is to ask what are the most distressing war losses in our country in modern times, then the looting and burning of Yuanmingyuan will surely be on the list. This magnificent Chinese imperial garden was destroyed overnight, and it can be called a great shame in the development of the entire Qing Dynasty.
But in the face of this sudden disaster and the face of the imperial family being trampled underfoot by foreigners, the great officials of the Qing Dynasty at the time Zeng Guofan and Zuo Zongtang made completely different responses. starts from this history today. Let’s see how deep the patriotism of the ancients really is.
The Old Summer Palace in Xianfeng for ten years was the victim of the confrontation between the Qing army and the British and French forces
The gardens that have suffered two atrocities were targeted by these bullies because of the rare treasures in it. However, it is not difficult to find that the looting was not the original motive of the Anglo-French coalition forces as long as a little investigation.
The Yuanmingyuan incident occurred in the tenth year of Xianfeng. This year, the Qing Dynasty fought a war with foreigners, which is the second opium war that we are familiar with.
, you may already have a good idea. This war led by Britain and France under the pretext of "unfair trade" has a different mindset from the very beginning, and Yuanmingyuan is only one part of this war. , Became the unfortunate victim of the confrontation between the Qing army and the British and French forces.
On October 6th of the tenth year of Xianfeng, the British and French coalition forces, with sufficient food and grass after rest, obtained an accurate and complete map of Beijing with the "help" of the then Russian consul in the Qing Dynasty Ignatiev . It was learned that the Qing army, which had more than 10,000 people, had already withdrawn from the Old Summer Palace.
means that there are only treasures, a small number of troops stationed in this royal garden, and the Emperor Xianfeng who evacuated north along the direction of the Old Summer Palace.
Compared with the "no hurry" work of plundering treasures, the commander of the British and French coalition forces actually hoped to annihilate the evacuated Qing army. It is best to directly capture the Emperor Xianfeng and the emperors and even the ministers. The reporter learned that these people are now stationed in a village not far from the Old Summer Palace, which makes the disaster of the Old Summer Palace even more inevitable.
Therefore, the first entry into the Old Summer Palace was not mainly about looting. It was the natural result of a military operation in which the British and French allied forces carried out a trailing attack on the Qing army with clear intelligence. Even Prince Gong 奕䜣 In the memorial, he admitted that he had encountered the Anglo-French coalition forces, saying: "The defeated soldiers have retreated to the Old Summer Palace, and the barbarians have also come."
The Royal Sweeping Yuanmingyuan incident
Yuanmingyuan was looted twice in ten days, but in addition to the loss of treasure, this was an incident that caused the Qing Dynasty and the entire royal family to face scandal.
was chased by the British and French forces. No matter where it took place outside the capital, these self-deceiving royals could still whitewash the peace. However, the invasion of the capital by foreigners this time forced the emperor to flee. The Old Summer Palace began from the Kangxi period. The Garden of Ten Thousand Gardens, which was built after several generations of emperors, represents the dignity of the entire royal family.
However, whether it is the emperor’s escape or the robbery of the Old Summer Palace, it seems that the face of the Qing imperial family has been trampled underfoot. For future generations, the loss of the Old Summer Palace is a major historical regret and a weak past for the poor. The people at that time were even more truly heartbroken, but the officials of the Qing Dynasty did not seem to have the ambition to feel the same hatred of the atrocities.
At that time, among the four of Zeng Guofan, Li Hongzhang , Zuo Zongtang, and Zhang Zhidong, who were called by our descendants as the "Four Great Resurgence Ministers of the Late Qing Dynasty", Zhang Zhidong was still struggling to achieve his aspirations as an official. Zeng Guofan, the governor of Liangjiang, should be the one with the most official position and the most respected by the emperor.
and Zuo Zongtang At this time, anyhow, there is also a "fourth grade Jingtang candidate" as an errand by Zeng Guofan's side, and Li Hongzhang as an aide is not enough for the time being. However, between Zeng Guofan and his subordinate Zongtang Zongtang, whom he admired very much, their thoughts and reactions to this incident are quite different.Court, here you can also see why the relationship between the two fell apart for a while.
The political considerations of Zeng Guofan, the "civilian of the humerus", the two faces inside and outside
Zeng Guofan's views on burning the Old Summer Palace
"Foreigners came to Beijing in ten years and August without hurting our ancestral temples and societies. They are currently helping Shanghai and Ningbo. I attacked and suppressed the bandits, both have virtues to me. China should not forget the big ones and blame the small ones." This is a record of Zeng Guofan's own views on the Yuanmingyuan incident in the "Biography of Zeng Guofan". Z3z
said such remarks in this population called the "spiritual model of Chinese people", which is both shocking and angry. Is this still the attitude of a country's minister who eats the king's money and divides his worries? Z3z
A brief translation of Zeng Guofan’s attitude in this passage is: Although the British and French coalition forces did destroy the Old Summer Palace, these are only trivial things. Don’t forget that the British and French coalition forces helped us fight the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom in Shanghai and Ningbo. It will hurt the Jiangshan Sheji of the Qing Dynasty, so we should not forget their help to us for these subsections.
In the end, Zeng Guofan came to the conclusion that Britain and France are "virtuous to me". The burning of the Old Summer Palace, a major event that caused social turmoil, was just like this. However, this so-called grand power is really hard to agree with, and the Old Summer Palace is true. Is it just a small matter?
