Republic of China: Guandong Ginseng King

Chapter 463 Jilin-Changchun Railway
Previously, because Changshun was unable to raise funds to build the Jilin-Changchun Railway, under the coercion of Tsarist Russia, Jilin General Changshun signed the "Eastern Province Railway Company's Contract for the Construction of the Jilin-Changchun Branch Line" with the Eastern Province Railway Company.

However, Changshun signed the contract without the knowledge of the court. Qu Shaoyang found out about it after he took office and immediately reported it to the court.

At the end of October, the Qing government notified the Jilin General's Office that the contract was invalid and that the Eastern Province Railway Company was not allowed to build the Jilin-Changchun Railway. Jilin was still required to raise funds for construction.

At the same time, the Qing court also issued an order to Qu Shaoyang, prohibiting the Tsarist Russians from leasing wasteland, opening docks, and operating ranches in the Lahasusu area.

Qu Shaoyang did not want Tsarist Russia to interfere in the construction of the Jilin-Changchun Railway, so he convened the local gentry and wealthy families in Jilin, especially the Niu family, to discuss the construction of the Jilin-Changchun Railway.

Finally, Jilin Province raised 1.5 million taels of funds, and the imperial court allocated 800,000 taels to establish the Jilin Railway Company to jointly undertake the construction of the Jilin-Changchun Railway.

When Tsarist Russia learned the news, it protested to the Jilin General's Office.

Qu Shaoyang refuted the other party on the grounds that Changshun's actions were private and had not been approved by the court. In the end, the Eastern Province Railway Company had no choice but to admit that the contract was invalid.

In addition to the Jilin-Changchun Railway, Qu Shaoyang also plans to build another railway from Jilin to Andong via Hailong, Liuhe, Tonghua, Huairen, Kuandian, and Fenghuangcheng.

If this railway is completed, it will be able to connect Jilin Province and most of the eastern road, which will be very convenient for future operations, whether it is transporting troops or other things.

However, this route is quite long and will probably require a lot of money. Qu Shaoyang cannot afford that much money right now, so he can only find another way.

So, he submitted a memorial to the court, begging for approval, and at the same time arranged for people to go to Beijing, Tianjin and other places to publicize the idea.

When Tsarist Russia wanted to build the Middle East Railway, many patriotic businessmen in the country expressed their willingness to invest and stated that the right to build the railway should not be handed over to Tsarist Russia.

However, the Qing government was corrupt and could not come up with so much money, nor did it want to hand the matter over to the private sector, which eventually attracted the wolf of Tsarist Russia.

This time, Qu Shaoyang did not intend to let Tsarist Russia get involved again.

The best thing is to raise domestic capital, build and operate independently to avoid being controlled by others in the future.

The news that Jilin Province was going to build a railway spread quickly.

Not only did some wealthy businessmen in the country want to get involved, but it also caused quite a stir internationally.

Tsarist Russia was the first to oppose it, believing that once the railway was successfully built, it would have a great impact on the operation of the Middle East Railway.

The Japanese side was very active in contacting the Jilin General's Office, and they wanted to get involved.

In addition to these two countries, there are also Britain and the United States, all wanting to join in the fun.

In particular, American railroad tycoon Harriman had been looking for opportunities to inject American financial capital into the Northeast.

So after learning that Jilin Province was going to build a railway, he immediately arranged for people to go to the Jilin General's Office to contact them and expressed his willingness to invest and help build the railway.

Qu Shaoyang was not surprised by Harriman's positive attitude.

Harriman had long planned a global transportation system under the control of the United States, connecting Japan, Manchuria, Siberia and Europe with railways, connecting the Pacific route in the east and the Atlantic route in the west.

In order to realize this plan, Harriman lobbied everywhere in Japan after the Russo-Japanese War.

In October 1905, he exchanged a draft memorandum of understanding with Japanese Prime Minister Katsura Taro regarding the plan to buy over the Manchuria Railway.

However, the Japanese government soon realized that this draft treaty was not in their favor and tore it up.

Later, Harriman proposed to the Fengtian Governor through the American Consul General in Fengtian to build a branch line on the Beijing-Fengtian Railway.

It runs from Xinmintun to Fakumen, and will be extended to Qiqihar and Aihui in the future.

This proposal ultimately failed due to strong opposition from Japan and Russia.

Qu Shaoyang hurriedly proposed to build a railway from Jilin to Andong in order to avoid more trouble.

At present, we only need to deal with Tsarist Russia. If it is a few years later, we may have to deal with both Japan and Russia.

In that case, it's unlikely to succeed.

But at the moment, it may not be possible, mainly due to the attitude of the court.

You know, the Qing court's long-standing principle was to rather be friendly with foreign nations than with domestic slaves.

For this matter, I think we really need to find foreign capital to participate. Even if it is just a cover, or just a pretext, it will be more effective than domestic investment.

Sure enough, the court’s reply came quickly.

It is said that the finances of Jilin Province are already tight and the Jilin-Changchun Railway has not yet been built. We should not be too hasty and the construction of the Jilin-Andong Railway should be put on hold for the time being.

