Since the Opium War in 184, the Qing government in China has become increasingly decadent, squeezing the people at home, and those in power are not enterprising; It's really sad to cede territory and pay compensation to the outside world and humiliate the country.

In such a harsh domestic and foreign political environment, four outstanding ministers such as Zhang Zhidong, Zuo Zongtang, Zeng Guofan and Li Hongzhang appeared in the late Qing Dynasty.

Zhang Zhidong

Zhang Zhidong is like

Zhang Zhidong (1837-199), whose word is Xiao Da, whose name is Xiang Tao, and he is also the governor, so people called him "Zhang Xiangshuai" at that time. In his early years, Zhang Zhidong was the leader of the Qing school, and later he was called the main representative of the Westernization School. In terms of education in the late Qing Dynasty, it founded many schools, such as Ziqiang School (predecessor of Wuhan University), Sanjiang Normal School (predecessor of Nanjing University), Hubei Agricultural School (predecessor of Huazhong Agricultural University), Hubei Polytechnic School (predecessor of Wuhan University of Technology, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan University of Science and Technology) and so on. Politically, he advocated that "middle school is the body and western learning is the use"; In industry, Hanyang Iron Works, Daye Iron Mine and Hubei Gun Works were established, among which Hanyang Iron Works was the earliest government-run iron and steel enterprise in modern China, and the first and largest iron and steel joint enterprise in China at that time. Since then, China's iron and steel industry has been hobbled and regarded by the west as a symbol of China's awakening.

Zuo Zongtang

Zuo Zongtang's portrait

Zuo Zongtang (1812-1885), Han nationality, was a farmer in Hunan. In the late Qing Dynasty, he was an important minister, a strategist, a politician, a famous general of Xiang Army, and one of the representatives of Westernization School. He has experienced important historical events such as the Hunan Army's pacification of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, the Westernization Movement, the pacification of the chaos in Shaanxi and Gansu, the recovery of Xinjiang and the establishment of Xinjiang Province. After the suppression of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, it advocated reducing the number of soldiers and increasing their salaries, and stepping up training. In 1866 (the fifth year of Tongzhi reign), Shangshu invited a bureau to supervise the shipbuilding, which was approved for trial operation. That is, a shipyard was set up in Mawei, Fuzhou, and personnel were sent abroad to buy machines and ship troughs, and Qiushi Tang Art Bureau (also known as Ship Administration School) was established to cultivate shipbuilding technology and naval talents. A year later, Fuzhou Shipping Bureau (also known as Mawei Shipping Bureau) officially started construction, becoming the first new shipyard in China.

Zeng Guofan

Zeng Guofan, like

Zeng Guofan (1811-1872), is one of the most influential figures in the history of China. An important minister in the late Qing Dynasty, the founder and commander-in-chief of Xiang Army. Military strategist, Neo-Confucianism, politician, calligrapher and writer in Qing Dynasty, the founder of the "Xiangxiang School" of prose in late Qing Dynasty. Zeng Guofan pursued patience as the first priority in his life, and advocated that everything should be diligent and frugal, and he should not be proud of being an official. At Zeng Guofan's initiative, he built the first ship in China, established the first ordnance school, printed and translated the first batch of western books, and arranged the first batch of students studying in the United States. It can be said that Zeng Guofan was the pioneer of China's modernization construction. Historians have different opinions on Zeng Guofan, just as Zhang Binglin, a geek in the Revolution of 1911, has different opinions on Zeng Guofan. In the past century, there have been many people who praised Zeng Guofan, and there have been many people who scolded him. Chairman Mao once commented: Foolish than approachable, he took Ceng Wenzheng alone and watched him clean up the battle of Hongyang, which was perfect. If you change your position with today's people, can it be as perfect as that? (From Mao Zedong's letter to li jinxi on August 23, 1917 (see "Mao Zedong's Early Manuscripts", Hunan Publishing House, July 199)

Li Hongzhang

Li Hongzhang's image

Li Hongzhang (1823-191), a famous official in the late Qing Dynasty, whose real name was Zhang Tong, whose word gradually became fu or Zi Fu [f ú One of the main leaders of the Westernization Movement, a native of Hefei, Anhui Province, is often called "Li Zhongtang" in the world. Because of his second career, he is also called "Mr. Li Er" among the people.

Li Hongzhang was the founder and commander-in-chief of Huai Army and Beiyang Navy, the leader of Westernization Movement, and an important official in the late Qing Dynasty. He established the first Western-style Navy Beiyang Navy in China. During his life, he participated in a series of major historical events, including the suppression of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom Movement, the suppression of the Nian Army Uprising, the Westernization Movement, the Sino-Japanese War, etc., and signed a series of unequal treaties on behalf of the Qing government, such as the Vietnam Treaty, the treaty of shimonoseki, the Sino-French Concise Treaty, and the Xin Chou Treaty. Japanese Prime Minister Hirofumi Ito regarded him as "the only person in the Qing Empire who has the ability to compete with the world powers", German Navy Minister Conard called him "Oriental Bismarck", and Empress Dowager Cixi regarded him as "the person who recreated the Xuan Huang Zhi". Together with Zeng Guofan, Zhang Zhidong and Zuo Zongtang, they are called "four famous ministers of ZTE". After his death, he was posthumously awarded to Tai Fu, Jin Yi, Su Yi Hou and Shi Wenzhong.

The world's comments on Li Hongzhang are mixed, which is more because he signed a number of unequal treaties on behalf of the decadent Qing government at that time. However, under the background of China's backwardness at that time, he tried his best to safeguard China's interests and argued for it, but he was helpless in the weakness of the country and had to accept the humiliating demands of the powers.