After the defeat of the Sino-Japanese War of 1894-1895, Li Hongzhang reflected sadly: "I have been training all my life, and the navy is also a paper tiger. How can we really put it down, but we can barely draw it, which is superficial and can be perfunctory for a while without exposing it. For example, a dilapidated house was patched up by a paperhanger and turned into a clean room. I know it is made of paper, but I am not sure what material is inside. Even if there is a little wind and rain, you can make a few holes at any time, or you can prevaricate. Tearing by hand is inevitable, and no repair materials and transformation methods have been prepared. The natural truth is out of control, but how can the paperhanger take responsibility? "

In fact, this is basically what Li Hongzhang said to defend his failure in the Sino-Japanese War of 1894-1895. "Paper Tiger" refers to Beiyang Navy. "Broken house" refers to beiyang fleet. "Papermaker" refers to himself. Due to the lack of funds and the great attention of the Qing government, the Beiyang Navy was actually similar to what he said and could not form combat effectiveness at all. For example, many shells are completely filled with coal, even if they hit the target, it will have no effect. . . Li Hongzhang must know this situation, but he can't help it.