After the defeat of the First Sino-Japanese War, someone always had to come out and shoulder the responsibility for the defeat. The biggest person responsible will certainly not carry it, so Li Hongzhang, the direct leader of the Beiyang Navy, will have to carry it.
The defeat in the Sino-Japanese War was not a defeat in weapons but in backward military strategy, tactical thinking, bureaucratic corruption, and pre-war command hesitation to lose fighters.
Liu Kunyi
The greatest responsibility for the defeat of Jia Wu, he Li Hongzhang does not carry who carries!
From the beginning, there were two opinions on how to build China's modern navy.
A faction represented by Li Hongzhang believes that China's warships should be mainly purchased, so that they can quickly catch up with the great powers;
A faction represented by Zuo Zongtang believes that China's warships should be mainly self-built, so that they can learn all kinds of knowledge of shipbuilding and at the same time promote military industry. In the end, because Zuo Zongtang was transferred to the northwest to quell the chaos and recover Xinjiang, there was no way to directly put his ideas into practice.
After the defeat of the First Sino-Japanese War, both the self-created faction and the purchased faction were greatly affected, and although the Fujian Mawei Academy, the stronghold of the self-created faction, was basically destroyed ten years ago, it has not been restored in ten years. The purchase party, the compensation is so much that the money that can buy the battleship is even less. Both factions failed, and the Chinese navy seemed to be reaching a dead end. For this reason, many people are extremely angry.
In this case, under the circumstance that it is impossible to pursue Cixi, it is impossible for li Hongzhang, the direct manager, not to fail to shoulder responsibility. To this end, after Cixi thought twice, on July 30, after the signing of the Treaty of Maguan, Li Hongzhang visited the Guangxu Emperor with the military chancellor and others.
The Guangxu Emperor first expressed condolences to Li Hongzhang for his assassination at Maguan, and then made accusations against Li Hongzhang. Saying that as a heavy minister, where did he raise 200 million taels of money? Taiwan's gift to others not only hurts the hearts of the common people, but also is not good for the country. In the face of the Guangxu Emperor's agitated accusations, Li Hongzhang had no choice but to promise.
Previously, Cixi, who was particularly optimistic about Li Hongzhang, also "transferred affection and farewell" at this time. Rong Lu, a close confidant of Cixi, accused Li Hongzhang of misleading the country and the people and was willing to be a villain.
Li Hongzhang was left in Beijing after his arrival in Beijing, and Cixi instructed his cronies to ask the imperial court that he could no longer give him real power after that, and the Qing government agreed. Although Li Hongzhang entered the cabinet, he actually lost control of Zhili and Beiyang. Li Hongzhang was very sad, he said, "It is an unprovoked Sino-Japanese negotiation, and there is no room for the cause of a lifetime, just as Ouyang Gong said, 'Half a life's famous festival has been painted by future generations', and the environment has forced it to do nothing." ”
Zhang Zhidong
But the situation has changed again.
On November 8, Russia, in view of the fact that Japan's expansion of power in Liaodong would threaten the interests of Tsarist Russia, Russia joined forces with Germany and France to force Japan to return the Liaodong Peninsula. Li Hongzhang also signed the Sino-Japanese Treaty of Southern Liaoning in Beijing with Lin Dong, the Japanese minister in China, and China redeemed the Liaodong Peninsula with 30 million taels of silver.
The local power faction, represented by Li Hongzhang, commander of the Huai Army, and Liu Kunyi, commander of the Xiang Army, held that Japan is now planning to establish a military base in northeast China, and this is bound to contradict Tsarist Russia. Therefore, it is advisable to "fight with yi" and cooperate with Tsarist Russia to resist Japan.
Li Hongzhang had been "left" aside, and the main Han officials in the DPRK were Liu Kunyi and Zhang Zhidong. Therefore, all countries in the world began to attack the two, which snubbed Li Hongzhang even more.
Li Hongzhang lived alone in the xianliang temple in the rented place, telling his helplessness and suffering. In fact, he never thought that he deserved it, nor did he think that he was a traitor, and he did not think that the Sino-Japanese War should be fought. I was shot myself, and how much money I saved the country. He was waiting for an opportunity to pay.
The time has finally come.
