Chapter 63 Section 63: Zeng Guofan died and Li Hongzhang was promoted

Within a few days of arriving in Shanghai, Li Hongzhang, Ding Richang, Chen Lanbin, Rong Wing and others drew up specific regulations for selecting young children to go abroad.The charter was delivered to Jiangning by a special person, and after Zeng Guofan agreed, it was played to the court in the name of Li Hongzhang as the basis for the governors of various places to handle it. This booklet is titled "Booklet on Matters concerning Studying Abroad for Young Children".Zhezi first recommended Chen Lanbin, an alternate head of the Ministry of Criminal Affairs with the fourth rank, and Yung Wing, an alternate with the rank of Jiangsu Tongzhi, to serve as the principal and deputy supervisor of Young Tong Liuyang respectively, and then reported the specific methods and sources of funds.

The document was first reviewed by the Prime Minister's Office and the Military Aircraft Office before being handed over to the Empress Dowager Cixi.Empress Dowager Cixi browsed through it, and showed it to Empress Dowager Ci'an politely.As usual, Empress Dowager Ci'an quickly sent the booklet back to Empress Dowager Cixi, and asked the eunuch to say, "My sister can figure it out." The Empress Dowager Cixi then approved them one by one, and ordered the Military Aircraft Department to distribute the documents to the governors of various places to handle accordingly.This incident has gradually become a hot topic of discussion among the people in the Qing Dynasty.For a time, there were those who ridiculed, those who abused, and those who admired.But no matter what, this matter was finally done vigorously.

In the first month of the eleventh year of Tongzhi (AD 1872), Zeng Guofan died in the post of Governor of Liangjiang, and the whole country mourned.Li Hongzhang was preparing for the construction of the Yongding River dam in Baoding at that time. When the news of Zeng Guofan's death came, although Li Hongzhang knew it would happen sooner or later, he still felt a little sudden and felt sad. In his view, although Zeng Guofan was seriously ill, he could at least live long enough to send the first batch of young children who went abroad to study skills abroad.Unexpectedly, Zeng Guofan did not wait.

Li Hongzhang immediately handed over all the affairs at hand to the chief envoy to supervise, and took Xue Fucheng, Li Shuchang and a few soldiers with him, and soon set off for Jinling to attend Zeng Guofan's funeral and take care of the funeral affairs. When they came to Jinling, Li Hongzhang, Xue Fucheng, Li Shuchang and others knelt down in front of Zeng Guofan's spirit, crying loudly.Soon, the accompanying officials hung the elegiac couplets drawn by Li Hongzhang and Xue Fucheng on the mourning hall. The elegiac couplet proposed by Li Hongzhang is: The elegiac couplet proposed by Xue Fucheng is:

Soon, Zuo Zongtang's elegiac couplet for Zeng Guofan was also delivered by a special person. The elegiac couplet proposed by Zuo Zongtang is: Not long after Li Hongzhang arrived in Jinling, the imperial court issued three decrees to commend Zeng Guofan's achievements during his lifetime, and gave him the posthumous title "Wenzheng". During the funeral for Zeng Guofan, Li Hongzhang secretly recommended his Jinshi. In the same year, Ho Jing, the governor of Fujian, temporarily served as the governor of Liangjiang, and the court allowed him to play.He Jing was also a great official in Xinjiang created by Zeng Guofan's shogunate.

He Jing, styled Xiaosong, was born in Xiangshan, Guangdong. Not only was he a Jinshi in the same year as Li Hongzhang, but he was also selected as a scholar of the Imperial Academy.At the end of the term, he was awarded editing, and tired officials supervised the censor and Lufeng Road in Anhui.In the eleventh year of Xianfeng (AD 1861), recommended by Li Hongzhang, he was admitted to Zeng Guofan's tent and headed the Hunan Army Camp Affairs Office, and his official star began to emerge.In the second year of Tongzhi (1863 A.D.), he was awarded the inspector of Anhui; in the ninth year of Tongzhi (1870 A.D.), he was awarded the governor of Fujian by rewarding the second rank Dingdai.

Under Li Hongzhang's management, Zeng Guofan's funeral was held in a splendid manner, and both the government and the opposition were convinced.Two months after returning to Baoding, Li Hongzhang replaced Dongge University Bachelor and became a justifiable prime minister.It was also at this time that Chen Qin from Tianjin Customs Road hurried to Baoding from Tianjin.When Chen Qin saw Li Hongzhang, he gave a big gift first, and said: "Zheng Dao came here in a hurry, one is to congratulate the lord on the joy of paying homage to the Prime Minister, and the other is to report something important to the lord."

Seeing that Chen Qin was sweating, Li Hongzhang couldn't help asking: "Chen Dao, looking at you, could something happen in Tianjin? Is the manufacturing bureau short of money again?" Chen Qin said: "Jeong Rongrong, it's not that there was an accident in the manufacturing bureau, but that the Japanese came again!" After speaking, he took out a few pages from the protective book and handed it to Li Hongzhang, saying: "The Japanese said that last year I was the same age as me. The emperor was very dissatisfied with the treaty signed by the Qing Dynasty and had to revise it. They came here this time to handle the revision of the treaty. This is the revised treaty drafted by the Japanese, please have a look."

