The Sino-French War, which took place in the 1880s, was a rare highlight in the military history of the late Qing Dynasty.
In this war, the Chinese suffered heavy losses: the Fujian marine division that had been in operation for many years was completely annihilated by the French fleet in Mawei Harbor, and the Fuzhou Shipping Bureau, a handful of state-owned military enterprises, was almost destroyed. However, in other directions, the Taiwanese defenders, although they contained the French deepening, were in danger; at the Sino-Vietnamese border to chong the town of Nanguan (present-day Guangxi Friendship Pass), the Qing army defeated a part of the French Expeditionary Force, forcing the French government to abandon the military settlement and return to the negotiating table.
After the war, China and France signed the Sino-French Treaty of Vietnam (also known as the Sino-French New Treaty): the Qing government gave up its suzerainty over Vietnam, recognized the validity of the treaties signed between France and Vietnam, withdrew its troops in Vietnam, opened the Sino-Vietnamese border crossings, and promised to give special preferential treatment to French merchants in customs duties; french troops withdrew from Penghu, Taiwan.
Through the treaty, France basically got the rights and interests it had claimed from the Chinese side before the war, and officially incorporated most of the Indochina Peninsula into its colonial imperial system. Chinese history commented on this: The Western powers have since opened the gateway to southwest China, and the degree of semi-feudalism and semi-colony in China has further deepened.
(Sino-French War) "France is victorious without victory, and our country is undefeated and defeated."
First, the battle of chicken ribs
Regarding this war, I would like to first point out that there is no irreconcilable conflict of interest between China and France.
Although Vietnam was a member of the Confucian cultural circle in East Asia, the north once belonged to the territory of China, but it was far from the core area of the Central Plains Dynasty and could not be effectively controlled, and finally allowed it to wander out of the Han system. Dynasties accepted them only as vassal states out of the vanity of the co-lords of the world.
The Chinese vassal system is particularly peculiar, except for some ceremonial tasks, the vassal state is almost unnecessary to perform any obligations to the suzerainty. Because the emperor liked to punch the swollen face and be fat, the custom was to double the tribute, so the vassal states were not only useless, but also constituted a great economic burden.
When France sent a note to China demanding "protection" of Vietnam, the Qing government, while explicitly denying it, agreed to negotiate it. The subtext is, Vietnam has nothing to give you, but can't you take care of my face?
If France could be as economically interested as the British and diplomatically smooth, there would be no need to fight this battle.
Second, the foreigners' generals are also a scourge
The fact that China and France have come to a war with each other is largely related to the basic interests of the French colonial authorities in the Far East.
The European colonists were all quite self-indulgent. This is also easy to understand, the colonies and the mainland are mostly far away from the ocean, the fastest contact is more than a month, really need to ask for instructions, then what yellow broccoli are cold! Therefore, according to the custom, the native authorities would grant a great deal of autonomy, even a certain degree of authorization to wage war; and the colonial authorities were accustomed to using chicken feathers as arrows to make their own claims.
By the late 19th century, although science and technology had developed greatly, the problem of remote communication had not yet improved significantly. At that time, the most convenient means of communication was the wired telegraph, but apparently there was no line from mainland France to the Far East, and at most it was transferred to Egypt, and then delivered by inefficient mail ship. What instructions the French mainland wanted to issue to the colonial authorities in the Far East could not be put in place without a month — the French fleet entered the horsetail in mid-July and turned its face in late August, waiting for the order.
From the perspective of economic interests alone, before the war, France had controlled most of Vietnam, the mature agricultural areas with abundant products were in control, and the mountainous areas in the north were actually relatively low value, and there was no need to rush to seize them. As for opening the gateway to southwest China in the direction of Guangxi, it is a lot of thinking, the terrain of the region is rugged and inconvenient to penetrate, and only Guangzhou is the suitable bridgehead - the leased land that france later seized was also the "Guangzhou Bay" (now Zhanjiang) of the Leizhou Peninsula. In the early 20th century, France led the construction of the Yunnan-Vietnam narrow gauge railway (Kunming to Haiphong, Vietnam), but the long-term freight volume was very small and failed to grab considerable benefits.
It was the Church that really benefited from the control of the Sino-Vietnamese border crossings, and it was much easier for bishop priests to enter China for missionary purposes.
But the colonial authorities must perform their own deeds, otherwise they will be promoted in the Year of the Monkey? So they fooled the French government and brought in reinforcements.
As soon as the fleet arrived, it was impossible to go to the mainland, and the generals of the expeditionary force also had the need to make meritorious achievements, and it was easy to form an alliance with the colonial authorities, and it was inevitable to expand the situation. So the French government, which opened its bow without turning back and could not grasp the situation ahead in real time, was thus kidnapped and thrown into an unnecessary war.
