As one of the able ministers at the end of the Qing Dynasty, we are still very familiar with Li Hongzhang, and many of the Qing court dramas we see now also have the image of Li Hongzhang, and it should be said that in the history of the Qing Dynasty, some of Li Hongzhang's deeds were still very wrong, especially some unequal treaties signed with the great powers.
But we understand that although Li Hongzhang's power at that time was not small, in some essential problems, he still obeyed the orders of the Qing Dynasty and the Empress Dowager Cixi, and Li Hongzhang was only the author, so from this point of view, Li Hongzhang was still quite helpless, because even if he knew that some of the things he did would leave a curse, he could only be the scalp.
Moreover, compared with many Qing Dynasty people in the same period, Li Hongzhang's vision was relatively broadened, and he had gone out to many great powers in that year, including the United States, which was already powerful at that time. In August 1896, Li Hongzhang came to visit the United States, and he was very fresh about the high-rise buildings and some modern things in the United States, especially for the industrial level that greatly exceeded the Qing Dynasty.
For the arrival of Li Hongzhang, ordinary people in the United States also have a great interest, at that time, for Li Hongzhang's every move in the United States, even including things such as eating and accommodation, the American media are very interested, and will do a large number of related reports.
When he first arrived in the United States, Li Hongzhang was dressed in a yellow coat and showed extraordinary dignity, and at that time, as many as half a million ordinary people poured into the streets, and everyone wanted to see the minister from the ancient oriental country, which the New York Times called an "unprecedented welcome ceremony" at that time, which was enough to see the enthusiasm of ordinary Americans for Li Hongzhang's attention.
What was very interesting at that time was that because Li Hongzhang came to the United States wearing a yellow coat, some American media even said in their own reports that "Qing Dynasty President Li Hongzhang visited the United States" and "Qing Emperor Li Hongzhang visited the United States." These headlines can be said to be very attractive to people's attention, but in fact, they just don't understand the cause.
So, we may have to ask, why did americans have such enthusiasm for Li Hongzhang at that time? Do they really know about the Qing Dynasty?
In fact, in the author's opinion, there should be an inexplicable sadness, although the Americans at that time did not understand the Qing Dynasty, but they all knew one thing, that is, the distant ancient country of the East was very backward, and their way of dressing and behaving was also very different from the Americans, and even some of them were very ridiculous.
And a large number of ordinary people are based on such an idea, so they are very interested in Li Hongzhang, want to see what this Qing Dynasty minister really looks like, the author said a bad word, the Americans at that time felt more just looking at a novel thing or even a novel "animal", and it is difficult for us to say, there is any so-called respect meaning, some are just curiosity, so Li Zhongtang to the other side of the ocean is regarded as a "novelty" to watch, In fact, it is also a helpless sad reality.