Chapter 25 The first person of the feudal official

1870 was a turning point in Li Hongzhang's political career.On the sixth day of September, he officially took over the post of governor of Zhili.Although Zhili is the most important of the provinces and should be guarded against, there are many problems here. Issues such as government affairs, civil affairs, and defense are very difficult, and they are all waiting for the newly appointed governor of Zhili, Li Hongzhang, to deal with them. In May and June of 1871, Zhili experienced the heaviest torrential rain in the six years since Jiaqing.Eight floods occurred in the upper reaches of the Yongding River, and the stone embankment under the Lugou Bridge was also destroyed by the flood.When summer comes, the whole Zhili is covered with a flood, and only a few highlands have a little harvest.After Li Hongzhang invited the court, he was able to intercept 100,000 shi of grain for disaster relief; at the same time, he also bought 20,000 shi of rice in Jiangsu and Zhejiang to make up for it.However, at the turn of July and August, a heavy rain that lasted for 36 days and nights made the highlands no harvest.Li Hongzhang had no choice but to allocate 300,000 taels of silver from the Zhili vassal treasury first, and at the same time lend 300,000 taels of military pay, and then pre-cut Beijing's 50,000 taels of emergency relief.He was almost exhausted, and wrote in a letter to his former aide, Ding Richang, that his physical condition was as follows: he suffered from a cough in winter and spring, and healed slightly in summer, and his energy was not as good as before.From then on, he began to pay attention to maintaining his body.On September 21, he wrote to Zeng Guofan:

In the current beginning of winter, the water recedes only two or three feet, and the plain is still several feet away. It will gradually dry up after the spring thaws.The eyes are full of hunger, and there is no livelihood, which is extremely terrifying!But the Governor, Order and Printing Committee tried its best to prepare, and always wanted to achieve the four characters of affordable and popular, so as to support the hearts of the people. He expressed sympathy for the suffering of the people, and at the same time he was very concerned about the livelihood of the common people, and tried his best to achieve benefits for the people, which is very worthy of recognition.

In October, Mao Changxi, Minister of the Ministry of Industry, petitioned the court to abolish the three ministers of trade and commerce.He proposed that coastal defense and western affairs should be handled by the governor of Zhili. It was only because the bandits in Shandong and Henan were not settled at that time, and the governor had been stationed in Baoding for three days, so he set up three ministers of trade and commerce in Tianjin to facilitate management. As an expedient measure, Tianjin's westernization and coastal defense are far more important than Baoding's defense, and the governor should be allowed to plan in a unified manner.

On October 20, the Qing government agreed to Mao Changxi's proposition, abolished the three ministers of trade and trade, and appointed Li Hongzhang to concurrently serve as Beiyang Minister, handling all Beiyang foreign affairs and coastal defense matters.At the same time, Li Hongzhang was appointed as the imperial envoy, and the Dongguan Pass under the jurisdiction of Denglai Qingdao, Shandong, and the Niuzhuang Pass under the jurisdiction of Fengtian Fengxi Road were all under the jurisdiction of the Beiyang Minister.In addition, the imperial court also ordered to change the Yamen of the former minister of trade and commerce into the governor's office of Zhili.It is stipulated that Haikou should be moved to Tianjin every spring after the freeze, and then return to Baoding, the provincial capital, when the river is closed in winter, except in case of emergency.The imperial court handed over this important task to Li Hongzhang, and told Li Hongzhang to carefully plan the westernization and coastal defense, especially to coordinate the overall situation, select generals to train troops, and make great efforts to rectify

Obviously, Li Hongzhang was very satisfied with this appointment.In order to better fulfill the tasks assigned by the imperial court, he proposed to add the Tianjin Customs Road, which is in charge of Sino-foreign diplomatic events and the taxation of the new customs and banknotes, and he also served as the governor of Zhili's coastal defense battalion.A plan to build a new city in Tianjin on the north bank of the canal was proposed.He also recommended Chen Qin, who has many years of experience in the General Administration, as the Taoist priest of Tianjin Customs. On October 27th, Li Hongzhang left Tianjin for Baoding, and learned about the situation of river control and disaster relief along the way.After arriving in Baoding, the imperial court promoted Qian Dingming, the governor of Zhili, to be the governor of Henan.Qian Dingming served as Li Hongzhang's staff for many years, and his work was very effective. His departure made Li Hongzhang feel like he lost his left and right hands.

On the fifth day of the first lunar month in 1872, the relatives held a banquet to celebrate Li Hongzhang's fiftieth birthday in the Governor's Office in Baoding.Among them, his close friend and scholar Yu Yue wrote a birthday couplet: With the righteousness of the year and the decree of the month, a piece of spring wine is the longevity of the gentleman; Use literature to govern the interior, use military force to govern the outside, the Great Wall is thousands of miles, and the palace is the Son of Heaven. Huang Pengnian, editor of the Imperial Academy, in his "Hefei Xiangguo's 50th Birthday Preface", juxtaposed Li Hongzhang with the outstanding figures in history Zhaogong and Han Qi, saying: Xiangguo's early arrival was the same as Zhaogong and Han Gong. The noble officer Taibao opened his mansion in Yan, which is the same as that of Zhao Gong;If the disaster comes to an end, the country will rely on it, and Chinese and foreign institutions will look forward to it.Although they are all good words, there is still a certain degree of correctness, because Zhao Gong's status is second only to Zhou Gong, and Zeng Guofan was still the number one ZTE official on which the country relied.

