Chapter 4 Chapter Two: The Gradually Germinating Ambition of the Qing Dynasty
Yuan Shikai was born in Xiangcheng County, Henan Province in 1859.
Two events happened a year later that profoundly affected the direction of modern history.
The Xinyou coup pushed Cixi to the pinnacle of power; the failure of the second Opium War pushed the Qing government further into the abyss of destruction.
On the afternoon of October 24, 1860, both sides of the five-kilometer-long road from Andingmen to the Yamen of the Ministry of Rites in Beijing were crowded with eagerly looking Chinese people.As numb as ever, they silently watched as the sedan chair carried by British Minister Elgin headed for the signing site of the "Beijing Treaty" under the escort of British dragoons and infantry regiments.
This day was full of humiliation for Emperor Daoguang's favorite sixth son, Prince Gong Yixin (1833-1898), who was only 27 years old and had just entered the center of imperial power.
An entourage of the British mission later recalled: When Elgin's sedan chair arrived with the military band playing "God Save the Queen", the prince himself stepped forward and saluted with fists, but Ergin just looked at it "highly and contemptuously" He glanced at him and bowed slightly in return.
After penetrating deep into the core of this stagnant and broken empire, the city of Beijing disappointed the British and French missions who came to visit: "At first glance, people can still imagine how many rare treasures this huge city should hide. .Once you walk in, you will find dirty houses everywhere. The main street in Banner District is wider than any other city in China, but there are neither paved stones nor sidewalks, just dilapidated Gravel roads. Dusty in summer, sewage in winter. Garbage and excrement everywhere, stinks."
A French military doctor wrote in his diary: "People in ragged clothes and skeptical faces trudged lifelessly on the potholed and rutted avenues. The continuous stretches were monotonous houses made of unburnt gray bricks. This makes us lose the beautiful impression when looking at the capital from a distance, as well as the infinite reverie that melts in the golden sunset afterglow.”
In order to please the conqueror, Yixin humiliatingly told Ergin who had ordered the burning of the Old Summer Palace a few days ago that if he wanted to, he was welcome to visit the imperial palace in Beijing.
On November 6, the British and French missions entered the Forbidden City under the leadership of the imperial envoy.
However, a member of a French mission's first impression of the heart of the empire was nothing more than: "It is true that the palace has beautiful white marble balustrades, fine steps, but the general state is dilapidated. The building is full of cracks and moss, and the study is empty. ——The books had already been moved to the Old Summer Palace and were reduced to ashes in the fire.”
On this day, the agreement of the "Beijing Treaty" was written and posted on the city wall.
There were crowds of people in front of the wall, and some who could read explained the contents of the treaty to others one by one.The crowd was full of curiosity and whispering, as if discussing an innocuous topic after dinner.
People have trained a harder heart in a cruel society.Complaints, jealousy, hatred, sarcasm and suspicion are their habitual emotions, while love, tolerance, understanding, consideration and sharing seem to never come to this cursed land.
This is a pool of hopeless stagnant water, and the pain between people is never connected, so that no matter how deep the pain is, it can only be as silent as ice and snow flying into the sea.Over time, indifference has become the most appropriate expression.
In fact, in China where officials are teachers, all ignorance and ugliness come from top to bottom.
During the Kangxi period, the painter Wang Hui (hui) proudly wrote an inscription on a landscape painting in his collection, saying that it was a copy of a copy in the Song Dynasty; Yun Shouping, another contemporary who was good at painting flowers, was praised by critics as "Won the 'boneless' method of the Northern Song Dynasty painter Xu Chongsi", comparing the two works.
The same example also appears in middle school history textbooks.You can often see that in the distant past, so-and-so became famous in the history of literature because he revived a more distant writing style of poetry and prose.
This is because, before Huxley's "Evolution of Heaven" was introduced by Yan Fu, the ancients did not have the concept of "time is progressing" in their minds.
Because Confucius hated the rites and music of the Spring and Autumn Period, Confucianism believed that the best era was in ancient times, and the later it was, the worse it became.Confucius burned ointment and continued to praise Yao, Shun and Yu, even though the deeds of these three people looked like myths.
The power of tradition is so stubborn that Ji Xiaolan arbitrarily believed that the records about the seven wonders of the world in "Kun Yu Tu Shuo" written by Belgian missionary Nan Huairen were plagiarized ancient Chinese books.
During the Opium War, Yishan, Daoguang's nephew, went to Guangzhou to command the battle.He killed several tigers and threw the tiger bones into the sea, hoping to anger the Dragon Lord and overturn the British ship.
What is even more evil is Yang Fang, the admiral of Hunan, who led a large number of Hunan braves into Guangdong, and analyzed it before the war started: I am a barbarian, and it stands to reason that the situation should be beneficial to me.There must be people skilled in witchcraft hidden on the enemy ship.Therefore, he ordered people to post notices to buy toilets used by women, put them flat on rows of rafts, and a lieutenant controlled them to rush towards the British ship with the mouth of the toilet to defeat the enemy's magic.
In fact, even Lin Zexu, who has always appeared in Qing court dramas with a positive image, self-righteously mocked in his diary that British soldiers "tightly bound their legs and feet, making it inconvenient to bend and stretch." ".
In his later years, Lin Zexu saw the gap between China and the West, but this not only did not help, but also caused a serious split in his personality.
Then, two Lin Zexu appeared.One is the civil servant template in the textbook, and the other is a helpless ordinary person.
The template Lin Zexu is the main fighter, he used the ancient Chinese method to win every battle, but unfortunately the treacherous minister Qishan accepted the bribe from the British and expelled him.Lin Zexu's memorial was full of confidence to win, but since he was left out by Daoguang, he never had the opportunity to practice his tactics.
Fortunately, he didn't practice it, otherwise Mr. Lin Wenzhong might lose his life in the evening.
Lin Zexu, an ordinary man, realized that Chinese military weapons were not as good as Western ones, so he tried his best to buy foreign guns and sent people to translate foreign publications.At the same time, he handed over the collected materials to Wei Yuan to help him compile "Pictures of the Sea Country".
The book's view of "learning from barbarians to improve skills to control barbarians" later became the guiding ideology of the Westernization Movement, but Lin Zexu, the driving force behind the scenes, did not want to appear in the spotlight as a reformer.He often told his friends not to show third parties his letters comparing the gap between China and the West. Later, when he served as governor of Shaanxi-Gansu and Yunnan-Guizhou, he never mentioned reform.
Because he openly admitted that the Celestial Empire was backward than the "Yingyi", in the public opinion environment at that time, he wanted to risk the disgrace of the world.
