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Chapter 242 The battle between China and Japan in gambling on the destiny of the country
The failure of the Westernization Movement had an important time point, which was the Sino-Japanese Sino-Japanese War of 1898-1895.

Su Chen felt extremely heavy every time he thought about losing to Japan in the national fortune betting battle.

It is no exaggeration to say that the Sino-Japanese War had a profound impact on both China and Japan and was an important turning point in the history of both countries.

For China, the disastrous defeat in the Sino-Japanese War of 1894-1894 deepened semi-colonialization and national crisis.

But it also stimulated the awakening of the Chinese nation and made the Chinese people start thinking about how to save China.

For Japan, the huge compensation paid by the Qing Dynasty greatly promoted Japan's rise and enabled Japan's rapid economic development. ,
But it also led to the vicious expansion of Japanese militarism and sown the seeds for Japan to launch wars in the future.

"In March 1894, on an early spring night, the lights in the upper study room in the Forbidden City were not extinguished, and Emperor Guangxu was still reviewing memorials."

"When Guangxu came to power, it also coincided with a rare good time in the history of the late Qing Dynasty."

"The Taiping Rebellion was suppressed, Westernization was booming in various places, and even the diplomacy with Western powers was temporarily reconciled."

"The so-called Tongguang ZTE has brought a touch of life to this dynasty that has begun to decay."

"Li Hongzhang accepted the strong recommendation of Li Fengbao, the minister to Germany, and chose to order two giant ironclad ships - Dingyuan and Zhenyuan - at the German shipyard."

That is, the paper tiger image of the Qing Dynasty has been exposed. It turns out that the Qing Dynasty is so weak that it cannot even defeat Japan, which it looked down upon in the past.

“Among them, the Japanese Navy has only five battleships of over 2,000 tons, with a total tonnage of less than 15,000 tons.

Weng Tonghe: I regret it! I should not ignore the interests of the Qing Dynasty because of personal grievances, otherwise the Qing Dynasty would not have suffered a disastrous defeat in the Sino-Japanese War of 1894-1894.

"The Beiyang Navy had just returned from a patrol in the South Seas. Li Hongzhang reported to the court, lamenting the fact that the Beiyang Navy's ships and equipment had begun to fall behind, and applied to the Navy Yamen to install advanced rapid-fire cannons on the capital ships even if they did not purchase fast ships in the short term. "

"It is China's first modern navy, represents the highest achievement of the Westernization Movement in the military field, and is also a concentrated expression of China's thirty years of self-improvement after the Opium War."

"Who could have expected that such a navy that made a grand appearance on the historical stage, together with its seemingly incomparable powerful ships and artillery, would be wiped out in just six years."

In the end, the disastrous defeat of the Sino-Japanese War of 1894-1899 made all the subjects of the Qing Dynasty mourn.

Before the Sino-Japanese Sino-Japanese War, many European countries defeated them, whether they were the British, French, Germans or Russians.

"While hesitating, Emperor Guangxu only gave a five-word instruction. The yamen knew about it."

"On October 1885, , Dingyuan raised the dragon flag and officially became the flagship of the Beiyang Navy Fleet."

But no matter what, they always believed that the Qing Dynasty was the number one in East Asia and a country with hegemonic status.

"That is because the ship styles of various Western countries are changing with each passing day. Even Japan, a small country, can save money and purchase huge ships."

"The Beiyang Navy has seven ships, with a total tonnage of 27,000 tons."

When the common people in the late Qing Dynasty heard this, they felt particularly complicated and felt very uncomfortable.

"Since 1879, in order to strengthen coastal defense, the Qing government began to purchase new ironclad ships from Britain."

"At this time, the Beiyang Navy is powerful and is known as the number one in Asia, far surpassing neighboring Japan. It has a total of 25 German-made and British-made warships."

“Until the mid-19th century, due to geographical and cultural radiation, many political entities in East Asia maintained a state-to-state relationship with China known as the vassal system.”

"The memorial fell into disgrace, and few paid attention to the dangerous information it revealed."

"Guangxu was not unfamiliar with such memorials. After the Beiyang Navy was formed in 1888, Li Hongzhang wrote many times to request the updating of naval equipment."

If they were defeated by other European powers, they wouldn't think anything of it. They were already used to it anyway.

"The Japanese side was ready to attack, but the Qing side was unaware of it."