This result was completely within Qu Shaoyang's expectations, so he was not disappointed at all.

However, this decision has caused dissatisfaction among many wealthy businessmen in the country.

Many people jointly wrote a petition asking the court to agree to build the Jilin-Andong Railway, which would be completed by raising funds from the private sector.

Naturally, the imperial court was unwilling to make this offer easily, and the matter was debated back and forth, with no conclusion reached for a while.

At the end of winter, an imperial decree came down from the court, upgrading Hailong Hall to Hailong Prefecture, setting up Dongping County in Daduchuan and Xi'an County in Laohuzui, both of which were under the jurisdiction of Hailong Prefecture.

The Juzi Wubao of Tonghua County and the Hezi Liubao of Huairen County were separated to establish Ji'an County with its seat in Donggou. The original Donggou defense and inspection branch was moved to Waichagou.

In addition, Liaoyuan Prefecture was established in Zhengjiatun, and the former Zhengjiatun defense chief was moved to Xishitoujingzi.

Liushuhezi was divided into two districts and the county seat was changed to Liuhe. These were originally under the jurisdiction of Dongbiandao, but now they are under the jurisdiction of Jilin Province.

At the same time, the court decided to set up Yanji Hall in Yanjigang and a defense post in Helongyu.

The former Jilin Nanmopanshan Prefecture was changed into a county, named Panshi, which was under the jurisdiction of Jilin Prefecture.

The imperial court added so many states and counties simply to strengthen its control over Jilin Province and the Eastern Circuit.

Amidst the busyness, we soon entered the twelfth lunar month and the Chinese New Year is not far away.

This is Qu Shaoyang's first New Year since he became the general of Jilin. It is also the first time that the Qu family has celebrated the New Year in Jilin City, so they must make good preparations.

As soon as the twelfth lunar month began, Chen Xiuyun prepared several generous New Year gifts and arranged for people to send them to Fengtian, Fenghuangcheng, Kuandian, Linjiang and other places.

Two days later, Chen Yunzhe and Chen Yunhan also sent people to deliver New Year gifts.

At the same time, officials from various states and counties, garrisons and commanders of the Dingbian Army stationed in various places, and local gentry and wealthy people all sent New Year gifts to the government office.

Yang Chunhong became pregnant not long after entering the mansion, but the fetus was not stable and she needed to rest.

So Chen Xiuyun led Lin Yuhuan and Meng Lanxin to take care of all the affairs in the mansion.

On the twelfth day of the twelfth lunar month, Zhang Tianzhi suddenly came to Jilin City and found Qu Shaoyang. "Brother, I'm back."

Qu Shaoyang was also very happy to see Zhang Tianzhi.

"Finally you're back. Let me take a look at you. Wow, you're much more mature than when you were abroad."

Qu Shaoyang patted Zhang Tianzhi on the shoulder and said with great satisfaction.

"Brother, I'm really sorry that I couldn't come back to help you when you were in the most difficult time.

I had already taken a boat to Tianjin, but I didn’t expect that as soon as I got off the boat, I was stopped by the general manager and was directly arranged to teach at the Surveying and Mapping School.”

Tianzhi was embarrassed when he saw Qu Shaoyang, and he quickly explained. "Well, I thought it was something else, I already knew this.

You are young and energetic, and you get involved in everything.

Didn't I tell you when you left home not to mess around with those people? "

Fortunately, the imperial court managed to stabilize these people. Otherwise, if they were allowed to go to the Northeast, who knows how much trouble they would cause.

Zhang Tianzhi scratched his head. "Weren't we anxious at that time? We were worried that our eldest brother would be isolated and helpless, so we wanted to get more people to help.

My classmates are all top students in the Army University."

"Come on, those are the elites from the military forces everywhere. Your brother's temple is too small to accommodate so many big Buddha statues." Qu Shaoyang deliberately joked.

"By the way, are you back here to celebrate the New Year, or are you on some other business trip? Have you gone home to see your parents?"

Qu Shaoyang suddenly remembered that it was only the twelfth day of the twelfth lunar month and the Chinese New Year was still quite a long way off. Would the Surveying and Mapping School be closed so early?
"Oh, it's a special leave granted by the General Manager.

All of us have been away from home for nearly four years, and we haven't been able to see our families when we returned.

Isn't the situation in the Northeast calmed down now? The general manager allowed us to go back to our hometowns to visit our relatives and come back to teach after the New Year."

Placing them in the surveying and mapping school was a last resort.

Now that Tsarist Russia has withdrawn its troops and the Eastern Righteous Army has reached an agreement with the court, the general manager of the Surveying and Mapping School has specially approved a vacation for these international students to return home to visit their families and spend the New Year with them.

"I haven't returned to Linjiang yet, so I thought I'd come to see my brother first and explain everything to him."

Zhang Tianzhi felt a little embarrassed and always felt guilty towards his brother.

Qu Shaoyang nodded and said, "Since you are here, stay a few more days and go around.

Xinyuan, Wanyu and the others are here too. They would be so happy if they knew you were back.

Come on, follow me back home to meet your sister-in-law and niece."