III. Li Zhongtang's "Instigation"
From the standpoint of the Qing government, I really did not want to fight this battle.
At that time, it was not 1840, and the Manchu Qing center was no longer so ignorant of the general trend, and it still had some understanding of the comparison of Sino-French strength. Li Hongzhang, who has been in charge of "Yiwu" for a long time and is very clear about his "framer" essence, has a more sober understanding.
China, which has just entered the modern era, obviously cannot speak the same language as France, which has already entered the house, and the resource investment capabilities of the two sides are vastly different. Although France is far away from the heavy ocean to transport troops and labor expeditions, it is not easy for the Qing army to deploy heavy troops on the Sino-Vietnamese border. The degree of organization of the French regular army, the absolute abandonment of the green battalion, regimental training, and even the eight streets of the Huai Army, which is half new and not old, is almost a crushing advantage when it is really fought. The point is, even if the luck wins? There is no half a cent of income, but it costs silver that is not counted as a white flower.
Therefore, Li Hongzhang did not want to fight at all, and was bent on avoiding war and instigating. But he didn't have to decide for himself, he needed to convince his superiors that he had to drag the French as far as he could before that.
Li Hongzhang had no problem judging the situation, after all, he was the most knowledgeable Chinese of that era. His weakness is that he is a foreigner, and he always wants to fight the "leper cavity" to get through the pass, but he does not know that war is not something that one side does not want to fight and must not be able to fight.
IV. The "Fear" of the "Clear Streams"
Li Zhongtang's waist was soft, and the Manchu Qing government was not hard, and after they were beaten by foreigners many times, they did not dare to "lightly provoke the border."
But at that time, the Chinese government and the public had a very poor impression of France. Mainly because the French pay attention to "values", have long regarded themselves as Catholic protectors, and always do not forget to add missionary clauses when seizing colonial interests. This was precisely what the Qing government hated the most, and the frequent occurrence of Chinese teaching cases in the mid-to-late 19th century was due to a lack of mutual understanding, but it also had a lot to do with the Overly aggressive preaching methods of the Catholic Church. And the French are the most jumpy characters - the French consul Feng Daye shot the minister of trade and commerce Chonghou at the time of the Tianjin teaching case, which will definitely make the Manchu Qing officials remember and hate for decades.
Therefore, Li Hongzhang's persuasion work was very difficult, and the "Qingliu" forces represented by Zhang Zhidong and Zhang Peilun in the imperial court opposed Yuli.
At present, there is a view that the Qingliu people have no understanding of the international situation and are purely out of party struggle to exclude Li Hongzhang's opinion.
This view is not unfounded, but it is generalized.
For example, they hearsay that the French soldiers were defeated and paid compensation, so they assumed that France must be unable to endure internal and external troubles, but they did not know that more than ten years after the Franco-Prussian War, France had paid off the relevant loans early, and regrouped on the road. Encouraged by Zuo Zongtang's victory in the Western Expedition, they blindly believed that "all imperialism is a paper tiger"; they did not see how Zuo Gong trembled and marched step by step, and went through all kinds of difficulties and dangers to achieve unsatisfactory results.
But they had Zeng Jize, China's best diplomat at the time, not one of them. Zeng Jize has been stationed abroad for many years, has long been in and out of Britain and France, has a wide range of knowledge, and will not make a mistake in principle if he has his pass. Of course, Zeng Jize may also have brought his personal emotions into public affairs, and his grandfather Zeng Wenzhenggong's handling of the Tianjin teaching case almost made him lose his reputation and end up depressed.
In fact, the idea of "clear stream" is not necessarily to fight with the French, but not to give in easily. Just as the so-called "can fight to be able to make peace", peace-loving should be based on the preparation of sticks and sapper shovels. If you don't make preparations, you can only make the enemy more arrogant and kick your nose and face.
Erzhang does not have enough understanding of the global situation, but they are also veteran athletes who have been in the official arena for decades, and they are not bad at grasping people's hearts and minds - blackmailing foreign devils with interests is not better than Chinese. This is higher in terms of intention than Li Hongzhang.
Fifth, two he is helpless, two have no claim
The main reason why Qingliu is criticized in modern times is Zhang Peilun.
