Republic of China: Guandong Ginseng King

Chapter 486 Fenghai Railway
Qu Shaoyang found a way to send a telegram to Zhenye, asking for his opinion on the marriage.

After a long time, Zhenye's reply telegram arrived, saying that the marriage was up to his parents and he had no objection.

His son's words meant that he had no objection, so Qu Shaoyang wrote back to Xu Shichang and agreed to the marriage.

They also sent a token of love and agreed to arrange their wedding after Zhenye returned from his studies abroad in two years.

If the Xu family agrees, they can also send the Xu family's daughter to study in the United States, which will be a good opportunity for the two children to develop feelings for each other.

Xu Shichang was very happy when he received the letter, and the two families thus decided on the marriage.

The laying of the tram track from Dalian Dazhanqiao (wharf) to Electric Park (zoo) has been completed. It is nearly five miles long and began operation before the Mid-Autumn Festival. It is the first tram line in Northeast China.

Not long after, Jilin Province also learned the news.

Qu Shaoyang was very excited and ordered people to go and investigate. In the future, it could be built in several major cities such as Jilin City, Changchun, and Harbin.

In late August and early September, Mr. Sun commissioned Liao Enxu to go from Japan to Jilin via Tianjin, using the identity of a Japanese translator under the Jilin governor's staff to secretly carry out rebellion work.

While serving in the Jilin Provincial Government, Liao had frequent contacts with Lin Zuhan and assisted Wu Luzhen in negotiations with Japan.

At the same time, Xiong Chengji returned to the Tongmenghui headquarters in Tokyo in June and returned to China with another member, Sun Yuan, to raise funds.

He tried to sell the "Military Book" of the Japanese General Staff in exchange for silver from the Tsarist Russians.

When Xiong Chengji came to Changchun for the second time, he lived in Zang Guansan's home through the relationship of Zang Guansan's son Zang Keming.

Zang Guansan was from Huaide. He was born into a merchant landlord family and ran a grain and rice shop in Huaide.

In April of the first year of the Xuantong reign, he came to Changchun and opened the Xudong Yangzhu Pancreas Soap Company.

This man was a profiteer, blinded by greed. On the one hand, he claimed to help Xiong Chengji find buyers and gain their trust, while on the other hand, he used his connections to contact the Tsarist Russian garrison in Erdaogou.

Xiong Chengji was not vigilant enough and was deceived by him. He spoke carelessly after drinking and revealed his identity, which allowed Zang Guansan to catch him.

Upon learning that Xiong was the person for whom Anhui offered a reward of 5,000 taels of silver, Zang Guansan became greedy and wanted to inform on the perpetrators.

Xiong Chengji knew that his identity had been exposed and he could not stay in Changchun, so he left Changchun for Harbin.

In Harbin, Xiong Chengji expanded his fundraising channels by selling books, and secretly contacted the peasant uprising forces in the Mishan area.

At the end of August, Xiliang received an imperial edict from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs that Duke Ito Hirobumi of Japan would travel to the three northeastern provinces.

The court ordered Xiliang and others to give them a generous reception.

After Qu Shaoyang learned the news, he immediately sent orders to Wang Heda, Yang Yulin and others, asking them to disguise themselves, secretly enter Harbin, settle down first and await orders.

Qu Shaoyang signaled to several gangs of "horse bandits" in the southwest of Jilin Province to make some noise, and then called Xiliang to say that there were horse bandits and revolutionaries plotting rebellion in the territory.

He personally led his troops to quell the rebellion and left Jilin City.

On September 11, Tsarist Russia's Finance Minister Gogovtsov visited the Far East and arrived in Harbin.

The next day, Gogovtsov gave a speech at the Chinese Eastern Railway Administration in Harbin, declaring that the Chinese Eastern Railway was a permanent railway built by Tsarist Russia.

He threatened that even after the lease expired, the railway would not be returned to the Qing government.

On September 13, Ito Hirobumi, former Japanese governor-general in Goryeo and president of the Privy Council, arrived in Harbin on a special train.

