Twentieth Century Chronicle

Page 101

However, after being "educated" by the Wuhan New Army with machine guns and artillery, the junior officers of the Yi Army began to feel that the Manchus' killing of Han people was killing their own compatriots, and that keeping their queues was an insult to their people. Especially this time, with the Russian army launching a large-scale attack on the Yi Army's defense zone, and the court failing to send reinforcements, instead ordering the Yi Army to disperse its forces to defend the Gubeikou area to ensure the Russian army could not enter the Beijing plains, the Yi Army was greatly disappointed.

Even Kunyuan, a Mongol from the Bordered Blue Banner who was sent to the Yi Army by the imperial court, felt that the court was treating the Yi Army too harshly. If the Yi Army could hold off the Russian army on its own, wouldn't that prove that the money the court spent on the Beiyang New Army was wasted? At this critical moment, the Hubei New Army resolutely marched north and quickly defeated the Russian cavalry forces that had invaded the Datong area. This immediately made the Yi Army regard the Hubei New Army as its backbone.

At the meeting, General Guo Dianbang of Xuanhua briefed Cai E and others on the Russian army's offensive in recent days: "...Yesterday afternoon, the Russian army captured Dushikou. After occupying this place, the Russian army can either attack Chicheng, Longguan, and Huailai to the south, advance into Yanqing and enter Changping territory, or first attack Changhua and Zhangjiakou to the west, thus eliminating any worries about their rear..."

The imperial court has transferred eight of our battalions to garrison the Changping, Yanqing, and Miyun areas. We are now severely lacking in manpower to defend against the Russian army. I wonder when General Cai will be able to mobilize troops to help us defend against a Russian attack?

Cai E focused on the map in front of him. The first thing promoted in the reform of the new army was actually topographic surveying, because this reform would not affect the internal power structure of the army, but could improve the army's combat effectiveness the fastest. An army that cannot even read a map is obviously unable to make the right defensive deployment.

For these veteran generals of the Yi Army, they never rely on maps to fight. Instead, they rely on their memory to conduct on-site investigations before making tactical arrangements. This is what is known as the experience of a general.

Although the generals of the Yi Army had a general idea of ​​the battlefield, the officers and soldiers in the middle and lower ranks did not. They could only blindly follow the generals' orders to fight. This is why the old army collapsed immediately after the generals died in battle. The others did not understand the generals' arrangements for the war. They did not even know where the friendly forces were or what they were supposed to do next.

The emergence of topographic surveying and the General Staff was essentially to ensure that even after the death of one or two generals, the entire army could still understand its military mission and continue to carry it out. Therefore, the promotion of topographic surveying was supported by both the new and old armies. However, the establishment of the General Staff infringed upon the power of the generals and was resisted by many old officers.

The surveying of the area from Xuanhua to Dushikou was actually completed with the assistance of personnel from Hubei Province, as the Yi Army itself lacked such surveying talent. The Beiyang government, however, believed that priority should be given to surveying its own defense zone. Therefore, Ma Yukun ultimately borrowed a group of people from Hubei to conduct surveying in Xuanhua, Datong, and other areas.

Due to the extremely tight schedule, many parts of the map were not very clear, but the main roads from Dushikou to Zhangjiakou, Chicheng, Yanqing, and Changping were still depicted. After studying the map for most of the day, Cai E finally looked up at Ma Yukun and other Yi Army generals and said, "Dividing our troops to guard the area is not very meaningful. As long as the Russian army breaks through one point, our defenses will be breached. This is the age of gunpowder weapons; a city wall cannot stop an infantry attack."

Just like when the Russian army bypassed Zhangjiakou and broke into the interior of China through Yanggao, Datong immediately surrendered without any ability to resist. In this situation, what's the point of us holding the pass? If the enemy breaks through to our rear, we'll become an isolated army without supplies, and we'll be divided, surrounded, and wiped out by the enemy.

Guo Dianbang paused for a moment, then immediately asked, "But if we don't send troops to guard the area, are we just going to let the Russian army rush in? What if they really manage to get into the vicinity of Beijing?"

Cai E calmly replied, "Beijing has a population of over one million, plus the First Division of the Beiyang Army, and the Yi Army in Changping, Yanqing, and Miyun to keep them occupied. I don't think the Russian army can take Beijing in a short time."

