Chapter 649 Dunhuang Thousand Buddha Caves (seeking the moon at the end of the month)
"Mr. Lincoln, we believe that you will become a great president." Lin Jinnan said.
If Dong Shuheng were here, he would definitely add in his heart: "Hurry up and take power and bring America into civil war!"
The content of this meeting was somewhat obscure. However, both parties achieved their goals.
Lincoln got his wish and got the votes he wanted in California. Lin Jinnan's promise can represent the California government and the people of California because he is Chinese.
Lincoln also knew that it was the Chinese community who had the word in California now.
California received Lincoln's tacit consent to expand its power in the western territories.
Lincoln had already made plans in his mind.
All problems will have to be solved after he becomes president.
As for promises, the American president has always made only blank checks.
The problem of the Chinese in California must be solved.
We cannot allow so many people of a single race to be concentrated in one place, especially in a place with natural barriers like the western region.
Lincoln had never been to the West, but he knew how difficult it was to cross from east to west.
American society is already divided between north and south, and there cannot be another division between east and west.
Otherwise, America might be as fragmented as the European continent.
Abraham wanted to change the current situation in Millikin. He never thought about stepping down after four years. He had his own political goals.
For so many years, the Democratic Party has controlled the federal government, and the autonomy of the states has gradually increased.
If this continues, the country will inevitably lose its status.
Lincoln wanted to strengthen the power of the federal government during his term. Only a highly centralized federal government could maintain the unity of America.
…
Dong Shuheng, who was on a western tour, was also worried.
He could feel that the further west he went, the poorer the people's lives became.
The Guanzhong area has been the land of dragon prosperity for thousands of years.
It seems that all the dragon energy here has been drained.
Bare barren mountains can be seen in the distance, which is heart-wrenching to look at.
The governors of the provinces of Gansu and Shaanxi and the municipality of Chang'an all followed Dong Shuheng.
They were waiting at the train station in Chang'an very early for Dong Shuheng's arrival.
You don’t know anything else, but every time Dong Shuheng travels, several local officials are dealt with.
These people are not necessarily corrupt officials. Dong Shuheng hates corrupt officials very much. But many people don't know that he hates lazy officials even more.
The chief executive of Gansu and Shaanxi was named Liu Guoying. He came from the original Huaihai Navy Military Government. He was a member of the Huai'an Prefecture and once served as an aide to the Manchu Governor of Henan.
This person is calm and measured in his work and is a good hand in handling government affairs.
In addition to his qualifications, after the revival, he was promoted to the chief executive of Shaanxi-Gansu Province.
Liu Guoying was nearly sixty years old when she took refuge with Dong Shuheng.
Dong Shuheng set a retirement age for officials last year.
People of Liu Guoying's level must retire before the age of seventy.
Liu Guoying, who originally thought he was immortal, suddenly lost his motivation.
He, who was originally clean and self-possessed, also began to interact frequently with local celebrities and wealthy families.
When they received Dong Shuheng at the train station today, Liu Guoying and Shu Zhouyang, the mayor of Chang'an Municipality, did not see Dong Shuheng's good expression.
Dong Shuheng was indeed very angry. But it was hard for him to explode in front of such a person.
In the past two years, in order to cooperate with the relocation work of people on both sides of the Yellow River.
The Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry allocates special funds for local afforestation every year.
Dong Shuheng saw obvious traces of man-made greening on the bald mountains on both sides of the train.
In order to verify the situation of local greening and afforestation.
Dong Shuheng deliberately found a few places on the way to get off the bus early.
He rode a horse and led his men on the Loess Plateau.
Wherever we passed, the mountains were still bare.
In some places, saplings have been planted, but no one is managing them.
Some saplings have withered due to lack of care, and some saplings have been cut down directly by the people to use as firewood or to build their own fences.
If Dong Shuheng hadn't seen it with his own eyes, he wouldn't have known that the officials under his rule had become so lazy.
Dong Shuheng visited several villages at random.
The people here are still living their original lives, and they don't even know about the new policies of the rejuvenation government.
There is not a single slogan promoting immigration in the village. It is close to the Yellow River and is a key area for migration.
Grain prices have dropped in the past two years, and people are still complaining about the government's failure to maintain grain prices, resulting in low grain prices and hurting farmers.
However, Dong Shuheng and the cabinet clearly asked local governments to publicize immigration policies and encourage farmers with little land to immigrate.
Carry out overall relocation of people living in areas unsuitable for farming.
However, Dong Shuheng asked some people and they didn't know this at all.
So what are the local governments doing? They are building factories and opening mines.
Why, because factories and mines pay a lot of taxes!
If they can complete the task of paying taxes to Xinjing on time, it will be regarded as a mission.
