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Li Hongzhang was a very important minister before his death. He made great contributions to China, but at the same time, he also had many deeds that were criticized by people.
However, personally, I think he has done more for China. After all, Li Hongzhang was born in such an era, and many things are not something he can decide or change. All he can do is try his best to save it, such as treaty of shimonoseki. What's the use of Li Hongzhang's signature if the Qing rulers don't agree to cede Taiwan Province Province? On the contrary, under the acquiescence and even persecution of the Qing rulers, he could only sign this traitorous treaty to bear the blame.
At the same time, Li Hongzhang has always struggled for China's self-improvement. Faced with the heavy obstruction of the feudal die-hards in the Qing court, Li Hongzhang once plausibly put forward that "it is sacred to talk about westernization today." In his view, in the process of pursuing self-improvement, we must adhere to the general program of westernization, that is, in the environment of being surrounded by foreign powers and increasing foreign aggression, we should make maximum use of the diplomatic means of "controlling foreign countries" to win as much peaceful time as possible for China's westernization-self-improvement. To this end, he spent his whole life as a diplomatic expert and handled many important diplomatic negotiations.
Li Hongzhang's military achievements are outstanding. Successive governors of Jiangsu and Huguang, and finally 1870 succeeded Zeng Guofan as governor of Zhili. Later, he served as Minister of Beiyang Trade, awarded a bachelor's degree in Wenhua Hall, organized westernization, and served as a local minister during the reign of Tongzhi and Guangxu. Because Zhili Governor and Minister of Beiyang held the military power and commanded one side, some people even called him "sitting in Beiyang and watching state affairs from afar".
After the middle of the Qing Dynasty, due to the blockade of the Beijing-Hangzhou Canal, the transportation of goods between the north and south of the imperial court was changed to sea transportation. Li Hongzhang seized the opportunity to supervise the establishment of "China Merchants Bureau for Ships". This is the first private shipping company in China, which contracted half of the traffic volume of the imperial court's "official goods", and its subsequent passenger transport industry actually crushed the flag-Chang company jointly run by Britain and the United States. Foreigners want to start telegraph business in China, and people inside and outside the Qing government are panicked, thinking that "telegrams are located in the depths of the ground, rampaging and extending in all directions, and the ground is unique ..." Li Hongzhang also does not allow foreigners to land on submarine cables laid from Hong Kong. However, it was not long before the first telegraph cable laid by him in China was opened between Dagukou and Tianjin. Li Hongzhang can completely ignore the "geographical pulse" and foreigners, because he knows that the telegraph industry contains extremely high military and civilian value. Later, a telegraph company was established for profit with the silver invested by the Qing government. Li Hongzhang called this move "official supervision and commercial operation", because setting up autonomous enterprises in China "is a heavy task, which is related to the national economy and people's livelihood, so it needs official support and appropriate borrowing of official funds to help the shortage of commercial power".
Under the leadership and participation of Li Hongzhang, the Westernization School founded the first railway, the first steel plant, the first machine factory, the first modern military school and the first modern naval fleet in modern China. There is Anqing Inner Ordnance Institute founded by Zeng Guofan and Li Hongzhang. Jiangnan General Manufacturing Bureau and China Merchants Bureau founded by Li Hongzhang. It not only promoted the industrialization of the declining dynasty, but also provided a large amount of stable funds for the financially strapped government.
However, Li Hongzhang never got rid of the shackles of the times ideologically. The enterprises established by Li Hongzhang are all government-supervised and commercial-run systems. When the enterprise was first built, the government did not have the strength to set up independently, so it cooperated with private capital. When the enterprise is on the right track, the government will try its best to exclude private capital and form a government-led enterprise. This enterprise is extremely corrupt, full of official vices such as corruption, bribery, extravagance and waste. With the invasion of foreign forces and the rise of private capital, these seriously ill enterprises are doomed to tragedy.
Just like Liang Qichao's evaluation of Li Hongzhang, "I. . . . Respect, cherish Li, and mourn the encounter of Li. " Li Hongzhang was born at an inopportune time.