"Weak countries have no diplomacy" seems to have become a statute since it was summarized by politicians. In China, besides the National Government and Beiyang Government, there was also a late Qing government that lived up to expectations.
Since the17th and18th centuries, the Qing Dynasty, with its Chinese dream, is still looking forward to the annual tribute of barbarian countries when western powers have gradually embarked on the capitalist road, making the country rich and strong, and Zhang Zhilu's external expansion is imperative. However, who will pay tribute? How can you live in peace with a hungry tiger and a fat tiger? In order to avoid being hungry, let's take a look at several diplomatic representatives sent by this declining empire:
It originally belonged to Ilib's family, and it was reused after Yi moved to the governor of Liangjiang. He participated in the negotiation in Dinghai and the discussion in Jiangning, calm, witty and brave. His achievements and achievements are unmatched by his peers in diplomacy, but because of his background, he can't get rid of the actions of villains. He is also a heavy drinker. When he arrives in England, he will definitely drink, and he is often drunk and rude.
Senior three English, gentle temperament, simple style, has been criticized and misbehaved. The former, for example, proposes to ban smoking by tax, while the latter, for example, asks Puding to open his mouth when entertaining British officials and throw in some candied plums to show his respect. However, his achievements are not small, such as taking back Zhoushan, but he was dismissed from office and demoted. Less than a month after he started using it again, he was immediately given suicide.
On the other hand, in the first month of the fifth year of Tongzhi (1866), another man named Bin Chun took his son Guang Ying and three students from Wentong Museum to visit Europe with a little resignation. In addition to preaching, he also inspected the mountains, rivers, local customs and customs of various countries, and wrote Notes on Riding, The Sea and Country Overcome Grass and Surpass.
Binchun's trip to Europe was called "the first batch of students from China's modern official schools who went abroad to visit" by Binned, while in his book Going to the World in 1980s, Zhong Shuhe called Binchun "the first person from China who went to the world in modern times", which inherited his experience of studying abroad and the idea that the west wind spread to the east.
In a sense, behind the grand historical structure, these seemingly insignificant diplomatic brokers often have unknown hidden roles and interests at the turning point of historical development. However, unlike Zhang Xi and Senior Citizen, Bin Chun's crossing the ocean has another meaning, that is, the significance of diplomacy should not be said for the time being, and its influence on future generations should be unprofitable. With the updating of knowledge and broadening of horizons, Bin Chun's travel always has endless interest in this world.
As the saying goes, war has always been an arena of force, and diplomatic setbacks are of little significance. The late Qing Dynasty, which was on the eve of its collapse, naively fantasized about saving the face and rights of the fiasco in diplomacy. Except as a buffer and a roundabout conversation, this is tantamount to talking in a dream. Zhang Xi, Ying Jie and Bin Chun, who are in charge of foreign affairs, can really be regarded as a handful of bad cards that had to be played in the late Qing Dynasty, but they didn't follow the cards. A card is finished, when to play. Surprisingly, there is a small firewood that can be used for a long time among a bunch of messy things that can't protect themselves.
The predecessors said that "weak countries have no diplomacy", and some people said that "weak countries rely on diplomacy". It makes sense to think about it. The former is in terms of national strength, and the latter is in terms of envoys. Examples of weak countries running diplomacy have a long history in China, such as Zi Gong, Su Qin and Zhang Yi. The talent of writing is endless, and the lobbyist stories that shine brilliantly in the history of world diplomacy are endless. However, the late Qing Dynasty was no better than the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period. As Li Hongzhang said, this is "a great change that has never happened in three thousand years". Managing diplomacy with western powers who are plotting interests and territories is tantamount to trying to get the eggs from the tiger skin.
Toddler, babbling, everything is difficult at the beginning, not to mention the declining empire that is old and doesn't know what diplomacy is?
In any case, the Prime Minister's Office has been established and the Law of Nations has been translated and printed. I also learned a lot of western diplomatic experience. Although I have made progress, I have made progress, no matter who my first teacher is. ...