Chapter 68 Section 68: Li Hongzhang’s Advocacy to Abandon Xinjiang Causes Controversy

Who is Riyige?Why is China's shipping bureau in the hands of a Frenchman?Things have to be traced back to the first year of Tongzhi (AD 1862). On October 12 of this year, Zuo Zongtang, the governor of Zhejiang, imitated the establishment of the Changsheng Army in Shanghai and recruited locals in Ningbo, Zhejiang to form the Changjie Army.The army used all foreign guns and cannons. The French navy vice-admiral Le Bole was hired as the commander, and Ri Yige, a native of Zhejiang Ningbo Customs, Taxation and Judiciary, was hired as the assistant commander. After Chang Jie's army was abolished, Ri Yige was hired by Huguang Governor Wen Wen to be the leader of the Hubei Pioneer Battalion.After the Pioneer Camp was disbanded, it was the time when Li Hongzhang established the Jiangnan Manufacturing Bureau in Shanghai and then established the Jinling Manufacturing Bureau in Jinling.

Riyige saw that the Westernization of the Qing Dynasty was getting better, so he took a boat to Fuzhou, found Zuo Zongtang, then governor of Fujian and Zhejiang, and encouraged Zuo Zongtang to establish a shipbuilding bureau, and promised that all coal, steel and even technicians would be provided by France. Paid supply. At this time, Zuo Zongtang was interested in the Jiangnan and Jinling Second Bureaus founded by Li Hongzhang. Now that he heard Riyige's boast, he immediately felt flustered, and soon asked the imperial court to set up a bureau in Fuzhou that was comparable to Jiangnan. The Shipbuilding Bureau, which is comparable to the Jinling No. 2 Bureau, was named Mawei Shipping Bureau because the local area was selected in Mawei.

After the decree was approved, Zuo Zongtang hired Ri Yige as the supervisor of the powerful Shipping Bureau to take charge of all affairs.Riyige is in the Ship Administration Bureau, really wants wind and rain, and the scenery is not good. Riyige is a French officer who participated in the naval battles in the Baltic Sea and Crimea.In the seventh year of Xianfeng (1857 A.D.), he participated in the invasion and occupation of Guangzhou by the British and French allied forces, and later served as the Taxation Department of Ningbo Customs.During this period, he helped Shanghai form a foreign gun team and purchased arms for it, and gained some benefits.After serving as the commander of Chang Jie's army, he made a fortune even more.

Li Hongzhang knew in his heart that the Fujian Shipbuilding Bureau was almost abolished by the court. The main reason was that Zuo Zongtang, the founder of the bureau, made mistakes in employing people.Li Hongzhang firmly believed that as long as the right people were employed, the Fujian Shipping Bureau would definitely be able to run well.Li Hongzhang pinned his hope of revitalizing the Shipping Bureau on Ding Richang and Guo Songtao.But Guo Songtao refused to be Ding Richang's official. The imperial court ordered Guo Songtao to act temporarily as the procurator of Fujian Province, and the edict was forwarded from the governor's office in Hunan to the Guofu in Xiangyin.After dismissing the decree messenger, Guo Songtao cursed: "This brat Ding, thanks to him, he figured it out! Let me, a dignified Hanlin who was born in the second list, serve him who was born in Gongsheng, and he doesn't think he is a What! Even if I die of starvation in the mountains, I won’t be able to beg for food under his nose!”

Seeing him scolding fiercely, the family held their breath and dared not enter the room to persuade him. Guo Songtao scolded for a long time by himself, until smoke came out of his throat, and then he stopped, and sent someone to bring tea in to quench his thirst.Ding Richang kindly gave him a short mark, Guo Songtao not only didn't appreciate it, but thought that Ding Richang was humiliating him, and forgot what his background was, Guo Songtao, and Ding Richang's.This is the tragedy of Guo Songtao's life. One day after dinner, Li Hongzhang sat around with his staff and gossiped, and accidentally mentioned Guo Songtao. Li Hongzhang said: "Guo Yunxian thinks it's time to come to Fujian to take the post of supervisor. There are Ding Yusheng and Guo Yunxian in Fujian. That day I'm afraid the days when Yige controls our Shipping Administration Bureau won't be too long! Ding Yusheng and Guo Yunxian are both geniuses who are engaged in foreign affairs at the moment of my Qing dynasty!"

