Chapter 34 Section 34 Hidden Rules of Poaching

The old Xiangguo Wozhongtang mentioned by Li Hongzhang and Guo Songtao is the famous Wenyuan Pavilion scholar and Neo Confucian master Woren. Woren, whose name is Genfeng, was born in Zhenghongqi, Mongolia, Uchigri, and Daoguang Jinshi.Together with Zeng Guofan, he studied Neo-Confucianism under Tang Jian, a master of Neo-Confucianism, and emphasized Song Confucianism. He has always regarded himself as a defender of Taoism.Tired official Hanlin Academy editor, Dali Temple minister.Emperor Xianfeng came to the throne, issued an edict to ask for advice, and Woren played Chen's technique of "employing people to administer administration". Zhiyuan", won the praise of Emperor Xianfeng, and soon he was promoted to a bachelor of the Imperial Academy, Zuo Shilang of the Ministry of Industry, and ordered to be taught by the emperor.

After the "Beijing Treaty" was concluded, the Qing Dynasty planned to establish a prime minister's office for national affairs. Wo Ren was the first to stand up to oppose it.The prime minister's office was established more than a month ago. For some unknown reason, Emperor Xianfeng suddenly decreed that the ministers of Woren's prime minister's office should go up. When Wuren received the imperial decree, he was immediately dizzy, but he dared not resist the decree.Woren used to go up and down the yamen by sedan chair, but on the day he went to the prime minister's yamen, he chose to ride a horse instead.A group of family members who were waiting beside him, seeing his old-fashioned look, no one dared to say a word.He put on a brand-new official uniform and climbed onto the horse with tears streaming down his face.Judging by his appearance, it seems that he is not going to the yamen to run an errand, but to go to the execution ground to die.His family carefully escorted him to the gate of the Zongli Yamen, and were about to wait for him to dismount, but he suddenly yelled: "The ancestors have blamed him!" Then he closed his eyes and fell off the horse.The family couldn't save him, so they had to carry him back to the mansion.

From then on, he recuperated in the mansion until "there is no need to walk on the prime minister's office".At the beginning of Tongzhi, he was promoted to Minister of the Ministry of Industry, and was awarded the title of Wenyuange University Bachelor to manage the household department. It was this year that the Prime Minister's Yamen set up the Beijing Normal University Tongwen Hall.However, a minister made a statement, saying that while teaching foreign dialects, the Tongwen Museum should also set up a science subject, and we must not forget the fundamentals. The Empress Dowager Xi read the excerpts and thought it was reasonable, so she asked the Military Aircraft Department to issue a decree to teach at Tongwenguan, and ordered her to go to Tongwenguan to teach a section of Neo Confucianism on ten days.Wo Ren refused to give up his resignation, and also made a memorial, saying: "The way to build a country is to respect propriety and righteousness rather than power and strategy; the fundamental plan lies in people's hearts rather than skills."This debate lasted for half a year. Although the Tongwen Museum was established in the end, Wo Ren finally achieved the goal of "no need to go to the Tongwen Museum to teach Neo Confucianism".

At the end of the game, Guo Songtao suddenly said: "Shaoquan, have you ever thought about it, what should you do if Xiangguo puffs up his eyes and can't hold on to your book when it arrives in the capital?" Li Hongzhang pondered for a while and said: "Wozhongtang will definitely have objections. But he is only a senior scholar, and has not yet entered the military aircraft. I have the name of a senior scholar in my court, but no real status, and the military minister has the real status, but no In the name of prime minister, the decision is entirely in the hands of the Minister of Military Aircraft.

"As long as Prince Gong doesn't speak, others dare not say anything. What's more, I have already discussed with my teacher before sending out the booklet. Not only did my teacher not say anything, but he also agreed to sign it. Woren dares to touch anyone, but he wants to It took him a lot of thought to touch my mentor. You know, the foundation of Long Mao is in the hands of my mentor at this moment. I heard from people from the north that Wen Zongyan had a will before his death, and those who broke Jinling were sealed. Wang. If this statement is true, what is the position of my mentor?"