The closer the Russian army gets to Beijing, the heavier their logistical burden becomes, especially considering the mountainous terrain. Therefore, I believe the Russian army could only field no more than two divisions to attack Beijing, as their logistics cannot support more than that. If we attack and disrupt their supply routes, the Russian army likely wouldn't even be able to reach Beijing with a single division.

Therefore, the best approach is not to divide our forces for defense, but to clear the main road, occupy the flanks, and let the Russian army's logistics cripple us. What we need to do is choose an opportune moment to cut off their supply lines, encircle and annihilate the Russian troops that have entered our territory, and inflict a heavy blow on them once and for all. Rifles and artillery without ammunition are nothing but scrap metal.

Cai E's proposal caused an uproar among the Yi Army generals. For these generals, their primary objective was to defend Beijing. They thought that if they could just put the Russian army in Beijing and then encircle and annihilate them, it wouldn't necessarily be a good thing.

However, for the Workers' and Peasants' Red Army, Beijing was clearly not the primary target to defend. Even if the Russian army occupied Beijing again, Wuhan would not surrender. Therefore, their first goal was to annihilate the Russian army's manpower, and they naturally did not care what the Manchu nobles in Beijing and Empress Dowager Cixi thought.

Seeing the whispers among the Yi Army generals, Cai E explained again: "Comrade Lin Feng once said, 'If we save people but lose land, we can save both people and land; if we lose people but save land, we can lose both people and land.' What was the purpose of the Russian army's massacre of our people in Hailanpao? Wasn't it to clear out the Chinese from the land so that Russian immigrants could occupy it?"

If we don't consider how to eliminate the Russians and only focus on stopping them, this war will never end. Can we really fight a great power for a long time? The Russians are now able to support this war with food and supplies from Manchuria, which were originally our country's wealth.

Therefore, we must eliminate the enemy to end the war; we cannot rely on keeping the enemy out and expecting them to give up the war on their own. Imperialism will never voluntarily abandon a war.

Upon hearing the name Lin Feng, the Yi Army generals immediately fell silent. As European media coverage of the war in India increased, Lin Feng's reputation had spread from Europe back to China. No one would believe that someone who could defeat an empire with just a few hundred men was merely expressing his own opinions on military matters.

In European newspapers, the Tibetan War had become the Indian War. Apart from the British themselves, France and Germany believed that the British Empire had actually lost the war and that unless the British launched another major war to conquer India, they could not completely eliminate Chinese influence in India.

Chapter 357 Everyone Has Something to Care About

After the first meeting with Cai E, Ma Yukun called He Zongxun, Guo Dianbang and others to his small living room and asked them for their opinions on Cai E's proposals.

Guo Dianbang honestly said to Ma Yukun, "Your Excellency, what they said is not without reason, but the problem is that if we do this, we will be using Beijing as bait to lure the Russians into a trap. How will the court view us afterward?"

The generals behind Guo Dianbang remained silent, so Ma Yukun then asked He Zongxun, "Zongxun, what do you think?"

After a few moments of silence, He Zongxun said, "Last year, Yunnan suffered a severe drought, and Outer Mongolia experienced an earthquake. This spring, the north is dry while the south is experiencing torrential rains. Natural disasters have been occurring one after another, compounded by war. Songpo is right. If this stalemate continues, we will still lose. Ultimately, we will have to break through one of their lines before we can negotiate peace."

Furthermore, Wuhan's assistance to us was out of consideration for the national war, not for the preservation of the Manchu regime. To demand that Wuhan fight to the death to prevent the Russian army from entering the Beijing plain is asking the impossible.

If we continue to hold out, Wuhan only needs to defend the Yandai area, watch the Russian army and we weaken each other, and then step in to manage the overall situation. This will also achieve our goals. However, by then, Wuhan will no longer consider us friendly forces.

As He Zongxun finished speaking, several Yi Army generals behind Guo Dianbang also urged Ma Yukun, "Lord, we must first protect ourselves before considering the overall situation. Master He is right. How can we possibly withstand the Russian attack on our own? Not to mention anything else, the court has placed the best-equipped Beiyang First Division in Beijing, while we're left to patch up the gaps everywhere. Aren't they just using us as cannon fodder..."

Seeing that Ma Yukun remained silent for a long time, He Zongxun couldn't help but say, "Right now, the imperial court has almost no control over the Beiyang and Wuhan armies. Why? It's because both sides have large armies under their control."

As long as our army is still intact, how could the imperial court reprimand us? But if our army is truly wiped out, the imperial court will probably not let us off the hook.