Therefore, in the evaluation of Lin Zexu, Jiang Tingfu (fu) said:
He would rather let the scholar-bureaucrat who presided over the Qing Dynasty sleep in his dreams and let the country become weaker and weaker, and he would not sacrifice his reputation to fight against the people of the time-Lin Wenzhong is undoubtedly the best product of the old Chinese culture.
What is even more enviable is that Lin Zexu died very timely, on the way to Guangxi to suppress the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom.If the fate is hard and the death is two months late, it is hard to say whether it is right or wrong.
The transition from old to new presents a strange picture:
During the Second Opium War, Seng Gelinqin, the coach of the Qing army, sincerely praised the artillery fire of Britain and France for "surprisingly they can penetrate more than ten feet of moat walls";
Hu Linyi, a strong general of the Hunan Army, saw the western steamboat going up the river "as fast as a galloping horse, as swift as the wind", so he "changed his color and said nothing, and reined in his horse to return to camp. He vomited blood halfway and almost fell off his horse";
Feng Guifen, Li Hongzhang's aide, once suggested that foreign craftsmen should be awarded the honors of Juren and Jinshi.
On the other hand, Zhang Taiyan's teacher Yu Yue more than once angrily criticized those officials who were still studying Confucian classics but diligently pursuing Western learning.
Wo Ren, the emperor’s teacher of Tongzhi and a famous official of Neo-Confucianism, even pointed out: “The way to build a country is to respect etiquette and righteousness rather than strategy; the fundamental plan lies in people’s hearts rather than skills.”
If the lens is focused on Shanghai, which is full of Huayang, and followed by a role that can be performed by extras, the confusion, tension and even resentment brought to individuals by the changes of this era are self-evident.
In 1861, a passer-by from the mainland happened to go to the racetrack in Shanghai to watch the unique entertainment of "Yi people" - horse racing.In his limited life experience, crowded public places should definitely be a forbidden area for women.But to his astonishment, in the racecourse hall, there were actually "gathering of ladies and gentlemen, and the whole country was in a frenzy."So, Passerby A said angrily: "This is a crazy world!"
In fact, what's really crazy is the world outside the racetrack.
This is a wild world where all horses are silent, black and white are turned upside down, unspoken rules are used as rules, and in the end everyone ignores the rules and everyone becomes a gambler.
The world tells you one after another: I am black, blacker than a black hole.
Although it is covered with a white fig leaf.
The annual salary of the Shangshu of the Qing Dynasty is only 40,000 yuan when converted into RMB, which is a drop in the bucket compared to the exorbitant social entertainment.Of course, street sweepers know that for Beijing officials, foreign officials’ charcoal respect (fee for celebrating the Spring Festival), ice respect (summer spending for cooling off the heat) and bien jing (gifts for farewell) are the main sources of income for foreign officials.
Montesquieu said a long time ago: "There is a habit in autocratic countries, that is, no matter which superior you have to give a gift." However, the exorbitant asking prices of Beijing officials still make local officials think that entering Beijing is a daunting way.
Later, Duan Guangqing, who was an official to the Minister of the Ministry of Officials, went to Beijing to thank him when he was promoted to the Zhejiang Inspectorate in the ninth year of Xianfeng (1859).In the same year, his fellow countrymen, Beijing officials from Zhejiang, and people who were out of touch with each other showed up collectively to welcome him.There are six or seven places to change a day, and if you can't drink two glasses of wine, and it's too late for people to recognize everything, you have to rush to other seats.In the end, I spent a few thousand taels of silver, but I still felt that I was "not pleasing" to the Beijing officials.
According to Wang Kangnian's records, the corruption of officialdom in the capital can be summed up in eight words: Playing as an official, acting seriously.
Troubled times are the stage, if you are good at acting, you will be an official. Everything depends on acting.The Beijing officials of the six yamen fulfilled their dreams of life in the feast and play.
The world has changed.The role of silver makes the majesty of the imperial power and the traditional rules no longer effective. In half a century, the "business" at the end of the four peoples and the "li" of "little people refer to profit" have become extremely active social power. It has also become a mirage that dazzles and flocks to the power system.
The huge state apparatus is no longer operating in the same direction, but it is looking for its own way out under the guidance of different interests. The separation of people's hearts is doomed to the end of disintegration.
If you take Li Ciming, a doctor in the household department during the Guangxu period, as a sample, it is not difficult to find that because there are too many redundant officials, for the middle-level Beijing officials, even if they work hard to collect black money, their income will not be high after a year.
There are a lot of officials of the fifth rank, and Li Ciming's reputation in history alone is due to his persistent diary writing for forty years, which exposed the officialdom.It can be seen that everything that goes all the way to the dark can produce unexpected effects.
Li Ciming's annual expenditure is no more than 200,000 yuan. Today, the Moonlight Clan can lose this amount in half a year.
If Li Hongzhang hadn't introduced him to a job as a lecturer in a school, he often went to the forum to be frightened, and received some high amount of training (appearance fee), and he couldn't even make ends meet just by collecting black money.
Li Ciming is the director of the Jiangnan Division of the Ministry of Household Affairs.Jiangnan has been rich and prosperous since ancient times, and it is a big taxpayer. Director Li is only a white-collar living standard, which is really not in line with the imagination of the grassroots.
As a matter of fact, local officials send money based on what people order, and those idle officials who have no real power can only appreciate the feeling of "being left out in front of the door with few cars and horses", and they can't even get leftovers.
What is even worse is the alternate officials, who don't even have real vacancies. They are called "disaster officials", which means that being such an official is suffering.
In fact, it was only rich people who bought officials at first.The abnormal prosperity of industry and commerce created the first batch of rich people in the late Qing Dynasty. This group of people lived in China where the official-based ideology was unshakable. Spending money to buy officials and becoming a red-top businessman almost became their inevitable destination.Where there is demand, there is a market. The official donation system will legalize the sale of officials and nobles, and the business is booming.
But once the wind blows, it will be unstoppable.Chinese people's demand for official positions is stronger than any rigid demand.
Many people who are well-off, have enough food and clothing, and even want to get rid of poverty below the poverty line, also patched together, holding bank notes and rushing towards them.
There are too many monks and too few porridge, and it is more difficult for an alternate official to fill a real vacancy than ascending to heaven.And when you become an alternate officer, you need to maintain a corresponding decent ostentation, and you have to spend a lot of money on hiring long-term followers and socializing.
