Bismarck and Li Hongzhang were contemporaries, both world-famous, both officials and prime ministers, both good at power. Bismarck's exploits shocked the world. During his tenure, he defeated Denmark and Austria and unified Germany. In particular, in the Franco-Prussian War, the Battle of Sedan, defeated more than 200,000 French troops and captured Napoleon III.
In the process, Bismarck played the power trick like a windmill, whimpering and turning, counting as an old fox. After the victory of Sedan, he went out of his way to release French prisoners, including Napoleon III. For a while, it won widespread praise.
Although Li Hongzhang's exploits are inferior to those of Simai, he is also famous all over the world. The starting point of Li Hongzhang's exploits was to fight against the Taiping Army. In battle, he exerted his great power and gave full play to his conspiracy and conspiracy. In particular, Suzhou's surrender fully shows his cruelty, his means, and his power skills.
Suzhou is the seat of the royal residence of Li Xiucheng, the loyal king of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom. Suzhou is prosperous and ranks first in the south of the Jiangnan. Li Hongzhang felt that if he wanted to take Jiangsu, he would first go to Suzhou, thinking that it was fundamental. At this time, the Taiping Army, after the Tianjing Incident and Shi Da's departure, had become the end of the crossbow, and faced the attack of the huai army, the most elite army in the late Qing Dynasty, it could only be beaten and had no power to fight back.
Li Hongzhang's attack on Suzhou was not only to occupy the city, but also to annihilate the heavenly forces. Therefore, the method of encircling but not attacking was adopted to encircle Suzhou similarly to an iron barrel. At the beginning of the Huai Army' rise, the army was very sharp, well-equipped, and fast guns and cannons, and they went into battle together, and there was a fierce bombardment of ping-pong and ping-pong, and the Taiping Army was dizzy and turned into a rout.
Li Hongzhang saw that it was almost over, and ordered the people to shoot the surrender letter into the city: "Those who surrender will not die, and those who behead the chief and surrender will be sealed as officials." ”
As soon as the book was surrendered, someone came and called Gao Yunguan, the king of the Taiping Army, and sneaked out and prepared to surrender. Li Hongzhang happily received him and hosted him. After drinking and eating, the two talked secretly, and Li Hongzhang asked Gao Yungong to return to Suzhou, contact his subordinates, kill the lord general Li Xiucheng, and sacrifice Suzhou.
Li Xiucheng was very popular with the military, and Gao Yunguan could not do anything. Li Hongzhang retreated to the second place, let kill Li Xiucheng's assistant Tan Shaoguang, and also make meritorious contributions to receive rewards. Being able to not die, but also being an official, Gao Yun's official sneaked back to Suzhou and plotted his way back.
The work of plotting rebellion was unusually smooth, because at this time, Li Xiucheng received the will of the Heavenly King, broke through to Tianjing, and went to serve as a defender. The task of defending the city fell on Tan Shao's bald head. Gao Yunguan, who could not bear to do it, could finally do it, and with a single order, he took the other seven Taiping Army generals he contacted, killed Tan Shaoguang, opened the gates of Suzhou, surrendered to the Huai army, and waited for the reward and promotion of the officers one by one.
Who knows, Lord Li not only did not reward them, but instead waved his hand and let him pull out and cut them. Gao Yunguan was horrified and shouted, "Lord Li, you can't say what you promised without believing it?"
Li Hongzhang didn't seem to hear it, and just like that, Gao Yunguan and eight other generals landed on the ground. At the same time, there were also two more than two Taiping Army fighters who surrendered. Then, the Huai army slaughtered more than 10,000 Taiping Army soldiers who had laid down their weapons in the city.
Historically, it is called the "Suzhou Killing and Descending Incident". At that time, the Englishman Gordon was the commander of the Huai Army's foreign gun brigade. This old man thought it was the most shameless and the most treacherous way to do so. This is not only the shame of the Huai Army, but also his shame, because he is a subordinate of Li Hongzhang.
Gordon was upset and made a fuss. Carrying a gun, he went everywhere to find his Chinese superior, to duel, and finally, he went so far as to move the foreign diaspora to collectively write a book of ten thousand words to protest against Lord Li's behavior.
This old Maozi was too serious, and he really had to let the Qing court not come to the stage, and let Lord Li not come to the stage. In desperation, the Qing court thought of a way to make Gordon the viceroy, give him a yellow coat, wear a peacock flower plume, and reward his subordinates with 10,000 taels of silver. Old Maozi did not want it, saying that Lord Li had begged for it. Finally, he angrily left Li Hongzhang.
This matter, which is not over here, has spread abroad, leaving a small tail.
Years later, Lord Li received a nickname, Bismarck of China. U.S. President Grant, when Bismarck talked about this in person, Bismarck smiled lightly: "No one said that I was Li Hongzhang of Germany." "The implication is very contemptuous.
Grant was very puzzled, and said in his heart, you two have not met, how can you have a prejudice?
A few years later, Lord Lee visited Germany and the two "Bismarcks" met. Lord Li was elated and talked about his martial arts in those years. Bismarck listened, still smiling lightly: "I never take the killing of prisoners as credit. Lord Li listened and was speechless.
Bismarck and Gordon both used power, but in their view, power manipulation is OK, there must be a bottom line, a moral code. If you exceed it, you should be despised.