In 1862, the golden age of Li Hongzhang's rise, he was ordered by Zeng Guofan to form the Huai Army, and then relied on the power of the Huai Army to dominate the late Qing Dynasty for decades.
At the age of 25, he entered the DPRK as an official, and at the age of 31, he returned to his hometown to run a regimental training, which lasted for five years, and only entered the shogunate of Zeng Guofan as a clerk at the age of 37.
Perhaps it is precisely because he is busy with his career that Li Hongzhang has delayed the joy of the boudoir, so until he was 40 years old, he still did not have a son.
Li Hongzhang was anxious to make a contribution, bent on being able to make a world in the official arena, and he might not be in a hurry to give birth to a son, but his family was anxious!
Without a son, who will you leave the family business that Li Hongzhang has worked so hard to lay down in the future?
As a result, Li Jingyi, the son of Li Hongzhang's sixth brother Li Zhaoqing, was passed over to Li Hongzhang and became Li Hongzhang's heir, in order to prevent trouble before it happened.
Li Jingfang was passed on to Li Hongzhang in 1862, when Li Hongzhang had already entered a year of confusion and had been marching and fighting, so the Li family basically believed that he had no hope of having a son.
However, what people did not expect was that the year after Li Jingfang passed on to Li Hongzhang, Li Hongzhang's wife Zhao Shi became pregnant, and then gave birth to a son Li Jingshu in 1864.
Li Jingshu grew two teeth as soon as he was born, and after Zeng Guofan heard about this strange thing, he was also driven by curiosity, ran to look at Li Jingshu, and after reading it, he patted Li Hongzhang's shoulder and said: "This public auxiliary is also!" ”
Zeng Guofan's words are equivalent to saying to Li Hongzhang, Shao Tsuen, your son will be the talent of the prime minister in the future!
Li Hongzhang was very excited after listening to it, Teacher Zeng said so, can there be a fake or not? Therefore, he has always attached great importance to the cultivation of Li Jingshu, but unfortunately, although Li Hongzhang has cultivated and paved the way with his heart, Li Jingshu has achieved nothing in his life.
Li Jingshu's birth also made Li Jingfang, who had inherited Li Hongzhang, become embarrassed, after all, Li Jingfang was inherited, and Li Jingshu was born in person, who Would Li Hongzhang favor, and who would inherit Li Hongzhang's family business in the future? It will obviously be Li Jingshu, who succeeded him to his title after Li Hongzhang's death in 1901.
So, after Li Jingshu was born, how did Li Hongzhang treat Li Jingfang?
Although Li Hongzhang had his own son and an heir, he did not abandon Li Jingfang and spent a lot of effort to cultivate.
Of course, unless Li Hongzhang can treat Li Jingshu and Li Jingfang equally, I am afraid that it is also a bit difficult for a strong person.
Li Jingfang was born in 1855, the elder Li Jingshu was 9 years old, but in 1877, Li Hongzhang asked him to hire a famous teacher for the two of them, at this time Li Jingshu was only 13 years old, while Li Jingfang was already 22 years old.
If Li Hongzhang could really treat everyone equally, he would not have let Li Jingfang wait for Li Jingfang until He was 22 years old before he hired a famous teacher.
How difficult the road of the imperial examination is, Li Hongzhang himself has a deep understanding, and hiring a famous teacher for Li Jingfang earlier can also give Li Jingfang a better grasp of success.
If Li Hongzhang had not thrown himself into Zeng Guofan at that time, who knows whether he would be able to successfully pass the test later?
It is also clear at a glance what kind of position Li Jingfang, who is not born to Li Jingfang and Li Jingshu, is in Li Hongzhang's heart.
Obviously, Li Hongzhang valued his own son Li Jingshu more.
Needless to say, Li Jingfang's cleverness would not have been proficient in the Five Chinese, but cleverness is one thing, ability is one thing, and whether he can exert it is another.
Li Jingfang has always followed Li Hongzhang's side, and if Li Hongzhang had not been "degraded", whether it was Li Jingshu or Li Jingfang, he might not have been able to ascend all the way under the protection of Li Hongzhang.
Unfortunately, after Li Hongzhang signed the Treaty of Maguan in 1895, he was infamous, saying that he was a street rat, and Cixi could only temporarily hide him.
Affected by Li Hongzhang, not to mention Li Jingfang, Li Jingshu was not happy in the official field, it is said that after Li Jingshu went to the examination at that time, the examiner saw that it was Li Jingshu's volume and directly threw it aside, so it is also conceivable how Li Jingfang, who accompanied Li Hongzhang to Japan to negotiate and later went to Taiwan to take over the matter of cutting off Taiwan, can also be imagined.
After Li Jingfang completed the matter of cutting off taiwan, he directly hid in Shanghai and did not want to enter Beijing to resume his life!
Later, when Li Hongzhang traveled to Europe and the United States, because Li Jingfang was proficient in foreign languages, he was pulled out by the Qing government to accompany Li Hongzhang.
After Li Hongzhang signed the "Xinugu Treaty" and died, Li Jingfang was able to gain independence, don't look at him all the way to the position of the left waiter of the Ministry of Posts and Communications, in fact, it is similar to sitting on a cold bench.
Therefore, although Li Jingfang has been in the official field for a long time, there are not many opportunities for him to really show his skills.
After 1912, Li Jingfang took refuge in Shanghai, but when Zhang Xun was restored, he still couldn't help but jump out and insert a foot, and died in 1934.
Li Jingshu's ending was even more bleak, and the year after Li Hongzhang's death, he died of excessive grief.