We have already known from the origin of the war and the motive of burning the Old Summer Palace that the British and French coalition forces at that time did not advance to the Old Summer Palace for wealth. Although this incident did not achieve the ultimate goal of capturing the emperor and important officials alive, in order to enter the Old Summer Palace, they passed severe punishment It is also an indisputable fact to torture the people and kill the resisting troops along the way.
even looted Yuanmingyuan for the second time after marching on the 6th, and finally ended with the Fenyuan Garden. Regarding this atrocities, the official interpretation of the British and French armies was that "burning the Old Summer Palace was only a punishment to the Qing Dynasty." It can be seen that the looting and burning of the garden were originally the aggressor's deterrence and revenge on the Qing imperial family and the army, and finally it was seeking money.
Zeng Guofan, who escaped by chance, is still doing the dream that the British and French allied forces came to help the Qing Dynasty and promote good-neighborly relations , which is really ridiculous and sad.
Zeng Guofan’s words of "virtue" and his political philosophy
The trivial things in Zeng Guofan’s eyes have also caused great repercussions in Europe on the other side of the ocean. The famous remarks made by the great writer Hugo proves that in the eyes of the winner, this is for Yuanmingyuan. The devastating offense was an atrocities that abandon civilization.
"One day, two robbers broke into the Summer Palace. One ransacked and the other is set on fire. The victor can be a robber. The victor steals all the wealth of the Summer Palace and divides all the looted things. ." It is such an unquestioned aggression, why can it be offset lightly by the sentence "Virtuous to me" in Zeng Guofan's heart?
Throughout Zeng Guofan's political growth, it is not difficult to find that this person is not lacking in loyalty, let alone courage. But his courage and loyalty are all for his own family.
In the war against the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom , his firmness and strength must be more astounding. In the eyes of Zeng Guofan, these local forces are the stubborn diseases of the Qing Dynasty, and those barbarians who crossed the ocean in a boat In the end, I always have to go back. The Qing Dynasty can still go back to the old life with closed doors after going through this darkness.
Therefore, he chose to use the external force to "Annai" first, and then consider whether to "block foreigners" or "negotiate" to send these vampires away. It can be seen that for Zeng Guofan, he does not like foreigners so much, but his narrow political concept puts civil strife in the first place, but he did not expect that this group of people would really not leave. It seems that
's notion that the country must be kept safe before the foreigners can always make a damaged country even worse. Those who embrace this idea are also destined to have no great political vision and ambition, and push the country into the abyss. But when Zeng Guofan was concerned about the civil war, his subordinate, Zuo Zongtang, had no idea about the matter and had no idea of a united front with him.
are both important ministers in the court, Zuo Zongtang’s attitude towards Old Summer Palace can be called "patriotic"
Zuo Zongtang against the circleReaction to the Mingyuan Incident
When the Yuanmingyuan Incident occurred, Zuo Zongtang was still a subordinate of Zeng Guofan, leading a vacant position of "fourth grade Jingtang candidate", and had the hostility and hatred peculiar to young people towards foreigners. It seemed at first glance. The lack of official wrists and sleekness can make us more empathetic.
Zuo Zongtang, who was not in the capital at the time, heard the news of the destruction of the Old Summer Palace. After was "sorrowful and indignant and could not sleep" , he even wrote to the court to request a military post, and wanted to bring his troops back to the capital, which was heavily guarded by the British and French forces. At that time, he failed to get a response from the ministers who had been frightened. Zeng Guofan's attitude was also quite clear. The
air did not disappear with the passage of time. Zuo Zongtang’s road to officialdom was different from Zeng Guofan. If the former stared at the domestic affairs with black eyes, then Zuo Zongtang pointed his finger at him. The European powers were approved. Z3z
Zuo Zongtang’s defense against European powers
Twenty years after the Old Summer Palace incident, Zuo Zongtang has also taken the position of "Governor of Liangjiang". Unlike Zeng Guofan, his attitude towards foreigners is the same as that of the general hostility to foreigners 20 years ago. And tough. He holds the military power, not only donating mines on a large scale, but even arranging torpedoes to deploy defenses on the southeast coast.
In his eyes, the European powers were the confidant of the Qing Dynasty. The ambition and arrogance of these people, as well as the dignity and self-confidence of the people, made the Qing Dynasty more and more humble, but the ruler still dreamed of being a great country He tried to use "tolerance" and political skills and diplomatic methods to influence the aggressor, which made him even more jealous of foreigners.
even said: "Since ancient times, people who talk about border defense have not guarded, warned and made peace. But as far as the three are concerned, there are also times. They must be able to defend and then be able to fight, and after the war, they can make peace. "Z5z's remarks represent that he is also a ideological supporter of "weak countries without diplomacy" . During his time as an official, he rarely had a relatively stable time in the late Qing Dynasty, and finally tasted the taste of victory in the foreign war. .
Summary
From a political perspective or as an official, Zeng Guofan and Zuo Zongtang are both people with mixed reputations in history, but only in terms of the reaction to the Yuanmingyuan incident, it is not difficult to understand why Zeng Guofan was the people. Called a "traitor".
's act of fully quantifying national interests in his mind is really hard to see a trace of patriotism. The anger of ordinary people who witnessed the damage to national interests is mentioned in his eyes with the word "trivial", especially when compared to just a small official at the time. Zuo Zongtang, the country's important minister's reaction was too cool.
Therefore, no matter how clever Zeng Guofan’s political skills are, if he talks about patriotism, I am afraid that it will be inferior to Zuo Zongtang.
