In the turbulent late Qing Dynasty, Hanchen Li Hongzhang was a figure that could not be circumvented no matter what. After Li's death, Cixi once lamented: "The overall situation is undecided, and if there is an accident, no one will share it anymore." It can be seen that Li Hongzhang is important to the Qing Dynasty.
In the Sino-Japanese War, Li Hongzhang's Beiyang Navy and Huai Army, which had been painstakingly built for decades, were completely lost. This made him very helpless, if it is still excusable to say that he cannot defeat the Western powers, but in the face of the small country of Japan, he even lost to the skin, which made Li Hongzhang unwilling.
Just at this time, Nicholas II of Russia was crowned, and Li Hongzhang was invited to participate. In order to fight for their own interests, European and American countries rushed to invite Li Hongzhang to visit, so this trip, which lasted for several months and spanned three oceans, began.
So in addition to being invited to participate in the coronation ceremony, what is the purpose of Li Hongzhang's visit?
As for the purpose of this trip, Li Hongzhang once told Huang Zunxian that the key strategy for this trip was to "contact the West and contain the East." This meaning is actually very clear, or Li Hongzhang's strategy of "using Yi to control Yi".
After attending the coronation ceremony of the Tsar, negotiations with Russia began, and finally signed the Sino-Russian Secret Treaty. On the surface, Li Hongzhang's purpose was achieved, but in fact, this treaty was extremely harmful to China's interests, especially allowing the Russians to build a railway in China.
Of course, since he came, he always had to harvest something, so he had a long insight and strengthened relations with various countries, and even Li Hongzhang hoped that customs tariffs could be raised and the interest rate of borrowings could be reduced.
Then Li Hongzhang came to Germany, which is also a very important stop for him, after all, Li Hongzhang has a lot of cooperation with Germany, so his visit was greatly welcomed, and he even met the iron-blooded prime minister
Bismarck. Available in Germany
In addition to adding a little sense of closeness, Li Hongzhang did not gain anything here.
He also went to the Netherlands and Belgium, but it was not the focus of the trip, but he was served by people and visited some factories.
When he was in France, Li Hongzhang expressed his willingness to increase customs tariffs, but France also dragged its feet and did not talk about it at all. In the end, Li Hongzhang also went to Britain, the United States, and Canada. But most of them are routine, walk around, publicize the policies of the Qing Dynasty, meet the Chinese and so on.
However, his goal was not achieved, to raise customs duties and not to relax with foreigners. Moreover, there has been no progress in Li Hongzhang's hope that the interest rate of the loan can be reduced.
When Li Hongzhang visited Europe and the United States, he definitely wanted to see for himself why those Western countries could flaunt their might in the world. I am afraid that he did not understand it after turning around, and it can be said that this trip only broadened his horizons, and as for anything else that had practical value, he did not get anything.