Li Hongzhang was born in a family that has cultivated and studied for generations. Although his grandfather Li was not an official, he was a scholar obsessed with the imperial examination, and at least he was a middle-class peasant family (with dozens of acres of land at home). Later, when the imperial examination was not successful, I opened a library at home to teach and cultivate future generations. Although Li Wenan, Li Hongzhang's father, was not as famous as his son in history of qing dynasty, he did pass the imperial examination and was an official Beijing official. This shows that Li Hongzhang is a proper official second-generation identity. This family background and the identity of the second generation of officials also gave him a good enlightenment education, which laid a good foundation for him to start his career through the imperial examination.
Of course, Li Hongzhang's success is not only based on the identity of the second generation of officials, but also on personal efforts. Twenty years of Daoguang (1840), 17-year-old Li Hongzhang was admitted as a scholar. Three years later, Li Hongzhang was selected as an excellent student by Luzhou Official School and recommended to imperial academy, the capital (this kind of excellent tribute is very rare, once every three years, only a few provinces). In the second year of being selected for meritorious service, that is, 1845, Li Hongzhang took the rural examination in Shuntianfu and won 84 candidates. In the same year, I failed the B and C exams. Two years later, in the twenty-seventh year of Daoguang, I was 13th in the Jinshi exam. He is only 24 years old, younger than his father 13 years old, three years younger than his teacher Zeng Guofan, and he took the exam less. This shows Li Hongzhang's personal efforts.
Li Hongzhang in his youth
Good family relations paved the way for Li Hongzhang's future career development.
Although the Li family was not a noble family, due to the imperial examination and other factors, Li Wenan and Li Hongzhang and his son managed a good network.
First of all, in the Li Wenan Jinshi 1838 Reform Movement, there were many powerful figures who later influenced the politics of the Qing Dynasty and even the history of China, among whom Zeng Guofan was the most famous. Li Wenan was admitted to Jinshi with them in the same year. At that time, this relationship was called the same year, and Li Hongzhang could naturally become their family and get the education and care of these elders. Secondly, Li Wenan has worked in six departments in Beijing for a long time. He is honest and upright, has the style of the elderly and has a prominent political voice. Because I made friends with a group of scholar-officials who were officials in North Korea. When Li Hongzhang first arrived in Beijing, he was taken by his father to know these characters, which laid the foundation for Li Hongzhang to enter his career in the future.
Finally, Li Hongzhang took part in the provincial examination and the general examination himself, and he was also full of talents. Li Hongzhang also maintained a good relationship with these two subjects in the same year. Many of these people have become Li Hongzhang's political right-hand man and supporter. Look at the names of these people and you will know how awesome Li Hongzhang was: Guo Songtao, Shen Baozhen, Shen Guifen, Zhang and Ma Xinyi.
Good family background, plus Li Hongzhang's studious and enterprising personality, supplemented by the good contacts run by Li and his son. Even without the historical opportunity of the later meeting, Li Hongzhang is likely to embark on a brilliant future of sealing off his government or worshiping the prime minister with his noble imperial examination career.
The historical opportunity brought by the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom Movement is an important opportunity for Li Hongzhang to reach the summit.
It can be said that not only Li Hongzhang, but also the Xiang School represented by Zeng Guofan and the Huai School represented by Li Hongzhang all stepped into the center of the historical stage because of the historical opportunity brought by the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom Movement, which profoundly influenced the political arena in the late Qing Dynasty.
After the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom Movement broke out, the standing army of the Manchu government could not resist the attack of the Taiping Army. In the face of the surging of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, Emperor Xianfeng at that time had to allow officials of the Great Qing Dynasty to organize their own group training to suppress the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom movement. This situation is not unheard of in the history of China. Many dynasties often used this method to deal with uncontrollable uprisings and rebellions. Typically, when the imperial court could not put out the Yellow Scarf Army uprising at the end of the Eastern Han Dynasty, the Eastern Han Dynasty also adopted a similar method. Later, at the end of the Eastern Han Dynasty and the separatist warlords of the Three Kingdoms, most of them came from these self-organized Yong Ying armed forces.
Li Hongzhang and his son returned to their hometown to organize their own regiment to suppress the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom. Generally speaking, it is better to lose more than less, but Li Hongzhang exercised his ability in the war, especially the ability to unify the army. Moreover, in the process of preparing for training and fighting the Taiping Army, Li Hongzhang knew and got acquainted with many of his supporters and assistants, who later became the backbone of the Huai Army.
Zeng Guofan's education and support is an important reason why Li Hongzhang stands out.
As I said just now, the opportunity of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom is not only for Li Hongzhang personally. One of the important reasons why Li Hongzhang can seize this opportunity and stand out from the crowd is his teacher Zeng Guofan.
After failing the first senior high school entrance examination, Li Hongzhang joined Zeng Guofan's name as a small family, and became Zeng Guofan's favorite pupil together with Guo Songtao, Chen Nai, Shuai Yuanduo and others. Five years after returning to his hometown, Li Hongzhang's Yingyong troops were basically scattered by the Taiping Army. 1859, Li had to enter the Xiang shogunate of his teacher Zeng Guofan. At this time, Zeng Guofan was already the founder and leader of Xiang, the main force of the Qing army to suppress the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom. After Li Hongzhang entered the shogunate of Zeng Guofan, his teacher Zeng Guofan took the imperial examination like Li Hongzhang, the education director of that year, and carefully adjusted Li Hongzhang's way of using troops and being an official, thus making Li Hongzhang mature day by day.
Later, in the process of Li Hongzhang's formation of the Huai Army, Zeng Guofan not only spared no effort to protect his position (after the initial formation of the Huai Army, Li was promoted to the governor of Jiangsu), but also spared no effort to support him. When the Huai Army was first established, Zeng Guofan generously allocated eight battalions (including two pro-barracks and the opening camp in Cheng Xueqi) to Li Hongzhang, knowing that the Huai Army formed at that time had only 13 battalions. If it were not for this teacher-student relationship, Zeng Guofan would not be so generous.
Grasping the opportunity to rescue Shanghai is a key step for Li Hongzhang to reach the peak.
Success always belongs to those who are prepared. The early management of Li Hongzhang's father and son, the experience of returning to his hometown for group training and being an Anhui native, all these factors finally gave Li Hongzhang a godsend opportunity.
1860, the Taiping Army attacked Jiangnan Camp for the second time. The Qing government's mobile troops in Jiangnan were only Zeng Guofan's Xiang army, and the gentry and landlords in Jiangnan fled to Shanghai. They were afraid that the Taiping Army would attack Shanghai, so they spontaneously organized themselves to ask Zeng Guofan for help. Wealthy gentry in the south of the Yangtze River donated blood and offered generous military salaries.