Chapter 45 Desire to become rich and powerful

In addition to running military enterprises for the purpose of strength, Li Hongzhang also started to set up civilian enterprises for the purpose of wealth.Starting from the so-called pursuit of strength, he transplanted Western military industries to try to strengthen the armed forces of the Qing Dynasty.However, military industrial enterprises are a link in the entire political and economic system in capitalist countries. If this link is taken out and transplanted to China, due to the lack of a solid foundation for social and economic development, many deformities and a series of problems have occurred as a result. difficulty.

Exhaustion of funding sources, shortage of raw materials and fuels, difficult transportation, backward technology, lack of talents, chaotic management systems, etc., blocked the channel for the further development of the military industry.In order to solve these problems, it is necessary to establish a complete modern industrial transportation system for the military industry.Because the production of weapons is based on the entire production.Therefore, the issue of setting up civilian enterprises around the military industry was put on the agenda. Li Hongzhang knew that to run a slightly larger factory or enterprise must obtain the consent and support of the Prime Minister's Office, so he wrote to the Prime Minister's Office many times, explaining the necessity of building factories and shipbuilding.He once said: Foreigners from all over the world not only gather in Haikou, but also go deep into the Yangtze River. They despise China, so they must fight with each other, be slightly provocative, and threaten at every turn.As long as China has nothing to rely on and can't resist lightly, it must rely on foreign law and learning foreign wares as a self-supporting foundation, or when the funds are slightly more abundant, it will try it out at its discretion, and pray for your lord's attention.Because the atmosphere was not open at that time, Li knew that there would be too much resistance to using large machines to produce, and he was worried that the prime minister's office would not be able to support it alone. Therefore, he wrote a letter to Chen Tingjing, a highly prestigious censor, to clarify the necessity and urgency of China's learning of Western skills, and to criticize stubbornness. The faction is conservative and ignorant of the general trend of the world.He lamented that he knew a little about the background of the country's prosperity, so he mentioned it a little bit in the letter of the Prime Minister's Office. But those who dare not believe in obedience will never be able to do anything in the world.My husband knows that love is deep, and he researches the secrets of his heart. The attached Chen Yiyi is a lesson from Fu Xi's heart.Chen Wei was moved by the thoroughness of reasoning and sincerity in the letter. In January 1865, he played the role of Chen's change of military system and planning for coastal defense.The imperial court issued this report and asked Zeng Guofan and Li Hongzhang to discuss it together.

Li's proposal to build factories and ships was approved by the Prime Minister's Office.For the start-up plan, Li Hongzhang also has specific considerations.Past experience made him think that if he entrusts foreign businessmen to buy machines from abroad, it is not only expensive but also difficult to control, and he also thinks that the effect will be slow and the pros and cons will be difficult to judge when sending people to foreign machine factories to learn.Since there were already some machine factories run by foreigners in Shanghai, he believed that the safest way was to buy one locally at an appropriate price, so he asked his subordinate Ding Richang to handle the matter.In the summer of 1865, Ding Richang learned that Shanghai Hongkou Meishang Qiji Iron Works was going to be sold, and that the factory could repair and manufacture ship guns. After obtaining Li Hongzhang’s consent, Ding bought the factory and All the raw materials stored in it were finally established after merging the two foreign artillery bureaus that were originally established.

In Li Hongzhang's memorial to the imperial court, he first stated the idea of ​​setting up a factory and the reasons for buying the factory on the spot, and then mentioned Chen Tingjing's memorial, although it was vague and did not get the point, it roughly coincided with the discussion of the prime minister's yamen and ministers. combine.Zeng Guofan also held this view at ordinary times, so he should follow the order and discuss it accordingly.In this way, his current preparation for the Jiangnan General Manufacturing Bureau has become the result of following the order and discussing the management and responding to Chen Zuo.Obviously, Chen Tingjing's earlier memorial to the court under his persuasion was like a chess piece that had been laid out long ago. It played such an important and specific role at the critical moment, which made people deeply sigh Li Hongzhang's sophistication.Immediately afterwards, he briefly described the specific circumstances of the purchase of this factory, and emphasized that it is very difficult to find this foreign iron factory machine, and the opportunity must not be missed. The implication is that he hopes that the imperial court will approve it as soon as possible.

