In the first year of Xianfeng (185 1), the Taiping rebellion broke out in Guangxi, and its influence immediately extended to the Yangtze River basin. In the third year of Xianfeng (1853), Nanjing was occupied, which shocked the Qing Dynasty and Xue Fucheng who was immersed in stereotyped writing. Xue Fucheng realized that he didn't grow up in the flourishing age of crowing and dancing, but he met the troubled times when the sky were to fall. In the sixth year of Xianfeng (1856), the second Opium War broke out, and the British and French allied forces began to wreak havoc in Guangzhou and coastal areas. The Qing army could do nothing about it, and practiced both inside and outside, which made Xue Fucheng more thrilling. At this time, facing the situation of internal troubles and foreign invasion, a new trend of saving practical learning has been set off in society. Under the fresh wind, Xue Fucheng made up his mind to devote himself to practical learning in order to meet the needs of national employment one day. So, on the one hand, he prepared for the exam, on the other hand, he studied the reasons for the success or failure of China in the past two thousand years, and studied the art of war, war, astronomy, Yin and Yang, and geographical situation. In the spring of the eighth year of Xianfeng (1858), he and his younger brother Xue Shuangshuang won the Jinshi. Soon, Xue, the eldest brother of Yuanwailang of Beijing Ministry of Industry, went back to Wuxi to visit relatives, and Xue Fucheng followed Xue to visit his father in Hunan. Unexpectedly, their father died of illness soon after they arrived in Hunan, and the two brothers were busy with their father's affairs. Because my father's accounts in the county magistrate's post were unclear, my brother Xue Fucheng had to wander in Hunan for a long time in order to clean up the public funds owed by his father in his post.
In the spring of the tenth year of Xianfeng (1860), before the Xue Fucheng brothers finished their work, they got the news that the Jiangnan camp collapsed and the Taiping Army defected to the Soviet Union and Changzhou. The two brothers were worried about an accident at their home in Wuxi and had to rush back to their hometown. Along the way, there were wars and crises. By this time, Wuxi had been occupied by Taiping rebels, my mother's family had run away from home, and my aunt's family was also killed in the accident. Xue's eldest brother was arrested by Taiping rebels again, and was released because Taiping rebels didn't know his identity. Later, the two brothers crossed the Yangtze River and arrived in Baoying Dongxiang, northern Jiangsu, looking for their lost family. His father died of illness, and his family suffered. Successive changes made Xue Fucheng truly feel the pain of social unrest and separation. In the same year, the British and French allied forces burned Yuanmingyuan and occupied Beijing. Emperor Xianfeng left the palace hastily and went to Jehol. Yixin and the powers that humiliated the country signed an unequal treaty. The deep difficulties made Xue Fucheng worried. Xue Fucheng felt that he had to study hard and learn with real talent, so as to save the shocking time change. From then on, he paid more attention to the key to the gains and losses of the chaos in ancient and modern times, and learned about the sufferings of the people and investigated social ills through the opportunities of going to Beijing to catch the exam and visiting Kaifeng and other places. However, Xue Fucheng paid attention to practical learning and often failed in the imperial examinations. After four years of Tongzhi (1865), the opportunity finally came to Xue Fucheng. In the summer of the same year, in view of the repeated battles and defeats in the process of suppressing the peasant uprising, the Qing court ordered Zeng Guofan, the governor of Liangjiang who had just suppressed the peasant uprising in the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, to command the Xiang army to go north to suppress the Nian army. Zeng Guofan, a representative of Westernization School who learned from the West, was regarded as one of the "four famous ministers of ZTE in the late Qing Dynasty" by the ruling and opposition parties.
