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Why was a foreigner who had been in charge of China's customs for 46 years posthumously named the crown prince and Taibao after his death?

On the morning of April 13, 1908, thousands of people including envoys from more than a dozen Western countries to China, ministers of the Qing court, celebrities, gentry, compradors from industry and commerce, and people from all walks of life gathered at Beijing Railway Station to pray for them. My friend? Hurd, the General Taxation Department of the Qing Dynasty Customs, saw him off. The band repeatedly played the national anthems of various countries, creating a heavy and sad atmosphere. Hurd said goodbye to the people who were seeing him off one by one to the music of "Auld Lang Syne", his gray eyes full of frustration.

Who is Hart? He was a British man who was in charge of China's customs for 46 years during the precarious years of the Qing Dynasty. In middle school textbooks, Hurd was denounced as a representative of the British invaders and an out-and-out traitor. But why did so many Chinese people come to see this bad guy off when he left China? Could it be that they are all traitors?

The real situation may not be that simple. The reason why Hurd was able to make so many nobles and dignitaries of the Qing court reluctant to leave was because he had indeed done a lot of good things for China. Customs became China's earliest modern agency.

Hurd was born in Northern Ireland, England, in 1835, and was admitted to the famous Belfast College at the age of 15. In the early spring of 1854, the British Foreign Office recruited staff for the consulate in China. Hurd, who was studying for a master's degree, resolutely gave up his degree and applied to China.

When he first arrived in China, he was just an insignificant additional translator, but he was soon promoted to assistant translator and later to the second assistant of the Guangzhou Consulate. He speaks fluent Chinese, is self-controlled, calm, and tactful. He is also familiar with Chinese official etiquette and the habits of scholar-bureaucrats. He often proactively provides advice and suggestions on taxation, foreign affairs, diplomacy, etc., so he is deeply favored by Prince Gong and other important officials in the court. their praise.

In 1853, the year before Hart came to China, the Little Knife Society uprising broke out in Shanghai. Britain, the United States, and France used this as an excuse to control China's customs. From then on, the Qing government's General Customs and Taxation Department was always filled by British people. The first General Customs and Taxation Department, Li Taitai, was arrogant and domineering and showed no respect for Chinese rights and interests. He was quickly fired by the Qing government. Hart, who was only 28 years old, succeeded him as the Chief Taxation Department of China Customs in the Qing Dynasty and stayed in this position for 48 years.

Although the old customs system of the Qing Dynasty was independent, it was backward, its officials were incompetent, and it was notorious for fraud, bribery, and the prevalence of bad regulations. Before the Opium War, the annual customs tax revenue was only about 1.5 million taels, which was insignificant compared to the agricultural tax, which was the main revenue of the Qing government at that time.

After taking office, Hurd adopted an advanced Western administrative management system and implemented vertical unified leadership of the national customs, from declaration, inspection, tax assessment, review, tax collection, payment to inspection and release of ship cargo. Every link has institutional guarantees to prevent fraud. Every new hire must pass an exam. Even with Hurd's introduction, this is no exception. Personnel found guilty of corruption and malpractice will be subject to immediate dismissal. At the same time, high salaries are implemented to support integrity, so that everyone can work with peace of mind and work diligently. The Qing Customs soon took on a new look.

The decline of customs sovereignty is a shameful record for a sovereign country. Ironically, in the sluggish and corrupt administrative system of the late Qing Dynasty, the customs managed by Hurd was the most efficient and clean agency, with very few frauds occurring for decades. This set of institutions and systems was inherited by successive Chinese governments and ran until 1949.

Hurd once warned his subordinates: We must remember unequivocally and constantly that the Customs and Taxation Department is a Chinese, not a foreign, agency, and all members are members of the Chinese government. servant?. Under this purpose, the customs collected a large amount of tax revenue for the Qing government.

After the Second Opium War in 1860, the Qing government was forced to pay 16 million taels of silver indemnity to the British and French governments, which was paid with customs duties. It was fully repaid six years later. During the Taiping Rebellion, the customs also provided huge financial support to the imperial court. The Qing government greatly appreciated this.

