svetikya Page 79
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However, as the Workers', Peasants' and Soldiers' Committee issued decrees to carry out rent and interest reduction campaigns in Nanyang Prefecture, confiscate the land of the corrupt gentry who supported the imperial court and redistribute it, determine the area of public land and allocate it, and conduct a comprehensive survey of the land in Nanyang Prefecture, the landlords of Nanyang became unhappy.
Although Nanyang, located on a major transportation route, was often devastated at the end of dynasties, and was known for lacking prominent families with more than 200 years of history, 200 years was still enough time for several large landowners to emerge. For example, the four major families in Nanyang City—Gao, Yang, Mi, and Xie—owned 50,000 to 60,000 mu of land and also operated businesses in advantageous locations.
The Gao family landlords owned hundreds of houses and operated many large shops, earning them the nickname "Gao Half the City." The Yang family landlords operated more than ten shops with the "Tai" brand. These landlords also obtained various "official titles" through examinations or donations, and some personally led local armed forces, serving as "heads" of various regiments. They formed a strict feudal system of rule in terms of economy, politics, and military, and tightly controlled the countryside.
During the Taiping Rebellion, in order to resist the Taiping army's attacks, local landlords in Nanyang Prefecture rebuilt the fortified villages built at the end of the Ming Dynasty, ensuring that each village was a fortress to resist the invasions of the Taiping army and bandits. This was also the source of the Nanyang Prefecture landlords' confidence in not being too afraid of the Workers', Peasants' and Soldiers' Committee.
In the eyes of these landlords, their relationship with the Workers', Peasants', and Soldiers' Committee was one of partnership, not subordination. Without their support, how could the people of Hubei have so easily captured Nanyang? Even if the people of Hubei had defeated the Yi Army, these rural landlords remained skeptical, not quite believing that the Maxim machine guns in the hands of the people of Hubei could be so powerful.
Therefore, when the Workers', Peasants' and Soldiers' Committee issued decrees in Nanyang without consulting the local gentry, it naturally angered the landlords in the countryside. They began to expel the staff sent to the countryside by the Workers', Peasants' and Soldiers' Committee, and some even used the name of bandits to ambush and kill the land surveying team on the way.
There were still some doubts within the Workers, Peasants and Soldiers Committee about whether to promote land reform, because some committee members themselves came from landlord families. They believed that forcibly taking away the landlords' land was obviously unreasonable. After all, the landlords' land was not necessarily obtained by trickery or force, but may have been accumulated bit by bit through frugality.
However, the rebellion of the Nanyang landlords' armed forces helped the Workers' Party unify its thinking. Members of the party who advocated postponing land reform also believed that the arrogance of the local tyrants and gentry must be suppressed. If these local tyrants and gentry were allowed to attack members of the Workers', Peasants' and Soldiers' Committee without punishment, would they then besiege Wuhan and kill everyone next?
The consensus within the party on suppressing landlord armed forces gave the Workers' Party an advantageous position at the meeting of the Workers', Peasants' and Soldiers' Committee. Tian Junyi said to some committee members who advocated the "hard-working landlord theory": "Does our Workers' Party advocate the elimination of landlords? No, we advocate the elimination of exploitation."
Regardless of how those landlords acquired their land, the system they upheld was an exploitative system that oppressed all workers. Without overthrowing this system, workers could not achieve liberation.
At this point, you're telling me, what's the point of some landlords painstakingly accumulating their land? Aren't they trying to use their possession of land, this means of production, to oppress and exploit other laborers? If not, what's the point of them accumulating land?
Isn't the goal of our advocated land reform to ensure that everyone has land to cultivate and work on, so that workers can support themselves? Are we putting the land into our own pockets? If so, I support them rising up against us.
Please remember, we are not depriving everyone of their right to work; we are depriving them of their right to enslave others. On this fundamental principle, the Labour Party will never compromise…
Tang Caichang personally oversaw the suppression of bandits and counter-revolutionaries in Nanyang Prefecture from Xinyang. The rebellion of the landlord militia in Nanyang Prefecture was quickly quelled. Although Nanyang was a basin with surrounding mountains and forests where people could hide, once the Workers', Peasants' and Soldiers' Committee began distributing land, people soon reported the hiding places of these landlord militias to the Workers' and Peasants' Red Army.
As for the landlords who tried to hold out by relying on fortified villages, they soon found that this was not a good idea. These fortified villages were only good for dealing with bandits with crude guns and cannons and peasant armed forces with only cold weapons. However, the Workers' and Peasants' Red Army was a new type of army equipped with modern weapons. Especially on the night of the mutiny, after the workers in the arsenal discovered the convenience and usefulness of mortars, they began to mass-produce these simple artillery pieces.