Zeng Guofan was good at recruiting talents, and many people wanted to be attached to his door, so he gathered a group of wise men who were quite prestigious at that time in his shogunate. Zeng Guofan led the army north to suppress twisting, and posted a list of recruiting talents along the way. Xue Fucheng admired Zeng Guofan very much and thought it was an excellent opportunity to defect to him, so he elaborated his thoughts on social problems and ways to solve social crises for many years, and wrote a book of more than 10,000 words, focusing on eight countermeasures of "cultivating talents, extensively reclaiming wasteland, prospering politics, treating bandits, clearing bureaucrats, improving people's livelihood, improving coastal defense and changing the current situation". On June 28th, when Zeng Guofan's ship passed Baoying along the canal, accompanied by his eldest brother Xue, he braved the wind and rain to meet Zeng Guofan and respectfully handed over a million words. Zeng Guofan read his letter and was amazed. He thinks that Xue Fucheng's articles are good at discussing things, which is expected to become a family statement in the future. He told people around him that Xue Fucheng would make great achievements one day and immediately recruited Xue Fucheng as his staff. From then on, Xue Fucheng followed Zeng Guofan across the country and met a group of talented and ambitious aides. Zeng Guofan likes Go very much. Every morning, he invites Xue Fucheng, who has the same hobby, to play chess, not only to learn chess, but also to pay more attention to the exchange of military plans such as "military affairs, reimbursement, official business and culture".
Seven years later, because of Xue Fucheng's "meritorious service" and "meritorious military service", he was sponsored by Zeng Guofan and became a five-product alternate tongzhi (alternate year, not a real role) wearing a glass T-shaped eight-python five-embroidered robe. Xue Fucheng thinks that the world affairs today are nothing more than "military affairs, military affairs, public affairs and civil affairs". Although these staff members specialize in civil affairs, they actually want to take care of the overall situation and know everything. Just like guiding water, the shogunate is a place where many people gather, and it is also like farming. The shogunate is an area where young seeds are sown, and talents who can really govern the country can be produced. After years of Zeng Guofan's inspiration, colleagues' study and their own efforts, Xue Fucheng thinks that he has long been proficient in "civil affairs" and can look forward to "military affairs, reimbursement of expenses and official duties". He hoped that he could get out of the shogunate, seek a real role, take on heavy responsibilities, and do some vigorous events, just like a group of colleagues who have been greatly used by the imperial court for many years. However, in the eleventh year of Tongzhi (1872), Zeng Guofan died in Nanjing on March 12, and his staff went their separate ways. Xue Fucheng was not employed by the court because of his junior qualifications, outstanding talent and no backer. In this way, Xue Fucheng can only temporarily put away his ambitions. After arranging the funeral for Zeng Guofan's eldest son, he hired two carriages, carrying his treasured books and manuscripts, and sailed radially to Suzhou.
Xue Fucheng passed through his hometown of Wuxi, but he didn't enter the house. He rushed to Suzhou Bookstore to take office and run his own writing career. Xue Fucheng is not proud of coming to Suzhou, but he still pays attention to the society. He found that the area around Suzhou, once called "paradise on earth", is now empty, expensive and difficult to make a living. He learned that all parts of the country were devastated and people's lives were even more miserable than Suzhou. He was afraid to see that China's land and sea border was already a powerful enemy. He couldn't help exclaiming: "Alas, China doesn't want to be self-reliant, so how good!" Xue Fucheng felt that in this era of drastic changes, we must stress change, establish westernization, and learn from the West the skills of self-improvement. Xue Fucheng believes that up to now, the imperial court still sticks to a rut, emphasizing that "politics can't be done without legislation" and "talent can't be entered". Scholars still spend their time on stereotyped writing, trial posts and lower case letters, which is in vain. Until someone emphasized westernization and made a big fuss about it. If this continues, foreign countries will become stronger and China will become weaker, with disastrous consequences. Xue Fucheng hoped that the imperial court would spare no effort to do westernization and make itself rich. But a five-product official with no real power like him is not qualified to write to the court. Xue Fucheng is waiting patiently for the right time. At the end of the 13th year of Tongzhi (1874), the Tongzhi emperor died and the four-year-old Guangxu emperor Zai Tian ascended the throne. In the spring of the following year, according to the rules of officialdom, Xue Fucheng went to Beijing from Suzhou to meet the new emperor, passing through Jinan, Shandong Province, to visit his younger brother Xue, who was then the chief of staff of Ding Baozhen, the governor of Shandong Province. Here, Xue Fucheng read an "imperial edict" from the official bank notes, which caught his attention. This is the "imperial decree" issued by Empress Dowager Cixi in the name of the two palaces in order to stabilize the political situation during the change of emperors after the death of Emperor Tongzhi. The imperial edict decided to clear the way and ordered officials inside and outside the court to make suggestions to the court, which was selected and implemented by the court.
