Ding Ruchang was an outlier in the Huai Army and even the Qing Army, born from the "Fa Bandit", became famous in the Huai Army, and finally died in the Beiyang Navy.
He was born into poverty, so he was wrapped up in the Taiping Army, and it was precisely because he was wrapped up in the Taiping Army that he had the later spirited Beiyang Admiral Ding.
He joined the Taiping Army at the age of 18, and like most taiping troops at that time, he also wanted to find a way out for his own life, as the old saying goes, "a good man is not a soldier, a good iron does not hit the nails", life really has to be passable, of course, he is not willing to throw himself into the eyes of the imperial court as a "thief army" as a Qiu Ba.
Which part of the Taiping Army did Ding Ruchang vote for? Cheng Xueqibu, the general of Cheng, later betrayed Hong and Yang, joined Zeng Guofan, and then became a famous general in the Xiang Army.
Cheng Xueqi can become famous even on the Hong and Yang sides, but after casting for Zeng Guofan, he has a better stage for him to show his skills.
The reason why Cheng Xueqi would throw himself into the Xiang Army was that Zeng Guoquan used a less honorable means, when Cheng Xueqi was stationed in Anqing, Zeng Guoquan could not attack for a long time, so he asked people to tie Cheng Xueqi's adoptive mother and adoptive mother's biological son to the military camp, and then intimidated Cheng Mother, you did not let Cheng Xueqi surrender, General Ben cut off your own son!
Cheng Xueqi filial piety, after listening to his adoptive mother's words, his heart moved, and then this matter was discovered by the main general Ye Yunlai, Cheng Xueqi was afraid that Ye Yunlai was not good for him, so he led hundreds of people straight to the Xiang camp, and then made meritorious contributions to the Xiang army to capture Anqing, thus gaining the trust of Zeng Guofan.
Ding Ruchang happened to have a good friendship with Cheng Xueqi, so he also followed Cheng Xueqi's betrayal of their "god" and switched to the Xiang Army.
Cheng and Ding defected to the Xiang army, and in order to gain the trust of Zeng Guofan and gain a firm foothold in the Xiang army, they naturally had to hand over a letter of submission to the Zeng clan - as a "leading party" and attacking Anqing with the Xiang army.
After the Xiang army captured Anqing, Cheng Xueqi was promoted to guerrilla, and Ding Ruchang was certainly no exception, and was promoted to Qianzong.
Later, Zeng Guofan asked Li Hongzhang to form the Huai Army, one in order to allow Li Hongzhang to quickly complete the formation of the Huai Army, and the other was also to better control the Huai Army, so a group of officers were allocated from the Xiang Army, and Cheng and Ding happened to be Anhui people, so they were assigned to Li Hongzhang.
Since then, Ding Ruchang has charged under Li Hongzhang, won the appreciation of Li Hongzhang, and then rose all the way.
Ding Ruchang's vote to "send bandits" was a lot of unavoidable, even if he later joined the Xiang Army, the same was true, in the final analysis, Ding Ruchang at that time was just going with the flow.
He was in the Taiping Army to eat a bite of food.
He betrayed the Taiping Army and joined the Xiang Army because of Cheng Xueqi.
But after arriving at the Xiang Army, he found his goal, and he no longer had to worry about eating, but what was the purpose of fighting such a dangerous war? Saying that he was for the Qing Dynasty, I am afraid that no one will believe it, and to put it bluntly, the person he is trying to do is only the four words of "promotion and wealth".
This is also the transformation of a small person, if a small soldier does not want to be a general, if he does not dare to want to be a general, then he can only be a small soldier forever.
Once people have a goal, they will fight, and they will fight while making themselves better.
In 1862, Liu Mingchuan led the Mingzi battalion and Cheng Xueqi's Kaizi battalion to attack Sijiangkou, and Ding Ruchang was also favored by Liu Mingchuan at this time, and then asked Li Hongzhang to transfer him to the Mingzi camp. As soon as Ding Ruchang entered the inscription camp, he was deeply influenced by Liu Ming,leading the horse team, from infantry to cavalry, Ding Ruchang was still at ease.
Because he is not only brave in battle, but also good at learning and summing up combat experience, this is why Liu Mingchuan and Li Hongzhang value him.
It is precisely because of this strength that he can become an outlier in the Xiang Army and the Qing Army.
Ding Ruchang later fell out with Liu Mingchuan and was nearly killed because of the dismissal of the horse team, and it was this experience that completely changed his fate for the rest of his life.
After he and Liu Mingchuan fell out, of course, he was not willing to be idle at home all the time, so he ran to find Li Hongzhang, and Li Hongzhang knew his intentions without guessing.
However, after all, Ding Ruchang was born as a "bandit", and he and Liu Mingchuan were so stiff, it was obviously inappropriate to arrange him into the Huai Army, just at this time Li Hongzhang raised "coastal defense" and was planning to create a navy, so he planned to let him command the navy.
At that time, Zuo Zongtang was also staring at Ding Ruchang, and he also admired Ding Ruchang, a fierce general, and wanted to dig Ding into his Chu army and then recover Xinjiang with himself. If Ding Ruchang had gone at that time, then his life would have been different, but how could Li Hongzhang let him go?
Many people say that Li Hongzhang's letting Ding Ruchang command the navy was a layman's command of an insider, and that it was a factor that could not be ignored in the subsequent collapse of the Beiyang Fleet.
But in fact, Ding Ruchang made many inspections during his time in Europe, and even after returning to China, he was constantly studying, And Li Hongzhang said that he "studied and observed with various members of the Chinese and Western countries, and had a lot of experience", "in the manufacture of western ships and cannons, the use of magic, the experience is deeper", or there are exaggerated words, but it can be regarded as half an expert.
Of course, Ding Ruchang also has an unshirkable responsibility for the defeat of the Navy, but Liu Butou, a high-caliber naval student, is still at a loss, so how can Ding Ruchang have a divine solution?
The defeat of the navy, the defeat of Jia Wu, in the final analysis, is because of Li Hongzhang and Cixi.
Ding Ruchang had a strategic vision, he proposed in 1894 to equip the capital ship with 18 Krupp fast guns and 3 new breech guns, but what is the attitude of the Qing government?
Cixi is busy hosting herself a 60-year-old Longevity Festival! Ding Ruchang proposed to spend more than 600,000 taels of silver, don't dream! Li Hongzhang, of course, was the only one who was the head of the Horse, and who dared to promise to give Ding Ruchang money.
If this money is spent, how can it last a little longer?
Don't look at Li Hongzhang's navy office loudly, but in fact, the navy yamen only gave the princes a more money-making place at that time. The Navy went to Kunming Lake, where the Summer Palace was held, and vigorously repaired the garden under the banner of running a naval academy in Kunming Lake.
What about the Qing government's indifference and Li Hongzhang's strategic mistakes, what about Ding Ruchang and Liu Butou's generation?
However, Ding Ruchang committed suicide by swallowing opium when the army was defeated, but he also saved his posthumous name and lived up to the words of "promising the country with his body".