In the blink of an eye, it was January 1912 in the Western calendar, and the Qing Dynasty was finally coming to an end.
Sun Yat-sen was sworn in as the provisional president in Nanjing. China's first democratic regime in five thousand years was unveiled and prosperously entered the stage of history.
Whether they are Chinese or foreigners, whether they are Han Chinese or Manchus, everyone's attention turned from Wuhan to Nanjing following Sun Yat-sen's oath. Wuhan is still the same as before. After the defeat of the "Yangxia Defense Battle", the last battle of the Wuchang Uprising, The revolutionary army no longer had the momentum to counterattack, and the Beiyang Army who occupied Wuchang and Hanyang seemed to have temporarily lost their memory and forgotten their original mission. They only faced off against the revolutionary party across the Yangtze River, and occasionally artillery fired sporadically towards Hankou. Bomb it.
Young students are still keen on revolution, hoping that the revolutionary fire can reach Beijing in one fell swoop and burn the pedantic Manchu Qing Dynasty to ashes; while the common people can only tremble all day long, thinking in their hearts that this turbulent situation will pass quickly.
In those provinces that have declared du li, there has been a vague internal struggle between the constitutionalists, the revolutionary party, the old bureaucratic class, etc. The various forces are attacking each other and fighting for political power without giving up. These people are here We are eagerly awaiting the reshuffle of China's landscape after the building collapses.
For Yuan Su, it's not that he doesn't care about the changes in the domestic situation, it's just that he has more important things to do now. He is like a speck in the vast ocean of history, and he has no ability at all under the current situation. To interfere with the progress of the torrent, the only thing I can do now is to live well first.
Luanzhou has finally undergone some changes during this period. The establishment of the three battalions of No. 79 has finally been determined. The shadow of the previous uprising and turmoil has gradually dissipated from the city. The people inside and outside the city are working hard to return to normal life.
Since Yuan Su visited Zhang Juren the day before yesterday, he has realized that the military-civilian joint defense plan can begin to be implemented. In the past two days, he has gone to the Yamen of the prefecture many times to discuss the matter with Wang Litong. After Tong Zai learned that Zhang Juren would support this plan, he immediately felt confident and worked harder to make suggestions for this plan.
It's just that what Yuan Su needs now is not Wang Liantong's advice, but hope that Wang Liantong can provide some more substantial help, such as providing venues for militia training camps, and going to villages and towns in advance to do ideological mobilization work. Hurry up and give the military-civilian x joint defense an official title, etc.
For Wang Litong, it would be much easier as long as he didn't have to pay for it. In just two days, he used his power as the head of a state to quickly allocate a piece of land in the southern suburbs of the ancient city to Yuan Sulai. A training camp was opened, and at the same time, the young people in the city were recruited to form a migrant worker team, and Yuan Su was transferred to build the camp.
Yuan Su went to the field to inspect the land designated by Wang Litong, and it turned out to be the place where he led the police guards to set up an ambush to stop the rebels on the day of the uprising. But thinking about it, the southern suburbs are an ancient city that has been in ruins for many years. To the north from the ancient city wall is a large abandoned residential area. The houses here are as dilapidated as the city wall. Basically no one cares about this area.
Therefore, timid bureaucrats like Wang Lantong could seize this land without much effort.
However, Yuan Su is quite satisfied. Although there is not a complete house here, the place is large, the transportation is convenient, and it is close to the city. With a little renovation, a slightly larger military camp can be built.
Yuan Su has not mobilized the migrant workers team for the time being. After all, he has not yet been able to win over those big families. Even if Wang Litong comes forward and does not have to pay wages, he will always have to bear the basic conditions such as food and accommodation. Now the prestige of Zheng Fu
It is not as good as before, and the situation such as corvee service is no longer decided by the official. Unless he uses the barrel of a gun to intimidate, but in this way, his popularity in Luanzhou will be greatly reduced, which is completely contrary to his original intention.
Anyway, this matter is not urgent. As long as Zhang Juren comes forward to make the call, building a military camp will be just a trivial matter.
After Wang Litong solved the venue problem, he spent some time to create a series of official procedures, classifying the militia training camp as Luanzhou official group training, and even thoughtfully filled in the person in charge of the group training as his own name. Naturally, he didn't care.
Why Yuan Su is keen on setting up civil defense may be because of the pressure of the robbery in Anshan Town, or maybe he really wants to do something practical, but for himself, it is purely for his own personal benefit.
Since Twenty Towns is a force outside the customs, sooner or later it will be transferred back to outside the customs. After Twenty Towns leaves, the civil defense team left in Luanzhou will naturally be completely owned by itself. In this era, it is only in hand.
If you have soldiers, you will naturally have power. He doesn't want to be a little bureaucrat who can only look at other people's faces for the rest of his life.
On January 2, Yuan Su came to the prefectural government office to meet with Wang Litong again. He made a new suggestion to Wang Litong. In 1908, the Qing government was forced by domestic and international pressure.
, and promulgated an edict to "prepare for nine years of constitutional establishment", and the following year ordered each province to spontaneously establish a consultative bureau.
