Since ancient times, parents have been very concerned about the happiness of their children, which is the embodiment of eternal family affection, and the lifelong events of their children are their number one problem. In ancient times, when free love was not advocated, parents would find ways to make their children get a "worthy" marriage, even if it was a famous courtier.
During the Qing Dynasty, Li Hongzhang was also worried about this matter, and the lifelong event of his young daughter made him hesitate for many years. In the end, Li Hongzhang married his fairy-level daughter to a 40-year-old minister, which seemed to be wrong and the age difference was very large, but who knew that the descendants of the two had become celebrities in modern times.
In 1866, the 43-year-old Li Hongzhang was very excited to welcome his second daughter in Hefei, named Li Jurong. When the little daughter was born, Li Hongzhang was pampered, but it can be said that he was afraid of it in his mouth, and used the best conditions to let Li Jurong learn and grow, and personally taught her to read and write.
Soon, Li Jurong showed her own unique style. At only 16 years old, she has already come out very beautiful, and her perennial reading has made her temperament stand out, and she also has excellent talent, just like a beautiful posture. At this time, the children of the people who came to propose to them had already flattened the threshold of Li Mansion.
Li Jurong did not express an opinion, but Li Hongzhang was sad, and among so many people who proposed relatives, there were indeed several very outstanding young talents, which made him very entangled. It was not until 1888 that a man named Zhang Peilun appeared.
Born in 1848, Zhang Peilun was a 23-year-old zhongjinshi, an editor of the Hanlin Academy, full of poetry and books, talented, and a rare talent. At this time, he was fighting the French army as a minister of shipping, and after the defeat of the Minjiang River, he was sent to the mouth, and Li Hongzhang was in the heart of pity to save him under the door.
Zhang Peilun's family had a very complicated relationship, his father and the father of Empress Dowager Cixi had a deep affection, his nephew was Yuan Shikai's family, and both fathers-in-law were court officials, which made Li Hongzhang pay more attention to him. Moreover, his wife also died of illness at the time of the defeat of the army, which made him extremely sad and disheartened, and Li Hongzhang could not help but have the idea of marriage.
After much consideration, Li Hongzhang still made a decision. In 1888, Li Jule married Zhang Peilun, and Zhang Peilun was very grateful for this, and he was even more in love with Li Julian. Although the two of them are nearly 20 years apart, with Li Jurong's outstanding talent, the two can discuss literature together, and their feelings quickly warm up.
In Zhang Peilun's "Jian Yu Diary", it is also recorded that "drinking with fine wine and chrysanthemum, the moon's shadow is clear, the fragrance of flowers is swaying, and the wine is slightly drunk." The two had a very strong relationship, and without much, they gave birth to a son and a daughter, named Zhang Zhiyi and Zhang Maoyuan.
In 1903, the depressed Zhang Peilun died of illness, and Li Juling, who was 37 years old at the time, began to teach the two children wholeheartedly, hoping that they would become successful and one day rise to the top.
In 1915, Zhang Zhiyi and Huang Suqiong married, and four years later he became the English secretary of the Tianjin Jinpu Railway Bureau. His diligent studies at a young age gave him a fluent english and he went to England in 1928 to study. Zhang Zhiyi's life was very uneventful, but in 1920, he and Huang Suqiong had a daughter who would become very famous in the future, Zhang Ailing.
Zhang Ailing is a very famous modern writer and literary scholar in China, and has a very high degree of achievement in literature, drama, translation and other fields throughout her life. In 1961, Xia Zhiqing praised her vigorously in the History of Modern Chinese Novels, calling her "The Golden Lock" "the greatest novella in China since ancient times."
Mr. Bai Xianyong, a famous contemporary writer, once commented that "Zhang Ailing is of course an unborn genius." "Zhang Ailing's writing is calm and rich, and she has a very high status in the literary world, which is very famous. Li Hongzhang would never have thought that the arranged marriage for the sake of interests at that time could bring him such an outstanding grandchild, which was probably the true embodiment of "inadvertently planting willows and willows".