The political initiative of Zai Chun.

The New Deal policy has encountered a rare historical opportunity: it is between the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom and the Boxer Rebellion at home, and between the British and French invasions and the Eight-Nation Alliance invasions internationally, just like being in a buffer period between two major storms. Daoguang and Xianfeng before Tongzhi, Guangxu and Xuan Tong after Tongzhi, did not have such favorable conditions. This provided a rare opportunity for Tongzhi Dynasty to implement the New Deal.

Japan's Meiji Restoration was also at this time. Wang Yi, the Empress Dowager of the Imperial Palace, listens to politics? Preside over government affairs, cooperate with each other and implement the New Deal. In one? Under the auspices of the group, the main measures of the New Deal are: setting up the Prime Minister's yamen, setting up the Wentong Museum, setting up new schools, sending people abroad, setting up factories to mine, building railways and so on. Implement measures to learn from western modernization and start to move towards opening up and progress. The establishment of the Prime Minister's Office is called the Prime Minister's Office for International Trade Affairs, which is generally called the "Prime Minister's Office for International Trade Affairs". The 11th year of Xianfeng (186 1) was officially approved on January 20th. Its actual function is the central government agency in charge of the New Deal, and it is a completely innovative agency facing the world situation. It is not only in charge of foreign affairs between the Qing court and other countries, but also includes foreign trade, customs and taxation, border defense, naval construction, emerging industrial and mining industries, and the construction of new schools, railways and mines. In fact, it is equivalent to the cabinet of the Qing court and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. This is the first central institution dealing with foreign affairs in two thousand years.

There is an independent office under the Prime Minister's yamen, which consists of five institutions: Britain, France, Russia, the United States and coastal defense. When the Qing government first set up the Prime Minister's yamen, there were three trade ministers stationed in Tianjin to manage the foreign trade affairs of Tianjin, Niuzhuang (later changed to Yingkou) and Dengzhou (later changed to Yantai). In the ninth year of Tongzhi (1870), Emperor Tongzhi changed him to Minister of Beiyang Trade, who was in charge of foreign trade and negotiations in northern Zhili (about present-day Hebei), Shandong and Fengtian provinces, and was also stationed in Tianjin for westernization such as coastal defense. In the 12th year of Tongzhi (1873), 18-year-old Zai Chun took charge of state affairs. When he was in power, in order to abide by the sacred decree of the Virgin Mary, he wrote "obey kindness and training". After he took office, he also did some things, such as meeting with Japanese Ambassador Yasuo Nakajima, Russian Ambassador Voryagari, American Ambassador Lou Feidi, British Ambassador Wade, French Ambassador Jeffrey and Dutch Ambassador Fei Guosun in Xiyuan Ziguangge, and accepting their credentials. Tongzhi was in charge for more than a year, and one of the major events he personally presided over was to rebuild Yuanmingyuan.

After leaving the curtain, Cixi wanted to travel outside the palace and recall her life in Yuanmingyuan. She ordered the reconstruction of Yuanmingyuan. This is a major project, which will cost at least tens of millions of dollars. In September, Zai Chun issued an imperial edict: After the completion of Yuanmingyuan, it will be used as the residence of Empress Dowager Cixi and the place where the emperor listens to politics, so that officials inside and outside Beijing below princes can donate money to repair it. Prince Gong refused completely and offered twenty-two thousand silver. He ordered the Ministry to dial 22,000 taels of silver first. After the appropriation, the court was shocked. Then a hundred officials played a note against rebuilding Yuanmingyuan. Shen Huai asked to postpone the Yuanmingyuan project. Tongzhi Lan was furious, and immediately summoned Shen Huai and sternly condemned him. Then he suggested swimming in Baichuan, and then rejected the resistance. Tongzhi also ordered you to swim in Baichuan. After a period of preparation, in the 13th year of Tongzhi (1874), the renovation works of Yuanmingyuan, including Zheng Da Guangming Hall and Tianjiayichun (the former residence of Cixi), started one after another. In April, Tongzhi visited Yuanmingyuan, and Cixi personally looked at the drawings to build more than 3,000 temples. On the sixth day of July, Guangdong businessman Li claimed to be "Li Jian of Yuanmingyuan" and defrauded 302,000 silver in the name of buying and repairing garden wood, which caused opposition from courtiers. Zai Chun still ignored Zai Chun's painting "Happy New Year" and continued his project. On July 18, ten people (three princes, three imperial envoys, three military ministers, and an old man), including Prince Gong Yixin and Wen Xiang, jointly performed. Please stop the Yuanmingyuan project: "It is advisable to cultivate vitality and consolidate the foundation; We shouldn't waste money, so there's no hurry. " Zai Chun had several face-to-face debates with the top ten officials, but he knew his mistake and still refused to repent.

