Recently, a publishing house selected ten political elites from modern history scholars to share and published a series of books. The convenor asked me if I could choose one of them and gave me the freedom to choose the other. I think most of the top ten elites on the list are people familiar to readers, except Wu. I just want to write a story about two ambassadors to the United States in the late Qing Dynasty and Wu, who was invited to join the anti-Qing camp for the first time in 1911, based on the English files I collected in recent years and a lot of reports and interviews in newspapers and magazines such as The New York Times and Washington post. It was an oriental figure that even American politicians and the media found incredible, a diplomat in the late Qing Dynasty who was not necessarily valued at home but respected by the western world. People often say that a weak country has no diplomacy, which is somewhat out of place in front of Wu.

Wu is actually very important to me.

For Wu, not to mention ordinary readers, even bachelors, masters and even doctors who graduated from law majors often say that they have never heard of it; Even people who have heard of it know that Wu participated in the political reform during the New Deal in the late Qing Dynasty, but it is not as important as Shen Jiaben. Later, he participated in the North-South peace talks and served as a judge of the Republic of China. As for other aspects, I can't tell you why. In the field of history, people all know that he is an "old bureaucrat", and books and periodicals about the political situation in the late Qing Dynasty will mention him. Especially during the North-South peace talks, the Southern Revolutionary Party invited him out to negotiate with Tang, the representative of Yuan Shikai. He also served as a judge of the Republic of China, and historians are not at ease with him. He had a public debate with Shanghai Governor Chen, who often arrested people and despised justice, which once caused a sensation in the political arena in the early years of the Republic of China. During the period of protecting the law, he was an important collaborator of Sun Yat-sen, who held several positions. It is also said that he "converted" to Sun Yat-sen in his later years and cooperated with Sun Yat-sen to death. As for the ultimate truth of cooperation, we should also speak on the basis of information. Although there have been several biographies about Wu in bookstores, many authors have not paid attention to the public and private documents about Wu preserved in the United States, and they are too lazy to consult the English doctoral thesis "Reform and Modernization in Modern History of Wu and China" published by Linda Pomerantz-Zhan, a history professor at the University of California, Los Angeles.

Wu, born in Xinhui, Guangdong, was born in the home of overseas Chinese businessmen in Singapore. This year marks the 70th anniversary of his birth/kloc-0 and the 90th anniversary of his death. He returned to Guangdong at the age of 3, completed his secondary school and university studies in Hong Kong, and studied at Lincoln Law School in England from 65438 to 0874, becoming the first China native who majored in law in western countries and qualified as a barrister in England, and the first China native who was awarded the title of "Justice of the Peace" in Hong Kong. From 65438 to 0882, Li Hongzhang, governor of Zhili and minister of Beiyang in the late Qing Dynasty, hired him to help negotiate with foreign countries with a high salary of 6,000 taels per year. Some people object to high salary, but Li Hongzhang tells the truth: the income earned by a family working as a lawyer in Hong Kong is far more than that. At present, there are many diplomatic conflicts, and domestic and foreign affairs are difficult. The country urgently needs talents who know both English and western law. So, of all the China people in the world, who else is there besides Wu? Wu worked hard in the shogunate of Li Hongzhang, made many foreign representations, and served as the manager of Kaiping Coal Mine. From 1896, he was ordered to leave Beiyang and twice served as ambassador to the United States, Mexico, Cuba, Peru and other countries.

"The most popular

Eastern diplomat "

From the end of the Qing Dynasty, Guo Songtao endured humiliation and went to Britain as a representative of the guilty country. Up to now, there are many people who have a national position and patriotic enthusiasm, but not enough. Like Wu, there is no shortage of Chinese studies and personality charm, but also foreign language strength, legal skills and diplomatic skills, which are hard to find all over the world. For a long time, our history textbooks and historical views attach importance to the rebellious spirit of historical figures, but ignore the builders of modern countries. Many achievements of non-violent resistance to Qing Dynasty are either covered up or often distorted and thrown away. Revolutionary historical view has become another model of orthodox historical view, which needs to be corrected urgently.

1900 China was a year full of disasters. Stupid Cixi and others, in order to vent their personal anger, ordered the Boxer Rebellion to besiege foreign embassies, encouraged blind xenophobia, challenged international law, and gave Eight-Nation Alliance an excuse to capture Beijing and ravage Yuanmingyuan again. The plight of diplomatic envoys abroad can be imagined. Ambassador Wu to the United States expressed concern about this. While urging Yuan Shikai and others to do their best to protect the personal safety of the US ambassador to China, she assured the US government of Kango's safety and clarified the rumors. According to different audiences, she also gave a special speech through fluent American English, mixed with some oriental dialects and slang, expounded various reasons why western powers were unpopular in China, criticized the arrogance and infringement of western missionaries in China, preached China culture, and talked about the way of Confucius and Mencius. This spring, he gave a speech on "Communication between America and the East" at the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia. More than 4000 people were impressed by his arguments and arguments. He turned the lecture hall into an ocean of applause. Within a few days, newspapers all over the United States reprinted his speech, and his reputation soared. Even after Wu returned to China, mainstream media on the other side of the ocean, such as The New York Times, often followed him and recalled the memories he left for American audiences, calling him "the most popular oriental diplomat". "His English is almost as good as his Chinese; He has all the humor and wisdom of the east, and he can translate these into American native languages just right; The gift of speech made him a great public speaker, so that he naturally won honorary degrees from some great universities and colleges in the United States. "

The success of the speech is only one aspect. When Wu directly reported the news that Kang Er was safe and sound in Beijing to the State Council at the first time, the trust of the American government and public opinion, which had always attached importance to human rights, in the braid minister soared. During the gestation period of the Xin Chou Treaty, the American government not only accepted Wu's suggestion and agreed that the Qing government would pay war reparations on the basis of silver to reduce the economic losses of the Qing dynasty, but also mobilized western European countries to accept Wu's suggestion.

Not only that, Wu urged Eight-Nation Alliance to return to Tientsin as soon as possible with her mastery of international law. She also asked the US military to return 230,000 yuan of stolen silver, and asked the military department to use 80,000 yuan of it for the construction of the Chinese Embassy in the United States. The China Embassy, located in the northwest 19 area, was built in 1903, ending the history that China's embassy in the United States was leased to the United States and controlled by outsiders. Wu also spared no effort to resist the American wave of Chinese exclusion and safeguard the rights and interests of overseas Chinese. An article in the United States also mentioned that Wu "was busy spreading correct knowledge of China in the United States, when China was mysterious to the West. With his help, the Library of Congress began to collect and classify China's literature. " .

Before the climax of 19 1 anti-Qing revolution came, Wu, who was nearly ancient and rare, had lost expectations of the Qing Dynasty and had nothing to do in Shanghai. When Shanghai revolutionaries urged Wu to represent the southern independence camp and start a world-famous dialogue with Tang, the representative of Yuan Shikai, to discuss the future of the Republic of China, his American friends were very happy and actively cooperated. Carnegie, the king of steel, wrote to President Taft's private secretary and said, "As the Secretary of State has not returned to Washington, I am sending you this letter. But if the Secretary of State is present, please give this letter to him. It's up to you whether to make suggestions to the president or not. Wu and I are good friends, and we are both students of Confucius. "