Chapter 50 Navy Yamen repairs the railway

As mentioned earlier, according to Tang Tingshu's vision, Kaiping Coal Mine should immediately build a railway to transport the excavated coal out in time, but due to limited conditions at that time, it was not implemented, and a small seventy-mile canal was temporarily used instead. In fact, the earliest people who advocated the construction of railways in China were not Chinese, but the Western powers who invaded China.After the two Opium Wars, the Western capitalist powers headed by the United Kingdom launched a plan to build railways in China in order to sell goods in China, plunder raw materials, and expand their aggressive forces to the mainland of China.It can be seen that the western powers built railways in China not to help China become rich and strong, but to expand their aggression in China.As early as the 1860s, Li Hongzhang insisted that the Chinese should be used to build railways, and that foreign countries should not be allowed to seize road rights.According to Kent's book "The History of China's Railway Development", Li Hongzhang once told the consular corps of Britain, France and other countries: Only when the Chinese establish and manage the railways themselves will it be beneficial to the Chinese; and the Chinese are firmly opposed to hiring many Foreigners; and once the land of the Chinese people is deprived of land due to road construction, it will cause great opposition.He felt it was his duty to oppose attempts by foreigners to pursue the concession of the railways, which would enable them to gain undue influence in China.It can be seen that Li Hongzhang had the idea of ​​running his own railway very early.However, due to limited financial and material resources, the railway cannot be made by the Chinese for a while.In the 1870s, with the further deepening of the Westernization Movement, Li Hongzhang's idea of ​​running the railway by the Chinese was further deepened and brought up on the agenda.

Li Hongzhang's advocacy for the construction of railways also experienced a bumpy road.Due to strong opposition from extreme conservative forces, progress has been very slow.Since the 1870s, the international and domestic situation has undergone tremendous changes.Internationally, liberal capitalism has transitioned to the stage of imperialism, and Western capitalist countries are increasingly intensifying their aggression against China, and the critical situation on China's frontiers has reached an unprecedented level.In order to strengthen national defense and solve the problem of supplying raw materials for Westernization military industry, Li Hongzhang decided to advocate the construction of Chinese railways.

In 1874, Li Hongzhang took the opportunity of going to Beijing to pay a visit to Emperor Tongzhi's Zi Palace to meet Yixin, Minister of State Affairs of the Prime Minister.But Yixin rejected Li Hongzhang's idea on the grounds that no one in the world dared to come forward to preside over this matter and that the queen mothers of the two palaces could not decide on such a big plan. Li Hongzhang was filled with emotion, and vowed never to talk about the railway construction from now on.However, he felt that China's traffic was stagnant, and the deployment of troops and salaries was not in a hurry. At the same time, he considered that the military industry, especially civilian enterprises such as coal mines, had a surge in product output and urgently needed to solve the transportation problem. At this time, he gradually realized that the need for The internal connection between wealth and strength, and realizing that economic strength is the foundation of national defense strength, and only by developing the economy is one of the main ways for China to grow from weak to strong. Wait for the opportunity to build the railway.

In 1876, after Ding Richang was appointed as the governor of Fujian, adhering to Li Hongzhang's will, Shangshu proposed to build a railway in Taiwan to prevent external security. Li Hongzhang and Shen Baozhen unanimously supported Ding's proposition.In 1877, the Qing government approved Ding Richang's proposal, asking him to consider the situation and make timely decisions.This was the first order issued by the Qing government to approve the construction of a railway in Taiwan. Li Hongzhang was very happy and wrote a letter to support and encourage Ding Richang.However, although the plan to build the Taiwan Railway was approved by the Qing government, it was finally suspended due to lack of funds.Since then, Li Hongzhang has repeatedly advocated the construction of railways in the southeast and northwest regions to solve the problems of coastal defense and border defense.Due to excessive resistance, it has not been realized.In 1880, Liu Ming, a general of the Huai Army, passed on a request for the construction of a railway.Li Hongzhang saw that the cause he had instructed had been proposed, and immediately wrote a 4,000-character memorial to support Liu Mingchuan's suggestion.