This time he came to Harbin to meet with the Tsarist Russia's Minister of Finance to revise the Japan-Russia secret agreement.

Along with Ito Hirobumi, there were more than a dozen Japanese officials, dozens of accompanying doctors and others.

After the special train arrived at Harbin Station, Tsarist Russia's Finance Minister Gogovtsov walked into the train and had a 25-minute conversation with Ito Hirobumi.

Then the two men walked out of the carriage and reviewed the Tsarist Russian guard of honor on the platform.

Afterwards, Ito Hirobumi walked towards the Japanese welcoming team.

At this time, Ahn Jung-geun, a Korean who had been lying in ambush in the welcoming team and disguised as a Japanese, suddenly rushed out of the crowd and shot at Ito Hirobumi with a gun.

There were eight bullets in An's pistol. He fired three shots at Ito Hirobumi and the other four shots wounded the Japanese Consul General in Harbin Kawakami, Mori Yasujiro and Tanaka Seijiro.

Doctor Oyama was good at treating Ito's wounds by getting up quickly in a panic and unbuttoning Ito's dress.

However, since all three bullets hit internal organs, the simple instruments that Xiaoshan Shan carried with him could not remove them.

In addition, An used highly lethal explosive bullets, which caused Ito's internal bleeding to become unstoppable.

Ten minutes later, Ito died.

After An opened fire, Yang Yulin and others, who were hiding in the crowd and disguised as Japanese, took advantage of the chaos to open fire, trying to create confusion and help An escape.

However, An did not take advantage of the chaos to leave. Instead, when the Tsarist Russian military police rushed over, he threw away his gun, shouted "Gorya Ura" three times in Russian, and was then calmly arrested.

Seeing this, Yang Yulin and others did not dare to stay for long. They immediately blended into the crowd and escaped, quickly leaving the city through a pre-arranged route.

At 11:40 in the morning, the special train carrying Ito's body set off for Dalian.

An was taken to the Tsarist Russian police station in the train station. After a brief questioning, the Japanese side came to demand the person.

Subsequently, An was taken to the Japanese Consulate in Harbin and detained in the basement.

The Tsarist Russian army searched the city for all suspicious Koreans. Soon after, several of An's companions were arrested at Caijiagou Railway Station, and other companions in Harbin were also arrested.

Qu Shaoyang, who was suppressing a rebellion far away in southwest Jilin, was shocked to hear the bad news and no longer cared about suppressing the rebellion. He immediately returned to Jilin City and ordered "full support" for the Russian and Japanese investigation and arrest.

Ten days later, An and his companions were taken to the Lushun Prison, and Japan and Tsarist Russia each sent a dozen military police to escort them.

"Sir, should we arrange more manpower to rob people on the way?" Yang Yulin and others hid in Jilin City and sought secret talks with Qu Shaoyang.

"No need, you and I have done our best. If he had cooperated with you, he would have had a chance to escape.

This man was a real man. He had no intention of running away. He wanted to make this move a warning to the world and awaken the people of Goryeo.

He was willing to sacrifice his life for the beliefs and ideals in his heart.

Even if we arrange people to rescue him, he won't escape." Qu Shaoyang shook his head and sighed.

This person is worthy of respect. Qu Shaoyang originally just wanted to do his best to save people.

He tried his best, but failed to save the person, so he has a clear conscience.

Because of Ito's assassination, Japan's Ministry of Foreign Affairs held the Qing court accountable, and Xi Liang and Qu Shaoyang were both reprimanded by the court.

But in the final analysis, this matter is a feud between Japan and Goryeo, and has little to do with the Qing Dynasty.

Both Japan and Russia were on high alert, yet they were still able to be exploited. We can only attribute this to their incompetence.

What's more, Qu Shaoyang was there to quell the rebellion and was not at the scene at all, so there was no way to find him responsible.

Therefore, the court just gave a symbolic punishment and let it go.

