The so-called pirates include foreign navies and merchant ships who take advantage of the situation, as well as "tricksters" on the seaside. The pirates came ashore and robbed things, or robbed property at sea and escaped in ships. The Qing government had no choice but to do so b

Zuo Zongtang and Fuzhou Shipping Bureau

Zhang Yihu

3. The dream is about shipbuilding

Due to the war, pirates often appeared in the coastal areas of Zhejiang. The so-called pirates include foreign navies and merchant ships who take advantage of the situation, as well as "tricksters" on the seaside. The pirates came ashore and robbed things, or robbed property at sea and escaped in boats. The Qing Dynasty officials had no ships (warships), so there was nothing they could do.

In February of the second year of Tongzhi, when Zuo Zongtang was discussing the matter with the Prime Minister's Office, he casually said:

If there is funds in the future, we will try to imitate the ship, which will be a long-term solution for the maritime border. At this time, it is rare to have a single red boat. ("Premier's Office of Foreign Affairs") [1]

" red single ship " is a large ship manufactured in Guangdong at that time. The hull is large and solid, and it travels fast. Each ship can install twenty or thirty gun positions, and can Activities on the sea surface. It can be seen from the few words mentioned above that the "ship" Zuo Zongtang mentioned is a much larger ship than the red single ship. The so-called "imitation" means that it is made to imitate foreign ships. When he came to the seaside, Zuo Zongtang hardly needed any more mental preparation. He naturally focused on the ships of the Western sea countries, and naturally prepared to imitate them. This was the first time that Zuo Zongtang mentioned the imitation of ships.

On December 14, the second year of Tongzhi, Zuo Zongtang wrote a letter to Shi Zhi'e, specifically talking about his ideas about imitating ships. He said:

Ships are weapons for naval warfare. Every time the islanders are proud of them, they must imitate them in the future to prevent foreigners from stealing them. Is the wisdom of China inferior to that of Westerners? If you pay attention to imitation, you will naturally get better and better. For example, the history of Xuancheng , as well as the recent manufacture of clocks and guns in eastern Guangdong and Yangzhou , can all adopt Western methods and gradually become more refined. I think that after ten years, I will respond to the people who are proud of me. After all, the long-term solution for coastal counties is to imitate steamboats. If you want to imitate the boat, you must first buy the boat, interview the people who are interested in it, take it apart one by one, and then imitate it. You can hire foreigners to drive it and try to learn it with Chinese people, and you can hope that it will be successful. For this reason, there will be a cost at the beginning but there will be benefits in the end. There will be difficulties at the beginning but there will be gains in the end. ("To Shi Shiliang")[2]

Judging from Zuo Zongtang's expression, he has already had quite mature thinking about imitation ships. First, he firmly believes that the Chinese do not need to be inferior to Westerners. If others can build it, we can also build it; second, we must first buy Western ships, find sophisticated and intelligent personnel, dismantle the ships, study them carefully, and imitate them. Manufacturing, and then gradually improve; third, when the ship is built, foreigners must first be hired to drive it, but the Chinese must learn from it, and then they can drive it themselves.

On December 28, the second year of Tongzhi, Zuo Zongtang once again mentioned the use of troops at sea (that is, to resist the invasion of foreign powers) and shipbuilding in his letter to Shi Zhi'e. He said:

Since the war was launched at sea, we have done more than we should do, and our words are rotten. We are here to fight for every point we get, and every success we get is one point. There is no need to imitate Wuzhong in everything. I can speak uprightly, and the other people have nothing to say about it. In addition, I am self-restrained. If they know it, they should be careful not to listen. Steamships should always be managed carefully, from rough to fine, no expense spared, and everything will be accomplished. If Xu Zhongshen and his generation had been able to do this earlier, why would they have broken up like this later! If we don't catch Taixi when we are doing things, it will all be done by Gou An's misguided thoughts. This should serve as a lesson. ("Fu Shi Liang")[3]