The deployment of troops to guard every point only gives the Russian army the opportunity to defeat them piecemeal. Songpo is right; as long as our main force remains intact, the Russian army cannot launch a full-scale attack on Beijing, otherwise they would be exposing their backs to us.

After much deliberation, Ma Yukun could only shake his head and say to his subordinates, "I am getting old. Only young people have the stamina to organize such a large-scale battle. Zongxun, Dianbang, go and tell Songpo tomorrow that my Yi Army can cooperate with them in the battle. However, they must remember that this is a national war, and they should not ruin the overall situation for their own selfish reasons..."

Upon hearing Ma Yukun's words of resignation and yielding of command, the generals of the Yi Army were filled with mixed emotions, but ultimately refrained from further persuasion. They knew that Ma Yukun was unwilling to betray the imperial court's orders, and if he were to lead this great battle, he would be caught in a great dilemma, ultimately tarnishing his reputation in his later years.

Although they didn't want to betray Ma Yukun, the current situation was that if they didn't follow the battle plan proposed by the Workers' and Peasants' Red Army, they couldn't expect the Red Army to fight for them in the upcoming battles. They were veterans of the Huai Army and naturally knew that if they were in Wuhan's shoes, they wouldn't have gone north at all; wouldn't it have been better to watch the Russian army and the Qing Dynasty perish together?

Think back to how they treated the Boxers during the Boxer Rebellion. They forced the Boxers to fight desperately against the foreign powers on the front lines, treating them as nothing more than friendly forces, using them to exhaust the foreign powers' resources. The fact that Wuhan sent troops to rescue them once was already incredibly generous. To expect Wuhan to preserve the Yi Army's loyalty to the court is to truly treat them like fools.

Therefore, Cai Songpo's condition today was merely an attempt to force the Yi Army to choose between the imperial court and Wuhan. If the Yi Army insisted on remaining loyal to the imperial court, then these Hubei soldiers would naturally no longer care about them. Ma Yukun's concession, in fact, represented the Yi Army's position: they were willing to obey Wuhan's command, at least in the national war.

In fact, after Wuhan provided military equipment to the Yi Army, the Yi Army knew that this army would eventually switch sides. You can't expect to eat someone else's food and then smash their pot. Who in the world would trust you then? Even the imperial court could not believe that an army armed by Wuhan would be loyal to them to the death.

Therefore, Ma Yukun's relinquishment of command of the army was not entirely unexpected for the Yi Army generals; what surprised them was how quickly this day had come. They had originally thought they could at least hold out until Empress Dowager Cixi's death before stating their position, but now they had to do so prematurely.

Cai E would certainly not back down from Ma Yukun's decision. This was not Ma Yukun relinquishing power to him, but rather the Yi Army surrendering to Wuhan. As the representative of Wuhan, he would only accept it and would not engage in any tricks like making three requests and three concessions.

While the Workers' and Peasants' Red Army and the Yi Army were integrating their command systems, General Starkelberg received the devastating news at the Chengde Mountain Resort that the Misinko Detachment had suffered a major defeat and that Major General Misinko had been killed in battle.

After Emperor Xianfeng died at the Chengde Mountain Resort, Empress Dowager Cixi seized power in a coup. Subsequent Qing emperors never returned to the resort for vacation, as Cixi was concerned about the distance from Beijing. Following the Boxer Rebellion, the Old Summer Palace (Yuanmingyuan) was burned down by the Eight-Nation Alliance, and many treasures from the Beijing palace were lost. Cixi then ordered the artifacts from the Chengde Mountain Resort to be transported back to Beijing, further contributing to the resort's decline.

However, even the most dilapidated summer palace could not conceal the natural beauty of this royal garden, so after General Starkelberg captured Chengde, he placed his headquarters here.

Starkerberg had assumed the upcoming battle would be a miraculous victory, but he never expected that Mishinko, who had been boasting about his achievements in his report, would be defeated by the Chinese. This was a disgrace to the Russian army, as it was the first Russian general to die on the Far East front.

Starkerberg could not tolerate such a defeat. After confirming the news several times, he summoned his men and announced the unfortunate news of Major General Misinko's death. Then, he angrily said to his men, "Those despicable Chinese, they only dare to attack from behind or hide in the gutter and fire cold shots. They never dare to confront us head-on."

