Hefei and Changshu are place names. Li Hongzhang is from Hefei, Anhui, and Weng Tonghe is from Changshu, Jiangsu.

The world is cold: when it comes to Li Hongzhang, the first thing that comes to mind in later generations are all kinds of treaties that humiliated the country and the endless reparations. Li Hongzhang is engaged in the Westernization Movement. Although his goal is to make Qiang Bing rich, he has not wronged himself at all. Sheng Xuanhuai, his number one strategist and red top businessman, was the richest man in the late Qing Dynasty, even richer than Hu Xueyan.

Li Hongzhang himself is not an honest official. According to Mr. Liang Qichao's research, Li Hongzhang's family property exceeds12 million taels of silver, most of which is gray income. "Fat" himself, but "thin" the world, which is a big stain of Li Hongzhang.

World shortage: The so-called Minister of Housing is in charge of money, and his duty is to reasonably control the treasury and let the people in the world live and work in peace and contentment and live a rich life. But obviously, "Finance Minister" Weng Tonghe is not qualified. He "spends money like water" and doesn't spend it on the cutting edge. The fiasco of the Sino-Japanese War of 1894-1895 had much to do with his deduction of the military expenditure of Beiyang Navy, which led to the backwardness of warships' weapons.

"Finance Minister" is undoubtedly the fattest job, so at that time, many people suspected that Weng Tonghe had corruption problems, and he was also impeached for investigation. But it turns out that Weng Tonghe is not only not a big corrupt official, but also very clean. He plows in his backyard, and the dealer "Changshu" is real. Besides, he is as poor as a church mouse.

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After the defeat in the Sino-Japanese War, Weng Tonghe tried his best to avoid responsibility, blaming Li Hongzhang for the failure, thinking that Li Wei could take over the war, and even proposed to be beheaded. In addition, he also said that Empress Dowager Cixi used naval military expenses to build the Summer Palace. In fact, Beiyang Navy did not add an inch of ships for many years, which was entirely the result of Weng Tonghe and others abolishing the relevant funds, but it poured sewage on Cixi's head, so it was hated by the "post-party".

However, the decision to recall Weng Tonghe was ultimately arbitrary. First, Guangxu and Kang Youwei were in close contact at this time, and Weng Tonghe vilified Guangxu in order to compete for favor. As a recommender of Kang Youwei, this move was not brilliant and left an impression on Guangxu.

Second, Weng Tonghe pretended to be an imperial envoy and was rude to Guangxu. According to the records at that time, Weng Tonghe once threw an inkstone at Guangxu in a dispute with Guangxu. Although it missed, the ink splashed on Guangxu's clothes. Although this is an isolated case, Weng's arrogance should be an open secret.