The Sino-Japanese War of 1894 is an important battle in the late Qing Dynasty. It can be said that it was a battle of national destiny between Qing Dynasty and Japan. This battle started on land until the end of the naval war. The Qing Dynasty lost a lot of losses and had to sign the " Treaty of Shimonoseki " with Japan. It not only ceded many territories to Japan, but also compensated Japan with 200 million taels of silver. It also directly declared the complete failure of the Qing Dynasty Westernization Movement , and also made Japan make a lot of money from this war of betting on national destiny. Many people attributed this battle to the old empress dowager Cixi incompetent, but they didn't know that this battle was something that Guangxu insisted on fighting, and spared no effort to support it. The result was contrary to expectations and lost to the sky.
Sino-Japanese War
The misfortune of Guangxu
Guangxu was the second emperor supported by Cixi after her own son Tongzhi died. In order to allow herself to continue to rule from behind the curtain, Cixi specially chose Zai Tian, who was only 4 years old, to inherit the throne, which was later Emperor Guangxu. When he ascended the throne at a young age, Cixi naturally continued to control the government affairs, but after all, she was a woman, and the power of the government would be returned to Guangxu sooner or later.
Young Guangxu
Not only that, Cixi was particularly strict with Guangxu. Guangxu grew up under the strict education of Cixi. This nominal mother-son relationship must be different from ordinary families. Therefore, Guangxu hated and feared Cixi, which caused his extremely contradictory personality. Therefore, when it came to the rebellious period, conflicts broke out from time to time. "Although is trivial and trivial, it must oppose it and then " also proves Guangxu's rebellious feelings towards Cixi at that time.
Guangxu and his father
, and Guangxu has been waiting for him to take power, so that he can get rid of Cixi's control. According to the ancestral system, the emperor can take power after he reaches a certain age. At that time, Kangxi was in charge of power at the age of 14, so Cixi promised Guangxu that as long as Guangxu studied hard, he would delegate power to let him take power at the age of 14.
When Guangxu was 14 years old, how could Cixi, who had already grasped the power of the government, be willing to delegate power? After all, he was a veteran who had been in charge of the government for many years. Cixi came up with a clever plan and directly discussed with Guangxu's biological father, Prince Chun. Prince Chun had already understood Cixi's intention. After all, he had already replaced the position of Prince Gong in the court and became Cixi's confidant. He directly joined forces with other ministers to "please" Cixi's tutoring politics. The so-called tutoring politics means removing the previous curtain and replacing it with a screen, but everything is the same. He also said that after the emperor's wedding, he would first ask for an imperial edict before hearing the emperor's preface.
Cixi's training and
Cixi also followed suit and directly accepted Prince Chun's proposal for "training". Her biological father was really playing tricks on her son Prince Chun. In the first month of the thirteenth year of the Guangxu period (1887), Guangxu finally could take charge of the government, but the power of the government was still in the hands of Cixi. In order to facilitate the future of returning to power, Cixi also married her niece to Guangxu as the queen. Although Guangxu was unwilling, she had no choice but to accept it with her nose.
Empress Guangxu
According to the ancestral system, the emperor had to take charge of the government affairs in person after the wedding. Naturally, Cixi did not dare to violate the laws of the ancestors. Although she said she could retire, she would give Cixi a garden to enjoy her old age after retirement. This is Summer Palace .
The predecessor of the Summer Palace was Qingyi Garden built during the Qianlong period, but it was destroyed by British and French coalition . Now it needs to be rebuilt on this basis. As long as the Summer Palace is well-built, she will completely retire. Of course, this was also Cixi's delaying strategy. After all, the Summer Palace was repaired for several years. It began to be built as early as the tenth year of Guangxu (1884). By the twenty years of Guangxu (1894), the Summer Palace was almost completed. Now Cixi really decided to delegate power and retire, completely let Guangxu take power.
Today's Summer Palace
However, after Guangxu took power, he found that it was no difference whether he was in charge of the government or not. The ministers in the court were basically appointed by Cixi. Although Cixi no longer tutored the government, the ministers had to ask Cixi first when handling and reporting matters, which made Guangxu very powerless. Although Guangxu really wanted to truly grasp power and also wanted to deal with a few disobedient ministers to establish their authority, these people were appointed by Cixi. Cixi was still there, and this matter could not be carried out. He could only wait for an opportunity to prove himself.
Japan, which had been planned for a long time, was actually a war that Japan had planned for a long time. It began to plan as early as before , the Meiji Restoration . In the late shogunate period, Japan was also weak. Some people in Japan wanted to colonize like other countries. They proposed a "Overseas Hero Flying Theory". They felt that if Japan wanted to take off, they had to colonize other countries. After the Meiji Restoration, Japan's national strength strengthened, and the overseas Hero Flying Theory was brought to the stage again. Their eyes were turned to the Qing Dynasty, which was also colonized.
So for this purpose, they began to clarify the goals and steps of the aggression in an orderly manner. In 1880, they proposed the "Plan for the Struggle of the Struggle against the Qing Dynasty", and later Akito Yama Prefecture wrote "The Preparation for the Preparation of the Linbang Army"; in 1887, Ogawa wrote "The Strategies for the Expedition of the Qing Dynasty" again; in 1890, Japan finally formed its own "Continental Policy" plan, namely, first conquered North Korea - occupied Manchuria and Mongolia - conquered Qing Dynasty - dominate Asia - dominate the world . Therefore, once Japan determined this policy, it began to truly implement it.
