introduction:
There have been some capable people in history, their vision is long-term, predicted the future development, the near point is like Ma Yun, more than a decade ago seized the opportunity to achieve the current "do not love money" Ma Yun. There was a capable man in history named Li Hongzhang, who once said that future generations should be careful of Japan, and it was indeed expected.
The ignorance of the Qing Dynasty
In the late Qing Dynasty, the Qing government still held itself arrogant and self-respecting, and the closed country looked down on the development of foreign countries, for example, the island country of Japan was just a "little Wokou" in the eyes of the Qing government, and the Qing government still regarded itself as a great power of the Heavenly Dynasty, not knowing that the disaster of overthrowing the country was coming.
At that time, the Qing government knew that Japan was invading neighboring Korea, but the pedantic and immortal minister paid no attention to it. At that time, the young Guangxu had just become emperor and wanted to show his great talent, but unfortunately he met Cixi. Cixi's intention to control the government inevitably led to a lot of conflict with Guangxu. Cixi wanted to control Guangxu and make him a tool man for his own benefit. The spirited Guangxu needs a chance to prove himself, thereby freeing himself from Cixi's control.
This war of Japanese aggression against Korea, which had not just broken out, was an excellent opportunity in Guangxu's eyes. Korea has been a vassal state since ancient times, so he felt that the Qing government sent troops to quell the chaos and was a matter of clearing up the middle land. Moreover, not long ago, the Qing government was just attacked by Britain and the United States, and the Qing government urgently needed an opportunity to boost the morale of the people.
Officials throughout the dynasty believed that this Japanese invasion was bound to be defeated. It is believed that they will inevitably return triumphantly in this military dispatch.
Even Zeng Guangjun, the eldest grandson of Zeng Guofan, said that this time the troops would inevitably be able to drive straight in and directly break the old nest of little Japan. Almost all the ministers echoed the need to decisively send troops, but one of them stood up and said that he was Li Hongzhang. He said that Japan has embarked on the capitalist road, and the country's national strength has been greatly improved, and it has mastered many unimaginable technologies.
Li Hongzhang's proposal was rejected by Guangxu
It was precisely because Li Hongzhang was well aware of the current situation of Japan's development that he put forward the idea of asking the Qing government to give up sending troops. He said that Japan is not something we can deal with now, and that we should recruit troops to train the army and update the weapons and equipment of our soldiers so that we can deal with possible threats.
Li Hongzhang's suggestion, Guangxu did not listen, he thought that the "big palm" of Japan how can become our enemy? Therefore, he did not listen to it, but responded to the call of the group of ministers and rushed to send troops. Li Hongzhang, as a courtier, could only reluctantly agree. As a result, after the dispatch of troops, the situation of the battle was just as Li Hongzhang said, and the Qing government was gradually defeated and retreated.
Li Hongzhang also did not expect that the Qing government had accumulated to such a point that the rout of the battle would be so rapid. It didn't take long for the Qing government, which had taken the initiative to send troops, to return to Shenyang. The Guangxu Emperor did not expect that the war situation would be like this, he felt that he had lost all face, and threw all his mistakes to Li Hongzhang, saying that his poor command led to defeat. And little Japan faced victory in the war. Greedily wanted to annex the entire Great Qing.
Li Hongzhang found a weakness of the Japanese army through observation, that is, they were not good at fighting long-term and durable battles. Therefore, Li Hongzhang proposed to fight a "protracted war" and lengthen the front line of the battlefield, so that the Qing army would have the opportunity to crush the other side in one fell swoop!
The war situation is irreversible, opening a precedent for defeat and land
But the Guangxu Emperor had no one in sight and could not listen to Li Hongzhang's advice. He believed that the current situation could be reversed if sufficient troops were channelled. The soldiers were not stupid, they saw that those in power wanted them to die, so the battle was not active.
In the twenty-first year of Guangxu, the Battle of Weihaiwei was lost, and the Beiyang Fleet led by Ding Ruchang did not wait for reinforcements for a long time, and finally committed suicide and martyrdom. Faced with such a situation, Guangxu not only did not take care of Ding Ruchang's family, but instead ordered the raid on his family and drove his descendants out of Kyoto.
At this time, Empress Dowager Cixi didn't care about anything, and she was also concerned about how to make her birthday party perfect
。 In the face of such a defeat, Guangxu came up with a way to cut the land and pay compensation. After Li Hongzhang found out, he solemnly advised him, saying that it was not a good idea to pay compensation for the cession of land, and if a precedent were set, I was afraid that he would no longer be able to stop the development of the situation in the future.
Foolishly, Guangxu ignored Li Hongzhang's suggestion and chose to cut the land to pay compensation. He did not know that if he set a precedent, then the Qing Dynasty was a lamb to be slaughtered in the eyes of the world powers.
brief summary:
Li Hongzhang's long-term vision did not exchange Guangxu's vigilance, so it brought such a disaster to modern China. Li Hongzhang's vision was really powerful, and if Guangxu had listened, he might not have destroyed the country so quickly. His sincere advice to future generations is full of wisdom.