"Shaoquan's talent is the closest to that of official documents, so he is superior to others in making consultations and writing letters. He will make extraordinary achievements in the future, and it is unknown whether a young man will surpass his predecessor." This is Zeng Guofan's evaluation of Li Hongzhang. Liang Qichao said, "I respect Li Hongzhang's talent, I cherish Li Hongzhang's knowledge, and I am saddened by Li Hongzhang's encounter." He also called him "a figure in the history of China for thousands of years" and "a figure in the world history of the 19th century." He said "1870 Since 2000, all major developments in China have been related to Li Hongzhang. If you don’t know Li Hongzhang, you cannot say you understand Chinese history.” In modern times, people in the late Qing Dynasty criticized: "Qin Hui is the traitor and Li Hongzhang is the one who harmed the country"! After Li Hongzhang's death, Yan Fu wrote an elegiac couplet, which said: "If you use all your plans throughout your life, your success may be more than that; if you can't see yourself in the evening, what will happen to scholars." Mao Zedong also commented with emotion on Li Hongzhang: " I look at the Li family in Hefei, "The water is shallow but the boat is big." The Japanese's evaluation of Li Hongzhang is: He knows the general trend of coming from the West, understands foreign civilizations, wants to imitate and strengthen himself, has excellent vision and agile skills. The Americans' evaluation is: As a scholar, he was outstanding; as a soldier, he made valuable contributions to the country in important battles; as a politician, he provided services to the people of the oldest and most populous country on earth. Recognized as having excellent facilities; as a diplomat, his achievements made him one of the best in the history of diplomacy. "Whenever the Manchu Qing government brought this huge empire to the brink of destruction, the only person they had to use was Li Hongzhang." . Precisely because Li Hongzhang was born in the darkest and most turbulent era of the Qing Dynasty, every time he appeared was when the country's survival was in danger, and the Qing Dynasty asked him to bear the most embarrassing things. Therefore, the people of the country were facing. When he curses and denounces, he must reflect deeply. In China, it is both easy and difficult to evaluate a person. In the long history of China, the most intense and colorful changes occurred in the second half of the 19th century. At the beginning of the 20th century, internal and external troubles were coming one after another, and various contradictions were intertwined. Li Hongzhang was a special historical figure who emerged in this special historical period. He was so powerful that he became a figure that could not be determined for a hundred years. .

Li Hongzhang (1823.2.15-1901.11.7), whose real name was Tongzhang, whose courtesy name was Jianfu (one character Zifu), and his nickname was Shaoquan (Quan). In his later years, he took the nickname Yisou and his nickname was Shengxin. , posthumously named Wenzhong. He was born in Modian, Dongxiang, Hefei (now Feidong County), so he was also known as "Mr. Li Er" among the people. He was an important military official in the late Qing Dynasty, the founder and commander of the Huai Army, and the main advocate of the Westernization Movement. The ancestors of the Li family, whose original surname was Xu, fled from Hukou, Jiangxi, to Hefei during the Ming Dynasty. For generations, the Li family made a living by farming and studying, but had no chance of achieving success in the imperial examination until Li Hongzhang's father, Li Wen'an, passed the imperial examination in the 18th year of Daoguang's reign (1838). Zeng Guofan had a close relationship with him. Li Hongzhang entered Jiaguan Dihua Bookstore at the age of six. He was a smart young man and studied classics and history under his uncle Fangxian and Xu Ziling, a famous scholar in Hefei. In 1847, he became a Jinshi. At the same time, he studied under Zeng Guofan and paid attention to the study of world affairs. In the third year of Xianfeng (1853), he was ordered to return to his hometown to conduct regiment training. In the winter of 1858, he joined the Zeng Guofan shogunate to assist in military affairs. In 1860, he took command of the Huaiyang Navy. After the Hunan Army occupied Anqing, he was recommended by Zeng Guofan for "great use" and ordered to recruit troops in the Fei area. In March 1862, Li Hongzhang's Huai Army was formally established during the Battle of Hongqiao. In November of this year, Li Hongzhang was appointed governor of Jiangsu on the recommendation of Zeng Guofan. . The Huai Army increased from more than 6,000 to 60,000 to 70,000 in two years, becoming a well-equipped and powerful local force in the Qing army. When Nanjing, the capital of the Taiping Army, was captured, Li Hongzhang was awarded the title of First-class Su. Earl Yi wears a pair of flower feathers. The later Huai clique warlord group gradually formed on this basis. Since the 1960s, Li Hongzhang actively prepared to build a new military industry, imitated foreign ships and cannons, and began to engage in the Westernization cause that advertised "self-improvement." Later, Zeng Guofan was appointed governor of Zhili and Minister of Commerce of Beiyang. From then on, he controlled Beiyang for 25 years. He also participated in taking charge of the diplomatic, military and economic power of the Qing government, becoming the most powerful frontier official in the late Qing Dynasty. Starting from the 1870s, Li Hongzhang further expanded the Westernization cause. In order to advertise "self-improvement" and "seeking wealth", he founded a series of civilian enterprises mainly in the form of "official-supervised commercial enterprises". At the same time, preparations were made for the Beiyang coastal defense, mainly outsourcing and supplemented by self-made, and the Beiyang Navy was built in the 14th year of Guangxu (1888). In order to cultivate the talents needed for "self-improvement" and "seeking wealth", various new schools were also established and students were sent to study in Europe and the United States. All these Westernization undertakings had a profound impact on the development of modern Chinese society. In 1895, the Qing government, which was defeated in the Sino-Japanese War of Sino-Japanese War, ordered Li Hongzhang to go to Japan to negotiate peace. On August 15, 1900, Beijing fell under siege by the Eight-Power Allied Forces in the name of protecting the embassy. The government and the imperial court fled only two months after declaring war on various countries. Li Hongzhang, who was the governor of Guangdong and Guangxi at the time, was reassigned to the highest position among the feudal ministers of the Qing Dynasty: governor of Zhili and minister of Beiyang. The imperial court required Li Hongzhang to go north to negotiate a peace with the foreigners who were attacking the country. On January 15, 1901, Li Hongzhang and Prince Qing signed the "Peace Outline" on behalf of the Qing Dynasty, occupying "China's financial and military resources."