"However, the imperial court's fiscal revenue is stretched thin and it does not have enough financial resources to purchase naval equipment."

But in the end, little Japan, which they had always looked down upon, actually defeated the Celestial Kingdom for the first time.

"In 1888, the Beiyang Navy was established."

Because he was at odds with Li Hongzhang, he petitioned the emperor to temporarily ban Beiyang from purchasing Western warships and guns for two years on the grounds of saving financial expenditures.

"Many countries in East Asia, including North Korea, Ryukyu, Annan, and Myanmar, regard China as their suzerain state."

"In addition, the great master Weng Tonghe and Li Hongzhang had always had political disagreements, and they often argued about this matter."

"That night, a memorial from Li Hongzhang, Minister of Beiyang and Governor-General of Zhili, appeared on Guangxu's desk."

"Since the establishment of the Beiyang Navy in 14 years, China has not added a single ship so far, and it may be difficult to continue."

"What ruined him was not the European fleet with strong naval combat capabilities, but rather the East Asian neighbor Japan, which had always lagged behind in terms of naval strength and was struggling to catch up."

The failure of the Sino-Japanese War of 1894-1894 made every subject in the country see a cruel reality clearly.

But they were defeated by their former younger brother, how could they bear it.

"The Dingyuan, which has a displacement of 7,000 tons, is equipped with a 305mm breech-loaded gun produced by the German Krupp Company. It is incredibly powerful."

"This also made this war a far-reaching turning point in the entire history of the Qing Dynasty."

At this moment, he only felt deep regret. If there had not been that memorial, the situation in the Qing Dynasty would not be as bad as it is now.

The thought of being completely defeated by Japan made every one of their Qing subjects feel extremely aggrieved.

While Japan was purchasing new Western warship guns, the Beiyang Fleet was unable to replace them because it had no money.

"In 1894, the year of Sino-Japanese War on the lunar calendar, a war that would change the fate of the country was about to begin between the Qing Dynasty and its neighbor Japan."

In the Sino-Japanese Sino-Japanese Sino-Japanese Sino-Japanese Sino-Japanese Sino-Japanese Sino-Japanese Sino-Japanese Sino-Japanese Sino-Japanese Sino-Japanese Sino-Japanese Sino-Japanese Naval War, the imperial court's Beiyang Navy was completely defeated, which severely damaged their self-esteem.

It was precisely because of his memorial that the Beiyang Fleet missed the perfect opportunity to replace its equipment.

"In this political order that also belonged to the Confucian cultural circle, Japan also became a tributary state of the Ming Dynasty of China."

"And from 1433 to 1549, a total of eleven tribute missions were sent to China."

"Until the mid-19th century, Japan was still a feudal country."

"The Tokugawa shogunate occupies a dominant position and implements a policy of isolation from the country like the Qing Dynasty, prohibiting overseas trade with Japan."

"However, the arrival of a black warship changed everything."

"In July 1853, Commodore Perry of the United States Navy led a fleet and anchored in Edo Bay, Japan."

"One year later, under the threat of giant ships, the Treaty of Kanagawa between Japan and the United States was signed."

"Britain and Russia came after hearing the news, and Japan was forced to open to the West."

"However, this black ship incident became an opportunity for Japan to innovate."

"Compared to the island country of Japan, China's resources are obviously much richer, and the sense of existential crisis is naturally not that strong."

"Before the advent of ships, China was like being in a greenhouse. You didn't need to be in contact with anyone to live well."

"Westerners are eager to open China's trade market and exchange tea and porcelain."

"But I found that the Chinese didn't care what they exchanged."

"The inertia created by the general environment has unknowingly made the Chinese respond to the modern development of the West several times slower than Japan."

"In 1868, a group of reformers who advocated reform and self-improvement, headed by Emperor Meiji, presided over the Meiji Restoration."

"In just a few years, a modern national system was established imitating the West."

"This made Japan the first in East Asia to step out of the traditional dynasty model and embark on the path of modernization."

Li Hongzhang: In my opinion, the reason why Little Japan’s thinking has changed so quickly is that their sense of existential crisis is too strong.

Before the Sino-Japanese War, he did not take Japan seriously.

But after the defeat of the Sino-Japanese War, the cruel reality forced him to pay attention to Little Japan and learn in detail how Little Japan became stronger step by step.

As far as he knew, Little Japan, like the Qing Dynasty, was resistant to the West at first.

