Chapter 84 Section 84: Li Hongzhang was severely criticized

At the beginning of the French occupation of the Red River Delta in Vietnam, they did not continue to expand their achievements. Instead, they sent Fulda, the captain of the Fulda, under the command of Gu Ba, to Hong Kong by gallop to Hong Kong, and found De Cui Lin, the tax department of the Hong Kong China Guangdong Customs. Conveyed to the Prime Minister's Yamen to Hurd, China's General Taxation Department: France hopes to continue to sit down and discuss with China on the Vietnam issue again. Baylor Yikuang received the telegram from Hurd from Shanghai and did not dare to neglect it, so he quickly passed it into the palace and waited for the Queen Mother to show it.The Empress Dowager Cixi called Yizhen into the palace to discuss for a day, and finally decided to entrust Li Hongzhang with full authority to handle the matter.

Li Hongzhang received the imperial edict and discussed with his staff for a day, but he still couldn't figure out the true intention of France.He thought about it for a while, and decided to observe in Tianjin for a day or two before heading south. Unexpectedly, the second imperial decree came again, and he immediately went south to Hong Kong to meet with Fu Lunuo. Li Hongzhang had no choice but to temporarily explain the affairs of the governor and the Minister of Commerce to the chief envoy. He selected two English and French translators, took fifty soldiers and a dozen staff, and left Tianjin by fast boat. Went to Hong Kong to meet Fluno.

However, the Fulda, managed by Fuluno, has already come to Shanghai in advance.On the day Li Hongzhang and his party arrived in Shanghai, under the arrangement of De Cui Lin, they met with Fulu Nuo. As soon as they met, Frono first conveyed to Li Hongzhang the greetings from French Prime Minister Jufery, and then expressed that France very much hoped to peacefully resolve the dispute between China and France regarding Vietnam.What Fulu Nuo said was actually exactly what Li Hongzhang hoped for.After meeting with Fuluno, he urgently sent a report to the Prime Minister's Office, relaying the French's request.

The Zongli Yamen quickly called back to agree.Li Hongzhang and Fluno then came to Tianjin by boat and held a new round of talks.Before the talks, Li Hongzhang asked for an order as usual, which was nothing more than finding the essentials of the talks. Three days later, the imperial decree came to Li Hongzhang: "At present, there are about several most important ones. The Vietnamese Shixiu's tribute is our vassal. It is absolutely impossible to make a contract with a legal person to make it more constitutional. We must make it clear with it. In the section on business, If you want to trade on the ground in Vietnam, there is nothing wrong with it. If you want to go deep into the interior of Yunnan and travel everywhere, there will be many abuses in the future, and it is urgent to prevent them. Liu Yongfu's black flag army has repeatedly defeated French soldiers. How can I do what I want? This time the legal person invaded and occupied Vietnam, and the quarrel is open to each other. I have no intention of breaking peace. If I ask for compensation for military expenses again, it will be unreasonable, and it will also go against the public laws of all countries. The above The balance of festivals has a great relationship with the overall situation, Li Hongzhang should take this important task, how should he try his best to defend himself, and prepare for the debate in advance. I respect this."

Li Hongzhang began to discuss with Fu Lunuo according to the imperial decree.I am afraid that even Li Hongzhang himself did not expect that the progress of the negotiation was unexpected. Not only was it extremely smooth, but a treaty was signed very quickly, namely: "Sino-French Concise Treaty".The treaty is divided into three articles: (1) China no longer interferes with all treaties between France and Vietnam, and recognizes France's "right to protect" Vietnam; (2) China will withdraw all troops stationed in Vietnam to the border within a limited period; (3) France Without compensation, the Sino-Vietnamese border is open for trade, but entry into the interior of Yunnan is not allowed.

Li Hongzhang wrote down the treaty clearly one by one, and delivered it to the imperial court.In order to enable the Empress Dowager Cixi to ratify the treaty smoothly and prevent France from attacking the mainland of China, Li Hongzhang sent a letter to the Zongli Yamen while requesting the order. The letter said: "France is now negotiating with Vietnam to revise the treaty, and it will never insert words that hurt China's dignity. According to Fulu Nuoyun, France has sent a new envoy to Beijing, Badeno, to go to Vietnam. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs ordered the Ba envoy to discuss with the King of Yue to delete the meaning of Jiaxu and last year's treaty that violated the meaning of China's vassal state, but he refused to clearly regard China as a state." He also said: "Hongzhang really tried his best to ask for it. If there is any further struggle beyond this, nothing will be achieved, and the trouble will be even closer."