Xue Fucheng was very excited, so he wrote a letter and a quick book to Chen Yan, summarizing his own countermeasures to remedy the disadvantages and adapt the old law into Six Strategies for Leveling the Plain and Ten Secrets about Coastal Defence, and then asked Ding Baozhen to forward such a voluminous book. The title is Chen Yanshu. Xue Fucheng's "Six Strategies for Peace and Peace" are to cultivate talents, eliminate bureaucrats, be sympathetic to the people's feelings, support shipping, train soldiers and make good use of money, that is, to cultivate talents, eliminate bureaucrats, reduce the burden on the people, build canals, train elite infantry, promote shipmen, advocate honesty and thrift, and manage finances and reduce expenditure. These six strategies are to rectify internal affairs. The "Ten Secrets of Coastal Defence" is a prefecture and county, which is suitable for trial, storage, preparation, shipbuilding, business, tea administration, mining, naval training, armored ships and treaty books. These ten secret talks are about westernization, which is a way to learn from the west. To sum up, there are five main contents, namely, improving diplomatic work, cultivating new talents, attaching importance to science and technology, strengthening naval forces, and developing commerce and mining. Xue Fucheng's "Chen Yan" is sparse, fresh and accurate, and mellow with a pen. Everything is written from the simple and obvious, magnificent, magnificent and easy to understand. It had a great influence in the imperial court, and the Empress Dowager instructed the Minister of Military Affairs to send Chen to the yamen for deliberation. It has also caused great shock among progressives who strive for change throughout the country, competing for plagiarism and becoming a hot topic of discussion.
And Xue Fucheng became famous overnight. Li Hongzhang, leader of the Westernization School and governor of Zhili, immediately invited him to join the shogunate. Xue Fucheng became Li Hongzhang's brain trust, giving advice to Li Hongzhang. In this 10 year, Xue Fucheng was very active, helping Li Hongzhang to deal with many thorny issues, the most prominent of which was the dispute over the post of the general department of coastal defense.
After the Second Opium War, in order to ensure the compensation for China, Britain forced China to allow the British to be the chief tax department, manage customs and control tariffs. In the fifth year of Guangxu (1879), Hurd, an Englishman who served as the General Administration of Customs and Taxation, pretended to be enthusiastic to work for China, and wrote articles to the Qing court on naval establishment for many times, with the aim of controlling China's navy. The Qing government believed that if the British were in charge of the navy, it might be possible to put an end to bullying in Japan and other countries, and the navy could be quickly established by using British power. So I decided to let Hurd concurrently serve as the chief coastal defense department, responsible for purchasing more ships, selecting foreign generals, and taking charge of China's coastal defense.
Xue Fucheng thinks Hurd is a cruel and overbearing person. If he is in charge of military power and financial power alone, it will be even more difficult to control and the future trouble will be endless. However, the court has officially appointed him. After consideration, Xue Fucheng analyzed the reasons why Hurd could not be appointed as the chief of coastal defense, and put forward a plan. Xue Fucheng believes that as long as the Foreign Affairs Office of Premier Qing officially informed Hurd, it means that the General Department of Coastal Defence is very important in the military and requires Hurd to go to the seaside for special training. Therefore, Hurd's general tax department had to be filled by others. Xue Fucheng knew that Hurd, who was greedy for money, was determined not to give up his position at the State Administration of Taxation, but to become the General Administration of Coastal Defence and practice the navy on the spot. In this way, the mission of the imperial court Hurd became a dead letter. Li Hongzhang nodded repeatedly, and asked Xue Fucheng to draft the memorial for the Qing court, stating the danger of Hurd serving as the head of coastal defense department, and proposing remedial measures. The court acted according to the plan. Sure enough, after receiving the official document asking him to go to the seaside to train the navy, Hurd reluctantly said that in order not to lose the power of the customs, he would give up the important position of the coastal defense department. China's naval forces are finally out of the control of foreigners. Because of Xue Fucheng's outstanding talent, Xue Fucheng was finally awarded the title of "Four-level Ning Shao Tai Dao" by the court. From then on, he bid farewell to the shogunate career for nearly 20 years and showed his talents in the political arena of the late Qing Dynasty. In the early summer of the 10th year of Guangxu (1884), Xue Fucheng went south immediately after his visit to Beijing. He first went to Hangzhou, the provincial capital, to meet Governor Liu and Zhejiang, and then came to Ningbo, the seat of the government. Daotai is an intermediate local official. Ningshaotai Road in Xue Fucheng should not only supervise officials in Ningbo, Shaoxing and Taizhou, but also "prepare for the sea" to maintain local public order. Moreover, because Ningbo is an important commercial port in China and the earliest international trading port, it is necessary to supervise Zhenjiang and Ningbo, two customs with huge incomes. Xue Fucheng feels a great responsibility.