After Ding Richang bought Meishang Qiji Iron Works, Li Hongzhang changed its original name to Jiangnan Manufacturing General Bureau, saying that this department corrected its name and distinguished things to prevent foreigners from coveting it.In fact, if we dig deeper, Li Hongzhang may have other meanings in changing the original name of the factory to Jiangnan Manufacturing Bureau.This is obviously an arsenal, and its English name is Kiangnan Arsenal (Jiangnan Arsenal), but he is not like the previous Foreign Artillery Bureau and Ordnance Institute, which justifiably gave the factory the name of military industry. Sooner or later, Westernization will break through the scope of the military industry for strength and enter the civilian field for wealth. This kind of understanding is extremely advanced.He clearly wrote that the military industry is only for emergency use at present. Because of the machine manufacturing, it is the capital to resist insults and the foundation of self-improvement today. The tools, no matter what kind of machines, are gradually imitated according to the law, that is, what kind of things are used to make them, and they are endless and everything can be done.At present, it has not been able to take care of it, and the casting guns are still mainly used for military use.What I have said is that foreign machines can be used for farming, weaving, printing, pottery and other utensils. They are useful for people's birthdays. Therefore, there must be those who imitate foreign machines to seek their own interests, and the official law cannot deal with them.

At this time, Li Hongzhang seemed to be a prophet with advanced consciousness.He predicted that an era of great social change is coming.At that time, even Prince Gong and powerful figures such as Zeng, Zuo, and Li faced so much resistance in setting up such government-run military enterprises in order to directly save the Qing government. You can use large machines to produce daily necessities for profit.However, Li Hongzhang realized that large machines are useful for people’s daily life, and they were not originally designed for arms, and that the people must use machines to produce for their own benefit, and the government cannot stop this historical trend, which is indeed far-reaching.The reason why he can have this understanding is because he believes that the machine is wonderful in using the power of water and fire to save people's labor and expenses, and its principles and methods are indeed understandable. The principles should be common to both China and foreign countries. Although the ingenious people in the middle of the country, don't talk about it by hollowing out the air.Catch it for a long time, and the atmosphere will gradually open up. Everyone's heart and wisdom are the same, and they will recover spontaneously.The strangest and strangest things in the world must be rooted in common principles. If they are not, they cannot be pushed far away, nor can they be carried out for a long time.

In the end, he once again used Chen Tingjing to put forward his own Westernization Thought: The system of Chinese cultural relics is very different from foreign customs, so governing and protecting the country and solidifying the country are based on not destroying, and solidity exists.China's traditional political system and ethics are superior to foreign customs, only the machine skills are inferior to those of the West.As for the strategy of the country, there is the whole, there are extremes, and there are roots and ends. Chinese culture should be based on the whole, and Western skills should be based on the extremes. Therefore, learning machine manufacturing will not harm the foundation of China, and there is no need to worry about learning in the middle school. will be harmed by this.This is the answer and rebuttal of the Westernization Party to the diehards who oppose learning from Western machine skills.

In addition, there is a short section of this compromise that mentions the establishment of the Machinery Manufacturing Bureau in Tianjin, and he is still dealing with the court.Once in May 1865, the capital was seriously threatened by the Nian army. The Qing government asked Li Hongzhang to help Tianjin set up a factory, but he found reasons to refuse.However, with the development of the Nian Army, the Qing government became more eager to build a factory in Tianjin, so they issued several edicts one after another, asking for some machinery and equipment and engineering and technical personnel for Li Hongzhang to set up factories in Shanghai, Suzhou and other places, and even Li Hongzhang and Ding Richang. Go to Tianjin to start together.For this request, Li Hongzhang still delayed and perfunctory, and actually determined that neither the machines nor the personnel would be released.In this compromise, he only promised to imitate a copy of the machines in the factory for transportation, and at the same time purchase them from outside to supplement them. But then he declared: the utensils are heavy, and it will not be possible to achieve them over a long period of time. Today, the common people are free from sloppy responsibilities.It is still a matter of procrastination.However, with the change of position, his attitude towards Tianjin Bureau changed greatly.