When it comes to the history of the late Qing Dynasty, Li Hongzhang is a figure that cannot be avoided. Many friends learned from textbooks that this person had left ink treasures on more than thirty unequal treaties such as the Treaty of Maguan and the Treaty of Xinugu, and he deeply hated it. In recent years, historians have gradually become fairer in their appraisal of Li Hongzhang, who is neither a "man who recreates Xuanhuang" nor a traitor who is useless, but a "framer" who he calls weak-hearted.
If we study the history books in depth, we will find that almost at the same time, there were also prominent figures in the imperial court named Li Hongzao. Because the name is only a word difference, many people will misunderstand that he is related to Li Hongzhang. In fact, the two have nothing to do with each other in blood, but above the court, they have equal status and different political views, and they are a pair of political enemies of equal strength.
Li Hongzhang is a native of Hefei, Anhui, and Li Hongzhang is a native of Baoding, Hebei. To say that the first intersection is that in 1844, both of them took the Shuntianfu township examination and passed the examination. After that, Li Hongzhang was admitted to the jinshi in 1847, and Li Hongzao was only admitted in 1852.
At this time, the Qing Dynasty was overwhelmed by the Taiping Army in the south and the Twist Army in the north, and was in danger. Li Hongzhang's main job was to quell the rebellion, he had conducted regimental training, joined the shogunate of Zeng Guofan, formed the Huai Army, and began to rise to fame with the soldiers led by Shusheng.
Li Hongzao took a different path, and after he was awarded the title of editor, he first engaged in henan study and government work for many years, and was known for his good literary style, profound learning, and noble moral character. In 1861, the Xianfeng Emperor listened to the suggestions of his courtiers and decided to let Li Hongzao teach his eldest brother Zaichun to read. After Zaichun succeeded to the throne, he was the Tongzhi Emperor, and Li Hongzao became an imperial master.
The emperors of the Qing Dynasty were very generous to their teachers, and many emperors were able to enjoy the high-ranking officials Houlu. Li Hongzao was no exception, and after Tongzhi ascended the throne, he rose all the way to the top of the ladder and became an important courtier.
As an official, Li Hongzhang paid attention to pragmatism and flexibility, and later he was also an advocate of the Western affairs movement and the leader of the "Western affairs faction." Li Hongzao is completely different, he is a typical old-fashioned style, not cold to new things in the outside world, but his life is careful to abide by Cheng Zhu Lixue, temperance and morality are commendable. He is considered the leader of the "Qing School".
Both Cixi and Tongzhi wanted to rebuild the Yuanmingyuan and add entertainment to themselves. He asked the second palace to remember the weakening of the national strength and the difficulty of people's livelihood, and repeatedly wrote to the emperor or secretly played secretly, making it clear that the finances should be used where the country needed more, and the silver that should not be spent would not be spent. Eventually, he forced Cixi and Tongzhi to cut off the idea of rebuilding the Yuanmingyuan.
When there was a famine in the middle of the River, the people were displaced and starved. Together with Zhang Zhidong, he wrote a donation notice calling on officials to donate money to help the people tide over the difficulties. The original manuscript still exists, and only 29 officials responded, most of the fundraisers were dozens of taels, and Li Hongzaoli donated 500 taels of silver.
Li Hongzao's greatest credit is that he saved tens of thousands of square kilometers of land for the mainland with a firm attitude and strong determination. This was in 1871, when Russia took advantage of the Agubai rebellion to brazenly invade and occupy the Ili region. In 1877, Zuo Zongtang defeated Agubai to recover large areas of Xinjiang. The following year, the Qing government sent the minister of Chincha Chonghou on a mission to Russia to negotiate the return of Ili and other issues.
But Chonghou was a traitor, and he signed the Treaty of Livadia with Tsarist Russia without authorization, depriving China of a large area of territory outside the city of Ili. When the news came, Li Hongzao categorically opposed the signing of the treaty; on the one hand, he launched the Qing faction to impeach Li Hongzhang for improper employment, and on the other hand, he made a generous statement and requested the Qing court to send another envoy to revise the treaty.
At his strong suggestion, the Qing court dismissed Chonghou from his post and sent Zeng Jize, the British and French minister, to russia to negotiate a change of treaty. Thanks to Zeng Jize's arduous efforts, the treaty was revised and the territory of the motherland of tens of thousands of square kilometers was preserved.
Li Hongzao and Li Hongzhang, one is the leader of Qingliu, the other is the leader of foreign affairs; one advocates governing the world with moral articles, and the other advocates pragmatic change. Their political views were incompatible, and they often quarreled in the courtroom, the biggest of which was the Sino-Japanese War.
When the Battle of Jiawu began, Li Hongzhang advocated avoiding war, while Li Hongzao advocated war. At that time, Hanlin was all on the side of Li Hongzao, and even the edict declaring war on Japan was promulgated by Li Hongzao at the insistence of Li Hongzao. Even if he lost the naval battle, he still wrote again and again to encourage the Guangxu Emperor to insist on open source and throttling, reorganizing his armaments, and never losing.
Faced with Li Hongzhang, the greatest master and faction, he asked what was the role of the Beiyang Fleet after its establishment. Faced with the defeat in the naval battle, he vigorously advocated killing Li Hongzhang to thank the world, and even proposed to move the capital to fight again. In the face of Li Hongzhang's everywhere saying that he could not defeat Japan, he told Guangxu that Li Hongzhang was self-respecting and arrogant, and that he was no less domineering than Nian Tangyao. Until the Qing court signed the Treaty of Maguan, Li Hongzao and Weng Tonggong still took a clear stand against the entry into force of the treaty.
Three years later, the exhausted Li Hongzao died of illness. Before his death, he delivered his widow to the Guangxu Emperor, repeatedly lamenting the pros and cons of the Chen court, hoping that Guangxu could work hard and strive to become rich and strong. The Guangxu Emperor was very sad after reading this, and gave him the title of Wenzheng, and Li Hongzao also became one of the eight Wenzheng Dukes of the Qing Dynasty.