Regarding the Sino-French war, there have long been some specious views in academic circles, such as, "China was defeated without defeat, and France won without victory", "what France did not get on the battlefield, it got at the negotiating table", "China lost Vietnam", and even "lost power and humiliated the country". Pen "Fun" Pavilion www.biquge.info

Accusing the predecessors and talking nonsense.

The most critical criterion for judging the victory or defeat of a war is: who of the two sides has achieved their strategic goals?

France's strategic objectives, in total, are three, in order of importance, as follows: first, to enter China from Vietnam and open China's southwestern gateway; second, to extort huge war reparations from China to realize "war dividends"; Third, to consolidate its rule over Vietnam and force China to relinquish its suzerainty over Vietnam.

The reason why "consolidating its rule over Vietnam and forcing China to give up its suzerainty over Vietnam" is not that it is not important, but that at that time, before the outbreak of the Sino-French War, France had basically occupied the entire territory of Vietnam, China only maintained a small military presence in the northern part of Vietnam near the Sino-Vietnamese border, the Vietnamese government had completely become a puppet of France, and China could no longer exert any direct influence on the Vietnamese government.

That is, before the outbreak of the Sino-French War, China had de facto lost its suzerainty over Vietnam.

Therefore, China's strategic goal in the war against France was actually only one: to ensure the security of the southwestern frontier and dispel further covetousness of the French; At the same time, not subject to blackmail.

At that time, the Chinese monarchs and ministers, although they were still shouting that "the Vietnamese world cultivates the tribute" and "the imperial court remembers the vassal service", should uphold the "big characters and small meaning" and "protect the country", in fact, everyone knows - including the highest clear stream: first, Vietnam has fallen into the belly of the French, and it is impossible to force him to vomit - China does not have the power at all; Second, there is no need for this at all.

At that time, China had already realized that our "feudal service" and other people's "colonies" were fundamentally different things. We have no economic interests to speak of in the "feudal service", and with the current national conditions, national strength, and international situation, we can no longer invest in the "feudal service" without regard for returns as before.

The "feudal service" is not a "colony", let alone a "territory", and the "feudal service" only has the role of "screen domain" -- national defense, that is, the so-called "strategic buffer zone" for China. Take Vietnam as an example, its biggest role is to ensure the security of the southwestern border, if the southwest border is safe, Vietnam, let it go, anyway, it is also a group of white-eyed wolves, "ignorant of the trend, the first rat at both ends", unripe.

Therefore, China is fighting this war for itself, not for Vietnam, and "losing Vietnam" is simply a false proposition.

At the end of the war, France could not go beyond Vietnam and go north; The war reparations have not fallen even a tael of silver; Even, although China acquiesced in France's suzerainty over Vietnam, there is no clear word in the Sino-French New Covenant that China renounces its suzerainty over Vietnam.

So, who loses and who wins this war?

Militarily, what we remember about the Sino-French War is more about the total annihilation of the Mawei Naval Battle, but the Mawei Naval Battle was only one of the many battles of the Sino-French War, and even if we take this battle as an example, France did not achieve the goal of capturing Fuzhou.

As far as the Sino-French war as a whole is concerned, China is real, and it has neither lost nor lost people.

In this war, France invested nearly 20,000 troops, and China was between 30,000 and 40,000 troops.

In addition, although the war is far from the French mainland, China does not have an obvious "geographical advantage". First, France has been operating in Vietnam for a long time, and it does not require everything to be domestic; Second, China has a vast territory and the battlefield is on the southwestern border, and under the transportation conditions at that time, military supplies and logistical support were actually very difficult.

Some of the Chinese troops participating in the war performed well, and some performed badly, but except for the war in North Vietnam in the early stage of the war, on the whole, the different participating units all have a common characteristic: if they lose, they will fight again!

Even if you lose again and again, you have to fight again and again!

One crow and two crows collapsed at the touch of a button, and they were like clouds of smoke.

At the end of the war, the situation in the two battlefields was as follows: in the Taiwan battlefield, France was repeatedly frustrated and trapped in a corner of Keelung, unable to move; In the battlefield of northern Vietnam, China attacked, France defended, China advanced step by step, and France retreated step by step.

Who loses? Who wins?

Of course, if, as the angry youths sprayed, after the great victories of Zhennan Pass and Lang Son, they took advantage of the victory to pursue, or even "recovered Hanoi", it would be impossible.

As soon as the battle line is lengthened, China's troops will inevitably be insufficient, and supplies will inevitably not be able to keep up; More importantly, Vietnam is the most important French colony in the Far East, and the loss of Vietnam is a burden that France cannot bear, and the "recovery of Hanoi" will inevitably cause France to counterattack with all its might.

As a matter of fact, as soon as the Jouferi cabinet fell, the French parliament passed a resolution appropriating 50 million francs to the French army in the Far East, and the total reimbursement of the military expenses of the French army in the Far East for the whole of 1884 was only 54 million francs. That is to say, France was ready for an extended war or even a long war.

At that time, China was only able to step on the threshold of industrialization with one foot, limited war potential, and had no ability to fight a long-term war with the world's second industrial power.

At this time, the time is the most opportune for the truce.

Whether on the battlefield or at the negotiating table, the result was clear: China won the final victory in a one-on-one contest with the world's second most powerful country.

Cixi was the only and well-deserved host of China's victory in the war against France.