He pointed out that the power of the West is an important reason why the railways extend in all directions.If China wants to get rich, it should build railways as soon as possible.Their proposal was strongly opposed by the diehards, who put forward dozens of reasons to oppose the construction of the railway, and they even brought up ancestors and gods of mountains and rivers to threaten them. Although there were many obstacles to building the railway, Li Hongzhang did not back down.In 1880, when the debate was the most intense, he quietly began to tentatively start construction of the Kaiping Coal Mine Tangshan-Xugezhuang Railway in order to transport coal.In 1881, after the completion of this short section of railway, about 10 kilometers long, he officially reported it to the Qing government, and deliberately called it a road.Li Hongzhang really deserves to be the senior who walked away from the red light later.Li Hongzhang learned the lesson of failure in the great controversy without strong support from the DPRK and China, so he was actively active while building roads, seeking the support of the powerful.At this time, Prince Chun Yizhen had already replaced Prince Gong Yixin, and was most relied on by Empress Dowager Cixi, so Li Hongzhang did his best to do his work.He wrote to Yizhen many times, explaining the various benefits of building the railway, and Yizhen was moved, so Li Hongzhang dared to complete the Tangxu Road.However, Li Hongzhang always believed that the construction of roads should be carried out by the whole country, so he said in his letter to Yizhen that the construction of railways was blocked by floating discussions in China, and it has not been built, and he made it clear that he hoped that Yizhen would directly take charge of the project.

In 1885, the Sino-French War ended, and the problem of naval dispatch and coordination was exposed during the war. The Qing government finally agreed to establish a naval government office; Regarding this problem, reconsider whether the railway should be built.Under such circumstances, through the efforts of Yizhen and Li Hongzhang, the Qing government finally decided in 1886 to transfer the railway affairs to the Navy Yamen, which was run by Yizhen as the prime minister and Li Hongzhang and others.The construction of the railway by the Navy Yamen can also be said to be a Chinese characteristic at that time.

In the same year, Yizhen went to Tianjin to inspect Beiyang Haikou, and discussed with Li Hongzhang in detail how to build roads.Yizhen later said that he had heard Chen Yan before the construction of the railway, and he held partial opinions and opposed the construction of the road. The attitude of supporting road construction is more firm.However, due to Yizhen's power and position at this time, he did not dare to advocate road construction with great fanfare. Therefore, when he visited Beiyanghaikou in Tianjin and discussed with Li Hongzhang, he had to find ways to avoid strong opposition.He told Li Hongzhang that if the railway is to be built, it must be built all the way from Xugezhuang, which has already been built, because the railway from Tangshan to Xugezhuang is for the transportation of coal from Kaiping Mine, and it has little to do with it, and the opposition may be less , so that this can be done.Li Hongzhang also believed that things could only be done in this way, and he built it year by year on the basis of the Tangxu Railway. For a considerable period of time, all the places he passed were within the territory of Zhili under his jurisdiction, which was easier to do.

Based on this, Li Hongzhang adopted a strategy of step by step and steady progress.Under the instruction of Li Hongzhang, the Kaiping Mining Bureau extended the Tangxu Railway to Yanzhuang near Lutai on the grounds of transporting coal to facilitate business in this year. The total length was extended from ten kilometers to about forty kilometers. Renamed Tanglu Railway.At the same time, Li Hongzhang struck while the iron was hot and established the Kaiping Railway Company, raising 250,000 taels of business shares.At the end of 1886, Li Hongzhang discussed with Yixuan again and proposed to extend the construction of the Tanglu Railway to Dagu and Tianjin.In the spring of 1887, Yizhen came forward to announce the start of construction, emphasizing that this section of the road was used for dispatching troops and transporting munitions, and renamed the Kaiping Railway Company to the China Railway Company.The road was completed in the second year, and the total length of the railway from Tangshan to Tianjin finally reached about 130 kilometers.It can be seen that from the construction of Tangxu Road in 1880 to the extension to Tianjin in 1888, Li Hongzhang has been in full swing for several years, and he has built the railway bit by bit without missing any opportunity.Of course, there were also small twists and turns. For example, when the Tangxu Road was just completed, a British engineer used the waste boiler in the mine to transform it into a steam locomotive to pull coal, but he was opposed by diehards and had to use mules to pull coal. The wagons, after many twists and turns, allowed the steam locomotive to run.After the Tangshan-Tianjin Line was completed, Li Hongzhang inspected the railway.After reviewing the Beiyang Navy, he took the train back to Tianjin from Shanhaiguan. He said with great excitement: It takes half a day to travel from Shanhaiguan to Tianjin, which is very convenient.The bridge and rail works done along the way are extremely stable, and the labor cost per mile is more economical than that of Western countries.

