Chapter 8 7. If you are poor, you seek change

The tragedy in North Korea helped Yuan Shikai. After the Sino-Japanese War, the Qing court learned from the pain and focused all criticism on Li Hongzhang, and all favors on Yuan Shikai; everyone believed that Yuan Shikai was successful in North Korea.In fact, it is true that Yuan spent 12 years in North Korea, training new soldiers for North Korea, stabilizing the chaos in North Korea, and revitalizing the prestige of the Qing court. The 73-year-old Li Hongzhang also thinks highly of this junior. He doesn't treat Yuan badly because Yuan is admired by others, but he himself is attacked by others. On the contrary, he appreciates Yuan more and supports Yuan everywhere. as his heir.

This opened up a road for Yuan Shikai on the Beiyang Road.The Beiyang Minister at that time was actually a powerful figure in the central government of the Qing court. Li Hongzhang was the most important figure in the Qing court at that time, and Yuan Shikai climbed up step by step under his wing.For Yuan, his early political career was not only colorful but also handy. When Yuan Wei was ordered to go to Xiaozhan to train soldiers, he stayed in Tianjin and sometimes went to Beijing. He took advantage of this short leisure time to write a military book, of course he did not write it himself.Only by "knowing the soldiers" can Chinese literati reach the point of becoming a general and becoming a prime minister. From Zhuge Liang to Zeng Guofan and Li Hongzhang, they are all scholars who command the soldiers.Since Yuan Shikai was able to train recruits for North Korea, of course he could also write a book on military affairs. His book on military affairs is now out of print.Since his "Book of War" was compiled, he seemed to be famous in that era for his "both civil and military".

After the Sino-Japanese War, the whole country was seeking "change". Enlightened intellectuals, centered in Shanghai and Hong Kong, advocated reform.There were also one or two outstanding ministers in the Qing court who advocated innovation; Guo Songtao, Zeng Jize before, and Xue Fucheng later, all believed that the world was changing rapidly, and the way of governing the world must adapt to the trend.However, these Westernization factions were all rejected by the old-fashioned faction, so they could not be used to great effect. Yuan Shikai himself was a complex person with dual personalities. He was a newcomer in the old forces, but he was also a conservative in the new forces. Therefore, he was appreciated and not rejected by the old forces. For the emerging forces, they Seeing Yuan is still a person who is willing to accept new trends and new ideas, so I like him very much.In that era of transformation from the old to the new, Yuan was a fence-sitter. Because of his fence-sitting, he became a political and military darling.

After the defeat of the bleak Sino-Japanese War, the most urgent task of the Qing court was to reorganize the army.Therefore, just six months after the signing of the "Treaty of Shimonoseki", the five most important ministers of the Qing court, Prince Chun Yixuan, Prince Qing Yikui, Minister of Military Aircraft Weng Tonghe, Minister of Military Aircraft Li Hongzhang, Minister of Military Aircraft Rong Lu, etc. To train and build a new army, Yuan Shikai was also assigned to draft plans and regulations.Soon he was appointed to preside over the training of the new army. This middle-aged man who had supervised the training of the new army in North Korea began the most important career in his life-station training.

The shame of Maguan made Chinese intellectuals accept this stimulus, so not only the Qing court sought change, but young people in general society also aroused a climax of seeking change.For example, Feng Guifen, a student of Lin Zexu, wrote "Xiaobinlu Protest", advocating not to despise or fear the outside world; to select talents internally, pay attention to public opinion, abolish stereotyped writing, and strengthen local politics.In addition, Hong Kong's "Circular Daily" advocated the reform, praised the Japanese system, and advocated that China urgently needs to change the four old systems of recruiting soldiers, military training, schools, and laws and regulations.Zheng Guanying wrote "Words of a Flourishing Age", and once talked with Mr. Sun Yat-sen about his ambition to reform China.He Qi is the author of "China's Urgent Reform of Political Law", "The Beginning of the New Deal", "The New Coup", and "The New Deal".This He Qi studied in the UK for more than ten years, and later lived in Hong Kong to establish the Alice Hospital and the Hong Kong College of Western Medicine.Mr. Sun Yat-sen once studied in the Academy of Western Medicine, and he was assisted by He Qi during the uprising.Hu Liyuan and He Qi co-authored the above-mentioned books, which are collectively called "Xin Zheng Zhen Quan".Chen Qiu wrote "Government of Zhiping" and "Reporting to the Country".They all advocate the establishment of a parliament and a constitutional monarchy.