When the steamships of the American fleet arrived in Japan, Japan's ridiculous behavior became evident.

After the Black Ship Incident, Japan specially selected a group of burly sumo wrestlers.

To deliver rice and supplies to American ships, ordinary civilian women were not used, but sumo wrestlers were used to deliver them.

The reason for this is because Japan wants Americans to think that Japan is a country of strong men and that all people are like this, and they want to scare Americans away.

When he first learned about this from Japanese information, he thought this move was very ridiculous.

But another thing made him stop laughing, and he vaguely understood the reason why Japan rose rapidly and surpassed the Qing Dynasty.

After the American ironclad ship arrived in Japan, a local man in Japan broke the ban and risked going to jail to board the American ship.

After arriving on the American ship, when the Japanese saw the Americans with high nose bridges and deep eye sockets, they knelt down and kowtowed to the ground, asking the Americans to take him in. He wanted to learn from Americans.

Although this behavior of the Japanese makes him shameless and loses the dignity of the country.

But he also had to admit that perhaps it was this shameless questioning that allowed Japan to quickly catch up with the Qing Dynasty.

"When Emperor Meiji ascended the throne, he immediately issued an edict to open up thousands of miles of waves and spread the emperor's power to all directions. To this end, he focused on developing the navy."

"It is not that China, separated by a sea, has not developed its own navy."

"As early as 1866, when Zuo Zongtang was the governor of Zhejiang, he established the Fujian Shipbuilding Bureau in Mawei, which is now the Mawei Shipyard."

“As China’s first naval school in modern times, it took the lead in introducing Western military education systems and content, and cultivated a group of modern China’s shipbuilding talents and senior generals, many of whom died heroically in the brutal Sino-Japanese War of 1894-1894.”

"In 1874, the Japanese invaded Taiwan."

"Fujian Shipping Minister Shen Baozhen responded immediately and led 11,000 troops to Taiwan to meet the enemy."

"During that war, the Japanese government had to accept negotiations due to the prevalence of disease and unfavorable fighting conditions in the Japanese army."

"With the mediation of the British Minister in China, William Wytoma, China and Japan signed a treaty in October 1874."

"The weakness of the Qing Dynasty not only did not allow Japan to be condemned for its invasion and pay the corresponding price."

"Instead, the Qing government paid half a million taels of silver as compensation for Japan's aggression in exchange for peace and quiet on both sides."

"The Qing Dynasty did not protect Ryukyu, which was also a vassal state."

"Although Japan has implemented its plan to invade Ryukyu step by step since 1872."

"The King of Ryukyu still insisted on sending a tribute mission to the Qing Dynasty to show recognition of the Qing Dynasty's status as a suzerainty."

"But in April 1879, Japan declared the Ryukyu Islands to become Japan's Okinawa Prefecture."

"Thus annexing the Ryukyu Kingdom, Shoutai, the last king of Ryukyu, was sent to Japan for house arrest."

"The Qing Dynasty was unable to respond to this and could only allow Japan's ambition to annex the Ryukyu Kingdom to succeed."

"In 1875, Japan sent a fleet to invade Korea, and at the same time sent envoy Mori Yurei to China to test the Prime Minister's Yamen's reaction."

"Li Hongzhang, then the Governor-General of Zhili, claimed on behalf of China that although North Korea was a vassal state of China, it had its own internal and external affairs and China would not interfere."

"The Qing government's weak and ignorant attitude is tantamount to agreeing with Japan's aggression."

"In 1884, the Kashin coup planned by pro-Japanese faction occurred in North Korea."

"The King of Korea put down the coup with the help of the Qing army, and the Japanese government sent Fumi Ito to China to demand compensation for Japan's losses."

"Li Hongzhang, who was busy with the Sino-French war, quickly compromised and signed the "Special Treaty on the Sino-Japanese Tianjin Conference" in 1885."

"It stipulates that if major incidents occur in North Korea in the future, China and Japan must notify each other if they need to send troops."

"This agreement actually provided the basis for Japan to send troops to Korea in 1894."

Zhu Di: The Qing government is so weak and incompetent. It has repeatedly given in in the confrontation with Japan. It is really cowardly and makes me angry to death.

Although these cowardly behaviors were all done by the Qing Dynasty and had nothing to do with the Ming Dynasty.

But whether he admits it or not, the Qing Dynasty inherited the Ming Dynasty.

