The transition and transformation of old China from feudal society to modern capitalist society lasted 109, and experienced three generations of governments: late Qing Dynasty, Beiyang and Kuomintang. Although these three generations of governments have made some achievements in modernization in some aspects, fundamentally speaking, they have never completed the above transformation, and China has maintained a semi-colonial and semi-feudal social form until liberation. In these three generations of governments, there are some core figures who shoulder the heavy responsibility of modernization. This paper attempts to make a fair and objective evaluation of six of them in the process of modernization.

It took 109 years for the old China to transform from primitive feudal society to capitalist modernization, but it has never been well transformed. The capitalist society has never been built, and it has always remained in a deformed transitional social form of semi-colony and semi-feudalism. Although there are complicated subjective and objective factors, among the three generations of governments that ruled old China, their personal gains and losses are also one of the important factors that caused this situation.

The first generation of core figures-Li Hongzhang and Sheng Xuanhuai

The modernization of old China began with the Westernization Movement initiated by the Qing government after 1860. The Westernization Movement established 19 modern military industries and nearly 40 modern civil industrial, mining and transportation enterprises. By 1894, the total capital of these westernization enterprises reached 263.44 million yuan, accounting for 45.22% of the total capital of modern enterprises at that time; The total number of workers was 34110—40810, accounting for 37.33—4 1.62% of all workers in modern enterprises at that time. (Huang Yifeng and Jiang Duo: Essays on Modern Economic History of China, Jiangsu People's Publishing House, 198 1 Edition, p. 338. At the same time, the Westernization Movement also started to set up various new schools, sent overseas students for further study, trained a large number of modern scientific and technological talents, translated a large number of books in western languages, spread modern scientific and cultural knowledge, established a new army and strengthened coastal defense. After 35 years of Westernization Movement, it laid a preliminary foundation for China's industrial modernization, national defense modernization and scientific and technological modernization, and made feudal China begin to move towards capitalist modernization, which was an undeniable historical role of Westernization Movement.

Unfortunately, the Westernization Movement, the first shot of China's modernization, did not start. After the fiasco of the Sino-Japanese War, we had to declare bankruptcy. The late Qing government occupied two thirds of old China for 70 years. However, the foundation of China's economic, political, military and cultural modernization in the late Qing Dynasty was still weak and backward, and the capitalist society was far from being built. According to statistics, in 2003, the total industrial capital of China in modern times was19147.2 billion yuan, of which foreign capital accounted for 83% in China. (Zhu Cishou: Modern Industrial History of China, Chongqing Publishing House, p.414. Before the same year, there were 698 factories in China with 2707 17 industrial workers, accounting for only 0. 1% of the total population of 400 million. (Sun Jian politician: Chinese economic history-modern part, Renmin University Press, 1989, p. 732. The gross output value of emerging industries is estimated to be less than 4% of the gross national product, and more than 96% is the output value of small agriculture and small handicraft industry.

Li Hongzhang and Sheng Xuanhuai are the key figures in the modernization at this stage. We believe that Li Hongzhang was mentioned for the following reasons: first, he was the host and participant of the Westernization Movement from beginning to end; Second, he is the direct founder of major westernization enterprises; Third, he is the founder and commander of the new Lu Haijun and the new coastal defense fortress; Fourth, he served as governor of Zhili and minister of Beiyang for 25 years and was the core figure of the ruling group in the late Qing Dynasty. Fifthly, in 188 1 year, he put forward the modernization policy of China, which had certain foresight and overall planning for China's modernization from theory to practice at that time. Sixth, he is also a diplomatic decision-maker and participant at this stage. Sheng Xuanhuai is the economic manager of Li Hongzhang, the direct operator of major westernization enterprises, the pioneer of modern industrial, mining, transportation and financial enterprises in old China, and a Mitsui and Mitsubishi figure in China. In a word, Li Hongzhang and Sheng Xuanhuai, one is the de facto leader of comprehensively carrying out China's modernization, and the other is the giant of modern economic undertakings. Their close combination formed the first generation of core figures in the modernization of old China.

Li Hongzhang and Sheng Xuanhuai, as the first generation core figures in the modernization of old China, how should they evaluate their personal merits and demerits?