Several larger prefectures in Zhili Province have already completed the establishment of local consultation bureaus. However, because Luanzhou is too small, this matter has been delayed and has not been completed yet. Simply take advantage of this promotion
On the occasion of the joint military-civilian defense policy, the Luanzhou Consultative Bureau was also established.
After all, Wang Litong was a person with some skills. He immediately understood what Yuan Su meant. He took advantage of the preparations for the establishment of the Consultative Bureau and used his position as a member of the Consultative Bureau to induce the local gentry to agree to the joint military-civilian defense plan. This point
It was indeed very convincing, and he believed that as long as he did this, the wealthy gentry from all over Luanzhou would definitely respond. When the time comes, coupled with Zhang Juren's call, those who support the military-civilian joint defense plan would definitely be overwhelmed.
It's just that Yuan Su, a man from another province, suddenly came to talk to him about the establishment of the Luanzhou Consultative Bureau. He would have some grudges in his heart. The reason why the Luanzhou Consultative Bureau has been unresolved for the past three years is partly due to the local political hierarchy.
The reason, and another part of the reason, is that he simply does not want to engage in "constitutional politics" or "min zhu politics."
It's not because he is pedantic and loyal at heart, but because he only climbed to the position of Luanzhou magistrate a few years ago. It's really not a good feeling to have to hand out power before his butt is hot. The prefect and provincial government have mentioned Luanzhou more than once.
Regarding the establishment of a consultative bureau in the state, he found many high-sounding and non-offensive reasons to decline.
Now, the special consultation bureau is being prepared for joint military-civilian defense, which is obviously not worth the gain.
Therefore, after listening to Yuan Su's suggestion, Wang Litong did not agree immediately. Instead, he reasoned that the establishment of a consultative bureau was very complicated. First, it had to be reported layer by layer, and then it had to be approved layer by layer.
, it is very difficult to complete within a few months. Moreover, Luanzhou is only a small place. If you fail to submit the application, you may not be able to get it approved. It will be a waste of time for no reason.
Yuan Su originally didn't know much about this kind of political matter. Although he thought that the Consultative Bureau, as a public opinion unit, did not need to be as troublesome as the approval of the upper levels, after all, it was the preparatory period for the establishment of the constitution. What was the bureaucracy of the Qing Dynasty like?
He couldn't explain it clearly. But when he heard that Luanzhou was a small place called Luanzhou by Wang Li, and the superiors would not approve the establishment of a consultation bureau here, he immediately had doubts in his heart.
If there was no train station in Luanzhou a few years ago, it would naturally be a small place that was not taken seriously. But now Luanzhou has a garrison and a train station, banks and trading companies, and even a train station outside the city.
A factory for the textile industry and agricultural product processing industry. How could a place with all the internal organs like this be a small place?
Yuan Su has not been in contact with Wang Litong for a long time, and he does not know him very well. He does not know what Wang Litong's purpose is in opposing the establishment of the consultative bureau, but as long as it is conducive to the implementation of the military-civilian joint defense plan,
I will definitely do my best to promote it.
So he persisted in persuading Wang Litong that with the current development of the situation in China, regardless of whether the revolution was successful or not, and whether the Qing Dynasty could survive it, the Consultative Bureau would be popularized across the country sooner or later. Currently, the Consultative Bureau does not exist
Too much power. On the contrary, if you prepare in advance, you can also take the opportunity to cultivate members who stand on your own position. Otherwise, once the consultative system matures, it will be too late to use the Consultative Bureau to gain a political foothold.
It has to be said that Yuan Su's awkward words suddenly touched Wang Lingtong's heart.
Consultative bureaus have already sprouted up all over the country. Even if Luanzhou can delay it for a while, it cannot remain unchanged forever. On the other hand, the consultative bureau is a shortcut for the local gentry to participate in politics. If he insists on going his own way, he will still be in trouble.
It will offend more powerful people. Don't say that you can't guarantee your power status by then, I'm afraid you won't be able to stand up again in this life.
After some hesitation, Wang Litong had no choice but to agree to the matter, saying that he would start arranging the preparatory work as soon as possible.
After Yuan Su got Wang Litong's consent, he became more and more confident in his plan. He knew very well that as long as the news about the preparation of the Consultative Bureau was released, and it was properly related to the military-civilian x joint defense plan, the military-civilian x joint defense plan would be
Influence will inevitably increase.
I thought that Zhang Juren would need ten days and a half to stabilize his emotions before he could find time to come to the city to support Yuan Su's call for Luanzhou gentry to participate in the military-civilian joint defense plan. Unexpectedly, at noon on January 3rd, Zhang Juren took the car
The carriage was escorted by several New Army soldiers stationed in Zhang Mansion and arrived at the compound of the Seventy-nine Biaobiao Department.
However, Zhang Juren did not enter the Biaobu compound, but simply sent people to find Yuan Su to come out.
After receiving the notice, Yuan Su immediately put down the work at hand and hurriedly left the Biaobu compound.