Regarding the defeat in the Sino-Japanese War, Li Hongzhang was the one who scolded the most. In fact, Weng Tonghe is the one who should be scolded the most! It was because of Weng Tonghe's obstruction that the tragedy happened. Weng Tonghe mainly did two things: 1. Deduct the military expenses of Beiyang Navy; 2. spell it.
Maybe some people don't quite understand, isn't the military expenditure of Beiyang Navy just to build the Summer Palace for the old lady Cixi? What happened to Guan Wengtong? First of all, Weng Tonghe agreed to show Empress Dowager Cixi around the Summer Palace. The purpose is to let Empress Dowager Cixi retreat to the second line as soon as possible and let Guangxu realize real pro-government. Weng Tonghe is Guangxu's teacher. Once the emperor came to power, his teacher was naturally promoted.
Secondly, Weng Tonghe was in charge of the Ministry of Housing and was responsible for the distribution of money and grain in the imperial court. As long as the household department tightens its purse, Beiyang Navy won't get a dime! Beiyang navy has not added a ship for more than ten years since 1883, and conventional artillery shells have become extremely scarce. The reason for this is that Weng Tonghe does not give money to Beiyang Navy, so why did Weng Tonghe do this?
This will start with the personal vendetta between Weng Tonghe and Li Hongzhang. During the activities of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, Weng Tonghe's brother Weng Shu Tong served as the governor of Anhui. Due to lack of ability, Dingyuan County and Shouzhou, where he was located, were successively lost. It was Li Hongzhang who Zeng Guofan wrote the impeachment letter. Because this letter was exiled, Weng Tonghe's father died of shortness of breath, and from then on, Weng Tonghe and Li Hongzhang forged an issue.
Weng Tonghe deducted the military expenses of Beiyang Navy just to get back at Li Hongzhang! The early Japanese navy was no match for the Qing Dynasty. The Qing dynasty was the biggest customer of European arms dealers for a long time. However, due to the inability of Beiyang navy to pay, their eyes turned to Japan and sold advanced armaments to Japan, which led to the subsequent rise of Japan. This shows how petty Weng Tonghe is, substituting personal grievances into the interests of his home country!
The early Sino-Japanese War had little to do with the Qing Dynasty. Japan invaded Korea, and Korea turned to the Qing Dynasty for help. Although the Qing dynasty wanted to save Korea from the overall situation, the Qing court at that time was like an empty shell, and it was no match for Japan after the Meiji Restoration. It's like two people fighting. If they can't beat each other, will they take the initiative to be beaten? Regardless of this, Weng Tonghe encouraged the young Emperor Guangxu to go out to war, and as a result, Li Hongzhang had to wipe his ass when he lost. Because of signing a series of treaties, Li Hongzhang has fallen into eternal infamy, so what kind of evaluation should Weng Tonghe get?