Chapter 142 Li Hongzhang leaves the old and embraces the new (2)
A victorious military was determined, and Li Hongzhang immediately reported: There is an army of foreign gunmen, Wu Xu, Yang Fang and others originally intended to use this to defend the invaders. The price of salary, food and all arms should be increased several times according to the official army. There is no limit. The number gradually increased to more than 4,500 people, and there were also gunboats and ships. The monthly expenditure required was 78,000 to 80,000 taels of silver.
The last time they recaptured Songjiang, Qingpu and other cities, they did not fail to use their own strength, so they became increasingly arrogant and gradually became a force that could not be lost. I have been thinking about it for many months, and I have long wanted to make some restraints, but it is a matter of domestic and foreign negotiations, so it is not convenient to make an attack easily.
This time Bai Qiwen showed off his cruelty and domineering behavior and immediately withdrew his military power. When things change, remedies must be sought. British Admiral Stephen Deaver initially did not want to be led by Chinese officials, but he argued with them back and forth, with tongue-tied tongues and lips, and it took several days before an agreement was reached.
Stiff established the original treaty with thirteen articles, but the minister revised it and revised it to sixteen articles. The contract is roughly as follows: if the number of the Ever-Victorious Army is reduced to 3,000, and the number of rations for senior officers is reduced, the Chinese dispatched personnel will bring the rations and be managed by the personnel dispatched by the ministers, and all kinds of extravagant expenses such as ward and daily room expenses are eliminated. Slightly save money.
Foreign officials are not allowed to interfere in local affairs inside and outside Songcheng. The purchase of arms must be accompanied by documents from the ministers, and the officials in charge are not allowed to undertake private purchases. All brave men must listen to the opinions of the Chinese leaders, and they can also gradually withdraw their troops.
Empress Dowager Cixi accepted the report and was overjoyed. She said: "Li Hongzhang controlled the rebellion of Guangdong internally and controlled the foreign barbarians externally. He is indeed a talent that can be developed. He immediately passed on the edict and copied it according to what Zeng Guofan had played. After Li Hongzhang was actually appointed as the governor of Jiangsu, he also served as the director of the five-port trade department." Minister, I will be awarded the title of right minister of the Ministry of War and the right deputy censor of the capital procuratorate. Xue Huan went to Beijing immediately and waited for Jian to use.
Li Hongzhang was very happy when he received the order and said: When I first arrived in Shanghai, my mentor, Marshal Di, warned me that training soldiers and studying warfare should be the foundation of life, and that all officials and foreign affairs should be put aside. After nearly a year in Shanghai, there is still progress in the war, and officials should also have plans for managing foreign affairs.
Hanlin editor Guo Songtao said: Xue Huan went to Beijing yesterday, and Wu Xu and Yang Fang both asked for leave.
Li Hongzhang said: "Seeking benevolence will lead to benevolence. I will immediately ask Brother Yunxian to serve as Susong Liangdao and concurrently as the Chief Envoy. Su and Shanghai will be governed by officials, starting from my brother." I would like to ask Mr. Feng for advice on matters related to Westernization.
Curator Feng Guifen said: Learn from the barbarians and develop skills to control the barbarians. If the country is strong and prosperous, it must make foreign weapons and adopt Western learning. Western affairs were complicated, so the first step was to set up a translation office and hire foreigners to teach Western writing, classics, history and arithmetic.
Li Hongzhang said: If you know yourself and your enemy, you will never be defeated in a hundred battles. The day before yesterday, I was discussing with the British people about the cutting of Changsheng Army. The British people were bawling, and I felt like I was falling into the clouds. The translators were not sent by us and were often afraid of lying during the process.
On that day, Li Hongzhang wrote: When our country negotiates with foreigners, we must first understand their aspirations and desires, know their truthfulness and honesty, and then implement checks and balances.
In the past twenty years of mutual trade, many foreigners have learned our language and writing, especially those who can read our classics and history, and are familiar with the government's constitution, officials' governance of people's affairs, and their words. However, very few of our officials and gentlemen are familiar with foreign languages and writing.
Each country has one or two translators in Shanghai. When it comes to discussions between Chinese and foreign ministers, they all rely on the reports of foreign translators. There is no guarantee that there will be no partiality or fabrication.
Those in China who can speak foreign languages only rely on their knowledge of affairs. When negotiating affairs at customs offices and military camps, they only hired generals to pass messages, and these people were a great harm to the Westernization movement.
The most profitable people are those who work in Shanghai, and they have a separate business besides agriculture, industry and commerce. There are only two types of people: 1. Children of Guangdong and Ningbo businessmen. He is idle and has no special skills, and often takes learning as an escape route. 2. Britain, France and other countries set up volunteer schools to recruit poor local children and teach them with food and clothing. The towns and villages were poor and their origins are unknown. They were all contaminated with foreign habits and taught foreign religions.
Both of these two types of people are stupid by nature, despicable in mind, and know nothing more than profit and sex. And nine out of ten of them can only understand foreign languages, and two out of ten can also understand foreign characters.