Without the slightest income, many candidate officials who came to get rid of poverty and become rich fell outside the light cone of their dreams and died of hunger and cold.
A candidate magistrate has been in the provincial capital for 20 years. He has not received a commission and has no food and clothing. There is only a broken mat on the bed. The sleeves and the front and back are full of holes, so he has to stick black paper inside.In desperation, he finally swallowed a cigarette and committed suicide.
This situation cannot be entirely attributed to the high-ranking officials who sell black yarn, because the black hole of wealth that really sucks money without blinking an eye is not in the officials, but in the officials.
In the seventh year of Tongzhi (1868), the Taiping Army that swept across half of China was about to be put down, and the reimbursement of military expenses was put on the agenda.What troubled Zeng Guofan (1811-1872), the commander of the Hunan Army, was not that he was worried that the emperor would say that he spent too much money. After all, the country of the Qing Dynasty was preserved, and money was not a problem.
Ministry fees are the problem.
Whether the reimbursement is smooth or not depends on the audit of the Ministry of Accounts.If the household department can pass the customs, the emperor will generally agree.
The problem is that the household department, from the minister to the principal, is a typical liberal arts student. He would rather spend his energy on reading and writing poems, drinking and listening to operas than reading boring financial statements.Even, as a civil servant, if you show interest in accounting, you will be despised by your colleagues.
As a result, temporary clerks who were hired every five years and could not be re-elected appeared.
In bad government the worst men are often the hardest working, and that is the role played by the scribe.
Since there is no official salary, even the office supplies have to be paid for by themselves, and if something happens, they have to take the blame for the chief. As a result, the clerk has the same mentality as a naked official-get enough and leave.
During the Xianfeng period, there were 400,000 official and informal clerks at all levels of government offices across the country, and the gray income they received each year exceeded 20 million taels of silver, which was as high as half of the fiscal revenue.
The original intention of the audit was to prevent corruption, but it resulted in new corruption. This is as ridiculous as writing a Trojan horse program by selling anti-virus software.
Of course, to live in Shenzhou, it is best to be as calm as a fairy, otherwise you would have been disgusted to death.
According to an official from the Ministry of Industry, he and his colleagues in the office coveted a singer named Hongyu.It's a pity that due to the shyness of the pocket, I can only watch from a distance and cannot play with it.Occasionally open a party and invite to accompany a drink, which can excite a group of hungry men to death.
In contrast, a scribe named Wang Weiyin from the Ministry of Industry is much more chic.Two thousand taels of silver was thrown in front of the old bustard, and he was taken away. From then on, he was no longer "Wei Yin" but only "only prostitution", and made a group of technical nerds from the Ministry of Industry who had money to buy laughter and no money to buy sex to scold their mothers.
In a land of moral decay and disorder, everyone cannot escape the fate of being hurt.If the officials of the Ministry of Industry knew that the emperor was also under unspoken rules, maybe they would feel better.
It is said that the morning court came one day, and Qianlong casually asked Wang Youdun, Minister of the Ministry of Officials, "You rushed to the court before dawn, did you have breakfast?"
Wang Youdun replied that he had eaten it.
Qianlong asked him what he ate.
Wang Youdun had a hard and plain expression on his face: "My family is poor, and I eat four eggs every morning."
Qianlong was taken aback: "One egg costs ten taels of silver, and four is forty taels. I dare not eat like this. Are you still crying poor for a meal of four?"
Wang Youdun was taken aback for a moment, and immediately understood that the people from the Ministry of Internal Affairs had taken kickbacks when purchasing, and bought sky-high prices for eggs.Then he said: "The eggs sold in the market outside have their shells broken, so they are cheaper. I bought this kind of eggs, and they only cost a few pennies each."
Wang Youdun's answer was watertight, and neither should offend, so Qianlong had no choice but to continue to be taken advantage of.
In fact, surviving in China is not easy.Today you mix some melamine into the milk, and tomorrow I mix some waste oil into the stir-fry, and everyone's back and forth will be evened out.
In view of this, Zeng Guofan did not tear up his face with the clerk of the household department, but asked someone to come to the door to intercede and give him a discount.The scribes also didn't want to offend Zeng Guofan, who was a member of the holy family Zhenglong. The invoices of more than 30 million taels made it a lot of trouble for him to give 80,000 taels of benefits.
No matter how black the scribes are, they are not as black as the customs officials.
Customs officials have spared no effort to increase the logistics costs of the people across the country, so that they have received a highly unanimous evaluation from the people: Guan has no good governance.
Of course, in order not to be asked for a card, you can add some travel expenses and take a detour.But for those who went to Beijing, Chongwenmen had to live.Over time, the revenue-generating methods of the Chongwenmen Tax Customs have reached a level that is beyond the reach of all tax customs.
Zuo Zongtang once entered Chongwenmen and was extorted a huge amount of property because of a lot of luggage.The next day I went to the palace to meet the emperor, and saw the supervisor of Chongwenmen in the court room, and was about to step forward to argue, but the other party preemptively came over and made a haha: "My lord, you entered the city yesterday, why are you so polite and rewarded them with so much money? "And thank you again and again.
Seeing this, Zuo Zongtang was speechless on the spot.
It's fine if you only bully your own people, after all, my Chinese grassroots are rough and thick, and all of them are super ninjas.The problem is that with the great geographical discovery and the advent of the era of globalization, you don’t have to reason with your slaves, but foreigners will definitely tell you.
For more than 150 years since the establishment of Guangdong Customs in the 24th year of Kangxi (1685), British merchant ships trading in China have been involved in endless litigation with Guangdong officials over the additional taxation, so that a person who has done business in China The Frenchman who stayed briefly wrote later: "Every cup of tea that people drink in Europe is permeated with the shame suffered by the merchants who bought tea in Canton."
In 1793, one of the important missions of Macartney’s visit to China was to solve the bad regulations of the Guangdong Customs through negotiations. The Chinese characteristics in the hands of the staff are a headache.
When various attempts at prosecution and diplomacy failed, the Opium Wars, which the British dubbed the "Commercial Wars," broke out.
The terms of the Treaty of Nanking best exemplify the purpose of the British in waging war.Among them, Article 10 clearly states: Import and export tariffs must be clear, and no excessive charges are allowed.
The nightmare that haunted the hearts of several generations of British people dissipated with a treaty, and the picture gradually faded from the smiling face of the Chinese negotiator Qiying (this person even wanted to recognize the son of the British representative Pudingcha as his adopted son), The camera cuts from Nanjing to Henan.
