1905: Beer Hall Speaker

Page 41

However, those minor issues below the level of sovereignty can still be discussed further.

For example, regarding the issue of blockading the concession areas, to this day, the Republican government still strictly orders the maintenance of blockading operations against all inland concession areas. As for the coastal concession areas, Zhao Yan has no navy to deal with them, so he can only target the inland concession areas.

Especially the concession areas along the Yangtze River, which have now been completely sealed off and devoid of life. The blockade by the National Defense Army is quite interesting; it targets various groups but refuses to give you any excuse to say that it is wrong.

The entry and exit of personnel in the concession area was subject to a bilateral visa system. Chinese people leaving the concession area had no problems, but foreigners leaving the concession area needed to apply for a visa to enter Chinese territory in advance. As for where to apply, how to apply, what materials were needed, and what the requirements were, the National Defense Army did not say a word.

Chinese citizens entering the concession area also needed to apply for a passport from the immigration office in advance; without a passport, they were not allowed to leave the country and enter the concession area.

The Republican government also established special channels for the entry and exit of goods in the concession area, in accordance with import and export regulations. Goods coming out had to undergo qualified inspection and quarantine before they could enter China, and goods coming in had to pay an outrageously high departure tax.

Foreigners are wondering where to get inspection and quarantine certificates, but even Chinese officials themselves don't know where to get these things.

These borderline blockade tactics have transformed the once bustling concession area into a deserted place, with no Chinese troops entering and just maintaining a tight perimeter.

No one said they would block you, but they used unfounded administrative means to effectively block you.

Now only the management committee of the concession area is still holding on. All the foreigners at the bottom have fled, and there are no Chinese people left. Everyone is afraid of being labeled as a traitor or collaborator.

Such turmoil even severely affected the concession areas of the foreign powers along the coast. Chinese people spontaneously refused to enter the concession areas, and Chinese laborers also refused to serve the concession areas.

Britain, France, Japan, Russia, and other countries have repeatedly expressed their outrage over this matter, but Chinese officials have consistently maintained a sincere attitude while remaining clueless when questioned. If you contact one department, they immediately pass the buck to another; if you contact another department, that department will also deflect the question elsewhere.

This "non-violent non-cooperation" left the great powers with no outlet for their power.

There was also the issue of trade blockade. The British Yangtze River Fleet inspected military equipment all over the Yangtze River and seized it if found. The Republican government's Yangtze River Inland Fleet also carried out guerrilla warfare and seized cargo ships that were trading with the enemy.

The Republican government, citing "biological hazards" of imported goods, ordered local authorities to ban the circulation and sale of goods from rivals, but spared the suppression of goods from Germany and the United States.

The customs and likin taxes left over from the Qing government were also reused by the republican government. The top leadership strictly ordered that only goods from the United States, Germany, and domestic products be allowed to pass through, while all others would be intercepted and refused passage.

The Republican government created a separate land customs system in addition to the existing customs system, which was simply a modified version of the Qing government's customs system.

The vast inland market stubbornly kept those arch-rivals out, and the British, controlling the customs, suffered a considerable loss in silence.

These underhanded actions, while unable to change the overall situation, were extremely disgusting and, to some extent, affected the interests of the great powers in China.

Although the development of industry and commerce in China was also affected by this behavior and suffered some losses, those were all the interests of the compradors, and Zhao Yan didn't care at all!

Domestic business owners, on the contrary, strongly supported this, because the two-month lockdown had brought them a spring of prosperity. Without the dumping of large quantities of foreign goods, local manufacturing industries, relying on small workshops, were slowly starting to make a profit.

Zhao Yan demonstrated to the nation through his actions the importance of tariff sovereignty and trade sovereignty to a country. In the past, people found it increasingly difficult to do business, but they just couldn't understand why.

Now we finally understand, it turns out it was foreign goods being dumped and the customs betraying the country!

Without tariff protection, China's domestic manufacturing industry, whether light or heavy, cannot develop.

These are problems that Zhao Yan wants to solve, and the great powers want to solve even more, but their interests are not aligned, but rather contradictory.

