China's victory in Seoul in the first Korean rebellion at the end of the 19th century caused countless Qing court literati and officials to underestimate the enemy. Although they said they underestimated the enemy, they themselves did not know that they underestimated the enemy,

The first Korean rebellion in the late 19th century China's victory in Seoul made countless literati and officials of the Qing Dynasty court thought of underestimating the enemy. Although they said they underestimated the enemy, they themselves did not know that they underestimated the enemy, but instead felt that their beliefs were correct. The two members who resolved the Korean rebellion bravely promoted Zhang Jian and Yuan Shikai to take this opportunity to directly internalize North Korea, so that it is easy to manage in the future and directly use this as the front line to resist the attack of the Japanese in the east. This is not the most intense statement. The most understandable remarks are based on the opinions of the Qing court's "clear flow" Zhang Peilun and Deng Chengxiu and others. They suggested that Li Hongzhang set up a headquarters base in Yantai, Shandong, and then mobilize the navy and army to directly declare war on Japan to pacify Japan. So what does Li Hongzhang think about this matter?

Zhang Peilun’s view on political aura

Zhang Peilun and Deng Chengxiu The famous Qingliu people in the late Qing Dynasty , the so-called Qingliu people, regard famous reputations and honors very important. When major events in the country occur, they shouted the highest slogans but did the least things. Often, such people are bad things, which can easily make some people who do practical things angry, but this kind of people cannot be missing in the court. On the one hand, it was because in order to prevent scholars from gathering together to resist the court like scholars in the late Ming Dynasty, the Qing court gave these scholars a meal to the Jinshi people. Their official positions often did not require any talent for economical use, but their wages were relatively high, and the country spent money to support a group of idle people.

Zhang Peilun has been advocating that the country's foreign strategy must be tough since a long time ago. He cannot see any compromise or concessions in his eyes, but he does not understand national affairs and international diplomacy at all. The relationship between countries around the world still uses the traditional Celestial Kingdom and the tribute system . So during the Sino-French War , Li Hongzhang sent Zhang Peilun to the battlefield to practice what he said. As a result, Fujian Navy was slightly frustrated. He was the first to escape from the battlefield, which eventually led to the destruction of the "Fujian Shipyard" created by Zuo Zongtang for decades.

Originally, Li Hongzhang and others thought that Zhang Peilun would change his mind and become a new person after the failure of the Sino-French War at sea, but they did not expect that this person began to make his own big talk after seeing the turmoil in North Korea just a few years later. He and Deng Chengxiu advocated declaring war directly on Japan because they saw that Zhang Jian and Yuan Shikai, two young people who were unknown at the time, easily pacified the North Korean issue and defeated the Japanese Embassy. So I think the Japanese are just like this, and I think China should take this opportunity to "expedition to Japan" and defeat Japan in one fell swoop to eliminate the threat of strong enemies in East Asia in the future. So what exactly does Zhang Peilun's specific view look like? Is there any possibility of implementation?

First of all, Zhang Peilun said that he was following Japan Meiji Restoration for many years. What he saw was that the Japanese people disliked the new policies implemented by Japanese monarchs and ministers. What everyone thought about was to restore the former shogunate rule and return to the state of being closed to the country and live their own life well. Moreover, the mutual struggle between Japan's Satsuma and the Cheung Chau vassal made Japan's national debts so much that Japan's issuance of paper money lost its credit for currency. Although it imitated the Western military system in military construction very well, it was actually similar in spirit but not in shape. This is the so-called situation where the Japanese army has no famous generals outside and no senior officials who have planned the country at home.

