Li Hongzhang, a famous minister in the late Qing Dynasty, was a staff member who served as an aide to Zeng Guofan for 3 years, and after he created the Huai forces, he also attached great importance to relying on and cultivating staff. Li Hongzhang traversed the political arena of the late Qing Dynasty for 40 years and became the most powerful feudal official after Zeng Guofan, which was inseparable from the help of the staff team.
How strong is Li Hongzhang's staff team? Let's name it: Sheng Xuanhuai, Zhou Fu, Wang Kaitai, Ding Richang, Qian Dingming, Liu Ruifen, Yu Shiming, Zhang Peilun, Feng Guifen, Xue Fucheng, Zheng Guanying, Ma Jianzhong, Zheng Zaoru, Shen Baojing, Han Dianjia, Zhu Qiang, Tang Tingshu, Xu Run, Ying Baoshi, Li Fengbao, Wu Tingfang...
Li Hongzhang has been engaged in foreign affairs for a long time, so there are several foreigners in the staff team, such as Magli, Lang Weili, Han Nagan and so on.
Li Hongzhang's staff team stepped out of a group of Shangshu, governors, and inspectors, as well as foreign affairs cadres, diplomats, and industrialists. It is no exaggeration to say that they have influenced the progress of China's modern history to a certain extent.
Sheng Xuanhuai was the most prestigious person in Li Hongzhang's staff team, and the official also did the most, from the official to the minister of posts and communications from Yipin.
Sheng Xuanhuai was a fallen talent, and he had not even been admitted. He was able to make his mark thanks to his entry into the shogunate of Li Hongzhang. Under the trust of Li Hongzhang, Sheng Xuanhuai gave full play to his talents and assisted Li Hongzhang in handling foreign affairs, creating 11 Chinese firsts: the first civil joint-stock enterprise steamship Merchants Bureau, the first telegraph bureau China Telegraph General Bureau, the first inland small steamship company, the first bank China Commerce and Commerce Bank, the first railway trunk line Beijing-Han railway, the first steel joint venture Hanyeping Company, the first higher normal school Nanyang Public School, the first mining company, the first public library Wuchang Wenhua Gongshulin, The first modern university Beiyang University Hall, the first social charity organization The Red Cross Society of China...
As a result, Sheng Xuanhuai is known as the "father of Chinese industry" and "the father of Chinese business".
In 1911, Sheng Xuanhuai was promoted to minister of posts and communications from Yipin, entering the highest peak of the official field. However, not long after Sheng Xuanhuai became the minister of the Ministry of Posts and Communications, he proposed to forcibly nationalize the railways and postal services run by the provinces, which stimulated the road protection movement in Sichuan, Guangdong, Hunan, and Hubei, and sounded the death knell of the fall of the Qing Dynasty.
Zhou Fu was a fellow villager of Li Hongzhang's Anhui Province, and after repeated attempts, he threw himself into the military camp and became an aide of Li Hongzhang. At that time, Li Hongzhang had just founded the Huai Army, and was in the stage of "entrepreneurship is difficult and more than a hundred battles". Zhou Fu accompanied Li Hongzhang through the most difficult times, offered advice and suggestions, and made great contributions to the development and growth of the Huai Army.
Under the promotion of Li Hongzhang, Zhou Fushi's journey was very smooth. Starting from an alternate Zhi County, after being promoted many times, he was promoted to the governor of Liangjiang and became a high-powered feudal official.
Wang Kaitai, Ding Richang, Qian Dingming, and Liu Ruifen were the four major inspectors of Li Hongzhang's shogunate.
Wang Kaitai was born as a scholar and was taught to edit the Hanlin Academy. In 1860, Wang Kaitai's mother died of illness, and he resigned from his official post and went home to guard the funeral. During this period, Wang Kaitaixing organized regimental training to resist the Taiping Army. In 1863, Wang Kaitai joined the shogunate of Li Hongzhang.
Zeng Guofan, Zuo Zongtang, and Li Hongzhang were mostly frustrated literati in the shogunate, but Wang Kaitai was a scholar of the Eight Classics of Zheng'er. Therefore, although Wang Kaitai joined the shogunate of Li Hongzhang relatively late, the speed of promotion was not slow, and he was promoted to the governor of Fujian after only 7 years.
Ding Richang was a native of Chaozhou, Guangdong, and joined the shogunate of Zeng Guofan in 1861. He was good at firearms manufacturing, and made a batch of shells for the Xiang Army, and his reputation was far and wide. Li Hongzhang admired his ability and transferred him to the Huai Army by name and became his staff. Under the presidency of Ding Richang, Li Hongzhang founded the Jiangnan Manufacturing Bureau, the largest modern military enterprise in China at that time, in Shanghai.
In 1868, Ding Richang was promoted to inspector of Jiangsu and became one of the feudal governors. In 1875, Ding Richang became the Minister of Shipping administration of Fujian, and soon served as the Inspector of Fujian. Under the impetus of Ding Richang and others, the Fujian Ship Administration School sent a group of students to study abroad to learn advanced military technology. After returning to China, these students became senior generals of the Beiyang Marine Division.
Qian Dingming was the eldest son of Qian Baochen, the governor of Hubei Province. In 1860, Li Xiucheng led a large army into Shanghai, and everyone in Shanghai was in danger. Qian Dingming volunteered and went to Anqing to find Zeng Guofan to move the rescue troops. Zeng Guofan sent Li Hongzhang to recruit the Huai army and go to Shanghai. Qian Dingming immediately joined Li Hongzhang's shogunate and became his aide, counselor for military affairs.
Qian Dingming participated in important military operations such as pacifying the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom and the Twist army, and was appointed as an envoy directly subordinate to Zeng Guofan on the recommendation of Zeng Guofan. In 1871, Qian Dingming was promoted to inspector of Henan and became a feudal governor.
Liu Ruifen was a native of Guichi, Anhui, and in 1861, together with his cousin Liu Hanfang, he defected to Zeng Guofan and became an aide to Zeng Guofan. In 1862, at the invitation of Li Hongzhang, Liu Ruifen and Liu Hanfang switched to Li Hongzhang's shogunate. Liu Ruifen was mainly responsible for the manufacture of firearms, purchased a batch of foreign guns and cannons, and taught the soldiers of the Huai Army how to use them, making the Huai Army a new type of army that was good at using foreign guns and cannons.
Liu Ruifen is down-to-earth, deeply appreciated by Li Hongzhang, and reused. When Li Hongzhang was engaged in foreign affairs, he took Liu Ruifen as his right-hand man. In 1885, Liu Ruifen was sent by the Qing court to Britain, France, Italy, Belgium and other countries, and successfully completed the task. In the fifteenth year of Guangxu, Liu Ruifen was recalled to China and promoted to inspector of Guangdong.