On the fourth day of February, Zeng Guofan passed away.When Li Hongzhang first received the news, he was dubious, thinking that he was just unconscious, but he believed it only after he learned that the imperial court also sent a letter of condolence and posthumously gifted Zeng Taifu.Li Hongzhang was one of Zeng Guofan's earliest disciples, and Zeng Guofan's kindness to him was also the deepest and kindest. He couldn't help feeling extremely sad when he thought of this.However, he was able to calm down, determined to turn grief into strength, inherit Zeng Guofan's behest, support state affairs, and let his mentor rest in peace.

Li Hongzhang regarded himself as Zeng Guofan's first disciple and successor of the Zeng family, and was ready to lead the pack in the self-improvement movement.The last feudal dynasty in Chinese history, the imperial autocracy of the Qing Dynasty was the peak of feudal society. In its 260 years of history, there were hundreds of academicians and military ministers, but they all had the name of prime minister but no prime minister. fact.Moreover, the Qing Dynasty was ruled by a small number of nobles, so it took measures to contain these people with relatives, noble princes and Manchu ministers, so that these people became Dengying Xianggong and Zhaohe Gongbao. Headquarters, do some practical things and make achievements.

In the Tongzhi era, there were also frequent internal and external troubles, and the Qing government still relied on important ministers. Li Hongzhang, the first-class Su Yibo and a scholar, also known as the minister, became the real prime minister of the Qing Dynasty.Especially after Zeng Guofan and Zuo Zongtang passed away one after another, Li Hongzhang supported the overall situation alone, so he was the most important figure in the world. The important ministers in the court and the current situation at that time constituted the conditions for Li Hongzhang to become a real prime minister.The Military Aircraft Department is the center of the government, composed of several princes and ministers who also serve as ministers of the Prime Minister's Yamen, and both of these institutions are presided over by Prince Gong.Prince Gong used to be the king of political affairs, with great power, but in the fourth year of Tongzhi (1865), Empress Dowager Cixi attacked him and removed him from the position of king of political affairs, reducing his power; moreover, Empress Dowager Cixi stepped up support His opponents have kept him at bay, making it difficult for him to implement major reforms.In this way, he had to discuss and reach an agreement with the foreign ministers before making a decision, let the subordinates propose, and lead the ministers to support him to achieve his goal.Doing so reduced his internal friction in the center, and his life was easier.

In addition, although the central figures are responsible for decision-making research and drafting edicts, they all stay in the capital and know little about external affairs. Nature is more dependent. In addition, the attitude and character of the ministers also have an impact.The people around Prince Gong include Wenxiang, Baojun, Guiliang, Shengbao, etc. They are advanced in thinking, serious and responsible. Facing the threat of foreign aggression, they are prepared to try their best to revitalize China. Arbitrary and self-willed, most of them adopt extensive consultations, and make decisions before deciding.In this way, there will be a good environmental guarantee for the officials in Xinjiang to actively make suggestions and advance policies.In addition, they are similar to Zeng Guofan, Zuo Zongtang, Li Hongzhang, Shen Baozhen and others. They maintain internal and external relations to promote the Westernization Movement. They are a common Westernization Group with a very integrated relationship, so Li Hongzhang's opinions are easier to be adopted.In the second year of Guangxu (1876), after Wen Xiang's death, there was a situation where they would not make decisions if Li Hongzhang had no idea.After Zeng, Zuo, and Shen passed away one after another, Li Hongzhang became their core and spiritual leader.

The governor of Zhili ranks first among all the officials in the borderlands.The governor is the highest officer in other provinces, and a governor is placed above two or three provinces; and a governor is placed in every province of Zhili Province.In addition, the first task of the governor of Zhili is to defend the capital, which is more important than the provinces.The imperial court generally assigns important ministers to hold this position and concurrently serve as a cabinet scholar, known as the prime minister-level governor.Before Li Hongzhang became the governor of Zhili, he had the title of co-organizer.In the eleventh year of Tongzhi (1872), he was promoted to a bachelor of Wuyingdian University.In December of the thirteenth year of Tongzhi (1874), he was promoted to the first scholar of the cabinet, Wenhuadian, and became the chief cabinet.The post had been held by Manchus until Li Hongzhang, who was the first Han Chinese to receive the title.Therefore, he sat firmly on the top spot of the big officials in Xinjiang, and he was a veritable leader of the big officials in Xinjiang. He worked for twenty-five years.