The Qing court devised a clever plan to win the Sino-French war in advance: two performances were unresolved.
This incident is from the book "Late Qing Dynasty Strongman: Xue Shuai Peng Yulin". After the outbreak of the Sino-French War, Zheng Guanying suggested to Peng Yulin, who was stationed in Guangdong to handle defense, to take advantage of the good feelings of King Rama V of Siam (present-day Thailand) to China to persuade his soldiers to attack Saigon, Vietnam, the stronghold of the French army invading China, and force the French army to retreat without a fight. After Peng Yulin learned of this clever plan, he wrote to the court twice, but in the end he returned in vain.
First: Zheng Guan should offer a clever plan, and Peng Yulin played the imperial court, but it was not approved.
Before the outbreak of the Sino-French War in 1883, Pang Yulin was transferred to Guangdong to assist Zhang Shusheng, the governor of Liangguang, in military affairs. However, his relationship with Zhang Shusheng, the governor of Liangguang, was not harmonious, as Pang Yulin preferred to be stationed in Humen, while Zhang Shusheng preferred to be stationed in Huangpu.
In 1884, when the French army threatened Qiongzhou, Peng Yulin sent four battalions of Wang Zhichun to Qiongzhou to defend it. During this period, Peng Yulin also transferred Zheng Guanying to Guangdong, and at Peng Yulin's suggestion and Wang Zhichun's recommendation, Zheng Guanying took charge of a battalion of the Hunan army.
Zheng Guanying used to be the director of the China ** office, and had been to Nanyang, so he had a better understanding of the situation in Nanyang, so he gave Peng Yulin a good idea. King Rama V of Siam (present-day Thailand), surnamed Zheng, was born in Guangdong, and his six important ministers (equivalent to governors) were also Cantonese. Therefore, Rama V and these six ** had a deep affection for China and were very dissatisfied with the French occupation of China. Zheng Guanying believed that the Qing court could use Rama V's feelings to persuade him to send troops to attack Saigon, Vietnam, the stronghold of France, and the French would retreat without a fight.
In terms of specific application methods, Zheng Guanying said: There are many overseas Chinese in the two cities of Singapore and Saigon, Vietnam, and the shippers in these two cities have Zheng Guanying's branch to cooperate with the management, if the overseas Chinese in these two cities can be mobilized, the first to hide in Saigon is the army of Rama V, the arsenal of the French army, and the ** of the French army, so that the base camp of the French army must be completely destroyed, and the French army that occupies China will definitely retreat without a fight.
After discussing with Zheng Guanying, Peng Yulin believed that this plan was indeed feasible, and if it succeeded, the war of resistance against France could be won in advance, and the imperial court could also save a lot of military spending. As a result, Peng Yulin reported Zheng Guanying's plan to the imperial court and asked for approval for implementation.
But after listening to Pang Yulin's preaching, the court thought that this plan was too deep and warned him to be calm and not to act rashly, so Pang Yulin had to give up temporarily.
Second: The court upheld the claim, but vRama is indifferent to this.
In the early summer of the tenth year of Guangxu (1884), Zhang Zhidong, the main battle faction, arrived in Guangdong, and when Peng Yulin discussed military affairs with him, he remembered Zheng Guanying's strategy. After hearing this, Zhang Zhidong also felt that it was a good plan.
The defeat in northern Ningxia made the voices of the peace faction louder and louder, and they actively negotiated peace with France. Although Zhang Zhidong and Peng Yulin were very angry, they were helpless. If Zheng Guanying's plan succeeds, it will undoubtedly deal a fatal blow to the French and completely change the situation, thus silencing the peace faction.
With the support of Zhang Zhidong, Peng Yulin once again wrote to the imperial court, praising Zheng Guanying's ability to ensure the smooth implementation of the plan. The unfavorable situation at the front meant that the imperial court had to seriously consider this"Unorthodox"of the plan. In approving the plan, the imperial court also accepted Peng's suggestion to send Zheng Guanying to command the activities, but instructed Peng Yulin to be cautious so as not to be discovered by the French army, leading to a larger invasion.
With the approval of the imperial court, Peng Yulin immediately sent Zheng Guanying to Nanyang. On June 11 of the same year, Zheng Guanying took a papermaker and a Pixiu to Saigon, Vietnam, via Hong Kong, to bid farewell to Peng Yulin. Sixteen days later, Zheng Guanying immediately sent Pixiu to make a secret visit to the French army's defense in Saigon, and drew a map to bring back to China.
On June 17, Cheng and his entourage left Saigon for Singapore. 19 After arriving in Singapore on June 19, Zheng Guanying met with Chinese Chen Jinzhong. Originally from Guangdong, Chen Jinzhong is the Consul General of Siam in Singapore and the General Manager of China Merchants Singapore Branch. Chen Jinzhong was very pessimistic about the situation and was not very optimistic about this trip, and it was only after Zheng Guanying's persuasion that he agreed to propose to the king to join forces with the Qing court and Vietnam to resist the French. Subsequently, Zheng Guanying went to Siam to lobby the local **.
However, at that time, King Rama V of Siam was leading a large-scale reform movement. In the face of aggression by the Western powers, Rama V preferred to sacrifice his own interests for peace in order to buy time to complete reforms. Therefore, Rama V did not want to fight the French, although he knew that his army was no match for the French **.
Due to the opposition of King Rama V, all of Zheng Guanying's plans lost the basis for implementation, and the plan that Zhang Zhidong and Peng Yulin had been looking forward to was stillborn.