In this world, most people climb up by relationship, but there are also people who climb up by their own ability.
Ding Ruchang is such a person.
We all know that Ding Ruchang was the admiral of the Beiyang Marine Division, but what we don't know is that Ding Ruchang was a brave and good warrior in the Taiping Army.
Ding Ruchang's hometown is a native of Lujiang, Anhui, when there was a famine in Lujiang, Ding Ruchang's parents starved to death.
Coinciding with the taiping heavenly kingdom's capture of Lujiang, Ding Ruchang joined the Taiping heavenly kingdom, and at the age of 16, Ding Ruchang joined the Taiping Army general Cheng Xueqi.
Cheng Xueqi was a very optimistic general of Chen Yucheng, but this brother had a great characteristic, that is, filial piety. His parents died young, but his adoptive mother treated him very well, so he was very filial to his adoptive mother.
Zeng Guoquan fought a few battles with Cheng Xueqi, feeling a bit hot, in order to defeat Cheng Xueqi Zeng Guoquan actually took his adoptive mother out as a hostage, which can be regarded as extremely bad.
Cheng Xueqi had no idea for a while, and when he was hesitating,
His immediate superior, Ye Yunlai, learned of this incident and planned to detain Cheng Xueqi first, but Cheng Xueqi had no choice but to take Ding Ruchang to defect to the Qing army, this year Ding Ruchang was 26 years old.
Although Cheng Xueqi's surrender was like a filial piety, it also harmed his family members, and all their family members were slaughtered by Ye Yunlai, and Cheng Xueqi was determined to kill the thief and repay the country.
The face is thick enough, the front foot is a thief, and the back foot is going to kill the thief.
Ding Ruchang was still in a state of ignorance at this time, anyway, wherever Cheng Xueqi hit, he would follow and kill, which was right. Under the leadership of Cheng Xueqi and Ding Ruchang, they conquered Anqing City, and Ye Yunlai's entire army was destroyed.
Without a background, Ding Ruchang became Li Hongzhang's confidant and favorite by hard work.
Zeng Guoquan is a chicken thief, he sees that Cheng Xueqi's gang was forced to join forces, a bit similar to the meaning of Liangshan Song Jiang, then Zeng Guoquan will do a high job. Every time the work of charging into battle, Zeng Guoquan was handed over to Cheng Xueqi and Ding Ruchang to do, if it were not for the fate of these two brothers, they would have hung up long ago.
Unexpectedly, Zeng Guoquan's bad thoughts actually achieved Cheng Xueqi and Ding Ruchang. With more and more military merit, the two of them rose all the way, and they were so angry that Zeng Guoquan stomped his feet.
Cheng Xueqi became the general of Zheng Sanpin and set up his own character camp, while Ding Ruchang successfully became the general of Qianzong. At this time, the person who changed Ding Ruchang's fate appeared, that is, Li Hongzhang.
Li Hongzhang received orders from Zeng Guofan and began to form the Huai Army to support Shanghai, at this time Ding Ruchang's Kaizi battalion was all included in the ranks of the Huai Army, and Ding Ruchang became Li Hongzhang's subordinate.
After Ding Ruchang went to Shanghai to serve, the Vietnam War became more and more courageous, and this explosive combat effectiveness immediately attracted the attention of Liu Mingchuan.
Liu Mingchuan said: This boy I want! Therefore, Ding Ruchang naturally became Liu Mingchuan's subordinate, and then rose all the way to become his staff general. Ding Ruchang was 27 years old.
After destroying the Taiping Army, Liu Mingchuan followed Zeng Guofan north to suppress the twist, and Ding Ruchang once again made a lot of military achievements, so he was named the commander-in-chief and the admiral, and was given the title of Xieyong Batulu Yong.
According to the speed of this promotion, Ding Ruchang was going to become a feudal official sooner or later. Unfortunately, he had a conflict with his old superior Liu Mingchuan at this time, so he went home after being angry.