When Xue Fucheng took office, due to the provocation of the French army, there was an armed conflict between Chinese and French troops in lang son. The French government took the opportunity of blackmail and issued an ultimatum to China, demanding that China immediately withdraw its troops from Vietnam, and pay 250 million francs as compensation for soldiers' expenses, and sent vice admiral to lead the Far East Fleet and rush into the coast of China, ready to capture one or two ports as collateral for compensation. In this case, the Qing government was forced to issue a coastal martial law, because the gateway of Zhejiang was Zhenhai Haikou, about 50 miles east of Ningbo, and the navy was stationed in Ning and Zhen. This unit is under the command of Zhejiang Governor Ouyang and Zhejiang Governor Liu. Liu is stationed in Hangzhou, the provincial capital, and it is not difficult for him to directly command the troops at the front line of Ning and Zhen. Knowing Xue Fucheng's talent, Xue Fucheng set up a coastal defense camp in Ningbo. All the orders and strategies of the governor and the combat readiness at the front are handed down or handled by the battalion. After Xue Fucheng was ordered, he immediately rushed to Zhenhai to inspect the frontline defense and discuss the defense plan. Just as Xue Fucheng and others tried their best to strengthen the defense and prevent French warships from breaking into the mouth of Zhenhai River, the government officials in Fuzhou did not make full preparations for the battle, watching French ships break into the mouth of Minjiang River one after another. On August 23rd, the 10th year of Guangxu (1884), the French fleet launched a surprise attack and sank seven warships of Fujian Navy for half an hour. At this point, the Qing court was forced to declare war on France, and the Sino-French war officially began. The sky over Zhejiang, which is close to Fujian, is overcast, and Xue Fucheng has further accelerated the pace of fortification.
The main measures taken by Xue Fucheng are as follows: first, blocking Zhenhai Haikou by nailing, sinking and laying mines to prevent enemy ships from invading, further strengthening and disguising the fortresses and fortifications in front, consolidating the defense, and quickly completing the telegraph line from Ningbo to Zhenhai, so that the front line can reply to Hangzhou and Ningbo immediately, which is convenient for command. Secondly, in view of the situation that Dinghai, a north-south transportation hub, is isolated overseas and attacked from all sides, and it is difficult to have a good defense strategy for a while, the old testament signed by China and Britain to protect Zhoushan in 1846 was used to curb France's invasion of Dinghai, so that France could not use Dinghai as its invasion base.
