Chapter 151 Cixi is dead, the military seat is newly married
The Beijing New Deal inspection team toured the three eastern provinces for a month. The main itinerary was arranged in Shenyang New District, Liaoyang, Changchun, Haicheng, Jinzhou and other places. As for Zaifeng's inspection of the New Army, it could not be carried out under Cixi's order. Of.
Cixi did ask Zaifeng to hit the wall, but she did not ask him to die. If he was really killed, whether to pursue the case or not would be a thorny issue, and it would be even more embarrassing than the establishment of a vassal state.
After discussing with Zhang Zhidong and Yinchang, Yinchang accompanied Zaifeng to Liaoyang to inspect the new industrial policies of the three eastern provinces, while Song Biao accompanied Zhang Zhidong to Changchun to inspect agriculture. It was not that Song Biao was going to Changchun specifically, but that he happened to have this itinerary.
With the increase in external experts and research projects, the Fengtian Agricultural Research Institute expanded to the Northeast Agricultural Research Institute at the beginning of the year, and set up a large-scale research base in the Changchun Military Reclamation Bureau. The reason why it is not in Fengtian Province is mainly due to the land development rate of Fengtian. It is relatively high. Unlike Jilin, Heilongjiang Province has a large area of land available for development.
Changchun Military Reclamation Bureau is located in Changling County in the west of Changchun Prefecture and Nong'an County in the north of Changchun Prefecture. It covers an area of about 40 kilometers, totaling 1,525 square kilometers, or about 150,000 acres of land. It ranks among the military reclamation and official reclamation bureaus in the entire three eastern provinces. It has a medium-to-high-level area and currently mainly grows soybeans, sugar beets and other agricultural crops, and cooperates with the Northeast Agricultural Research Institute to conduct research on improved seeds.
After accompanying Zhang Zhidong to the Changchun Military Reclamation Bureau, Song Biao carefully inspected the six main local planting demonstration areas and 14 improved seed breeding bases. At this time, the three northeastern provinces were entering a new stage in research on improved varieties. The large-scale introduction of foreign improved varieties has shifted to local cultivation. The currently selected Changchun soybean variety No. 3 has a higher oil yield and comprehensive high yield and disease resistance compared to American and German soybean varieties, as well as other local bean varieties. And it is more suitable for the local environment of the three northeastern provinces.
The average oil yield of soybeans in the world is generally around 15%, and it can be considered the best variety if it reaches 18%. The oil yield of soybeans in the three northeastern provinces is generally not less than 18%, and is very popular in the international market. The price should also be compared to the international average price level. The newly launched Changchun No. 3 can achieve an oil yield of 20%.
In addition to Changchun 3, the Northeast Agricultural Research Institute is researching and cultivating six new bean varieties, four sugar beet varieties, three potato varieties, and six corn and spring wheat varieties each in the three northeastern provinces.
After inspecting Changchun, Song Biao and Zhang Zhidong continued to the Mudanjiang Military Reclamation Bureau to inspect the local animal husbandry demonstration research base.
Under the leadership of the Governor-General's Office of the three northeastern provinces, military reclamation bureaus in various places are becoming the main driving force to promote the development of agriculture in Northeast China. It is not only a development base for large-scale agricultural planting and animal husbandry, but also a research base. There are 14 military reclamation bureaus in the three provinces. It has an area of 3 million hectares of cultivated land and a large amount of forest and pasture land, actively promoting the development of reclamation and large-scale agriculture in the three eastern provinces.
On the other hand, the Military Reclamation Bureau usually adopts a long-term cooperative operation method, leasing its subordinate military reclamation farms to grain and animal husbandry companies and farmers for operation, collecting rents and purchasing agricultural products according to the agreement, so as to reduce direct management and operation.
Following Song Biao's inspection of agricultural issues in the three eastern provinces, Zhang Zhidong became more familiar with the new policies of the three eastern provinces. He felt extremely sad. With the rapid development of agriculture in the three eastern provinces, Zhang Zhidong increasingly felt that it was impossible for Guan Nei to catch up. The three eastern provinces.
