Zhang Zhidong was a famous minister of the late Qing Dynasty and a representative of the Western Affairs School of the Qing Dynasty, and he, together with Zeng Guofan, Li Hongzhang, and Zuo Zongtang, was known as the "Four Famous Ministers of the Late Qing Dynasty" by posterity. He devoted himself to the establishment of new-style schools and the creation of a modern chemical industry, and made many contributions to the self-improvement and prosperity of the Qing Dynasty, which was poor and weak at that time. As a Beijing official, he belongs to the "Qingliu" and has the name of daring to speak; as a Xinjiang official, he is a capable minister and has the merit of foreign affairs. A generation of great people also praised his great contribution to the country's industrial development with the name "China's heavy industry cannot forget Zhang Zhidong".
Zhang Zhidong can be regarded as an all-round talent, from his youth to entering the official field, he has always been a rare talent. When he was 12 years old, he published a collection of poems called "Tianxiangge Twelve-Year-Old Grass", and before the age of 13, he had already completed the Four Books and Five Classics and other Confucian classics, and also studied famous works related to history, literature, economics, and military science.
At the age of 27, he was the third to explore flowers in the examination, and was taught the editor of the Hanlin Academy, which also officially opened his official road. He served as a teacher, attendant, lecturer, cabinet scholar, governor of Shanxi, viceroy of Liangguang, viceroy of Huguang, viceroy of Liangjiang, minister of military aircraft, and other positions, and was a scholar of Tirenge University. After becoming an official, he went hand in hand in education, politics, and industrial development. In terms of education, he founded the Ziqiang School, Sanjiang Normal School, Hubei Agricultural Affairs School, Hubei Wuchang Mengyang Academy, Hubei Craft School, Ci'en School, Guangya Academy, etc. Politically, he advocated that "secondary school is the body, and Western learning is the use." In the industry, he successively founded the Hanyang Iron Factory, the Daye Iron Mine, the Hubei Gun Factory, etc., and he naturally became a minister of the imperial court at that time.
But it was such a powerful courtier, but the marriage was not satisfactory, he married three wives successively, all of whom died of illness. Zhang Zhidong's original match was Shi Shi, the daughter of Shi Xu, the governor of Guizhou. In the fourth year of Xianfeng, 18-year-old Zhang Zhidong married the Shi clan and formed his own family with the help of others. Shi Shi is a gentle and virtuous woman, after entering the door, filial piety to the in-laws, love the husband, the family and the outside of the home are well managed, with all the good qualities of feudal women, she also has a very high degree of piano skills, after marriage the two have a very good relationship, life is also very happy. According to historical records, after marriage, Zhang Zhidong often played the piano and sang with the Shi family, laughing at the wind and rain in the world. After the two spent eleven years together, Shi Shi died of illness, leaving a pair of children for Zhang Zhidong, and The early death of Shi Shi made Zhang Zhidong extremely sad.
Five years after losing his original wife, Zhang Zhidong married his second wife, Tang Shi. Tang's father was named Tang Shuyi, who had served as an envoy to Hubei, and Tang's brother was not an idle man, his name was Tang Jiong, who had served as the inspector of Yunnan. After spending two years with Zhang Zhidong, the Tang clan also died of illness, leaving Zhang Zhidong with a one-and-a-half-year-old son.
In the second year of Guangxu, Zhang Zhidong, who was already 39 years old, married the third lady, that is, wang zuyuan, the daughter of Wang Zuyuan, the prefect of Long'an, Sichuan. Wang Is the sister of Zhang Zhidong's friend Wang Yirong, and Zhang Zhidong has known each other before, after Tang's serious illness and death, Zhang Zhidong went to Sichuan to serve as a scholar, reunited with Wang, and also formed a good relationship with Wang under the mediation of his friend Wang Yirong. Wang Wenwen Xianshu, knowledgeable and talented, is a veritable talented woman, but also Zhang Zhidong's Xiannei helper, the two have been in love since they got married. But the good times did not last long, and three years later, Wang died of illness. After Wang's death, Zhang Zhidong did not remarry his wife, but in the face of his wife's early death, young children, and loneliness, Zhang Zhidong still had to bear the groundless accusations of the world saying that he "kepped his wife".
Speaking of Zhang Zhidong's "ke wife", we have to mention a legendary adventure in his early years. When Zhang Zhidong was young, he once met a mr. Xiangmian who claimed to be a descendant of Yuan Tiangang, and he said to Zhang Zhidong, Your face is extraordinary, the heavenly court is full, the earth pavilion is round, the three courts are equal, the facial features are correct, and you will definitely soar in the future. But your marriage will not go well, so you can only take concubines and not take wives in this life. Zhang Zhidong was very puzzled after listening to it, and asked why he couldn't marry his wife? Xiang Shi shook his head and said, The number of days cannot be revealed.
In short, Zhang Zhidong never married a proper wife, but took the two concubines of the Li and Qin clans under the recommendation of his friends, although the relationship between him and the two was good, but Zhang Zhidong never helped them to be the main room.
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