In May 1896, the world's attention was on Tsarist Russia, and the whole of Russia was busy with the coronation of Tsar Nicholas II.
As a neighbor of Tsarist Russia, China naturally wanted to go to congratulate, and the Qing court chose Li Hongzhang, who was lurking in the chaotic world, to go to Russia as a plenipotentiary minister. In order to better understand the national conditions of the world's advanced countries, we should make references for future reforms.
At the same time, in order to increase fiscal revenue, the Qing court hoped that the Western powers would treat China like Japan and raise tariffs on imported goods. Therefore, the basic tasks of Li Hongzhang's foreign visit are these two.
Li Hongzhang was in Tsarist Russia
For such a big thing as the coronation of the Tsar, it will take a long time to prepare, and preparations have long been made for who the countries of the world should send, what gifts to prepare, and so on. In terms of diplomatic quality, the person who was qualified to represent China in such a major event at that time was Li Hongzhang.
Although Li Hongzhang's military ability and ability to govern the country are relatively poor, he has some diplomatic ability. To this end, on the twenty-seventh day of the twenty-first month of Guangxu (February 10, 1896), the Qing court decided to reactivate Li Hongzhang and go to Tsarist Russia.
In order to meet Li Hongzhang, the Russian side not only rehearsed in advance how to "lure Li Hongzhang under the pretext of the Japanese threat" to betray China's interests even more, but also personally sent Duke Uhtomsky to Wait in Port Said in Egypt to wait and not let the representatives of European and American countries get closer. In order to keep it a secret from European and American personnel, he also disguised himself.
On April 30, Li Hongzhang and his party came to St. Petersburg. For Li Hongzhang's daily life, from his daily life to the furnishings in the house, he tried his best to use Chinese goods and people to do everything he could to please.
In order to achieve the goal of "uniting with Russia to resist Japan," the two sides are ready to sign the Sino-Russian Secret Treaty. When the "Sino-Russian Secret Treaty" was signed, the Tsarist side was bent on li hongzhang's eagerness to "unite with Russia to resist Japan, and rejected many of Li Hongzhang's objections. Li Hongzhang, for example, believes that building a railway would infringe on China's territorial sovereignty.
When Witt heard this, he immediately objected: Since we have declared that we want to defend the territorial integrity of China, and the purpose of signing the treaty is also this, we will of course abide by this principle. In case of emergency, emergency assistance is naturally given. But you know, our troops are mainly concentrated in the European part, and the territory of Europe is far away from Vladivosk (Vladivostok), how can we transport troops quickly? It can only be connected by rail!
It was these rhetoric that confused Li Hongzhang.
The Tsarist side did not want to satisfy China's idea of "uniting with Russia to resist Japan" at all, and Li Hongzhang achieved nothing
Therefore, in the first article of the signing of the agreement, the Chinese side firmly advocated that Japan should be written. However, when it came time to sign the agreement, the Russian side took the opportunity to delete the relevant words on the pretext of having lunch. Li Hongzhang and others were anxious to sign the agreement, but did not carefully examine it, and finally signed the treaty.
This practice on the Russian side is actually no stranger to the Chinese people. During the colonial period, Western countries often signed some unkind agreements with some indigenous peoples. For example, the lease is secretly changed to a purchase, etc. The actual results of Li Hongzhang's visit to Europe and the United States were almost zero. For example, in Germany, the voice of friendship between the two countries is still circling the beams, but Germany is forcing Qingdao.
Tsarist Russia immediately said that in order to protect China, you should give us Lushun Dalian, and we will help you look at Germany. The Guangxu Emperor was furious: Didn't you say that Tsarist Russia could rely on it! The contract has been signed and many benefits have been made. But today we will not stop Germany, this is not a paradox! Where is the so-called goodwill!
At the same time, Li Hongzhang's secondary target tariff issue in Tsarist Russia was not achieved. The main goal and the secondary goal were not achieved. But the Russian side has found a new interest spokesperson for this, which is why Li Hongzhang is like this.
On the one hand, he has a high degree of identification with the "United Russia and Anti-Japanese Resistance" in his heart, and his eagerness disturbs his IQ.
On the one hand, the bribes of Tsarist Russia made Li Hongzhang willing to speak for the interests of Tsarist Russia.