This is an obvious fact. According to the agricultural development plan of the three northeastern provinces, it is expected that the total agricultural output value will expand to 2 billion guandong silver dollars around 1910, of which the soybean industry alone will reach 500 million guandong silver dollars, with exports of 3.6 billion yuan.
100 million silver yuan, the local development of soybean oil processing and oil industry, as well as the cultivation and consumption of traditional soybean industry. Including sales to the customs area reached a scale of 500 million silver yuan.
The sugar beet industry will reach a scale of producing 150,000 tons of sugar in 1910, which will not only meet the consumption in northern China and the development needs of the local grain industry, but can also be exported to the United States, Southeast Asia, Japan, and North Korea on a large scale.
In the field of animal husbandry, the plan of the three northeastern provinces was to expand the production capacity of 40,000 tons of milk powder and the breeding number of 600,000 fine wool sheep in 1910, including the development of large-scale horse, cattle, goat breeding and special breeding.
As the industrial scale expands, other areas such as animal husbandry and forestry, papermaking, wood, furniture, cotton, wheat, corn, and medicinal materials will have rapid development plans.
If the three northeastern provinces can really realize this plan, the three northeastern provinces will exceed the size of Japan's economy just by relying on agricultural output value. Considering the area of the three northeastern provinces, especially the cultivated land area and local agricultural advantages, it is entirely possible to achieve this in the short term.
The target is Little Japan, after all, it is Little Japan.
For such a majestic goal, Zhang Zhidong, who accompanied Song Biao during the inspection, felt not only surprise and sigh, but also an indescribable sense of shock and worry.
After taking the train from Mudanjiang to Huinan and returning to Fengtianfu, Zhang Zhidong no longer knew how hard the Qing government in the Guan area should work to avoid the tragedy. In short, he really couldn't describe an economy that was stronger than all the provinces in the Guan area combined.
What a terrifying thing the three eastern provinces were to the Qing government.
When Song Biao and Zhang Zhidong returned to Fengtian, Yinchang and Zaifeng also happened to return to Fengtian. The New Deal inspection team from the capital successfully completed all inspection matters and was ready to return to the capital. At this time, Zaifeng and Zhang reunited.
Zhidong has nothing to say.
I inspected the three northeastern provinces and saw the prosperous situation in the three provinces. I saw the forests of factories everywhere, the huge scale of production, and the roaring tens of thousands of machinery and equipment, including the rapidly developing and developing railways.
, whether it is Zaifeng or Zhang Zhidong, there is too much loss and horror in their hearts.
From the upsurge of "recovering mineral rights", "protecting roads", and "saving the country through industry" that gradually emerged in 1904, Japan's "Asahi Shimbun" exaggeratedly described: The wealthy Chinese are "in a state of fanaticism.
They mortgaged the land and emptied it out
According to statistics, from 1904 to 1911, a total of 650 new factories were opened by private capital across the country, most of which were in the silk reeling industry, flour industry, and textile industry. Machinery, metallurgy, and mining only accounted for
10%.
At this time, there were 9,453 new enterprises registered in the three northeastern provinces, covering minerals, cement, food, textiles, metallurgy, chemicals, sugar, feed, glass, ceramics, grease, real estate, boilers, machinery, fertilizers, dyes, gunpowder, and ships.
, trains, military industry, hardware, electrical, communications, pharmaceuticals... almost all the factories are available, and they can be supplied locally.
The number of minerals has rapidly increased to 72 types, and financial industries such as finance, insurance, and securities companies have also gradually improved. There are 23 local domestic and foreign-funded banking companies, and more than 44 local companies have registered capital of more than 10 million silver yuan. Among them, only domestic and foreign-funded banks are
There are more than 13 companies and holding companies affiliated with the Far East Consortium, accounting for 1/3 of these 44.
This kind of industrial scale seemed so amazing and enviable to Zaifeng, but what Zhang Zhidong saw was another kind of extreme power. He saw the development of American-style large-scale planting and animal husbandry. What we see is the other side of the Northeastern New Army's development and expansion in the three northeastern provinces.
The New Deal inspection team led by Zaifeng and Zhang Zhidong ended their trip to the three eastern provinces. On April 7, 1908, more than 40 officials took the Beijing-Fengcheng Railway train back to the capital. They were so anxious when they arrived. When I returned home, I could only describe my mood as horror and fear.
