Why did officials in the late Qing Dynasty compete to study abroad? What is their purpose?

1793, Emperor Qianlong, who relied on China to go to the whole country, flatly rejected the British Madzar mission who came to ask for trade and continued to close the country. It was not until the Opium War and the shelling of British ships that the door of the Qing Empire was opened. The decadent Qing Dynasty suffered repeated wars and defeats in foreign wars, and ceded land and paid reparations again and again, which reduced it from the celestial dynasty to the prey of the great powers with swords to be slaughtered. Even a weak country should have normal contacts with the great powers and safeguard national interests, so the Qing dynasty decided to send envoys abroad.

Unexpectedly, most of the honest officials who heard the news fled for fear of being caught as able-bodied men. The reason is China's old idea of going to the country, thinking that all countries except the Great Qing Dynasty are? Barbarian land? . Especially the western powers, in the history of China, before this, no diplomat has traveled so far, which is a long journey. What a pity if a guest died in another country!

But the general trend, someone has to do it. So after Emperor Qianlong refused to trade with Britain for 83 years, Guo Songtao led his entourage to Britain in 1876 and became the first ambassador to Britain. Guo Songtao was deeply impressed by British education and advanced science, and advocated that China should study and study. Guo Songtao is famous for his incorruptibility. During his tenure as a minister in Britain, he was neither supercilious nor supercilious, leaving a good impression on the host country.

Through contact with foreign countries, these officials in the Qing Dynasty found that foreign countries were not the barbarian places they imagined, but they lived better than the Qing Dynasty, and the treatment and welfare of living abroad were incomparable at home. In addition, officials returning from overseas will be promoted as usual. So 1890 or so, the wind of going abroad became more and more fierce. Li Hongzhang once wrote a letter to diplomat Hong Jun, telling the truth? Is recommendation still out of control? . Every time a foreign envoy, hundreds of people ask to follow, which is really a rush.

After getting in touch with the outside world, the thoughts of these officials who went abroad have changed greatly, and their openness is staggering even now. Wang Chengchuan is such a typical representative.

Wang Chengchuan (1874-? ), the word Qin Yao, Anhui Tongcheng. 189 1 graduated from the first kindergarten class of Tianjin Ordnance School, donated a supervisor, and taught German in Tianjin Cavalry School. 190 1 year ~ 1907, attache abroad, once handled the affairs of German, Dutch and Danish embassies as first secretary. He is proficient in German and has been active abroad for more than 20 years. He recorded what he saw and heard abroad in his diary. Besides recording his daily official duties, it is not an exaggeration to describe his overseas life as a degenerate.

There is a Chu Liuxiang in the martial arts novels, charming and charming. But if he meets Wang Chengchuan, he will give him the title of Xiang Shuai.

During his stay abroad, Wang Chengchuan was romantic and obsessed with meeting and chatting up. In his diary, he recorded that there were more than 30 western women who interacted with him, with high frequency and large scale. The parties about these women often range from three to five days to one or two days. This is a master in love.

Some people may say that he is a diplomat, just a normal diplomatic job. But in fact, he knew very few women in his diplomatic work. Most of the more than 30 western women in his diary are girls he met in bars and dance halls. He and these girls usually get together alone, rarely accompanied by male friends, and enjoy drinking, eating, watching movies and chatting, which often lasts until the early morning of the next day.

He also recorded these things in his diary:

Dancing began at twelve o'clock, and Yu also invited the girls at the same table to dance for a week, exchanging pleasantries and making promises. I left without saying goodbye because it was late at night. (July 221903 September 13)

Invite two girls to sell Deng teahouse to drink, send them to observe and then go home. I talked to a girl for a long time. (20th day of the first month, 1906 February 13)

I made an appointment with Miss Bertie, and went to the Pigeon Hall pub for dinner after the break. I went to the Arkady Dumb Garden to watch the dance again. Go back to the agency at three o'clock. (1 month 2 1 day1906 February 14)

This afternoon, a girl from Aojingmeizhai sent a photo of Xiaoyi, whose jade looks like before, making people homesick. (1 22nd of the month1906 February 15)

In the late Qing Dynasty, when he was poor and weak and bullied by foreigners, Wang Chengchuan found another way and embarked on a road. Curve saves the country and conquers foreigners? This road. During the intermission of official activities, Wang Chengchuan met a beautiful girl in the carriage and stood and talked for a long time. It was not until the young girl got off the bus that they reluctantly waved a towel and said goodbye.

This is still the case during official duties. When traveling alone, Wang Chengchuan is even more eager to hunt for sex. With fluent German and barrier-free English and French, Wang Chengchuan frequently accosted young girls to get their contact information, then wrote letters, presented photos and gifts, and invited them to chat and dance until things happened.

