In order to save a Chinese official, the world powers directly and domineeringly spoke out, even at the expense of launching a war
There is a saying called "weak countries without diplomacy", modern China, the status of the international, just can be described, the qing court is weak and corrupt, the great powers of the tiger, have brought great pain to this country, many Chinese in the international also discriminated against, people look down on, but there is a diplomat, with his own ability, but won the respect of many countries, he is the late Qing diplomat Huang Zunxian.
In 1848, Huang Zunxian was born in Jiaying Prefecture, Guangzhou, and in 1976 took the Shuntian Examination, was admitted as a lifter, in 1877, Huang Zunxian's fellow countryman, He Ruzhang of the Hanlin Academy was appointed as China's first minister in Japan, so he invited him to go to Japan together, Huang Zunxian gladly went, but this was opposed by the Huang family, it turned out that the Qing government sent envoys abroad, it was bound by the treaty, this was not taken seriously, the career of diplomat seemed to have no future, and the Huang family also hoped that Huang Zunxian would be at home at ease to enter the jinshi, However, Huang Zunxian, who was curious about external affairs, eventually ignored the objections and accompanied him on a mission to Japan.
In 1877, Huang Zunxian was appointed counselor in Japan on the recommendation of He Ruzhang, and with He Ruzhang coming to Kobe, Japan, to carry out diplomatic activities, the clever Huang soon had a fluent Japanese, in the local area, Huang Zunxian was funny and humorous, polite and easy-going, and also made him meet many Japanese friends, and Japanese historians also praised him as China's "most personable and cultured diplomat." Huang Zunxian accumulated a large number of popularity in Japan, but he also resisted the Japanese government's annexation of Ryukyu and its invasion of Korea.
In 1879, when Japan annexed Ryukyu, He Ruzhang, the minister in Japan, pointed out in more than 100,000 words to the prime minister Yamen and the minister of Beiyang, "If Ryukyu dies, within a few years, Minhai will suffer first." These words were drafted by Huang Zunxian, and they were fulfilled one by one later, witnessing Huang's foresight.
In 1882, because of the excellence of foreign affairs, Huang Zunxian was transferred to the consul general in San Francisco, the United States at that time passed the famous Chinese Exclusion Act, Huang immediately responded to the country, but the cowardly Qing government was not willing to interfere more in this matter, Huang could only rely on his own authority, in the United States local government to argue, he personally went to the United States prison to comfort the imprisoned, the crime was only because of the "unclean" innocent people, and loudly rebuked the Americans: "Here are many people narrow, the air is dirty, Is the sanitary conditions in prison better than the accommodation of overseas Chinese? "With Huang Zunxian's efforts, many innocent Chinese workers have been released.
In 1889, Huang Zunxian was also the qing court people as the second counselor in Britain, he had thousands of miles to go to Britain, Huang Zunxian handled official affairs without leaking, treating British personnel in the law, so the British had special respect for it, Huang Zunxian after arriving in Europe, also read the works of Rousseau and Montesquieu, the pioneers of the French Enlightenment, which made Huang Zunxian have his own views on the form of the country, so he actively advocated the reform of the imperial court, after the outbreak of the Sino-Japanese War in 1894, Huang Zunxian returned to China and became a member of the officials of the Restoration Faction He strongly supports the reform of the official system and other changes.
In 1898, Cixi launched a coup d'état, killing a large number of reformist officials, and escorting Huang Zunxian, who held public office in Shanghai, to Beijing and imprisoned him, but it is worth mentioning that Huang Zunxian, as the leader of the reform faction, was one of the very few officials who had not been killed. This is mainly due to the domineering voice of the world power, Britain.
After Huang Zunxian was arrested, the British consul general in Shanghai declared to the Qing government: "If the Chinese government wants to put Huang Zunxian to death without asking what crime he has earned, then our country will do its best to rescue him, so as to avoid his unforeseen disaster." ”
The meaning of the threat is also very obvious, if the Qing Dynasty intends to kill Huang Zunxian on trumped-up charges, then the British will not hesitate to use force, including the launching of a war, to ensure the safety of Huang Zunxian's life, and the Japanese minister in China also told the Qing government that if Huang Zunxian is investigated, it will "hurt the friendship between the two countries." This had to make Empress Dowager Cixi and others scrupulous, and eventually released them back to their hometown.
In his later years, Huang Zunxian was still committed to promoting constitutionalism, revolution and other work, and devoted himself to the creation of new poetry, and finally died of illness in 1904, and his career in China is also worthy of everyone's remembrance.