Guo Songtao whispered: "You will arrange for my in-law! My in-law is only Xie Kui now, and he already feels that the power is too heavy. If he really becomes a prince, won't he be killed? What's more, cutting down the feudal clan In the future, it has become the ancestral system of the Qing Dynasty that Han officials do not confer kings. It is not good to change the ancestral system now, right? The rumors are not credible, not credible." Li Hongzhang smiled slightly and said, "There are no outsiders here, and you should take the gossip between us in the same year seriously! I never knew that the imperial court was wary of our Han officials! If it weren't for Hong Yang's rebellion, would the imperial court be willing to hand over the power to us Han officials? Think Don’t think about it! Well, let’s not talk about this, I want to tell you a big thing. You know, buying foreign guns and cannons to equip soldiers is not a long-term solution. We must be able to manufacture them ourselves. Made in Anqing The institute was very successful. I plan to set up a larger machinery manufacturing bureau in Shanghai, which can manufacture not only guns, but also other machines. You know a lot of capable people, who is suitable to run it?"

Guo Songtao asked in a low voice: "Does my in-law know about this?" Li Hongzhang said with a smile: "Without his old consent, do you think I can do it alone? This is a big deal!" Guo Songtao nodded and said: "This is a good thing, but only capable people can do it with half the effort. For this matter, you must tune in to Ding Richang! Ding Richang is used to dealing with foreigners, and he is a famous Ding kid. Now there is a lack of Such people." Li Hongzhang pondered: "I thought about him too, but it's a pity that he supervised the firearms department for my teacher in Anqing. I sent him to Shanghai to poach the corner of my teacher's wall. If he breaks the rules, he will be laughed at by the world. What I mean is, I want to re-adjust Wu Xu's supervision, how about it?"

Guo Songtao shook his head and said: "Reappointing Wu Xu, I think there are three things that should not be done. Wu Xu is too flattering in contact with foreigners, this is one thing; Wu Xu is too greedy in being an official, this is two things; I heard that word has been spread in Beijing , Bai Qiwen is discussing reinstatement with the General Administration through Aliguo and Burlingame. You know, Bai Qiwen and Wu Xu have a grudge. Once the General Administration agrees to Bai Qiwen to be the leader of the Changsheng Army again, how will Wu Xu gain a foothold in Shanghai? This is three things. .

"Shaoquan, listen to me. It is the best policy to tune Ding Richang to come to Shanghai. The governor's yamen in Anqing is full of talents, and the grand occasion is unprecedented. Ding Richang is not short of him. Besides, Anqing is a small place, and it is not suitable for the development of large-scale manufacturing. No matter what you do, you can achieve scale. Shaoquan, don’t make a mistake. My in-laws will definitely agree with you if you play Ding Richang. To put it bluntly, the Jiangsu matter Isn't it about Liangjiang?" Li Hongzhang nodded and said, "I have to discuss with my mentor about the matter of Zou Tiao Ding Richang. By the way, since Gordon became the leader of the Ever-Victorious Army, he has played relatively smoothly. Shaoxing will be able to recover within a day or two. After the recovery of Shaoxing , I plan to ask your superiors to reward Gordon with the rank of general soldier. By the way, I want to give your elder brother a secret guard, and I want your elder brother to replace Liu Yun as the acting envoy of Jiangsu. You and I are the same year, so you The top of the head should have been changed a long time ago!"

Guo Songtao was taken aback for a moment, then he sighed and said, "Well, I'm also to blame for my bad luck. I did a good job in the camp of the Hunan Army, but Ding You's term has expired; it doesn't matter that Ding You's term expires. Zou asked me to continue to stay in the Hunan Army to assist in military affairs, but we married our sons and daughters in the same year! In this way, not only could Disheng not be allowed to keep me, but he had to avoid it! "After entering Beijing, I did a good job as an editor, but the superiors chose me to go to Tianjin with the monk and prince to negotiate peace with foreigners. Okay, let's not talk. If you talk too much, you will be bored. Now I Let me ask you one thing, your own affairs, when do you have to wait? You can't let the old lady watch your children for the rest of your life!"