If you want to talk about the situation of the Japanese navy, then The only thing worthy of praise among the Japanese Navy is the flagship "Fusang Warship" among the Japanese Navy. Other warships are made of wood and steel. The small cannon and the boat is really not to be afraid of. If you want to talk about how many Japanese soldiers are there? The data counted by the Japanese Army Zhang Peilun is about 150,000 html, and the Navy has only a mere 4,000 people.Moreover, the Japanese officer " Eat the Empty Feed " was very good, and many troops were short of their baggage, so they recruited many old samurai and ronin to charge the numbers when they were on the spot. This kind of army has never fought any actual combat, and is far inferior to the Chinese army. If it is compared with the elite Hunan Army and Huai Army , it is even more different from the elite Hunan Army and Huai Army .

Zhang Peilun, the Qingliu representative of the Qing Dynasty, looked at the Japanese in this way. I have to say that he was not completely empty talk, but conducted some investigations on actual situations. But he mentioned many problems in Japan. Didn’t China exist at that time? Japan has a relatively strong conservative force, but China's feudal conservative force is more stubborn, right? Japanese powerful officials are fighting openly and secretly, will China's Empress Dowager Cixi and the imperial party led by Guangxu be in conflict? The Japanese army was seriously fed by empty wages. Did the Chinese army have "small soldiers and enough money" at that time? It is of course good to be able to see the enemy's shortcomings, but it is short-sighted and stupid to clamor for starting the national war if you can't see your own shortcomings.

Deng Chengxiu’s view on the battle of the Japanese

Deng Chengxiu is from Tanshui, Huiyang, Guangdong. During the Xianfeng period, html was a juren at the age of 120. It can be said that he was in the spring breeze and was thriving in the horse’s hooves. He saw all the Chang'an flowers in one day. It is most suitable for the young talented man to use the title of him. He has held an important official position in , South for many times, and was not a Qingliu who did nothing at all. Later, he became the censor who dared to speak and was not afraid of offending others. Because he dared to write and scold the memorials, he got a nickname called "The Iron Pen Censor" at that time.

During the Sino-French War, because he shouted a high slogan, Li Hongzhang also invited an imperial edict from Empress Dowager Cixi to allow Deng Chengxiu to go directly to the Sino-French War to observe the war. He later played an important role when China and France signed a peace treaty. At that time, France asked China to cede the land. As the Minister of Investigation of the Borders of China, he bravely safeguarded his national interests. He was not frightened by the guns of French envoys in the town of Nanguan, did not sign a treaty of treason, nor did he ced a inch of land and compensated a tael of silver.

In the end, he relied on his reasoning to take back the Jialong River, Bazhuang, Shiwanshan, Fenmaoling, Jiangping, Huangzhu and other places occupied by the French army south of Zhennan Pass. Therefore, after the Sino-French War, he could be said to have a shot and achieved a very remarkable reputation. With these contributions, he later became known as the four famous celebrities in the late Qing Dynasty with Zhang Peilun. So what did the iron-brush censor Deng Chengxiu, after the first civil strife in North Korea was investigated by China in history, what did he think about the "declaration of war on Japan"?

The first thing he talked about was Japan's land area, and believed that Japan's land area was just two provinces of the Qing Dynasty. Moreover, Japan's national fiscal reserves no more than 15 million taels of silver in html. How can we build a country in such a difficult situation? The Japanese Navy has no more than 8,000, and most of the warships are corrupted. , Battle . The so-called Japanese samurai who carry swords only have 40,000 troops. And it's not everyone's elite. The reason why Japan dares to provoke China on the North Korean issue is not that it does not know how big China's territory is, nor does it not know how prosperous China is, but because the Japanese believe that the Chinese are timid and dare not attack Japan, because the Japanese calculate it correctly and do not dare to provoke trouble first, so they test China's bottom line many times.

Li Hongzhang's view on the Japanese siege

Li Hongzhang's personal view on these two Qingliu's advocacy for the Japanese siege has actually been a tone, that is, the famous "the Eastern Expedition does not need to be done, and the Eastern Expedition must be ambition." He believed that Zhang Peilun and Deng Chengxiu both viewed the Sino-Japanese War too simply, and that China would win too easily. In fact, since the Meiji Restoration in Japan, it has fully followed the West and abandoned Japan's traditional culture. It is nothing more than using the political system and military technology of foreigners to achieve the goal of "Japan's self-improvement".