In 1875, customs tax revenue reached 12 million taels, increased to 14.5 million taels in 1885, and reached 30 million taels in 1902, accounting for about 1/3 of the total fiscal revenue. The originally humble customs service has become the empire's most important, stable and reliable source of revenue in less than 20 years.

Hurd and China's Modernization

The era in which Hurd lived was when traditional China gradually began to modernize.

For the weak Qing government, without money, Westernization and Western learning were all empty talk. The Customs House under Hurd provided very valuable funds at this time. At that time, there were nine forts including Jiangnan General Manufacturing Bureau, Jinling Machinery Manufacturing Bureau, Fuzhou Shipping Bureau and Shipping School, Tianjin Machinery Bureau, Tianjin Armed Forces School, Yangtze River Estuary to Nanjing Xiaguan, as well as later young children studying in the United States, Fujian and Guangzhou students Funding for foreign-related exchange projects such as studying in Europe comes from customs.

Not only that, Hart also directly participated in China's Westernization Movement. In 1865, he submitted a report called "On the Sidelines" and put forward a series of reform proposals. Except for not proposing a constitutional monarchy for political reform, it covered almost all the changes in the subsequent Westernization Movement and the Reform Movement of 1898. . This report broke the situation in the Qing government where people were silent about Westernization and tens of thousands of people were silent. It attracted great attention from the highest level of the Qing court. They ordered the officials to discuss it, which gave a key push to the launch of the Westernization Movement.

Hurd once had this mantra: "Do as many good things as possible for China." Under Hart's governance, the Customs has become an extremely important institution with an astonishingly wide range of involvement. It is also responsible for maritime affairs, port affairs, quarantine, water diversion, meteorology and other affairs, and even handles patents, copyrights and trademark registrations.

In 1868, the Customs was ordered to open Tongwen Museum. In addition to learning three foreign languages: English, French, and Russian, students also study natural sciences such as astronomy, law, style, and arithmetic. Hurd participated in the administrative management of Tongwen Museum, personally checked the teaching quality and teaching remuneration, and recruited natural science teachers in Europe. It introduces Western science and technology and academics, which is the first of its kind in China. Tongwen Museum has been in the customs establishment for more than 30 years, cultivating my country's first batch of Western translation and Chinese and foreign ideological and cultural exchange talents. In 1902, it was merged into China's first modern university, the Capital University.

In 1866, the Qing government handed over the task of delivering mail to and from embassies of various countries in China to the customs. The customs introduced advanced foreign postal operation systems, which not only ensured the rapid and safe delivery of mails, but also connected with foreign countries and sent mails to all parts of the world. China's first set of stamps? The Dragon Stamp? was born at the customs. By the time Hart returned home due to illness in April 1908, there were 44 post offices across the country, plus branch offices and agencies, totaling 2,803. The total number of postal miles, postal routes, and shipping routes is 200,000 miles. After 1911, China's postal service became independent from the customs.

In 1868, the Customs established the Maritime Affairs Department and began the basic construction of maritime facilities and customs meteorological stations, surveying and dredging waterways, drawing navigation charts, formulating navigation regulations, and building lighthouses and other navigation aids. It is also responsible for port planning and management, navigation meteorological support and other tasks. At the same time, quarantine stations are set up at ports to monitor the epidemic. Through careful management by the customs, the maritime affairs level of some coastal ports in my country has reached a very high level. Before the Japanese invasion, many of the most modern lighthouses and radio signals along China's coast were recognized as world-class.

In 1874, Li Hongzhang proposed to allocate 4 million taels per year from customs tax revenue as coastal defense funds to prepare for the establishment of the Beiyang Navy. As a middleman, Hurd assisted the Qing court in purchasing eight warships, which became the origin of the Beiyang Navy. Hurd also recruited British naval officer Lang Willie for Li Hongzhang to serve as the chief inspector of the Beiyang Navy and be responsible for training ship personnel. After the situation in Xinjiang became tense, the Qing government used this money to pay for Zuo Zongtang's military expenses in the northwest. Our Hurd?