The next day, the delegations of the foreign powers visited again and held a "private meeting" with Wu Zonglian, who had finished his rest.

The powers offered last year's customs surplus as a condition, hoping to get the Republican government to lift its blockade and trade restrictions on the concessions. This time, the powers were offering real money as bargaining chips, instead of trying to get something for nothing.

Previously, the British threatened the Republican government with last year's customs surplus to lift the blockade, otherwise they would hand over this large sum of customs surplus revenue to the Qing government in exile in Korea!

But Zhao Yan ignored them completely. He had no intention of getting the money anyway, so it didn't matter whether they gave it to him or not!

In 1905, China's customs revenue was approximately 64 million taels of silver. However, please note that this was customs revenue; what China actually received was the customs surplus.

What is customs surplus? It is the amount remaining after deducting foreign debt and indemnities from customs duties. This surplus is what ultimately belongs to China.

Of the 64 million taels, nearly 50 million taels were needed to pay foreign debts and indemnities. The remaining 14 million taels was the surplus, which was like having eaten all the meat and then being given a bone.

When they'll give it to you depends on the mood of those foreign bigwigs.

Upon hearing this, Wu Zonglian's face turned red with anger. This was simply treating him like a beggar. He completely understood why Head of State Zhao Yan was so determined to reclaim sovereignty. It was not for any other reason than to avoid this humiliation.

It feels incredibly humiliating to have someone take your money and try to haggle with you.

Wu Zonglian had already received instructions, and upon hearing the foreigners' offer, he immediately replied that the Chinese would not accept such nonsense as customs surplus charity, but only legitimate customs revenue.

If you're going to give it to me, give me everything; otherwise, don't even talk!

The foreigners firmly disagreed. If you give it all to us, what about the foreign debts and indemnities? Zhao Yan tricked us into accepting more than ten million taels of silver during the Northern Expedition. You still have to pay back that money, right?

But even the great powers were extremely troubled by such an unyielding negotiating opponent, although everyone knew that war would break out in less than two years.

But business still needs to be done before the war breaks out; we can't throw away the apples in front of us for the sake of future watermelons.

Wu Zonglian eventually made some compromises, but they were compromises that greatly annoyed the foreign powers.

The republican government was willing to repay foreign debts and indemnities after receiving all customs duties, but only in the form of war bonds, as cash was not available.

This is the bottom line. If we can't reach an agreement, then there's no point in talking anymore. Let's wait until the war is over before we start talking again.

Not only did the government demand that the debt be repaid with the debt, but the Republican government also demanded a reciprocal lifting of the trade blockade, stipulating that the British should not restrict the free trade of all goods in the Yangtze River basin, including but not limited to military equipment, machinery, and energy.

At the same time, the Republican government must send officials to the customs agencies to jointly manage customs and readjust some unreasonable tariffs.

All of the above are "results of private meetings," which the Republican government will never publicly acknowledge, and if the powers make them public, the Republican government will immediately retract all its promises.

The British were furious at these conditions, and the Japanese were so angry they wet themselves. The negotiations were on the verge of breaking down.

But Wu Zonglian leisurely sipped his tea, displaying an attitude of indifference and nonchalance, which ultimately left the foreign powers helpless.

The French were the first to compromise, but the second to agree was the most unexpected Japanese. There was no other way; the Republican government's blockade had the greatest impact on Japan. They were already suffering heavy losses in the Russo-Japanese War, and their main source of trade revenue was the Chinese market. They had no choice but to compromise.

Britain had no choice but to back down, and the rest of the countries were even less likely to do so.

Debt-to-debt repayment is fine, it's better than nothing. The most important thing is to restore trade and let the Chinese taste some of the benefits of customs.

These things, though lost, will eventually have to be recovered on the battlefield.

If the Chinese want to secure these things, they can only do so on the battlefield.

Chapter 76 Military Preparedness

Inside the Hubei Hanyang Arsenal, Zhang Xinghua once again arrived with an important mission.