Now that the Qing Dynasty has taken control of the Central Plains and dominates the world, it has the responsibility to protect the people of China and the obligation to protect the vassal states.

But now looking at what the Qing Dynasty did, a series of compromises and aggrieved actions, it was hard for him not to be angry.

You must know that the common people and vassal states of the Qing Dynasty inherited the Ming Dynasty.

Now that the vassal states were abandoned one by one by the Qing Dynasty, as the emperor of the Ming Dynasty, how could he not feel distressed? Those were also his vassal states of the Ming Dynasty.

He already knew that the late Qing Dynasty was cowardly, but he did not expect it to be so weak.

Japan invaded Taiwan and was ultimately at a disadvantage in the battle with the Qing army and had to accept negotiations.

For the Qing Dynasty, such a good situation could completely gain the upper hand in negotiations with Japan.

But in the end, the Qing Dynasty paid half a million taels of silver as compensation for Japan's aggression, just in exchange for peace between the two sides.

He no longer knew how to scold the Qing government for being so weak.

In response to a series of inactions by the Qing government, Japan was allowed to invade and occupy vassal states.

He thought about it for a while and could roughly guess the reason.

After the Second Opium War in 1860, the Qing government launched the Westernization Movement.

From that time on, the Qing government was unwilling to take care of external affairs, because the Qing government faced a very urgent task of self-development.

Because of this, the Qing government slowly adopted an isolationist policy and was no longer willing to maintain the huge vassal state system.

"After the maritime powers opened China's borders from the southeast coast, Russia, an old imperialist country, was not to be left behind. It coveted China's territory from the northwest and northeast at all times."

"Prince Gong Yi Zeng listed Russia as the number one threat from external aggression in his 1860 "Overall Coordination of Barbarian Affairs."

"Prince Gong calls Russia a problem for the elbows and armpits, while Britain, France and other countries are a problem for the limbs."

“Through the conquests in the era of Peter the Great, Russia gained an outlet to the Baltic Sea and a window to understand Europe.”

"In the east, Russia has been committed to seizing more land from China and obtaining an ice-free port in the Far East."

"In 1871, Ili, Xinjiang, was occupied by the Russian Governor-General Kaufman. The Qing government had to urgently transfer Zuo Zongtang, who was busy preparing for coastal defense affairs and Fujian shipping affairs in Fuzhou, to go to the northwest for expedition."

"After the Taiping Rebellion was suppressed, the Qing Dynasty's inner worries temporarily disappeared, and the danger from Russia rose to the forefront."

"At the same time, however, among China's close neighbors, Japan, which was the first in East Asia to begin modernization, is increasingly becoming a new and close enemy."

"However, financially, the Qing Dynasty could not support the plan to launch a war to regain territory in the northwest and develop a navy on the southeast coast. This formed a dispute between coastal defense and fortress defense in the central court."

"While the Qing government was still in internal strife, an undercurrent consisting of the Japanese intelligence system began to spread to every corner of the Qing Empire."

"Kotaro Munakata, the most famous Japanese spy in the late Qing Dynasty and the early Republic of China."

"During the Sino-Japanese War of 1894-1894, he sneaked into the Weihai Guards Port for reconnaissance and made great contributions, and even received an exceptional audience from the Emperor."

"It can be seen that long before the Sino-Japanese War of 1894-1894, the Japanese had consciously made full preparations for war in terms of intelligence."

"At this time, the Qing Dynasty knew nothing about the Japanese government's step-by-step progress, and it didn't care about how the Japanese spared no effort to develop their navy."

"The Japanese government not only issued special national bonds for naval construction, but also invested taxes on tobacco and drugs into the bottomless pit of the navy. At its peak, it even reached one-eighth of the tax revenue."

At this moment, some far-sighted people who were committed to reform in the late Qing Dynasty were extremely envious of Japan's rise, and looked back at the failure of the Qing Dynasty's Westernization Movement and sighed deeply.

Both China and Japan turned to learn from the West after 1860, but the final results were completely different.

The reason why there is such a big difference has been analyzed by knowledgeable people like them.

Japan is wholeheartedly learning from the West, leaving Asia and joining Europe, transforming to the West, and learning it thoroughly.

The Qing Dynasty, after being hit by the Second Opium War, opened up the country a little bit and learned symbolically.

The reason why the Qing Congress was like this is because after the Qing Dynasty was defeated, I learned from it, and there was a sense that I wanted to take revenge, and I learned the skills from the barbarians in order to control the barbarians.