On November 7, 1901, Li Hongzhang, who signed the famous unequal treaty in modern Chinese history - the "Xinchou Treaty" with 11 countries on behalf of the Qing Dynasty - died at the age of 78. He was given the posthumous title Wenzhong and was granted the title of first-class marquis in Jin Dynasty. Author of "The Complete Works of Duke Li Wenzhong".

Some of the early measures taken by Li Hongzhang were advanced and represented the future development direction of China. But as for the goal of China's "self-strengthening" that they wanted to achieve, it was simply impossible to achieve at that time. Because the core of Li Hongzhang's thinking is still to serve the Qing Dynasty and still hopes to retain feudal rule and the existing political structure, this means that the "modernization" he advocates is essentially a conservative modernization and cannot be realized. Liang Qichao hit the nail on the head when he said that Li Hongzhang "only understands foreign affairs and does not understand state affairs." This is the most backward aspect of his thinking and the source of his personal tragic life. Li Hongzhang's posthumous reputation, reputation, honor and disgrace all depended on this. In a sense, Li Hongzhang is one of the few tragic figures in Chinese history who failed to reverse the madness.

When people mention Li Hongzhang today, it is easy for people to associate him with some humiliating events in Chinese history in the later period of his life, such as the defeat of the Sino-Japanese War of 1894-1894, the Treaty of Shimonoseki and the Treaty of Xinchou. Sign and so on. Due to his direct participation in these events, Li Hongzhang inevitably became the target of verbal and written criticism, and became a symbol of national humiliation and a typical representative of "capitulationists" and "traitors". But if we examine the historical truth and ask "Why is it always Li Hongzhang who appears on such occasions and not others?", we will find that the answer to the question is exactly the opposite. In fact, Li Hongzhang was not pursuing a traitorous line. He hoped to achieve China's goal of "self-improvement" through the Westernization Movement. Qichao said, "I have never seen any comparable Chinese Westernization people." However, China at that time did not have the conditions for "self-improvement" at all, which led to the ultimate failure of his career and was also the fundamental reason for his ruin.