Li Hongzhang finally wrote: "If we negotiate at this time, the military fee can be exempted, and the border can be negotiated; if we wait for the other side to go deeper, or use military ships to attack the coastal areas, I am afraid that this will not be possible. With his soldiers, he will end up in trouble. If you don’t understand it for a long time, when the source of salary is scarce, the hearts of the soldiers and the people will be shaken, or you will be rehabilitated, it seems that you can adapt to the situation, and it will be beneficial to the overall situation if you plan to end it early!” Li Hongzhang has made up his mind, no matter what, he can’t let the flames of war burn stand up.He can't let the current draw be ruined.

The Empress Dowager Cixi once again agreed with Li Hongzhang's point of view, and quickly issued an order to approve them one by one, and ordered Li Hongzhang to quickly draw a seal to prevent the legal person from changing his mind midway. After the "Sino-French Concise Treaty" was signed, Li Hongzhang wrote: "It is an agreement between the two countries. In the future, business affairs can be arranged calmly. This will be done by the empress dowager and the emperor. Before and after invoking people from afar to be loyal to Fuxin, all the princes and ministers worked together to help each other, and Kuangbi praised him, and the big plan was settled in a difficult and dangerous situation, so that the lingering and indeterminate discussions on the law for several years could be ended. From then on, the situation was preserved The people, training simple weapons, Xu Tu self-improvement, the world is very fortunate. The humble ministers are dedicated to the service, and the shackles are like rotten ropes, and the six horses are reinstated. It is fear. Although the discussion is now done quickly, it is beyond the initial expectation, and there are things that are beyond the reach of thinking and strength. I still pray that the song can learn from the foolishness and sincerity, and don't be confused by floating arguments. Since then, the diplomatic relations between China and foreign countries have been strengthened.”

On the night of paying homage, Li Hongzhang passed Ma Jianzhong, an alternate director of the China Merchants Bureau of Shipping, to the hotel, stroked his beard and said, "Uncle Mei, you have contributed the most to this negotiation with France. If I want to play, please stay in Xiangyang, Tianjin." How do you like doing foreign affairs?" Ma Jianzhong hurriedly said: "It is a blessing from the ancestors of Zhidao to be able to stay with my lord to practice foreign affairs. However, my lord, I have always had a question that I can't solve, and I want to ask my lord for advice. My lord, you always thought that "" Although the Sino-French Concise Treaty was signed, can France really follow the agreement?"

Li Hongzhang was taken aback, and hurriedly said, "Uncle Mei, please continue." Ma Jianzhong said: "Just think about it, my lord. Nato Ligu negotiated with you twice, but was rejected by you because of lack of sincerity. At that time, the legal person had not yet started a war with our defense forces in Vietnam. But this time, Fluno came to Tianjin. Now that Sino-French conflicts are on the rise, and our army has been defeated, not only do you keep negotiating smoothly with him, but there are few extraneous issues, isn't that surprising?" Li Hongzhang pondered for a long time, and said slowly: "The legal person has broken the contract once, do you still want to repeat the old drama?"

