Hongzhang met in adversity. In prosperity, work hard; Facing adversity, stand firm and wait for change. These noble qualities of being a man are worth learning for future generations and for us.
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