I respect Li Hongzhang's talent, I cherish Li Hongzhang's knowledge, and I mourn Li Hongzhang's encounter. ——Liang Qichao
Speaking of Li Hongzhang, if you have studied modern history, you will not be unfamiliar. As a famous figure in the late Qing Dynasty, he is a figure that cannot be avoided in modern history.
Later generations of people polarized his evaluations, and those who supported him said that he had made great achievements in foreign affairs, diplomacy, and politics, and even risked his life to personally go to Maguan to sign the treaty, during which even if he was stabbed, he insisted on negotiating with Japan to reduce China's reparations by 100 million.
His various achievements can be described as "recreating the xuanhuang man"!
In their view, none of Li Hongzhang's exploits were successful, and he actively formed a navy, resulting in the total annihilation of the Beiyang Dynasty; actively handling foreign affairs, and as a result, he was full of personal pockets, and the prime minister hefei was thin; and he mediated with the great powers, resulting in the signing of many traitorous treaties.
All kinds of merits are not worth mentioning, it is better to say that he is a "paste paper maker" - one thing has not been done!
Li Hongzhang knew that his reputation was mixed, and in exchange for peace, he instructed his descendants not to care about the mouths of future generations, and let them say that it was right or wrong.
But Li Hongzhang did not expect in his dreams that even after his own death, there would be no peace.
In 1958, his body was exhumed and hung on a tractor for public display. So, why do people dig up Li Hongzhang's body? Where did his body end up?
First, the young man marched in peace, and the Huai Army became famous in the First World War
Li Hongzhang, born in 1823 in Hefei, Anhui, came from a family of eunuchs. The young Li Hongzhang is talented, 17 years old in the middle of the talent, 21 years old in the middle of the people. When he was 23 years old, Zeng Guofan saw that he was tall and dignified, and felt that he would have great potential in the future, so he included Li Hongzhang in his account.
After entering Zeng Guofan's tent, he followed Zeng Guofan on his southern expedition to the north and mastered how to march and fight. In 1850, the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom broke out, and the rebel army was like a bamboo, conquering several cities in succession.
Shocked, the government and the opposition sent Zeng Guofan to quell the chaos.
How to face the tricky Taiping Army? Zeng Guofan was well aware that the green camp army's combat effectiveness was low, and it would collapse with one blow. So he decided to train the local army.
Zeng Guofan asked Li Hongzhang to return to Anhui to plan the troops and take charge of regimental training in case of emergency.
Li Hongzhang was a scholar who led his troops to fight without rules and often fought rashly. However, after the regimental training, he studied with his predecessors and gradually learned how to march and fight.
Li Hongzhang later formed the Huai Army on the experience accumulated during the regimental training period.
In 1860, the Taiping Army broke through the Jiangnan camp, and the Jiangnan area was dangerous. Zeng Guofan decided to let Li Hongzhang form the Huai Army to rescue Shanghai. I just wanted to form a Huai army, but I couldn't recruit the right generals.
Forming the Huai Army was more difficult than expected, and just when Li Hongzhang was worried about this, a person came to the door and brought hope to Li Hongzhang
。
This person once served as an aide under Li Hongzhang's father, and he often assisted Li Hongzhang when he was practicing in the Anhui regiment. Hearing that Li Hongzhang returned to Anhui to form an army, he came with his compatriots to join him, and the people who came with him were Wu Changqing, Liu Mingchuan, and others, who later became the right-hand men of the Huai army. The Huai Army was initially established.
The Huai Army is similar to the Xiang Army, and the main body of the army is the old family, either relatives with the same surname and hometown, or friends, classmates, and protégés of the hometown. They are cohesive because of their relationships, and they are strong in combat because they are equipped with advanced weapons.
In 1862, Li Hongzhang already had 9,000 men under his command, and he led these men to support Shanghai.
Due to poor traffic and long distances, the Huai Army, who had just arrived in Shanghai, looked at them and laughed loudly.
"All laugh and mean a beggar.". However, I did not expect that the combat effectiveness of these "beggars" was so amazing.
In the half year after arriving in Shanghai, the 9,000 Huai army fought three battles with the enemy, three battles and three victories.
Li Hongzhang was a vicious and ruthless man, showing no mercy to the defeated Taiping Army, and the Taiping Army in the city was discouraged and eventually defeated the powerful Taiping Army.
This battle brought out Li Hongzhang's prestige, and people at home and abroad praised him greatly. Since then, Li Hongzhang has adopted a series of measures to gain a firm foothold in Shanghai, expanding from the original 9,000 to 60,000 or 70,000 people, becoming a local army with strong combat effectiveness in the Qing army.
Zeng Guofan did not look away at first, and Li Hongzhang really had great potential in the future. Starting from the Huai Army, he made great achievements in the process of countering the Rebellion against the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, and since then he has been in a peaceful state and presided over the foreign affairs movement.
