Li Hongzhang's worries were indeed unnecessary. ¥ì?¥ì When the Qing court submitted the provisions of the Prime Minister's Office and Ding Richang on coastal defense to the governors for detailed discussion, they invited Zuo Zongtang to participate in the discussion because he was "paying attention to foreign affairs". As a result, around the issue of "coastal defense" or "fortress defense", two camps emerged in the Qing court, and various political forces regrouped. The coastal defense faction has Li Hongzhang as its backbone. In addition to supporters such as Shen Baozhen, Lin Yizhe, Ding Richang, Li Hanzhang, and Wang Kaitai, there are also Shanxi Governor Bao Yuanshen, Henan Governor Qian Dingming, Prince Chun of the Inner Court, Prince Chongshi of the Ministry of Punishment, and Zuo Shilang of the Ministry of Punishment. Huang Jue, Censor Yu Shanghua and others also joined this camp, and they became quite powerful for a while. The "Fortress Defense Faction" with Zuo Zongtang as the backbone had strong support from Hunan Governor Wang Wenshao, Water Transport Governor Wenbin, Shandong Governor Ding Baozhen, Jiangsu Governor Wu Yuanbing and others. The representative theory of this faction is "coastal defense in the east and fortification defense in the west, with equal emphasis on both." In fact, fundamentally speaking, it still advocates concentrating limited human and financial resources and giving priority to solving the problem of northwestern blockade and defense, so as to reap the benefits of "the northwest is safe and the southeast is self-consolidated". Zuo Zongtang launched a fierce attack on Li Hongzhang's proposal to stop withdrawing the northwest fortifications: "if we plan to stop troops, cut off pay, and withdraw the barriers at this time, then I will retreat even an inch and the invaders will advance, and I will not only worry about Longyou, Even the North Road, Kobdo, Ulyasutai and other places may not be able to survive. The suspension of troops and the reduction of pay may not be beneficial to coastal defense, but it will be a big hindrance to fortress defense. " Li Hongzhang pointed out tit for tat: "Xin is treacherous. No longer, the vitality of the limbs is intact (Agubai has occupied Xinjiang for seven or eight years. Now, except for the corners of Hami and Barkol, it is still in the hands of the Qing army. Most of the areas in Xinjiang have been occupied by Agubai's forces. The Long area has not been disturbed, and with Agubai's military strength, it is a big deal to occupy the entire territory, and there is no way to invade Guanlong. So there is nothing wrong with what Li Hongzhang said, but the angry youths in later generations. It seems that this is the words and deeds of a traitor). If the sea is not guarded, the troubles in the heart will become more difficult. There must be someone who can distinguish between the more serious and the less serious. Otherwise, with only this financial resources, not only the sea territory of thousands of miles to the southeast, but also the transportation of thousands of miles to the northwest, is there anyone who will be destitute and destitute?" "Having said that. In fact, Li Hongzhang had no intention of giving up Xin Xingg. The solution he gave was: first, stop the troops. It was recommended that the imperial court stop and withdraw the troops that have left the fortress and are preparing to leave the fortress in the northwest region, and order them to "strictly guard the existing borders, and cultivate and cultivate, without rushing to make progress." Two, business. Li Hongzhang's strategy for running the xin treachery is: "Appease the returning chiefs in Yili, Urumqi, Kashgar and other places. Allow them to become their own tribes, such as the chieftain of Miao Yao in Yunnan and Guizhou, and the strategy of Feng Zhengshuo in Vietnam and Korea." Li Hongzhang believed. This would not only frustrate Britain and Russia's intention to annex, but China would not have to go on an expedition. This is actually a "long-lasting way." Li Hongzhang suggested that xin treachery should be managed as "like the Miao Yao chieftain in Yunnan and Guizhou, and the strategy of Feng Zhengshuo in Vietnam and Korea". Placed in China in 1875, there was no problem. Because in this era, the traditional "view of the world" is far from being replaced by the modern "world view". "Vietnam" and "North Korea" in Li Hongzhang's context are not sovereign countries in the modern sense, but vassals in the traditional Chinese "view of the world", which combines "Vietnam" and "North Korea" with China's native "Yunnan-Guizhou". It can be seen from the comparison with "Miao Yao Tusi". In other words, Li Hongzhang never said that he would give up treachery. The suggestions he put forward were based on the "View of the World" of the Qing court in 1875. This "view of the world" may seem absurd to later generations, but at that time, it was the orthodox ideology that the Qing court tried its best to abide by. The difficult transformation process from traditional China in the late Qing Dynasty to modern China is actually also the process of transformation from the traditional political concepts of the late Qing people to modern political concepts. Li Hongzhang's opinions on the dispute between coastal defense and fortress defense were the product of this transformation process. Later generations of Chinese people did not realize the chaos and confusion of the conceptual transformation period at that time, and simply denounced Li Hongzhang as a "traitor". Although it was happy, it was also sad and lamentable. ? In comparison, Zuo Zongtang¡¯s opinions do not have differences in understanding. Zuo Zongtang was praised by later generations for advocating "equal emphasis on coastal defense in the east and fortification defense in the west," but in fact, so-called "coastal defense theorists" such as Li Hongzhang did not believe that fortification and defense were unimportant. It's just a question of who should give priority to border defense or coastal defense under the current financial conditions. Unlike Li Hongzhang who believed that the coastal defense crisis was worse and that financial resources should be concentrated on priority, Zuo Zongtang believed that the cost of coastal defense could save the cost of purchasing and hiring ships, because the Fuzhou Shipping Bureau can already manufacture ships by itself and does not need to use Western resources. Moreover, even