What is shocking is that Li Hongzhang, who thought he could be called the Qing Dynasty, once had a secret negotiation with Sun Yat-sen to seek cooperation to establish a new government in Guangxi, Guangdong and break away from the Qing Dynasty. What is going on?

Li Hongzhang is the most controversial late Qing dynasties. All treaties that lost power and humiliated the country were signed by him. At that time, he was scolded by the Chinese people. He led the Westernization Movement, suppressed the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom Movement, and spent his whole life working for the Qing Dynasty, maintaining the political status of the Qing Dynasty. What is shocking is that Li Hongzhang, who thought he could be called a "paper craftsman" in Qing Dynasty, once had a secret negotiation with Sun Yat-sen to seek cooperation to establish a new government in Guangdong and Guangxi, and to break away from the Qing Dynasty. What is going on? Why did Li Hongzhang have such an idea of ​​betraying the Qing Dynasty? Why didn’t he and Sun Yat-sen agree on the cooperation plan in the end?

Li Hongzhang

June 21, 1900 Before the Qing court declared war on foreign countries, Li Hongzhang faced the situation not to force him to "independence" from the Qing Dynasty, but to maintain the ruling order of the Qing Dynasty in Guangdong.

At the end of the Qing Dynasty, Guangdong and Guangxi were known as "the world's thieves". At the end of the 19th and early 20th centuries, new trends appeared in the "bandits" and "thieves" of Guangdong and Guangxi: they had contact with the Royal Society of Kang Youwei and Sun Yat-sen's Xingzhong Society. Xingzhong Association has paid attention to contacting the association party and the Green Forest since its inception; the Kangliang faction, after the establishment of the Royal Society, spared no effort to contact heroes and raise funds and purchase equipment in order to "salvation for the king" by force. Whether it is Xingzhonghui or Royal Society, Guangdong is the focus of its military plan.

The Hong Kong Governor was named " Blake" (Henry Blake). He was very worried that if the situation in Guangdong and Guangxi was out of control, it would affect the commercial interests of the British in Guangdong and Guangxi. Therefore, Blake wrote to the then Governor of Guangdong and Guangxi Li Hongzhang. He said that he would introduce Sun Yat-sen and Li Hongzhang to know each other, and everyone would work together to achieve independence in Guangdong and Guangxi.

At that time, the Boxer was in a big stir in Beijing and Tianjin, and the situation in the north was unstable. Eight-Nation Alliance was about to enter Beijing, and the Qing Dynasty rulers Cixi and Guangxu will face three results:

1, win.

2, killed.

3. Escape.

So the situation changes rapidly, and you will be at a loss when you make a mistake.

At the same time, Li Hongzhang also continuously intercepted the information that Kang Youwei had "collected the internal bandits to cause rebellion". In his opinion, if the Xingzhonghui and the Royal Society join forces, it will inevitably lead to a prairie fire.

So Li Hongzhang did not reject the suggestion of the Governor of Hong Kong Bli, and also accused his subordinate Liu Xuexun and negotiated with Sun Yat-sen.

Liu Xuexun

Because it was very difficult for Li Hongzhang to maintain order in Guangdong during this crisis at that time.

How to implement "suppression" and "pacity" in the Sun and Kang factions? The Kang faction was stronger than the Sun faction at that time, but Cixi was deeply intimate with Kang and Liang. Li Hongzhang could not make the decision to recruit Kang faction; and since Kang and Liang had already bet on Guangxu, they would not submit easily.

Kang Youwei

In contrast, Sun Yat-sen's Xingzhonghui is far less popular than the Royal Society, so he is regarded as an ordinary rebel to a large extent. Therefore, he hopes to "recruit" Sun Yat-sen to deal with Kang Youwei. As early as 1899, he won over Sun Yat-sen's fellow villager Liu Xuexun.

So he asked Liu Xuexun to write a letter to Sun Yat-sen, saying that the Lord Zhongtang thought the British plan could be considered and hoped that Sun Yat-sen would go to Guangdong to negotiate the matter.

Li Hongzhang's game of chess is really smart: first "fish" Sun Yat-sen. If Cixi and Guangxu have not survived the Boxer Rebellion and died, then it might as well make the independence of Guangdong and Guangxi. If Cixi and Guangxu do not die, then he can also suddenly turn against each other, lure Sun Yat-sen, escort to Beijing, and ask for credit and reward.

How did Sun Yat-sen consider the plan proposed by Hong Kong Governor Bli and the letter written by Liu Xuexun?

Sun Yat-sen

It should be said that Sun Yat-sen still has some understanding of Li Hongzhang, because he failed in "Han on " before. In his opinion, Li Hongzhang is stubborn and conservative, and it is impossible for him to cooperate with the revolutionaries to make Guangdong and Guangxi independent.He was skeptical about this matter. He didn't really believe that Li Hongzhang would be independent. Li Hongzhang should be a loyal lackey of the Qing court.

So, Sun Yat-sen made his own small plan: negotiated with Li Hongzhang on the grounds of "planning the independence of Guangdong and Guangxi", and asked Li Hongzhang for 100,000 yuan first on the grounds of "actual funds needed", and then talked about it. What should I do if I want money? This is the revolutionary funding.

So Sun Yat-sen, who was worried about the fraud in this matter, sent three Japanese to Guangzhou to meet Li Hongzhang. Li Hongzhang himself did not show up, but sent his confidant Liu Xuexun's son, Zeng Guofan's grandson, and Zeng Guangquan, etc. to meet these three Japanese.

The two parties started a small negotiation.

, the three Japanese representing Sun Yat-sen, made a request and said that they hope that Li Hongzhang can cooperate with the Revolutionary Party to make Guangdong and Guangxi independent and create a future together. Representatives of Li Hongzhang's side said that they had the same intention, but the Eight-Nation Alliance has not yet officially captured Beijing, so they are not good enough to express their opinions.

To put it bluntly, Li Hongzhang is currently in a wait-and-see state.

Sun Yat-sen also said that you can give you time to consider, but the "Guangdong-Guangdong Independence Movement" requires funds.

So, he told Liu Xuexun that he wanted a "loan" of 100,000 yuan. The so-called "loan" was a verbal trick at that time. In fact, it was to ask for money. Liu Xuexun did not bargain. He agreed: pay half of it the next day, and the first payment was 50,000 yuan.

In this way, the two sides ended the negotiation happily and got the money. Li Hongzhang was also very interested in the independence of Guangdong and Guangxi.

However, Mr. Sun Yat-sen and Li Hongzhang jointly pursued the "Independence between Guangdong and Guangxi" plan, and the subsequent progress was not smooth. Why?

Because soon after, the United States reiterated its "open door" and stated that as long as the Qing government "reversed the past", it has no intention to overthrow the Qing government. What’s more important is that after the Eight-Nation Alliance captured Beijing, both Cixi and Guangxu fled and were not killed. Moreover, the foundation of the Qing court rule at that time had not collapsed and it still had a certain degree of strength.

Li Hongzhang saw that the situation was not good for him, so he immediately stopped his secret talks with Sun Yat-sen.

On July 8, 1900, the Qing court transferred Li Hongzhang to the Governor of Zhili and Minister of Beiyang. Li Hongzhang, who had been watching the situation in Guangdong, decided to go north to take office, and his cooperation with Sun Yat-sen was aborted.

Let’s imagine that if Li Hongzhang and Sun Yat-sen really cooperated at that time, promoted the independence of Guangdong and Guangxi, and then fought to Beijing and seized the power of the Qing government, then would the success of " Revolution " have to be ahead of schedule? If this is the case, what will happen? What will happen to China now?