Zhang Xinghua currently holds an astonishing number of positions: Secretary-General of the Head of State's Office, Minister of Inspection of the Prime Minister's Office, Executive Deputy Director of the Third Logistics Department of the Ministry of National Defense, Minister of Inspection of the Revival Party, Director of the Teaching Affairs Department of Nanjing National Defense University, and Supervisor of the National Defense Mobilization Committee.

From the outside perspective, Zhang Xinghua was practically the head of Zhao Yan's five tigers, with power spanning the party, government, and military spheres.

Zhang Xinghua's biggest weakness is that his power is still limited to the field of supervision and discipline inspection. He may seem like a jack-of-all-trades, but in reality, he is all about being a supervisor.

No matter what, Zhang Xinghua still wielded real power. When he was by Zhao Yan's side, he was an unsung supervisor, but once he left Zhao Yan's side and went to the local area, he became a veritable emperor emeritus.

Zhang Xinghua has once again visited the Hanyang Arsenal, but the person accompanying him is no longer Li Lanqing. The former governor of Hubei Province, Li Lanqing, has been transferred to Beijing to serve as the Minister of Industry. The current governor is Du Qingwu, the former mayor of Wuhan.

Du Qingwu was promoted to a high-ranking official and appointed as the governor of Hubei Province, which was also because Zhao Yan recognized his ability to cause trouble.

Zhao Yan merely ordered the blockade of trade along the Yangtze River and the Wuhan concession area; when he gave the order, he was already prepared to break ties with the foreign powers.

However, Du Qingwu, the then mayor of Wuhan, managed to preserve this facade and prevent it from being torn apart. Through administrative means and unfounded legal permission, he turned the confrontational lockdown into an acceptable administrative charade.

Du Qingwu was known for his smooth and worldly ways during the Qing Dynasty. Born into a peasant family, he entered officialdom by becoming a Juren (a successful candidate in the imperial examinations) and then, relying on his smooth and worldly skills, he rose step by step from a county magistrate to the position of Assistant Prefect of Jingzhou Prefecture.

Then, when the revolutionary army massacred the entire city of Jingzhou, Du Qingwu resolutely chose to join them, personally leading the Green Standard Army to slaughter the entire city of Jingzhou, leaving it covered in blood.

Subsequently, Du Qingwu was promoted rapidly to mayor of Wuhan, overseeing the three towns of Wuhan, a position second only to the governor of Hubei Province.

After Li Lanqing was transferred, Du Qingwu was quickly promoted to Governor of Hubei Province. According to the previous official system, this was equivalent to a second-in-command at the municipal level. In less than two years, he was promoted to the top leader of the province!

Being worldly-wise and sophisticated, and adept at handling all situations, may seem like a derogatory term, but in the political arena, it is definitely a compliment. Such a person is even rarer than Hai Rui!

"Governor Du, you've done a great job, very effective, I'm very satisfied!" Zhang Xinghua had already inspected the arsenal, and concluded with three "very"s.

Du Qingwu, who was already 48 years old, was being criticized by Zhang Xinghua, who was 19 years old, for his attitude of treating subordinates as superiors. Du Qingwu did not show any displeasure or embarrassment; instead, his face was full of sincerity and joy.

Even their eyes showed respect for Zhang Xinghua. This skill made the officials accompanying the inspection give him a thumbs up in their hearts. With such skills, it's no wonder he got promoted and made a fortune!

"Minister Zhang, you flatter me. This is not the achievement of Du Qingwu alone, but the achievement of all my colleagues in Hubei Province, and even more so the achievement of former Governor Li. Without their hard work and pioneering spirit, how could I, Du Qingwu, be so complacent at this moment!"

Du Qingwu's speech immediately won the admiring gaze of everyone present. Whether they were superiors or subordinates, everyone felt a warm glow in their hearts. Even Li Lanqing, who was far away in Beijing, had to express his praise after learning about today's events.

Although everyone knows these are just polite words, it takes skill to be able to say them smoothly and comprehensively!