Regarding the three eastern provinces, they not only learned a lot of new things, but also understood why Song Biao, the governor of the three eastern provinces, was so overbearing and why he didn't take the Qing government into consideration. So that's it, that's it...that's it!
After returning to the capital, Zaifeng, Zhang Zhidong, and Yinchang were summoned by Cixi to have a secret conversation. No one except them knows what the four of them talked about. It is said that Zhang Zhidong spoke the truth. He He said that in his opinion, the annual expenditure of the Northeastern New Army was probably far more than 10 million taels of silver, which was equivalent to twice that of the Beiyang New Army. In addition to the 140,000 new troops already known, Song Biao also controlled the three northeastern provinces. There are no less than 200,000 militia troops, and their equipment and training are excellent, and may not be weaker than the new armies of other provinces.
Zhang Zhidong's words, as well as his and Zaifeng's and Yinchang's truthful report on the New Deal in Northeast China, played an extremely critical role in Cixi's death. If Cixi still had some illusions about regaining the three northeastern provinces before, now she is truly Completely shattered.
To put it bluntly, in just two years, the Northeastern New Army has already had the strength to eliminate the Qing Dynasty, and the finances of the three northeastern provinces can fully support the Northeastern New Army to conquer the country and support the Northeastern New Army's long-term stability and faster development. Go down.
The truth is always so terrifying. In the last few months of her life, Cixi was destined to live in this suffocating fear. Not only she, but also Zaifeng and Yinchang also understood that the life and death of the Qing Dynasty was already in question. The control was in the hands of Song Biao, and they couldn't afford to offend Song Biao. Even if the Qing Dynasty went crazy and tried to become stronger, it was actually too late, and it was impossible to do it faster than the three eastern provinces.
In just two years, Song Biao gave the three eastern provinces the strength to challenge the entire Guan Nei.
Not long after this secret conversation ended, Cixi fell seriously ill. Just as the Qing government was busy formulating the first "Constitutional Outline", at the end of May 1908, Cixi was so ill that she could no longer get out of bed. No one could have imagined that the real What made Cixi unable to persist was actually the New Deal inspection team sent by the Qing government to the three eastern provinces.
While everyone in the capital was panicking, Song Biao continued to work and live according to his own pace. He was officially engaged to Shu Xuan, and set the wedding date for October 12 this year, the 18th day of the ninth month of the lunar calendar. As a man who was the governor of the three eastern provinces, Song Biao had many choices in marriage matters. Both Yin Chang and Yuan Shikai wanted to recruit him as their son-in-law, but he really couldn't do it.
He likes Shu Xuan because Shu Xuan is more in line with his requirements. She is well-educated and sensible, knows how to take care of her family, is very rare and beautiful, comes from a well-known family, and has received modern education in the United States. All of these satisfy his requirements.
In this era, it is normal for Chinese men to have three wives and four concubines. They marry whomever they marry, but the eldest wife must always be very careful. A lady like Shu Xuan is perfect for her.
Shortly after Song Biao got engaged to the Shu family and was busy preparing the wedding house and other matters, Emperor Guangxu died of illness in the capital at the age of 38.
This happened much earlier than Song Biao expected. The only explanation is that the Empress Dowager Cixi could not hold on anymore, so she had to deal with the matter in advance. As Song Biao expected, the Empress Dowager Cixi died of illness two days later, and Emperor Xuantong ascended the throne. .Prince Chun Zaifeng became the regent.
Guangxu died and Cixi died. At this time, the whole country of the Qing Empire was in great shock. The government and the public were in great grief. However, the Northeast New Army did not feel much. They were immersed in the joy of their upcoming wedding. The whole army was spreading. With a special atmosphere of joy and good expectations.
Jun Zuo is finally getting married.
Everyone estimated last year that Song Biao and Miss Shu Xuan were going to get engaged. It was actually postponed until this year. It really made everyone wait and wait, but they were still very happy. The whole army was eager to go to the wedding together.
Song Biao must be the happiest person. It happened that except for the deaths of Guangxu and Cixi, there were no major events in the Governor's Mansion and the military department recently. So he gave himself a few days of vacation and personally selected them in the military dormitory area. A piece of open space was used to build a villa, and a golden house was used to hide the beauty.