Mortars are much easier to manufacture than field guns and mountain guns, but this weapon is very effective against domestic armies that don't have many artillery pieces. The cost of manufacturing mortar shells is not very high, only a little more expensive than hand grenades. The cost-effectiveness is better than machine gun bullets. After all, the sound of artillery shells is frightening, while machine guns can't instill fear in those unsophisticated bandits and militias unless they kill a lot of people.
Basically, even the most fortified strongholds would lose their villagers' willingness to work for the landlords after a dozen or twenty cannonballs were fired. However, after the Workers', Peasants', and Soldiers' Committee launched the land redistribution movement, it was the villagers who received land who wanted to kill the landlords. These villagers were very direct in their thinking; they asked the representatives of the Workers', Peasants', and Soldiers' Committee what would happen if the landlords didn't wipe out the landlords, and the landlords later came back with the imperial army for revenge.
Clearly, the villagers still vividly remembered the actions of the landlords during the Taiping Rebellion. Even decades later, the mentality of "if you don't kill the snake, you'll suffer the consequences" remained prevalent among them. Tang Caichang, of course, would not support such a brutal approach. He supported land reform but did not advocate the violent elimination of landlords. After all, he and many members of his party came from landlord families. They were willing to persuade their families to hand over their land, but not to have the peasants violently eliminate their own families.
By the end of February, Tang Caichang's main focus had shifted from suppressing bandits and counter-revolutionaries to correcting deviations in the peasant movement. Consequently, the Workers' Party had to halt the land reform movement in Nanyang, begin summarizing the experience of this land reform, re-examine the implementation methods, and conduct rotational training for peasant association cadres.
However, the land reform movement in Nanyang still achieved great results. In Nanyang County, landlord families, who accounted for 1.15% of the total number of households, owned 27.11% of the county's cultivated land; in Deng County, landlords and rich peasants accounted for 8.5% of the total population and owned 72.6% of the county's cultivated land; in Xinye County, landlords and rich peasants accounted for 19.3% of the total population and 57.9% of the county's cultivated land... After the redistribution, farmers who originally had no land or less than ten mu of land could all obtain more than 13 mu, and this part of the population accounted for about 30% of the total population of Nanyang Prefecture.
The Workers', Peasants', and Soldiers' Committee not only consolidated its power in the Nanyang Basin but also greatly deterred the surrounding landlord class who wanted to oppose it. Previously, the landlord class in Nanyang believed that as long as they raised the banner of resistance against the Workers', Peasants', and Soldiers' Committee, the imperial court would definitely send troops to suppress these rebels, just as the imperial court had sent troops to suppress the Taiping Army and the Nian Rebellion.
However, their plan failed. The imperial court had no time to pay attention to the landlords' pleas for help. The Yi Army directly executed the messengers sent by the Nanyang landlords, on the grounds that these landlords had betrayed the imperial court before and were now reaping what they had sown.
After hearing about the land redistribution in Nanyang, farmers in Xinyang, Xiangyang, and the Dabie Mountains also advocated that Nanyang's land reform policies should be implemented in their areas, not just by reducing rent and interest. In short, the forced implementation of land reform did cause some chaos under the rule of the Workers', Peasants', and Soldiers' Committee, but it also brought Nanyang and Xiangyang into complete harmony with Wuhan.
Many members of the Workers', Peasants', and Soldiers' Committee also believed that, apart from Wuhan, the most reliable revolutionary areas were now Xiangyang and Nanyang, because the gentry in these areas had been almost completely overthrown, and power was now held by the Workers', Peasants', and Soldiers' Committee members sent from Wuhan and the local worker-peasant-soldier representatives. Some party members believed that some factories should be relocated to Xiangyang and Nanyang, both as a backup for Wuhan's industrial power and to strengthen the local working class.
Tian Junyi agreed with this view, because the development of the Han River would generate enormous amounts of electricity, and locating factories nearby would obviously make better use of this energy. Meanwhile, Wuhan's external environment improved following Russia's declaration of war against China. Although the Labour Party consistently advocated for war preparations and implemented a wartime planned production system, the British clearly had no intention of continuing the fight in Wuhan.
This was not only because Wuhan was prepared for war, but also because Britain did not want the Russians to annex Manchuria and Outer Mongolia. Based on the British understanding of the Russians, once they seized these two territories, the next step would be the annexation of Xinjiang and Gansu, followed by Tibet and India. This snowball would grow larger and larger, and it was essential to contain Russian actions from the outset.
Chapter 276 British East Asia Policy
In early March, Qin Lishan, who was in charge of negotiating with the British, reported to the members of the Party's Central Committee that the British had agreed to pay £100 million to settle the Tibet incident, but refused to acknowledge it as an invasion and to issue a public apology.
Although the other committee members wavered after hearing this condition, since China had always been the one to pay reparations and apologize to the great powers, it was quite historically significant to make the British Empire pay reparations once.
