Weng Tonghe writes poems and occasionally draws pictures, especially good at calligraphy. When I was a child, I studied Europe and Chu, and I was a beginner in Dong Qichang and Mi Fei. After middle age, Qian Feng overtook Yan Zhenqing, but he was not bound by Yan's words. He started his creative career with a broad structure, vigorous brushwork and simple and elegant style, and wrote The Diary of Weng Wengong Gong Gong and The Poem of Bottle Lu.
In October of the eighth year of Guangxu (1882), the court appointed Weng Tonghe as the military affairs minister, and Weng Tonghe became the military affairs minister for the first time. As a minister of military affairs, Weng Tonghe mainly participated in two major political activities. First, participate in handling the fraud case of reimbursement of Yunnan military personnel; The second is to participate in the Sino-French-Vietnamese negotiations. Weng Tonghe had a lifelong personal grudge against Li Hongzhang because Zeng Guofan and Li Hongzhang had denounced his brother. During his tenure as Minister of Household Affairs, he made things difficult for Beiyang Navy everywhere.
In the tenth year of Guangxu (1884), when the French-Vietnamese Incident began, Weng Tonghe advocated consulting with others and making preparations while marching. He also said that Liu Yongfu was dishonest and wanted to send more troops to pass the customs. The king turned away with the army and went straight to Yuqing Palace. Before and after the exam, he served as the president of the exam and the examiner of Shuntian Township Examination. Give "longevity" to the Prince Taibao, and give the eye of the purple rein. I tried to take time off to repair the tomb, spread the news of maritime risks and ordered Chiyi to return to Beijing. I appreciate it as soon as possible.
In the 16th year of Guangxu (1890), the Ministry of Finance played an important role, demanding that the navy be suspended from purchasing arms from abroad on the grounds that the size of the navy was adequate and the state was short of money, which led to the stagnation of the development of Beiyang Navy and lagged behind the world. At that time, there was a pair of satirical couplets: "Hefei, the prime minister, was thin in the world, and Changshu, the farmer, was barren in the world." The upper part of "Hefei" refers to Li Hongzhang of Hefei, Anhui, and the lower part of "Changshu" refers to Weng Tonghe of Changshu, Jiangsu. Li Weng's feud directly led to beiyang fleet's defeat in the Sino-Japanese War of 1894-1895. At that time, the British suggested that China "must buy two clippers to prepare for the Japanese victory". Unexpectedly, Weng Tonghe kept delaying, and two clippers were bought by Japan. This new Japanese ship is fast and has many cannons. One of the Japanese ships, Yoshino, became the ship that sank the most Chinese fleet in the Sino-Japanese War.
In the 20th year of Guangxu (1894), Weng Tonghe was appointed Minister of Military Aircraft, which won the trust of Emperor Guangxu. In the Sino-Japanese War, resolutely fight the main battlefield. The following year, the Qing army was defeated. During the Sino-Japanese peace talks, Weng Tonghe and Li Hongzao strongly opposed land division, pointing out: "It is better to increase reparations than to cede land."