They killed a brave and honorable Russian soldier, perhaps thinking that this would intimidate us and prevent us from advancing. But I say, these Chinese are mistaken. We will not let such a despicable act go unpunished. I will cut off their heads to avenge General Mishinko, and use their blood to wash away the tarnished honor of the great Russian army…”

While moving his headquarters to Dushikou, Starklberg sent letters to the rear requesting reinforcements, expressing his determination to break through the Chinese defenses, reach the outskirts of Beijing, and force the Chinese to submit to the great Tsarist Russian army.

The death of Mishinko was another devastating blow to the Russian Far East headquarters, following the defeat of the Russian army at Shanhaiguan. Governor Alekseyev forbade the news of the Mishinko detachment's defeat from being spread and quickly agreed to Starklberg's request to send reinforcements from Shenyang to him.

Although the upper echelons of the Russian Far East army kept this information from their own troops, military attachés from various countries stationed in China quickly obtained this intelligence from the Chinese. Tanaka Giichi, a Japanese staff officer observing the Russian army's movements in Shenyang, saw the Russian army mobilizing its forces once again. He quickly sent a telegram to the Korean headquarters, saying, "The Russian army is like a gambler who has lost everything, increasing the stakes again and again."

The Russian army's renewed troop movements brought its forces in the first and second fronts in the interior of China to over 6, which was quite close to the conditions for an attack advocated by the Japanese army. In fact, the Japanese army and navy leadership had not expected that the Chinese would be so resilient this time, not being overwhelmed even after the Russians deployed 6 troops, and continuing to inflict damage on the Russians.

Kodama Gentaro's assessment of the Sino-Russian War was: "It's hard to believe that this was a victory achieved by the Chinese. If they had had this kind of resilience five years ago, the Allied forces would probably have only been able to stay near Tianjin. Is this the war potential of continental countries? Once they put everything aside and focus on fighting, no one can conquer them."

Compared to the importance the Japanese placed on this war, the Chinese attention was drawn to two things: the convening of the National Assembly and the floods in Hunan.

Starting in January, Zhuzhou experienced relentless heavy rains, which intensified in March and April. The area around Changsha, spanning hundreds of miles, was practically submerged. Hengyang, Yongzhou, Changsha, and Changzhou were the hardest-hit prefectures, resulting in what was described as the worst flood in Hunan in 200 years. Although the Wuhan Workers', Peasants', and Soldiers' Committee dispatched troops to aid the disaster-stricken areas of Hunan, they could only provide immediate relief in the face of such a massive natural disaster; plugging the breaches in the riverbanks was clearly impossible.

Despite the army's strenuous efforts in rescue, the flood still resulted in thousands of deaths, left hundreds of thousands homeless, and affected at least 300,000 people. This was the best outcome achieved by the Workers', Peasants' and Soldiers' Committee in its all-out rescue efforts; without the Committee's deployment of troops and allocation of substantial supplies, the death toll would have been at least ten times higher.

In early May, the rains in the Xiangjiang River basin finally stopped, and the disaster relief efforts came to an end. However, how to resettle the disaster victims became an urgent problem for the Workers, Peasants and Soldiers Committee. Because the floods in the Hengyang, Yongzhou, Changsha, and Changde areas were unlikely to recede in the short term, it meant that the harvest in this region for the year was essentially ruined.

In areas where the floodwaters have receded, the Workers', Peasants' and Soldiers' Committees only need to help the victims rebuild their homes and carry out replanting. However, if the floodwaters do not recede, it will be impossible to restore the lives and production of the victims.

At the post-disaster relief meeting, Xie Zuantai argued to the committee members: "Given the current situation, it is impossible to solve the livelihood problems of the disaster victims in their current location. We must relocate some of them to other places. The problem is that, apart from Manchuria, Mongolia, and Xinjiang, we simply do not have any spare land to settle them."

Therefore, I advocate for the early construction of a coal and steel base in the Pingdingshan area. In the past few years, we have discovered large coal reserves in Pingdingshan, and there are also extremely rich iron ore deposits nearby. Coal transported from Pingdingshan can greatly make up for the insufficient coal transportation capacity in Anyuan.

However, the Hunan-Hubei section of the railway and the Wuchang-Daye railway were completed last month, resolving the shortage of coal and iron ore transportation capacity. Yet, Henan, located in the Central Plains, lacks an industrial base, which is clearly inappropriate. Building an industrial base near Pingdingshan will boost Henan's industrial development and allow our resources to take root in Henan…”

Chapter 358 The Emergence of Industrial Thought

Xie Zuantai's proposal received support from some comrades in the industrial sector. From 1889 to 1901, most of the modern industries promoted by the Self-Strengthening Movement in Wuhan ended in failure because these modern industries were mostly just the brainchild of officials and gentry who wanted to compete with foreigners for profits. They did not take into account market needs and the country's technological level at all, and naturally could not bring any benefits to the working class.