Yuan Shusan, the county magistrate (in charge of education in a county) in Chenliu County, Henan Province, has just assumed his new post, and is in full swing.Although the official position is low (from the eighth rank), Yuan Shusan managed the education work in a county with the encouragement of his mother.
It stands to reason that Hai Rui also served as a county instructor, and if he did well from the eighth grade, he would be famous in history if he failed to keep it.But the problem is that Yuan Shusan has a younger brother named Yuan Jiasan.
Yuan Jiasan was then Zhang Jing of the military aircraft, and drafted the government work report for the Qing Dynasty.
How could grassroots civil servant Yuan Shusan not pressure Shanda?
Yuan Jiasan was moved to the Governor of Water Transport (Cong Yipin) for his meritorious service in suppressing Nian (a peasant uprising that originated in Anhui).The eldest son Yuan Baoheng was an official to the Ministry of Punishment, and the second son Yuan Baoling was also ranked second because of his revision of "Records of Emperor Mu Zongyi" (Tongzhi).The three father and son were prominent for a while.
On the other hand, Yuan Shusan, not only made soy sauce himself, but his eldest son, Yuan Baozhong, followed suit. If Yuan Shikai hadn't been born, this line would have been largely unknown.Of course, Yuan Shusan's second son, Yuan Baoqing, is quite competitive, and he is a second-rank official in the Yandao, but this is also the reason why he came out with his cousin Yuan Jiasan very early to suppress Nian and accumulate military exploits.
However, Yuan Baozhong is not useless.Having given birth to six sons in a row, he made his younger brother Yuan Baoqing, who had given birth to five daughters in a row, extremely ashamed.
In 1866, Yuan Baoqing became an alternate magistrate of Jinan, and his official career was bright.Yuan Baozhong had the foresight to adopt his fourth son, Yuan Shikai, who was seven years old at the time, to his younger brother.
Yuan Shikai was a celebrity in the family, because the day of his birth coincided with Yuan Jiasan conquering the base of the Nian Army.The whole family rejoiced when the good news came, and this baby who seemed to herald glory and auspiciousness was later given the word "comfort court".
For the children of the Yuan family, one of the ways to comfort the court (referring to their parents) is to hold a weapon in hand, participate in the regiment training organized by their hometown, and build military merits.
The great power of the Nian army has created a wolf clan full of swords and swords.Once, when Yuan Baoqing led his army back to the territory occupied by the Nian army, he beheaded all the captives ruthlessly.
Scenes of killing and decisiveness like this filled Yuan Shikai's beautiful childhood.Standing on the watchtower of Yuanzhai watchtower at the age of five to watch the anti-twisting defense battle gradually developed a solid mind full of interest in military affairs and superstitious belief in force.
When the children are playing, Yuan Shikai loves to be the king, and he will throw his fist at each other if he disagrees with him - making people have to re-examine the Virgo boy.
After the Nian Army was wiped out, his adoptive father, Yuan Baoqing, took Yuan Shikai to various places to broaden his horizons. He also hired Wang Zhiqing, a well-known civil servant examination expert, as his first teacher.
However, Yuan Shikai's rebellion is unpredictable.
It's normal to steal money from home to find a boxer to learn art from a boxer. Don't be surprised if you get into a fight with a gangster occasionally. After all, people have consciously organized groups to visit brothels before their physical development, showing a strong exploration of unknown fields. want……
Once, Yuan Shikai deliberately pretended to have a stomachache to ask Wang Zhiqing for leave, and then ambush Wang on the only way home.
At night, when Teacher Wang passed by, Yuan Shikai grated a large handful of fireflies prepared in advance and wiped them on his face, and walked towards him silently.
Seeing this monster with white light shining on its face, Wang Zhiqing thought it was a ghost, and turned his head away in fright.Yuan Shikai clapped his hands and laughed.
Yuan Baoqing never suppressed such bad deeds, but compiled his decades of experience in leading troops and officialdom into a book called "Zi Yi Suo Yan", and taught Yuan Shikai all the money.
Throughout his life, he will never forget a sentence in this childhood textbook:
Officialdom is like a theater.Those who are good at acting, who are loyal, filial, and righteous, can act so that the scenes are completely seen, making those who hear it tempted and those who see it shed tears.If there are no such good roles, wouldn't the officialdom be sniggered by actors (actors)?
One detail that Yuan Baoqing can never forget is that his wife Niu Shi and his concubine Jin Shi were at odds from time to time.
For Yuan Baoqing, this is undoubtedly a difficult challenge.
At the end of 1868, Ma Xinyi, the new governor of Liangjiang, recommended Yuan Baoqing to serve in Jiangsu. After the approval of the Military Aircraft Department, Baoqing was promoted to Jiangning (Nanjing) Yanfadao (the second grade), in charge of the salt administration of Jiangsu, Anhui, and Jiangxi provinces.
Yuan Baoqing, who had always been cautious, was not stunned by the sudden vacancies. The first person he thought of was neither Yuan Jiasan nor Ma Xinyi.
It was Zeng Guofan.
Zeng Guofan and Yuan Jiasan were elected in the same year, and they had a very close relationship.In the second year of Xianfeng (1852), Zeng Guofan, who had served as the servant of various ministries in the central government, was released as the chief examiner of the Jiangxi Provincial Examination.On the way to his post, Zeng Guofan learned of the sad news of his mother's death. Zeng Guofan immediately wrote to his eldest son Zeng Jize in Beijing, asking him to dispose of the family property, move his family, and return to his hometown in Hunan for the funeral.
The problem was that Zeng Jize was not yet thirteen years old at the time, so it was obviously difficult for him to take up the job.Therefore, Zeng Guofan asked him to find a few of his friends in need to help raise travel expenses, and Yuan Jiasan was among the five on the list.In connection with the family letter to his nephew on weekdays, which repeatedly emphasized "don't ask for more people", the relationship between Zeng and Yuan is indeed extraordinary.
Zeng Guofan has served as the governor of Liangjiang since 1860 with the title of Secretary of the Ministry of War. He has served as the governor of Liangjiang for nearly ten years. He worked hard every day and built a template for the Westernization Movement and the largest military factory in the late Qing Dynasty Jiangnan Manufacturing General Administration.
Going to Jiangning, Yuan Baoqing is full of ambition and ready to show his skills.Before leaving, it became a natural choice to ask Zeng Guofan for advice.
Zeng Guofan in Zhili Governor's Office is looking forward to another person at the moment.
Yung Wing (1828-1912) was the first Chinese to fully accept Western education and enlightenment thought.
