In November 1885, hu Xueyan, who was poor and hateful, was already terminally ill, and seeing that he was about to die soon, he summoned his family to the sickbed and made three wills: "First, future generations should not engage in business; second, future generations are not allowed to engage in politics; third, Hu Li is not married." The reason why Hu Xueyan said these words with such remorse naturally had a great deal to do with Li Hongzhang. So what exactly is the festival between them? This matter has to start with Hu Xueyan's business path.
Hu Xueyan was not a simple businessman, he was appreciated by Zuo Zongtang for transporting arms and grain to support the Qing army in Hangzhou, and then he supported Zuo Zongtang in recovering Xinjiang, providing the Qing army with arms equipment, ships carrying goods, and the money Zuo Zongtang needed to carry out important tasks. He helped Zuo Zongtang establish the "Changjie Army", which enabled Zuo Zongtang to successfully become the leader of the Xiang Army after the death of Zeng Guofan. In order to recover Xinjiang, Zuo Zongtang once carried a coffin into Xinjiang and declared 10,000 taels of silver to the imperial court, but at that time, the imperial treasury was empty and could only allocate 5 million taels, that is to say, Zuo Zongtang needed to borrow another 50,000 taels to complete the task.
Zuo Zongtang was worthy of Hu Xueyan, and Hu Xueyan was not ambiguous; in the course of Zuo Zongtang's expedition, he asked for money and grain, and even privately bought weapons with foreigners to give to Zuo Zongtang. With the support of Hu Xueyan, Zuo Zongtang successfully recovered Xinjiang, and the class returned to the dynasty with unlimited glory. This infuriated Li Hongzhang even more, and he decided to remove Zuo Zongtang's right and left arm, so he ordered Sheng Xuanhuai, who was in charge of controlling the telegraph industry, to monitor Hu Xueyan's every move. Because he knew himself and knew the other, Hu Xueyan had to lag behind Sheng Xuanhuai every time he bought or sold, and over time, the capital turnover could not come, but the imperial court did not give a "rescue money" that should have been paid, but under the instruction of Li Hongzhang, it was delayed. I had no choice but to take money from my own bank to maintain it.
In 1885, Li Hongzhang learned from his aide Sheng Xuanhuai that Hu Xueyan was Zuo Zongtang's money bag, and decided to attack Hu Xueyan to cut off Zuo Zongtang's arm. He reported to the imperial court that Hu Xueyan had embezzled and misappropriated the state's grain and wages. Enraged, Cixi ordered Hu Xueyan's home to be raided, and zuo Zongtang was ordered to be responsible for collecting the arrears from Hu Xueyan. Li Hongzhang was very ruthless in this regard. In the same year, Zuo Zongtang and Hu Xueyan both fell ill and died.
Therefore, Hu Xueyan certainly had reason to hate Li Hongzhang. It is also because of this hatred for Li Hongzhang in his heart that Hu Xueyan left such a last word before his death - Hu and Li must not intermarry. Because he hated Li Hongzhang, he hated all the people with the surname Li.