Xue Fucheng knew that after the British troops withdrew from Zhoushan in the 26th year of Daoguang (1846), Britain forced China to sign a treaty to protect Zhoushan, which violated China's sovereignty. In the third paragraph, China will not cede Zhoushan to other countries. In the fourth paragraph, Britain will protect Zhoushan if other countries attack. Therefore, he urged the court to inform the British envoy to abide by the Old Testament. At the same time, he repeatedly suggested that the British consul in Ningbo issue a statement to the British government, which was drafted by the staff and revised repeatedly by himself. The article makes sense that the British government and people, that is, Britain, the number one power, must abide by the Old Testament of public international law. At the same time, it emphasizes that if France occupies Dinghai, Hong Kong's trade will decline and Britain's interests will be greatly damaged. After this activity, the British ruling and opposition parties were really in an uproar, demanding the implementation of the Old Testament. The British Consul General in Shanghai also reached a secret agreement with the French Minister in China on the orders of the government. Britain will not announce the protection of Zhoushan to hinder France's actions, but France will never attack Zhoushan. Because Dinghai has always been in China's hands, it has not become a French invasion base, which has played a very important role in the success of coastal defense in eastern Zhejiang. Third, four foreign navigators familiar with the Yongjiang waterway in Shanghai were hired in advance at a certain reward, and they promised not to pilot French ships. He also called on the army and the people to put the overall situation first, unite as one, share the same enemy, and act in accordance with the law. At the same time, French missionaries in Ningbo will concentrate in the north of Ningbo or move to Shanghai to send troops to protect, spy on and eliminate hidden dangers. By implementing these measures, Xue Fucheng has greatly improved Zhejiang's defense level. In the 11th year of Guangxu (1885), at the end of February, the leader of the French Far East Fleet pulled out four warships and set out for Zhenhai. Xue Fucheng hurriedly ordered the demolition of lighthouses and buoys on beaches and rocks outside the mouth, and the sunken ship blocked Haikou Town. He also set out from the overall situation of the war, demanding that China troops from Taiwan Province Province and Fujian Province concentrate on Zhenhai when the main force of the French army is concentrated, seize the opportunity to counterattack, recover the occupied area of Taipei, and recapture Keelung Coal Mine, on which the French fleet refueled, thus corrupting the anti-French struggle in eastern Zhejiang. On the afternoon of March 1, the warriors of the battery in Zhenhai Haikou vigorously shelled the French warships heading for Zhenhai Haikou, and the East Zhejiang War Team started fighting. Due to the tight defense, several French attacks were repelled by intensive and fierce artillery fire. France's attack on Zhenhai was not only blocked by a solid defense line, but also failed to raise a pilot with a silver reward of 62 thousand both locally and in Shanghai. The ships it sent to explore the Strait could not withstand heavy shelling and were often sunk or repelled. Because of the secret agreement between Britain and France, it can't attack the Dinghai, which is close at hand, and can only wander on the sea surface. Xue Fucheng, on the other hand, actively tried to harass and attack the enemy.
On March 20th, Qian Yuxing, commander of the Qing army, led a death squad, secretly transported eight small guns with guns to the front line, and suddenly opened fire on enemy ships in the middle of the night. As a result, he fired five shots and killed many enemy troops. It is said that Guba was injured in the night attack and soon died of his injuries. The French fleet stayed outside Zhenhai for 45 days until the Sino-French peace talks ended. In this Sino-French war, the French army suffered repeated defeats and wars in Vietnam and Taiwan Province Province. When the French navy destroyed the Fujian navy and defeated the Nanyang navy, it was very arrogant. However, the French fleet suffered many unfavorable battles in Zhenhaikou and suffered heavy losses, which was an unexpected failure. This is a great achievement created by Xue Fucheng and the broad masses of patriotic soldiers and civilians who have been loyal to their country, carefully prepared for defense and fought against the French army. After the Sino-French War, Xue Fucheng was not satisfied with the victory of Zhenhai naval battle. He constantly raised funds, built platforms and guns, overhauled Zhenhai national defense fortifications, and strived to make "the gateway of Zhejiang, always stable and big." Xue Fucheng is proficient in westernization and pays attention to international affairs. He often writes articles on diplomatic issues, which has attracted the attention of many westernization bureaucrats. As early as the first year of Guangxu (1875), when the imperial court selected diplomatic envoys abroad, Ding Baozhen and Guo Songtao, the big names of the Westernization School, recommended Xue Fucheng successively, saying that he was well-read and knowledgeable, and was proficient in the western terrain system. After years of accumulated political experience and rising ranks, the imperial court paid more attention to Xue Fucheng.