Interestingly, Wang Chengchuan recorded these events in his diary, and he did not shy away. For example, this paragraph is even more straightforward: Later, I traveled to Berlin with Yan Ping and two girls in the evening, and stayed in the hostel and didn't come back? (July 25th, 65438+August 25th, 0905).

Diary is actually a dual nature of official documents and autobiography. Wang Chengchuan not only recorded his diplomatic official duties, but also recorded all aspects of his overseas life. Wang Chengchuan's generation of diplomats is very different from the first batch of diplomats in the late Qing Dynasty. The first batch of diplomatic envoys abroad, such as Guo Songtao, Ceng Jize and Xue Fucheng, often go abroad to perform their duties cautiously for fear of insulting national dignity and morality. Even your wife can only meet western women, not foreign men. Even if you have to meet them, you are not allowed to shake hands with them.

Wang Chengchuan's overseas life is much more colorful. The process of enjoying courtship is the main axis of their lives, diplomatic work seems to have become a sideline, and the corruption and incompetence of Qing bureaucrats have also extended overseas. The envoys and envoys of embassies abroad are overseas, and what they do most is to pass on information.

There are not many official duties, but Wang Chengchuan's daily life is compact and interesting. Drinking tea, eating, walking, going to the park, watching a play and dancing occupy most of the time every day. If every day is such a life, it is not too much. Who let somebody else is a leisure yamen? But their luxurious life is beyond our imagination.

Influenced by Confucian culture, the thoughts of Qing officials abroad changed beyond the imagination of China people, which amazed us. When Wang Chengchuan was traveling alone in Austria, he even asked the embassy attache to go to a brothel at night. On another trip home, when passing through Sri Lanka, Japan and Hong Kong, Wang Chengchuan and others were unwilling to be lonely and went to a local brothel to have fun, so that they were infected with sexually transmitted diseases. Wang said in his diary that he was unwell and hurried? How many bottles of antipruritic drugs do you buy? Relieve anxiety. In ancient times, literati often regarded eating flowers and drinking as an elegant thing, which is probably why Wang Chengchuan was able to record his glorious love history in his diary without hesitation.

While the national strength declined in the late Qing Dynasty, these overseas officials were addicted to dance halls and nightclubs. 1906 1, Li's nephew Li rushed to Berlin from London, England, and Wang Chengchuan was responsible for the reception. Except for a few business trips, the main work arrangements are shopping, drinking, dancing and going to the theatre. Only Wang recorded in his diary that they went to the dance floor 10 times, from Berlin? Moulin Rouge The dance floor is an entertainment place similar to a nightclub, and it is also their favorite place to go. Restaurants and nightclubs sing and dance endlessly every night, and several prostitutes gather around happily, sometimes until 5 am.

With such foreign officials, why didn't the Qing Dynasty die? Even so, for the country, the family is not much better. In September, when Wang's wife gave birth to her second child, she died in dystocia. At this time, Wang Chengchuan was not with her, but actually lived in a hotel.

Of course, Wang Chengchuan didn't do anything serious except record his overseas affairs. His Notes on Qin Yao also objectively preserved the real situation of German politics, diplomacy, culture, education and social life at that time. It also mentioned purchasing cars for the Qing court, including several cars for Empress Dowager Cixi. It is mentioned that these cars are beautifully made, purplish red, with Ssangyong on both sides and seats inside. Wang Chengchuan was not completely drunk in the scandal. He edited the divorce chapter of Qing Hui Dian and the German version of Strange Tales from a Lonely Studio, which is a contribution to the traditional culture of China!

As a diplomatic official who defeated the Qing Dynasty, Wang Chengchuan's diary naturally mentioned the internal troubles and foreign invasion and helplessness of the Qing Dynasty. For example, in the Russo-Japanese War, two robbers fought wantonly on the land of China. One of the paragraphs he wrote is like this? Read the newspaper: There are warships at the Odessa estuary in the Russian Black Sea and the Baolihai estuary in the Russian East Sea. The ship's officials were fired and the house burned down, which surprised the businessman. The reinforcements haven't turned into disorderly parties yet. Recently, there is little peace and tranquility on the earth. The war between Russia and Japan involved China, Korea and Morocco, and Germany, France, Britain and Japan (Spain) all participated. However, the disintegration of the alliance between Sweden and Na Wei is still difficult to be resolved peacefully, and the Madzar Kans countries have had a special impact. From the point of view, the world will never live in peace, but what can we do? In a word, I hate that China and North Korea can't stand on their own feet! ?

The Qing dynasty was bullied by the great powers, but it was powerless to change. Wang Chengchuan felt painful and helpless about the fate of the country. However, Guo Songtao and other first-generation diplomats in the late Qing Dynasty lacked feelings of home and country, and civil servants indulged in extravagant life overseas, which was also the epitome of the late Qing Dynasty.