Let's start with Li Hongzhang. He started by suppressing Taiping Army and Nian Army, and served as Governor of Jiangsu, Governor of Liangjiang, Governor of Zhili and Minister of Beiyang. 1862 sent Huai army to Shanghai, and had more direct contact with westerners and affairs. He gradually formed a set of westernization thoughts, and took it as his responsibility to initiate westernization and modernization. He once said that others can't talk about westernization, and I, Li Hongzhang, have to talk about westernization. In fact, in the process of the first generation modernization in old China, Li Hongzhang was a key figure with certain foresight and great talent from theory to practice. It is unfair to regard him as the embodiment of betraying the country and seeking glory, worshipping foreign things and flattering foreign countries. Li Hongzhang's fault mainly lies in: facing the obstacles of feudal political system and feudal traditional thought to the emerging modernization cause, he did not dare to break through. He not only knows the harm of the first two to modernization, but also has deep pain. He himself once lamented: "For thirty years, Japan has been in a rumor." But he didn't dare to touch the feudal political system and feudal traditional thought in practical actions. The purpose of his advocating modernization is not to fully promote capitalism, but to save, maintain and consolidate feudal rule. This is the achilles heel of the whole Westernization Movement and Li Hongzhang's personal achilles heel. Therefore, I am loyal to the feudal court in the late Qing Dynasty headed by Cixi, and dare not cross the line. For Cixi personally, she is obedient and obedient, and dare not cross the line, let alone replace it like Yuan Shikai later. Obsessed with feudal political system and feudal traditional thought, it can't be said that it is his main fault.

Besides, Sheng Xuanhuai. He started as an adjutant of Li Hongzhang's army, and then gradually started his own career by helping Li Hongzhang preside over the Westernization. He successively served as Shandong Denglinqing Road, Yantai Customs Supervision, Tianjin Customs Road, Dali Temple, Zuoshilang of Ministry of Industry, Youdailang of Postal Service, Shangshu of Postal Service and Minister of Postal Service, and became an important official of the late Qing government. The importance of Sheng Xuanhuai's position lies not in his official position, but in his mastery and control of modern enterprises at that time. He founded, presided over and controlled China Merchants, the largest modern shipping company in old China, the first and only telegraph office, Hanye Pingmei Iron Factory, a large coal-iron joint venture, and Yisheng Textile Factory, the largest textile factory, the main railway trunk line and the first bank in old China, etc. In addition, he founded the earliest Tianjin Beiyang University Hall and Shanghai Nanyang College in old China. Most of the major modern industrial, mining, transportation and financial enterprises established in the first stage of modernization in old China were founded by Sheng Xuanhuai. In other words, Sheng Xuanhuai was the founder of the first generation of capitalist modernization in old China and the leader of the emerging bourgeoisie in old China. It is also unfair to simply call him a "bureaucratic comprador".

Sheng Xuanhuai's main fault also lies in his failure to break through the superstructure of feudal political system and establish corresponding democratic politics while setting up modern enterprises to lay the foundation of capitalist economy. Instead, he used the energy of controlling modern enterprises to seek "senior officials" from the late Qing government and plunged himself into the whirlpool of feudal political system. As Xia Dongyuan said in the preface of Biography of Sheng Xuanhuai: "In the end, he failed to overcome the contradiction between conservative political views and progressive economic practice." Based on Sheng Xuanhuai's economic practice of establishing modern enterprises, he should feel the harm of feudal political system and feudal traditional thought more deeply than Li Hongzhang. Unfortunately, he failed to break away from the cage of the two men in political thought, and always stood on the reactionary and conservative position of the late Qing government. In the Reform Movement of 1898, he publicly put forward a reform plan contrary to Kang and Liang, arguing that "China's fundamental learning need not be changed, but military and industrial politics should learn from the strengths of all countries." During Eight-Nation Alliance's invasion, in order to maintain the safety of modern enterprises, he actively initiated and organized "Southeast Mutual Insurance". Although it violated the original intention of Cixi, it was in line with the aggressive interests of the great powers. 19 1 1 On May 9, 2000, the decree of "state-owned railway trunk line" promulgated by him as Minister of Posts and Communications became the fuse of the Revolution of 1911. After the outbreak of the Revolution of 1911, he tried his best to mobilize Yuan Shikai to come out of the mountain and actively participate in the transfer of troops and grain, in an attempt to put out the revolutionary fire and save the government in the late Qing Dynasty, and eventually became the object of the Revolution of 1911. As a result, the late Qing government, to which he was deeply committed, died, and his dream of being a big official had to be shattered, and his modernization cause was greatly disturbed and influenced, which failed to achieve normal development.

In a word, Li Hongzhang and Sheng Xuanhuai first established modern enterprises and institutions on the land of China, which made great contributions to the modernization of the first generation of capitalism in China. Their failure to break through the cage of feudal political system and feudal traditional thought became the key and main fault of the failure of the first generation of modernization in old China.

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