However, Tian Junyi remained unmoved and asked, "If Britain believes that this is not an invasion of China, it is equivalent to us selling the sovereignty of Tibet for £100 million. Perhaps the British did not gain anything from this incident, but instead created an excuse for Tibet to separate from China. We obviously cannot accept this suggestion."
Although Tian Junyi's proposal was endorsed by most committee members, Yang Quyun, who was in charge of economic affairs, still put forward his own views: "Although I think Committee Member Tian's proposal is politically correct, I also hope that everyone can give some consideration to the finances of the Workers, Peasants and Soldiers Committee and the economic work in Hubei Province."
While our wartime production plans curbed market price fluctuations, they did not prevent the sharp rise in black market prices. The three towns of Wuhan have always relied on trade and port operations as their main economic pillars; now, the blockade of the Yangtze River waterway has plunged them into an extremely dangerous situation.
If we cannot provide sufficient funds to purchase the supplies sent from various regions, then local areas will go bankrupt due to a lack of cash flow. If we do not resume foreign trade, we will not be able to obtain working capital and purchase machinery and raw materials from outside.
The Germans support us not because they oppose the Qing government, but because they do have significant interests in Wuhan. However, if the current situation continues, the Germans will have no interests left…”
Yang Quyun's proposals were recognized by many committee members. Although defending the regime was the committee members' primary task, without economic development, they could not even support the army defending the regime. Revolutionary enthusiasm alone could not fill their stomachs.
After some debate, Tian Junyi revised his proposal. He accepted the suggestions of some committee members and divided the negotiations with the British into several stages. The first stage was to exchange the release of the Tibetan Expeditionary Force for passage through the Yangtze River and the prohibition of warships from any country from crossing Jiujiang. Wuhan would take over the Jiujiang area, so that Wuhan would implement a self-defense policy should Jiujiang be attacked.
This was originally just a probing move, but it played right into the British hands. The British had previously been less proactive in negotiations, hoping that Beijing and Wuhan would make offers to each other, thus creating a better negotiating atmosphere for British diplomacy. However, with Russia's declaration of war against China, Britain could no longer play such tricks; at this point, countering Russia's expansion of power in the Far East became the primary issue.
The British could not expect Beijing to withstand a Russian attack alone, and were even more worried about Beijing surrendering to the Russians. The role of Wuhan then became apparent: if Beijing surrendered to Russia, Britain could immediately establish a new Chinese government to confront the Russians. At that point, it would be unwise to allow Beijing and Wuhan to continue their confrontation.
However, the British were unwilling to make too many concessions on the Tibet issue, as it not only involved India's security but also greatly damaged the face of the British Empire. The British government believed that actions in Tibet required a response, but not immediately; at least after adjustments to the British Indian Army were made.
After the Boer War and the Tibetan War, London politicians suddenly realized that the British Army was in an extremely dangerous situation. If the army could not be reorganized, the British Empire might really have to rely on the navy to maintain its dignity. Although everyone had always felt this way, without the army, it would be impossible to defend India, Canada, South Africa, and Egypt on land.
Just as the Chinese needed time, Britain also needed time to modernize its army. Therefore, the British decided to temporarily suspend discussions on the status of Tibet and reach a truce with the Chinese first. Once their army was modernized, Britain didn't believe the Chinese could pull off another miracle, since Tibet had no factories to equip the Chinese army.
However, the British decision was a bolt from the blue for both Russia and Beijing. For Russia, the British prohibition on Russian warships from passing through the Yangtze River to launch an attack on Wuhan was essentially an unfriendly gesture restricting Russian military operations. The Russian First Pacific Fleet possessed seven armored ships, roughly the same number as the British Royal Navy's China Squadron, which included five older-class battleships.
Most of these battleships of the Royal Navy were built between 1896 and 1902. They were not only cutting-edge warships, but also battleships specifically designed to counter Russian and Japanese battleships. The only problem was that the area that the China Flotilla needed to defend was too wide, from the Chinese coast to the Pacific Ocean, which made the Royal Navy's China Flotilla somewhat inadequate.
In addition, there are several thorny issues: First, the Chinese fleet is sufficient to suppress the East Asian fleet of Russia or Japan, but it cannot cope with the challenge of a joint effort by various countries; second, the continuous expansion of the German Navy has increased the importance of the defense of the British mainland, and after Fisher took charge of the daily work of the Admiralty, he vigorously promoted naval reform, one of the key points of which was the fleet reorganization plan.
Fisher planned to convert the Home Fleet into the Channel Fleet, in addition to phasing out a large number of old warships in the Royal Navy, and to draw major warships from overseas to suppress the German Navy in the North Sea in order to maintain the Royal Navy's dominant position in Europe.
