■ The Qing government tried to confine its diplomatic interventions to the "local"
Before the Opium War, the Qing government had no diplomatic concept in the Western sense, and naturally there was no full-time diplomatic agency.
After the Opium War began, the Qing government had to deal with Britain, France and other countries. Although China was defeated, the Qing government’s concept and face of "heavenly kingdom" was still very strong and still Regarding the Western powers at this time as the traditional "Di Yi", they disdain and do not want to "diplomatic" with them. Therefore, whenever there is a diplomatic incident with China, the court always chooses someone to handle it at any time, and there is no specialized agency or person responsible. After China and Britain signed the unequal "Nanjing Treaty", the Qing government was forced to open up five ports to trade. In 1844, the Qing government set up five trade ministers to handle foreign affairs in these places.
The traditional system began to open a small gap. Since these "five people" were all in the south, the five ministers of trade and commerce began to be concurrently appointed by the governors of Guangdong and Guangxi. However, with the opening of Shanghai, the focus of foreigners' activities shifted to the north, so from 1859 onwards it was changed to the governor of Jiangsu or the governor of Liangjiang concurrently. In the Qing government's concept, those "barbarian states" can only deal with the local government of the Qing Dynasty, but cannot (because they are not qualified) to deal with the Qing court.
In order to further open the door to China, Britain and France launched the second Opium War. This war ended with the Qing government's fiasco and the signing of the unequal "Beijing Treaty". Countries such as Britain and France obtained the right of envoys in Beijing. For the Qing government, this was a huge change in the system. In order to adapt to this change, Prince Gong Yixin would have played "Please set up the Prime Minister's Office for National Affairs" in early 1861 to be responsible for foreign affairs, and the court issued an order to agree.
In addition, many open ports along the coast have been added under the pressure of the powers. Therefore, the Qing government changed the original five ministers of trade and commerce to "the ministers of trade affairs in Jiangsu, Zhejiang, Fujian, Guangdong and Inner Jiang", based in Shanghai, and later evolved into the minister of trade and commerce of Nanyang or the minister of Nanyang. The Minister of Commerce of Tengzhou Three Ports" later evolved into the name of the Minister of Commerce of Beiyang or the Minister of Commerce of Beiyang. The ministers of the Southern and Northern Oceans were all set up for "commerce".
■The establishment of the position of the Governor of Zhili in the Qing government’s diplomatic system. The Nanyang Chamber of Commerce was appointed by Su Fu or Jiang Governor from the beginning of its establishment. Therefore, Su Fu or Jiang Governor had a place in the Qing government’s foreign exchange system. At the beginning of the establishment, the Minister of Commerce of Beiyang was full-time, specializing in foreign affairs and coastal defense, while the Governor of Zhili was not the Minister of Commerce of Beiyang. Therefore, the Governor of Zhili had no relationship with diplomacy at this time. Due to its close proximity to Beijing, and the Qing government still confined its diplomatic activities to places as much as possible, the Minister of Commerce and Industry participated in the country's diplomatic activities at the beginning of the establishment of Tianjin. Diplomats of various countries can only deal with "local officials" in China, which is obviously not in line with international practice, causing strong dissatisfaction from various countries and repeated requests to enter Beijing. However, the Qing government was constrained by traditional ideas and insisted that negotiations with other countries could only be conducted in Tianjin, not the capital, Beijing. These regulations or conventions have made the three-port trade minister actually deeply involved in national diplomacy.
Since the three ministers of trade and commerce are full-time, they and the governor of Zhili are often independent and restrict each other, and there are frequent contradictions. On November 12, 1870, the Qing court issued an order, deciding to abolish the three-time minister of trade and commerce, and the governor of Zhili should concurrently serve as the minister of trade and commerce in Nanyang. This change solved the problems of the Governor of Zhili and the three ministers of trade and commerce in their respective administrations, and greatly expanded the powers of the Governor of Zhili. The focus of his work was also shifted from "provincial defense" to "coastal defense" and "Western Affairs." Position in the Qing government's diplomatic system.
■Li Hongzhang, who served as Minister of Beiyang, has become the host of the country’s foreign affairs.
Not long ago, Li Hongzhang was appointed as the governor of Zhili province, so he became the first minister and minister of trade . Not long after Li Hongzhang became the "Northern Ocean" minister, he began to actively participate in a series of national diplomatic activities. As far as the system of subordination is concerned, after the establishment of the Prime Minister’s Office, the Ministers of the South and North Oceans are only representatives of local diplomatic affairs. They are under the control of the Prime Minister’s Office. They are ordered by the Prime Minister’s Office to preside over major foreign negotiations. However, ministers often replace the prime minister’s office and become the general representative of national diplomacy.
Under Li’s efforts, the scope of its activities has expanded rapidly. The Prime Minister’s office has to inform him almost everything in handling and listen to his opinions and suggestions. The Minister of Beiyang, who was supposed to belong to the Prime Minister’s Office, has now surpassed the Prime Minister’s Office. Of course, there are Li’s personal reasons and even more institutional reasons. The ministers of the Northern and Southern Oceans who are in charge of foreign affairs have no military power, but because they are governors and leaders, they have both military power and local administrative power, so they have naturally become a major defense and diplomatic center.
"Beiyang" eventually became a huge political force that the Qing government could hardly control, and had a profound impact on the politics of the late Qing Dynasty and even the Republic of China. A major feature of the political pattern of the late Qing Dynasty was the slow rise of local forces and the gradual fall of power in the Qing government, which was one of the important reasons for the demise of the Qing Dynasty. There are many reasons for this phenomenon. One thing that cannot be ignored is that the Qing government has been precarious during the invasion of "European wind and beautiful rain", but is constrained by the traditional concept of "Heavenly Kingdom", and it even regards "diplomacy" as the most important one. If the country’s political relations are dealt with by the “local”, the local will naturally rise and “sit big”. Many years later, it was Yuan Shikai, who served as Minister of the Northern Oceans, who became an important gravedigger in the Qing Dynasty!
The later Beiyang warlord was composed of the main generals of the "Northern New Army" after Yuan Shikai took power. After Yuan's death, no one had the ability to command the entire Beiyang army and political power. The army is the main force to establish spheres of influence in the provinces. It still accepts the government's control in name. However, the government is actually controlled by warlords of different periods, so the government in the period of the Beiyang Warlord was also called Beiyang Warlord Government (referred to as Beiyang Government). Historically, the warlords north of Wusongkou on the Yangtze River were also called Beiyang warlords.
After Yuan Shikai's death (June 6, 1916), the Beiyang warlords split into the Anhui, Zhi, and Feng factions. With the support of Japan, Duan Qirui of the Anhui system controlled the provinces of Anhui, Zhejiang, Fujian, Shandong and Shaanxi; with the support of the United Kingdom and the United States, Feng Guozhang of the direct line controlled the provinces of Jiangsu, Jiangxi, Hubei and Zhili in the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River; Zhang Zuolin of Feng's line took Japan as his backer and occupied the three provinces of Northeast China. In addition, Shanxi’s Jin-based warlord Yan Xishan, Zhang Xun’s Dingwu army in Xuzhou, the Dian warlord Tang Jiyao in the southwest and Guangxi warlord Lu Rongting, etc.
