10 political and business anecdote, telling the profound friendship between Zuo and Hu Xueyan, which began with the expedition in Xinjiang that year. As we all know, Zuo was a rare general in modern China who really thought about the country. As an army general, he loves soldiers like children and often takes out his salary to subsidize the needs of soldiers.
In the face of foreign enemies in modern times, the Qing government often adopted a compromise attitude, but it often paid little attention to it in wartime and its military supplies were insufficient. In this case, every time the left fights, the first concern is military resources. 186 1 year, the shortage of military assets is more serious, which makes Zuo worried.
In military operations, food and grass come first. The war is just around the corner, and Zuo has nothing at this time. Fortunately, God never shuts one door but he opens another. Hu Xueyan sent money, grain and other military resources, which eased the urgent needs of the Left.
With the help of Hu Xueyan, Zuo pulled through. After this incident, Zuo and Hu Xueyan became bosom friends. In order to express his gratitude to Hu Xueyan, Zuo also specially told the court about Hu Xueyan's selfless contribution to the army, greatly praised his loyalty to the court, and arranged for Hu Xueyan to work in his own military camp.
Working in a military camp under Zuo's jurisdiction means that Hu Xueyan can participate in Zhejiang's money, grain and salary affairs. No matter which transaction, for a businessman, the business opportunities inside are huge, and the profit space is unimaginable. This is also the beginning of military and business cooperation between the two. Since then, Hu Xueyan has changed from a civil and commercial company to an official and businessman serving the imperial court, enjoying numerous imperial benefits.
Zuo, with the financial support of Hu Xueyan, killed Sifang and led the troops to successfully recover Xinjiang. Being named "Duke Jin" by the imperial court and admiring others with a bright lintel greatly reduced the prestige of the monarch and factions. The two men benefited from each other, and Hu Xueyan was named Minister of State by the court because of his contribution to the reinforcements. He became the first and only businessman in history of qing dynasty who enjoyed the honor of yellow jacket as a businessman.
In the late Qing dynasty, the telegraph office was constantly in turmoil and the imperial court was filled with smoke. The contradiction between the main peace faction and the main war faction is sharp. Seeing Zuo becoming more and more popular with the emperor and Empress Dowager Cixi, the main peace faction headed by Li Hongzhang became more and more restless, lest the main war faction take control of the court. Therefore, they decided to cut off the political and business cooperation between Zuo and Hu Xueyan from the inside.
Their battle plan is to "get rid of the left first, and then get rid of Hu." Surprisingly, before Li Hongzhang laid hands on him, Hu Xueyan dug his own grave and betrayed Zuo privately, laying a hidden danger.
With the increase of contacts between the Qing Dynasty and the West, western affairs were introduced into the Qing Dynasty, and the telegraph was one of them. Telegraph has developed more and more rapidly since it appeared in the west, but it was not introduced in the Qing Dynasty. At this point, Hu Xueyan and Sheng Xuanhuai's eyes are extremely diabolical, and they can see at a glance how much influence this thing will bring to the Qing Dynasty after it is introduced into the Qing Dynasty! Therefore, both of them want to introduce the telegraph first and take the lead. To everyone's surprise, Hu Xueyan first introduced the telegram to Cixi, but was blocked by his ministers without their consent, and the result was in vain.
When Sheng Xuanhuai saw Hu Xueyan's failure, he conspired with Li Hongzhang to strike first, secretly set up a telegraph line under the direct jurisdiction of Li Hongzhang, and then let his ministers experience a novel convenience and style, which directly delighted them. As a result, the princes and ministers directly sided with Sheng Xuanhuai, so that Sheng Xuanhuai finally won the victory of the telegraph office and appointed Sheng Xuanhuai as its director.
No one expected that the defeat of the telegraph office directly affected the outcome of the decisive battle between Zuo and Li Hongzhang. After the Qing court showed its positive attitude towards telegrams, telegrams spread rapidly in the Qing dynasty, and ordinary nobles used telegrams more or less in their daily lives.
People send messages by telegraph, including family affairs and business secrets. At this time, the telegraph was not as developed as the current communication, and the protection of information was not as strict as that of modern society. As the director of the telegraph office, Sheng Xuanhuai can easily learn the contents of all telegrams. At this time, the telegraph office was more like an intelligence bureau established for the conservatives headed by Li Hongzhang.
Later, when Hu Xueyan was competing with foreign businessmen, its cash flow was not smooth, so it telegraphed to borrow money from major banks. Every detail of this news was known by Sheng Xuanhuai, who forced Hu Xueyan by means, making him unable to survive.
In the end, Sheng Xuanhuai also learned by cable that Hu Xueyan concealed the imperial court, falsely reported the loan interest and reported it to Cixi. Empress Dowager Cixi was so angry that Zuo copied Hu Xueyan's home directly.