Shanxian Youpeng
In order to complete the first step, Japan first infiltrated North Korea through various means. In 1894, the Dongxue Party of Korea happened to rebel. He seized the opportunity and directly carried out military operations in North Korea and fought against Qing . As long as he defeated the Qing dynasty, he could complete the first step and annex North Korea.
Dongxue Party Uprising
Therefore, the Sino-Japanese War of 1894-1895 was a war that North Korea had planned for a long time. It can be said that for this step, Japan has been preparing for many years, and it has been implemented in a planned and purposeful manner. On the other hand, the Qing Dynasty did not know its opponent at all, and it was still a small country in Japan, which was not afraid of it.
main war factions have appeared one after another
Faced with the aggressive Japan, the Qing Dynasty was also divided into two factions, the compromise faction led by Li Hongzhang and the main war faction led by Weng Tonghe . Why didn't Li Hongzhang want to fight? Because they clearly know the national strength of the Qing Dynasty and the strength of the Beiyang Navy they established. After all, the Beiyang Navy has become the "private army" of the people led by Li Hongzhang. He and the group of people below are nepotism. It seems that the Beiyang Navy is majestic, but it may be a bit urgent to fight. Therefore, he wants to continue to rely on the Beiyang Navy to pull the banner for the Westernization Movement.
Li Hongzhang
As for the main war faction Weng Tonghe and Li Hongzao , these people are Qingliu, and they are both teachers of Emperor Guangxu, and Weng Tonghe and Li Hongzhang have rifts. As the representative of Qingliu, he is naturally unhappy with Li Hongzhang's reliance on Cixi's Westernization School , so he has been furious about Guangxu, and he can fight. After all, if he wins the position of Emperor Guangxu is more consolidated, he will naturally make contributions as the imperial teacher. If he loses, he can punish Li Hongzhang for his ineffective Beiyang Navy and can take revenge, and he will not lose at all.
weng and hehe
and the clear streamers wrote articles, " quickly fight to preserve the weak country, defend our borders, eliminate the coveted hearts of all countries, seize the arrogance of Japan", " I retreat more, the more advanced I will advance; I will give in, the more proud I will become", and "concentrate troops, stationed in high territory, advance in a long time, and move forward quickly". These articles are written with great motivation and are so bold that anyone can read them will be shocked.
In addition to these clear streams, all the civil and military officials of the dynasty did not take Japan seriously at all, for example, the Qing Dynasty's ambassador to Japan He Ruzhang said: "The current situation of Japan is definitely not better than me." The famous minister of the late Qing Dynasty Zhang Zhidong also said: " Japan is very poor, the Chinese market is awesome, and merchants are embarrassed. Strictly repair the sea and guard it to wait for it.Even if China's military and financial resources cannot defeat Russia, why can't it be able to resist Japanese? "
Faced with the thought of the government and the people seeking war, Guangxu also felt that this was a good opportunity given by God. Since he could not establish his authority by removing the ministers, he would prove himself through a victory. It is easiest to form a team of his own in the war. He would deposed officials who were not the same as himself. He could also establish authority, seize power from Cixi, and take full control of himself. Of course, Guangxu himself did not understand Japan, but since the ambassador to Japan, Zhang Zhidong and his teacher said that Japan was not worth worrying, then going to war directly was that even the Qing Dynasty thought about how to deal with Japan after the war:
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" The people who chased the Japanese were exhausted and sought success. First, they would get back the 500,000 taels of soldiers owed by Taiwan, then take it back to the Ryukyu occupied by Japan, and then destroy the special orchid deeds set by Tianjin, and make a concise peace agreement, so that Goryeo will always be my vassal of the Qing Dynasty, and the Japanese must not cross the gap. Finally, I asked for some of the military expenses I spent this time. If you don’t follow me, the whole teacher will press on . "
Guangxu took a photo with other officials
defeated
At that time, Guangxu thought that the same advantage as the logistics master was in me. Moreover, Japan was indeed pressing step by step, constantly provoking trouble in Korea, and attacking the Qing Dynasty's troops ships at sea. In addition, the domestic war faction continued to write articles to demand a war with Japan. In the end, on August 1, 1984, Guangxu issued an edict to declare war, requiring Li Hongzhang to send troops to fight. Everyone knows the ending that the Sino-Japanese War of 1894 was defeated, and the Beiyang Navy was almost wiped out. The following year, the Treaty of Shimonoseki was signed with Japan and the loss was over.
Signing the Treaty of Shimonoseki
Why did Guangxu insist on fighting? In addition to the lack of understanding of Japan by the government and the people, there was also Guangxu's personality and the issue of Cixi's refusal to delegate power. Although Guangxu took power, Cixi's power in the court was still very strong, which made Guangxu urgently need a victory to enhance his influence. He even hoped that he could make great achievements like Kangxi. Therefore, Guangxu advocated a battle at all costs, hoping that he could use this victory of "ambition to win" to establish his prestige.
Unfortunately, this passionate young man who was born in the deep palace and grew up in the hands of a woman was lacking in experience because of lack of experience. , and not being able to get power, not only overestimated his own strength and underestimated Japan after the Meiji Restoration, but during the war, Cixi's birthday coincided with the birthday of her. Li Hongzhang did not want to fight and did not dare to fight, which dispersed the determination and energy of the Qing Dynasty to fight, and eventually led to a disastrous defeat in the Sino-Japanese War of 1894-1895.