Yung Wing was born in Xiangshan County, Guangdong Province, at the southern tip of the empire. He was sent to a missionary school in Macau by his father at the age of seven. At the age of nineteen, he followed the principal of Morrison School, Pastor Brown, to the United States for further studies. He graduated from Yale University at the age of twenty-six. ——The resume is extremely gorgeous.
Yung Wing has always taken reforming China as his mission, and immediately boarded the ship back to China after receiving his Bachelor of Arts certificate.As a result, with an unprecedented high degree of education, I spent several years without getting into the system. I was too embarrassed to go back to Yale to participate in the class reunion. I had to admit that there are really only two kinds of logic in the world: logic and Chinese logic.
There are many mountains and rivers, and there is no way out, and Hong Rengan falls from the sky.
Hong Xiuquan's younger brother, Hong Rengan, the author of "A New Chapter of Senior Citizens", is one of the few leaders in the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom who has solid goods in his belly.
It's a pity that there is no real power.
Hong Rengan met Yung Wing in Hong Kong in his early years, and the two hit it off immediately.This time, Yung Wing, who had run into trouble everywhere, pinned his last hope on the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, and came to Nanjing with seven strategies for building a nation, hoping to make a big splash.It's a pity that there is no grand plan, but only the way home.
It stands to reason that when a returnee sees a returnee, his eyes are teary.Hong Rengan didn't wait for Rong Hong to finish, he patted him on the back and sighed, "I understand all your suggestions, brother, but the problem is that only I understand. The other kings are either busy fighting externally or internally. , I can’t make such an important decision.”
Disappointed, Rong Hong rejected the title of "Yi" (a second-class title second only to "Wang") that Hong Rengan had asked for for him, and went to Jiujiang.
Hesitating to this point means that a turning point in life is about to appear.Confused Yung Wing received a letter signed by Li Shanlan, and the direction of history was rewritten.
Mathematician Li Shanlan was Zeng Guofan's staff at the time.
Yung Wing contributed to Zeng Guofan the most incisive four words since Yixin presided over the Westernization Movement: a tool for making utensils.
Everyone knows that foreign guns and cannons are powerful, but instead of simply buying imitations, it is better to set up a factory first, equip various machines (lathes) for manufacturing machines, and then manufacture specific equipment (guns) from the manufactured machines. It is water with source and tree with roots.
Zeng Guofan was overjoyed, and immediately helped Rong Hong get a fifth-rank military rank, and appointed him as a member of the overseas committee, responsible for purchasing new machines.
Yung Wing knows that China's backwardness is not only due to its backwardness in weapons, but also the fact that it has not established a complete basic industry at all.He influenced Zeng Guofan bit by bit with his advanced understanding, and the Westernization Movement gradually shifted from making rifles to making clocks and agricultural tools.
Just as the reformist pioneers represented by Feng Guifen were striding forward by singing "acquiring Western learning and making foreign utensils", the situation took a sharp turn for the worse.
On April 1, 1865, Cixi called Yixin, the king of politics and chief minister of military affairs, to her front, and said: "In this world, we don't want it anymore, let's give it to the Han people!"
Yi Xin was stunned, thinking she was joking around April Fool's Day.
Cixi said solemnly: "If you make things difficult for me, I will dismiss you!"
Yi Xin insisted: "I am the sixth son of the first emperor, you can dismiss me, but you cannot dismiss the prince."
The air stagnates.Yixin knelt for a long time, then suddenly stood up, and Cixi yelled when she saw this, saying that Prince Gong was going to beat her.A group of eunuchs rushed in and dragged Yixin out.
Yixin was able to break the differences between Manchu and Han, and select talents and talents, but she couldn't dispel Cixi's suspicion.The post of King of Disciplinary Affairs was originally established, and was abolished as early as the Qianlong period, but it was worn on Yixin's head as a political return in the "Qixiang Coup" in the Xinyou year (1861).
However, the super promotion at that time seemed to be an eyesore at this time.Cixi would rather ruin the fledgling Westernization Movement than allow her former allies to become big.
Amidst the objections of a group of princes and ministers, Yixin retained his position as Minister of Military Affairs, but was removed from the title of King of Discussion by Cixi.
As Cixi's younger uncle, Yixin's history of suffering can be traced back to the last years of Daoguang.
Like all vulgar Disney animations, the old king has his eyes on two princes, the prudent fourth son Yi Chi (zhu) and the wise sixth prince Yi Xin.
As the king is getting old, the superficial peace can no longer conceal the turbulent struggle for the throne.
One day, Daoguang, who had violated the peace, urgently summoned two princes to join in a pair, so as to decide the reserve position.
The two princes each seek advice from their teachers.
Yixin's teacher, Zhuo Bingtian, told him to seize the opportunity and knew everything without saying anything.Yipin's teacher, Du Shoutian, knew that Yipin was no match for Yixin in terms of talent, and Daoguang valued benevolence and filial piety, so he taught Yipin: "If the emperor says that he is old and sick, he will not be here soon, and my elder brother will fall to the ground and weep. Show loyalty."
Yipin followed his words, and he really won Daoguang's favor.
However, the actor is not made in a day.Just like Paul Newman was nominated for seven Oscars but didn't win the Oscar until he was in his sixties, Yi Chi's hard-working acting skills finally exploded in the "Nanyuan Hunting" scene.
Daoguang ordered the princes to hunt for school, obviously for the purpose of examining martial arts.Before leaving, Du Shoutian whispered the secret in Yichi's ear again.
When they arrived at the paddock, everyone was very high, but Yi Chi sat on the ground, not only did not shoot an arrow, but also restrained his followers from hunting.
That day, Yixin caught the most and was looking forward to his own joy, but found that Yichi was sitting there pretending again, so he went over to ask.Yi Chi dismissed Yi Xin with an understatement, "I'm not feeling well today, I dare not drive."
At night, Daoguang saw that Yipai was empty-handed, and asked him why, Yipai began to act vigorously: "It's spring, the season for birds and beasts to give birth, and I can't bear to hurt life to make peace. And I don't want to use bow and horse for a day, Compete with your younger brothers."
Daoguang was overjoyed, and even boasted that he had "the degree of a gentleman".
This is a country obsessed with moral performances, and Aixinjueluo's family repeats nothing but the stories of the Cao family.Since Cao Cao, who is famous for "emphasizing practical results and despising false fame", is not immune to vulgarity, he chose Cao Pi, who seems to be better than talent in virtue, and Du Shoutian can safely and boldly teach Yi Chi to pretend to be a pig and eat a tiger in front of Daoguang, who advocates simplicity and unassuming. .
