Chapter 97 Chapter 97

On March 23rd in the 21st year of Guangxu (April 17th, 1895), Li Hongzhang and Japanese representative Hirobumi Ito sat together again to fulfill the last level of the agreement: painting, stamping and sealing. Because this treaty was signed at Chunfanlou in Shimonoseki, Japan, people used to call it "Treaty of Shimonoseki" or "Treaty of Chunfanlou". According to the treaty, the Qing government recognized North Korea's "independence"; ceded the Liaodong Peninsula, Taiwan, Penghu Islands and affiliated islands to Japan; compensated Japan for military expenses of 200 million taels of silver; opened Chongqing, Shashi, Suzhou, and Hangzhou as trading ports; opened up new inland water routes ; allow Japan to open factories in China's treaty ports, and the products are exported to the mainland of China without inland tax; in exchange for prisoners, China will immediately release Japanese military spies or Japanese subjects who are suspected of being arrested, and will not arrest personnel serving the Japanese army.Regarding the cession of the Liaodong Peninsula, China and Japan made a special supplementary explanation, which emphasized: China can redeem the island with 30 million taels of Kuping silver, and a formal treaty will be signed afterward.

Li Hongzhang finally saved the Liaodong Peninsula with 30 million taels of silver. Afterwards, even Hirobumi Ito had to admit that it was a failure to expel Zhang Yinhuan and Shao Youlian and agree to Li Hongzhang to negotiate a peace, otherwise, Japan would never have lost the Liaodong Peninsula. Ito Hirobumi once said to Mutsu Munemitsu: "It is undeniable that China's Li Hongzhang is indeed a veteran diplomat. This person is amazing! We underestimated him." Mutsu Munemitsu later said: "Since Li Hongzhang came to Shimonoseki, he has never had such an exhaustive debate like today's meeting. He may have known that the main part of our decision cannot be changed, so in today's talks, it is only a side issue. It’s just haggling over issues. For example, at the beginning, I asked for a reduction of 50 million taels from the 20 million taels of compensation. When I saw that the goal could not be achieved, I asked for a reduction of 20 million taels, and finally pleaded with Ito Hirobumi for a small reduction. Donated as travel expenses for returning home. This kind of behavior, as far as his status is concerned, is not without gaffe, but it may be out of the meaning of 'every point is worth every bit'."

On the day Li Hongzhang signed his signature, the gauze on his head had not been removed, and the sandball of shame was still on his face, and he boarded the boat and set off to return home.He didn't want to stay in this country for a moment longer. After the "Treaty of Shimonoseki" was approved by Emperor Guangxu, it immediately aroused strong repercussions in all walks of life.On May 2 of the same year, Kang Youwei, the son of Nanhai Judiciary of Guangdong Province, and more than 1,300 jurors from various provinces who were taking the examination in Beijing, jointly signed a letter to Emperor Guangxu, requesting that the treaty be rejected and that Li Hongzhang be arrested and beheaded immediately.Soon, the governors of various provinces also offered their discounts, proposing to "please punish those who negotiated peace to thank the country".

Li Hongzhang was still on his way back to China, but he had already become a criminal accused by thousands of people.When the ship arrived in Tianjin, Wang Wenshaote, governor of Zhili, came from Baoding to pick him up. When Li Hongzhang saw Wang Wenshao, tears suddenly flowed from his eyes. He choked up and said, "I went to Japan this time to negotiate a peace agreement, and I will ruin my career forever." Wang Wenshao persuaded: "The old Zhongtang must not be like this, let's go to the hotel to rest first." Li Hongzhang wiped away his tears and said: "There are more than a dozen spare houses at the back of the hotel. Please ask my brother to clean them up, and then bring over the chaff and children. I will live here for a while."

Wang Wenshao said: "Old Zhongtang, you still want to return to Beijing!" Li Hongzhang smiled wryly: "For the reinstatement, I can only let Gouzi Jingfang do it for me. Maguan made an agreement. Although the land was cut and the money was paid, the war finally ceased. The Huai army is no longer an army, and the navy no longer exists. The old man has never been seen since then." Concern, it is time to return home and rest!" At this time, Xiao Hong whispered: "Master, let's go to the room to rest. Your old body is not fully healed yet!" Li Hongzhang nodded silently, leaning on crutches, with the support of Xiao Hong and Jing Fang, he walked towards the hotel step by step.After returning from Japan, he felt haggard physically and mentally, and all thoughts were lost.It was expected that he would be criticized by thousands of people. He didn't want to argue with others, let alone show merit to the court. He just wanted to rest in Tianjin for a few days, and then took a long sick leave to bring his family back to his hometown.