This is the biggest difference between China and Japan in accepting the West, and this difference made the contradiction between China and Japan gradually emerge after 1860.

The Qing Dynasty was a state that I defended and a trade principle.

In this regard, Japan is a state that I must step out of.

Because of this, the Qing Dynasty’s Westernization Movement failed, while Japan’s Meiji Restoration succeeded.

"Let's look at the Qing government at that time. Although China has a vast territory and rich resources compared to Japan, the national treasury is actually not full." "In 1889, Emperor Guangxu held a wedding ceremony, which cost a total of million taels of silver, equivalent to Funds for the purchase of three Dingyuan-class ironclad ships of the Beiyang Navy.”

"Because Emperor Guangxu got married and took charge of the government, Empress Dowager Cixi should retire from the political stage at the center of the Qing government."

"In order to prepare a retirement home, we decided to rebuild the Summer Palace located in the northwest suburbs of Beijing. This is another huge sum of money."

"And this fund turned out to be funds originally used for naval construction, openly embezzled from the naval yamen in the name of opening the Kunming Lake Naval Academy in the Summer Palace to train the navy."

“In order to raise funds for the Summer Palace, the Navy Yamen also collected donations from officials and society in the name of coastal defense.”

“National defense has become a sign of making money, but there is still not enough money.”

"On June 1891, , Weng Tonghe, the Minister of Revenue, suddenly submitted a petition to temporarily prohibit the purchase of Western warships and guns by the South and the North for two years on the grounds of saving financial expenditures."

"This is just a drain on the Navy, which is already struggling to support itself."

“In the years before the Sino-Japanese War, Japan’s average annual military expenditure was as high as 31% of total revenue.”

"The navy has added eleven new warships, with total displacement and main warships exceeding those of the Beiyang Navy. Older ships are also equipped with rapid-fire guns."

"However, after the Beiyang Fleet restricted the purchase of arms in 1891, it did not add a single cannon, and even the cannon shells were in short supply."

“The Qing government built a navy, but it didn’t understand how to build it, maintain it, let alone how to use it.”

Li Hongzhang: The timing of suspending the purchase of warships and guns is too coincidental. God is trying to destroy the Qing Dynasty!

His mood was very complicated. If this time point had been postponed for one or two years, the Sino-Japanese War would never have ended that way.

From 1874, Japan invaded Taiwan.

In 1882, Little Japan actually looked for trouble in Korea and wanted to cause trouble for the Qing Dynasty.

In 1884, the French came to trouble the Qing Kingdom again, and Japan took the opportunity to cause trouble to the Qing Kingdom in Korea.

There were problems one after another, and further back, the First and Second Opium Wars.

But from the establishment of the Navy Yamen in 1885 and the return of the Dingyuan and Zhenyuan, it continued until 1890.

During these five years, the Qing Dynasty's East Asian waters were truly calm and calm.

The result of this is that the civil and military forces of the Manchu Dynasty felt that this power was enough to allow the Qing Dynasty to sleep peacefully, and the civil and military forces of the Manchu Dynasty believed that the purchase of foreign guns and artillery should be suspended.

But the critical time point of the pause is really a coincidence.

It won't come sooner or later, but it happens to be suspended at this time point.

In 1890, Western navies were undergoing great changes.

But in that year, the Qing Dynasty stopped purchasing warships and guns.

After the defeat in the Sino-Japanese War of 1894-1899, when he learned all this, he could be said to have cried without tears.

It was at this critical time that the Japanese Navy completed its overtaking of the Qing Dynasty.

But the Qing Dynasty's navy stopped at this time, playing into Japan's hands and being caught up by Japan.

"In late May 1894, in Dalian Bay, the Beiyang Navy was conducting its triennial review."

"Amidst the deafening sound of artillery, a telegram was delivered to the hands of Beiyang Minister Li Hongzhang."

"The Donghak Party in North Korea is insurrection, and the Japanese have sent ships here to protect their businesses and residents."

"Looking at the large fleet in front of him, Li Hongzhang felt unprecedented worries in his heart."

"I submitted a petition to the court two months ago to apply for the purchase of fast ships and artillery in an attempt to challenge the Ministry of Household's arms ban. However, it was shelved again amid unanimous opposition from the Qing faction."

"If a war starts with Japan at this time, the Beiyang Navy will lose the last opportunity to update its equipment before the war."