In May of the 15th year of Guangxu (1889), Liu Ruifen, the ambassador to Britain, France, Italy and Belgium, served for three years, and Xue Fucheng was awarded a second-class hat by the court as a third-class candidate for imperial palace, serving as the envoy to Britain, France, Italy and Belgium. There was no happy ending when going abroad at that time. 1876 Guo Songtao, who was sent to the western regions on behalf of the imperial court, was attacked and slandered by domestic diehard forces, saying that he "failed to convince people, how can he convince ghosts"? Why did he leave his parents' country? Guo Songtao ended up being dismissed and depressed. Ceng Jize, who was sent to France, presided over the negotiation of amending the treaty with Russia and took back Ili, but in the end he was also removed from office and returned to China, which made Ceng Jize feel high-spirited and restless. However, Xue Fucheng is well aware of the importance of diplomatic work to the country. So he is well aware of the dangers of the road, but he will never be timid. After making full preparations, he boarded the "Irava Bottom" at 8 pm on the 16th year of Guangxu (1 890)1October 3 1, and set sail on the morning of February 81,and began his life as an envoy abroad. On the way, he discussed his experiences with carefully selected entourage Huang Zunxian, Xu Jue, Qian Xun and others. He realized that there is a big world behind which China is only a small part, denied China's inherent narrow geographical concept of taking China as the world center, realized that the development of Hong Kong and Singapore lies in the good business of foreigners, and realized that China has always regarded business as the last of the four people and regarded it as the people.
After more than a month of sea turbulence, the diplomatic mission headed by Xue Fucheng finally arrived at Marseille Port on February 16th, 16th year of Guangxu (1March 6th, 890), landed in Xue Fucheng, and set foot on the European continent for the first time, thus realizing the long-awaited dream of eye-opening. Xue Fucheng's first routine when he took office was to present credentials to the head of state of the host country and call on the foreign ministries and foreign ministers. Xue Fucheng went to France, Britain, Belgium and Italy in sequence. Xue Fucheng is neither supercilious nor supercilious, and all countries warmly welcome him. During this period, he also visited Germany, Switzerland and other countries. Xue Fucheng attended banquets and tea parties in European countries, listened to optimistic dance music, visited and toured, and had close contacts and extensive contacts with celebrities from all walks of life in the West. Western material civilization and spiritual civilization have greatly broadened his horizons. He focused on the social gains and losses in Europe. Through the inspection of houses and factories, he realized a truth: the reason why European and American countries are advanced and China is backward lies in the different systems. This is a step higher than his own opinion expressed in My Humble Opinion on Raising Foreign Countries. At this time, Xue Fucheng has truly become an early reformist thinker.
During his missionary work, Xue Fucheng was very concerned about protecting overseas Chinese, and made efforts to set up consulates in areas where overseas Chinese were concentrated, so as to protect them nearby, so that overseas Chinese would be less bullied and enslaved. He drafted a note to the British Foreign Office, citing public international law and national practices, stating that China has the right to send consulates to British territory. Xue Fucheng pointed out that China abides by public international law and allows Britain to set up more than 20 consulates in China. According to the new Sino-British treaty 1869 10 of October 23rd, there is a clause that Britain allows China to send officials to Britain and its territory. Therefore, China, like European and American countries, should have the right to send consuls to all parts of Britain. Later, Britain had to agree to Xue Fucheng's reasonable request in principle.
While negotiating with Britain, Xue Fucheng made a submission to the imperial court on "Promoting the Establishment of Consular Protection for Overseas Chinese in Nanyang Islands", reported to the imperial court the distribution of overseas Chinese around the world and the situation of being bullied and exploited, and complained about the necessity and urgency of setting up consulates in various places. Thanks to Xue Fucheng's efforts, in the autumn of Guangxu 17th year (189 1), Huang Zunxian was recommended by Xue Fucheng as Consul General in Singapore. At the same time, the Qing government also promulgated several laws and regulations to protect returned overseas Chinese. No matter how long they stay abroad, as long as they are willing to return to China to make a living and buy a house, they will be treated equally with mainlanders, and no one will be allowed to make things difficult or discriminate. Later, Xue Fucheng won the right to set up a vice consul in Penang, Nanyang and a consulate in Yangon, Myanmar. The establishment of consulates and consulates has finally changed the miserable situation of overseas Chinese who are helpless and have nowhere to complain, and finally realized the long-cherished wish of overseas Chinese to "climb high and look far, and trace their roots."