However, Fisher's reform plan faced two major challenges. Although Britain's shipbuilding capacity remained the world's best, it was not capable of competing with the shipbuilding capabilities of the rest of Europe, the United States, and Japan. In other words, without reducing the fleet size of other powers, the Royal Navy could not maintain its global hegemony, or even its maritime advantage in Europe.
In order to transfer battleships from the Far East Fleet back to strengthen the home fleet, it was necessary to destroy the fleets of Russia or Japan in the Far East and put the two countries at odds and restrain each other. This was also the reason why Britain chose to ally with Japan. Compared to the Russians, at least the strength of the Japanese navy could not threaten the British homeland.
Russia's declaration of war against China, while a diplomatic defeat for Britain, presented an opportunity for the Royal Navy—a golden chance to use the Russo-Japanese War to eliminate its naval power in the Far East. Regardless of who won, the Royal Navy could reduce its strength in the Far East and strengthen its home fleet.
Therefore, although the British publicly stated that they prohibited Russian warships from launching an attack on Wuhan via the Yangtze River, they privately indicated to Russia that they had no intention of interfering with the Russian fleet's freedom of action. However, Britain did not want Russia to disrupt the balance of power in East Asia and hoped that Russia could restore peace in the Far East.
The British were essentially encouraging the Russian fleet to attack Wuhan from the Yangtze River, though the Russians had no such plans at the time. They believed they didn't need to attack the Yangtze; reaching Beijing would force the Qing government to surrender. Besides, Russian battleships couldn't navigate the Yangtze, and their smaller steam gunboats had no advantage there.
The Russians rejected the British declaration, asserting that the Russian fleet had the right to operate freely in the Yangtze River unless China and Russia signed a peace agreement.
However, for Beijing, there were far fewer options. The defeat of the Yi Army directly damaged the ruling prestige of the Manchu nobility, and the little central authority that Empress Dowager Cixi had painstakingly built up after her return to the capital was completely lost in this battle. At this time, the local areas were all watching to see how Beijing would deal with Wuhan, the challenger, in order to decide whether they should continue to obey Beijing's orders.
The Southeast Mutual Protection Agreement elevated Li Hongzhang, Liu Kunyi, and Zhang Zhidong to the top positions among governors-general and governors, revealing the weakness of the central government to the local authorities. The reason the new policies implemented after the Boxer Rebellion were able to proceed was because they had the support of these three powerful figures. In other words, after the Boxer Rebellion, the prestige of the court rested on the shoulders of these three powerful Han Chinese governors-general and governors, rather than on the court's own authority.
The deaths of Li Hongzhang and Liu Kunyi left both the Hunan and Huai cliques without leaders. The Huai clique at least had Yuan Shikai to manage the situation, but the Hunan clique truly lacked successors. While Zhang Zhidong's side did not cause any major trouble, Huguang produced younger figures like Tian Junyi. From a certain perspective, the Hunan clique's power was actually absorbed by the Workers' Party, represented by Tang Caichang and Tian Junyi.
Therefore, the current situation appears to be Wuhan challenging Beijing, but in reality, it is a challenge from the Hubei clique built by Zhang Zhidong to the Huai clique inherited by Yuan Shikai. The defeat of the Yi Army appears to be a loss for the court, but in fact, it is a slap in the face to the Manchu nobles' attempt to regain military and political power. Ma Yukun's garrison in Xuzhou and refusal to fight further has actually sent a dangerous signal: the powerful Han Chinese are no longer willing to die for the court.
The British concessions to Wuhan were, in Beijing's eyes, a harbinger of the great powers' intention to abandon it. Under these circumstances, although a group of young Manchu nobles vowed to march south and fight Wuhan to the death, even if it meant ceding Outer Mongolia and Manchuria to Russia—preferring to give to a friend rather than to their own slaves—Prince Qing and Empress Dowager Cixi knew in their hearts that these fools intended to annihilate the Manchus.
Moreover, these young Manchu nobles' so-called reorganization of the army to march south and fight to the death in Wuhan did not mean that they would lead the Manchus south themselves, but rather that they would urge Yuan Shikai to send troops south to fight to the death in Wuhan, and make the Han people die for the Manchu regime. That was their courage. Prince Qing would rather resign than do such a stupid thing. Empress Dowager Cixi also realized that the Manchus could no longer govern, and could not even maintain the situation of sharing power with the Han people.
She could only summon Zhang Zhidong and Yuan Shikai to ask the two Han Chinese for their opinions on the British proposal, while the Manchu ministers of the Grand Council were excluded. Zhang Zhidong also answered frankly: "This is not a British suggestion, but a British ultimatum, because without the protection of warships from various countries, we simply cannot defend Jiujiang."