Du Qinghua continued, "Of course, we must also thank the great head of state for his support, as well as Minister Zhang for his attention and encouragement to Hubei. Without the support of the central government, Hubei's industrial development would certainly not be in this situation today!"

Zhang Xinghua quickly responded, "Revitalize Han!" (A tribute to fellow readers!)

All the officials present stood up straight and shouted "Revive Han!"

In today's officialdom, at any time and in any place, if Zhao Yan is mentioned, the first reaction must be to stand up straight and shout "Revive Han!"

Zhao Yan forbade anyone to kneel before him, and even more so, he forbade anyone to erect statues or temples for him. He knew very well that the higher one stood, the harder one would fall.

But there are always countermeasures from above and policies from below. If kneeling is not allowed, then stand up straight. If wasting manpower and resources on erecting statues and temples is not allowed, then shout "Long live the Emperor!" Zhao Yan had no way to deal with this. After all, it's a democratic country that values ​​freedom of speech, right? Haha!

After shouting the slogans, Zhang Xinghan got down to business: "Those who have only skimmed the surface should have finished looking at it. Governor Du should also talk about the remaining data and information. I don't want to hear what's on the documents; I want to hear the truth!"

The documents, data, and factory scenes that Zhang Xinghua was seeing were so unexpected that he subconsciously assumed it was a vanity project specially arranged by the officials.

On the surface, everyone can let things slide, but in reality, they need to give me a clear answer, since it concerns war preparedness.

You can fool me with vanity projects, but you can fool the enemy with war preparedness work!

In today's officialdom of the People's Republic of China, as long as you work diligently and conscientiously, minor mistakes are generally understandable, but you still need to understand what needs to be understood.

The industrial data reported by Hubei Province is somewhat outrageous. It is only mid-July, and Hubei Province has already announced that it has achieved the goal of increasing the production capacity of Hanyang Arsenal by 300% ahead of schedule. Hanyang Steel Plant has also achieved the monthly production target of increasing its production capacity by 100%.

Even more outrageous is that Hanyang Ordnance announced that it had achieved a breakthrough in the complete self-production of smokeless gunpowder and partial self-production of explosives, and that the research and development and manufacturing of supporting new weapons such as hand grenades and mortars had also been fully realized in mass production.

Zhao Yan couldn't believe it. How could things have changed so much in just five months? His initial goal of tripling the production capacity of the arsenal and quintupling the production capacity of the steel mill was purely to put pressure on his subordinates.

Such outrageous data expectations are meant for bargaining purposes; Zhao Yan himself never thought they could actually be achieved!

This month, Hubei reported good news, saying that the arsenal's production increase plan had been achieved. Zhao Yan himself did not believe it, thinking that it was just his subordinates exaggerating to claim credit, which is why he sent Zhang Xinghua over to see for himself.

"Minister Zhang, what makes you say that? Every single data reported by Hubei Province is absolutely true! More than 30 million people in Hubei have worked together with one heart and one mind, giving their all to support industrial development."

That's why we have achieved these results. All the data reported to the central government is accurate; it's all the result of the hard work and dedication of the more than 30 million people of Hubei!

Du Qinghua appeared extremely aggrieved, and felt so ashamed of the central government's unfounded accusations that he wished he could follow Qu Yuan's example and throw himself into the river to prove his innocence!

Zhang Xinghua quickly reassured him, "Governor Du, you flatter us. It's not that the central government doesn't trust you; they were just asking a few more questions. Since it's true, that's even better!"

Zhao Yan and the central government officials did not realize just how powerful the system of collecting and using taxes from a province without having to hand them over to the central government was.

In a normal year, Hubei Province's annual fiscal revenue is about 15 million taels of silver. Of this, "internal losses" and local retention account for about one-third, while the remainder is turned over to the central government.

After Zhao Yan held a knife to the officials' necks, Hubei Province retained all its tax revenue for industrial development.

Zhao Yan's original intention was to use pressure to motivate. Even if Hubei failed to meet its targets, at most it would only be a reprimand, not a real beheading of an entire province's officials.