Fighting talent with filial piety, countering martial arts with benevolence and righteousness, Du Shoutian successfully turned Yi Chi into Xianfeng.
Xianfeng deserved his temple title of "Wen Zong" after his death, and his solid basic education made it no problem for him to become an Imperial Academy.All day long, the angry youth who "violate the strong Qing will be punished even if they are far away" can't be eaten, and they are humiliated (the Second Opium War), unwilling to sign an alliance under the city, and go to Rehe to hide The sixth younger brother Yixin, who has been on guard for many years, deals with foreigners.
The problem is that if you are not afraid of his anger, you are afraid of his confusion. Being unwilling means that there is still hope for cheering up.It was very popular to dismiss the power minister Mu Zhang aqi and use Lin Zexu at the beginning. Although Qi Junzao, the chief military minister who succeeded him, was educated and ignorant, he was promoted as Confucianism by the scholar-bureaucrats.As a result, the monarch and his ministers played against each other and became a forum for hundreds of schools.
Whenever Xianfeng inquired about such imaginary questions as "the way of employing people in administration", Qi Shizao would quote the classics for an hour or two at every turn, "I can't stop talking about the sufferings of the same list", but Xianfeng actually "hasn't tired of listening".
If it weren't for Wen Qing and Sushun (1816-1861), the scholar's mistake for the country would be the best footnote of the Xianfeng dynasty.
As a Manchu, Wen Qing not only did not spare no effort to suppress the Han officials like Qi Yuzao, the Han official, but also promoted good talents such as Hu Linyi, Luo Bingzhang, Yuan Jiasan, and Yan Jingming.Although the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom Movement led to the transfer of power from the central government to the local government and from the Manchus to the Hans, it is a kind of progress in itself to follow this trend instead of waiting for the cart.
Sushun, who is often shown as a rascal who "wears a sheepskin coat instead and walks the dog on the street", has inherited the fine tradition of Wenqing's pragmatism.It’s not true, it’s He Shen’s old path to get rich from being a pro-army guard, and you have to rely on cleverness if you don’t have fame.Fortunately, Sushun has the talent of "accepting people's side and being able to tell his appearance throughout his life", coupled with his straightforward style, it is not surprising that Xianfeng, who is used to listening to corrupt scholars beating around the bush, will shine.
The Sushun of the market and the Xianfeng of the temple form a perfect complement.Once, when Xianfeng went to the South Study Room, he saw a poor Hanlin's clothes were worn out, so he gave him a new set of clothes the next day.Later, this official was released to Yunnan Xuezheng (in charge of education in a province) and returned to Beijing after his term expired. Xianfeng specially transferred him to be Shuntian Fucheng (the second in command of Beijing administration). When he was summoned, he said:
I heard that the Prime Minister of Shuntian Mansion, every time you take an exam, you can get a thousand gold by selling the papers, to make up for your hardships in Yunnan (Yunnan).
It is obviously impossible to listen to such unspoken rules of the industry from Qi Yuzao, and Sushun can only tell him.