Chapter 277 Yuan Shikai's New Step
Empress Dowager Cixi then asked Yuan Shikai, "What is your opinion on the demands made by the Russians? Can the Beiyang Army stop the Russians?"
After a long silence, Yuan Shikai replied, "Even if we can't stop them now, we have to try. The Russians are so aggressive; if we retreat any further, we might not even be able to hold onto Beijing. Not only is public sentiment outraged, but Britain, the United States, and Japan will probably no longer support the court. Most importantly, the court has nowhere to retreat now. The Russians are coming from the north; we might not even be able to hold onto Shaanxi, and the south probably won't accept the court's southward advance."
Upon hearing this, Empress Dowager Cixi lost all her strength and could only barely support herself by gripping the armrests of the chair. After a while, she recovered and asked the two men in front of her, "So what should we do next? If we do as the British say, can the British help us hold off the Russians?"
Yuan Shikai glanced at Zhang Zhidong, who was looking down and seemingly lost in thought, and then said, "The British probably won't help us stop the Russians from advancing south, but the Japanese might send troops. However, Japan has always been ambitious, and if they join this war, they probably won't leave afterward. It's just one tiger leaving and one wolf coming in, which won't benefit our Great Qing."
The room fell silent immediately. Although it was already March, the underfloor heating was still running in the warm pavilion. Zhang Zhidong and Empress Dowager Cixi probably thought the room temperature was just right, but for Yuan Shikai, the room was stuffy and hot, and it was really hard to bear.
However, in his agitation, Empress Dowager Cixi finally broke the silence with a sigh, saying, "As long as we can get by in the present, who cares about the future? And the future is beyond my control. But can Japan really help us stop the Russians from advancing south?"
After careful consideration, Yuan Shikai cautiously said, "Japan may not help us hold off the Russians, but they will likely intervene while we are fighting the Russians. This would put Russia in a precarious situation, forcing us to reopen negotiations with them. However…"
Empress Dowager Cixi quickly asked, "What is it? Just say what you have to say, there are no outsiders here."
Yuan Shikai then frankly said, "To wage war, you need money and supplies, weapons and equipment, and men. The Beiyang Army is lacking in all three. If we send such an army to fight the Russians, I'm afraid there will be unspeakable consequences."
After a long silence, Empress Dowager Cixi asked Zhang Zhidong, "Does the court still have the funds and provisions for fighting the war?"
Zhang Zhidong shook his head with a wry smile and said, "In order to promote the new policies, the national treasury is already empty. That's why we sent Tieliang south to reclaim local interests. Right now, apart from loans, it's probably difficult to support a major war. However, I do not advocate borrowing money. Borrowing money will inevitably result in the loss of interests. If we lose the war, we will lose more than just Manchuria and Outer Mongolia."
Empress Dowager Cixi then turned to Yuan Shikai and asked, "Weiting, what did you say?"
Yuan Shikai thought for a long time before saying, "We still need to borrow the money. Right now, it's the Russians who are attacking us, not us who are trying to recover Manchuria and Outer Mongolia. If we don't borrow money, how will we resist the Russian attack? However, the court should still discuss with the local governments and ask them to contribute to the country. After all, this is a national war."
Hearing their replies, Empress Dowager Cixi knew that this war was unavoidable; if they didn't fight, the Qing Dynasty would be doomed. She said wistfully, "Why is it so difficult for me to live a peaceful old age? Since the Russians want to fight, then let them fight. Whether it's borrowing money, recruiting soldiers, or negotiating with the local authorities, you two should take responsibility. Prince Qing isn't capable of that; you two should make the decisions, as long as the Russians aren't allowed to invade Beijing..."
Yuan Shikai was stunned by these words. He couldn't help but remind Cixi, "Your Majesty, I am now the Governor-General of Zhili. According to ancestral rules, I cannot concurrently serve as a Grand Councilor."
Empress Dowager Cixi stared at him for a long time before slowly saying, "The Qing Dynasty is about to perish, why bother with ancestral rules? If anyone is dissatisfied, let them come and talk to me. But Weiting, are you confident you can defend Beijing?"
After a long silence, Yuan Shikai could only reply, "Your subject will fight to the death..."
With Empress Dowager Cixi's approval, the Grand Council quickly became Yuan Shikai's domain. Although Cixi forced Zhang Zhidong to remain in charge of the Grand Council, Zhang Zhidong was well aware that Cixi did not keep him because he could win people's hearts. Whether it was the Manchu nobles, the Qingliu faction, or the Beiyang clique represented by Yuan Shikai, they actually did not like him, but no one dared to tear down his banner.
Although Zhang Zhidong painstakingly cultivated his power, he failed to form a military and political clique known as the Hubei clique because he lacked a core to unite his followers. Whether it was the Hunan or Huai clique, members prioritized loyalty to one's own people before considering loyalty to the court. Zhang Zhidong couldn't achieve this because he rose through the ranks of the Qingliu faction, not through military merit, and therefore lacked a small, interest-based group to unite him.