As long as you work diligently and conscientiously, Zhao Yan will never be harsh on you.

But the Hubei officialdom didn't see it that way. The Manchu bannermen, who were once high and mighty and called the imperial family, were wiped out by Zhao Yan without hesitation. Tens of thousands or even hundreds of thousands of people were slaughtered without any mercy.

When local officials saw this, they didn't question the power of Zhao Yan's executioner's blade at all. Who the hell would dare to gamble on whether Zhao Yan was joking or not?

Furthermore, by exempting Hubei from paying taxes and allowing it to collect and use its own revenue, the determination was further demonstrated.

From the governor down to the lowest clerk, after seeing the hundreds of thousands of dead souls in Jingzhou, who dared to slacken their efforts even slightly?

In the first half of the year alone, Hubei collected 11 million taels of silver in taxes. Not to mention officials, even ordinary Han Chinese people at the bottom of society were afraid.

No one dared to embezzle the money. Even if someone did, they would be reported by their colleagues the next day. After all, the revolutionary army at that time killed people with the intention of eliminating all traces of their families. If they used a knife, they would kill the whole family. Who would dare to take such a risk?

With tens of millions of taels of silver invested in industrial construction, even if you have some resources, you'll be able to build an industrial zone out of a blank piece of land.

Local authorities are going all out, and the central government is providing continuous support. Zhao Yan has ordered the relocation of equipment and technical personnel from the Jiangnan Manufacturing Bureau and the Jinling Arsenal to focus on building the Wuhan Assault Force.

Having taken over only this small industrial base, Zhao Yan had no intention of immediately expanding it across the country. He wanted to first develop Hubei, the industrial center of Central China, before making any further plans.

Moreover, Central China has a superior geographical location, bordering the Yangtze River and located inland, which can effectively avoid the threat of powerful ships and cannons from foreign powers, and it also enjoys the convenience of water transportation.

Once the war breaks out, Zhao Yan will have to put aside the threat at sea. Those coastal industrial zones are practically useless, especially the Jiangnan Arsenal, which is right next to the Shanghai concession area, under the noses of the foreigners. Why not relocate it?

As a result, the best industrial forces in China were converging on Hubei, and the central government was constantly encouraging and supporting them.

With the grassroots working themselves to the bone and the upper levels providing strong support, if the Hubei Industrial Zone still can't get things done, then it might as well not even bother.

Currently, the Hanyang Arsenal, which has received strong support, has imported a large number of advanced manufacturing equipment and technologies from abroad. It has also received full support from other arsenals in terms of personnel, and has introduced modern production systems and a large number of engineers and technicians from Germany.

The localization of smokeless gunpowder and explosives is mainly due to the efforts of German engineers and technicians. Even precision components such as artillery shell fuses can be gradually localized.

The Hanyang Iron and Steel Plant also received strong support. The problem of its original steel desulfurization process being substandard was also solved. When the central government placed an order for 70 million taels of silver, the Germans also did their best to help.

The Hanyang Iron and Steel Plant has also begun to realize the localization process of special steel. The manufacturing process of relatively simple seamless steel pipes for mortars has been mastered. While it cannot manufacture large-diameter seamless steel pipes of more than 100 mm, it can still manufacture small-diameter seamless steel pipes of 60 mm and 75 mm.

As it turns out, although Chinese people yearn for comfort, they can unleash astonishing energy when confronted with an unreasonable leader who pushes them to their limits.

The Hubei industrial zone has become the most important source of military equipment for the national defense forces. Hubei Province can produce 8,700 Hanyang rifles, 110 heavy machine guns, 277 light machine guns, 4.1 million rounds of ammunition of various calibers, and 170,000 hand grenades per month.

In terms of heavy weapons, the Hanyang Arsenal could produce 25 German-style 75mm mountain guns, 105 mortars, and 190,000 shells per month.

The monthly production capacity of the Hanyang Arsenal, combined with the output of other arsenals, was just enough to meet the needs of a full-fledged division, which was more than enough to keep up with the expansion speed of the National Defense Force.