Text/Xu Yongchao
As the son of Zeng Guofan, Zeng Jize (1839--1890) remembered his father's teachings and lived up to his expectations.
Zeng Guofan was not only good at being an official, but also good at teaching his children, and the latter was particularly difficult. When Kizawa was five years old, he invited a master to enlighten him. He "reads every day and understands it well." "Showed a talent for reading, just a normal memory. Therefore, Zeng Guofan asked the teacher not to be too harsh on the chapters and sentences; he also summarized the four-character tips for him to read, read, write, and compose in view of the lack of learning in ordinary days.
After the Sui and Tang dynasties, the ideal of the readers was mostly to be a senior official. Zeng Guofan, who had also become a high official, did not think much of this. He believed that the imperial examination was "too deeply mistaken" and said that "mortals expect their children and grandchildren to be high officials, but Yu is unwilling to be a high official." I hope to be a gentleman who reads wisely. However, he could not withstand the pressure of other family members and let his son participate in a scientific expedition. Although Zeng Jize is very talented, he did not win the first place because he had not written much about the eight shares article in his daily life. Since then, he has never received a meritorious name except for a deputy gongsheng.
Zeng Guofan often regretted that he was too busy with government affairs to concentrate on his studies, so he supported his son who had repeatedly failed to study the science field. It was with his father's encouragement that Zeng Jize dabbled in geography, painting, seal engraving, music and other fields, and was quite proficient in astronomy, arithmetic, and calligraphy. In order to exercise his son's ability to handle practical affairs, he arranged for Zeng Jize to manage the household affairs, and when he saw that he handled the family affairs in an orderly manner, he took him to his side to be familiar with government affairs. Under the guidance of his father and his own efforts, Zeng Jize became a person who handled things carefully and with perseverance.
At that time, Zeng Guofan handled the teaching case in Tianjin, because he was not familiar with the foreign situation and handled it improperly, which led to "external shame and clear discussion, guilt god." After this incident, Zeng Jize said to his father, "Male Si has taken over diplomacy in China this year, so foreigners are getting stronger and stronger, and Chinese people are getting weaker, and the disadvantage is that there is no one." "In his thirties, he vowed to learn a foreign language.
At the time, it was an extraordinary move. Because in that era, many readers still had the concept of heaven and heaven, disdained to learn the language of foreigners, and most of those who learned foreign languages were people at the bottom of society. Zeng Jize identified this matter, ignored the ridicule of the outside world, and resolutely began to learn from the description of English letters. In the absence of teachers and a foreign language environment, he used a Bible, a Merriam-Webster Dictionary, an English Pronunciation, and some script books, and after three years of hard self-study, he reached the point where he could read English novels. In order to further improve his spoken language, he came to Beijing and had extensive contact with diplomats and missionaries there. He Tianjue admired his tireless spirit, and Ding Yunliang, who was doing foreign teaching at the Beijing Tongwenguan at that time, was also impressed by him, but he confessed that Zeng Jize's English level at that time was not too clever.
Zeng Jize's learning of foreign languages soon spread in the official arena, and even Empress Dowager Cixi heard about it, so in 1877 she specially summoned him to ask him whether he was familiar with foreign affairs and whether he was familiar with foreign phonetics and writings. After this meeting, Zeng Jize was convinced that he would engage in diplomatic work in the future.
In August of the following year, Guo Songtao was dismissed from his post by the imperial court for praising Western democracy in a book, and the imperial court sent Zeng Jize to succeed him as British minister. However, the most brilliant thing Zeng Jize did was to send an envoy to Tsarist Russia and reclaim the sovereignty of Ili. In 1878, Zuo Zongtang recovered the lost land in Xinjiang outside Ili, and in order to recover Ili, the Qing government sent Chonghou to envoy Tsarist Russia, and Chonghou blindly flattered, causing China to lose a lot of sovereignty. For a time, the imperial court denounced the sublime traitor, and it was in this situation that Zeng Jize received the task of negotiating with the Russians.
Zeng Jize, who received the edict, did not dare to be idle and immediately began to prepare. He not only carefully studied public international law, but also paid close attention to the international situation, knowing that Tsarist Russia and Turkey had tense relations and was reluctant to go to war with the Qing court. Thus, he set the basic goal of the negotiations: while striving to recover the lost land in Ili, he could make modest concessions in trade and reparations.
In August 1880, Zeng Jize arrived in St. Petersburg. During the negotiations, his sincere attitude and demeanor won the respect of the Russians. He refuted the Russians' unreasonableness to go. At the beginning, Russian Foreign Minister Geers said to Zeng Jize: "The two plenipotentiaries have signed a treaty, and there is nothing to amend." Zeng Jize argued on the basis of reason, and after half a year of negotiations, he finally won the whole territory of Ili for the country in the signing of the Sino-Russian Ili Treaty.
Western newspapers published a special article commenting: "Zeng Jize, a talented Chinese diplomat, created a miracle in the history of diplomacy, and he forced Russia to spit out the land that had been swallowed up in its mouth." This is something that has not happened since the founding of Russia. "
After the negotiations with Russia, Zeng Jize was again involved in sino-French negotiations on Vietnam. Zeng Jize believed that China should reorganize its armaments and seek peace through war. France hated and feared Zeng Jize and made the removal of Zeng Jize one of the conditions for peace.
In 1886, Zeng Jize returned to China and successively served in the Navy Yamen, the Prime Minister Yamen, the Military Department and other departments, but unfortunately did not have real power, and only spent time in piano, chess, calligraphy and painting. In 1890, a generation of diplomatic giants suddenly suffered a stroke and died suddenly at the age of fifty-one.