Let us examine these events in detail, which all occurred in the last few years of his life. In 1894, during the Sino-Japanese War of 1894, Japan easily wiped out the "Beiyang Navy", China's only naval fleet at the time, and the whole country was in an uproar, accusing Li Hongzhang of making mistakes in his command. But when we look back and think about it, without Li Hongzhang’s hard work, the Beiyang Navy would not exist at all. It was his suggestion to establish a new type of navy. He did everything possible to ensure the supply of navy funds. He sent navy officers abroad for training. He personally went to the dock to inspect every ironclad ship purchased by the fleet from abroad. But such a fleet that he spent countless efforts on was easily defeated in the end. Li Hongzhang's operational command errors may be one reason, but don't there be other inevitable factors? The trend of the times tells us that the outcome of this war was actually determined before the war. Furthermore, if it were not for Li Hongzhang's Beiyang Navy, China's defeat might have happened many years ago. As for why it was Li Hongzhang who came forward to sign the "Shimonoseki Treaty" and "Xinchou Treaty" that were humiliating and humiliating to the country, the reason is even simpler: in the huge China, other than him, there is no other official who knows how to negotiate diplomatically. After the defeat of the Sino-Japanese War, Li Hongzhang, as a representative of the Qing government, went to Tokyo for armistice negotiations, and finally signed the Treaty of Shimonoseki, agreeing to cede Taiwan to Japan. This is certainly unforgivable, but "when the army pressed on the border, To swallow my words" (Liang Qichao's words), such a result would probably be difficult to avoid for others. After the signing of the "Xinchou Treaty", Li Hongzhang became even more passive. At that time, the Eight-Power Allied Forces occupied Beijing, and the Qing government hurriedly fled westward. As it was escaping, it remembered Li Hongzhang, who was in his eighties and had been out of power for nearly five years, and ordered him to go to Beijing to preside over negotiations with the Eight Powers and clean up the mess in Beijing. Everyone knew that this appointment was extremely dangerous and had no personal benefit. However, out of consideration for serving the country (Qing Dynasty), Li Hongzhang decided to go north and died in Beijing a few months after the negotiations.

It can be seen that a large part of Li Hongzhang's notoriety was "self-inflicted". If he had not actively promoted "self-improvement" measures, he might not be responsible for these incidents. He not only shouldered his personal responsibility, but also shared the bad reputation of the decadent Qing Dynasty. Li Hongzhang was unfortunately chosen by history as the main individual to bear China's failure in the nineteenth century, not because of his incompetence and traitorousness, but precisely because he had to bear the resulting responsibilities if he wanted to change the fate of the country. Defending everything Li Hongzhang did is not the main purpose of this article. There are already many papers and monographs on this aspect. I was just thinking that it has been a hundred years since his death. If we were not able to fully evaluate his "self-improvement" measures during his lifetime, then now we should be able to objectively evaluate their huge impact on China in the twentieth century. We cannot just see the fruits and forget the beginning

Li Hongzhang became a scholar and joined the army. When the great powers were surrounded and the country was weak, he strongly felt the impact of Western advanced science, technology and military equipment on China. threats. Therefore, he realized that poverty leads to change, and change leads to prosperity. It can be said that his "view of change" was earlier than that of Kang and Liang. He later devoted himself to almost all the emerging and adventurous undertakings of the Qing government, such as industry, transportation, mining, education, etc., and accomplished many practical things. This New Deal, which later historians called the "Westernization Movement", had a huge impact on modern Chinese society. The West regarded it as the starting point of China's modernization. Li Hongzhang is a complex person.

He believed that compared with Western powers, China was poor and weak. Once a dispute broke out, it would be difficult to gain the upper hand, and even more difficult to win a decisive victory on the battlefield. He proposed that "under the current situation, we must be peaceful externally and reform internally." His thoughts included loyalty to the emperor and the country. He took charge of Westernization, established modern enterprises, and founded the Beiyang Navy. He also tried to enrich the country and strengthen its military, and gradually reverse the unfavorable external situation. Li Hongzhang was also a generation of diplomats. His diplomatic characteristics were: 1. He must be friendly on the outside, gain understanding and tolerance from others through compromise and concessions, and get along peacefully in exchange for time for recuperation and development; 2. Use foreigners to control foreigners, which in essence is Sacrifice partial interests to "friendly countries" in exchange for restraint on "enemy countries"; 3. Believe in the binding force of international law. As an important minister of the DPRK, he will maximize the realization of national interests with strategy and strong will based on actual conditions.

Throughout the Qing Dynasty for more than 200 years, Li Hongzhang made an exception for Han people and appointed the bachelor of Wenhua Palace as the chief minister. Wearing three-eyed feathers. In the troubled times unprecedented in thousands of years, he supported the crisis and shouldered the weight of the world. He holds a high and powerful position, and is richest in the world. He has gone through all the hardships in officialdom and enjoyed all the prosperity in the world. He is not afraid of the world's curses, has the courage to do his job, and remains an official for a long time. He is loyal to the emperor, but he also knows that there is a way to resist. Recognize utility and gain regardless of fame and integrity, and consider talents regardless of character. "Standing the Scriptures" was a secret discussion between Zeng Guofan and Li Hongzhang on how to deal with adversity. When in good times, work hard; when in adversity, stand firm and wait for changes.

These noble qualities of life are worth learning from us as future generations

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