What contribution did Li Hongzhang make to the Qing government and what kind of influence did Li Hongzhang have on the Qing government?

Faced with the great threat from the West backed by powerful scientific and military strength, most of the adherents of the Qing government and conservative officials did not seek changes to strengthen themselves, but fantasized about China's status as a great power all day long and abided by the laws of their ancestors, which brought great resistance to China's modernization and reform. In order to promote the Westernization Movement, Li Hongzhang waged unremitting struggle with the die-hards. At the same time, he made a series of westernization movements, such as shipbuilding, telegraph, railway and sending overseas students, by winning support from all sides, adapting and even secretly carrying out under pressure. Today, these movements are of great significance to China's modernization.

Moreover, he established the first modern navy in the history of China; In order to cooperate with the navy, he also established a series of military enterprises, which laid the earliest foundation of China industry; In order to make the ships produced by the arsenal find buyers, he founded the "official supervision and commercial office" ship investment promotion bureau, which is one of the earliest national capital enterprises in China history; Arsenal needed all kinds of minerals and energy, so he started the earliest modern mining enterprise and smelting industry in China. The first railway and the first telegraph line in China were laid under his leadership; He proposed to send personnel to study abroad, including young children studying in the United States, who later created a large number of talents; He set up foreign research bureaus in various provinces, a museum of foreign languages and linguistics in Shanghai and a medical museum in Tianjin. At the same time, he recruited foreigners to hold various posts in China so that they could serve China, but their leadership remained in the hands of China people.

But as far as his contribution to the country and the nation is concerned, Li Hongzhang's contribution is really not under his teacher Zeng Guofan. Zeng Guofan is praised for his ability and virtue; Li Hongzhang's contribution mainly lies in his ability. Under the guidance of China's traditional thought of putting morality first, it is understandable that Zeng Guofan is more recognized than Li Hongzhang.

Moreover, among Li Hongzhang's self-improvement measures, Jiangnan Manufacturing Bureau and China Merchants Bureau are the most mentioned two modern enterprises. There have been many papers about them, and what I want to point out here is their different development models. Jiangnan Manufacturing Bureau takes China as the leader and employs foreign technicians. As a civilian service enterprise, China Merchants Group is a pure China enterprise, and its articles of association specifically stipulate that it will not accept foreign investment. In contrast, Jiangnan Manufacturing Bureau is more influenced by foreign countries because it imitates the production of western ship weapons, while China Merchants Group is more advanced in organizational structure because it adopts joint-stock system. Although Jiangnan Manufacturing Bureau was not very successful in its early years for various reasons, its model of making foreign things serve China and even some specific ways of organizing production were adopted by later national industries. The management of China Shipping Merchants Bureau is much more successful. It broke the history that China shipping was monopolized by foreign shipping companies. Established in just ten years, it has become the largest shipping company in China, gained a firm foothold in the fierce market competition and made good profits. This has brought immeasurable inspiration and enlightenment to the development of China's national industry.