During the Foreign Affairs Movement, he actively formed the Beiyang Navy, developed the modern military industry, and opened up China's modern industrialization.
However, the heroes who galloped through the official arena and engaged in foreign affairs in the chaotic era of the late Qing Dynasty actually planted a diplomatic heel?
2. The death of zhongtang, sleeping in Hefei
The Qing Dynasty was poor and weak, repeatedly defeated in battles against the great powers, and was forced to sign many unequal treaties.
Li Hongzhang signed the treaty on behalf of the Qing government, and for a time the crowd was full of emotions accusing Li Hongzhang of "betraying the country" and "treasonous thief"!
But there was nothing they could do, because the great powers only recognized Li Hongzhang, and in the eyes of the great Powers, only Li Hongzhang could negotiate with them at the same table, and other Qing officials had no credibility to speak of.
In 1900, the Eight-Nation Alliance invaded China, the Qing army was defeated, and Empress Dowager Cixi was forced to flee.
Forced by the military pressure of the great powers, the Qing government had no choice but to send Li Hongzhang to negotiate with the foreigners.
In 1901, on behalf of the Qing government, Li Hongzhang signed the Treaty of Xinugu with the great powers of 11 countries. The unequal treaty made the people of the whole country angry and scolded Li Hongzhang: "Qin Juniper, the traitor, and Li Hongzhang, the wrong country!" ”
After Li Hongzhang signed the treaty, he fell ill in bed. On his sickbed, he left a "dying poem" to the descendants of his family: "The overseas dust atmosphere is still unencumbered, and the kings are not waiting to look at it." After that, Li Hongzhang's illness worsened, and he lay on the bed without saying a word. On November 7, 1901, Li Hongzhang died at the age of 78.
After learning of Li Hongzhang's death, Empress Dowager Cixi gave Li Hongzhang great honor and let him be buried in a beautiful way. According to Li Hongzhang's wishes, he wanted to place the cemetery in Daxing Town, Hefei. Daxing Town is home to many literati cemeteries, not only zhang Desheng, the Duke of Caiguo of the Ming Dynasty, but also Bao Zheng, a famous minister of the Song Dynasty.
Li Hongzhang originally imagined that he could sleep here with the literati after his death. But this sleep did not last long before it was broken.
Third, after death, tranquility is uncertain, digging graves for steelmaking
After Li Hongzhang's death, the war broke out, the land of China was continuously golden, the original house was demolished as a bunker, and Li Hongzhang's cemetery was affected and became dilapidated.
In 1958, the whole country set off a boom in large-scale steelmaking, because new China was poor and white, so it called on everyone to contribute iron and make steel for the country. Li Hongzhang's cemetery became one of the targets.
Many people think that Li Hongzhang has accumulated countless wealth before his death, and his descendants are glorious and rich, and there must be a lot of gold and silver treasure hidden in the cemetery, which can be used to buy iron! With the consent of the superiors, people began to excavate Li Hongzhang's cemetery.
The cemetery was impregnable, and people struggled so hard that they could not pry open the door. Therefore, they did not care about protecting the cemetery, so they used gunpowder to explode the burial chamber.
According to the parties' recollections, the tomb was empty, with only two coffins. When the coffin was opened, it was found that it contained a pair of glasses, a cane and a sword. There was nothing but seven gold coins.
There is a wooden box inside the coffin, and when the wooden box is opened, two "gold bricks" are found. People didn't get happy for long, and experts said it was brass, not real gold.
Disappointed, the people sent the gold bricks to the museum for safekeeping, and gave the sword to a cultural person to keep.
So what should be done with the exhumed li hongzhang's body?
Some local people have been squeezed by Li Hongzhang's family, and they are angry with Li Hongzhang and grit their teeth.
It is proposed that this "traitor" parade through the streets! In response, everyone hung Li Hongzhang's bones on the tractor and began to parade the streets. The bones of the decaying corpses, unable to withstand the bumps, soon scattered on the ground and disappeared.
Later, Li Hongzhang's descendants funded the renovation of Li Hongzhang's cemetery. However, because Li Hongzhang's corpse could not be found, he had to make a crown tomb. Every year, it attracts a lot of people to visit.
brief summary:
Li Hongzhang is a contradictory person, some people support it, and some people oppose it. But in essence, as a feudal landlord, he is doomed to speak out for the people, and his starting point and foothold are always his own interests.
From the perspective of the state, he was successful, he continued to live for the Qing Dynasty through traitors, bribery, etc., but from the perspective of the people, he was a failure, in order to win he could ignore life, for selfish interests he could make profits in the name of foreign affairs.
In the face of the poor people, he struck hard, peaceful taiping, destroyed the twist army, and faced the Western foreigners, but he only promised, paid compensation to the land, and lost his power and humiliated the country. These are the two sides of Li Hongzhang, one side is weak, the other side is poisonous!
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