However, starting in 1901, the Hubei-Hunan Development Committee established by Tian Junyi began to transform Wuhan's modern industry to meet the needs of the domestic market and create a domestic market. The fundamental reason for the failure of the Self-Strengthening Movement was actually the decline of Chinese agriculture, not that China had no demand.

Because most of the agricultural accumulation was plundered by landlords, farmers were unable to improve the land or introduce advanced agricultural technologies. Furthermore, the corruption of the dynasty caused water conservancy projects that should have been undertaken by the state to fall into disrepair for many years. As a result, most of the imports from abroad were consumer goods rather than means of production, and even luxury goods accounted for a significant share.

While Chinese peasants struggled to feed themselves, Shanghai's compradors amassed vast fortunes and began sending their children abroad for education. In 1904, Gu Weijun went to the United States to study, initially attending a rural school. He considered the tuition very low at $900 a year, roughly 1350 taels of silver. A Yangtze River sailor's annual salary was 36 taels, almost 40 years' wages. Meanwhile, a regular American university cost at least $1500 a year.

Therefore, in such a China, the lower classes had demand but no market, while the upper classes' market was almost unrelated to production; their needs were mostly related to personal enjoyment. As a result, China's agricultural and handicraft production suffered from the impact of machine industry and industrial agriculture. The prices of their handicrafts and agricultural products became lower and lower, while the demands of the upper classes became higher and higher. Eventually, the lower classes could not even afford the basic necessities of life because they had to satisfy the needs of the upper classes first.

Although some members of the landlord class saw the world after going abroad and believed that China should also develop some industries, which was the cause of the Self-Strengthening Movement, their idea was not to solve the needs of the domestic working class, but to compete with foreigners for interests in order to avoid their class being completely wiped out by foreigners.

The essence of colonialism is the planning of overseas productive forces and the redistribution of benefits. In other words, imperialism has already controlled the two basic powers of rule: how to guide production and how to distribute social wealth. In this way, the original landlord classes in other countries have essentially become a kind of superfluous rentiers.

Therefore, early colonialism generally began with the destruction of nations and peoples. For example, the Spanish and Portuguese in the Americas first eliminated Native American kingdoms, breaking up Native Americans into individuals, and then enslaving them in their plantations and mines. The British did the same in North America and India initially, but the Native Americans in North America were weaker, so the British policy of genocide was very successful. However, in India, it failed, and they were ultimately forced to compromise with the Indian landowning class.

The landlord class in China was more powerful than that in India, so the great powers made more compromises with the Chinese landlord class. However, after the Industrial Revolution entered the era of electricity and internal combustion engines, even the power of the Chinese landlord class was no longer enough. Therefore, the plot to partition China found a market among the great powers, and the Self-Strengthening Movement was the self-salvation of the Chinese landlord class.

However, this kind of self-salvation was merely the idea of ​​a few enlightened members of the landlord class. They wanted to save the landlord class, not China. Therefore, when the Self-Strengthening Movement was implemented, it was all about monopolistic practices. For example, Zhang Jian advocated saving the country through industry. He wanted to open a textile factory in Nantong, so he petitioned the court not to allow others to set up factories in Nantong.

This approach of saving the nation through industry could only save itself. Not only were foreigners and compradors disgusted, but even domestic merchants and citizens found it shameless. Therefore, the Self-Strengthening Movement became a new means for some powerful individuals to amass wealth. Zhang Jian, who used funds allocated by the court to engage in industry, never made a profit. He was ultimately saved by the Xinhai Revolution, which exempted him from repaying the court's investment. Later, he made a fortune during the European war, thus earning the title of industrialist.

The Hubei-Hunan Development Committee viewed industry from the outset as a means of production to meet the needs of agricultural production. From 1902 to 1905, Hubei's grain output increased by more than 30%, which greatly alleviated the decline of rural areas and also fed a larger population through industry.

Furthermore, the enhanced disaster resistance of agriculture due to industrial development was also demonstrated in this severe weather event. Although the center of the flood was in the Xiangjiang River basin, the Jianghan Plain in Hubei Province was also affected. This area is a low-lying depression, and in the past, even slightly heavy rainfall would cause flooding.

