Li Hongzhang is an important Han minister in the late Qing Dynasty, he is the Empress Dowager Cixi hand in hand to bring up. As a plenipotentiary of the Manchu government, he signed a series of unequal treaties on behalf of the Qing government, and was therefore labeled as a traitor. So Li Hongzhang is really a traitor? His children and grandchildren and how it is like?

01Li Hongzhang is a traitor

After the Opium War, China entered a semi-colonial and semi-feudal society, and became a raw material source and commodity dumping market of the Western powers. With the arrival of large quantities of foreign yarn and cloth in the Chinese market, our craftsmen went bankrupt, and in order to survive, they all joined the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom Movement.

The Taiping Heavenly Kingdom movement, under the leadership of Hong Xiuquan, soon swept through half of China. In order to suppress this peasant uprising, the Qing government decided to let local officials organize regiments and train their own army, so Li Hongzhang formed his own military force, the Huai Army.

Li Hongzhang's Huaijun made outstanding contributions to the suppression of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom movement, and from then on he was y liked by Empress Dowager Cixi, and his official career became more and more successful, and finally became the Qing government's plenipotentiary in foreign affairs.

In 1895, China lost the Sino-Japanese War and was forced to sign the humiliating Treaty of Shimonoseki. Li Hongzhang as the Qing government's plenipotentiary in the "Treaty of Shimonoseki" on the signature, from now on also back on the title of traitor. Then Li Hongzhang is really a traitor?

In fact, the reason why Li Hongzhang in the Sino-Japanese War to take the strategy of avoiding war and seek peace, it is because he knew that the Beiyang warships have not been repaired for a long time, the combat effectiveness has been very weak, even if and Japan's firefight can not be victorious.

And in the signing of the treaty, Li Hongzhang for Japan to put forward 400 million taels of silver war reparations is very angry, many times with the Japanese Prime Minister Ito Hirobumi talk, hoping to reduce the reparations. But the Japanese firmly ignored, and even wanted to lionize.

The result of the last day of negotiations, Li Hongzhang sitting sedan chair to Ito Hirobumi's office, was attacked by the Japanese ronin, the entire left side of the face was penetrated, but not life-threatening. At this time Ito Hirobumi asked how to deal with? Li Hongzhang said as long as the war reparations halved, so we only need to pay war reparations 200 million taels of silver.

In 1900, the Western powers in order to maintain the interests of China launched the Eight-Power Allied Forces invasion of China, the Empress Dowager Cixi fled, leaving Li Hongzhang on behalf of their own to deal with all matters. At this time Li Hongzhang has been 78 years old, he maneuvered in the middle of the powers, hoping that the powers can give the Qing government a face, hoping to reduce some of the reparations.

During the negotiations, Li Hung-chang coughed up blood many times due to his poor health, and sometimes he deliberately pretended to be sick, which was to get the sympathy of the Allied Forces of the Eight Powers, so that he could retreat as soon as possible. From these things, we can see Li Hongzhang for the sake of national interests and even can sacrifice his life, as if it is not a traitor.

02 Li Hongzhang's eldest son, the famous diplomat Li Jingfang

In the late Qing Dynasty, Li Hongzhang in addition to being a resounding figure in the court, but also a famous businessman. Driven by the idea of Western learning, Li Hongzhang participated in the foreign affairs movement, founded a series of military and civilian enterprises, earned a huge amount of wealth, and all of this wealth left to future generations. Then Li Hongzhang's children and grandchildren and what is it like?

Li Hongzhang married many wives in his life, but until the age of 40 did not have a son. His sixth brother was afraid that he would be cut off from his children and grandchildren, so he passed on his son, who was Li Hongzhang's eldest son, Li Jingfang.

Li Jingfang was Li Hongzhang's oldest son, who had been favored since he was a child and was well read in the Four Books and Five Classics. So in 1882, he successfully passed the imperial examinations and became an official in the Qing Dynasty. Like his father, he was mainly engaged in a variety of diplomatic activities, serving successively as an embassy envoy to Japan and Britain.

After Li Hongzhang's death in 1901, Li Jingfang, as the eldest son of the family, resigned from all his official positions to escort his own father's coffin from Beijing to Anhui. Due to the influence of Confucianism, Li decided to remain in mourning for three years.

After completing his mourning period, Li became the British Minister of State, dealing with foreign affairs with the U.K. In 1911, the Xinhai Revolution broke out and overthrew the Qing Dynasty, establishing a bourgeois democratic **** and state. The newly established provisional government dismissed Li Jingfang from all his posts.

From then on, due to his special status, Li Jingfang no longer participated in politics, and occasionally did some small business, and spent his last years in an ordinary way.

03LI HONGZHANG's ill-fated second son Li Jingshu

Li Jingfang came to Li Hongzhang's home soon after the birth of Li Hongzhang's own son, Li Jingshu was born. Although he was the eldest son in the family, he could only be the second son. He was also valued by Li Hongzhang from a young age, and also passed the examination at a very young age, and has been following Li Hongzhang's side.

When Li Hongzhang died in 1901, Li Jingshu was so sad that he couldn't get over the sadness of losing his father for a long time and died at the age of 38. Li Ching-shu had a very brilliant son called Li Kuo-jie, and because of his father's death, Li Kuo-jie, who was only 21 years old, inherited Li Hongzhang's title.

The Xinhai Revolution overthrew the Qing Dynasty, but the fruits of the revolution were stolen by Yuan Shikai. After Yuan Shikai became the president of the Republic of China, he thought of his old boss Li Hongzhang's care, so he especially reused Li Guojie and made him his spokesman in diplomacy.

But Li Guojie's fate was very rough, due to his status as a diplomat, he had many exchanges and contacts with foreigners, and was tempted to be very big. After 1931, Li Guojie was assassinated when he failed to carry the temptation and tore himself away from the Japanese.

04Summary

Is Li Hongzhang a traitor or not? I think Li Hongzhang, although as the plenipotentiary of the Qing Dynasty, signed a series of unequal treaties, these unequal treaties have brought deep harm to China, our country has gradually degenerated into a semi-colonial and semi-feudal society, and the people's life is miserable.

While all these treaties were signed by Li Hongzhang, but Li Hongzhang, as the plenipotentiary representative of the Qing Dynasty, is simply no way to refuse this mission. And in the process of signing, in order to safeguard the interests of the country, in order to reduce the influence of the great powers on China, Li Hongzhang almost lost his life, it can be seen that he is still very righteous, and is not a traitor.

Li Hongzhang's children and grandchildren why will be concerned? In fact, in addition to because of Li Hongzhang, an important figure, we also have a sentiment that is curious about the children and grandchildren of some important figures.