"Li Hongzhang's merits and demerits", how should posterity comment now? After signing a final agreement with the representatives of the eleven powers in place of the late Qing government, Li Hongzhang never stood up again. Compared with the shot in the face when the "Maguan Treaty" was signed, it seems that this time is the real catastrophe in Li Hongzhang's life.
Entering the late Qing Dynasty since modern times, many celebrities have emerged in this era, but there are really few characters who have always been floating in the political pattern of the late Qing Dynasty. Among them, I think only Li Hongzhang and Li Zhongtang have won the "victory on the cusp of the storm", and although the others have had an impact on the country and the people, they are still slightly inferior to Li Hongzhang's influence on future generations. Li Hongzhang can be regarded as "the top figure on the pyramid of the late Qing Dynasty", in addition, there is another big figure, compared to Li Hongzhang, it is not bad, but the evaluation of her by posterity is a scolding, that is, the actual ruler of the late Qing Dynasty, the highest "strong woman" standing on the pyramid - Empress Dowager Cixi.
Li Hongzhang and Empress Dowager Cixi
Li Hongzhang stepped into the background of the high-level political pattern of the late Qing Dynasty
The treaty of the late Qing Dynasty that lost power and humiliated the country must be signed, but who to send to sign it is a question, is it because Li Hongzhang is the representative of the late Qing Dynasty that he has been scolded by thousands of generations of "sinners throughout the ages"? What are you asking? Li Hongzhang does not go, who goes? At that time, China was represented by the government of the late Qing Dynasty, and if the government of the late Qing Dynasty wanted to continue to maintain feudal rule, it had to bow to the aggressive powers and sign many treaties that humiliated the country.
In the thirty years that Prince Gong Yishi was not seized power by Empress Dowager Cixi, from the one crow and two crows to the Sino-French War, from the Treaty of Nanjing to the Treaty of Beijing, it was signed by this Prince Gong.
After Prince Gong was dismissed from his post, Li Hongzhang, who was then the governor of Directly Subordinate and minister of Beiyang, was pulled by Empress Dowager Cixi into the diplomatic seat that the country relied on at that time, and began to embark on the road of signing the "Treaty of Maguan" with Japan and the "Xinugu Treaty" with eleven countries.
Li Hongzhang stills
If Li Hongzhang is afraid of the spit of the people of the country, then he can not go, Empress Dowager Cixi will at most divide his five horses into nine tribes, but even so, if he is replaced by someone else, whether Li Hongzhang has the ability to say it first, it will still cause posterity to spit on him! Li Hongzhang was able to use "one shot" to win "one hundred million taels of silver." At that time, who in the world would have this skill?
Therefore, the saying that "Li Hongzhang is a traitor" that has always been criticized by the people can really be stopped, although in other aspects, Li Hongzhang may not have done the right thing, such as "shrinking and hiding and preserving strength" in the Sino-Japanese War, but we should not generalize about historical figures and take them out of context!
Under the pattern at that time, if anyone signed those treaties with the great powers, I am afraid that they would attract infamy, after all, those treaties themselves were unpeaceful, unfair, and humiliating to the country.
Li Hongzhang and foreign representatives
55 years later, Li Hongzhang's tomb was opened
As early as 1882, Li Hongzhang used two silvers at his own expense to repair the Bao Zheng Ancestral Hall in present-day Daxingji, Anhui Province, because it was li Hongzhang's hometown. At that time, Li Hongzhang was still only a prominent figure in the foreign affairs movement, and he was not yet on the cusp of being scolded by the Chinese people.
In 1903, Li Hongzhang's coffin was transported back from Beijing, and Li Hongzhang in the coffin was also wrapped in a yellow coat given to him by Empress Dowager Cixi. Li Hongzhang's tomb is next to the Bao Zheng Ancestral Hall, and the two places are not far apart, I think this is also part of the reason why Li Hongzhang spent money to build the Bao Zheng Ancestral Hall twice before his death!
There are also 99 large and small houses built around the tomb, and these 99 houses were specially built for Li Hongzhang's enjoyment hall, taking the meaning of longevity. It can be seen from this that Li Hongzhang's position in the mind of Empress Dowager Cixi is quite weighty. Coupled with the area of Xiangtang, it covers an area of more than 10,000 square meters.
tractor
In 1958, in order to cater to the socialist period of New China, people will build steel factories here. The location of the steel plant is probably located in Li Hongzhang's tomb. For Li Hongzhang's tomb, some people have long been eyeing it, but after all, the scale is larger, so the local cadres asked the superior leaders. The response of the superior leader is very clear, yes! As a result, local cadres gathered the leaders of 32 production cooperatives to carry out the excavation of Li Hongzhang's tomb. It was obviously not feasible to open the tomb door by brute force alone, and even the explosives did not work effectively, and after a burst of smoke, the tomb door did not move.
The scene of the late Qing Dynasty signing a treaty with the great powers
Brute force does not work, then you have to take advantage of the cleverness! Soon, someone used the method of "digging tunnels from a distance and drilling in from the ground" to successfully enter Li Hongzhang's tomb. After Li Hongzhang's death, he was not buried with the original wife, but chose the concubine Zhao Xiaolian, so when the production team opened the tomb, two coffins appeared in front of them. One is Li Hongzhang's, and the other is Zhao Xiaolian's.
Among the coffins, Li Hongzhang's body is relatively well preserved, surrounded by layers of cotton wool, and under the pillow, there is an autobiographical book written by himself. Of course, Li Hongzhang's tomb is not more luxurious than the tomb of Empress Dowager Cixi, and it is not clear whether there are "eight carriages of gold and silver jewelry" in the tomb of Empress Dowager Cixi. Li Hongzhang's coffin contained only a sword, seven copper coins with the appearance of the Big Dipper, a pair of glasses, a pocket watch, and a crutch.
Li Hongzhang's tomb was opened
55 years later, Li Hongzhang's bones were chained to the street on a tractor for public display, and the bones were scattered
After opening Li Hongzhang's coffin, people handed over all the items in the coffin to the state, but they did not let go of Li Hongzhang, who had closed his eyes and rested in peace for 55 years. They treated Li Hongzhang like an enemy, carrying his corpse out of the tunnel in all directions, and then tied Li Hongzhang's body with a thick hemp rope and tied it to a tractor.
When the tractor slowly started, along with the thick black smoke emitted by the air cylinder, Li Hongzhang was also dragged and slowly moved. They began to drive tractors and drag Li Hongzhang's bones through the streets to show the public. The moment the tractor stopped, Li Hongzhang's bones had long since dissipated...