Ding Ruchang, Zi Yuting, a native of Lujiang, Anhui. Initially subordinate to the Yangtze River Water Division, from Liu Ming to the General of The Draft, Ji Xun to the General. Kuhei, bestowed the title of Xieyong Batulu, Admiral of Jin. At the beginning of Guangxu, he stayed in beiyang to buy warships in Britain, and the calendar and German camps and factories were bureaus, and the comprehensive water division was also integrated. In the eighth year, North Korea and the United States discussed each other's markets, and asked Yu Meng, Ruchang, and the Taoist ma Jianzhongdong to supervise the treaty. --- Draft History of the Qing Dynasty
Talented people will not be buried in the end,
Soon after Ding Ruchang returned home, Li Hongzhang quietly found Ding Ruchang and asked him to bring the Beiyang Marine Division that he had just prepared. Even Zuo Zongtang retaken Xinjiang to rob Ding Ruchang, but Li Hongzhang refused.
This brother suddenly became a red man, and he was a red man under Li Hongzhang, the big red man in front of Cixi, and Ding Ruchang was 44 years old this year.
Defeated in the Battle of Jiawu, Ding Ruchang's hero was at the end of the road.
In 1879, Li Hongzhang spent a lot of money to buy four warships from Britain, and seeing that the Beiyang Fleet had a certain scale, Ding Ruchang was arranged by Li Hongzhang to join the Beiyang Fleet.
Don't look at him as an old general of the Taiping Army, but Ding Ruchang loves to learn, and with the support of Li Hongzhang, Ding Ruchang went to Britain to learn naval knowledge, and also went to Germany to visit and study.
In 1882, japan planned to invade Korea, but Ding Ruchang drove to Korea with a group of fleets and drove Japan away.
At that time, the sailors of the Great Qing Dynasty were stronger than those of Japan, so Li Hongzhang had more say in the DPRK.
In 1886, the Beiyang Marine Division felt that it was great, and the soldiers became arrogant, and they even drove warships to Nagasaki, Japan, to prostitutes.
Not only that, when the soldiers were expelled by the Japanese, they also beat up the Japanese and threatened to go to war with Japan.
This frightened Japan, who was weak at the time, but Ding Ruchang intervened to stop it, ending with Japan compensating more than 50,000 medical expenses. Do you know what it means to have no diplomacy in a weak country?
People drove warships to your ports, beat your people, and finally you had to obediently lose money, which was what the Beiyang Marine Division of the Qing Dynasty did to Japan at that time.
Of course, Japan was not willing, which was a great shame, but at that time, Japan was not an opponent of the Qing Dynasty at all, so they also tried to build a navy, and they have been planning a big war with the Qing Dynasty, that is, the later Sino-Japanese War.
In 1894, Ding Ruchang received the title of Shangshu, and this year Ding Ruchang was 59 years old. Japan finally launched the Sino-Japanese War, due to the mistakes of the decision-making level and the lack of funds for many years, the Beiyang Marine Division was actually defeated by the Japanese Marine Division.
The Japanese warship entered the door at night, and sank to the far and far, and everyone was afraid. Daoist niu changbing and others wept in the countryside and gathered the western members to plan. Maglu wanted to blackmail Ruchang with the crowd, and the German Renel sneaked admonish: "The hearts of the people have changed, it is better to sink the ship and destroy the fort, surrender with bare hands, and calculate." "Ru Chang obeyed, so that the generals sank the ship at the same time, and should not, so they surrendered the ship, and drank the medicine to death, so the Weihai master burned." All the generals were resented, and Ru Chang was reprimanded. --- Draft History of the Qing Dynasty
It is really a gentleman's revenge for ten years, the humiliation of 8 years ago, this time Japan is completely returned. Unwilling to surrender to Japan, Ding Ruchang chose to commit suicide by taking opium, at the age of 59.
Summary: Ding Ruchang relied on his own efforts to create a life of ups and downs.
From the generals of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, to the brave generals under Zeng Guoquan, and then to the fierce generals under Liu Mingchuan, he became a red man in Li Hongzhang's eyes. Can relationships alone do it? Of course not, this must rely on their own efforts and ability.
Unfortunately, after Ding Ruchang's defeat, Guangxu became angry and ashamed.
Not only did ding ruchang's home be raided, but ding ruchang was not allowed to be buried, and a generation of heroes ended up with such a sad end. It was not until the second year of xuanun that Ding Ruchang was rehabilitated. But the Slovaks have passed away, and rehabilitation only leaves a little worry for future generations.
Reference: Draft History of the Qing Dynasty