Li Hongzhang has the reputation of "Bismarck of the East", while Li Jingfang is little known. Li Hongzhang, a traitor who signed the Treaty of Maguan, and Li Jingfang, tried to dissuade Li Hongzhang from yielding, but in vain. Li Hongzhang is calm and introverted, and Li Jingfang dares to say and dare to do.
But as the eldest son of Li Hongzhang, why would he have such a big gap with his father?
First, the identity is special and carefully cultivated
(1) Traditional thinking, passing on the great chapter
A stepson is one who has no son or is unable to bear a son, so he adopts one from his brother or other relatives as his own son. There is no direct blood relationship with himself.
However, the idea of favoring sons over daughters has long prevailed in ancient China, and the saying that "passing on men to women" made many people without sons choose to adopt stepsons, even at the cost of paying some price.
Li Hongzhang is this kind of person, and somehow, when he was forty years old, he still failed to add a descendant to his family.
Out of helplessness, Li Hongzhang adopted his seven-year-old eldest son Li Jingfang from his sixth brother's family as his eldest son.
Interestingly, after Li Jingfang came to Li Hongzhang's home, Li Hongzhang soon had several children.
Although the idea of son preference over daughters was the mainstream of society at that time, this kind of thinking was obviously backward compared with the mainstream ideas in the world. Some people commented that he was a strong hand in foreign affairs, but a mediocre in foreign wars.
The characteristics of doing things such as nepotism and making their money bags drums doomed Li Hongzhang to make great achievements in the timely foreign affairs movement, and he was unable to turn the tide.
(2) Young and promising, rare diplomatic talents
Although Li Jingfang was a stepson, Li Hongzhang always regarded him as his eldest son and gave him the best education.
With his mid-1882 move, Li Hongzhang was full of hopes for his future.
As one of the leaders of the Western-style faction, Li Hongzhang profoundly understood the idea of "mastering the art of mastering the art of mastering the art of the master to control the yi."
Therefore, when Li Jingfang became a local alternate official, Li Hongzhang invited foreign teachers for him, hoping that he could become his successor and continue to complete the foreign affairs of the Qing court.
Under the arrangement of his father Li Hongzhang, Li Jingfang assisted his father in handling foreign affairs at the Beiyang Minister Yamen, and also followed Minister Chincha to travel to Various European countries to investigate political and military affairs.
Li Jingfang successively went to the world's most powerful Empire of the Sun Never Set and the East Asian powers closest to the Qing Dynasty to investigate and handle foreign affairs. Such cultivation has given Li Jingfang a clear understanding of the international pattern in his heart.
If Li Jingfang can continue in this way, he can become a famous and influential diplomat in modern times such as Li Hongzhang and Gu Weijun.
Because Li Hongzhang himself was not good at foreign affairs, coupled with his unfamiliarity with foreign languages, there was an urgent need for a secretary who could assist him in handling foreign affairs.
Li Jingfang, as a diplomatic talent who is proficient in the five Chinese, understands the international situation, and is rare, has naturally become the best candidate for Li Hongzhang's secretary. However, this limited Li Jingcaihua's thorough display.
Second, when he first entered the official field, he had different personalities and had different opinions from father and son
(1) The signing of the treaty, the economic party is unwilling
In 1895, Japan openly invaded Korea to overthrow the regime of the Korean imperial family.
As the suzerainty of Korea, the Qing Dynasty sent a large number of Qing troops, as well as the Beiyang Marine Division, which was known as "the first in Asia and the seventh in the world" at that time.
However, with the Battle of the Yellow Sea and the Weihaiwei Defense War, the land battles were successively defeated, and all efforts were in vain.
In 1896, Li Hongzhang and others went to Maguan, Japan, to negotiate the indemnity for land cession in the Sino-Japanese War.
Li Jingfang was once in charge of diplomatic affairs in Japan, so he accompanied Li Hongzhang to go with him.
In the face of Japan's aggressive attitude, Li Hongzhang has always exercised restraint.
But the young Li Jingfang did not think so. This was a negotiation between countries, and Li Jingfang realized that as a courtier of the Qing Dynasty, he must strive to safeguard the interests of the Qing Dynasty.
On several occasions, Li Jing's unreasonable attitude toward Japan and excessive demands, he wanted to argue on the basis of reason, but without exception, Li Hongzhang stopped him.
Since this road does not work, let's change the road. Li Jingfang consulted with the ministers and wrote his proposal into a small note as a tip for Li Hongzhang when negotiating, and Li Hongzhang was not moved by this.
However, even though Li Hongzhang was stabbed by the Japanese ronin and Li Jingfang became minister plenipotentiary, Li Hongzhang still controlled the negotiations behind the scenes.
(2) Handover to Taiwan, angry and stinging
Because of the huge reparations of the "Maguan Treaty" and the large amount of land ceded to a small country with a projectile on the sea to the east, it was really detrimental to the face of the Qing Dynasty, which regarded itself as a heavenly kingdom.