The Manchus are obedient, and they have never liked the Manchus. They drive the banner officials under them like slaves, but they are very humble to the Han people, and they try their best to recruit those who have real talents and learning.
Not only that, but he also made no secret of it: "There are many bastards in our banner, what do we know? The Han people can't afford to offend, his pen is very powerful!"
Although the uncle who sells egg-filled biscuits on the street knows this truth, from tacit to outspoken, Sushun has taken a welcome step in respecting common sense.
What is even more gratifying is the maintenance of Zuo Zongtang and the reuse of Zeng Guofan.
However, there is no conflict between being progressive and being domineering.While successfully seizing power, Sushun successfully turned himself into a target.Even more unfortunately, there is also a concubine named Yehenara (Cixi) who is aiming at the bullseye.
The poor emperor Xianfeng died in Rehe.Considering that the new successor, Zai Chun, was young, he designed a "separation of powers" balance plan before his death:
1. A seal of "Imperial Reward" to Empress Niu Colu;
2. A seal of "Tongdaotang" given to Zai Chunsheng's mother and concubine Yi Yehenala;
3. The eight ministers headed by Sushun exercised the imperial power and drafted the imperial edict on their behalf;
4. The prerequisite for the imperial decree to take effect is that the seal of "Imperial Reward" be stamped at the beginning, and the stamp of "Tongdaotang" be stamped at the end.
It's a pity that no matter how meticulous the top-level design is, it can't hurt the invincibility of the traditional rule of man.
The balance was quickly broken after Xianfeng passed away.The empress dowagers of the two palaces colluded immediately, and Yixin, who was in charge of the overall situation in Beijing, also gathered a group of frustrated bureaucrats suppressed by Sushun.众人齐心挖好坑，只待肃顺往里跳。
于是，“祺祥政变”在八大臣护送咸丰梓宫抵京的第二天爆发。而“祺祥”这个仅仅存在了六十九天的年号也被“同治”所取代，历史进入到两宫垂帘（慈安、慈禧）、恭王辅政的新时代。
奕訢继承了政敌肃顺开明的政治主张，毕竟大清的江山是自个儿家的，搞砸了大家一起玩儿完。
“师夷”的大本营是奕訢领导的总理衙门。这个新生机构主打通商、交涉、关税和学习外国四项工作。其中，通商和交涉扔给北洋大臣和南洋大臣主办，分别由直隶总督与两江总督兼任。关税和学习外国则由下属的“总税务司”和“同文馆”推行。
英国人赫德担任总税务司司长长达半个世纪。时年二十八岁的赫德在日记中恳切地表明了自己将古老中国推入近代文明的使命感。他在《局外旁观论》中尖锐地指摘清廷的弊政，由他管辖的总税务司则是晚清最廉洁高效的部门……
1864年的一天，赫德在日记中爆料：“总理衙门一个叫广英的满族子弟上午和我一起读书一个小时，他竟然不知道台湾在哪儿！”
广英的父亲叫斌椿，时任山西省襄陵县知县。
斌椿官职虽低，却是第一个走出国门看世界的清朝官员。在赫德的力促下，清廷决定派一个出洋考察团，由斌椿任团长。选七品县令当团长，天朝又一次在精神上胜利了。
1866年春，以六十三岁的斌椿和十九岁的张德彝为代表的考察团正式启程。
沿途，斌椿除了不厌其烦地在诗作里把自己打扮成上报天子下济百姓的英雄，没有给清廷带来任何可供借鉴的记载。虽然他记述了大量的山川形势和风土人情，但出发点却不是国计民生，而是为了审美——见到显微镜，不关心作何用途，只感叹里的寓言不虚；看到自行车，不问如何制造，却大谈其有“木牛流马之遗意”。
后来成为光绪英文老师的张德彝倒是表现出对西方科技的好奇，他首创的“自行车”一词沿用至今。
英国议事厅，张德彝第一次见识了民主议事的情形；法庭旁听，他又为先进的判决制度所折服。从此，对西方政体的浓厚兴趣贯穿了张德彝的一生。
即使进步如张德彝，在面对避孕套这样的新生事物时，仍无法超越其思想的局限。他先是饶有兴致地介绍了避孕套的功用：“贯于阳具之上，虽颠鸾倒凤而一雏不卵”，紧接着便露出小学究的狰狞面目，严词批判道：“其法固妙矣，而孟子云，不孝有三，无后为大。惜此等人未之闻也。要之倡兴此法，使人斩嗣，其人也罪不容诛矣！”
张德彝之所以跑到了时代的前列（此人是第一个参观胡夫金字塔的中国人），盖因其毕业于同文馆，懂英语。
然而，就是这个成立之初只教授英法俄三国语言且并不显眼的机构，让奕訢吃尽了苦头，还被愤青们冠以“鬼子六”的称号。
其实，愤青们过于紧张了，同文馆的教学质量委实低到了一定境界。一个教俄文的满族教师入馆混了一年多被人发现根本不通俄语，天知道他每天人模狗样地站在讲台上讲的是哪国鸟语。
而与此同时，容闳的“制器之器”使洋务派认识到理解制造原理远比制造本身重要，一帮文科男考上了理科的研究生，冯桂芬不无极端地喊道：“一切西学皆从算学出。”
在此背景下，已被褫夺了议政王一职的奕訢领衔曾国藩、李鸿章，奏请在同文馆内开设“天文算学馆”。
于是，娄子捅大了。
慈禧的认可刺激了保守派，绝地反击正式铺开。先是一个叫张盛藻的御史跳出来抨击自然科学，被奕訢打压了下去。接着，著名保守派、翰林院掌院学士倭仁隆重登场。
倭仁：“师从夷人，动摇国本；变夏于夷，有亡国之患。”
奕訢：“仁义制服不了洋人。倭大学士若另有良策，可保本国不受欺辱，臣自当追随，甘效犬马之劳。”
争论持续了半年，慈禧的天平最终倒向奕訢。由此可见，在不伤及权力的前提下，该妇人还是比较开明的。
顺利开馆并不能保证顺利运行。士林宗师的地位使得撼山易撼倭仁难，攻击算学馆的奏折如雪片般飞进午门，主题空前一致：论算学馆之罪。
