During the Sino-Japanese war of 1895, the northern fleet was completely destroyed. By the time of the collective foreign invasion during the Boxer Rebellion, there was complete psychological collapse among the Chinese masses, and the Qing government finally realized the seriousness of the problem of having a population living in ignorance.
然而船堅砲利全是假象，甲午戰爭北洋艦隊全毀；直到八國聯軍，義和拳亂，中國群眾心理崩潰，清廷真正感覺到民智不足是大問題。