The Qing Dynasty’s agency that specialized in managing diplomatic and trade affairs? The Prime Minister’s Office was only established in 1861. It lacked experience. From negotiating a treaty to resolving a territorial dispute, it often listened to Hurd’s advice. comments and ask for his help. China's first diplomatic mission in modern times was established under Hart's initiative and initiative, and the establishment of diplomatic envoys abroad was also the result of Hart's promotion. There are more than 10 unequal treaties between China and foreign countries planned openly or behind the scenes by him. Although Hurd was an Englishman, he often tried his best to safeguard China's interests and helped the Qing government resist unreasonable foreign demands. Prince Gong therefore affectionately called him "our Hart".

In 1868, China and Britain negotiated the issue of amending the Treaty of Tianjin. Hart participated in the talks as a representative of the Qing government, helped the Qing government explain China's difficulties, and persuaded the British to make concessions on certain issues. The British Minister in China, Aliguo, told Hurd privately that he did not like the newly revised treaty because it "too favored China". British businessmen also strongly opposed the newly revised treaty, and unanimously believed that it was not as beneficial as the original treaty.

As a result, the British government had to refuse to ratify the revised treaty under the pressure of British businessmen and public opinion. The British media at the time said that Hurd had tied the hands and feet of the British government for a generation on China policy.

During the Sino-French War in 1885, the French navy attacked Keelung, Fuzhou and other places. Hurd strongly condemned it. After China achieved partial victory, it declared an armistice. Hurd actively mediated, preventing France from provoking a new and larger war, and promoting negotiations between China and France. During the negotiations, France made crazy demands for business and reparations, but under Hurd's mediation, France finally gave up on reparations.

After the Boxer Rebellion broke out, although Hart was also besieged by the Boxers for eight weeks in the embassy, ??his house and everything was burned down, and he suffered great personal losses, he still openly sympathized with China. . He evaluated the Boxer Rebellion as a spontaneous and voluntary movement of pure patriotism. Hurd was quite indignant at the crazy massacre and brutal looting by the Eight-Nation Allied Forces. His remarks caused a big stir in the West and were severely criticized by The Times.

In mid-August 1900, the Eight-Power Allied Forces invaded and occupied Beijing, and Cixi and Guangxu fled in panic. The distraught Qing government pinned its hopes on Hart to mediate the situation. At that time, aggressors from various countries had great disputes over how to deal with China. Some aggressors advocated "carving up" China, while others advocated "change of dynasty". No matter which way, China faces the danger of being completely reduced to a colony, or even annihilated. Hart tried his best to dissuade other countries and preserved the Qing Dynasty. During the peace negotiations, Hart persuaded the great powers to "accept the compensation China is willing to bear" on the issue of reparations, "maintain the integrity of China's administrative management and safeguard its territorial integrity", and make every effort to try to make China pay less reparations and suffer less damage. He also suggested in the Sino-British negotiations that Britain give up extraterritoriality after China rectifies and improves its legal system. Most of his opinions on reparations and guarantee methods were adopted and included in the "Xinchou Treaty".

Who is Hurd?

Hurd is a very peculiar figure in modern Chinese history. No foreigner has ever exerted such a comprehensive and profound influence on China's customs and diplomacy, politics, economy, culture and education as Hurd did. The Qing government favored Hart and awarded him the titles of "Inspector", "Chief Secretary", and "Prince Shaobao" successively; he was also rewarded with "Flower Feathers and Double Dragons", the second-class first-class treasure star, and "the first-class title of the third generation". After his death, Later he was posthumously named "Prince Taibao". This kind of kindness to foreigners is unique.

It is undeniable that in many cases he is still partial to his native Britain, but we should not simply classify him as a colonial bandit because of his British identity. He was not appointed by the British, but hired by China; his words and deeds were not intended to pursue British colonial interests. Some people say that he should be called the "Ke Qing" of the Qing Dynasty based on Su Qin and Zhang Yi who achieved careers outside their home country during the Spring and Autumn and Warring States periods. The good things he did for modern China should not be forgotten.

In 1908, the 73-year-old Hart took leave of absence and returned to China. He has lived in China for 54 years, and it seems that it is difficult to tell whether he is Chinese or British. Hurd died in Buckinghamshire, England on September 20, 1911. In 20 days, the Revolution of 1911 broke out in Wuchang. The 77-year-old Hurd finally did not see the demise of the empire he had served for half a century. This may be God's last reward for him.