“In 1894, the Donghak Party, a secret society in Korea, launched an uprising.”

"The King of Korea asked China to calm the situation, and the Qing navy and land forces entered Korea."

"Japan was overjoyed to learn about this and thought it was a perfect opportunity to start a war."

"The Japanese cabinet meeting quickly passed a resolution to send troops to North Korea and stationed in Seoul under the pretext of protecting overseas residents and the embassy."

"After the uprising subsided, Japan not only did not withdraw its troops, but continued to increase its troops to the Korean Peninsula."

"Japanese Foreign Minister Mutsu Munemitsu has instructed the Ambassador to North Korea, Ohtori Keisuke, that promoting Sino-Japanese conflict is actually an urgent task at present, and any means can be used to achieve this."

"On June 5, Japan established a wartime base camp with the emperor as its nominal head and composed of Japanese military elites, and formulated a complete combat plan."

"The overall goal of the Japanese army is to transport the main force of the army from the sea to the Bohai Bay, land at selected locations, and engage in a decisive battle with the Chinese army in the Zhili Plain."

"Then attack Beijing and force an alliance under the city walls."

"To achieve this goal, the key is the victory or defeat of naval operations."

"Therefore, in the first stage of the Japanese army's deployment, it sent some troops into North Korea to contain the Qing army and engage in a decisive battle with the Beiyang Navy at sea to compete for sea control."

Li Hongzhang: When a region of the Qing Dynasty fought against a country in Japan, it was inherently at a disadvantage, and its defeat in the Sino-Japanese War was excusable.

He was not trying to make excuses for the defeat of the Beiyang Navy, but it was indeed the case.

The navy established by the Qing Dynasty was isolated and had no supporting modern military institutions.

Japan's Meiji Restoration reforms were not just military reforms, but all reforms at the same time.

Therefore, Japan had a joint command system after its restructuring, but the Qing Dynasty did not have this thing.

The Sino-Japanese Sino-Japanese War of 1894-1894 started, and the whole of Japan was mobilized nationwide.

General military mobilization, land and sea fight together.

The Qing Dynasty fought in various war zones. The governor of Guangdong and Guangxi did not care, and the governor of Huguang did not care. He was the only governor-general of Zhili to fight against Japan.

In such a situation, the reason for the defeat of the Sino-Japanese War was not only the backwardness of the Beiyang Navy's weapons and equipment, but also the Qing Dynasty's inability to mobilize the whole country to face the enemy.

"At this time, the Qing Dynasty was caught off guard and faced a modern war. The whole country was at a loss as to whether it should fight and how to fight."

"There was a lot of noise in the court. Many court officials still regarded Japan as a small and vulnerable country, but they still had no clear strategy for fighting the enemy."

"Li Hongzhang tried to ask Russia and Britain to intervene and influence Japan to mobilize troops."

"However, this time, Li Hongzhang's diplomatic mediation did not obtain substantive support."

"Under pressure from military sentiment and public opinion, Li Hongzhang rented a British steamship and sent additional troops to North Korea under the escort of Beiyang warships."

"On July 25, the British merchant ship Gaosheng was suddenly attacked by Japanese ships and sunk, and more than 700 Qing soldiers were killed in the sea."

"On the same day, the Japanese army also set off from Seoul and went south to attack the Qing army stationed in Asan."

"On August 1, China and Japan declared war at the same time, and the Sino-Japanese War of 1894-1894 officially broke out."

"After the Gaosheng incident, public opinion in the UK unanimously condemned Japan's trampling on international justice, and the military also demanded retaliation against the Japanese army."

"In November of that year, the British court ruled that Japan was not at fault in the Gaosheng incident, and the Qing government had to pay compensation for the loss of the British merchant ship."

"Herd, an Englishman who was then the General Department of Customs and Taxation of the Qing Dynasty, spoke frankly about the Qing government's diplomatic failure."

"All countries expressed sympathy to China and said it was wrong for Japan to destroy peace in this way."

"But no country has taken any real action to help China."

"I don't believe that justice can achieve anything. Just like I believe that you can't eat with just one chopstick. We must have a second chopstick, which is strength."

Zhang Zhidong: Only one's own strength is the most important. Relying on external forces is ultimately unreliable. Bloody examples are before our eyes.

In the Sino-Japanese War, Japan continued to use or play with international law.

For example, in the Gaoshenghao incident, he clearly understood that Li Hongzhang did it deliberately.