At that time, British General Kachina came to visit. To avoid any accidents, Xiliang and his colleagues gave him a grand reception and sent military police and patrolmen to provide close protection. Xiliang presented him with two pairs of small vases and small flower bottles from the Kangxi period, which were stored in the Imperial Palace Porcelain Warehouse.

After staying in Fengtian and other places for several days, Kachina and his party left with satisfaction.

Xi Liang, the governor of the three northeastern provinces, has always wanted to build a railway from Jinzhou to Aihui.

For this purpose, he secretly reported to the court several times and signed a loan agreement with the American Consul in Fengtian, David Dade. However, due to the leak of the secret by the court, the Japanese and Russian sides learned of it and strongly protested.

The Qing court could only order Xiliang to temporarily shelve the Jin-Ai Railway issue to avoid causing more disputes.

Xiliang was very depressed because of this. At this time, Qu Shaoyang found Xiliang and discussed with him the construction of the Fengtian-Hailong railway.

When the Ji'an Railway was first built, in order to take care of the eastern road and avoid running parallel to the South Manchuria Railway, the railway made a big turn. Subsequently, the Anfeng Railway was built to connect Jilin City with Fengtian.

But this way of going is quite troublesome as it requires a long detour.

Qu Shaoyang wanted to build a railway from Hailong, passing through Qingyuan and Fushun, and connecting with Fengtian.

In this way, a lot of time can be saved from Jilin to Fengtian.

At the same time, since the Jiha Railway and the Harbin-Aihui Railway have been completed and opened to traffic, as long as this section is completed, Fengtian can reach Aihui directly.

In the future, all we need to do is build a railway from Fengtian to Jinzhou, and Xiliang’s plan can basically be realized.

Xiliang was very happy when he learned about this and immediately agreed to Qu Shaoyang's plan.

Xi Liang and Qu Shaoyang were both practical men, and in order to avoid opposition from Japan and Russia, the two immediately implemented their agreement.

Qu Shaoyang was responsible for contacting the British and American Railway Companies and raising funds, while Xi Liang was responsible for approving the relevant procedures.

Qu Shaoyang previously worked with the American Harriman Company, and later British Railways also got involved.

Since we were all old acquaintances, it was convenient to get things done and we quickly signed the cooperation terms and raised funds.

By the time Japan and Russia reacted, the groundbreaking ceremony for the Fenghai Railway had already been held and it was a done deal.

Once the Fenghai Railway is completed, it will be equivalent to having a railway that runs completely parallel to the South Manchuria Railway. In this way, the interests of the South Manchuria Railway will be greatly damaged.

Therefore, Japan strongly protested against the construction of the Fenghai Railway.

However, the Fenghai Railway had the support of Britain and the United States. Britain and the United States were dissatisfied with Japan and Russia's monopoly of interests in the Northeast, so they came up with a Manchurian Railway Neutrality Plan and notified all countries.

Japan and Russia’s strong protests were ineffective and construction of the Fenghai Railway started as usual.

In the winter, Xiong Chengji returned to Changchun from Harbin and stayed at Yufengtai Inn on Xisidao Street, where he continued to contact people to sell books to raise funds.

At this time, he was living in poverty and even had to rely on loans to make ends meet.

Zang Guansan never gave up his plan of informing on others and secretly searched for Xiong Chengji's whereabouts.

At the beginning of the twelfth lunar month, Xiong Chengji left Changchun for Harbin. Zang Guansan secretly followed him to Harbin to check on Xiong Chengji's movements.

Half a month later, Zang Guansan rushed back to Changchun and, together with the spy Dong Guansan, reported the secret to the Changchun prefect.

Coincidentally, at this time, Zaixun, the Minister of Naval Affairs, and Admiral Sa Zhenbing had just returned from an inspection of the US Navy and passed through Harbin.

For the safety of these two people and also to prevent any further trouble from happening, Jilin Governor Qu Shaoyang personally went to Changchun to welcome and escort Zaixun and his party.

