preface
Speaking of burning the Old Summer Palace has become a lingering pain in Chinese history and civilization. The events occurred during the Second Opium War (Xianfeng Decade).
As a very sensational shameless event at home and abroad at that time, celebrities and people all over the country were indignant, and even in European countries there were many voices of opposition and rebuke.
Zuo Zongtang and Zeng Guofan, who were heavy ministers of the late Qing Dynasty, had completely different attitudes towards the incident of burning the Old Summer Palace? What's going on here? Let's look at the following.
The Old Summer Palace is known as the Garden of Ten Thousand Gardens, the Palace of Versailles in the East, he has been built by the royal family for more than 150 years after three generations of Kang Qianyong, and even the French writer Hugo also called him the illusion of the fairy palace that created oriental art. But this royal garden, which contains countless Chinese treasures, was plundered by the British and French forces like robbers, and then feared.
Burning the Old Summer Palace is not so simple as robbing the Ming Palace? Let's start with the story behind this fire.
Soft egg emperor Xianfeng set fire to the round?
Let's turn the clock back to February of the eighth year of Xianfeng, when Britain and France brazenly declared war on China and the Second Opium War officially began. And the reason why Britain and France crossed half the world and China fought is also very simple, in order to better make money to sell opium, they quickly captured Guangzhou.
The reigning emperor Xianfeng at that time was furious when he learned about it, and Xianfeng at that time was still full of fantasies about the Heavenly Empire, thinking: Your barbarian invasion is still so arrogant, my Great Heavenly Empire still has no face? So he immediately sent troops to confront it.
The result of that shame was to be crushed by the Anglo-French army. The Anglo-French army marched into Shanghai and occupied the Dagu Fort all the way, you must know that the Dagu Fort is in Tianjin, a step away from Beijing.
Seeing that the gun was in the crotch and killed, the Xianfeng Emperor was prodded in seconds, and immediately sent the minister of Qincha to Tianjin to negotiate.
He instructed the Foreign Secretary many times: If you go to negotiate with Britain and France, you must neither go to war with them, nor do you hurt the face of the heavenly kingdom.
The ministers below were dumbfounded, then we can neither fight nor cut the land to pay reparations and hurt the face, so why did Britain and France come here around half the world, traveling around the world?
After repeatedly writing books, the Xianfeng Emperor still continued to play Tai Chi: You don't have to find leaders when you have anything, you must give play to your subjective initiative, and solve problems creatively according to local conditions, understand? Ministers Hua Shana, Gualja Guiliang, and others went to Tianjin to negotiate peace and signed the famous "Treaty of Tianjin."
The requirements of Britain and France are not too excessive, that is, opening trade ports to give more trade preferences, turning a blind eye and fooling the past.
Forced by the urgent action of the soldiers in the city, Guiliang did not inform the Xianfeng Emperor to sign the treaty himself, after all, the two robbers had arrived at the door, and they first coaxed the people away and then discussed the long term, and as a result, the Xianfeng Emperor exploded after knowing it.
Why was the Xianfeng Emperor so angry? Is it because he signed the treaty without permission?
No, but because of one of the stipulations - the Anglo-French army sent ministers into Beijing; That is, to set up a big Qing office in Beijing, to facilitate communication with the Qing Dynasty under international trade.
This is actually a very normal request, but the Xianfeng Emperor at that time did not think so, he felt that this Western barbarian has entered the Jingshi division, does it not mean that China is occupied by foreign countries? Nothing like this has ever happened since ancient times.
The Xianfeng Emperor, who was furious, also issued an edict declaring war with great momentum. Britain and France saw that Xianfeng signed the treaty, not only repented, but also declared war? Which one is this going to do? Then continue to fight as you wish, until you have to be subdued, and then the coalition forces sent a vanguard of 3,000 men from Tianjin to Tongzhou.
Seeing that the Anglo-French army was coming, Xianfeng was prodded again, and he sent the minister of Qincha to Tongzhou to discuss peace. Although Xianfeng himself is uncertain and untrustworthy, the British and French came to make money after all, and asked for millions of silver reparations as military expenses, and this matter is settled.