The reason why the war against France could be defeated first and then won was that the turning point was in the "Jiashen Yishu" - King Gong, who was heavy in twilight and had a negative attitude towards France, and the military aircraft of his foreman were all replaced, and Cixi personally intervened and presided over the war against France, and the government and the opposition unified their thinking, eliminated the original differences with the war, and the disadvantages on the battlefield were reversed, and finally achieved the final victory.

This historic achievement of Cixi cannot be denied.

The significance of the Sino-French war has long been ignored by the academic community - it is not surprising that our "academic circles" do not even know whether the Sino-French war is lost or won!

In fact, the victory of the Sino-French War is of great significance.

If China loses this war, after France, the other Taixi powers, seeing that they are happy, will inevitably follow up one after another, then the frenzy of imperialism to carve up China will be set off in advance, and it will not be able to wait for the First Sino-Japanese War, let alone Gengzi!

Considering that there is still a long time before the First World War, and that the United States on the other side of the ocean is far from cultivating the confidence and strength to be able to put forward an "open door" policy, it is difficult to say whether the divided China will finally be able to come together if the great powers have more time to calmly digest the fruits of the partition of China.

The victory of the war against France greatly enhanced China's international status, and the Taixi powers regarded China as a "second-class power", and the reason why they would break their glasses in the first day of the first day ten years later was the most important reason; At the same time, this is also an important reason why although China was defeated in the First Sino-Japanese War, the great powers did not immediately set off a frenzy to carve up China—they still had habitual suspicions.

The Sino-French War won an extremely valuable historical opportunity for China to further deepen reform and accelerate development.

Regrettably, China has not been able to seize this historic opportunity.

After the victory of the Sino-French War, the whole of China, including Cixi herself, was generally complacent, thinking that the peaceful and prosperous era had arrived, and there were no more worries in the world.

After letting go of his breath, instead of "further deepening reform and accelerating development", Wen Tian's martial style slowly rose again.

A few years later, Dezong got married, and Cixi "returned to power" - handed over power to Dezong, and Shi Shiran himself "raised Chonghe".

Looking back, we can basically determine that it was from this time that China's high-spirited spirit dissipated, and the national momentum, which had been rising since Xinyou, began to turn around.

It's really ironic.

Cixi has to carry this pot, but she can only carry half of it at most, and the other half will be carried by Dezong.

When Emperor Guangxu is mentioned in later generations, many people will have two impressions: first, he is a puppet; Second, he is a reformist.

None of them are right.

At least, not exactly.

After Dezong's pro-government, Cixi "disciplined" for three years, and during these three years, she had the final decision on major matters. Even after the period of "discipline and government" has passed, it must be admitted that Cixi still retains a strong influence on politics.

This situation is similar to when Mu Zong first came into power.

For example, the five military planes and the five imperial fronts advised Mu Zong to build the Old Summer Palace, and Mu Zong became angry and deposed ten important ministers led by the three uncles of King Dan, King Gong, and King Alcohol. When the Empress Dowager of the Two Palaces got the news, she immediately revoked the Hongde Palace, revoked Mu Zong's decision, and restored the position of the Ten Ministers. Mu Zong can only claim to be yes, and there is no way at all.

That is to say, after Cixi "took a back seat", she still retained the ultimate "right to speak" - this is a fact.

However, even during the "discipline period", Cixi rarely used this ultimate "right to speak", and Dezong had all the "right to do things" and most of the "right to speak" - this is also a fact.

At that time, Cixi was full of ambition, thinking that she had no need to spend any effort on political affairs because she had paid the peace of the world to the emperor, and most of her spiritual head was put on the construction of the Summer Palace.

Therefore, although Dezong did not obtain all the rights of the emperor, he was not a puppet.

Also, Dezong cannot be regarded as a "reformer" in the true sense of the word, he is ...... "suddenly reformer".

Before the First Sino-Japanese War, Dezong's political orientation was actually conservative, for example, he did not approve of the construction of railways.

In the first battle of the First Sino-Japanese War, overnight, Dezong felt that in the past 30 years, all efforts and actions were useless, nothing was gained, and everything had to be pushed back to the beginning.

This is called "sudden reform".

In the later period of the Wuxu Reform, Cixi began to substantially intervene in politics, using her ultimate "right to speak" to suppress Weng Tongyi and other close ministers of the emperor.

For a long time, Cixi's actions were interpreted as opposing and undermining reform, and serving as the "protector of the law" of the old-fashioned diehards.

Is that really the case?

Anyway, Guan Zhuofan thinks that if I change places with Cixi, I will have to do it like her.

Why?

Because Mu Zong played with Kang, Liang and others, in today's words, it is called "shock therapy", the symptoms are roughly accurate, and the prescription prescribed is generally correct, but the dosage is wrong!

The medicine that should be taken in a year is forced to the sick family, and they will take it all in one day!

Where can you do that?

I've been sick for several years, and I hope that within a day, I will be completely cured, how is it possible?

The steps are too big and pulling the eggs, like Mu Zong, Kang and Liang, let alone pulling the eggs, the whole person is going to be torn apart!

In any successful reform, we must find a balance between the old and the new, especially when the old forces are still strong, and still less can we completely ignore the opposition of the old guard and not respond to the interests of the old guard, otherwise, the reform will never be successful.

What Cixi did was to restore this "balance" for Mujong, and by no means to overthrow his reforms entirely.

Facts have proved that after Gengzi, under the auspices of Cixi, the reform continued, and the depth and breadth far exceeded the Wuxu Reform.

*(To be continued.) )