He knew that Li Hongzhang did not want to fight Japan, so he came up with such a plan.

The purpose of renting British ships to transport troops was to attract Japan to launch a sneak attack.

The reason why Li Hongzhang did this is also very simple. Once the Gaosheng is sunk by Japan, Britain will come forward to deal with Japan.

In this way, the crisis in the Qing Dynasty can be relieved, and there is no need to face the aggressive Japan.

The final result was indeed what Li Hongzhang saw. The British chartered troop carrier Gaosheng was sunk by Japan.

He could even guess how happy Li Hongzhang was when he learned that the plan was successful. Japan was finally sunk by a British troop transport, and he was looking forward to Britain taking action to beat Japan.

But the final result was beyond everyone's expectations, and the whole thing suddenly turned upside down.

The reason why he said Japan was playing with international law was because he later learned why Japan reversed course.

It turned out that the Japanese went to the UK and asked several famous international law experts from Oxford and Cambridge to write an article, which suddenly overturned the nature of the matter.

The article said that this was not the sinking of a British merchant ship. This British merchant ship had been kidnapped by Qing soldiers. It was said that the Chinese soldiers held a knife to the captain's neck, and then the British captain provided some testimony to support this in a very timely manner. .

Well, now, the whole thing is turned upside down.

He deeply understood that the reason for the comeback was only because the Qing Dynasty was weak and was treated as a soft persimmon.

All the great powers knew the truth about the Gaosheng incident, and Britain also knew it.

In the end, the reason why Britain blamed the Qing Dynasty and was unwilling to offend Japan was just because the Qing Dynasty was weak, nothing more.

"At noon on September 1894, , the main force of the Beiyang Navy encountered the Japanese combined fleet in the Yellow Sea while escorting the Qing Dynasty's landing army."

"The deep black soot of the Beiyang Navy caused others to discover their whereabouts an hour in advance."

"This warship, powered by low-quality slag coal, with an old ship type, low speed, and insufficient artillery shells, fought a highly unlikely but awe-inspiring battle with the Japanese combined fleet."

"Because its speed was not as fast as its opponents, the Beiyang Navy was surrounded by Japanese ships and gradually became at a disadvantage."

"Jingyuan and Laiyuan left the battlefield due to serious injuries, Zhiyuan and Jingyuan were seriously injured and sank, and the ironclads Dingyuan and Zhenyuan floated alone in the Yellow Sea."

"In the Battle of the Yellow Sea, the Japanese army successfully gained control of the sea."

"At this time, the land war situation also began to unfold according to the Japanese plan."

"The army that the Beiyang Fleet desperately protected should have rushed to Pyongyang's aid, but Pyongyang had fallen a day ago."

"The entire territory of North Korea was occupied, and mainland China was quickly broken through by the Japanese army."

"Under the cover of Japanese ships, the Japanese Second Army began to land at Huayuankou, the back road of Lushun, an important Chinese naval town."

"The intention is to occupy the Lushun Peninsula and establish a base for the decisive battle in Zhili."

"The Japanese army has thirty-six troop transport ships, twenty-four thousand men, plus a lot of baggage."

"We successfully landed in more than ten days, but we didn't encounter any decent resistance."

"At the moment when the Japanese army was approaching Dalian Port, Cixi's sixtieth birthday celebration was being held, and hundreds of civil and military officials were shouting long live."

"Cixi announced that the emperor, princes and ministers would be rewarded with three days of listening to the opera, and all military and state affairs would be put on hold."

"On that day, Dalian fell."

"Two weeks later, the Japanese army attacked Lushun from Dalian."

The people in the Wanqing period hated Little Japan because they learned that the Japanese army carried out a brutal massacre after capturing Lushun.

The Japanese army captured Lushun, and then the bestiality broke out in Lushun. They massacred for four consecutive days, and about 20,000 people were killed.

On the streets of Lushun, 2,670 people were killed and buried in a large pit.

In the mountains surrounding Lushun, even more soldiers and civilians were killed, and none of them were buried.

"The massacre continued until the 26th, by which time there was no one left to kill in Port Arthur."

"The peaceful singing and dancing in the palace and the cruel atrocities of the enemy troops were staged in this country at the same time, and the empire's apocalyptic dirge is still being played."

"On February 1895, , the Japanese army invaded Weihai City."

"Use the north and south coast forts that have been captured successively to cooperate with the combined fleet."

