If a nation wants to survive, it must have people who tell the truth. Who can tell the truth? Destiny chooses not only the wise, but also the fearless. Especially in the diplomatic field in the late Qing Dynasty, China urgently needed a window to understand the world. Memorial

The Qing Dynasty had a rule that ministers on diplomatic missions to various countries should keep diaries. The diary should record in detail what you see, hear, and do, and report back at any time. Guo Songtao sent a copy of his mission diary to the Prime Minister's Yamen. This diary, with about 20,000 words, was published by the Prime Minister's Office under the name "Shi Xi Jicheng". As soon as the book came out, it aroused public opinion and shocked people.

A man named He Jinshou, who was the editor of the Hanlin Academy at the time and a lecturer for Japan, came out to impeach Guo Songtao, saying that he had second thoughts about the British and wanted to serve the Chinese ministers. Zhang Peilun, a colleague of He and a lecturer at the Hanlin Academy, was more active and asked the court to replace the envoy, otherwise it would go against the will of the people. There is also Li Ciming who said to Guo Zhuxin in his diary: I really don’t know what the reason is, what is the intention!

At that time, the emperor had not yet taken charge, and everything was decided by the Empress Dowager. The Empress Dowager Cixi seemed to have forgotten the promise she had made to Guo Songtao, allowed attacks from both the government and the public, and ordered the destruction of "Journey to the West" .

Later, Liang Qichao also mentioned this matter in "An Introduction to China's Evolution in Fifty Years": In the second year of Guangxu's reign, Guo Songtao, a minister who was envoy to the United Kingdom, wrote a travelogue. There is a paragraph in it, which roughly says that the Yi and Di people today are different from those in the past. They also have a civilization of two thousand years. Hey! It's amazing. When the book reached Beijing, it aroused the public indignation of the scholar-bureaucrats throughout the dynasty, and everyone reviled it... The trouble was not over until the edition was ordered to be destroyed.

When "The Journey to the West" was banned by imperial edict, Li Hongzhang claimed to have read it four times and wrote a letter to his friends, complaining about Guo Songtao's injustice, saying that although Yunxian was foolish, he was a Westerner. It is indeed insightful, but the government and the public are so involved in slander and slander. I am afraid that all high-ranking officials and nobles will take a warning from now on. If the silence is like a chill, there will be no period of revitalization for China, and there will be no way to survive in the future. This can be heart-breaking.

China is so big that it cannot even accommodate a book that tells the truth, and Li Hongzhang was also disappointed.

Guo Songtao defended himself abroad for a few words, but was severely reprimanded, accusing him of being stubborn and willful, and what he saw was indeed intolerance. He should have withdrawn immediately and severely punished him. However, since he was stationed in the UK, he has not been dealt with. The matter can still be negotiated appropriately, so we will be treated leniently. If we insist on our own opinions, we will deal with it according to the national law.

Guo thought about the time when the Queen Mother summoned him, and his words were warm to his ears: Just do things for the country and don't care about other people's gossip. The emperor always knows what's on your mind. Does this still count? Now the Queen Mother has become the biggest stone that fell into the well. I understood that I was only being used to save a temporary crisis. Once the crisis passed, I would naturally change things and maintain the state structure of the Qing Dynasty. This was the Queen Mother's advancement with the times.

He is aboveboard, how can he disgrace the country? Just because in the diary, he praised the enemy of the Qing Dynasty - the one who launched the Opium War, burned the Old Summer Palace, and asked the Qing Dynasty to apologize? Li Ciming's "Yuemantang Diary" said that he extremely praised the British for its strict laws, benevolence and righteousness, prosperity and strength, and returning to the world. How could he still be a minister of the Qing Dynasty? Resignation

The clear current was turbulent, and it seemed that he had to resign. He was given a memorial to resign, and his job was gone. But in his heart he was worried and angry about the checks and balances of power under the centralized system. Cixi arranged for Liu Xihong to be his assistant, which was actually to install eyes and ears to supervise foreign ministers. When Liu left Beijing, he brought a pile of blank memorials for impeachment purposes. At this time, it dawned on Guo Songtao that he had always been harmonious and committed to economic development on the day he left the capital, but in fact he had already changed his mind. He fabricated various charges to report to the court, which showed the depth of his plans. But Guo did not blame his own remarks. He firmly believed that what he said was the truth and not a single word was untrue. He also did not blame the institutional arrangements. The royal power was to create conflicts and cause trouble. Regardless of this, he sincerely praised the British democracy, because only democracy can serve the country blindly.

Waitoma came to visit, and the two talked about the Russian-Turkish war. Witoma said, I have been in China for a long time and know that the situation in China is similar to that in Turkey.

Guo said that some of China is better than Turkey, and some are not as good as Turkey. The victorious person conducts himself with etiquette, has no desire to conquer others, and does not like to use force. If we look at imitating the Western military system and establishing a council, China is not as good as Türkiye. He said that China's political system is not as good as that of Britain, and some people have already called him a traitor. He also said that there are people in China who are not as good as Turkey. So what should he be called?

