Li Hongzhang (February 15, 1823 – November 7, 1901), a famous minister of the late Qing Dynasty, one of the main leaders of the Foreign Affairs Movement, a native of Hefei, Anhui Province, was mostly known as "Li Zhongtang" (李中堂), and was also known as "Mr. Li Er" (李二先生) because of his second line. The original name is Zhang Copper, the character gradually Fu or Zi Di, the number Shao Tsuen (泉), in his later years he called himself Yi Shu (Yi Shu), and did not call himself a province of hearts. As a major minister of the late Qing Dynasty, Li Hongzhang was the founder and commander of the Huai Army and the Beiyang Naval Division, one of the leaders of the Foreign Affairs Movement, and established China's first Western-style navy, the Beiyang Naval Division, and the official to the Third Division of the Eastern Palace, the Scholar of Wenhuadian University, the Minister of Trade and Commerce of Beiyang, the Viceroy of Zhili, and the title of First Class Su Yibo. During his lifetime, he participated in a series of major historical events: including the suppression of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom Movement, the suppression of the Twister Rebellion, the Foreign Affairs Movement, the Sino-Japanese War, etc., and signed a series of unequal treaties on behalf of the Qing government, such as the Treaty of Vietnam, the Treaty of Maguan, the Concise Treaty between China and France, and the Treaty of Xinugu. On November 7, 1901, Li Hongzhang died of illness in Beijing.
As for Li Hongzhang's evaluation, since the Republic of China, people have mixed praise and criticism of him, but most people believe that at least Li Hongzhang has contributed to China's modernization process. The foreign affairs movement that was taken has greatly promoted the process of China's modernization. In addition, his suppression of the criminal and evil forces in Guangdong can also be said to be the greatest contribution. From ancient times to the present, the underworld has not been accepted. Because the underworld not only seriously threatens the lives of ordinary people, but sometimes it is also related to the government's political power.
Li Hongzhang was ordered to go to Guangzhou to control public order, but in fact he suppressed Kang Youwei and Liang Qichao and the remnants of the revolution, and the old and increasingly hot Li Hongzhang used the thunderous momentum to suppress the underworld in Guangdong by means of iron and blood. It is said that Li Hongzhang killed more than 60,000 people in the underworld gang that year, killing almost every day and not cutting every month, and soon the social security situation in Guangzhou improved, and the criminal and evil forces were greatly weakened!
As soon as he arrived in Guangzhou, he encountered a big problem, that is, the revolutionary party and the underworld in Guangzhou were mixed together and were extremely rampant in the two Guangzhou areas. In the face of this situation, not only did Empress Dowager Cixi ask Li Hongzhang to begin to suppress the revolutionary party in the liangguang region, but the foreigners also demanded that Li Hongzhang eliminate the underworld that invaded the foreigners as soon as possible. Since entering the Qing Dynasty, Guangdong has long been active in many underground gangs known as "anti-Qing and restoration". But with the passage of time, the anti-Qing color of these gangs gradually faded, and with the addition of a large number of robbers who robbed houses, the former gangs became pure underworld. By the end of the day, the situation got worse. On the one hand, the Qing court had to deal with the invasion of the great powers, and on the other hand, it had to eliminate the bandits along the coast, so it had to recruit troops to expand the military and police forces. At that time, the Qing court was very financially difficult, and when the internal and external troubles improved slightly, it had to immediately dismiss these newly recruited troops. These demobilized soldiers, because there is no way out, many eventually join the local gangs with weapons. In order to eliminate the revolutionary party and the underworld in Guangdong as soon as possible, Li Hongzhang mainly adopted two major killer tactics. First, Li Hongzhang immediately straightened out local regimental training and armor protection, sent troops to clear the countryside, and most importantly, he set up a special anti-organized crime organization, the General Bureau of Arrest and Arrest, and set up dispatch agencies in various localities to facilitate local trials. Second, Li Hongzhang specifically asked Empress Dowager Cixi for the policy of "temporarily restoring the old rules of the law on the spot to curb the increasingly hot bandits in Guangdong." That is to say, in the past, local killings had to be reported to the emperor and verified by the central judicial organs, but now Li Hongzhang now directly gives li Hongzhang, and Li Hongzhang can directly try to kill people.
Although Li Hongzhang's means were relatively thunderboltous after he took office, in the final analysis, it was still the nature of a framer, but his prestige was greater and his movements were greater. Li Hongzhang went to Guangdong and brought an important assistant. This person's name is Liu Xuexun, the former "gambling king" of Guangdong, known in Guangdong as the "Three Kingdoms of Liu"--Wen Kehua Kingdom, Fu Ke Empire, and Concubine Ke Kingdom. Because Liu Xuexun had contracted "surname" gambling in Guangdong in the past, and was very familiar with various light and dark forces in Guangdong, with his assistance, Li Hongzhang was much more calm in performing the so-called thunderbolt means. Among the thunderbolt means used by Li Hongzhang, in addition to the above-mentioned habitual means, what is more special is that Li Hongzhang, relying on his prestige, asked the imperial court for the right to "rectify the law on the spot." The deterrent effect of this on local bandits is still very large, and the reason why Li Hongzhang was able to execute so many people in half a year is, in the final analysis, it is also here, where he holds complete power over life and death. Of course, as a court official who is good at controlling the situation, Li Hongzhang purged the localities, and he did not blindly kill people, he knew how to suppress and use them at the same time, and he also paid attention to proportions. To put it simply, it means that if you can touch it, you will not kill it, only the really vicious gangsters, and do not touch controversial figures with the nature of a revolutionary party. According to Liang Qichao's evaluation, during the six months that Li Hongzhang was in Guangdong, a group of thieves intimidated his prestige, either dead or fled, and the local government also relied on Xiao'an.