For a time, Li Hongzhang and Li Jingfang became the targets of people's verbal criticism. At this time, a more humiliating task fell on Li Jingfang, who went to Taiwan to complete the delivery with Japan.
Li Hongzhang did not want his son to bear more insults, but the Guangxu Emperor insisted that Li Jingfang complete the matter.
After handling this matter, Li Jingfang had completely lost confidence in the Qing court. So, he made an unexpected move - refusing to return to Beijing and living in seclusion in Shanghai.
As for Li Hongzhang's subsequent political negotiations after presiding over the end of the Eight-Power Alliance's war of aggression against China, Li Jingfang suggested more than once that Li Hongzhang simply use his military power to overthrow the decadent rule of the Manchu Qing.
But Li Hongzhang, who was heavily influenced by Confucianism, refused.
Although he argued with foreigners on postal affairs during negotiations and achieved some success, it could not change the fate of the eventual demise of the Qing Dynasty. In 1911, the Xinhai Revolution broke out and the Republic of China was founded. Refusing to serve the Nationalist government, Lee remained in seclusion and died of illness in 1934.
Third, father and son are completely different, personality, vision, and thought are fundamental
(1) Straightforward personality
Li Jingfang's personality is very different from Li Hongzhang's, which is very obvious.
If history has hypotheses, then perhaps Li Jingfang became the most powerful diplomat of the Qing Dynasty at that time.
Why? Because he dared to say.
Diplomacy itself is a politics as well as an art. It is the duty of diplomats to represent their own countries, negotiate with other countries, and safeguard their own interests.
Since we want to safeguard the interests of our own country, we must dare to speak out.
The gap between Li Jingfang and Li Hongzhang is very obvious. As a member of the Western-style faction that has been up and down in the official arena for decades, Li Hongzhang has a relatively good understanding of the international situation.
The ups and downs of the official arena also made him very smooth in his dealings with people. However, the bureaucracy routine is completely unworkable diplomatically.
On the contrary, Li Jingfang has been carefully cultivated by Li Hongzhang since he was a child, and there are teachers from abroad to teach knowledge.
At a young age, he traveled abroad to learn about the international situation and assist in foreign affairs. However, his father's bondage and self-righteous, unwillingness to delegate power limit Li Jingfangcaihua's performance.
(2) Broaden your horizons
At a young age, Li Jingfang was sent by his father to the great powers to learn about the international situation, especially Japan.
A piece of paper called the Treaty of Maguan brought the Qing Dynasty, an ancient country ten times the size of Japan, to submit to this small country.
Mr. Lee's long-term job as a diplomat in Japan was hard for him to accept.
As a small country with no many colonies, Japan did not have many colonies, and the Sino-Japanese War was The First Battle of Japan's Expansion of Territory. At that time, in order to be able to defeat the Qing government and the mighty Beiyang Marine Division in the war, Japan could be described as a national force.
The inherent shortcomings of Japan's small territory and thin foundation have not changed. This is known to Li Jingfang, and this is perhaps one of the main reasons why he will be disappointed in the Qing government, because the Qing government will actually be inferior to such a small country.
(3) Progressive thought, break free from the shackles of Confucianism
At the end of the Qing Dynasty, especially in the last decade, Li Hongzhang, as the most powerful minister of the Qing Dynasty at that time, many people proposed to him to launch a coup d'état and seize power, including Li Jingfang.
However, at that time, Li Hongzhang refused in the face of overwhelming proposals to seize power.
Li Jingfang's suggestion is not without reason.
The Qing government at that time was already decaying, and as soon as the cannon was fired and the armies of the great powers approached, the emperor immediately abandoned all political considerations and signed unequal treaties. Therefore, it is imperative to overthrow the power of the existing Qing government.
The main reason why Li Hongzhang did not do this was that he had been educated in the tradition of Confucianism as the core in his early years, and the concept of "father and son of a monarch" had penetrated deep into his heart.
Unlike Li Jingfang, he has accepted foreign cultures, traveled to various countries, and influenced him with various progressive ideas.
Judging from his urging his father to stage a coup d'état, his ideas were progressive.
However, Li Jingfang later did not want to serve the government of the Republic of China, but instead participated in Zhang Xun's restoration, and it can be seen that he still supported the absolute monarchy behind the Qing Dynasty. From this point of view, the backwardness of his thinking is equally obvious.
However, Li Jingfang had argued for the control of the postal business of the Qing Dynasty by foreigners, and was eventually appointed as the first postmaster general because of his merits.
Unfortunately, he refused to serve the Nationalist government and was left at home. Just after his eightieth birthday, Li Jingfang died of typhoid fever.
As a late Qing dynasty minister with ideological contradictions, patriotism is the eternal brilliance that shines in him.