Chapter 83 Li Hongzhang is not as bad as you think

It is said that a weak country has no diplomacy, but a weak country needs diplomacy more than a strong country, so Cixi needs Li Hongzhang very much, which is one of the reasons why Cixi trusts Li Hongzhang. Cixi issued an order to discuss peace in Xi'an, where the yellow dust was raging, and the order was given to Li Hongzhang.Cixi said: Li Hongzhang was ordered to be the governor of Zhili and the minister of Beiyang, and he was given full powers, and he went north to be responsible for peace negotiations. In fact, it is not appropriate to call it an order. It should be said that it was Cixi's entreaties in twelve consecutive telegrams.

Li Hongzhang didn't want to go at first, but he had to agree to Cixi's request.Why is that?Did he forget that Cixi let him bear the infamy alone five years ago?Yes, he forgot, because he had to. All because he is Li Hongzhang, he must shoulder his due responsibilities.Now besides him, Li Hongzhang, who else can take on this responsibility?Li Hongzhang knew that he knew some rules of international games and was good at wiping his ass, so he could only rush to wipe the ass of the old lady who was shitting all over the sky. In July 1900, under the scorching sun, 77-year-old Li Hongzhang set off from Guangzhou and embarked on the "road of betraying the country" or "road of wronging the country".Deliberately wronging the country is betraying the country, and unintentionally betraying the country is wronging the country. The two are just a matter of motivation, and the outcome is not much different.

It was impossible for Li Hongzhang not to take this path. His family and friends didn't know what to say to comfort him. Pei Jingfu, the magistrate of Nanhai County, asked him: How can you deal with foreigners? Li Hongzhang sighed: There is no other way, I can only talk to them and delay the time, but I don't know if I can achieve this goal.You say that I can live for a few more years, and I can ring the clock for a day as a monk. If I am not dead as a monk, I have to ring the bell. As for whether I can ring it loudly, I don’t know. Li Hongzhang first arrived in Shanghai and met his student Sheng Xuanhuai.Li Hongzhang said to him: The situation is too serious this time. If the peace agreement is reached, I will die.I will depend on you people when I die!

Sheng Xuanhuai didn't know how to comfort the teacher. I don't know if he had thought about using part of his embezzled money to support national construction... According to some historical materials, there were two young people who asked to see Li Hongzhang, 25-year-old Huang Xing and his future wife Xu Zonghan. Huang Xing cut to the chase: Why don't you help us get rid of the Qing dogs and restore the Han people? Li Hongzhang was silent, and it took him a long time to answer: Let each generation do the work of a generation. Many people have asked Li Hongzhang this question before, but this is the first time for him to give such a meaningful answer.

The smart Huang Xing immediately understood Li Hongzhang's meaning: I will protect my Qing Dynasty, and you will oppose your Qing Dynasty, each doing his own thing. The following year, Huang Xing went to Japan to study.A few years later, he established a revolutionary party with Sun Yat-sen, and since then they have jointly fought against the Qing Dynasty and launched many revolutions. I don't know if the great director Chen Kaige will make this part into a movie. This is the responsibility and obligation entrusted to him by his predecessors. He beat around the bush and even got involved with Huang Xing.

No kidding, Huang Xing’s wife (Xu Zonghan)’s sister (Xu Wen)’s second daughter (Gong Peng)’s second husband (Qiao Guanhua)’s second wife (Zhang Hanzhi)’s first husband (Hong Junyan) The second husband of her daughter (Hong Huang) is Chen Kaige. The topic returned to Li Hongzhang. Li Hongzhang stayed in Shanghai for more than a month and did two things: 1. Li Hongzhang rejected Zhao Kuangyin's yellow robe—Liu Xuexun, Bu Li, and Sun Yat-sen formed a group to trick Li Hongzhang into separatist Guangdong and Guangxi. That's what happened: Among Li Hongzhang's senior staff (aides), there is a brother named Liu Xuexun.Brother Liu is a well-known local gentleman in Guangdong. To be precise, he has a Jinshi degree and a rich man's net worth. In the local area, black and white basically eat both ways.Moreover, Brother Liu is still a person with ideals, his ideal is to fight against the Qing Dynasty and restore the Ming Dynasty.Brother Liu has been planning for many years, but he did not find any opportunity to fight against the Qing Dynasty and restore the Ming Dynasty. It was not until Li Hongzhang launched the "Southeast Mutual Protection" and sang against Cixi that he discovered the opportunity to start a rebellion, so he found two people to help him realize it. ideal.

The first person is Hong Kong's chief executive (Hong Kong Governor) Briton Bliss.Why did Bu Li have to wade into this muddy water? Because Cixi, who stabbed the sky, was chased all over the world by the coalition forces and fled, this made Bu Li realize that: the Qing Dynasty has lost the ability of their ancestors to conquer the Ming Empire, and this is the best time for the British Empire to carve up China. ?If a puppet regime can be supported in Guangdong, which is a short distance from Hong Kong, it is simply a gift from God to the British Empire. The second person is Brother Liu's fellow villager Sun Yat-sen.Brother Liu fooled his fellow countryman Sun Yat-sen and said: It is a very good idea to join Mr. Li Er in the cause of "expelling the Tartars and restoring China". Don't you give it a try?

Of course Sun Yat-sen wanted to give it a try, as long as there was a ten-thousandth chance of success, he would give it a try! Although the hardware of Li Hongzhang's body has aged, but fortunately, his head has not rusted. He is very clear about Liu Xuexun's little Jiujiu, the intentions of the British, and Sun Yat-sen's strength. Therefore, he rejected the proposal with a silent attitude of neither accepting nor rejecting.Reminiscent of the previous Southeast Mutual Insurance, perhaps we can explain Li Hongzhang’s choice in this way: Li Hongzhang, who embraced giving up to save the Qing Dynasty, still did not give up his efforts and hope to save China.