Li Hongzhang flipped through the pages, and seeing that they were all in Japanese, he shouted, "Come here!" A guard entered in response, and Li Hongzhang handed him the contract, saying: "Send it to the translation office immediately, and let the translator translate it overnight, without delay." The guard hurriedly took it, promised and walked out quickly. Li Hongzhang pointed to the chair with his finger and said, "Chen Dao, sit down first." Then he shouted again: "Bring tea to Mr. Chen!" Soon someone brought tea in outside. Chen Qin sat down and said: "My lord, before going on the road of duty, I asked the translator to have a look at the new treaty drafted by the Japanese. According to the translator, the treaty newly drafted by the Japanese is similar to the treaty signed between the Qing Dynasty and the Western Kingdom. At the same time, many rights have been added."

Li Hongzhang stood up angrily, slapped the table with his hand and said: "These stupid thieves! He's gone against the sky! Go down and rest first, and wait for the main hall to read the treaty before sending it to you for discussion. The main hall Originally planned to join forces with the Japanese to deal with the Westerners, but the Japanese have a bigger appetite than the Westerners! The Japanese pirates are bandits after all, so you can’t join them!” Chen Qin retired, leaving Li Hongzhang alone in the signing room. The next day, the translator finished the translation of the newly drafted contract in Japan and sent it to Li Hongzhang.Li Hongzhang took it and took a look. As Chen Qin said, the treaty that Japan drafted this time is actually a copy of the contract between the Western Kingdom and the Qing Dynasty, almost the same.Li Hongzhang was furious, and immediately sent Chen Qin to come over, and ordered: "The revision of the treaty between the two countries is not a child's play, and there is no reason to change it if you want to. Chen Dao, you set off for Tianjin immediately, and hand over the revised treaty handed over by the Japanese." Asking to return it to them, and telling them the truth of what the Ministry said, let them die. My Daqing agrees to sign a contract with them, which is enough to give them face, how dare they go further! How unreasonable!"

After Chen Qin went down, Li Hongzhang was still full of resentment, and cursed: "It's just an island country, a tiny place, I can't bear to be bullied, but he dares to bully me, it's really hateful!" He reported the matter to the imperial court on the same day, and the excerpt wrote: "The minister examined his intentions, but it was sophistry, and he has not yet met with the envoy. He ordered Chen Qin, who was originally on the Tianjin Customs Road who had agreed on the agreement, to be sent to Tianjin. Sun Shida, a member of the Jiangsu Provincial Customs Department, who was sent to the commissioner, argued back and forth with the envoy, and when there is some clue, the minister will meet again and give advice in camera, and he should always stick to the previous discussion and not let go." As soon as Chen Qin left, the imperial decree followed and came to the governor's office.Li Hongzhang was shocked when he received the order. It turned out that the order was for the abolition of the Fujian Shipping Bureau.What Li Hongzhang was most worried about happened early. The imperial decree said: "Because of Song Jinzhi, a cabinet scholar, the cost of building ships was too high, please stop temporarily. Wenyu and Wang Kaitai should be ordered to consider the situation and deal with it in Ming Dynasty. According to the report, the ship in Fujian Province originally proposed to build 16 ships. No. 3, No. 3, the person who reported the start of work, has allocated funds. As of December last year, 3.15 million taels of silver have been allocated, and 250,000 taels of silver have been released for the maintenance of ships. The money has increased compared with the original estimate. As a result, although all the ships are agile, they are not as good as the foreign warships. The seventh and eighth ships will be under construction in the summer of this year, and there is no schedule for the ninth ship to go abroad. , should the Steamship Bureau be suspended temporarily, please follow the instructions, etc. Zuo Zongtang's previous proposal for the creation of a steamship has far-reaching intentions, but the construction is less than half, the number has exceeded the original estimate, and the defense is still uncertain. The three unfinished ships No. There is still a lot of funds needed for the continuation. When the funds are exhausted, temporarily stop it, which is one way to save money. However, it is very difficult to start a business in the world. Even if it is abolished, it should not be done hastily. Self-improvement, the ships built at this time, according to reports, are not as many as foreign warships, so you should try to win the game. If you rush to save money, you may lose the painstaking efforts of the day's management and construction. By Li Hongzhang, Zuo Zongtang Shen Baozhen and Shen Baozhen made a comprehensive plan, whether it should be abolished now, or whether it should be abolished immediately, and how to reduce the floating expenses in the bureau to save funds, how to manufacture ships, so as to prevent foreign aggression, each section has been carefully considered and played. I respect this.” There was only one issue in the Song and Jin Dynasties: the Fuzhou Shipping Bureau was too heavy, and the shipbuilding period was long, and it was not comparable to foreign ships, so it must be stopped.