It turns out that Xianfeng is the real pig teammate, what did he do? He arrested 39 envoys sent by the Anglo-French army to negotiate peace. Even ancient China knew that the two countries were at war without slashing. But forget about people who are caught, but what is more serious is the proliferation of prison lynchings.
The 39 were taken to prison and tortured, leaving only 18 alive and 21 scarred bodies left. This completely angered the commander of the Anglo-French army, unable to protect how the diplomats could explain to the government and the public, so the coalition immediately set out to attack Beijing.
And the Xianfeng Emperor actually threatened to drive his relatives to conquer the barbarians, and the big guy thought that he really wanted to revive the legal system of the Great Qing Dynasty, but he just said that he saw that the Anglo-French army was coming and immediately ran away.
The Anglo-French forces occupied Beijing with absolute superiority, and then the commander-in-chief decided to retaliate fiercely against the Qing government for the torture of prisoners, and finally they chose to burn the Old Summer Palace.
The fairy palace illusion, known as the Versailles Palace of the East, was completely reduced to ruins in the hands of two robbers, and countless treasures were not only destroyed but also lost overseas.
In this way, the fire of the Old Summer Palace reflected the sky, and the fire of three days and three nights took away the glory of a generation of famous yuan. With the atrocity of national contempt against the Anglo-French military burning of the Old Summer Palace, the imperial court ministers Zeng Guofan and Zuo Zongtang maintained a completely different attitude towards it.
The attitude of the two important ministers can be described as-for-tat?
Let's first look at Zeng Guofan's views on this matter, not only turning a blind eye to the atrocities of burning the Old Summer Palace, but even whitewashing the perpetrators?
At that time, the Tianping Rebellion movement was also huge, and it could be described as a time of internal and external troubles. Zeng Guofan chose to suppress internal worries, and Zeng Guofan led troops to fight in Anqing at that time.
The battle has entered a white-hot stage, at this time the edict is ordered to withdraw troops and reinforcements, so won't the destruction of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom be a bamboo basket?
Zeng Guofan felt that the plunder of the Anglo-French army was just a minor evil, and the suppression of bandits was the most important thing. Barbarian harassment is nothing more than asking for some money and land and signing a few treaties.
The burning of the Old Summer Palace was a trivial matter of property damage, and the Anglo-French army did not occupy the capital, proving that the people did not mean to destroy the Qing Dynasty, nor did they insult the ancestors of the Qing Dynasty.
But the Tianping Heavenly Kingdom is a battle of the nature of the regime, and what people want is the right to rule the country, and if left unchecked, the Qing Dynasty may collapse.
When the Tianping Heavenly Kingdom was strangled by the Sino-foreign alliance, Zeng Guofan even said frantically that "Britain and France have virtue in me", and the Anglo-French coalition helped the Qing army to annihilate the Taiping army, which is considered to be virtuous in the Qing Dynasty.
In the face of major national crises, Zeng Guofan still maintained a pedantic and closed mind, and after that, Zeng Guofan only saved his life in the Qing Dynasty officialdom, and did not make much achievements in resisting the enemy.
Let's take a look at Zuo Zongtang's side, it just so happened that when the British and French invaded, Zuo Zongtang was assisting Zeng Guofan to annihilate the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom. Knowing the news of the burning of the Old Summer Palace did not make Zuo Zongtang half angry.
In the middle of the night, he couldn't sleep at all, so he wrote a small essay of more than 3,000 words overnight, "Invite Your Majesty to Discuss the Issue of Foreign Aggression against China," and sent it to Kyoto expeditiously, suggesting that it resist the invasion of the great powers as soon as possible.
In the days that followed, Zuo Zongtang maintained a tough attitude of resistance throughout his life.
During the turmoil, the officials in the imperial court were terrified of foreigners, but Zuo Zongtang did not, and he resisted these invaders who stepped into Chinese territory from the bottom of his heart.
According to historical records, when Zuo Zongtang was the governor of Liangjiang, he patrolled the British Concession, and foreigners forbade Zuo Zongtang to enter with a sabre.
Of course, this Zuo Zongtang is not working, this is the land of China, a big country of Luyang, you foreigners are just renting this place, where is your turn to have the final say? After saying that, he "killed" the British Concession with a convoy, and this momentum frightened the foreigners on the spot.