He has even affirmatively concluded that the imperial court will agree to his request for a rest this time without too much pleading; even if he does not need to submit a contract, the imperial court will order him to rest.why?Because the imperial court always wanted to find a scapegoat to appease the anger caused by this contract. The scapegoat will not be Prince Gong, nor Prince Qing, nor the emperor, but Li Hongzhang. But Li Hongzhang's guess this time was completely wrong.Emperor Guangxu did not allow him to recover from his illness in Tianjin, nor did Empress Dowager Cixi allow him to rest. Instead, he issued two decrees in succession, ordering him to quickly enter the capital to make an agreement with Lin Dongshang, the Japanese ambassador to China, to redeem the Liaodong Peninsula.

Only now did Li Hongzhang understand that the imperial court was so ruthless because the mission he had contracted with Japan had not yet been completed. He entrusted Sheng Xuanhuai to go to the capital, first bought a house for himself, then invited Wang Wenshao over, recommended several competent people around him to him, asked him to look for opportunities to evaluate, and entrusted him with important tasks. But Wang Wenshao said: "Old Zhongtang, there is a person, but the lower officials are not sure how to treat him?" Li Hongzhang said with a smile: "If the old man is right, this person should be Yuan Weiting, who is currently training the new army at Wen Chudao, Zhejiang. This person came back from North Korea, plunged into Rong Lu's arms, and sang praises for Weng Tonghe everywhere. He is a Taoist in Zhejiang, Rong Lu and Weng Tonghe, but they recommended him to train in Tianjin, saying that he knows military affairs. The old man has been back from Japan for more than a month, and all the officials in Zhili have come to see him and said Two words of consolation, if he doesn’t come to see me alone, he is probably afraid of getting involved and affecting his future. Cough, this Li Hongzhang is not that Li Hongzhang after all. The Huai army is gone, the navy is gone, the waist is bent, and I have learned to betray the country again !"

Li Hongzhang finally did not say how Wang Wenshao should treat Yuan Weiting.Yuan Weiting is Yuan Shikai, the former minister of trade and commerce stationed in North Korea, and Weiting is his name. Yuan Shikai was from Xiangcheng, Henan, nicknamed Rong'an.In the eighth year of Guangxu (AD 1882), Yuan Shikai entered North Korea with Wu Changqing, the admiral of the Huai Army, and was in charge of the former enemy camp affairs office. He was later recommended by Li Hongzhang as a third-rank Taoist.Because of the war between China and Japan due to North Korea, Yuan Shikai returned from North Korea and actually taught Wen Chudao in Zhejiang.During the introduction of the capital, he was appreciated by Rong Lu, Minister of the Ministry of War, and Weng Tonghe, Minister of Military Affairs, Minister of the Ministry of Households. They were secretly guarded by the two to train the new army at Tianjin Station, and Shengen gradually improved.

After Li Hongzhang and his family moved into the capital, he took a short rest for two days and then began to discuss the contract with Lin Dong. This Sino-Japanese meeting did not take much effort. It was nothing more than putting Japan's commitments to Russia, France, and Germany on the Liaodong Peninsula into written form, known in history as the "Liaonan Treaty."After the agreement was made, Li Hongzhang asked for a leave of absence to recuperate from his illness.Emperor Guangxu rewarded Li Hongzhang with two months of sick leave. Li Hongzhang's name is recuperation, but he is not sick, he just lives idle.The Governor of Zhili and the Minister of Commerce of Beiyang, who were able to do something, have been dismissed, leaving only the shining and eye-catching laurel crown of the University of Wenhua Palace and three coveted but worthless flower feathers on their heads. It was the purple rein that Li Hongzhang held in his hand whenever he went out to visit guests. These became Li Hongzhang's capital at this time.