Who is willing to encourage people to immigrate? In that case, conflicts with clans can be resolved.
If you have seen Bailuyuan, you will know that the people in the Shaanxi-Gansu region are more conservative than those in the south...
Officials like Li Guoying, who have no chance of making any progress, can naturally avoid getting into trouble as long as they don't get into trouble.
As for Shu Zhouyang, he was younger, but he focused all his energy on industrial and commercial production.
Faced with Dong Shuheng's questioning, both of them defended themselves.
But Dong Shuheng has already done a full investigation and has a lot of evidence in his hands.
The two of them did not put the money into their own pockets.
It's just that they are passive and slack in implementing policies and they cannot escape the responsibility of neglecting their duties.
"Lao Liu, Shu Zhouyang, you can be considered our senior officials. Immigration is the basic national policy of our Renaissance Army. It is something that will benefit future generations."
"Okay, immigration will reduce the local population, and a smaller population will affect local development. But you are officials of the Renaissance Army, not local tyrants on this three-thirds of an acre of land."
"Liu Guoying, you are also a veteran of the Fuxing Army. You have worked hard for so many years without any credit. Please retire, I will allow you to retire early. I will say hello to Li Hu and will not continue to investigate. Shu Zhouyang, you go to Zhuzhou
Get some experience, go out and see, open your eyes.”
"I thank you, President."
"Thank you, President."
Both of them felt extremely regretful, but it was too late.
Dong Shuheng made a decision after talking to the two of them.
It’s just that this matter cannot be made public for the time being.
Dong Shuheng had rarely interfered with cabinet matters.
This time he took action himself to make the matter more sensational and serve as a warning to others.
Even if a veteran like Liu Guoying cannot join the cabinet when he retires, he can sneak into the cabinet's Senate and become a cabinet counselor and continue to participate in the country's major policy decisions.
This is a highly prestigious position. Currently, only some original revival elders serve in this Senate.
This position is for life. As long as local, provincial and ministerial officials are able to clean themselves up in their posts and work conscientiously, they can enter here after retirement.
This is equivalent to the Senate of the Renaissance Army.
This Senate not only has the right to question cabinet matters, but also has the right to participate in major decisions.
It is part of the future political system of the Renaissance Army planned by Dong Shuheng.
Dong Shuheng feels that no place should be born poor.
If a place suffers from poverty due to its natural environment, then the Renaissance Army will provide a large number of immigration opportunities.
Participating in immigration does not necessarily mean you will become rich.
But after immigrating, at least you no longer need to be restricted by land.
But many local officials fail to implement this system well.
This involves their selfishness.
If a place loses a large number of people, it will definitely affect the development of that place.
Just like the population loss in many places in later generations, the economic development of the region has been lagging behind.
Economic lag will further cause population loss, which seems to be a vicious circle.
Dong Shuheng felt that what happened this time was related to the current model of official evaluation.
Just like Shu Zhouyang, he pursues those obvious achievements and ignores the overall work.
…
"President, I have revised your "Investigation Report on Lazy Government and Local Shantouism". Please take a look." Wei Yuxiang came in holding a blue-covered pamphlet.
These are some of the problems Dong Shuheng discovered during his research in Shaanxi and Gansu. He made a summary himself and later gave it to Wei Yuxiang to sort out.
Both laziness and corruption among officials will bring huge harm to the rule of the Renaissance Army.
Even the harm of laziness may be even greater. Just like a chronic disease, it has no obvious symptoms, but it can produce many fatal complications.
Laziness in government is also highly concealed and is not as traceable as corruption and bribery.
If the problem is not caused by accumulation to a certain extent, it is generally difficult to detect.
The main reason why Dong Shuheng was open to veteran Liu Guoying this time was because his behavior had not caused much harm yet and only caused a waste of national resources.
If Dong Shuheng hadn't handled it himself and fell into the hands of Li Hu, Liu Guoying's end would have been even worse.
As for Shu Zhouyang, he is quite good at economics.
At least in the past two years, Chang'an's status as the industrial and commercial center of the northwest region has been established.
It's just that this person lacks a sense of the overall situation. Dong Shuheng asked him to go to a remote place to experience it, but he didn't want to give up on him.
This person can still use it in the future.
Continuing to the west, Dong Shuheng entered the Hexi Corridor, which is also under the jurisdiction of Shaanxi-Gansu Province.
After Chang'an and surrounding areas were put under direct jurisdiction.
The remaining prefectures and counties in Shaanxi were merged with Gansu to form Shaanxi-Gansu.
This place is more desolate than the east side.
Except for some cities near the railway that are gradually becoming more prosperous, there has not been much improvement in other places.