At that time, Zuo Zongtang had just recovered Xinjiang's reputation, and the director of the British Concession Ministry of Works hurriedly asked his subordinates to entertain Zuo Zongtang, warning them that Zuo Zongtang was a famous Chinese general and should not provoke him-"Zuo Gong is a famous Chinese general, and now he is driving the king here, so be careful not to offend his anger." ”
In the face of foreigners, he maintained a tough attitude from beginning to end, and it was precisely in this way that the yellow dragon flag flew over the British Concession.
In an era when the country was bullied and the nation was deeply calamitous, Zuo Zongtang understood who was the biggest enemy on the Chinese land - "If I can strengthen myself, then Britain and Russia are like me!" "He insisted on saving the country through industry. And in the war against foreign enemies, he always insisted on resisting foreign aggression, opposing compromise and surrender, so that the great powers regarded Zuo Zongtang as a "difficult bone".
When the fellows see the fellows, a shot comes in the back?
Zuo Zongtang can be said to be Zeng Guofan's biggest black fan, Zuo Zongtang and Zeng Guofan were once regarded as a master-apprentice relationship, the two are actually fellow countrymen, but there is no tearful plot.
Although Zeng Guofan promoted Zuo Zongtang, the two worked together for many years. But in Zuo Zongtang's eyes, his image is still a general, sluggish old hat in battle, and even Zuo Zongtang has a reserved program every time he receives his subordinates, that is, scolding Zeng Guofan.
Many of Zuo Zongtang's subordinates were previously Zeng Guofan's subordinates, but Zuo Zongtang didn't care about this.
As the number one black fan, Zuo Zongtang not only scolded Zeng Guofan on his lips, but also made his hands very black.
For example, when he attacked Nanjing and Zeng Guofan was rehabilitated, Zuo Zongtang reported to the imperial court as soon as possible; Hong Xiuquan's son did not set himself on fire as Zeng Guofan claimed, but fled to Huzhou, where he had the probability of meeting with the remnants of the Taiping Army, a gesture that greatly erased Zeng Guofan's achievements.
The relationship between these two is so bad that you can fully consider Zuo Zongtang ungrateful, but the relationship between the two does not involve fighting for fame or political faction, mainly because the two have different philosophies.
Zeng Guofan was somewhat conservative and feudal, while Zuo Zongtang was relatively radical. Naturally, the generation gap between "old antiques" and "young people" is getting bigger and bigger.
Speaking of the burning of the Old Summer Palace, the attitudes of the two may be due to the different levels of awareness of the national crisis.
Zeng Guofan firmly practiced the theory of avoiding suspicion at the beginning of his period, and in the face of the increasingly serious national crisis, he was well aware of the strength of foreign powers, and in many things, he also advocated "taking a step back and opening the sky", but he also promoted the development of the foreign affairs movement and made indispensable contributions to modernization.
Zeng Guofan was a veteran of the late Qing Dynasty who had meritorious achievements in the face of history and was full of controversy, perhaps behind the controversy and infamy, it was helplessness in the torrent of history and his inability to live under the corrupt government.
Zuo Zongtang pretends to have the purest feelings of home and country and love for the people. Using the burning of the Old Summer Palace as a lead, we may think.
Zuo Zongtang has clearly realized that the country's internal strife is a Chinese "family affair", and external interference in political and territorial issues is an "outsider" to beat you for the entire nation.
If we do not actively adopt the means of resistance against foreign invaders, it will only bring a devastating crisis to the Chinese nation, and thousands of years of civilization history may be destroyed in the hands of foreign invaders. For Zuo Zongtang's evaluation, real gold is not afraid of fire, fearless hardships and dangers to serve the country of national heroes, history also gives us the answer.
epilogue
In any case, whether it is Zeng Guofan or Zuo Zongtang, they have played a very important role in the development of Chinese history, and we, as future generations, can actually only talk about old stories.
Although only ruins remain of the Old Summer Palace today, the magnificent historical picture of the two and many pioneers fighting to save the country, set up businesses and defend the interests of the Chinese nation in that stormy era will never collapse, and the patriotic spirit that we can understand outside the story will not be lost.
A strong, complete and unified country is the greatest strength of every Chinese people, so the Chinese nation can be fearless and work together in the face of any disaster in the future.