If Qu Shaoyang was not in Changchun, the Changchun prefect would have taken direct action after receiving the tip-off, but the governor was also there, so he would have to ask for instructions on the matter.

After listening to the report from the Changchun prefect, Qu Shaoyang cursed Zang Guansan and others hundreds of times in his heart.

They are really good at finding trouble. Whether they are revolutionary or not, what does it have to do with these people? Is it necessary for them to worry about it?
Qu Shaoyang already knew what these people were doing, but he was just too lazy to pay attention to them.

Anyway, they have done nothing wrong in harming the people or disturbing the public security of Jilin Province. Why bother to provoke them? Isn't it better to just keep quiet?
But the news has been delivered to him, Qu Shaoyang can no longer ignore it.

You should know that Xiong was in Anqing, and taking advantage of the Taihu Autumn Exercises, he led the Anqing New Army Uprising as an officer of the Army Artillery Battalion.

Although the uprising failed, it was the first attempt by the New Army of the late Qing Dynasty to turn its guns around and seize power, which was of great significance.

Therefore, after the uprising failed, Xiong was wanted, and Anhui is now offering a reward of 5,000 taels for his capture.

Before, Qu Shaoyang could turn a blind eye, but now, he can no longer ignore it.

In desperation, Qu Shaoyang could only order the captain of the Central Route Cavalry Patrol and the chief of the Changchun Patrol Police to go to Harbin immediately to arrest Xiong Chengji.

Eventually, Xiong was arrested at the Binru Inn in Harbin.

On the 21st day of the twelfth lunar month, Xiong was taken to Changchun Prison, where he was personally interrogated by Yan Shiqing, the governor of Jilin West Route, and his confession alone took up seven pages.

At the end of the year, government offices across the country should have been closed for vacation.

Qu Shaoyang was afraid of other accidents, so he didn't care about anything else and urgently ordered Xiong to be transferred to Jilin Prison.

On the 23rd day of the twelfth lunar month, the Changchun patrol police dispatched five large carts, with a front line and a rear guard, to escort Xiong Chengji out of the city with strict security.

Xiong Chengji was chatting and laughing, and kept waving goodbye to the Changchun people, including those from the academic community, who came to watch.

The people who came to watch the farewell blocked the road, and the convoy finally made it through Toudaogou Street to the South Gate to leave the city.

On the 25th day of the twelfth lunar month, Xiong was escorted to Jilin Prison.

At this time, Liao Enxu, who was working in the Jilin Governor's Office, learned the news and immediately contacted other people to find a way to rescue them.

Other people active in the three northeastern provinces also attempted to organize a prison break.

Things had come to this point, Qu Shaoyang had to be cautious. He ordered the people in the prison to keep a close watch on him, but not to torture him, and to take good care of his diet.

However, the accident still happened. On the evening of the 27th day of the twelfth lunar month, Xiong "died suddenly" in prison.

After receiving the news, Qu Shaoyang went to the prison in person to check. After verifying the situation, he ordered people to transport the body out and bury it properly.

Then, Qu Shaoyang submitted a letter of apology to Xiliang.

It was claimed that there was an infestation of rats in the prison, so the jailer used arsenic to poison the rats, and as a result, a newly dead rat somehow fell into the bucket.

The bear most likely drank the water from the bucket and died of poisoning.

The person was dead, what else could Xiliang say? He just gave a few words of admonition and that was it.

No one knew that in a mountain village somewhere deep in the mountains and dense forests, Xiong Chengji, who had "died suddenly", was celebrating the New Year with a group of bandits.

Qu Shaoyang secretly sent people to the mountain stronghold and left a letter for Xiong, saying that if he wanted to see the day when the revolution succeeded, he should stay in the mountain stronghold and wait obediently.

In less than three or two years, the day when the Qing Dynasty falls will be the time for him to emerge.

If the bear insists on leaving, then we're in trouble. Everyone in the village has received an order that if the bear tries to escape, it must be killed without mercy.

(End of this chapter)