In the late Qing Dynasty, Li Hongzhang became the most prominent person in the empire. On the one hand, he held the wealth and power of the empire through the foreign affairs movement, and on the other hand, he mastered the most powerful sea power of the Qing Empire through the Beiyang Marine Division. To put it bluntly, if Li Hongzhang wanted to turn the heavens upside down at that time, then Cixi really couldn't help Li Hongzhang.
Logically, such a noble figure as Li Hongzhang, his family should also enjoy glory. But it is strange that Li Hongzhang actually married his 22-year-old daughter to a 40-year-old convicted minister.
This minister was not only very old, but had just been abandoned by Cixi, and was scolded by the people of the whole country. But Li Hongzhang just picked him as his son-in-law and helped him get out of the most difficult days. So the question is, how could Li Hongzhang, who has so much power, give his daughter to an old man who seemed to be a waste at the time?
Regarding the history of Li Hongzhang, we have more or less learned about it from TV dramas and main history, not to mention how comprehensive, but basically all the information has revealed to us a message, that is, Li Hongzhang is a very powerful person, and he is also a very conceited person.
As the history books say, when Li Hongzhang was still just a cloth, he dared to confront his teacher Zeng Guofan. Later, when he became a heavy minister, he treated his old opponent, Zhang Zhidong, always struck hard, leaving no mercy at all.
It can be said that Li Hongzhang is not only very proud, but also can't rub sand in his eyes. According to the routine in the TV series, if such a father wants to marry a daughter, then the son-in-law will definitely be very embarrassed. On the one hand, it is definitely necessary to be in the right place with Lord Li, and on the other hand, it will be difficult for Li Zhongtang, and it may be that a marriage will become a tragedy.
But the truth is not so, in terms of marrying his daughter, Li Hongzhang not only did not pay attention to the right door, but also married very casually and generously. How generous is it? It doesn't matter if the son-in-law is a sinner, it doesn't matter if the son-in-law is a waste, even if the son-in-law has been married twice, and the age is twenty years older than the daughter, it still doesn't matter. I have to say that Li Hongzhang's performance of marrying his daughter is incomprehensible to modern people. So the question is, who is the legendary figure who can make Li Zhongtang so liberalize the criteria for choosing a son-in-law?
This legendary figure is called Zhang Peilun, a famous Qingliu in the late Qing Dynasty. According to historical records, Empress Dowager Cixi reused The Qingliu to rule the country in order to attack the Western faction of the Six Princes.
However, although he is a member of the Qing School, Zhang Peilun is not a dead brain, but a practical talent like Zhang Xiangshuai. Faced with the complicated domestic situation at that time, this Lord Zhang resolutely opposed the blind compromise of foreigners, as he said, seeking peace with peace can only be bullied by others, and seeking peace through war can only seek true peace.
Especially in the face of the French invasion of Vietnam that year, the Manchu Dynasty Wenwu said that they would surrender and compromise, and it was not impossible to abandon Vietnam. However, this Zhang daren firmly believes that France has just been defeated by the Franco-Prussian War, so its strength is not good. And France is nowhere near Vietnam. Therefore, Zhang Peilun firmly advocated seeking peace through war, and as long as the Qing Dynasty persisted to the end, it would certainly be able to defeat the French.
In the face of such a main battle faction figure, Empress Dowager Cixi was naturally extremely happy, because at that time, the main and factions were too powerful, and everyone did not make mistakes as much as possible, there was really no practical talent, and Zhang Peilun's appearance was really too conspicuous.
As a result, Zhang Peilun was promoted to Sanpinguan and was responsible for managing the Mawei Shipyard, preparing for war with the French. However, the sad thing is that Empress Dowager Cixi issued a strict order, all officers are not allowed to take the initiative to attack, and the enemy must not move, otherwise whoever dares to move will cut off your head even if they win.
When Cixi gave this order, Zhang Peilun was immediately numb, and he didn't know what to do next. Then the French saw the opportunity to harass all kinds, but did not directly invade, and after thoroughly understanding the details of the Qing army, they brazenly launched an attack, resulting in the collapse of the Qing army's Mawei Shipyard, and the Fujian Marine Division became history.
In this way, Zhang Peilun lost badly, and Empress Dowager Cixi turned her face and did not recognize anyone, pushed all the faults on him, completely removed him from office, and everyone scolded him as a traitor and a waste, and the shame was thrown abroad.
It should be said that at this time, Zhang Peilun was like a rat crossing the street, everyone shouted and beat, and he did not seem to see any political future.
But it was such a coincidence that just when Zhang Peilun was humiliated by various kinds, Li Hongzhang had been watching from the side. It turned out that Li Hongzhang had long taken a fancy to this person and felt that he was a very talented and capable person. Coupled with the fact that at that time, he resolutely led the battle in the imperial court, was reasonable, had the courage and responsibility, and Li Hongzhang greatly appreciated him. Therefore, he witnessed this man's transformation from hero to waste, knew that the fault was not on him, and wanted to promote him.
What is more interesting is that Li Hongzhang not only included him under his command, but also married his 22-year-old daughter directly to him in 1888. This scene made many people dare not believe that At that time, Li Hongzhang's younger daughter Li Jurong was just 22 years old, just a young girl of wonderful age, and she was very expensive. And Zhang Peilun has a decadent look, and he is more than 40 years old, and the two do not match.
However, li Hongzhang, despite the opposition of everyone, firmly believes that the son-in-law he chose is very talented, and even the same kind of person as himself, and he will definitely be able to have a career in the future. So the marriage between the two was done, under the eyes of everyone.
Li Hongzhang's move saved Zhang Peilun's life, he was no longer decadent and no longer afraid, and with the help of his wife, he walked out of the predicament of life and became a great talent.
It is worth mentioning that although Zhang Peilun did not have greater achievements later, he and Li Zhongtang's daughter gave birth to a son Zhang Zhiyi, and Zhang Zhiyi married Huang Yifan, the granddaughter of Admiral Huang Yisheng, and gave birth to a very famous daughter with her, this person is the female writer Zhang Ailing.
Seeing this, we suddenly realized that the history of that year was so ingenious, a most honorable minister of the dynasty, a downcast elderly Qingliu, and even a young girl in the boudoir, who actually went around and interpreted history in a wonderful way, and finally became what we know.
I have to say that life is so ingenious, we never know what will become in the next moment, I am afraid that even Li Hongzhang did not expect such a result.
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