However, when Hunan experienced an unprecedented flood, the Jianghan Plain remained unscathed. Although some areas were flooded, the newly constructed water conservancy projects protected the entire agricultural production area. After the weather cleared up, the pumping stations quickly drained the water. As a result, the damage caused by this heavy rain to the Jianghan region was quite minor.

This stark contrast made members of the Workers' Party further realize that industrialization was the key to solving most of China's problems. Even those who had previously advocated for prioritizing agricultural development had to admit, after this flood, that agriculture could not develop without a robust industrial base.

Therefore, those who previously advocated gradual accumulation and development, preferably without borrowing to develop domestic industry, have now made a 180-degree turn, believing that industrial construction should be accelerated, and only with industrial development can the backward state of agriculture be truly changed. Leaving aside other issues, how could those irrigation and drainage stations, newly built canals, and dikes on the Jianghan Plain have been constructed without electricity, machinery, and cement?

If these water conservancy facilities on the Jianghan Plain were to be extended to the entire Yangtze River basin, the amount of industrial materials required would be astronomical. And what about extending them to the north and further south? Even the most conservative party members felt anxious about China's current backward agricultural and industrial levels, because their attention had shifted from resisting the great powers to the goal of developing China.

In the past, members of the Labour Party perceived China's backwardness through their direct impression of being inferior in military strength. Their anger towards the great powers stemmed from the fact that these powers, relying on their advanced warships, acted arrogantly and domineeringly in China's inland waters and interfered with China's judicial system.

Now, party members generally believed that China's backwardness lay not only in its armed forces, but in all aspects of its production, from agriculture to industry. Compared with catching up with the great powers militarily, improving the people's living standards was clearly more important. With this shift in mindset, anger towards the great powers began to subside, and more people began to calmly examine the gap between China and foreign countries in various aspects. The enthusiasm of the working class under the leadership of the Workers', Peasants' and Soldiers' Committee for construction continued to rise.

However, any investment in construction requires accumulation, especially the introduction of advanced industrial technologies. In the era of electricity and internal combustion engines, it would be outdated to try to develop steam engines on our own.

The accelerated construction demanded by the industrial and agricultural sectors drew opposition from the financial sector. For example, Yang Quyun frankly stated: "Our use of funds is planned and cannot be increased arbitrarily. Especially for the import of foreign industrial equipment, which requires foreign exchange or gold, European and American countries do not accept silver payments. Silver needs to be exchanged for gold or other local currencies before industrial equipment or raw materials can be purchased."

Moreover, purchasing industrial equipment does not mean that production can begin immediately. It also requires the construction of factory infrastructure, worker training, the sourcing of raw materials, and the introduction of foreign technology. In other words, we need to prepare additional production costs in addition to industrial equipment. Otherwise, it will be like Zhang Xiangshuai's textile factory in the past, where he bought machines but could not install and put them into production. In the end, he could only resell the machines to others and lose a lot of money.

Furthermore, since we are currently at war with Britain and Russia, the only people we can actually borrow money from are the Germans and the Americans. However, their loan terms are becoming increasingly harsh. If we don't slow down, these loans will not only fail to help our construction and development, but will instead become a noose around our necks…”

Tian Junyi could understand Yang Quyun's concerns. The Germans' previous generosity stemmed from China's ability to demonstrate value to Germany in India, and a war between China and Russia was something Germany would also welcome. However, this did not mean that Germany would continue to provide unconditional support to China.

With China demonstrating a stable situation on both battlefields, the British have yet to resolve India's troubles. The British suppression of Indian nationalists has led many Indian nationalists to declare their support for the People's Committee of India. While the British have been successful in dealing with Indian nationalists, they have suddenly become clumsy when dealing with the People's Committee of India.

In the north, the annihilation of the Mishinko Detachment plunged the second front opened by the Russians into a situation similar to that at Shanhaiguan. The Germans thus concluded that China would not collapse in the short term, and that Wuhan still possessed considerable resources. Therefore, the Germans began to impose new conditions on loan agreements, attempting to gain control of Wuhan.

According to Krupp's private conversation with Tian Junyi, the main reason was that the Workers', Peasants' and Soldiers' Committee had performed so well that Berlin felt that giving it too much might cause it to lose control. Berlin originally thought that China, facing the threats of the two great empires of Britain and Russia, would collapse if it didn't increase its support, which was certainly not in Germany's interest.

