The contradiction between Weng Tonghe and Li Hongzhang has always been interpreted differently by scholars.
The essence of the contradiction between Weng and Li is not favoritism.
Weng Tonghe, the top scholar in the sixth year of Xianfeng (1856), has served as assistant minister of the Ministry of Finance, adviser to Zuodu of Douchayuan, minister of punishments, minister of industry, minister of military affairs of the Ministry of Finance, minister of prime ministers of various countries, etc., and was a leader of the late Qing Dynasty. Weng served as a senior official for several generations in the four dynasties of Taoism: Xianxian, Tongguang and Guangguang. His father Weng Xincun and his brother Weng Shu Tong were both important ministers in the late Qing Dynasty. Weng Xincun and Weng Tonghe were even more emperors of the two dynasties, and they called "a four-scholar, a three-governor; Father and son college students, father and son ministers, father and son emperors. " In the ninth year of Xianfeng (1859), Weng Tonghe's eldest brother Weng Shu Tong was the governor of Anhui. At that time, he was besieged by Nian Army and Taiping Army, and abandoned the city with books. The following year, Miao of Shouzhou Yong ying betrayed Shouzhou because of his deep hatred with other Yong ying, agreed to his request with the same book, excused him from the charge of advancing, and even sent Miao's head on the charge of revenge against Sun Kaitai and Meng Shizhong. As a result, Miao went back on her word. In the first year of Tongzhi (1862), Zeng Guofan was seriously disintegrated, claiming that the territory was lost first and then beaten by thieves. There is a sentence in the memorial, "Where is the official position, the unjust case should be corrected, because Weng Shu Tong's family is rich and dare not look back." Pen, frame is today's meaning, and I won't go into details in the same book. The man who folded it is Li Hongzhang. According to the laws of the Qing Dynasty, Shu Tong was sentenced to be "the great monarch" (beheaded) and exiled to the northwest, and died of illness for three years. Weng Xincun also died of illness. On this basis, some people speculate that Weng Tonghe and Li Hongzhang are officials in the same dynasty, "to seek personal gain by revenge, to throw a person when he is down, do whatever it takes." What's more, the political differences between Weng and Li were classified as personal grievances, and the national righteousness was vulgarized for no reason. Then the unwarranted military expenditure was described as a reason for defeat, and the blame was put on Weng Tonghe. This kind of judgment is far-fetched, irresponsible, and obviously suspected of treating others according to their own needs. According to this logic, whoever was an official in the same dynasty, his ancestors and family members all participated in the political downfall of his opponent, so in order to avoid suspicion, he must follow his opponent's leadership for life. Does it matter whether the opponent is right or wrong? His theory is groundless, extremely street talk and much ado about nothing, which is really a taboo for historians.
There is a gap between Weng Tonghe and Li Hongzhang, the essence of which is different political views. Weng was the leader of the Qing school, and formed a royal party group with, Zhi Rui, Wen and Wang Mingluan to compete with the post-Party, of which Li Hongzhang was an important official. In the final analysis, the dispute between Weng and Li is a political struggle after the emperor. Besides, Weng Tonghe was an official for 60 years. Apart from the Sino-Japanese War of 1894-1895, the major events involved in his life were the rehabilitation of Yang Naiwu and Chinese cabbage, which was a model of China's legal self-improvement in the late Qing Dynasty. Sheng Xuanhuai (an old family member of Li Hongzhang's cronies) and others supported the establishment of China Commercial Bank, the first self-run bank in China, and the household department presided over by it allocated "interest-bearing official funds" 1 10,000 yuan to the bank as the initial working capital of China Commercial Bank; What's more, Kang Liang and other new ideas were strongly recommended to Guangxu by Weng's family, and 1500 yuan was allocated from the household department as funds to strengthen the activities of the Society. In addition, Guangxu's "education is the foundation of self-improvement, unstoppable, chilling the world" was secretly played out, and he personally drafted the "Memorial to the Establishment of Shi Jing University Hall", advocating the abolition of the imperial examination and the opening of special economic courses. Twelve new policies, such as cutting redundancy, stopping donations, amending laws, cutting green camp, training new troops, running schools, recommending talents, repairing railways and opening banks, naturally opened up a new situation of political reform in the late Qing Dynasty. Weng himself drafted the Imperial Decree on behalf of Guangxu, which was promulgated in the 24th year of Guangxu (1898) and started the Reform Movement of 1898.
