After the British and French alliances, in order to alleviate the conflict between China and foreign countries, in 1861, the Prime Minister's Yamen was set up in the east of the Forbidden City. It is not only a diplomatic institution, but also the command center of the Westernization movement, and the ministers of Nanyang and Beiyang, who are responsible for promoting Westernization measures, are subordinate to the prime minister's yamen, and western-related affairs, such as trade, coastal defense, customs duties, mining, post and telecommunications, and study abroad, are all managed by the premier's yamen.
The former site of Jiangnan Manufacturing Bureau
The Anqingnei Ordnance Factory was the earliest military factory, but in terms of scale and output, it was the Jiangnan Manufacturing Bureau established by Li Hongzhang in Shanghai in 1865, with machinery, ships, gunpowder, steelmaking and musket departments. The Jiangnan Manufacturing Bureau, with the technical level and the coal and iron industry not cooperating, has played its contribution, representing the beginning of China's modern military industry.
Dingyuan of the Beiyang Fleet
The Canton Fleet was built in 1866 and was the earliest naval construction. Founded in Weihaiwei in 1888, the Beiyang Fleet, founded by Li Hongzhang, was the strongest naval force in the Manchu Qing Dynasty and was ranked first in Asia by the U.S. Naval Almanac. The ships of the Beiyang Fleet were all purchased from Europe, with the Dingyuan and Zhenyuan as the main ships, but unfortunately the training and strategy could not be cooperated, and they were defeated in the First Sino-Japanese War.
Kaiping Mining Bureau
The Westernists believed that the prosperity of the great powers lay in the collection of rich taxes from minerals such as coal and iron, so they promoted mining and civil industries in the later period of the Westernization Movement, among which the Kaiping Mining Bureau was established earlier in 1878 by Tang Tingshu in the mode of official supervision and commercial management, and then its business developed to railways and shipping. In addition to the Kaiping Mining Bureau, weaving factories, railways, and telegraphs were also set up during the Westernization Movement.
China Merchants Steamship
In 1872, Li Hongzhang set up the China Merchants Steamship Bureau in Shanghai, which adopted the mode of official supervision and commercial management, that is, the officials supervised and supervised, and the shareholders were responsible for the specific operation and bear all profits and losses. China Merchants is mainly engaged in shipping, and its goal is to break the monopoly of foreign businessmen and share profits with foreign businessmen. China Merchants owned river liners and ocean liners, and later expanded its business to insurance, wires, telephones and other fields, and its operation did not stop due to the failure of the Westernization movement.
Founded in Beijing in 1861 at the request of Prince Gong, Tongwenguan is subordinate to the Prime Minister's Yamen, with the main purpose of learning foreign Chinese languages, with foreigners as teachers, training diplomatic and translation talents, and engaging in translation work. At first, only English was offered, but later Russian, French, German and other languages were added, and other disciplines were also involved, and the eight-year school system became the forerunner of the government Western-style school, which was merged into the Beijing Normal University in the late Qing Dynasty.
Beginning in 1872, Yung Wing sent a total of 120 teenagers to study in the United States over four years for a period of 15 years, and all schoolchildren had to return to China and obey the dispatch of the Prime Minister's Yamen. Although the program was terminated in the 10th year, the first batch of Western scholars were cultivated at official expense, among which Zhan Tianyou, who graduated from Yale University with a degree in engineering and is known as the father of China's railways.
The above examples of Westernization construction are generally recognized as representative projects, and the advantage is that they are divided into internal and external measures in the three aspects of military, economic, and educational, and in various fields, so that we can have a more comprehensive understanding of the content of the Westernization Movement, and remind us that we cannot completely negate the merits of the Westernization Movement because of the collapse of the Beiyang Fleet.
But this restriction of one example is too balanced and ignores the severity. The goal of the Westernization Movement was to master the skills of the Yi in order to control the Yi. In addition to the Beiyang Fleet, the military construction was also represented by the Navy Yamen and three other fleets, for which the imperial court spent the most thought and expenditure. In addition, the development of coal mines and iron ore is to cooperate with the military industry, and the establishment of industry is to support military spending, and most of the students who have returned to China have also joined the military work.