In addition, foreigners who visited China, such as Timothy Lee, an Englishman from the Shanghai Cantonese Society, visited Beijing after the Sino-Japanese War and met with Li Hongzhang, Sun Jianai, Weng Tonghe, Zhang Yinhuan, Prince Gong, Gang Yi, etc. Four calls for the people, nourishing the people, Anmin, and Xinmin, and hoped that the Qing court would set up Western disciplines and use Westerners as consultants.His proposal was not accepted by the Qing court. All these calls for change from the opposition did not make the Qing court accept it.The tentacles that could touch the rulers of the Qing court were Kang Youwei, Liang Qichao, etc. who contacted more than a thousand candidates from various provinces in Beijing, wrote a letter on the bus, opposed the Maguan peace negotiation, advocated moving the capital to fight again, reforming and self-strengthening, and training troops in the West.Although their demands were not fulfilled, the turmoil they set off shook that era.

Kang Youwei, whose original name was Zu Yi, styled Guangsha, and nicknamed Changsu, was a native of Nanhai, Guangdong. He was born on the fifth day of February in the eighth year of Xianfeng (March 19, 1885). , wanting to be a sage of Chinese Confucianism.Although he didn't know foreign language, he was very receptive. At the age of six, he read the Four Books and the "Book of Filial Piety" from Panyu Lin Fengyi, so he aspired to study the sages.He was a tireless reader. He first studied in the mountains, and then traveled north and south to study the books on Western law, politics, history and geography translated by missionaries at that time. In order to achieve the purpose of political reform, he wrote two books: "Xinxue Apocrypha" and "Confucius Reformation Test" to support his reform ideas, so as to avoid opposition from traditional Chinese scholars.He said that at the end of the Western Han Dynasty, Liu Xin forged ancient Chinese classics to support Wang Mang's replacement of Han. This book can only be regarded as a new learning in Wang Mang's era. Virtuous government is also to change the legal system at that time under the guise of ancient times.So Kang Youwei's conclusion is that there have been reforms since ancient times, and Confucius was also a reformer.

In addition to putting forward a set of ideas to support his reform, Kang Youwei hoped to be appreciated by the emperor to realize his ideals.He explained that the conservative figures of the Qing court at that time were surrounded by the Empress Dowager, and it was impossible to break through this old-fashioned wall to gain the support of the Empress Dowager Cixi.He used all his strength to work hard on Emperor Guangxu of Emperor Dezong of Qing Dynasty.At that time, Empress Dowager Cixi had withdrawn her curtains and stayed away from political affairs, and Guangxu was a young emperor who was worried and angry about state affairs. Kang Youwei wrote letters eight times, and finally won Guangxu's admiration.

There were three major branches of emerging forces in the late Qing Dynasty: one was Yuan Shikai who was training troops in Xiaozhan, and he regarded himself as an orthodox force in Beiyang, and he was a complete reactionary and opportunistic element; It is an aboveboard revolutionary movement led by Dr. Sun Yat-sen. Mr. Sun Yat-sen was born in Cuiheng Village, Xiangshan County, Guangdong Province on the sixth day of October in the fifth year of Tongzhi (November 12, 1866). At the age of 14, he went to Honolulu with his mother to study at a missionary middle school. After graduating in three years, he entered Ojo College. He returned to China in 1885 and entered the Hong Kong College of Western Medicine in 1887. In 1892, he graduated with 100 points in all subjects at the age of 27.He devoted himself to the national revolutionary movement when he was a student and when he practiced medicine after graduation.Since his background is different from that of Zeng Guofan, Zuo Zongtang, and Li Hongzhang, who are purely traditional Chinese culture, and also not like Kang Youwei, Liang Qichao, etc., who indirectly accepted the superficiality of Western culture, the revolutionary movement and revolutionary ideas he advocated were able to absorb Western culture. The advantages of the political system and culture can also carry forward the essence of China's excellent traditions.

Mr. Sun Yat-sen's determination to engage in a revolutionary movement began in the year of China's defeat against France (1885).At that time, Dr. Sun Yat-sen was still studying, but he had already started the revolution. At that time, everyone thought he was a monster, a lunatic, or a robber.The only comrades who echoed him were Chen Shaobai, You Shaodan, and Yang Heling, who were called the "Four Bandits" at the time.In fact, during this period, they only advocated the revolution in their spare time, and they had no taboos, which can be regarded as the era of revolutionary speech.

