Speaking of the late Qing Dynasty, I think the first thing that comes to mind is the decadent and cowardly Qing Dynasty government. In the late Qing Dynasty, all major affairs of the imperial government were controlled by empress dowager Cixi alone, who listened to the government and interfered with important affairs of the imperial court.
China's thousands of years of feudal society, from prosperity to decline. In the late Qing Dynasty, Cixi broke the traditional feudal rules and interfered in the politics of the dynasty, which eventually led to the decline of feudal dynastic society and ended the feudal etiquette law that China had inherited for thousands of years. Now I want to tell the story of a late Qing Dynasty who almost became a hero of Chinese history- Song Yuren.
Song Yuren was born in 1857, died in 1931, the character Yunzi, in his later years called himself Daofu, was a native of Fushun, Sichuan. He was born at a time when the Treaty of Nanking had just been signed, during the turmoil of the Taiping Movement.
With the growth and development, he actively participated in the bus to write a book during the period of the Penghu Reform Law, advocated the restoration and reform, and was an early bourgeois reformist thinker in China, who was revered as the first person in history to "open his eyes and see the world". On the change of regional movements, Song Yuren was also an advocate of the Chongqing Restoration Movement. In the twelfth year of Guangxu (1886), he was awarded the title of Shu Jishi of Hanlin Yuan, and later changed to a reviewer.
Late Qing Dynasty social background
At that time, the society of the late Qing Dynasty was in social turmoil and was eager to become stronger to resist the persecution of foreign forces. Because the Early Qing government implemented the closed country system and blindly deceived itself, it thought that the country was strong enough not to communicate with the outside world, and cut off all contact with the outside world.
In 1841, britain opened the door of the Qing government through the transportation of opium, and launched the Opium War. The Qing government was defeated and retreated, and had to sign a series of unequal treaties with Britain, of which the most damaged interests was the Treaty of Nanking.
The cowardice and incompetence of the Qing government were seen by the world powers, and the vast geographical territory of the Qing Dynasty began to be coveted by the world powers. This was followed by a large-scale invasion of China and a large and small scale within the Qing Dynasty
riots.
Faced with the internal and external situation of the Qing Dynasty at that time, Song Yuren saw it in his eyes and was anxious in his heart. Since Li Hongzhang launched the Western Affairs Movement, Song Yuren was also a member of the advocates of the Western Affairs Faction. This was a self-help campaign carried out by the Qing Dynasty in the late 1860s and 1890s to introduce Western military equipment, machine production and science and technology to maintain Qing rule.
The founders relied on their own strength to strive to become stronger, and the ideas of national salvation put forward by Wei Yuan included Wei Yuan's "Shiyi Zhiyi" and "Chinese Body for Western Use". At the same time, the slogan of the early foreign affairs movement was self-improvement, and in the later stage, in order to seek prosperity, the civilian enterprises founded separately included the Wuhan Jiangnan Manufacturing General Bureau and the Shanghai Steamship Merchants Bureau founded by Li Hongzhang; the Fuzhou Shipping Bureau founded by Zuo Zongtang; and the Anqingnei Ordnance Institute founded by Zeng Guofan.
The civil industries held in the same period mainly include the lofty Tianjin Machine Manufacturing Bureau, the Hubei Weaving Layout of Zhangzhidong and the Hubei Hanyang Iron Factory.
Song Yuren offered to capture Japan
In the early days of the Sino-Japanese War, Japan often provoked the Customs Border between China and Japan and created some small riots. Song Yuren was well aware of the Japanese wolf ambitions and began to worry about future policies toward the Japanese state. With the repeated defeat of Japan, many patriots also began to give advice and advice, thinking about how to deal with the war between Japan and the country in order to win this small country in one fell swoop.
Through careful observation and reflection, Song Yuren, who had a lot of vision, quickly came up with countermeasures to deal with the small island of Japan. He believed that Japan's land area was small, followed by the lack of resources and scarce personnel, which was not enough to support a long-term battle, and although the Qing government at that time had weak national strength, it had abundant other resources and sufficient manpower, and had sufficient advantages in insisting on protracted war.
Soon after the countermeasures were formulated, Song Yuren purchased three warships, some guns and ammunition from abroad, and began to prepare for a long-term war with Japan. Japan's national terrain is small, its national strength is weak, and its resources are scarce. Although the Qing government was slightly backward in terms of advanced level, its national strength could still compete with such small countries.
Once the war unfolds, Japan will certainly not be able to support a long-term offensive battle, and it will certainly be defeated, while the Qing Dynasty can take Advantage of the trend to include Japan under its command, on the one hand, it can expand its territory, on the other hand, it can also show its national prestige. After preparing everything, Song Yuren reported to the imperial court about his plan, hoping that the imperial court would approve that the government would support the first attack on Japan and use long-term tactics to take Japan in one fell swoop.
However, everything is ready, and only the East Wind is owed. Song Yuren was worried about the country's peril, but Empress Dowager Cixi, who was in power in the Qing Dynasty, was always worried about preparing for her big birthday. When Song Yuren reported his ideas and provided a detailed battle plan, he was delayed by Empress Dowager Cixi.
In the name of the auspicious day of her big birthday, Song Yuren's idea was put on hold again and again. The helpless Song Yuren turned his head and expressed his thoughts like his boss leader Li Hongzhang, hoping to be recognized and allowed, but he did not expect that Li Hongzhang's ideas were unexpectedly consistent with Cixi's. At this time, the Qing government represented by Cixi had no ambitions at all to conquer the world, expand its territory, and revitalize its national prestige, and their greatest wish was to seek temporary comfort.
Song Yuren's failed plan
Helplessly, what Song Yuren did not know was the Qing government advocated by Cixi, and had already decided to seek peace with the great powers by cutting off the land.
Song Yuren's active attack was contrary to the Qing government's willingness to seek peace with the outside world, lest the failure of the attack on Japan would lead to greater chaos, and he could only promise to be cautious with the outside world and consume his own geographical territory to obtain a short peace.
In this way, Song Yuren's plan was not approved, and all the preparations he had made in the early stages did not get a good placement. Those advanced weapons purchased from abroad, as well as various large ships, were shelved.
In 1894, Song Yuren served as an envoy to Britain, France, Italy and Belgium, with the intention of examining the Western social, economic, and political systems, and actively planning the restoration plan with a group of advanced personnel to advocate a democratic republican system. After returning to China, he actively participated in the "Strong Society" of the restoration organization and lectured on "The Study of China's Self-Improvement".
In 1895, the Sino-Japanese War broke out, Japan launched a war under an excuse, the Qing army lost the pass, gradually defeated, and finally surrendered to Japan, a small country with a projectile, and signed a series of unequal treaties that lost power and humiliated the country. It was also because of this war that the civilian enterprises organized by the Western Affairs Movement declared complete bankruptcy, and the Western Affairs Movement ultimately failed.
If according to Song Yuren's plan, the plan to take Japan into the Qing Dynasty may be realized, there will be no subsequent Sino-Japanese War, it is precisely because of cixi's delay at that time, Li Hongzhang's suppression, resulting in the final end of the mountains and rivers broken, the country and the family perished.