It was getting late, so Qu Shaoyang put aside his official duties and went back to the general's mansion with Zhang Tianzhi.

When the two returned home, Zhenye, Zhenwu, Zhenjie and Lingdang had already returned from school.

When they saw Zhang Tianzhi, Zhenye and Zhenwu could still remember who he was, but Zhenjie and Jialing had a hard time remembering.

They were only nine years old. When Tianzhi went abroad, they were still young.

As soon as Chen Xiuyun said this, the children immediately remembered it, so they surrounded Uncle Xiaozhi, chattering and asking questions.

Not long after, Xinyuan, Wanyu and Zhenbang also came back.

As soon as they saw Zhang Tianzhi, Xinyuan and Wanyu rushed over to him, "Brother, you're finally back. You've been away for so long and didn't write home. We missed you so much."

Xinyuan and Wanyu were almost raised by Zhang Tianzhi. They have been close to him since childhood, and their feelings have not changed over the years.

As soon as they saw their brother whom they had not seen for many years, they cried bitterly, which made Zhang Tianzhi feel so distressed that he hurried to comfort them.

Zhenbang didn't cry, but he was quite excited. After Xinyuan and Wanyu calmed down, Zhenbang asked Zhang Tianzhi about Japan, its culture, landscape, mountains, rivers, geography, etc.

This child has loved learning since he was young, and he is not the type who is stubborn and only studies the Four Books and Five Classics. He is interested in everything and is interested in exploring everything.

Especially after coming into contact with foreigners, I became particularly curious about foreign countries and always wanted to go out and see the world.

Qu Shaoyang also agreed and arranged for Zhenbang to study abroad when he grew up.

Go wherever you like, see the places you visit, and learn more about the strengths of those countries.

The relatives had not seen each other for many years, so naturally they had countless things to talk about. In the evening, the mansion held a banquet to welcome Zhang Tianzhi.

After the dinner, Qu Shaoyang and Zhang Tianzhi went to the study and chatted for a long time.

Zhang Tianzhi wanted to return to the Northeast and serve in the Dingbian Army, which would also be a way to help Qu Shaoyang.

But Qu Shaoyang didn't think so. He sent Tianzhi to the Military Academy in the first place because he wanted him to have a better development.

Therefore, Qu Shaoyang's advice to Tianzhi was to stay in Beijing and Tianjin as much as possible, and it would be best if he could serve in the Beiyang New Army.

In this way, one of the brothers is in the Northeast and the other is in Beijing and Tianjin, and they can take care of each other.

The Beiyang New Army was Yuan Shikai's confidant. Students who graduated from the Beiyang Military Academy and joined the New Army would be given important positions and would become high-ranking officials in the Beiyang government in the future.

After Qu Shaoyang's persuasion, Zhang Tianzhi finally gave up the idea of ​​returning to the Dingbian Army to serve.

Zhang Tianzhi stayed in the provincial capital for two days, but he missed his parents so much that he said goodbye and left.

Xinyuan and Wanyu still had to study and couldn't go home with their brother, so they were depressed for several days.

As the end of the year approached, the general's office was busy with official business, and Qu Shaoyang had no time to take care of his family. He left everything to Chen Xiuyun and others to handle.

In the blink of an eye, the 28th year of Guangxu passed and the 29th year arrived.

Qu Shaoyang is now a general of Jilin. This New Year celebration is definitely different from the previous one in Linjiang. Since the first day of the first lunar month, there has been a constant stream of guests visiting his mansion.

On the sixth day of the first lunar month, the General's Mansion held a banquet to entertain officials, gentry and government officials from Jilin City and other places. A troupe of opera singers was also invited to perform, making the banquet particularly lively.

"Everyone, I have something I want to discuss with you. It's just a small suggestion, nothing more."

While the previous song on the stage had just finished and the next one had not yet begun, Qu Shaoyang suddenly spoke.

Upon hearing this, everyone immediately quieted down and listened to Qu Shaoyang.

"As you all know, since Yingkou was opened as a port, various new machines and new factories from foreign countries have been coming here in an endless stream.

Let’s not talk about anything else, just talk about flour. The flour mill opened by Tsarist Russia in Harbin uses machines to grind flour and produces several thousand kilograms a day.

Moreover, the flour ground out is much finer and whiter than the stone flour we use.

In the future, I am afraid that there will be more and more foreign flour, which will pose a great threat to our local flour mills.

So, I have an idea. Can we also invest and build a flour mill?

We can't let others take over all the money-making business, right?"

With the influx of foreign capital, the living space for domestic capital will become smaller and smaller.

Qu Shaoyang intends to support national capital and compete with foreign capital, so he made these remarks today.

“Of course, it’s not just flour mills, oil mills, wineries, cigarette factories, etc. can all be considered.

You can think about it more. The provincial government can give certain preferential treatment and care to domestic assets. "

If this had happened in the past, the Qu family would have done it themselves. Why would they need to discuss it with others?
But Qu Shaoyang is a general now, so it is not appropriate for him to set up a factory on a large scale and compete with the people for profits.

That's why he mobilized these people to invest money to build a factory.

(End of this chapter)