Sino-Japanese War and the Dispute between Weng and Li
Weng and Li's Sino-Japanese War. Or in terms of Weng's style, Weng Tonghe was ordered to go to hall of mental cultivation to talk about the book "Zhi Ping Bao Jian" for the empress dowager. For the first time, he talked about "talking with ministers about Taizong coachable". Weng repeatedly expounded the monarch's open mind, corporal. Then he talked about the political traces of the emperors in Song, Jin, Yuan and Ming Dynasties, took history as a mirror, answered the questions of the two queens, pointed out Chen's shortcomings, put forward countermeasures, and spoke frankly, which is rare in today's dynasties and can be called a direct minister. In the 15th year of Guangxu (1889), Guangxu was in charge, and Weng still went to Yuqing Palace's study to teach. During this period, Weng kept presenting western works to Guangxu, and discussed current politics with Guangxu until it aroused the suspicion of Cixi and the imperial party. In the 23rd year of Guangxu (1897), Cixi ordered the abolition of Guangxu Yuqing Palace's study. Weng's deeds can be called good ministers. Nowadays, some people say that Weng Tonghe was eager to defeat Li Hongzhang because he fought hard for the main battle and blamed the fight against foreign enemies on the infighting among courtiers. His theory is absurd and unreasonable, which is unfair not only to Weng but also to Li. It can be asserted that the main battle and the main peace are based on national interests, and it is a historical regret that the political views are different and the resultant force cannot be formed, and the misfortune of the nation is inevitable.
China has been invincible since the Sino-Japanese War of 1894-1895. Empress Dowager Cixi was so frightened that Weng Tonghe "went to Tianjin for advice." According to Hu Sijing, a Korean, when Weng asked about beiyang fleet's participation in the war, Li "glared and remained silent for a long time". For a long time, he retorted: "Master, the Prime Minister has spent a lot of money, usually asking for money to refute. If you have something, ask the warship, how to rely on it? " Weng said to him, "I think it is my responsibility to save money." It is urgent. Why don't you invite me again? " Li said angrily, "The imperial court suspected that I was overbearing, and the Taiwan admonition (discipline inspection) took part in my greed. I'm still embarrassed. Is there still Li Hongzhang today? " So later generations (including Hu Sijing) made a fuss about it. In fact, Weng did limit the expenditure of Beiyang Navy on the grounds of financial difficulties and asked the Navy to stop buying ship equipment for two years. However, it is common sense that the expenditure of Weng's household administration department needs to be considered as a whole. It was in the 13th year of Guangxu (1887) that the navy was asked to stop buying ships and machines. At that time, the Zhengzhou section of the Yellow River was blocked, so the coastal defense case was changed to Zhengzhou case, which is more important? After the Zhengzhou project was completed, neither the Prime Minister's Navy yamen nor Li Hongzhang himself offered to buy a new ship in time. After the Sino-Japanese War of 1894-1895, Weng immediately ordered the Ministry of Housing to allocate more than 6.5 million yuan to support the Prime Minister's navy yamen to buy new ships. Li Hongzhang's Huai Army's money of more than 8 million yuan was not used in the Sino-Japanese War, indicating that the defeat of the Huai Army was not caused by military expenditure. If, as Hu Sijing said, Hong Zhang reneged on Weng's affairs, it would be a passing word, and Hong Zhang's chances of becoming an eloquent man can be imagined. Therefore, it is absurd to blame Weng's long-term deduction and refusal to allocate funds to Hong Zhang for the defeat of Beiyang Navy and Huai Army in the Sino-Japanese War.
Despite Weng Tonghe's distinguished life experience, Li Hongzhang has long advocated the strength of Beiyang Navy. Weng is ignorant and convinced. He once said to Wang Bogong: "Hefei has been running the army for decades and has made great achievements. Today, the Beiyang Army and Navy are in full swing. Is it unbearable to fight a war? " It was only after repeated wars and defeats that people became suspicious. Before leaving Tianjin, Ji Bangzhen, his in-laws and then the ambassador of Lu Chang's salt transportation, told the truth of Beiyang Navy's "whether the soldiers are good or not, whether the military newspaper is true or not, and whether the equipment is good or not". Therefore, it can be considered that Weng Tonghe worked hard to fight the main battle because he was full of confidence in the naval forces of the Qing Dynasty, which was consistent with his consistent thoughts on the Qing Dynasty.