Waitoma also said that if China can cultivate internally, it will not be afraid of strong enemies. If it does not cultivate internally, both the east and west will become enemies. He also said that China has a favorable geographical location and talents, but it does not have good politics, so it cannot play its role. Buying a few Western cannons, a few small guns, and building a few forts will not help. What's more, we have only learned about diplomacy in recent years, but we are still ignorant about internal affairs. We still ignore everything about the people's livelihood. How can such a country be independent?

Guo Songtao said that China has many people who talk but few people who do things. People who do things are tortured by those who talk. I am of no use here. It is better to sell my job and return to China as soon as possible.

The court finally arranged for his replacement, Zeng Jize, the son of his old friend Zeng Guofan. In the beginning, the imperial court had no choice but to use him as its envoy. As long as there was someone who could take over, he would not be used as a target of public criticism.

Zeng Jize called and proposed to receive the seal in France. Guo Songtao was not happy and wrote to Jize: I am a British envoy and a law-abiding official. There is no excuse for not coming to London when I take over as minister. It is unheard of to go to France with a seal in order to negotiate. Zeng Jize wanted to be frugal, thinking that Guo Songtao would have to pass through Paris anyway when he returned to China, so it would be easier to hand over the seal with him. But as soon as Guo said it, Jize came to London.

Jize’s business is business. After the business is done, let’s talk about family ties. They bid farewell to the British Foreign Minister together. In the evening, Jize invited him to dinner, and all of Jize's entourage were present. Later, someone told him that Jize asked all his attendants to pool money for this meal to save public money. He knew in his heart that this move was to give everyone the opportunity to show respect and gratitude to him.

A bad system will inevitably have bad habits, but people’s hearts are still toward good. Guo Songtao has long been an alternative to Chinese tradition, and now he has become an alien to royalism. And Zeng Jize still had to work within the institutional arrangements of the Qing Dynasty, and he had to stick to it even if it was a bad habit. Guo likes the British way and does not think that the British way is unique to the British. He always thinks that people share the same heart and the same principles.

He is very idealistic and pursues ideals when doing diplomacy. This is what makes him great. On the international diplomatic stage, there has never been a shortage of experienced diplomats, such as Bismarck and Li Hongzhang, but it was not these people who impressed him, but British Prime Minister Disraeli, who said that there are no eternal friends, only eternal interests. It came out of his mouth. This famous saying is not found in "Ji Cheng". During Guo's envoyship, it was during the reign of Di Shi. Guo's praise of Britain certainly included his praise of Di Shi. However, when Guo praises Britain, it is mostly on an ideal level, and does not change even when interests are challenged. Afterwards

As soon as he arrived in Shanghai, he was faced with a choice: should he go north along the coast to report to the imperial court, or should he go westward along the Yangtze River and return to his hometown? Deep down in his heart, Guo Songtao had broken with the imperial court and of course he had to go back to his hometown! However, both Prince Gong and Li Hongzhang intended to arrange for him to return to Beijing in advance, so that the court would give him an explanation from beginning to end. But when he came back this time, he had a new consciousness and decided that in this system, Westernization was not enough to achieve anything, and he could not tolerate it. Anyone who opposed him and took it as his duty to scold him or insult him would immediately become famous and be punished. The imperial court reused it. He said: The imperial court relied on this technique to handle foreign affairs, and it was absolutely useless to follow it. It can only lead you from afar.

What he said happened to be in the third month of the fifth year of Guangxu, and is found in the "Correction and Addendum to the Chronicle of Mr. Guo Songtao". There is a folk saying among Chinese people that a leap month is unlucky. When an unlucky person returns in a leap month, before he reaches Changsha, someone will write to him to dissuade him, saying that it is not advisable for ships to go to Shenghe, but of course he ignores it. After all, he was still an imperial envoy, and he arrived in Changsha on a leave of absence, but no one came to greet him, so he had nothing to do.

A friend came and tried to persuade him not to talk about Westernization, but he pushed back: We must talk about it! If we don’t talk about Westernization, how can we protect the country? Wang Yun once told people that Guo Songtao should be the material for the country's affairs. Immediately there were so-called rumors in the public, saying that if Guo became prime minister, the world would be in chaos.

Guo Songtao passed away due to illness, and Yun Ji said: He was not in tune with his appearance, and his monstrous words were unfounded. The rumors are unfounded, but they have an impact.

Li Hongzhang petitioned the imperial court to grant him a posthumous title, but was rejected. It was said that Guo Songtao went to the West as an envoy and the books he wrote were quite inspiring. At that time, Emperor Guangxu had been in power for two years. Even the emperor who was passionate about Western learning did not dare to poke this hornet's nest of lies. So when the Boxer Rebellion broke out, some officials in the capital asked Guo's corpse to be killed to thank the world. Guo is not afraid of evil talk or becoming an enemy of the people. Having Li Hongzhang as his confidant is enough for his whole life!