The short video shows the ancient times, and the emperors cried with envy!

Chapter 847: The Beiyang Fleet was fighting with the enemy, and political enemies were still attacking the navy commander. Yongzheng: Bastard!

Just as everyone in the world was criticizing Yan Dongping's abominable behavior, the picture on the sky screen changed and new video content appeared.

[Why did the Meiji Restoration succeed, but the Westernization Movement failed? ]

[In the second half of the 19th century, faced with unprecedented changes in the world, two countries in East Asia began to reform almost simultaneously]

[The difference is that the Meiji Restoration of the island nation was successful, but the Westernization Movement of China failed]

[Both were reforms that were learned from the West to save the nation, so why did the Qing Dynasty and the island nation have different outcomes? ]

Everyone's attention was instantly drawn to these two reforms, one successful and one failed, especially the failed one, which was China's reform!

It sounds like these reforms were carried out under the same background and with similar purposes, but the island country succeeded in that small area while China failed?
Many people found it unbelievable.

How could the great China lose to the island countries in reform?

They had heard about the situation in China during this period in later generations in the past. The technology in the West was more advanced, and they were backward and could do nothing about it.

But this small island country, which was more backward than China at that time, actually surpassed China in one fell swoop. Was its reform successful?
“How did they succeed in their transformation?”

Wang Anshi and other politicians who were in charge of reforms or failed reforms were all staring at the sky with burning eyes.

Since the island country has been successful, there must be some experience that they can learn from or use for their benefit!
The first thing Tianmu mentioned was the Westernization Movement:
[The Westernization Movement first raised the banner of "self-strengthening"]

[In the early 19s, they tried to train a new army, purchase new weapons, and build military, industrial, textile and other enterprises]

[To this end, the Qing Dynasty introduced a large number of Western officers to train generals, and also introduced foreign guns and cannons to equip the army]

[At the same time, military industrial enterprises were built to imitate new weapons]

[In 29 years, the Westernization Movement established 34 military industrial enterprises and produced military equipment worth more than million taels of silver]

[In the navy, the Qing Dynasty was also capable of producing medium-sized warships of more than 2,000 tons]

[He also spent tens of millions of taels of silver to build the Beiyang Fleet, with a total tonnage of warships exceeding 30,000 tons]

"Doesn't this result look pretty good? Why did it fail?"

Liu Che stared at the sky in confusion. These achievements did not sound small.

He had witnessed the power of later guns and artillery in the sky. The Westernization Movement equipped the army with a large number of foreign guns and artillery, and later they were able to produce them independently.

Weapons and equipment worth a total of 40 million taels of silver!
He couldn't even imagine that if the Han army had weapons and equipment worth 40 million taels of silver, why would the battles against the Huns have been so brutal?

Needless to say, the Westernization Movement also established a navy.

Considering the total weight of this warship and the amount of silver it cost, I think this navy must be elite, from the warship weapons and equipment to the naval officers and soldiers.

No matter how you look at it, it doesn't look like it will fail.

Everyone was confused by this.

Before seeing the subsequent content of Tianmu, they first saw the comments below.

"We spent a lot of money, and it sounds like the military strength has been greatly enhanced, but it's not very useful."

"Yes, they are just flower stands."

"Except for the one match against France, where they always failed to deliver, where we managed to win by a small margin, I have never won against any other team."

Everyone's heart skipped a beat, and then the scene on the sky changed!
【but】

[The daily operation and military expenditure of the Beiyang Fleet were basically dependent on its founder Li Hongzhang and his faction. During the war, the imperial court and other governors and governors did not provide much logistical support.]

[Even when the Beiyang Fleet was fighting the enemy, Li Hongzhang's political enemies and censors continued to impeach him] [Moreover, the central army directly controlled by the Qing court had little combat effectiveness, and the wars were entirely dependent on the soldiers of local governors]

[Local governors and governors-general each run their own camps, and the armies cannot be under unified command. How can they fight against the invaders? ]

"What a jerk! It's already this late and you're still fighting among yourselves!"

Yongzheng pointed at the sky, his fingers trembling with anger, and he was furious.

He worked diligently every day and struggled to build up the Qing Dynasty, but it was ruined by these unworthy descendants and turned it into this state!
During the Westernization Movement, what did the emperors do?
If local power is too great, it will inevitably suppress the central government. Therefore, when he was in power, he kept the power of the Qing Dynasty firmly in the hands of the central government.

As a result, his descendants were in a bad situation. The central army could not stop fighting and had to rely on local armies. They could not even unify the command of operations.

Those local governors are all brainless bastards.

If we don't get rid of the external enemies, what's the point of fighting among ourselves for more benefits? They will still be snatched away by outsiders.

"They are all short-sighted!"

It would be strange if the Qing Dynasty did not perish in the hands of this group of people!
“As long as their interests are affected, even if they are in the same camp of reform, they will attack and hinder us. It is inevitable.”

Wang Anshi could not have been more deeply touched by this.

He failed in his reforms twice and was dismissed from his position as prime minister twice. This was not only because the conservatives were in power, but also because local officials, for their own benefit, enriched themselves and did nothing when implementing the reform measures.

If the Westernization Movement could not solve this internal problem, it would be no wonder that the subsequent reforms failed.

He had a premonition that this reform was doomed to fail.

……

[In addition, after the Westernization Movement achieved certain results in military-industrial enterprises and the military, it boasted that the results of "self-strengthening" had been initially achieved and turned to "seeking wealth"]

[However, there are huge problems with companies founded for the sake of wealth, which are also typical problems of state-owned enterprises]

[The preset production capacity of Keelung Coal Mine is 300 tons, but the actual annual production capacity is only 100 tons]

[Internal staff is redundant and corruption is rampant. They are all trying to get the country's money, resulting in losses year after year]

[Later, enterprises with government supervision and business operation and funded by the people emerged]

[However, for example, when Li Hongzhang founded the China Merchants Steam Navigation Company, he often made important decisions on his own, regardless of whether others agreed or not.]

[These enterprises are just commercial offices in name only, but the cooperating businessmen have no power to interfere.]

[Kaiping Mining Bureau, Hanyang Iron Works, Shanghai Weaving Factory and other enterprises all have the same problem]

"This is not about seeking wealth for the country, it's clearly about making money for oneself."

Liu Che waved his dragon sleeves and spoke pointedly.

In his opinion, those military-industrial enterprises founded during the "Self-Strengthening" period consumed too much money and have no money to support them, so they are making money under the name of "seeking wealth".

He had used this trick before. When he did not have enough money to fight the Huns, he turned the salt and iron industries into state-owned enterprises, earning a lot of silver for the national treasury and supporting the army's expenses.

It’s just about making money, after all, reform always costs money.

But they even don’t let go of spinning and weaving. Are these people crazy because of poverty?
Whether it is the government-run control of important items such as salt and iron, or making money from them, there should always be a limit.

And it seems that even the person taking the lead is confused.

(End of this chapter)