Even though the loyalty of his advisors to the court outweighed their loyalty to Zhang Zhidong personally, this was why Duanfang and Tieliang were able to control Liang Dingfen and exert control over personnel appointments and removals in Huguang. However, the emergence of Tian Junyi and Tang Caichang finally allowed the Hubei clique to take shape.
Although Tian Junyi and Tang Caichang did not consider themselves to be from the Hubei faction, but rather to outsiders they believed they were part of the workers', peasants', and soldiers' regime led by the party, they were clearly part of the Hubei faction under Zhang Zhidong. Even those Hubei military and political personnel who disagreed with the Workers' Party still believed they shared a common bond.
Zhang Zhidong was well aware that what Cixi needed was his name, to suppress Wuhan in his name. The real decision-making power of the Grand Council was obviously not in his hands. In the past, it belonged to the Manchus, but now it had simply been transferred to Yuan Shikai. If he were to compete with Yuan Shikai for this power, it would be a result that Cixi would be happy to see.
Therefore, Zhang Zhidong only cared about the general direction and did not interfere in specific matters. In terms of the general direction, he and Yuan Shikai were in agreement, which was that the country would be doomed if it did not reform. After all, even Japan had begun to covet China, so how could the country pretend to be asleep?
The Manchu nobles were naturally dissatisfied with this outcome, and they did indeed protest to Empress Dowager Cixi. However, when Cixi asked who was willing to go to Manchuria to reclaim their ancestral lands and drive the Russians out, these nobles fell silent. Protesting against Yuan Shikai was one thing; after all, it was still the Qing Dynasty's territory. Would Yuan Shikai dare to order the Beiyang Army to fire on them? But the Russians were truly daring. When the Eight-Nation Alliance entered Beijing, the Russians didn't acknowledge any Manchu dissent.
The Manchu nobles and their relatives had finally quieted down, and Yuan Shikai had finally gained control of the Grand Council. However, he soon discovered that the Grand Council only really governed him, the Governor-General of Zhili. The governors and viceroys of other regions completely ignored its orders. The governors and viceroys of the Northwest were busy preparing for war, only requesting money, provisions, and weapons from the Grand Council. The governors and viceroys of the South demanded the convening of a national assembly, refusing to provide funds or provisions without one. The Workers', Peasants', and Soldiers' Committee of Hubei stood in the middle of the Yangtze River, watching the surrounding areas. Who dared to support the court's agenda?
Yuan Shikai's enthusiasm was quickly dampened by reality, but he had no choice but to grit his teeth and continue. However, his task of having Tang Shaoyi negotiate loans with various countries also encountered setbacks. After contacting the countries, Tang Shaoyi told him, "The British are only willing to lend £100 million and demand that we recognize that Sikkim and Bhutan do not belong to Tibet."
This is clearly a trap. Sikkim and Bhutan are now under our control, and we've already sent a telegram to the court establishing Shannan Province. If we issue this statement, it would mean we've revoked the legal status of Shannan Province, and our troops stationed there would be illegal armed forces. We would lose the support of the court, and Tibet would likely face new changes.
Yuan Shikai nodded slightly and said, "The British certainly have ill intentions; we can't fall for their trick. Besides, what's the point of us issuing this statement? Wuhan certainly won't admit it; it's just a pointless embarrassment. So what will the other countries say?"
Tang Shaoyi said, "The French refused, which is to be expected. It's good enough that France didn't join Russia in fighting us. The United States and Germany said that they are neutral countries between China and Russia, so they can't lend us money to fight the Russians. Only the Japanese are willing to lend us ten million yen, but they require us to buy Japanese weapons and hope to increase the number of Japanese advisors."
After much deliberation, Yuan Shikai could only sigh and say, "Japanese weapons are better than nothing. The matter of advisors can be discussed. But then again, we still need to build our own arsenals and ironworks. The Workers', Peasants', and Soldiers' Committee has seized the Hanyang Arsenal and Ironworks, cutting off our military supplies and ammunition. This means we are at their mercy..."
Although Tang Shaoyi agreed with Yuan Shikai, building arsenals and ironworks was not something that could be accomplished overnight. Zhang Zhidong had spent over a decade before seeing initial results, investing countless sums of money, and almost lost out to Sheng Xuanhuai in the end. The Workers' Party's ability to hold Wuhan was not due to opportunism; the efforts made by figures like Tian Junyi in Wuhan over the past few years far surpassed the foundations laid by Zhang Zhidong's Westernization Movement, which is why they could command such widespread support.