After the Sino-Japanese War of 1894, the corruption of the Qing court was fully exposed. At this time, Mr. Sun Yat-sen decided to overthrow the Qing court and establish the Republic of China.On the surface, it is just a non-governmental academic group that emphasizes prosperity and strength, but secretly arranges revolutionary actions, setting up Qianheng in Hong Kong, and setting up the Agricultural Society in Guangzhou, planning to attack Guangzhou with an armed uprising.Unfortunately, more than 600 pistols were confiscated by the customs because the guns were transported from Hong Kong to Guangzhou. The incident was revealed. Comrade Lu Haodong was martyred.This was the ninth day of September in the 21st year of Guangxu (October 26, 1895), and it was the first time in Chinese history that people sacrificed for the republican revolution. After the failure of the Guangzhou Uprising, Mr. Sun Yat-sen sneaked back to Hong Kong, but he could no longer stay in Hong Kong. The British government of Hong Kong expelled Mr. Sun Yat-sen for "engaging in political activities" for a period of five years.Mr. Sun Yat-sen traveled to Japan with Chen Shaobai and Zheng Shiliang, lived in Yokohama, and went to Honolulu, America, and Europe to promote the revolution to overseas Chinese.At that time, the overseas Chinese were not well-mannered, and they did not fully understand the principles of revolution, so what Mr. Sun Yat-sen did was not very popular among overseas Chinese.When Mr. Sun Yat-sen traveled from America to England, he was trapped by the Qing embassy in London and detained in the embassy. Fortunately, the British teacher Cantley rescued him out of danger.Because this incident shocked the international community, it made Mr. Sun Yat-sen famous, and the international community and overseas Chinese all knew that China had a revolutionary leader. During this period, Mr. Sun Yat-sen's revolutionary movement had little influence in the country, because it was the time when Kang Youwei and Liang Qichao were running the reform movement, and it was rare for Chinese intellectuals to have the courage to accept the reform movement and dare to talk about the reality of revolution. is negligible. This is the internal situation of poverty and change at that time. As for external pressure? The Sino-Japanese War is a key point in China's modern history. Before the Sino-Japanese War, although China signed the "Jiangning Treaty" with Britain in the 22nd year of Daoguang (1842) due to the Opium War, after 16 years, the eighth year of Xianfeng (1858) It took another 27 years to conclude the "Treaty of Tianjin" with Britain and France, and the "Vietnam Treaty" was signed with France in the 11th year of Guangxu (1885). The total foreign debt is only more than 6.84 million pounds.Since the Sino-Japanese War, the situation has become worse and worse. Russia, Germany, and France have demanded compensation from the Manchu Qing for oppressing Japan and returning Liaodong and China. Relations, including most of the rights in Manchuria, Mongolia is also regarded as its own; Germany occupied Jiaozhou Bay, demanded a 99-year lease, and at the same time seized the rights to roads and mines in Shandong Province.France also demanded a 99-year lease of Guangzhou Bay, and at the same time demanded that Yunnan, Guangdong, and Guangxi not be ceded to other powerful countries.Britain’s aggressive tactics in the Far East were very flexible. On the one hand, it leased Weihaiwei to fight against imperial Russia, and divided Germany’s strength in Shandong; As for Japan, in addition to ceding Taiwan and Penghu according to the "Treaty of Shimonoseki", since the big powers have divided their spheres of influence in China, they requested that Fujian be included in Japan's sphere of influence.The United States did not make plans on Chinese territory, but only focused on economics. Its policy toward China was the "Open Door Policy" proposed by US Secretary of State John Hay in the 25th year of Guangxu (1899), and it appealed to the big powers to agree, and because of this policy Only then did China at that time survive to be partitioned.However, although China has not been subjugated or partitioned, the military compensation due to the defeat is simply appalling. At that time, official corruption had made the people extremely poor, and foreign wars had increased the serious burden of the Chinese people. The Sino-Japanese War led to the Reform Movement of 1898; the reaction of the Reformation was the Gengzi Fist Movement.16 years after the Sino-Japanese War, the Qing Dynasty tended to perish. It can be seen that the Sino-Japanese War had a huge impact on history!