In the case of repeated opposition, Zai Chun is going to issue an imperial edict, announcing the dismissal of ten ministers on charges of "collusion and conspiracy". The Empress Dowager of the two palaces saw that things were getting too big, so she had to mediate. According to Wu Rulun Dai, when summoned, "the people in the two palaces were in tears, and the emperor knelt down. It is said that ten years have passed, why is there no public residence today? The emperor was young and ordered the cancellation yesterday. " As a result, the imperial edict of the ten revolutionary ministers was not issued, and the Yuanmingyuan was rebuilt instead of the Three Seas. Under the resistance of Yi and others, Tongzhi said, "What if I don't work? What are you waiting for? " On the 29th, the Yuanmingyuan project was stopped. The reconstruction of Yuanmingyuan was the imperial edict of Cixi, which angered Cixi. On the 30th, Zai Chun issued an imperial edict: "Brother Zhu changed to a prince and was reduced to a county king." 100 hall, pavilion and other 500 rooms, which are basically formed after being covered, erected, pasted and uncovered. On the first day of August, Tongzhi issued an imperial edict: "By the imperial edict of Empress Dowager Yu Kangqing of Ci 'an and Empress Kang Yi of Cixi: Yesterday, the emperor issued a decree to remove Prince Gong from the position of Spyker and reduce him to the county king ... and repay him with grace. ".Yu Yu restored the Xiyuan Three Seas Project. Main items: The Westernization Movement established Zeng Guofan, Li Hongzhang and Zuo. Modern military factories have been set up in Shanghai, Nanjing and Fuzhou, and more foreigners have been hired as technical directors. This is the so-called "Westernization Movement", which includes organizing new military industries, training new troops and strengthening national defense construction. Its purpose is to "seek strength" and "seek wealth". Easy to emphasize learning "western learning" and making "western utensils". He believes that "learning from the West" and "making foreign countries" were carried out as early as Kangxi the Great in the early Qing Dynasty, and now they are carrying forward the system and tradition of their ancestors. In the third year of Tongzhi (1864), the Qing government opened more than 20 large-scale arsenals, including Jiangnan Manufacturing Bureau, Jinling Manufacturing Bureau, Fuzhou Shipping Bureau, Tianjin Machinery Bureau and Xi 'an Machinery Bureau. The larger and more typical arsenals are Jiangnan, Jinling, Fuzhou, Tianjin and Hanyang.

Jiangnan manufacturing general bureau. It is the largest military industry planned by Zeng Guofan and actually managed by Li Hongzhang. In the fourth year of Tongzhi (1865), Li Hongzhang entrusted Ding Richang, a customs officer, to buy the American merchant flag iron factory in Hongkou, moved two foreign artillery bureaus in Shanghai and Suzhou to Shanghai, and established a large-scale military manufacturing bureau. In the sixth year of Tongzhi (1867), Zeng Guofan advocated shipbuilding in our factory and set a 20% tariff at Shanghai Customs to finance shipbuilding. Since then, the factory has expanded year by year, including foreign gun factory, foreign gun factory, cannonball factory, coke factory, ship factory, steel-making factory, bullet factory, mining factory, and schools and translation halls, with a relatively large scale. In the seventh year of Tongzhi (1868), the shipyard built the first ship and named it "Huiji". Before the Sino-French War, a total of 15 warships were built, the largest of which was 2,800 tons, and the smallest was only a few hundred tons. Cultivate westernization talents, set up foreign language schools, industrial schools and modern military schools, and send overseas students. The earliest new school in Tongzhi period was Wentong Museum in Shi Jing. 10 students were selected from the children of the Eight Banners in Beijing, and the teacher was an English priest, Paul Teng. In addition to hiring foreigners to teach foreign languages, the museum also invited Professor Xu to teach Confucian classics.