He designed the villa himself. It didn't need to be too big or too luxurious. Practicality was the first priority. While he envied Miss Shu Xuan's family of so many brothers and sisters, he even included the baby's room, wet nurse, and confinement nanny when designing the house. Taking all the rooms into account, the style is a combination of things that is very Republican-style, simple and clumsy, and it looks like an office building. There is a very large yard where the children can play in peace, bask in the sun, and dry their diapers. .
His original dormitory area in the Governor's Mansion was relatively large, but now the new villa is even larger. It has enough rooms for six children to live in at one time.
Song Biao didn't care which style it was, he just designed it according to his own preferences and needs, and gave an ironclad order to the engineering battalion directly under the military headquarters to complete it before April next year.
On the first anniversary of his wedding, he planned to move to a new house.
There is really no pressure for people like Song Biao to get married. There is no need to be a house slave, a card slave, or a car slave. As a woman of this era, Miss Shu Xuan actually has very high material requirements. Low, it can accommodate two people. She herself has never thought about having children in the future, but Song Biao has planned it very carefully.
While Song Biao was busy with his marriage arrangements and immersed in the joy of starting a family, the Qing government was busy with the enthronement of the new Emperor Xuantong and the burial of Emperor Guangxu and the Empress Dowager Cixi at the same time.
Prior to this, the Qing government had just approved the "Outline of the Constitution", which clearly stipulated that "the imperial power is sacred and inviolable, and the imperial authority is hereditary forever."
Song Biao took the time to read the "Outline of the Constitution". He could only say that the Manchu royal family took off their pants and farted. If you can hold on to the rule of the Qing Dynasty, it means that the imperial power is sacred and inviolable. If you can't hold on, why are you still talking about this nonsense? What to do.
To be honest, Song Biao has never seen anyone more ignorant and baser than this group of people.
He has developed to this level. The Manchu royal family is still daydreaming. Do you really think that he dare not rebel? The Manchus don't even think about it. The pitiful troops they have are not enough for Song Biao. Is it because the Northeastern New Army has a gap in its teeth?
By the way, does the Qing government still have so-called military strength?
On July 2, 1908, Xuantong Emperor Puyi succeeded to the throne half a year earlier than expected, and the next year was designated as the first year of Xuantong. Prince Chun Zaifeng became the regent of the people, and immediately began to deal with Yuan Shikai.
Once upon a time, Yuan Shikai, who was so beautiful, had what he is today.
Yuan Shikai and Song Biao had very different paths. They both held heavy troops. The former surrendered to the imperial court and voluntarily gave up military power in order to protect himself, while the latter always played cruel tricks on the Qing government and showed a " If you force me again, I will rebel", the Qing government, which bullied the weak and feared the strong, indeed adopted different response strategies.
To deal with Yuan Shikai, the Manchu dignitaries were extremely ruthless and wanted to kill him immediately. To deal with Song Biao... they could only delay again and again, first based on the principle of not angering Song Biao.
In Song Biao, he was granted the title of First-Class Anyuan Jingyi Gong, Zheng Nang Fang Bu, Purple Rein, Leather Belt, and the Three-Eyed Flower Ling. He was granted the title of Bachelor of Dongge. He stayed in the three eastern provinces and concurrently served as the governor of the three eastern provinces and the minister of commerce in the northeast. At that time, Yuan Shikai felt so painful in his heart.
It's a pity that Song Biao couldn't help Yuan Shikai.
On July 15, Zaifeng ignored the persuasion of Minister of Military Aircraft Zhang Zhidong and Governor of Zhili Yinchang and others, and insisted on ordering Minister of Military Aircraft and Minister of Foreign Affairs Yuan Shikai to open a vacancy and return home. After learning the news for the first time, Song Biao secretly Yuan Shikai sent a telegram to persuade Yuan Shikai not to return to his hometown, but to try his best to get to Tianjin and secretly take a boat to Dalian.
Song Biao promised that as long as Yuan Shikai arrived in the Tianjin Concession, he could protect Yuan Shikai and avoid trouble in the three eastern provinces.