In contrast, the Westernization efforts undertaken by the Huai clique were known for their quick results, and although they brought considerable profits, the First Sino-Japanese War burst the bubble. Now, where would they find the time and money to rebuild their foundation?
However, just as Tang Shaoyi went to discuss the loan with the Japanese, Yuan Shikai sent someone to summon him back. After showing him a newspaper, Yuan said with dissatisfaction, "Didn't you say that the United States and Germany are neutral countries and therefore unwilling to lend us money? Why are they willing to lend money to Wuhan? And a whopping $5000 million at that? Isn't that a bit excessive?"
Tang Shaoyi couldn't answer immediately. After leaving Yuan Shikai's residence, he went to see the American minister. Having been sent to the United States as a child scholar, he found communication with Americans easier. Although the American minister was still Conger, he had received notification from home that he was about to step down, and therefore wasn't particularly concerned about the current political situation in China. He politely replied to Tang Shaoyi's inquiry: "I know about this matter, but it has nothing to do with the US government. It's a commercial loan. More precisely, this loan isn't for war, but for investment in your country's water conservancy and transportation infrastructure. It can be considered a service to the public good, and I don't think anyone would question whether this loan should have been issued..."
Chapter 278 New Loan Guarantee
For American and German capitalists, lending $5000 million to Wuhan was not only due to encouragement from their own governments, but more importantly, it represented a great opportunity to expand the Chinese market for American and German industrial products through the Hubei Economic Zone.
No matter how vast the potential of China's untapped market of 4 million people may be, finding a foothold for capital investment remains quite difficult. After all, this country achieved a unified system of writing, cart axles, and weights and measures more than 2000 years ago. This means that it was difficult for foreign powers to adopt the piecemeal, encroaching colonial expansion policies that they employed in other regions.
Although various countries divided China into territories of influence, these territories did not consider themselves Germans or British. They still considered themselves Chinese. Those Chinese who served the powers were seen as foreign lackeys by ordinary Chinese people. Not only could they not rely on the support of the powers to become a superior Chinese, but they also became targets of attack by ordinary Chinese people.
Therefore, after the Boxer Rebellion, the Americans were the first to realize that if they wanted to replicate their colonial experience in South America and other places in China, they first had to get the Chinese to accept the American civilization and system, just like the cultural colonial policies that the British carried out in India. Without gaining the recognition of the intellectual community of that nation, they would always be outsiders there.
Following the Boxer Rebellion, the United States increased its investment in education and culture in China, but for American capitalists, the results were too slow. The emergence of the Wuhan regime offered American capitalists another option. The powers, including the United States, had long been dissatisfied with the German monopoly on interests in central China, but the Wuhan regime dared to use force to resist the military threats of the powers and proved that their resistance was indeed effective. Therefore, the powers sought reconciliation with the Wuhan regime.
The reason why American capital was able to reach a settlement with Wuhan ahead of other powers was not because American capital was stronger, but because the United States was far from Europe at that time and was not involved in the confrontational arms race among the European powers. As a result, American capital was more abundant. German banks could not complete the loan on their own, so they cooperated with the American banking consortium.
Of course, the reason the American banking consortium finalized the loan so quickly was because it received strong support from American oil capital. Due to Japanese interference, the Panama Canal project, while not yet returned to Colombia, has been severely delayed, meaning that the original plan to transport California oil to the East for processing after the Panama Canal opened has been significantly postponed.
Oil production in California began to rise rapidly in the late 70s, reaching 330 million tons in 1903. This was not the end of California's oil exploration; many oil experts believed that much more oil remained undiscovered. However, the shipping costs from California to the eastern United States were too high, and Asia across the Pacific had not yet shown much interest in American oil, as Southeast Asian oil already dominated the region's market.
At this time, Wuhan proposed to the Americans to build an oil processing plant in China, then transport crude oil from the United States for processing and sale in China. This naturally garnered welcome from American oil capital. By 1903, Sumatra's oil exports to China had exceeded those of the United States, and Russia's oil exports to China had reached half that of the United States.
At that time, the most valuable part of oil was kerosene, primarily used for lighting. However, kerosene faced competition from electricity in the lighting market. Therefore, from the perspective of oil capitalists, the future oil market would shrink, making competing for the global market more important than increasing oil production. After all, the British, through political monopoly, practically dominated the Indian kerosene market. In 1903, Calcutta imported 9150 million gallons of kerosene, but only a mere 600 million gallons came from the United States. For the world's largest oil producer, this was blatant commercial monopoly.
Moreover, ExxonMobil is also facing antitrust lawsuits in China, and needs to establish a new overseas production base to circumvent domestic legal regulations. China is clearly a very good overseas production base, as it is close to the oil consumption market.