However, judging from the current situation, the British in India are completely led by a small number of Chinese troops, and Britain has no intention of launching an attack on the Chinese mainland. Meanwhile, Russia seems to be getting more and more bogged down in the quagmire of the Far East. The large loan that Germany gave to Wuhan was not all spent on military matters, but rather most of it was spent on industrial equipment and technology imports. This shows that Wuhan is not at all on the verge of collapse as Berlin had envisioned, so naturally Berlin is unwilling to treat Wuhan too favorably.

Chapter 359 Stopping means death

After the meeting, Yang Quyun spoke privately with Tian Junyi. He maintained his view that it was necessary to distance themselves from the Germans to prevent them from adding unfavorable clauses to the loan agreement.

Yang Quyun said to him, "...the more eager we appear, the more the Germans will think that we have no other financing channels besides them, and then they will raise their demands further, leaving us with less room for maneuver in the negotiations."

Tian Jun nodded in agreement with his view, but he also shook his head and said, "Judging from the current situation, whether we stay away from the Germans or not, they will know about our current predicament. Therefore, even if we follow your approach, the Germans will not change their attitude. However, the money is indeed necessary to borrow, not only for disaster relief in Hunan, but also for the reconstruction in Shanxi."

Wang Chuzhen sent a telegram back saying that the drought situation in the Datong area should be confirmed. Now that we have control of Yanbei, we cannot ignore the local people. Otherwise, how will the local people view us?

The best way to provide disaster relief in northern Shanxi is not to distribute food, but to build water conservancy and railways locally. If Wuhan and Yanbei can be connected, then the abundant coal in the area can be transported out to solve the coal needs of southern industries and power generation.

In addition, extending the railway to the Hetao region and Outer Mongolia would not only facilitate the relocation and reclamation of wasteland in Inner Mongolia, but also ensure the security of Outer Mongolia. Therefore, construction in the north cannot be halted.

Yang Quyun was at a loss for words for a moment before finally speaking: "We've expanded too fast, and all our plans have been disrupted. If this continues, we'll run into serious problems. If we could focus on building for five years, or even just three, we wouldn't be in this mess."

Tian Junyi could only smile wryly and say, "I finally understand what Comrade Lin Feng meant. Revolution is not only about destroying the old world, but also about building the new world. If we fall behind in any aspect, the situation of the revolution will be reversed."

We must persist in building a new world so that the revolution can continue forward. If the revolution stops, the old forces will return, and the masses will be left without their allegiance. Therefore, it is better for problems to arise sooner rather than slower, because problems can be solved, but stopping means death.

After pondering for a long time, Yang Quyun had to admit that Tian Junyi was right. The Labor Party did not actually have an advantage in terms of numbers or public opinion. In fact, many members of the Labor Party, including Yang Quyun, had not even grasped the basics of scientific socialism. Furthermore, in terms of public opinion, laborism, which advocated the public ownership of the means of production, had always been hostile to the propertied class, who viewed it as the banditry of Huang Chao and the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, an attempt to incite the proletariat to seize the property of the propertied—a truly despicable act.

So why was the Labour Party able to survive and continue expanding its controlled territory? The fundamental reason lies in the fact that the Labour Party consistently engaged in construction projects. Even while confronting the great powers, the Labour Party never ceased its efforts in road and water conservancy projects. This construction not only shattered the landlord class's slander of the Labour Party's revolutionary ideals but also convinced ordinary people of the Labour Party's ruling power.

Although the general public was dissatisfied with the status quo in this era, those who were truly willing to risk their lives to change the world probably accounted for no more than 10% of the total population. Similarly, those who were willing to risk their lives to defend the Qing Dynasty probably accounted for less than 5%. The vast majority of the population were ordinary people who, although they complained about the status quo, resigned themselves to the existing social order. Unless disaster befell them, they would not really take action to resist.

The Workers' Party established the Workers', Peasants' and Soldiers' Committee, which, through continuous development, brought the vast majority of ordinary people under its rule and made them the source of power for the new regime.

This is why, when the imperial court controlled the country, it couldn't even organize the 36 new armies and had to delegate power to the local governors and viceroys to find their own funds to train the new army. However, the Workers', Peasants' and Soldiers' Committee, which initially only controlled the Wuhan area, quickly organized an armed force of 5 divisions and is now even starting to form the 15th Division.

