What do you think of Li Hongzhang?

I remember when I was a child, when I mentioned Li Hongzhang, my first thought was "traitor". After all, he signed the treaty of shimonoseki, a treaty to cede land in the late Qing Dynasty. After reading some books when I grow up, I think Li Hongzhang is actually a very respectable person.

In the political field, Li Hongzhang has excellent vision and agile means. Seeing that the weapons, education and technology of the Qing Dynasty were inferior to those of the West, he proposed to learn from the excellent technology of the West, take self-improvement as an example, and advocate the Westernization Movement. Although it seems that the Westernization Movement only learned superficial knowledge of foreign countries, looking at China at that time, the power of conservatives was far beyond our imagination. Therefore, Li Hongzhang's vision and means were beyond the reach of most senior officials at that time.

In the military field, Li Hongzhang was the founder of Huai Army and Beiyang Navy, which initiated the modernization of China Army. He established the first modern navy in the history of China.

In the economic field, he founded a series of enterprises in the Westernization Movement, such as Jiangnan Manufacturing Bureau, China Shipping Merchants Bureau, Tianjin Telegraph Bureau, Shanghai Woven Layout, Fuzhou Shipping Bureau, etc. Among them, China Merchants Group also took the lead in adopting the shareholding system, and its model has been used by later national industries.

In the diplomatic field, after Eight-Nation Alliance captured Beijing, he went to the negotiations alone, and finally settled the incident without ceding territory; When the Sino-Japanese War was unfavorable, he took the initiative to reach a settlement at the least cost.

In the field of culture, Li Hongzhang was a calligrapher with profound attainments in the late Qing Dynasty. His calligraphy is moderate, generous and steady, and he should be a first-class calligrapher in Yat Sen.

Perhaps Li Hongzhang's only criticism is the Sino-Japanese War and treaty of shimonoseki. In fact, when we think about it carefully, the signing of treaty of shimonoseki was not decided by him. Even if Li Hongzhang doesn't sign, others may sign. Can only blame the Qing dynasty for its weak national strength and being bullied. When Li Hongzhang signed it, he advocated paying as little money as possible and cutting less land. Maybe it would be even more shameful to let others sign treaty of shimonoseki.

Li Hongzhang was helpless all his life and was born at an untimely time. In the prosperous times, Li Hongzhang's talent and ability may remain immortal, instead of the "traitor" in the eyes of most people today, and he will not be beaten to death during the Great Leap Forward. Poor and pathetic!