The "Draft History of the Qing Dynasty" records: (Guangxu) Ten years, the legal person voice within the offender, Pei Lun said that the more difficult it is, the black flag still exists, there is no division of troops to come to the east, please do not strike Qi Rongxin, Shangyunzhi. Li Hongzhang was instructed to negotiate a decisive battle, and ordered that the Fujian Sea Frontier affairs be handled with the title of Sanpinqing. Pei Lun to the shipyard, ring eleven self-defense, each pipe with white non-counting, reprimanded. The French ship set, the battle book to the end, the public heard of the police, Gurudwara Peilun urgently need to prepare, still out. Seeing that the French ships were on fire, they were terrified, and sent the student Wei Han to beg for a slow time, but before they arrived, the cannon sounded, and the five battalions of the unit collapsed, and the three battalions were annihilated. Pei Lun fled to the foothills of the drum, and the townspeople refused, saying: "I will do the minister also!" "Refusal as before. Yi Ri fled to Pengtian Township and was accused.
This is not the case.
After Zhang Peilun arrived in Fujian, he actively planned for the War of Resistance. He once advocated blocking the mouth of the Minjiang River with shipwrecks so that the French fleet could not invade, which was originally a pure defense adjustment, but the imperial court considered it a provocation and explicitly prohibited it. As a result, the French captain drove straight in, forming the spectacle of the enemy fleet mooring the same port before the war.
Even so, Zhang Peilun also maintained a high degree of vigilance, and in the Battle of Majiang, the ships of the Fujian Marine Division set sail to open fire - the ship's steam engine needed to be raised for several hours to accumulate steam to drive the propeller, and the artillery powder as a controlled material could not be placed in the gun position at any time, which showed that it had been in a state of waiting for the pillow. The naval battle was lost entirely because the strength of the two sides was too far apart, and the French army launched a surprise attack with treachery - the French chieftain Guba deliberately submitted the ultimatum to He Ruzhang, the minister of shipping in Fuzhou, rather than He Jing, the governor of Fujian and Zhejiang, or Zhang Peilun, who would handle the Fujian sea frontier affairs, he Ruzhang was neither a feudal governor nor authorized by the imperial court, of course, he could not reply, of course, he could only urgently contact his superiors, and Lone Pulling began shelling without waiting for a reply.
Therefore, zhang Peilun did not deal with it in advance, but it was only self-protection and transfer, not evasion. In the situation at that time, even if Zuo Gong was close to him, it was difficult to do better.
After the war, Zhang was dismissed from his post and exiled, mainly because of the attack of political enemies - "two helpless, two Zhang has no claim" (the other is the Fujian inspector Zhang Zhaodong) The "rumors" are so exquisite that the rural gentry cannot do it.
Sixth, multiply the victory and seek peace
Later, Li Hongzhang took in Zhang Peilun, who had a ruined future, and also matched his beloved daughter Xu as a continuation of the string—their granddaughter was the famous Zhang Ailing.
Some people think that this is Zhang admitting his mistake to Li, and Li Kuanhong tolerates it in a lot. It's all brain teaser! Li Zhongtang's love is not false, and Zhang Peilun's dedication to assisting is also true; but he has never denied himself, but their son-in-law has shelved this public case and does not make a conclusion.
In a sense, if it were not for Li Hongzhang's ideological interference to avoid war, the imperial court could let Zhang Peilun preemptively block the waterway, and the Fujian marine division would not have been able to lose it.
Li Hongzhang's theory of "instigation" was harmful to the war, but the end of the war showed the true color of a framer.
For some time now, the Chinese people have criticized Li Hongzhang's argument that "taking advantage of victory and seeking peace with a legal person must not be vainly sought." Broken up, Li Hongzhang did not do too badly. Although the great victory at Zhennanguan is rare, there are fluke factors, and to a large extent, the veteran general Feng Zicai defeated the French army with his personal ability, which cannot show that the Qing army has superior combat effectiveness. Moreover, France has greatly increased its troops, and its strength has far exceeded that of Feng Zicai's department, and it is still unknown if it is won or lost again. At this time, the Fujian Marine Division was completely destroyed, and the French army also occupied an absolute advantage in Taiwan, but in fact China was at a disadvantage.
However, in order to give Li Hongzhang gold, some people blindly boasted that France still wants to fight again to earn face, and it is only by relying on the smooth wrist of the middle hall that it will save the overall situation from erosion. This is too much, Li Hongzhang's strength lies in the overall situation after the end, his understanding of the world situation, coupled with the meticulousness of good reasoning and complicated drama, allows him to find a relatively favorable way to end. But that's about it.
Although Li Hongzhang led the army to fight for many years, he had never fought a headwind battle, so he lacked the tenacity or fierceness of Zuo Zongtang and even Zeng Guoquan of Zeng Guofan, which was also a common disease of the Beiyang Group. Don't look at the fact that some literati now praise Li Hongzhang, Yuan Shikai, Duan Qirui, Wu Peifu and others to death, if Li Hongzhang and others really have great talents through the heavens and the earth, will China's modern history be corrupted like this?
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