Mr. Li Hongzhang Truly Deserves the Title "China's Number One Salesman" — Written in Honor of Mr. Li Hongzhang's Rehabilitation in "Towards the Republic"

History is always the history of the present, so how history is shaped by the present should not be a topic especially worthy of attention and discussion. But in an age where any topic can become a topic and its popularity is directly proportional to its trashiness, any topic being talked about takes on a certain air-like quality — just as history is shaped by the present, and air has nothing to do with weather.

Whether this irrelevant air constitutes weather under the sky that Mr. Li Hongzhang once knew is not a scientific question. But questions becoming questions has never had anything to do with science — especially questions about air and weather.

The present is always being historicized, and the present of history sways under the air. History becomes the weather of the present. History like air!

Let us turn to Mr. Li Hongzhang's great achievements — before this gentleman, under a sky called China, China as a commodity was generally sold only to certain sheep-herding, horse-feeding peoples. Starting with this gentleman, China's sales channels expanded greatly, its liquidity saw an unprecedented improvement, the salesman gained a global perspective, decisions came from the heights of international strategy, and China as a commodity was sold broadly and without racial discrimination to the whole world. Such a great achievement — how many successors had their thinking broadened, their paths opened, their revenue streams expanded? Truly worthy of the title China's Number One Salesman.

The Salesmen's Union protests: "Salesmen are professionals. Even professional managers cannot resist the power of capital, so don't use us as your example." Indeed, there is not much meaning in making an example of a puppet. But when a matter is told by a puppet starting from a puppet, it takes on meteorological significance. This article is not about puppets — only about the weather.