if we don¡¯t march westward and just draw the territory and defend it, we can¡¯t save the money for coastal defense. In order to emphasize the importance of treachery, Zuo Zongtang did not hesitate to use the capital as a topic to intimidate the court: "My dynasty has established the capital of Yan, and the Mongolian troops have guarded the north. For hundreds of years, there have been no beacon police But now, with In the past, the situation was very different. The Russians expanded their territory more than 10,000 miles from west to east.Our northern border is connected, and only the middle section is blocked by the Mongolian tribe. It is better to move far away, and to go first in the winding road, especially if you don't hesitate to take precautions. ¡± Zuo Zongtang¡¯s thesis that ¡°those who are serious about evil and traitors protect Mongolia, and those who protect Mongolia defend the capital¡± really had the effect he wanted. Important ministers like Wen Xiang, the great scholar, could not help but be Zuo Zong. Influenced by Tang's theology, if we value Xin Zongtang in order to protect the capital, should we also pay attention to the sea that is closer to the capital? Zuo Zongtang, who was once an active advocate and practitioner of coastal defense construction? In fact, he has become the biggest opponent and obstacle to the construction of coastal defense! ¡°It would be strange if he, Zuo Jigao, did not make any concessions to oppose this coastal defense discussion. "Li Hongzhang gave a bitter smile and said. "Actually, it is not extremely difficult for him, Zuo Jigao, to recover the traitor. "Xue Fucheng said, "But he just said it as if the sky was falling, which is incomprehensible. " "Xin's rebels are just bandits. They are far less difficult to suppress than Zhang Geer's rebellion in the past. Although the land route is far away, the army can be put down in a few months. Zuo Jigao wanted food, wages, and borrowed foreign debt. He wanted to implement the strategy of "slowly advancing and rushing to fight." It would take such a long time. How much money would be needed to fill this bottomless hole? "Li Hongzhang sighed, "As a result, the money needed for coastal defense will have no way to get it, which is really sad! " At this moment, another political countercurrent finally emerged after many days of brewing and waiting. If the "coastal defense theory" and "fortress defense theory" are just a mixture of "Hunan" and "Huai", the left The dispute over different views on national defense and the historical grievances between the Li and Li factions, then, this new countercurrent was entirely the challenge to the "self-strengthening" movement by the die-hard faction of the feudal ruling class who claimed to be "Qing Yi". It was Prince Li Shiduo. This Prince Li was a corrupt, mediocre, stubborn and conservative politician. He was appointed as the cabinet minister, Zongrenfu You Zongzheng and Zongling during the Tongzhi period, and later controlled the military aircraft department for many years until the third year of Xuantong. Chen Ganyi, a native of the late Qing Dynasty, had this record: "Prince Shiduo of Qingli was old and ignorant, and his sons and nephews met Shiduo after traveling in Europe. He asked: "Does it also snow in the foreign country?" All the nephews and nephews hid their mouths and said to each other: "China and foreign countries have the same heaven and earth, and the wind, frost, rain and snow are the same." "Shi Duo was silent. "A prince who doesn't even know whether it snows in foreign countries is always very comfortable in the Chinese political arena and full of political wisdom. Look at the information Shi Duo handed to the Empress Dowager Cixi. Isn't it enough to show his level of "slickness"? In the excerpt, Shi Duo first tested the Empress Dowager Cixi's tone and said a few words, "You still have to buy foreign guns, water forts, and mines." Then, he changed his tone and asked the question: "Isn't that armored ship very big?" Is it heavy? Where do you park it after buying it? Besides, each ship costs millions of silver, which is too expensive. Otherwise, don't worry, let Li Hongzhang and Shen Baozhen go to investigate first, and then come back to study. "Prince Li's message is a signal. It tells those mouths that have been silent for many days: I will take the lead in saying what needs to be said, and it is up to you." A red and defensive face also jumped out, Gao It is called: "The way to build a country is to respect etiquette and righteousness rather than power and tactics; the fundamental goal lies in the people's hearts and not in skills." What China needs is not to spend money to build a useless navy, but as the ancestors have determined, "but to cultivate ourselves" To prepare for war on land, we don¡¯t have to fight for advantage at sea; but to strengthen the hearts of our soldiers and forge loyalty, we don¡¯t need to imitate the ingenuity of foreigners." : "Building troopships and evacuation ships (referring to old-style naval ships) is called fortification, but it is actually dismantling. I don¡¯t know what Ding Richang¡¯s intention was in seeking the country like this? " He even cursed Ding Richang as a "Ding ghost slave" who sold himself to foreigners. "If the opposition's memorial did not stop there, Li Hongzhang could respond calmly. Since his debut, he has never been afraid of being scolded behind his back. But soon. , he found that his opponents were not simple. Their remarks bypassed the specific issues of whether to build a navy and how to build a navy, and pointed directly to the key point - you, Li Hongzhang, in building a navy, were "changing barbarians into summer" and betraying your ancestors. ! You are a "religious sinner and a scholarly scum"! Even if you look like a loyal minister who cares about the country and the people, you may want to "use foreign affairs to gain self-respect and rely on foreign weapons to gain strength"! Self-respect, you should use the emperor to command the white-faced son of the princes, Cao Cao! To make machines and build foreign ships, one must learn foreign learning, and to learn foreign learning one must consider whether the essence of foreign learning can be used by talents I am afraid that the world will regard the country's etiquette, justice, integrity and shame as useless, and regard foreign learning as difficult to do, and people's hearts will not be able to do so. disintegration,.