At that time, Japanese Prime Minister Ito Hirobumi personally rushed to Europe to inspect the civil affairs systems of various European countries. Later, he sent princes from the Japanese royal family to Russia for study, and also sent other invoices to Italy and Austria-Hungarian Empire to visit and study. Japanese envoys went abroad to inspect the political systems of various countries for all-round study, so that the road was blocked. But what is strange is that Westerners are not afraid of the Japanese learning their technical systems at all. Instead, they are happy to teach the Japanese. What exactly is the purpose of it? It is nothing more than that Western technology surpasses Japan, which is a generational difference. After Japan progresses, the West is also progressing. After Japan progresses, Western countries will gain greater economic benefits in Asia, so Western countries are not afraid.

Because Japan provides a huge economic interest relationship for the West, every time there is a conflict and dispute between China and Japan, Western powers always pretend to be fair and moderate the peaceful coexistence between China and Japan. But in fact, Western countries secretly favor Japan and seek time and space for Japan's development. This is the analysis of China, Japan and Western countries. It can be said that it is quite thorough. He also conducted a comprehensive analysis of the situation in China and the expedition to Japan, so that everyone can know how China should take in the future.

Li Hongzhang said, "I didn't destroy Japan's strength, but I first exposed the intention to destroy Japan." This is a taboo in military strategists. Although the Japanese learn from the West only to look similar in shape but not in spirit, the same is true for China. The strength of the Chinese and Japanese navies is not much different. They cross , East China Sea , thousands of kilometers to go to the Japanese doorstep to fight against Japan in a desperate battle. I dare not say that I am sure of winning. Li Hongzhang analyzed the strength between the two sides of the Sino-Japanese War and made it clear that China was not a sure victory in the war against Japan at that time, and the chance of winning was not very high. This undoubtedly poured cold water on everyone.

But Li Hongzhang immediately said: "There is no need to be a matter of the Eastern Expedition, and the ambition of the Eastern Expedition is indispensable." Famous quotes from this are born, and they still have a great inspiration for China today. He first poured cold water on Qingliu and the patriotic and passionate young ministers to tell everyone that it is not the time to fight against Japan. At the same time, in order not to lose everyone's food and fighting spirit, Li Hongzhang also said, "The ambition of the Eastern Expedition is indispensable." It means that there are many opportunities to destroy Japan in wars, but everyone’s hearts are strong in their motherland and their ambition to destroy Japan in the East cannot be lost. As long as we do not forget, our Qing Dynasty will definitely have a chance.

After analyzing the strength of China and Japan, he said that he was not sure of leading the army and would win; he poured a basin of cold water on the clamoring for the destruction of the Japanese; and set goals for everyone and set ambitions for the Eastern Expedition. Finally, let’s talk about the practical things China needs to do at present. The fact that at that time was that Li Hongzhang "requested salary and military expenses" for Beiyang Navy . He said that when discussing the establishment of the Beiyang Navy, it was said that the annual military expenditure of the Nanyang and Beiyang Navy was 4 million taels of silver . In recent years, the military expenditure of transfer payments to the Beiyang Navy and Nanyang Navy is less than one-tenth of the military expenditures that were originally agreed upon. I hope the Empress Dowager and the Emperor can issue an imperial edict to allow the Ministry of Revenue and the Zongli Yamen to find out, and make up for the military expenditures owed to the Nanyang Navy over the years at 4 million yuan per year. In this way, in just five years, the Nanyang Navy will achieve something, which is enough to defend China's maritime borders and not be bullied by others.

Conclusion

Li Hongzhang's personal opinion is wonderful, and his analysis of the current situation is also in place. Is the Eastern Expedition to Japan an ideal for many people at that time? Because in East Asia at that time, there was only one strong country, so is the current situation the same?