These places have long been over-developed and the land has become severely desertified.
The population here must be moved out as soon as possible.
Dong Shuheng secretly planned in his heart.
Dong Shuheng replaced Liu Guoying this time, and the first thing the new commander-in-chief will do after he takes office will definitely be to deal with immigration matters.
It just so happened that this year Dong Shuheng was preparing to invade Canada, which required a large number of people.
The two things were connected together in this way.
In handling this matter at this time, Dong Shuheng may not have selfish motives for increasing immigration.
After getting off the bus at Dunhuang, Dong Shuheng rode his horse and galloped toward Dunhuang in the southwest with his escort.
This time he was not going to inspect people's livelihood, but to see a place.
His destination is located at the eastern foot of Mingsha Mountain, 25 kilometers southeast of Dunhuang City.
Mingsha Mountain blocks the wind and sand and forms a lush oasis in the valley.
Under the cover of these green trees, two huge Buddha statues come into view.
When you get closer, there is a cave. The entire cliff is covered with dense caves.
There are more than five hundred.
These caves are large and small, and are arranged in an orderly manner on the cliff.
Dong Shuheng led people to the valley entrance. A stone wall was built here to block the entire valley entrance.
A gate was opened in the middle, and soldiers from the Renaissance Army were guarding the gate with loaded ammunition.
At this time, a group of people were standing at the door.
An old monk wearing a red cassock and an old man wearing a long robe with eyes stood in front of the crowd.
"Amitabha, welcome the president to Thousand Buddha Cave." The old monk put his hands together and carried his luggage.
Others also saluted Dong Shuheng.
"Master Jiyuan, Teacher Sun, thank you for your hard work."
In the first year of the Renaissance, as the army marched westward, Dong Shuheng sent a team to Dunhuang.
Historically, in the 26th year of the reign of Emperor Guangxu of the Qing Dynasty, the Buddhist Scripture Cave was discovered that shocked the world.
Unfortunately, under the specific historical background of the corruption and incompetence of the late Qing government and the invasion of China by Western powers, not long after the discovery of the cultural relics in the Tibetan Scripture Cave.
Western explorers such as the British Stein, the French Pelliot, the Japanese Tachibana Ruichao, and the Russian Odenborg came to Dunhuang one after another, and used unfair means to defraud a large number of cultural relics from the Buddhist Scripture Cave from Wang Taoist priests, resulting in the loss of the Buddhist scriptures.
The cultural relics in the cave were brutally looted, and most of them were unfortunately scattered and stored in numerous public and private collection institutions in Britain, France, Russia, Japan and other countries. Only a small part was preserved in China, causing an unprecedented catastrophe in the history of Chinese culture.
Dong Shuheng naturally knows the famous Mogao Grottoes.
So while advancing westward, he sent people to protect the Mogao Grottoes.
To prevent any further accidents from causing damage to this place.
Immediately afterwards, Dong Shuheng sent religious and archaeological experts to sit here, and then allocated special funds to protect the place.
But he has not approved the excavation work yet.
Because the current technical conditions are limited, if the Sutra Cave is excavated, there will not be enough technical conditions to protect it.
But the cave paintings alone are enough for these people to study.
Before this, there was no theory of archeology. The Renaissance Army started this work from scratch.
Starting from the very beginning when we excavated oracle bones and studied oracle bone inscriptions, many new discoveries have been made in recent years.
Dong Shuheng has always believed that glorious history is an important part of the national spirit.
The significance of studying history is to find the common memory of a nation.
"President, please come this way."
Several caves have now completed maintenance.
Master Jiyuan is a representative of the religious community who participates in the maintenance of the cave.
While explaining, he took Dong Shuheng to visit the cave.
At the same time, he also introduced the protection situation of the cave to Dong Shuheng.
Mr. Sun is a scholar who studies history, but Mr. Sun is obviously not as good at speaking as Master Jiyuan.
"The two of you have worked hard and made great contributions. This Thousand Buddha Cave is the cultural heritage of our entire nation. It must be protected so that future generations can see it."
"Some people have complained to me that it is not worth spending so much money to protect a Buddhist cave. But I tell them that it is worth it. No matter how much money is spent, it is worth it, because culture is a priceless treasure."
"The president said it well, culture is priceless. Even if I and Mr. Sun throw their old bones here, they will still protect the Thousand Buddha Cave." Master Jiyuan said.
Dong Shuheng naturally believed them. These two people never left after arriving here.
Master Jiyuan also brought hundreds of disciples over. They didn't need a penny to work, as long as they could take care of the food.
Dong Shuheng could trust them.
He came here today just to see this place with his own eyes.
At the same time, we also want to see what difficulties they have that need to be solved.