Throughout Li Hongzhang's life, there were many remarkable things, but under the imperial power system, his ambitions were not realized. This is a national and personal tragedy. Li Hongzhang was an elite of that era.
The posthumous evaluation of Li Hongzhang is very complicated. Mr. Gao Yang, the master of history, believes, "I can say responsibly: Li Hongzhang was indeed a traitor bribed by the Russian Empire! The evidence is irrefutable. If Li's immediate family members accuse me I am willing to take full legal responsibility for defaming his ancestors." For specific content, please refer to Mr. Gao Yang's "Tongguang Da Lao? Who presented the picture of Dukang when the city was cut off".
A great weapon of the country, rarely seen in a century
After the founding of the People's Republic of China, the evaluation of Li Hongzhang was very biased, and Li Hongzhang was often portrayed as a traitor. This view is inconsistent with history.
Li Hongzhang enjoys a high reputation internationally. When Li Hongzhang visited the United States in 1896, an American reporter described it this way: His face had a striking kind expression, his eyes were bright and sparkling with wisdom, and his eyes contained humor and wit. He wore a pair of old-fashioned hard-framed glasses, his cheekbones were high but not thin, and his dark skin looked very strong... He never looked arrogant. He is the kind of person who never asks for anything from others, but always gets it. He could talk easily without making the person he was talking to nervous... He was especially polite to women and fond of children.
When Li Hongzhang paid homage to General Grant’s mausoleum, the Americans were even more impressed. They described it this way: ...the behavior of this distinguished guest was very touching. He stood up straight reverently and spoke with great sadness. The voice murmured: "Farewell." His thoughts returned to the scene when he met with General Grant 17 years ago. At that time, they had a harmonious conversation, because like the general, he had been on the battlefield for a long time to save the motherland. His farewell ceremony caught his entourage and American escorts by surprise. However, this is the most sincere eulogy and the most meaningful farewell full of respect: "Farewell, my brother!" - The standard, courtesy and popularity of the reception Li Hongzhang received in the United States were unparalleled when he later visited None of the beautiful Chinese leaders such as Deng Xiaoping, *** and others can compare with them. Li Hongzhang's friendliness to the Americans and the favor he gained from the Americans were finally rewarded in the subsequent negotiations on the Eight-Nation Allied Forces incident.
However, Li Hongzhang would not give up any opportunity to fight for the rights of Chinese immigrants in the United States. After his visit to the United States, he deliberately avoided the western United States and chose Canada as his route back home, which caused attracted the attention of American reporters and interviewed him on the matter. Li Hongzhang took the opportunity to ask the American media to help Chinese immigrants: "...I only hope that the American press can help Chinese immigrants. I know that newspapers have a great influence in this country, and I hope that the entire press can help Chinese immigrants and call for Repeal the Chinese Exclusion Act, or at least make major changes to the Gurley Act...Chinese immigrants in places like California who have not been able to obtain their rights under the U.S. Constitution are asking me to help get their U.S. immigration status fully recognized. And enjoy the rights they deserve as immigrants in the United States. However, your "Greece Law" not only does not give them the same rights as immigrants from other countries, but also refuses to protect their legal rights and interests. Therefore, I do not like to treat my compatriots in this way. place... The Chinese Exclusion Act is the most unfair bill in the world... Aren't you very proud of being Americans? Your country represents the highest modern civilization in the world, and you are also proud of your democracy and freedom. Proud, but is your Chinese Exclusion Act free for the Chinese? This is not freedom! ... I believe that the American press can help Chinese immigrants to cancel the Chinese Exclusion Act."
Li Hongzhang. Many efforts were made to abolish the opium trade imposed on the Chinese. To this end, on August 27, 1894, they met with the British Joseph G. Alexander, executive secretary of the World Anti-Smoking League. The London Daily News at the time said It was reported: "... He claimed in the strongest language that the Chinese government was as strongly opposed to the opium trade as ever. This trade was imposed on China by the great powers through war, and the Chinese government was not allowed to allow Indian opium to enter the mainland according to the treaty. ... Li The governor finally made it clear: You may understand that if you stop poisoning my people, we will immediately prohibit their access to opium.