Because the Workers', Peasants' and Soldiers' Committee incorporated almost everyone into various collectives through different social organizations, such as children's corps, youth corps, women's associations, trade unions, peasant associations, and soldiers' committees, and then transformed these social organizations into participants in the new regime through various construction tasks.

On the surface, the Qing court appeared to control nearly 4 million people, but in reality, the Qing government could only effectively manage a maximum of 5% of the population. It controlled this vast empire through a system of layers of personal loyalty. Strictly speaking, Empress Dowager Cixi could only truly control the Manchu bannermen in Beijing; those outside the capital were simply subject to the Qing system. If this system collapsed, people outside Beijing would no longer obey orders from Beijing.

However, in Wuhan, even without the orders of the Workers', Peasants' and Soldiers' Committee, the Workers' Party could lead various social organizations through its party organizations at all levels, ultimately reorganizing the Workers', Peasants' and Soldiers' Committee. In other words, the Workers' Party controlled nearly 90% of the population in the Wuhan area, and while the proportion in other places was not as high as in Wuhan, the revolutionary center, it was still far greater than the Qing Dynasty's control over local areas.

However, this kind of strengthened social management must be based on a common interest. If there is no such common interest, it becomes a new era of the Baojia system, which cannot last long because it does not conform to the interests of the people. It is merely a means for a few rulers to oppress the vast majority of the people at the bottom, and it will naturally be met with resistance from the people.

Therefore, once the Labour Party halts its construction pace, not only will ordinary citizens find this intensified social management unbearable, but even party members will experience ideological wavering, because they see no benefit from such high-intensity work.

Scientific socialism is itself a materialist philosophy; therefore, its theory focuses on the production and distribution of material interests. Scientific socialism opposes any idea of ​​gaining without effort, and also opposes the notion that one should work hard but not receive anything in return. Of course, some party members from peasant or traditional intellectual backgrounds often try to add a moral halo to scientific socialism, even linking it to Confucius's ideal of a utopian world.

This led to a rather strange phenomenon: some party members did not study theories of scientific socialism such as Capital, but instead focused on the personal character of party members, believing that party members should "endure hardship first and enjoy comfort later," and that otherwise they could not be called believers in laborism. They opposed raising workers' wages, arguing that farmers were suffering too much, so workers should not be able to live too well either.

When construction slows down, the pronouncements of these noble Party members emerge, and because their opinions resonate with the psychology of the poor peasantry, they gain their support. For Party members who advocate distribution according to labor, this is naturally unacceptable; while they may morally sympathize with the poor, they cannot agree with such egalitarianism in terms of material production.

During periods of rapid economic development, both voices could be suppressed because high economic growth generally improved the living standards of all social strata, and the resentment of the poor was much less. However, once the pace of development slowed down, ideological divisions began to emerge within the Party itself.

Yang Quyun could only nod and say to Tian Junyi, "Then I will try my best to talk to the Americans, or maybe they will increase their investment."

After hesitating for a moment, Tian Junyi said, "Actually, Comrade Lin Feng sent back a letter. I've always thought the suggestions in it were too risky, but now it seems we still have to give it a try..."

While Dr. Paul Rohrbach was learning Chinese from his teacher, he heard that Tian Junyi had come to visit him. He then ended his lesson and invited Tian Junyi to meet him in the reception room. After spending half a year in China, Dr. Rohrbach had gradually become accustomed to life in Wuhan and felt that it was not fundamentally different from Germany.

During his childhood and youth, Germany was undergoing rapid urbanization, and the expansion of Wuhan was quite similar to that of Germany. In fact, he believed that Wuhan's development was more like Berlin, a city that Europeans regarded as nouveau riche, but which was a brand new city created by modern technology that Germans were fascinated by.

Compared to other major European cities, Berlin places greater emphasis on public transportation to meet the needs of its residents. The railway network encircling Berlin allows Germans to reach any part of the city within an hour. While Wuhan's geographical location prevents it from establishing a city-wide railway system like Berlin, the Chinese have still made great efforts to connect all parts of the city using modern transportation, thus creating a one-hour travel circle.

The city's design philosophy reveals that the Workers', Peasants' and Soldiers' Committee shared similar cultural ideals with Europeans. After all, for an Eastern kingdom, any city should be built around a core, which is the area where the city's upper class resides, with the rest of the city serving the core area.

The same was true in Europe, except that after the French Revolution, nobles generally claimed equality with commoners, using land prices to separate their residences from those of the poor. The French Revolution, at least, made European nobles realize that, at the guillotine, the heads of nobles and the poor were equal.