Ma Jianzhong said: "My lord, you are very scheming and have the most cunning temperament, so you have to guard against it! French warships are gathered in Vietnam, and they will arrive in Fujian in an instant. According to his professional knowledge, Guba is a brave and skilled fighter among the French navy generals. Since this person went to Vietnam to command the warship, it is impossible to guarantee that he will not covet our Fujian and Taiwan." Li Hongzhang sighed and said: "Uncle Mei's argument is very true. I asked for an order overnight to inspect the forts along the coast of Beiyang. You go with me. Beiyang is an important coastal defense area of ​​my Qing Dynasty. Jifu has a heavy responsibility, so it can't be sloppy!" Soon after, Li Hongzhang took Ma Jianzhong and other staff members on board a ship and began a month-long coastal inspection of the Beiyang defense area. Just five days after Li Hongzhang left Tianjin, the governor of Tianjin Zhili received an urgent telegram from Shanghai.Fluno stated in the telegram that he had received instructions from the domestic Prime Minister Ruferi to order the Chinese troops stationed in Vietnam to withdraw from the Vietnamese defense zone before June 17 this year. If not, France will take unilateral military action to forcibly take over China. Stationed in the defense zone. The hotel immediately sent the telegram from Fulu Nuo to the Tianjin Customs Road Yamen. As soon as the Tianjin Customs Road Yamen saw that the matter was urgent, they immediately sent express horses to the capital.When the Empress Dowager Cixi saw Fluno's telegram, she hurriedly asked Yikuang to find out the text of the "Sino-French Concise Treaty" and read it. Empress Dowager Cixi read the treaty three times, but did not see the words to withdraw troops on June 17.The anger in the Empress Dowager Cixi's heart couldn't help but ignited, she threw the treaty at Yikuang's feet, and cursed: "This Li Hongzhang, he is so old-fashioned! How dare he hide such a big thing! Hurry up! Summoned Shiduo, drafted an order for Li Hongzhang, and asked him what was going on. He couldn't explain the reason clearly, so he was arrested in the capital for questioning! This is not bad!" Accompanied by Zhang Peilun, Wu Dacheng, Ding Ruchang, Ma Jianzhong and others, Li Hongzhang was reviewing warships at the fort that day.A few of them were sitting on the watchtower of the flagship, each holding a binoculars in their hands, and they were watching the exercises of the navy officers and soldiers.Suddenly, a fast ship came to the flagship like flying, and it turned out that the messenger who delivered the order had arrived. Li Hongzhang hurriedly brushed off his clothes with all the people, and knelt on the deck to receive the order.The decree said: "Because Fulu Nuo limited the date of withdrawing troops, Li Hongzhang did not hear about it, nor did he inform the Prime Minister's Office. Now the envoy uses this as an excuse, and Li Hongzhang's ambiguity is the result of Li Hongzhang's handling. Hurry up and tell the truth, and then ask the crime! This is it." Li Hongzhang was so shocked that he didn't know where he was for a long time.He was very clear-headed that France suddenly set a date for China to withdraw its troops at this time, because it was determined to lose peace with China; In any case, it is impossible to arrive in Vietnam before June 27. Li Hongzhang returned to the posthouse that day, and while trying to defend himself, he wept silently. Zhang Peilun said at this time: "Your Excellency, please don't be sad. According to my guess, this must be because the Empress Dowager has listened to the slander of some elder in the court and deliberately made it difficult for my lord. My lord, please be at ease. As soon as my lord arrives in Fuzhou, I will go to the queen mother." Let me clarify this matter: the withdrawal of troops on a limited date is not intentionally concealed by the adults, it is actually Fluno's wishful thinking." Wu Dacheng also said: "This Kubeile is really confused. The "Concise Treaty" is clearly written, why was it only limited to June 27th? This is clearly Ru Feili's bastard. What is the matter? You should make it clear to the Queen Mother!" Li Hongzhang raised his head, took out a cloth towel and wiped away his tears, and said slowly: "Do you think that the old man cried because he was reprimanded? I have been in the army for half a lifetime, and I don't know how much more wronged I have suffered than this time. After a tear, what is this grievance? The old man shed tears because the war is about to start, and my national power is not yet strong, so I don’t know what the end will be?" What Li Hongzhang said made Zhang Peilun and others bow their heads.Li Hongzhang's papers had not yet been handed over to the capital, and the Empress Dowager Cixi realized that she had wrongly blamed Li Hongzhang because of her impatience, so she ordered Li Hongzhang to continue patrolling the coast in case of a sneak attack by French ships. On June 27th, in the blink of an eye, the commander-in-chief of the French army, Miller, was ordered by his country to lead his troops to approach the Chinese defense line in North Vietnam, intending to forcibly take over the defense.Peng Yulin, the President of the Vietnam Defense Forces, did not receive the order to withdraw the defense, so he naturally refused to agree to the French army's request to take over the defense. Mi Le was furious and ordered the troops to fire on the Chinese army.Seeing that the French army opened fire first, Peng Yulin immediately ordered the battalions to fight back.In the area of ​​Guanyin Bridge in North Vietnam (called Bei Le in Vietnam), the Chinese and French armies officially fought. The two sides fought fiercely for a whole day, and the French army not only failed to advance half a step, but suffered heavy casualties.Miller had no choice but to retreat with his army, and quickly reported to the country the truth of the battle between the French army and the Chinese army, requesting the next step. As soon as French Foreign Minister Shamelacourt received Miller's report, he was furious at that time.After asking for instructions from Journey, he immediately sent his staff to submit a letter of protest to the Chinese embassy in France, claiming that because China did not abide by the "Sino-French Concise Treaty", France not only wanted China to immediately withdraw its troops from North Vietnam, but also demanded a large amount of compensation. The protest letter also listed the following items: (1) China is required to provide a guarantee for the faithful implementation of the concise treaty, or a port; (2) China is required to publish an edict in the "Beijing News" to immediately withdraw troops from North Vietnam.The protest letter finally threatened: "If there is no satisfactory answer to the above points, France will take direct action to obtain collateral and compensation by itself."