Sheng Xuanhuai said: "My lord said this, but the officials have a different opinion. According to the bold guess of the officials, not only will Guo Yunxian not go to Fujian, but he will also have grievances against Ding Futai." Li Hongzhang hurriedly asked, "Xingsun, what do you mean? Did you hear something outside?" Sheng Xuanhuai said: "My lord, let me tell you that when I was working as a clerk in Shanghai, I heard rumors from people in the official circles that Mr. Guo would never work for people with lower backgrounds than him. I don't know if you still remember that when Zuo Jigao first ruled the army. When he was in charge of Shaanxi and Gansu, he was asked three times to help with military affairs in the background, but he ignored him, which made the Zuo Zhijun very embarrassing in front of the staff.

"It was only later that I found out that the Zuo Zhijun came from the first rank, but Mr. Guo was from the Hanlin Academy. Although the Zuo Zhijun was in the frontiers, and his reputation was resounding at home and abroad, he still refused to help him. Think about it again, my lord. Ding Yusheng What kind of background is Zhong Cheng? Is Mr. Guo willing to be manipulated by a person who was born in Gongsheng? So the lower officials speculate that Mr. Guo not only refuses to take up the post, but also scolds Ding Zhongcheng!" Li Hongzhang nodded in agreement and said, "Why did the old man forget this? I didn't think much about it!"

Xue Fucheng said at this time: "Lord Zhongtang, I recently heard that there seems to be a gap in the Prime Minister's Office. Your Excellency might as well keep it secret. Mr. Guo is well versed in the way of Westernization, and he once went to the Prime Minister's Office to help negotiate with the Monk Prince. As an errand, isn't it possible to use his old expertise?" Li Shuchang said: "Yongyu's words are very true. Let Mr. Guo join the General Administration, it is tantamount to putting an eyeliner on the General Administration. In the future, when we negotiate, we will not fail at both ends."

Li Hongzhang stroked his beard and pondered for a while, and finally said slowly: "The old man doesn't insist on asking Yunxian to come out of the mountain, but he just doesn't want to waste his great talent!" That night, Li Hongzhang really set up a secret security for the imperial court, and asked Guo Songtao to enter the prime minister's office.Sure enough, the court agreed.When the imperial decree came to Xiangyin, Guo Songtao quickly packed up and went to the post. After Li Hongzhang's "Discussion on Coastal Defense" was delivered to the palace, the Empress Dowager Cixi looked at it, and without saying a word, she passed Prince Gong in and said, "You may also read this book by Li Hongzhang. What's your idea?" ? The emperor is so ill, we can't count on him anymore, let's make a decision."

Prince Gong replied: "The Empress Dowager, Li Hongzhang's sons and daughters have read it, and Wen Xiang, Shen Guifen, and Li Hongzao have also read it. They agree with Li Hongzhang's point of view, and the minister also thinks what he said is reasonable. Our coastal defense in the Qing Dynasty is too empty. , if we don't take advantage of this time to strengthen, maybe there will be big troubles at some point." Empress Dowager Cixi said: "Li Hongzhang said that buying a ship is worse than building a ship. How much money does it cost?" Prince Gong replied: "I report to the Empress Dowager, Li Hongzhang has calculated an account, and it is written in the booklet. If Xinjiang does not move temporarily, this source of salary can be transferred to Haiphong, and the provinces will pay for it again, and the remaining gap will be borrowed." Some foreign models will probably be fine.”