At this time, Li Hongzhang's confidence increased greatly, and he wanted to strike while the iron was hot, and then extend the railway from Tianjin to Tongzhou near the capital.Therefore, in November 1888, Li Hongzhang requested the construction of the Tianjin Road through the Navy Yamen in charge of Yizhen. It is beneficial to military and defense.This performance was approved by the imperial court, but unexpectedly, it stabbed a hornet's nest.The die-hards might have had scruples about Prince Jin, and tolerated Li Hongzhang's quiet road construction, and did not express their opposition with a big fanfare. Now he wants to build the railway to the feet of the emperor, how can it be tolerated!The opposition was like a pot being exploded, and the bullets swarmed and came one after another, setting off another big debate about railways in modern times.Some of the diehards went to the court, and some wrote to Yizhen, trying to win him over and tear down Li Hongzhang's backer.In order to sensationalize the public, the diehards, like the previous few times, first accused the road construction of being unprecedented and uncreated by the ancestors, and also linked the road construction with disasters, thinking that the fire at the Taiping Gate of the Qing Palace was a warning from the sky.Generally speaking, the opinions of diehards focus on the following points.

1. The construction of railways is conducive to the invasion of foreign enemies.It is believed that if the Tianjin road is built, once foreign enemies invade, they can go directly to the capital via the railway. Second, road construction disturbs the people.In the places where the railway passes, demolition of folk fields and tombs will inevitably cause people to boil. 3. The construction of railways takes away the livelihood of the people. After the railway is completed, thousands of original sailors, boatmen, and innkeepers will be impoverished and unemployed, and their livelihoods will be cut off.In the face of strong opposition from many high-ranking ministers, Li Hongzhang confronted the diehards this time because of the support of Prince Chun, and repeatedly argued without showing any weakness.Regarding the accusation of the enemy on the railway, he retorted that the enemy must use locomotives and carriages to transport troops when he comes. We can withdraw the locomotives and carriages first, so that the enemy has no cars to ride; Landmines make it impossible for the enemy to use the railway to drive straight in.Instead, railways will allow China to transport troops more quickly.Regarding the view of disturbing the people, he took the construction of the railway from Tangshan to Dagu and from Dagu to Tianjin as an example. He believed that the demolition of private houses and tombs should be avoided as much as possible in road construction. road.

As for the railway taking people's livelihood, he thinks it is even more unreasonable. Judging from the railways that have been built in foreign countries and China, the business along the railways is booming, and the construction of railways and the opening of trains will only increase various occupations. Later, due to the Qing government arbitrarily misappropriating funds to organize the 60th birthday celebration of Empress Dowager Cixi, the Kanto Railway could not be further extended. In addition, the Sino-Japanese Sino-Japanese War broke out, and the entire railway connection project was forced to stop. It can be seen from the above that the construction of modern railways in China kicked off under Li Hongzhang's advocacy and efforts.In other words, the first railway in modern China and the company of the first railway are inseparable from Li Hongzhang.In Chinese society more than a hundred years ago, feudal forces were unprecedentedly strong, and voices against railways were raging.Under this background, advocating and presiding over the construction of railways reflects Li Hongzhang's foresight and great courage in pursuing new things.As one of the hosts of the Westernization Movement, Li Hongzhang dared to admit that China was inferior to the West, and he had the courage to learn from the West's long-term skills. For the early self-reliance, self-prosperity and self-improvement of China, he realized that the construction of railways was beneficial to resist foreign military aggression and economic plunder. It is to use his status, reputation and many relationships to withstand the countercurrent, fully capture various favorable opportunities, and gradually push forward the construction of modern Chinese railways.Especially in the more than ten years from 1881 to 1894 before the outbreak of the Sino-Japanese War of Sino-Japanese War, Li Hongzhang mainly relied on China's own strength to build a total of more than 300 kilometers of railway lines in the north.Although he employed a small number of foreign engineers during the construction of the railway, these people were only engaged in technical work and had no right to intervene in matters that belonged to China's sovereignty, such as recruitment, purchase of materials, and personnel arrangements; although he had borrowed foreign debts for road construction, However, the amount is not large, the term is not long, and the interest rate is not too high. There are no discounts or additional conditions to take advantage of this to damage China's sovereignty. In short, the ownership, operation and management of the railway belonged to China, and foreigners had no right to intervene. These all reflected Li Hongzhang's patriotic national consciousness.In addition, although the pace of railway construction in modern China was very slow, and the economic benefits were not brought into play to a large extent for a while, its significance was far beyond the effectiveness of railway construction itself.The more far-reaching impact is that the establishment of the railway was a powerful impact on traditional Chinese feudal ideology and culture, promoted the development of coal mining and other industries, and cultivated and brought up the first generation of railway workers and technicians for modern Chinese society.These contributions made by Li Hongzhang are indelible and we must affirm them.