After Li Jingfang was ordered by the imperial court to go to Taiwan and Japan to complete the delivery procedures, he was also sick in bed and had no face to go out to meet guests.The people of Taiwan hated Li Hongzhang, and also hated Li Jingfang. Although the father and son of the once prominent Li family lived together in the capital, they are apparently being forgotten by the court.During this period, Jingfang invited foreign doctors into the mansion twice, intending to take out the sand bullets left in Li Hongzhang's cheeks, but was refused by Li Hongzhang twice.The sand bomb then stayed with Li Hongzhang forever until he passed away.

Although Zhao Lian did not enter Japan with her husband, she was hit harder than Li Hongzhang. She was too sick to get out of bed, and she was waiting for the king of Hades to call her. Xiaohong stayed by Li Hongzhang's side every day, playing chess and talking with him.Li Hongzhang persuaded her several times to go to Jiangxi to spend the day, but she refused to die. When she was in a hurry to persuade her, she wanted to die, but she refused to leave Li Hongzhang for half a step.The little red girl became Li Hongzhang's greatest comfort in his later years. Three months after Li Hongzhang entered Beijing, he called Song Fan, governor of Yunnan, and asked Song Fan to buy some real estate cypress trees in Yunnan, stating that he must buy the best ones at any price.The cypress wood was quickly transported to the capital, and it really was a first-class good wood. Li Hongzhang asked the housekeeper to invite the good craftsmen of the wood shop into the mansion, and carefully built two good longevity materials.He made a bite for his wife, and naturally he also had a bite of his own. At this time, under the guidance of Weng Tonghe, Emperor Guangxu cultivated some strength for himself, and formed an imperial party headed by Weng Tonghe, assisted by Wen Tingshi, a scholar of the Imperial Academy, and Kang Youwei, a Jinshi.However, a group of princes and ministers headed by Prince Gong, Prince Li, and Prince Qing still only acted in the eyes of the Empress Dowager Cixi. Minister of Military Aircraft Li Hongzao, Gang Yi, and Xu Tong from the Department of Rites of the University of Tiren Pavilion even followed suit. Yizhi prevails, and virtually becomes the queen party. The imperial party advocates reforms to strengthen the country, while the queen party insists on sticking to the rules. It's like singing an opera. On December 27th in the 21st year of Guangxu (AD 1895), Li Hongzhang was the same day as usual. After breakfast, he went to his wife's room to inquire about his illness, sat in front of the couch for a while, and then was supported by Xiaohong. Take a walk in the yard.The weather was fine at this time, although it was a bit cold, but not very freezing. While walking, Li Hongzhang stopped to look at the sky from time to time, looking very interested.Seeing that Li Hongzhang was in a good mood, Xiao Hong couldn't help but whispered: "Master, you always seem to be very happy, and this servant will help you to walk around the street?" Li Hongzhang shook his head with a smile, and said softly: "Hong'er, as the old saying goes, seventy-three eighty-four, the king of Hades won't tell me to go. You said, the old man is seventy-four years old during Chinese New Year, why is he still alive?" Xiao Hong hurriedly covered Li Hongzhang's mouth with her hands and said, "Master, I don't want to hear this, I haven't served you enough yet!" Li Hongzhang said with a wry smile: "But the old man has lived enough!" Xiaohong was about to speak, but the butler hurriedly came out of the square hall and said, "Master, there is an order, and the messenger is in the square hall!" Li Hongzhang was taken aback, and hurriedly said to Xiaohong: "Hong'er, help me to change clothes!" Li Hongzhang quickly walked into the square hall with Hualing on his back, and the messenger hurriedly shouted: "The imperial decree has arrived, Li Hongzhang accepts it!" Li Hongzhang fell to his knees and said, "My minister Li Hongzhang accepts the order!" The decree official Zhan Zhi read: "According to the telegram from the Prime Minister's Office, at the beginning of April next year, during the coronation period of the Russian monarch, Li Hongzhang has been sent as the envoy to congratulate him. Hereby." After dismissing the edict passer-by, Li Hongzhang stroked the imperial edict with his hand and said to himself, "Does the imperial court still remember me, Li Hongzhang?" He immediately passed the draft book office in the mansion into the study, and dictated a fold of "Appealing to Shier".