During the Tongzhi period, the newly established schools included the Machinery School affiliated to Jiangnan Manufacturing Bureau and the Shipping Administration School affiliated to Fuzhou Shipping Bureau. Fuzhou Ship Administration School, also known as Qiushitang Art Bureau, was attached by Zuo when he presided over Fuzhou Ship Administration School in Tongzhi five years (1866). This school is a new school opened earlier in modern times, mainly studying natural science. At the same time, it has the nature of a military school, and one of its purposes is to train naval and shipbuilding talents. In the eleventh year (1872), the first batch of 30 "young children" went to the United States to study, which was called "young children going abroad" in history. The rise of studying abroad during Tongzhi period was inseparable from Hong. Hong Rong (1828- 19 12), a native of Xiangshan (now Zhongshan) in Guangdong Province, entered Ma Lixun Christian School in the 21st year of Daoguang (184 1), and his parents hoped that he would become a comprador after his studies. Later, Brown, the American teacher of the school, went back to the United States, and Yung Wing followed him and became one of the early modern students. Hong Rong proposed and arranged for them to live separately in American civilian families. American teachers, doctors and gentlemen brought China's children to their own homes. Every family takes good care of young children, provides them with better food and shelter, and cares about their study and life. They become a bridge between Chinese and western cultures. However, Chen Lanbin, an official sent by the Qing government to the United States to supervise the study abroad, took the foreign students to learn sports and dance, wore suits instead of gowns and jackets, shook hands without bowing, and even some students cut their braids, thinking that "if they could return to China, it would be harmful to the country and society" and suggested to the Qing court to withdraw the students studying in the United States. Although they didn't finish their planned studies in America, they were all educated in the West. These young people who have returned from studying abroad have gradually become famous figures and scientific and technological backbones in China's political, military, academic, industrial and commercial fields, and have made contributions to China's modernization. According to incomplete statistics, there are 24 people engaged in administration and diplomacy, including consuls and agents 12, foreign ministers and ministers 2, chief minister 1 person and prime minister 1 person. 20 people joined the navy, and 14 of them became naval generals; Five educators, two of whom became university presidents; There are 30 people engaged in industry, including 9 industrial and mining leaders, 6 engineers and 3 railway directors. Main items: Sino-French War and Peony Club Incident, Japan and France should be dealt with first, and some foreign affairs should be dealt with by Tongzhi. In the 12th year of Tongzhi (1873), he received the Japanese ambassador in Ziguangge on June 13th. Later, envoys from Russia, the United States, Britain, the Netherlands and other countries submitted their credentials to him.

Second, in the 12th year of Tongzhi (1873), Zai Chun sent Rui Lin, Governor of Guangdong and Guangxi, to help Vietnam resist the French at the request of the King of Yue.

Thirdly, because the Gaoshan people in Taiwan Province Province killed the Ryukyu people who drifted to Taiwan Province Province by mistake, the Japanese used this as an excuse to invade Taiwan Province Province. In the 13th year of Tongzhi (1874), on March 29th, Zai Chun sent Shen Baozhen, Fujian's minister of shipping administration, to Taiwan to deploy defense, and Zai Chun, a teenager, wrote a letter to fight against Japan. Later, through negotiations, the Beijing Special Fund was established, the Japanese withdrew from Taiwan Province Province, and the Qing government compensated 502,000 silver. If Zai Chun did something in diplomacy, he did nothing in internal affairs. If there is, then he is in trouble. Going abroad to inspect western countries broke into houses twice, and the Qing dynasty was forced to open the door. China goes to the world, and the world goes to China. The Western Expedition in Qing Dynasty began in Tongzhi five years (1866). On the 21st day of the first month of Tongzhi five years (1866), Bin Chun led three students from Wentong Museum and his son Guangying (a peer who took care of his father) to leave Beijing and go abroad by boat. After a month and eight days' voyage, he arrived in Marseille, France. He traveled in Europe for more than 1 10 days, visited France, Britain, Netherlands, Denmark, Sweden, Finland, Russia, Prussia, Norway, Belgium and other countries, and returned to Beijing on September 18. Bin Chun wrote "Riding Notes" and recorded what he saw with his own eyes for the first time, such as trains, ships, telegrams, elevators, machine printing, steam engines, photography, cranes, pumps, microscopes, slide projectors, textile mills, arsenals and so on. He also visited and described the European Exposition, Ballet, British Museum, National Assembly, modern newspapers, colleges and universities, and the Palace of Versailles and the Arc de Triomphe in France for the first time. He saw the modern technology and civilization in the west.