Li Hongzhang replied with a wry smile: "I know the old lady's temper better than you. She is the old man, and she really takes the two children away from her. Do you think she is willing? This matter, wait for Jiaoer to tell her." Let’s talk about it after three years since Mother passed away.” Guo Songtao widened his eyes and said in surprise: "What are you talking about? You have been guarding Jiaoer and her mother for three years? When did your brother learn Neo Confucianism from Wa Xiangguo? Ding's mother is worried about Ding's father, but I haven't heard that Ding's wife is worried about it." Ah! Are you crazy?" Li Hongzhang said with a smile: "Don't talk nonsense. I think that Westernization must be carried out, and Confucianism must be studied. Westernization is for strengthening the country, and Confucianism is for the sake of not messing with sex. We all grew up reading sage books , even if you want to throw away what your ancestors gave you, it will be difficult for a while. Your brother is now a well-known expert in Westernization, so why not?" Guo Songtao silently picked up the pieces and said, "Shall we play another game?" Li Hongzhang smiled while touching the chess: "As expected of my mentor's in-laws, the chess addiction is as big as my mentor's!" He said this in his mouth, but what he thought in his heart was how to get Ding Richang to play smoothly. Ding Richang was also an important figure in the late Qing Dynasty.When Zeng Guofan founded the Anqing Firearms Institute, he was most able to rely on two people, one was Yung Wing and the other was Ding Richang. Ding Richang was born in Fengshun, Guangdong Province. His style name was Yusheng, also known as Yusheng, and he was born in Gongsheng.Because of running a regiment to practice and select prefectures to learn and teach, he accumulated meritorious service to the title of county magistrate, making up for the county magistrate of Wan'an, Jiangxi.Soon, Wan'an was breached by the Taiping Army, and he was dismissed for poor defense.Turning into Zeng Guofan's curtain, he was gradually valued, and was appointed to supervise the Anqing Firearms Institute, and was recommended by Zeng Guofan as a fourth-rank Taoist priest.Through Rong Hong's introduction, Ding Richang made a lot of friends from foreigners, and foreigners also regard him as a backer.Because he got too close to foreigners, his colleagues secretly called him Ding Xiaogui.Calling and shouting, everyone knows that the supervisor of Anqing Firearms who can win over foreigners is called Ding Xiaogui, but no one knows who Ding Richang is. That night, Li Hongzhang wrote in a letter to Chen Xiaofang: "Only what Hongzhang thinks deeply is that foreign weapons strengthen the army a hundred times that of China. The inside is under the chariot, and the outside is full of rivers and seas. I can hold my strengths and weaknesses, but I can't stifle my arrogance... The Chinese scholars don't know their own strengths and weaknesses. Once there is a change, they say: "I can resist insults and defeat the enemy, who will believe it!" It is strange to say that after Li Hongzhang and Zeng Guofan jointly played the booklet for the establishment of the Institute of Foreign Languages ​​and Characters and handed it to the capital, Wu Ren did not express any public objection.Although Xu Tong cried and yelled twice, seeing that Woren was silent, he also immediately kept his mouth shut. The imperial court quickly approved Li Hongzhang's proposal to set up a foreign language and characters school in Shanghai, and officially confirmed the name of the school as the Cantonese Dialect Museum, or Shanghai Tongwen Museum. Everything in the Cantonese Dialect Center followed the example of the Beijing Normal University’s Tongwen Library. Manchu and Han boys under the age of 14 were recruited to study English, French, and natural science. The funds were paid by the Jianghai Customs for a period of three years.The first batch of students at the Cantonese Dialect Center only recruited ten children from poor families, none of them were full, and none of the children of country gentry enrolled. Seeing that the opening date of the Cantonese Dialect Center is getting closer, the sense of pride in Li Hongzhang's chest is getting stronger and stronger.Although the Cantonese Language Institute only recruited ten boys, what Li Hongzhang saw from the ten boys was the future of the Qing Dynasty. Li Hongzhang sent a letter to his eldest brother Li Hanzhang that day, saying: "A Foreign Language and Character Institute is specially set up in Shanghai, and overseas Chinese living in Shanghai from various countries are selected as professors. They specialize in teaching languages ​​​​of various countries and cultivate diplomatic talents. If my brother is interested Here, I can order my nephew Yu to apply for study and contribute to the country in the future, and this is also my Li family's pleasure." However, Li Hanzhang had objections to this matter. He did not send his son here, nor did he reply to his second brother.