至于内容，还是比较百花齐放的。有夜观星象型，认为久旱不雨皆因开设算学馆惹怒了老天；有谈古说今型，扒出一条史料说“同文馆”是宋代奸臣蔡京陷害忠良的监狱狱名。
一边倒的舆论让算学馆的招生比南科大还惨淡，高薪聘请的李善兰等名师也托病不出——出来也会被烂鸡蛋给砸回去。
湖南籍的京官甚至开会决定，有进同文馆跟洋人学习的，以后不许踏入湖南会馆，各省京官纷纷效尤。奕訢面临的压力可想而知。
意识形态的惰性是一个时代的群像，闹剧的最后一个镜头定格在同文馆美国教员丁韪良（此人通晓中国古籍，最早将《万国公法》译为汉文）和北京西山一个反动农夫的对话上。
农夫：“你们洋人为什么不灭了清国呢？”
丁韪良：“你觉得我们能灭得了吗？”
农夫指着山下的一根电线杆：“当然，发明那电线的人就能。”
1867年7月21日，夜，两江总督署。
曾国藩忙完一天公务，找来心腹幕僚赵烈文闲谈。
曾国藩：“今天京里来人，聊起京城气象，说最近抢劫案频发，街上乞丐成群，甚至有妇女衣不蔽体。民穷财尽，恐有异变，如之奈何？”
赵烈文：“颠覆政权的风气还没开，如果不是抽心一烂，暂时不会土崩瓦解。”
他顿了顿，又正色道：“然则异日之祸一旦发生，便是连根拔起。时间不会超过五十年。”
曾国藩皱了皱眉：“是否会南迁？”
赵烈文摇头道：“绝无像东晋、南宋那样划江而治的可能。”
曾国藩不死心：“本朝君德较正（跟桀纣比吗），或不至于此。”
赵烈文：“君德虽正，然国势隆盛时，士大夫报君之恩已经足够。而本朝创业太易，诛戮太重，夺取天下又太过机巧（终皇太极一生，不敢想象满人南下而牧马）。天道循环，善恶相抵；后君德泽，未足恃也。”
曾国藩半晌无语，忽道：“你不是开玩笑吧？”
赵烈文：“当着老师的面，我不敢以此为戏。”
曾国藩叹了口气，道：“吾日夜望死，忧见宗庙之陨落。”
一年后的直隶总督署，曾国藩终于见到阔别已久的容闳。同时到访的还有王闿（kai）运和袁氏父子。
这是袁世凯初逢王闿运（1833—1916），第一感觉是：个子好矮啊！
然而，身材上的矮子有时是思想上的巨人，身兼经学家、史学家、文学家数职的王闿运不仅培养了杨度（1875—1931）、杨锐、刘光第和齐白石等众多牛人，由他撰写的《湘军志》更是研究湘军的重要史料。因其董狐直笔，大曝黑幕，还惹得曾国荃等一干湘军将领大为光火。
王闿运本名王开运，寄托了他爸想“开王运”的朴素想法。王开运同学却觉得这个名字非常土，会成为他通往大师之路上的绊脚石，就给改成了王闿运。闿，《新华字典》的解释就俩字：同“开”。
其实，王闿运的志向是当帝王师。你要叫他国学大师，他只会生气地反驳：你才国学大师，你全家都国学大师！
刚考上举人的王闿运已是名满天下，跑到肃顺帐下当幕僚，被奉为上宾，肃顺对其言听计从。
由于主攻帝王学（经学的政治化），王闿运看人极准。深得他真传的杨度就曾在蒋介石权势最盛时对章太炎说：“以蒋介石的武功，虽汉高明太何以过之，因为他不做皇帝，所以终于没有成大功的希望！”
事实上，原本争议很大的杨度晚年居然选择加入当时羽翼未丰的共产党，看清死后二十年的历史趋势，保全了身后名节，使人不得不叹服王氏之学的深不可测。
在王闿运看来，当时屡败屡战、压根儿不入咸丰法眼的曾国藩是一只充满了无限可能的潜力股。在他的推动下，肃顺趁时任两江总督何桂清擅离职守、咸丰大怒之机，力排众议，极力保举，帮曾国藩谋取了总督一职，助他从卓越走向了不朽。
可惜，王闿运为肃顺布的这颗棋眼，关键时刻掉了链子，以致满盘皆输。
祺祥政变前，王闿运给肃顺开的药方是“内用恭王，外征曾国藩”。
然而，他既高估了肃顺的实力，又低估了奕訢的野心。在空前专制的清朝，天子近臣和群僚之首两者并不画等号，王莽、霍光的时代早已一去不复返，失去咸丰这棵大树，肃顺连自己人都镇不住。
奕訢也不是你想用就能用的，毕竟曾几何时人离神器只有一步之遥，试问你还能开出什么更高的价码？
于是，执掌东南半壁江山牛耳的曾国藩成了攸关肃党存亡的重要筹码（手握京畿重兵的僧格林沁同肃顺不和）。
“借权”是帝王学研究的重点——包括借兵权。王闿运鞍马劳顿，风尘仆仆地赶到湘军大本营。
接下来的三个月，王闿运十四次与曾国藩深谈，鼓动如簧巧舌，使尽腹中才学，目的只有一个——拉拢说服。
以比房产中介、保险销售更舌绽莲花的言辞，王闿运成功侃晕了曾国藩，使其数度“夜不成寐”。
多亏曾国荃及时来信反洗脑：“文人好为大言，毫无实用，戒其勿近”，曾国藩立刻清醒了许多。
于是轮到王闿运压力山大了。
政变在即，最后一次面谈必须切入要点。书案后的曾国藩一如既往地洗耳恭听，还边听边记，王闿运信心爆棚，唾沫横飞……
须臾，曾国藩起身暂告失陪，出门而去。
王闿运走至桌前，但见纸上满满一篇“谬”字，方知大势已去。
这条段子出自王闿运门人的笔记，民国时被演绎成王闿运劝曾国藩养寇自重、起兵反清。由于太过玄幻，鲜为史家采信。不过我认为，在这场戏中，曾国藩的表现还是很符合其人物性格的。
既是妄语，明明可以当场打断，何必作虚怀若谷状？这体现了曾国藩的阴柔，坚忍而绝不弄险。
既默不作声，就一忍到底，又何以偏偏大书“谬”字，不给对方留丝毫情面？这体现了曾国藩的阳刚，心有主而我制外，不为人言所动。
刚柔兼备，宗经而不舍权变的思想练就了一颗情顺万物而无情的心体，因此在进退荣枯之间动容周旋，拿捏得体。
但，终究以阳刚为基。
这场“蒯通说韩信”的好戏发生在曾国藩返回之后。当年蒯通游说韩信自立为王被拒后仓皇逃走，而王闿运在摸清曾国藩底牌后，竟能神色不改，“论事如故”，淡定到让曾国藩都有点如坐针毡。如此心理素质，确实不是多读几遍《挺经》就能炼成的。
时隔多年，再次把容闳和王闿运召至署中，曾国藩另有深意。
它源自容闳一个再三的吁请：派遣留美幼童。
容闳的思路很清晰：强国之本并非变器物而是变制度，制度的落后已成为限制经济、文化等各个方面发展的桎梏。而主持制度变革的是人，对人影响至深者莫过于教育。伏脉千里，今日求取西学，是为了日后的官场少些非贪即庸的政客，多些高瞻远瞩的政治家。
对此，严复后来附议：
中国民品之劣，民智之卑，即有改革，害之除于甲者将见于乙，泯于丙者将发于丁。为今之计，唯急从教育上着手，庶几逐渐更新。
曾国藩却没有做好当留学教父的思想准备，同文馆风波殷鉴不远，他不得不慎之又慎。
还好幕中人才济济，又以薛福成（1838—1894）、吴汝纶、张裕钊、黎庶昌最为有名，时人呼为“曾门四学士”。
直隶总督署，明月当空。四学士、王闿运、容闳、袁氏父子齐聚一堂。曾国藩要参酌众议，谋定而后动。
素以推进教育改革为己任的黎庶昌恳切道：“达萌（容闳）之议，学生私下和挚甫（吴汝纶）一再探讨，都深以为然。”
曾国藩环视众人，指着黎庶昌笑道：“莼斋（黎庶昌）当年草就《上穆宗毅皇帝书》，非议科举，可是引得朝野震动啊。”
薛福成沉思道：“西洋各国，美国历史最短，风土人情与我差异最大，似可另择他国派遣幼童。”
曾国藩望着容闳，笑而不语。
容闳神色凝重道：“容某不才，蒙曾帅不弃，得以在帐前效力。身无寸功而忝居五品之职，心常悚惧不安，敢不竭尽所能以报大帅知遇之恩？当今大争之世，不唯我国，各国皆变法图强……”
王闿运缓缓打断道：“这要是个李德裕还好，要是个王荆公，怕是法没变成，倒把江山给断送喽！”
曾国藩明知王闿运主治《春秋》，坚持儒家王道仁政的政治思想，却故意让他和容闳对垒，显然是想兼听则明。
曾国藩：“达萌，以你在西洋待了这么多年看，各国体制，孰优孰劣？”
容闳：“论国体，以主权在君还是主权在民，当今天下可分为君主和民主两端。论政体，又以有无宪法，可分为君主专制、君主立宪以及民主共和三者。宪法作为立国之本，不独能限制君权，更将成为执政者统治合法性的根本来源。”
吴汝纶：“君主立宪和民主共和皆有宪法，二者有何异同？”
容闳：“君主立宪制，如英国，权力在君主；民主共和制，如美国，权力为全体公民所共享。而即便是前者，君权也已大大缩水。君主必须将全部的立法权交给议会，部分的行政权交给内阁总理（首相）。虽然内阁由君主任免，但君主必须在议会制定的宪法和法律的制约下行使权力。”
薛福成：“如果君主的权力日渐缩小，直至没有，成为一个象征，而由首相来履行君权，其实质是否就同民主共和一样？”
容闳：“然，此即从实君立宪过渡至虚君立宪。”
王闿运不以为然：“百代行的都是秦制，怎么到了你这，感觉就要变天了？！”
容闳反唇相讥：“秦制者，'废封建、立郡县'也。既已无封建之制，王壬秋（王闿运）你又何苦死守这封建之学？”
说着，指向王闿运面前案几上