The Empress Dowager Cixi pondered for a while, and said, "Prince Gong, in my opinion, let the Military Aircraft Department send this note to the governors for a look, and let them discuss it to see if there is a better way. You Ah, let them pay attention again. Is there any good doctor to recommend? The emperor's illness is getting worse and worse, and I'm going to let him die. I plan to bring Yizhen's son Zaiyun into the palace and adopt him. To Emperor Wen, what do you think?" Prince Gong trembled all over, and hurriedly said: "What the Empress Dowager says is what she says, I dare not object." Empress Dowager Cixi got up and took two steps, and said: "I'm just letting you know if it can be done or not. We still have to discuss it. Don’t say what I just said to you, so as not to cause any trouble. Go down and let the Military Aircraft Department send this copy of Li Hongzhang to the governor.” Prince Gong bowed his head and left in dismay.He knew in his heart that the Empress Dowager Cixi wanted to bring Zaitian into the palace and adopt the dead emperor instead of the living emperor. The meaning was obvious. It was nothing more than the Empress Dowager Zhibin, and she could still manipulate the government in a legitimate way.If a person is selected from the family and adopted to Tongzhi, if the child adopted to Tongzhi succeeds in the Datong, then the Empress Dowager Cixi is no longer the Empress Dowager, but the Empress Dowager.In the ancestral system of the Qing Dynasty, the Empress Dowager was not allowed to intervene in government affairs. When Prince Gong thought of this, his heart couldn't help but feel chills.Prince Gong has never seen a woman who is so obsessed with imperial power. Li Hongzhang's "Discussion on Coastal Defense" was quickly copied by the Military Aircraft Office and distributed to the governors of various provinces. Unexpectedly, it triggered a big debate that shocked China and the world, known in history as "the dispute between coastal defense and fortified defense". The focus of the debate is mainly on the sentence in Li Hongzhang's excerpts, "If Xinjiang is not restored, the vitality of the limbs will not be damaged. If the sea and borders are not guarded, the serious troubles in the heart will become more thorny." Is it true or not?Foreign enemies invaded and Xinjiang was out of control.Is the loss of Xinjiang really harmless to the vitality of the Qing Dynasty? Li Zongyi, Governor of Liangjiang, Shen Baozhen, Minister of Shipping in Fujian, Ding Richang, Governor of Fujian, Wu Yuanbing, Governor of Jiangsu, and others all expressed their support for Li Hongzhang's point of view. Used for Haiphong to buy ironclad ships. Ding Baozhen, governor of Shandong, Cen Yuying, governor of Yunnan, Shao Tingyu, governor of Shaanxi, Liu Changyou, governor of Guangxi, and others believed that fortified defense was greater than coastal defense. Zuo Zongtang, the governor of Shaanxi and Gansu, believed that coastal defense and fortified defense were equally important, and one should not only focus on coastal defense and ignore fortified defense, and the funds for fortified defense should not be transferred to coastal defense. Zuo Zongtang's excerpt reads: "It is appropriate to plan for current affairs by stealing them, and to plan for them. The east is for coastal defense, and the west is fortified defense. The two are equally important. Today's discussion of coastal defense is not to focus on the Western Regions at present, and it is better to strictly guard the border. There is no need to rush to make progress. , please pay evenly for the coastal defense with the stop and retreat; when it comes to fortress defense, consider the cunning of the Russians, and focus on the westward expedition with all your strength. The self-proclaimed opinion...Those who steal the cooperation of Western and Western countries to seek us, their ambitions are only to gain profits through trade, and there must be other conspiracy...The commentator wants to withdraw the soldiers of the fortress in order to benefit the coastal defense. Let me talk about the salaries that should be raised for coastal defense. What is needed for the initial work, such as purchasing ships, buying guns, purchasing guards, and building forts; The cost of maintaining a ship is also true. The shipbuilding bureau of Fujian Bureau is gradually getting a clue, so it is popularized and improved, and more and more ships are built. The cost of buying ships can be saved, and the cost of hiring ships can be changed to the cost of maintaining ships. The pay for going out of the customs is evenly used for coastal defense. The coastal defense is twice as urgent as today's fortress defense, and the Long Army's salary is more than that of the coastal defense. If there is a problem, the stakes are high, and it is urgent to think carefully about the punishment... If at this time, all the troops that have already left the fortress and those that have not yet left the fortress are first discussed to stop the withdrawal, there is really no way." Zuo Zongtang then described the specific methods of strengthening the fortification and how to recover Xinjiang. In private, Zuo Zongtang was very dissatisfied with Li Hongzhang's proposition, saying: "Xinjiang is like brothers, how can we abandon it because of the invasion of foreign enemies? Maybe he, Li Hongzhang, can not have his brothers!"