"Attacked the Beiyang Navy trapped in the harbor, and the Beiyang Navy responded with the Liugong Island fort and the artillery on the ship."

"The artillery battle lasted for nearly ten days, but the Japanese fleet still failed to break into Liugong Island's defense line."

"However, due to shelling and torpedo attacks on the front and back, the battleships including Dingyuan were damaged, even ran aground or sank."

"The Battle of Weihaiwei ended with the complete annihilation of the Beiyang Fleet."

"On the night of February 11th, Vice Admiral Ding Ruchang of the Beiyang Fleet committed suicide and died for his country."

"The officers and soldiers of the Beiyang Navy personally ignited the explosives on the flagship in order to avoid damaging the enemy."

"With a loud bang, the giant Dingyuan ship finally sank, and the Beiyang Fleet, China's highest achievement in modernization, was destroyed."

"On land, after the Japanese army drove Li Hongzhang's Huai army out of North Korea, they established a puppet regime headed by North Korea's Daewuanjun, declared North Korea's independence, and then fully occupied the Liaodong region of China."

"Since then, after thirty years of self-improvement movement, China has suffered the most disastrous defeat on land and at sea."

Zeng Guofan: Li Hongzhang should bear half of the blame for the defeat of the Sino-Japanese War of 1894-1894.

During the offensive and defensive war, Li Hongzhang did not take the initiative to fight, and always conserved his strength, hoping to find the right opportunity to reach compromise negotiations with Japan.

Even the Beiyang Fleet was ordered by Li Hongzhang to retreat to the harbor, and was eventually blocked by the unrelenting Japan and unable to get out.

If Li Hongzhang didn't have those little tricks, the Sino-Japanese War of 1898-1898 would not have been such a miserable defeat.

"On March 1895, , the Qing government appointed Li Hongzhang as the first-class plenipotentiary minister and went to Japan to negotiate peace."

"On April 17, Li Hongzhang signed the Treaty of Shimonoseki."

"The treaty stipulates that the Qing government recognizes the independence of Korea and will no longer pay tribute to China."

"Pay compensation of 200 million taels of silver to Japan, and cede Taiwan, the Penghu Islands, and Liaodong to Japan."

"Six days after the signing of the Treaty of Shimonoseki, Russia, France and Germany sent a joint note to Japan."

"Claims that Japan occupies the Liaodong Peninsula will threaten Beijing's security and make Korean independence empty talk, thereby threatening peace in the entire Far East."

"Japan was forced to return Liaodong due to the unfavorable international situation."

"But the condition is that an additional redemption fee of 50 million taels of silver will be given, which was finally reduced to 30 million taels under the three-country agreement."

"In order to pay huge war indemnities and ransom expenses, the Qing government began to borrow money from banks in Russia, France, Britain, Germany and other countries."

"After the Sino-Japanese War of 1894-1894, the great powers set off a frenzy to carve up China."

"In 1897, Germany occupied Jiaozhou Bay and obtained the privilege of building two railways in Shandong."

"The British leased Weihaiwei and expanded the New Territories of Kowloon. At the same time, they required the Qing Dynasty not to transfer the Yangtze River Basin to other countries."

"France leases Guangzhou Bay and regards Yunnan and Guangdong and Guangxi as its sphere of influence."

“Two years after the defeat of the Sino-Japanese War, Yan Fu’s translation of British biologist Huxley’s Theory of the Evolution of Heaven was published in the National News Collection, causing a huge shock in the intellectual world.”

"Through the humiliation of defeat, the Chinese finally understood the significance of the formula of survival of the fittest in international politics."

"Since then, through hard work and innovation, changing the status of the weak into the strong has become the goal of the Chinese people. An era of change has arrived."

Liang Qichao: Although the Sino-Japanese War was a disastrous defeat, the Chinese people woke up.

He deeply understood that the Sino-Japanese War was a watershed in the development of Chinese history. The previously ignorant Chinese people began to reflect on their sea power, oceans, and coastal defense strategies.

The Sino-Japanese War of 1894-1894 certainly caused heavy disasters to China, but it was precisely through this war that the Chinese nation truly achieved its true awakening in three thousand years.

Regardless of whether the Qing Dynasty woke up or not, at least the Chinese people woke up.

It is precisely because of this that so many students will go to Western powers to study.

They are all thinking about one goal, which is how to save China.

(End of this chapter)