Even when there are negotiation matters, the priority of words often loses its original purpose. I only know that I am using the power of foreigners to instigate and instigate others in order to fulfill their selfish desires. He despised the officials and oppressed the common people without any scruples.
That is to say, it is not unreasonable to meet with a chief who is fluent in Chinese to hold a meeting to prevent traffic jams. However, trivial matters cannot be discussed one by one, so the general manager pretends to be involved in the matter and colludes with foreign soldiers in order to share the wealth. He is insatiable in his demands, unreasonable in his provocations, and unscrupulous in his expenditures. He bullies me into silence, tries to do his best, or turns a small suspicion into a big quarrel.
The Western Affairs Bureau is responsible for recruiting important officials for the country's long-term development, but it is in the hands of others. As a result, they do not know each other, they cannot argue with their feelings, and they control the advancement and retreat without achieving the key points. This is not a trivial matter.
The establishment of the Tongwen Hall in the capital is indeed a good method. After it has been implemented for a long time, there must be righteous men and extraordinary and sensitive people who will emerge from it. Then they can master the essentials of Westerners and think about how to control it. This is the original idea of appeasing the border.
However, it is a place where foreigners gather, especially in Shanghai and Guangxi. There are many types of books, a wealth of books, and a wide range of knowledge. For those who are rough in language and writing, one lesson is enough, and for those who are good at it, they must learn from others and brainstorm. You have to look for Shanghai and Guangdong.
Chen Yu plans to follow the example of the Tongwen Museum and set up a foreign language and literature school in Shanghai. It would select intelligent literary boys under the age of fourteen and hire Westerners to teach them. It would also hire mainland students who are both good in character and learning to teach them. History literature and art. After completing their studies, they will be sent to the governor of the province for examination. Please be allowed to take the examination as a student attached to the county.
Among the yamen, there are young and intelligent people who are candidates for deputy positions, miscellaneous officials and other officials and are willing to join the academy as learners. They must submit certificates issued by the fellows' academy and have good conduct. After completing their studies, they will also be given incentives for promotion. All have customs supervision to supervise the trial operation, and the details will be verified at any time.
Three to five years later, when there is a kind of well-read and sensible person who is proficient in the foreign language, the commerce superintendent, the yamen and the customs supervisor should set up a translation hall to handle foreign affairs, that is, they will be selected from the academy to take over. Customs duties and military supplies can be verified on schedule, and the rogue generals have disappeared.
Husband’s trade program is fixed in the Prime Minister’s Office, but the affairs of China and foreign affairs are changing from one side to the other. It is impossible for the Eight Banners students to take care of both. But if they can get it through multiple channels and seek it from anywhere, then there will be more people who can learn its language and writing. Since the number is large, the talent It turns out that what the Bixi people are good at are the study of calculation, the theory of observing objects, and the method of making tools and images, all of which are specialized and pragmatic.
When Hongzhang came to Beijing, officials in the capital were divided. They all said that the Guangdong rebellion had not been eliminated and that Li Hongzhang was not doing his job properly.
Empress Dowager Cixi said: Since the liberation of Anqing last year, Guangdong has been retreating steadily and will be destroyed sooner or later. However, we have been doing business with foreigners for twenty years and our exchanges have increased. We must not blind ourselves or become deaf. Following Li Hongzhang's request, the Cantonese Dialect Center was established in Shanghai. Li Chen and Hongzhang were all new and different, all for the sake of the national economy, and they were handed over to the Ministry of Finance for discussion.
Empress Dowager Ci'an and Prince Gong Yixin both said: Hunan is brave and powerful. Li Hongzhang was promoted in this way. Sichuan, Hunan, Jiangxi and Hubei, Anhui, Jiangsu, Zhejiang and Shanghai, central and southern Chutian, and the southeast half were all covered by Zeng's Xiang regiment.
Empress Dowager Cixi said: The Guangdong rebellion is raging in China. It is difficult to quell the chaos without uniting our efforts! Zeng Guofan used his imperial ministers to supervise the two rivers. He was the governor of Jiangsu, Zhejiang, Jiangxi and Anhui and below, and Xian returned to control. Li Hongzhang was also the Minister of Commerce and Trade, and may be equal to Zeng. There is no room for two tigers in one mountain, what about the third situation? Zuo Zongtang entered Zhejiang last year, earlier than Li Hongzhang went to Shanghai. However, the progress of the Zuo army was very slow, and it was stuck on the front lines of Longyou, Shouchang, Lanxi and Tangxi, and there was no success for a long time. Zuo Chen also said, each The fortresses of the city and its annexes were impregnable. Every time they attacked, elite soldiers were often injured. The more fierce the troops advanced, the more casualties they had.
Yi Xin said: After the chieftain left Zhejiang to aid the rebel chieftain in Jinling, the Zhejiang bandits were leaderless, and Zuo Zongtang's army was sure to capture them.