Yuan Shikai declined Song Biao's kindness and insisted on following Zaifeng's order to open a vacancy and return to his hometown for retirement.
Yuan Shikai just left, temporarily disappearing from the Chinese political and military stage. The moment he received Yuan Shikai's call back, Song Biao couldn't help but recall the old events when Aoki Nobujun brought Yuan Shikai's handwritten letter to him for the first time. .
The pair of golden tiger charms originally gifted by Yuan Shikai are still displayed in Song Biao's study. They are placed quietly on the bookshelf as a pair of decorations, shining brightly, but the person who gave the gift has become dim.
Everyone said that Yuan Shikai was smart and capable, and Song Biao thought so too, but he still felt that Yuan Shikai came from an old bureaucratic background after all, and like Zeng Guofan, he could not tear off his last face.
In fact, as long as these people were cruel and not so shameless, the Manchu Qing court would have been ruined long ago.
Some people say that Yuan Shikai is a lesson learned from Song Biao, the king of Northeast China. The Manchus also think so. They think that the wise and powerful regent Zaifeng will deal with Song Biao, the governor of the three eastern provinces, next. But Song Biao doesn't care, even though he is busy with his own marriage. , as long as Zaifeng has the slightest intention to dare to take action, he can immediately turn around and beat Aixinjueluo to the death of his descendants.
There was no suspense about this matter for a long time. The Manchus themselves thought that the outcome was between 50 and 50. The only ones who are really sober now are probably Zaifeng, Yinchang, and those Manchus who came with the New Deal inspection team. Maybe even they may not be very awake.
As soon as Yuan Shikai left, Zhang Zhidong was reduced to a vassal in the capital because of his disagreement with Zaifeng. The political situation of the Qing Empire basically became a situation where Zaifeng and Song Biao divided the inside of the pass and the outside of the pass.
Just when Zaifeng started to approve the preparation of the consultation bureau in each province, Song Biao continued to strengthen the centralization of power in the three eastern provinces. Regarding the preparation of the consultation bureau, Song Biao just regarded it as Zaifeng's fart.
At this time, the Manchu and Qing dignitaries had already lost control over the military and political affairs of local provinces. The establishment of consultative bureaus to divide the power of governors in various regions was certainly in line with the wishes of the Manchu and Qing dignitaries. Therefore, strictly ordering each province to set up consultative bureaus did not mean that The Manchus really wanted to carry out major reforms, otherwise they would not have created a Manchu cabinet in the future. They took the opportunity to eliminate all the Han ministers, thinking that they could take advantage of the tide of constitutionalist movements in various places to regain their long-lost political power.
What a bunch of nonsense. They don't know how to measure their own strength. They are still immersed in the dreams of the prosperous times of Kangxi and Qianlong. There are too many descriptions of such people in Lao She's "Teahouse", and they always use the sentence "When Emperor Qianlong was here" , these are all punishable by death, in my grandfather's generation...".
Song Biao had no idea of setting up a consultative bureau in the three northeastern provinces. He established his governor's office, new administration bureau, and research bureau, and took advantage of Yuan Shikai's resignation to invite a large number of talents from Yuan Shikai's subordinates to work in the three northeastern provinces.
Song Biao implemented his own New Deal and did not manage the finances of the Qing government at all. He founded Northeastern University of Political Science and Law on the basis of Fengtian University of Political Science and Law, and openly recruited nationwide candidates for township chiefs in the three northeastern provinces. After passing the examination, he took the Northeastern University of Political Science and Law. One-year administrative training, after completion of coursework assessment, he will be assigned to serve as township chief in various places based on performance.
All prefects and county magistrates in the three northeastern provinces will take a rotation to attend the administrative training course of Northeast University of Political Science and Law. Only those who pass the course can continue to return to their original posts. Using this method, Song Biao plans to eliminate all prefects in each place within two years.
After July 1908, China was destined to enter a new storm. The Qing Empire was struggling in the customs. Zaifeng Mao tried his best to catch up with Song Biao and stepped up his efforts to urge and supervise the implementation of the New Deal, the opening of new schools, and the purchase of new schools. A new factory, a new bank, and a large amount of money were invested in a new army. Song Biao was tossing around in Guandong, and both sides seemed to be competing to go their own way.
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