On July 26, 1902, the Qing government electrified the country and appointed Sheng Xuanhuai, Minister of Railways and Commerce, as Minister of Japan's Iron and Steel Machinery Manufacturing Industry, and Prime Minister for the inventory and takeover of Japan's steel and machine manufacturing industries. At the same time, the Qing government appointed Zai Feng as Governor-General of Japan.
As soon as Sheng Xuanhuai received the order, he immediately excused himself and closed the door without seeing anyone. Zaifeng hesitated for two days and finally boarded the ship at Dagukou. As a result, the ship was seized by Lin Youde's cruiser before it even left the Bohai Bay.
Lin Youde then sent a telegram in the name of the Navy Ministry.
In this communication, the political status of the Philippines was clarified for the first time. Originally, the Philippines had always been a territory controlled by Lin Ji in the name of his company, and it was a "gray area" in terms of international legal power. Lin Youde has never dared to claim that this is China's territory. Now
He conquered Japan and Taiwan and greatly increased his strength, so through this telegram, he publicly declared the Philippines as a "Special Zone directly under the Chinese Navy" and planned to formally separate the administrative functions of the region from Lin Ji. In Lin Youde's view,
In the past, administrative management was the link most likely to arouse dissatisfaction among the people. In this way, after the separation, if the Filipino people were dissatisfied with administrative management, they would not go directly to Lin Ji.
From now on, Lin Youde plans to hide Lin Ji behind the scenes bit by bit, becoming a shadow trust like the eight major conglomerates in the United States. In fact, Lin Youde likes the American model: the president in front of the stage is replaced by the president, and the rule of Wall Street behind the scenes is unshakable. Lin Youde's brain
The Chinese Empire here adopts a similar organizational structure: He is going to get himself the position of "supervisor of the country", and then set up a democratically elected government below; if the people are dissatisfied, they will vote to replace you, and I will continue to be my dictator behind the scenes.
Of course, this specific operation is not that simple. Lin Youde himself has no clue. He can only take one step at a time and cross the river by feeling the stones, but the ultimate goal has been set.
Let’s talk about powering up.
After the status of the Philippine Islands was clarified, the status of Taiwan, Ryukyu and Japan was easy to say. Lin Youde talked about the importance of coastal defense during the call, emphasizing the need to build a "Great Wall on the Sea", and then with a stroke of his pen, he
Taiwan, the Ryukyu Islands, Kyushu Shikoku and Hokkaido were all numbered and became the "First to Fifth Naval Garrison Areas", while Honshu Island was cut in half from the middle and divided into two naval military districts, Kanto and Kansai. These
"Regional national autonomy is implemented under the supervision of the Ministry of Navy", "in order to ensure consistent military and local actions during wartime, supervisors are appointed and dismissed by the Navy", and "regional tax collection tools are turned over to the Navy for military expenses to reduce the burden on the court."
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As for Guangdong, Guangxi and Fujian, where Lin Youde, the Minister of the Navy, acted as an agent, it was still nominally the territory of the Qing Dynasty. However, due to Lin Ji's thorough infiltration, even the garrison was almost corrupted. The orders of the Qing court in these provinces were issued
Without the city, taxes can only be extracted from those in the city. It doesn't really make much difference who becomes the governor.
As for Japan's steel industry, it was announced during the electrification that a new Nippon Steel Company will be established for unified management. Overseas merchants can invest in shares, but they need to convert their silver coins into Nanyang notes before they can enter the account. From now on, all dividends will also be paid in Nanyang notes.
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In addition, Denden also recognized the status of several Japanese private machinery manufacturing companies. The reason given was that future naval orders will need to use bidding methods to optimize configuration, so these Japanese companies are retained to form competition. Lin Youde is not worried about these Japanese companies grabbing
Take the navy order that originally belonged to Lin Ji. Lin Ji is a company with a golden finger bonus. You can grab whatever is in Lin Ji's bowl. Besides, Lin Ji is also paying for the navy funds. He pays for it himself.
Of course you can decide what to buy yourself, right?
In fact, Lin Youde originally wanted to eat up all these companies, but Du Qifeng told him that with Lin Ji's current strength, the only way to eat them was to send out the army to seize them. And the army's occupation will definitely dissatisfy the local tycoons and wealthy gentry who support Lin Youde.
, shake Lin Ji’s rule in Japan….
Considering that the cost of using the army to occupy all of Japan was too high, Lin Youde had no choice but to give up and completely eat up these enterprises that would later grow into the two major heavy industry groups of Mitsubishi and Kawasaki.
Lin Youde selectively swallowed up some key enterprises. For example, Nagasaki City, where Mitsubishi's Nagasaki Shipbuilding Works is located, is a relatively pro-China place, so Lin Youde annexed the shipbuilding company under Lin Ji's name. Correspondingly, larger companies
Kawasaki's bottom-building shipyard, Lin Youde, did not touch it. Because the Hyogo Prefecture where this shipyard is located is relatively close to Kasuga Taisha Shrine, the local wealthy families did not like Lin Youde's occupation of Japan, so Lin Youde let it go in order to avoid further irritating them.
This is the largest local company.
As for the naval arsenal in Wu Gang and the naval shipyard in Yokosuka, those with the word "military" must directly send troops to control them. Lin Youde will definitely not be ambiguous about this.
In addition to all of the above, the status of the Nanyang Army was also clarified in the power supply. In the past, the Nanyang Army was not justified in name, but was actually a private soldier of Lin Youde's Lin Jiyang. Now Lin Youde has established the "Marine Corps" in the power supply.
It is proposed that the various military regions directly under the Ministry of the Navy be used as the source of troops. The Nanyang Army has also been officially renamed the "Nanyang Chinese Volunteer Army" and is part of the Marine Corps. The official source of troops is the Philippines, but unofficially...
Lin Youde's power-up is roughly the content of this, and it can be summed up in one sentence: After leaving the coastline, I can play by myself and you have no control over it.
Lin Youde's electrification has removed the last fig leaf.
This has stirred up a hornet's nest in Beijing. Everyone in the Qing court is "outraged", while the Han bureaucrats are very calm - isn't this a matter of time...
Cixi convened the ministers to discuss matters until midnight, and finally came up with a bad move to recruit Lin Guoxiang. The telegram was sent, and Lin Guoxiang actually drove the Overlord to the entrance of Dagu, and then without saying a word, he directed the cannonball into the sea on the shore, and it exploded.
The sea water poured down on Lin Guoxiang's body.
There is this comment in a teahouse in the capital: Lafayette diverted navy funds to build the Summer Palace, and now she wants the navy to sell her face? How much food do you have to eat to support yourself like this...
As a result, the summer of 1902 became the most unhappy summer since Cixi came to power. It made all the eunuchs and maids in the palace almost have a nervous breakdown. What was terrible was that the foreign envoys had no eyes and would exaggerate when they saw Cixi.
The Qing Empire was able to fight, and it defeated Russia and Japan. Cixi was so angry that she complained privately more than once that "it would be better to lose this battle."
But Cixi didn't know that the most depressing and uncomfortable thing for her in Renyin's year had not yet happened.