Another important thing that Xue Fucheng did during his mission was to negotiate the border affairs and commerce between Yunnan and Myanmar. In June of Guangxu 16th year (1890), Xue Fucheng opened the archives five years ago at the embassy in London, and was immediately deeply attracted by the contents. 1885, British troops invaded the whole territory of Myanmar and made it a colony. Of course, China, which is adjacent to Myanmar, cannot but express something. Then, Ceng Jize, then the British and French minister, was ordered to negotiate with the British Foreign Office. In the negotiations: first, not to invade Myanmar near the border of China; The second is to make the Jinsha River on the Yunnan-Myanmar border a common river for ships of the two countries; Third, let China set up a commercial port and set up a tax clearance near eight acres of Dajinsha in Jiangxi. Ceng Jize, considering that he doesn't know much about the situation on the Yunnan-Myanmar border, said that he would wait until he knew the situation before making a decision. However, in 1886, the British Minister to China did not include Britain's three-point statement on Ceng Jize in the Sino-British-Myanmar Treaty formally signed with the Prime Minister's Office in Beijing. After analyzing this file, Xue Fucheng thought that Britain did this to deny the past three agreements and pave the way for its further invasion of China and the division of the Yunnan-Myanmar border. If so, the consequences will be very serious. For this reason, Xue Fucheng sent a note to the British Foreign Office, reiterating the three agreements reached between China and Britain five years ago, demanding that Britain truly fulfill the terms of the Sino-British Burma Treaty that the largest British official in Myanmar send someone to pay tribute to China every ten years and pay tribute to China as scheduled. In March of the 17th year of Guangxu (189 1), Xue Fucheng formally wrote to the imperial court, suggesting that China take the initiative to negotiate the border affairs and commerce between Yunnan and Myanmar, so as to avoid being seriously violated when Britain took further actions to forcibly negotiate, and recommended himself as the representative of China. However, the Qing court did not attach importance to it at first, and it was not until the 18th year of Guangxu (1892) that Xue Fucheng repeatedly stated his interests before replying. Xue Fucheng grasped the British businessmen in Myanmar's desire to trade with China. In two meetings with the British Foreign Secretary, he pointed out that if the border was not demarcated, it would be difficult to develop business between Yunnan and Myanmar. In this way, for the sake of commercial interests, the British Foreign Office can only change its strategy of delaying demarcation and agree to conduct demarcation negotiations.
In the 18th year of Guangxu (1892), Britain sent a memorandum of demarcation to the Embassy of China, totally negating the three agreements, and even planning to demarcate the entire China-Myanmar border in China. During the negotiation, Xue Fucheng started with citing public international law, and thought that savage mountain, which stretches for thousands of miles on both sides of the Jinsha River, was the middle zone of "non-Myanmar and non-China", and according to public international law, it should be divided equally between the two countries. After two years of repeated negotiations. In the 20th year of Guangxu (1894) and in March of 1, Xue Fucheng finally signed the Agreement on the Renewal of Border Affairs and Commerce between Yunnan and Myanmar on behalf of China. For half a century, most Sino-British negotiations have ended in signing unequal treaties. However, the signing of this negotiation is based on public international law. Xue Fucheng is tough and flexible, forcing the most powerful country in the West to recognize China's legitimate demands. This is really an unprecedented success since China launched its diplomacy. In March of the 20th year of Guangxu (1894), Xue Fucheng's term of office expired shortly after the signing of the "Yunnan-Myanmar Border Affairs and Trade Renewal". In the 20th year of Guangxu (1894), he left Paris on the evening of May 25th and went to Marseille to board the return boat. Finally arrived in Shanghai on the evening of July 1. As Xue Fucheng was already terminally ill, and suffered from the intense heat of the Red Sea and typhoons from Fujian and foreign countries along the way, he was stuck in his hospital bed as soon as he arrived in Shanghai. On July 20th, he was suddenly infected with an epidemic, which made the situation worse. He died suddenly in the middle of the night at the age of 57.
At that time, it was the national disaster, and the Sino-Japanese Sino-Japanese War of 1894-1895 had already started, but when talents were needed, they suddenly lost a pillar, which made many people who were worried about the country and the people very sad. More than 20 days later, people from all walks of life in Shanghai held a huge funeral for Xue Fucheng to express their condolences to this thinker and diplomat. After the funeral ceremony, the family returned to Wuxi with Xue Fucheng's coffin. In October of A.D. 165438+, Xue Fucheng was buried in his hometown-at the foot of the military tent on the shore of Taihu Lake.