2. Li Hongzhang went around a lot and finally found all the experts in the "traitor negotiating team". It is worth mentioning that there is also a super talented Mr. Gu Hongming in the "traitor negotiating team". What would you do if everyone had only one last leg left in their lives?I think most people have been busy all their lives, and they will choose to let go of all their burdens at the last moment, and then quietly wait for the end.However, in the last journey of his life, Li Hongzhang had a nightmare dealing with foreigners in an extremely sad state of mind. In October, the most spectacular "Century Auction" in the history of the Chinese nation began!

The representatives of the big powers, who were like wolves and tigers, proposed seven principles for peace negotiations: 1. Punish war criminals headed by Cixi; 2. Prohibition of the manufacture and import of arms by the Qing Dynasty; 3. Pay one billion taels of silver and pay it off in ten years; 4. The embassy in Qing Dynasty can station guards; 5. Demolish the Dagu Fort; 6. Foreign soldiers were stationed between Tianjin and Dagu to ensure the safety and freedom of traffic between Dagu and Beijing; 7. How to cede the land has not been discussed internally. Li Hongzhang felt that, except for the fourth article, everything else was unacceptable.Especially the first one, which seriously broke through the bottom line of Cixi's confession.So Li Hongzhang pointed to the noses of the big powers and said: You are a pack of tigers and wolves. If you demand too much, our 400 million people are not afraid of bloodshed!

Li Hongzhang had no cards in his hand, so he could only pretend, pretending to be confident, calm, well-founded, and strict.In short, he fought with military officials, civil servants, and diplomats from more than a dozen countries by himself, and worked hard to maintain the last trace of dignity of the Qing government. Sometimes, officials on the other side often looked at him amusedly, and even Li Hongzhang felt like a clown.He pretended to be deaf and dumb, babbled, talked good and bad, gagged... He used all kinds of nonsense, and actually delayed the negotiation for more than a year, and finally achieved incredible results: 1. Remove Cixi from the list of war criminals and retain her former status; 2. The amount of compensation is far less than one billion taels; 3. Not a single inch of land was ceded. This major achievement was actually very tragic: Li Hongzhang vomited blood onto the negotiating table many times, then wiped his mouth and continued to talk.It turned out that Li Hongzhang was already terminally ill, and he went into battle with an illness. The great powers saw that Li Hongzhang, who was able to talk with them, was going to die, so they asked to adjourn the meeting and asked a doctor to treat him.But Li Hongzhang went all out. He said: If you don't withdraw your troops, you are not my friend, but my enemy.I never accept enemy healing! When the coalition forces talked about the amount of compensation, Li Hongzhang couldn't hold on any longer, and his deputy, Prince Qing Yikuang, stepped forward to continue the discussion.Sitting in Li Hongzhang's seat, Yikuang suddenly didn't look like the cowardly and incompetent Yikuang in the past, and suddenly he was not angry but arrogant, and he regarded death as home. After talking for a year, Li Hongzhang was almost killed, and even Yikuang, who was originally bloodless, became bloody. The coalition forces couldn't hold back anymore, so they had to make a compromise: We won't cede land, and we won't kill Cixi, just pay compensation, don't you Chinese claim to be 450 million?One person, one or two! It was a miracle that Li Hongzhang and Yikuang were able to accomplish this alive.When the coalition forces reported to their respective governments, they made a very Ah-Q explanation: one person and one tael as an insult! In view of the fact that some contents of the "Xin Chou Treaty" have a considerable impact on the following, it is summarized as follows: 1. The compensation is 450 million taels, to be settled in 39 years; 2. Designate the embassy area - Beijing Dongjiaomin Lane. Chinese people are not allowed to live, and countries can send troops to garrison; 3. The Dagu Fort was demolished, and foreign soldiers were stationed between Tianjin and Dagu; 4. Prohibit China from importing weapons for two years, and it can be extended if necessary; 5. Change the Zongli Yamen to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and serve foreigners wholeheartedly; Sixth, send envoys to "apology" to Germany and Japan, and set up a memorial arch for the German ambassador who died at the hands of the Boxers. During the time when Li Hongzhang was negotiating with representatives of the coalition forces, Cixi, who fled to Xi'an, was looking forward to "good" news from Li Hongzhang every day in the gale of yellow dust.After looking forward to it for nearly a year, Cixi finally looked forward to the "draft agreement" telegram sent by Li Hongzhang.Cixi was overjoyed after seeing the content of the agreement, and called back: it should be done accordingly. On September 7, 1901, at the signing ceremony of the "Xin Chou Treaty", Li Hongzhang played for the Qing Dynasty for the last time. Although Yikuang's hands were shaking, he still said to Li Hongzhang very loyally: Let me sign this word. Li Hongzhang waved his hand slightly and said: "The most difficult thing in the world to write is your own name. Prince Qing still has a long way to go, so you don't need to involve yourself. Let me sign this traitorous treaty!"However, Li Hongzhang did not have the strength to finish signing his name. He signed a weak and pitiful "Su" with his weak hand, because he was "Su Yibo" of the Qing Dynasty. After signing, Li Hongzhang burst into tears, and once again vomited blood, "purple black, with large lumps." The doctor immediately came to diagnose and treat: Su Yibo's gastric blood vessel ruptured. Knowing that he was exhausted, Li Hongzhang issued his last memorial on his sickbed. Combined with the memorial he gave to Cixi not long ago, we can think that Li Hongzhang left such a political will: In China a hundred years ago, Li Hongzhang actually had such an understanding, which is really shocking and respectable!