Every time Zuo Zongtang thought about "the use of troops at sea", that is, the first Opium War, the Second Opium War, he was always heartbroken. The reason why China has suffered such disastrous defeats is because of the misguided thought of "keeping peace". Emperor Daoguang was peaceful and lost the first Opium War; Emperor Xianfeng was peaceful and lost the second Opium War. Zuo Zongtang did not want to be complacent. He wanted to "fight for every point he gets, and every great thing he gets." In order to resist the aggression of the Western powers, China must build ships, and it should be "deliberately managed, from rough to fine." , no expense spared." If you can do this, you will definitely succeed.Judging from Zuo Zongtang's words, Zuo Zongtang's idea of ​​building a ship is becoming more and more determined and urgent!

However, Zuo Zongtang was still in Yanzhou at this time, and Hangzhou, Yuhang and other places were still in the hands of the Taiping Army. For him, the war situation was still quite serious. However, he was able to think about post-war construction and was always concerned about the long-term peace of the country, so he was particularly valuable.

After that, Zuo Zongtang was appointed governor of Fujian and Zhejiang, in charge of Fujian. Whenever coastal defense was discussed, shipbuilding must be mentioned:

As far as Hangzhou and the coastal areas of Ning, Shao, Taiwan, and Wenzhou were concerned, pirates appeared from time to time, and the navy was just a useless force. , no ships or guns. If you want to control foreign piracy and consolidate coastal defense, you must build gunboats for military use. Both the steamship and the red slip cannot be scrapped, and the imitation and hiring of drivers are both necessary. Money is not enough. There is no way to raise funds at the moment, so we have to wait and see. ("The film about the aftermath that Zhejiang should handle", October 27, the third year of Tongzhi)[4]

In order to strengthen China's self-improvement, in addition to improving political affairs and improving military bravery, we must imitate ships to seize other people's territory. rely. This kind of people must not fail to receive it, this kind of money must not fail to be planned, and efforts must be made to raise it in a timely manner. ("Premier's Office on International Affairs" in the fourth year of Tongzhi)[5]

In June and July of the fourth year of Tongzhi, Zuo Zongtang wrote to Jiang Yili (also known as Xiangquan), clearly mentioning:

The trial building of the ship must be done Work together. However, according to the letter sent by Xueyan yesterday, sent by Germany and Japan, many of the provisions were unclear and could not be agreed upon. Huang Weixuan has already been interviewed. [6]

This shows that Zuo Zongtang had officially started planning shipbuilding matters during the fourth year of Tongzhi. Hu Guangyong, Deke Bei , Riyige and others have also participated. In fact, when Zuo Zongtang was in Hangzhou, he looked for craftsmen to imitate Western ships and built a small ship, which he trialed in the West Lake. He also invited Deke and Rieyige to watch the ship. Japan, Italy, and Deke said that the imitation of small steamers was relatively successful, but the machines (engines) were not good enough and they needed to buy Western machines. Japan and Italy immediately showed Zuo Zongtang the French shipbuilding atlas and requested to supervise the shipbuilding on behalf of China and introduce Western technology to China. Isn't what Ri Yige said exactly what Zuo Zongtang thought about day and night? Since then, Zuo Zongtang has frequently discussed and planned shipbuilding matters with Deke Bei and Riyige.

[1] Liu Yangyang editor-in-chief "The Complete Works of Zuo Zongtang" 10. Letter 1. Page 449.

[2] "The Complete Works of Zuo Zongtang" edited by Liu Yangyang 10. Letter 1. Page 508.

[3] "The Complete Works of Zuo Zongtang" edited by Liu Yangyang 10. Letter 1. Page 511.

[4] "The Complete Works of Zuo Zongtang" edited by Liu Yangyang 1 Memorial 1. Page 511

[5] "The Complete Works of Zuo Zongtang" edited by Liu Yangyang 10. Letter 1. Page 553.

[6] "The Complete Works of Zuo Zongtang" edited by Liu Yangyang 10. Letter 1. Page 590.