When I (Joseph) told him that the British Parliament had voted to appoint a special committee to come to China to investigate whether opium was really as harmful as some people alleged, he replied angrily: 'Absolutely ridiculous! ’ He seemed to be very angry and contemptuous. He softened his tone and said, ‘Everyone knows that opium is harmful. ’ When I stood up to leave, he was still kind and praised the kindness shown by British citizens in warm words to rid China of opium. "The secretary also expressed emotion at the end of the interview: ...Chinese politicians reflect the peace-loving spirit of this country's people. If any means to stop war can be found, it is impossible for them to endorse war for revenge." Continuing. (The above information comes from the contemporary "New York Times") ---The opium trade was banned by the British Parliament.
Li Hongzhang was also recognized by outstanding figures of his generation, such as (during the Boxer Rebellion). Zhang Zhidong, who was the governor of Huguang during the war, came forward to discuss countermeasures with the ministers. If Beijing was not protected, if the Queen Mother and the emperor were killed in the war, the central government would collapse and the country would fall into complete disorder. Under such circumstances, the ministers gathered together and unanimously elected Li Hongzhang as the "president" of China to preside over the overall situation. China almost expelled the Manchus and ended peace in advance.
Li Hongzhang valued Western science and sent out the Qing Dynasty. China's first batch of international students went to the United States to learn modern scientific and technological knowledge. This group of international students were admitted to prestigious schools such as Yale. Zhan Tianyou was the representative of this group of students. In addition, China's telegraph industry was also pioneered by this group of students, Li Hongzhang. For example, he once convened a symposium with a group of young officials who had returned from studying abroad. He suddenly became interested in mathematics. He caught a foreign student and asked him what a "parabola" was. The young man took a lot of effort to explain it from functions to equations. For a long time, Li Hongzhang was still confused. The foreign student became anxious and said: "Master Zhongtang, are you peeing?" Li Hongzhang didn't know why, so he replied: "Sure, of course." The international student then explained: "That's right, Master Zhongtang, the urine you urinate is a parabola!" "Li Hongzhang suddenly realized that he couldn't laugh or cry.
Even the American Harvard sinologist Mr. Fairbank Fairbank, who spent most of his life trying to deny the existence of "imperialism" in China, finally found his conscience in his later years and said something. To be fair: "Part of the reason why the great powers failed to 'split China' is because China is good at cleverly using (we still lack research on this method) one country to contain another country. "And this kind of figure who cleverly used one country to contain another country (Tradition) to prevent the Eight-Power Allied Forces from dismembering China was Li Hongzhang.
Li Hongzhang should be responsible for the failure of the Sino-Japanese War of 1894-1895, but the root cause of the defeat was It's not about him personally. Because the outcome of the battle between industrialized Japan and agriculturalized China was decided before the war.
Li Hongzhang was the most outstanding diplomat in the late Qing Dynasty, and he devoted the rest of his life to China. In terms of diplomacy, although almost all traitorous treaties had his signature, he had already tried his best as a diplomat in the international environment at that time. The failure of all foreign relations negotiations was due to China's corrupt politics at that time. system, poor economic foundation and weak international status, and all of this is ultimately due to the Manchu royal family headed by Cixi. In order to cover up their incompetence, these people can only blame all the blame on the subordinates who directly stepped in to do things. ——Li Hongzhang. In the nearly 100 years since the Second Opium War until the founding of New China, generations of Chinese diplomats led by Li Hongzhang have used the complicated international environment to do everything possible to maintain the national spirit of the Chinese nation. , maintaining the overall integrity of China's national system, preventing China from being completely colonized like other countries in South Asia, and retaining a solid foundation for the rise and rejuvenation of the Chinese nation.