The establishment of oil refining plants by American oil companies in China is also beneficial to German industry. Although German industry is indeed based on coal energy, given that Germany possesses the best and largest coal mines in Europe, it lacks oil reserves. This means that a range of oil-based power machinery cannot be industrialized as rapidly as in the United States.
In mechanical manufacturing, Germany was far superior to the United States. However, due to a lack of oil, German agriculture had to continue using steam plows, and it began to lag behind the United States in the application of internal combustion engines. Although Germany was the first country to invent the diesel internal combustion engine, Rudolf Diesel's motivation for inventing it was precisely because of Germany's lack of oil that he hoped to be able to use cheaper, lower-quality fuels instead of gasoline for power.
This was certainly a groundbreaking innovation, but given the level of German manufacturing technology, this diesel internal combustion engine was still not perfect. As a result, the diesel internal combustion engines that were sold experienced oil leaks and other malfunctions when used on farms, and the farmers returned them. If nothing unexpected had happened, Rudolf Diesel's factory would have gone bankrupt in 1905.
Although he tried to market the machine to Americans last year, Americans weren't very interested in the flawed internal combustion engine, and with abundant gasoline resources, they didn't need to consider using inferior fuel to reduce costs. But now, Rudolf Diesel's factory has a chance. Wuhan is focusing on the development of internal combustion engines, especially those powered by inferior fuel, because China also doesn't produce oil, but its coal mines are unevenly distributed. Therefore, Wuhan hopes to find a relatively inexpensive power machine that can quickly improve labor efficiency, and isn't as picky about quality as German farmers.
Of course, the biggest obstacle to the trilateral cooperation between China, the US, and Germany actually lay with the British. However, after the Russians disrupted the order in the Far East, the British stopped interfering with this commercial cooperation. After all, building an oil refinery and manufacturing an internal combustion engine plant wouldn't cost more than $5000 million.
When members of the Sino-German Chamber of Commerce visited the newly built bicycle factory in Hankou to observe production, Franz Krupp said to Tian Junyi beside him without any attempt to hide his thoughts: "After this expansion, the ironworks' annual iron production capacity will increase to 60 tons, crude steel production capacity to 35 tons, and steel rolling capacity to 25 tons. The Hanyang Ironworks will become the largest in Asia, which will be very beneficial for you in your fight against the Russians."
After thinking for a moment, Tian Junyi said to Franz Krupp, "The Industrial Committee believes that we can now consider the third phase of expansion, doubling the capacity of the Hanyang Ironworks. We will complete the railway construction between Changsha and Wuchang, and between Wuchang and Daye as soon as possible, and accelerate the infrastructure construction in the Huangshi and Daye areas to lay a solid foundation for the establishment of a 300,000-ton ironworks."
Before further promoting development in the Hubei and Hunan regions, steel and cement are the most basic building materials. Without these materials, it is impossible to complete our planned tripartite cooperation.
Franz Krupp hesitated for a moment before saying, "For a country the size of China, an annual output of 35 tons of crude steel is indeed a drop in the ocean. However, the continuous increase in industrial capital in the short term will put great pressure on your finances, especially since you are currently at war with the Russians. Are you sure you have the ability to repay such a loan?"
Tian Junyi pointed to the assembly line in front of him and said to Franz Krupp, "This is why I invited you to visit this factory. This is our most optimized bicycle assembly line after continuous adjustments, which saves about two-thirds of the assembly time compared to the past. But that's not the point. The point is that only 30 percent of the parts for these bicycles come from Germany, while the remaining 70 percent are produced locally."
Franz Krupp was not immediately aware of this. He was a traditional German factory owner who demanded the utmost perfection in all of Krupp's products. As a result, almost all of Krupp's products were manufactured in-house because he firmly believed that only Krupp's workers could produce the best products. The reason why users were willing to choose Krupp was because of Krupp's quality.
Krupp was actually unimpressed by this American-style production method, but out of consideration for the Chinese, he reluctantly praised Tian Junyi, saying, "It's really quite good. It's remarkable that you were able to teach these farmers who had never been exposed to technology to master basic assembly techniques in such a short time. In Germany, we wouldn't allow workers like this to do assembly work, as it would create many defective products."
Tian Jun smiled and said, "Defective products are better than none. Moreover, as long as we continue to receive training, we will eventually be able to manufacture qualified products. For a populous country like China, quantity is always more important than quality."
Of course, this is not the focus of our discussion. What I want to talk about is the issue of industrial matching between China and Germany. From the success of this bicycle assembly line, we can already conclude that the standards of measurement between Germany and Wuhan have been standardized. Since German parts designed according to the blueprints can be assembled in China with parts produced in China, it means that parts produced in China can also be used in German factories.
We acknowledge that German goods are of the highest quality on the market, but they are also very expensive, second only to British goods. In contrast, while American goods are of much lower quality than European goods, they are considerably cheaper.