Master Yuan, start!

Guangxu didn't know what to do, and Yuan Xiangcheng's explanation gave him some help.

Therefore, Yuan Shikai implemented a new military rank system of generals, colonels, and lieutenants in the army.

Guangxu, following Yuan Shikai's example, also decided to create three new civil service titles in the capital: "minister, senior official, and scholar".

It was also specifically stated that new officials have new titles, and old officials have old titles. There is no distinction between the new and the old, and no comparison will be made. Only the position will be considered, not the title.

So, after some operations, Guangxu was able to confidently employ new people of lower status.

Yuan Shikai also awarded medals to the commanders of each town of the National Defense Army.

Although Duan Qirui, Sheng Fei and Feng Guozhang, the three commanders of the garrison, did not come to Incheon, they were still awarded the rank of major general.

Duan Zhigui and Wang Zhanyuan were given the rank of brigadier general because they did not make any great contributions.

The remaining Bai Dingshan, because he had not been assigned to the National Defense Army for a long time, had been developing militia in the Beijing-Tianjin area and suffered from the lack of seniority. He should have been promoted to the rank of colonel.

However, because he helped Yuan Shikai capture and kill Ronglu, he made great contributions and was awarded the rank of brigadier general.

Only the Korean general Jin Weidong was unexpectedly awarded the rank of major general despite having made no significant contributions.

Since Incheon is North Korea's home ground and Jin Weidong was awarded the medal in his hometown, as soon as the news came out, many local Korean scholars cheered and felt honored.

Many people regard Jin Weidong as a Korean "military god" like Yi Sun-sin, and even call him "the national defense bear" in private, as "Ming has Sun-sin and Qing has Weidong".

The Bear of National Defense is not an officially recognized name of the National Defense Forces.

After the Battle of Entering the Pass, a small reward was carried out within the National Defense Army. Apart from Eagle Luo Xinping, Hot Air Balloon Soldier, Fox Bai Dingshan, Spy, Tiger Duan Qirui, Niu Shengfei, City Bombing, Wolf Feng Guozhang, there were no other titles.

However, probably because during the battle to enter the Pass, only some commanders of the National Defense Army had "nicknames", while the remaining commanders did not receive such titles.

Therefore, there were signs of disputes among the various towns within the army, but because the commanders of each town were submissive to Yuan Shikai, these things did not become a trend.

But after Yuan Shikai specially appointed Jin Weidong as a major general, Jin Weidong, the commander of a town and the only Korean commander, was openly given the nickname "Xiong Jue of National Defense! Slipping Skirt: M栖liu沦思er" by the busybodies in Seoul.

His reputation in Korea even surpassed that of Duan Qirui and Sheng Fei, the two top generals of the National Defense Force.

The reason for choosing the bear is also for a reason, because tigers and bears are the two national animals in Korean history.

The myth of Dangun's Joseon also says that it was a bear and a tiger that gave birth to the Korean nation under the guidance of the immortal Dangun.

Although the theory of Gojoseon is very popular under the current situation where Yuan Shikai's propaganda machine is in full swing, the theory of Dangun Joseon has no market anymore.

However, the fact that Korean mythology uses tigers and bears as characters in stories also indirectly illustrates the status of these two animals in the hearts of Koreans.

Unfortunately, the tiger was used by Duan Qirui, so Jin Weidong had to take on the role of the bear.

When Yuan Xiangcheng first heard the news, he just thought it was a folk rumor and didn't take it seriously.

The reason why he gave Jin Weidong a promotion was to let Jin Weidong "eliminate" the Jindan Dao.

However, Yuan Xiangcheng did not want to really wipe out the Jindan Dao after all, so he could only put on a show. No matter who he chose to wipe out the Jindan Dao, the Jindan Dao would become "weak but not dead" and wander around.

This would inevitably affect his reputation as a warrior, so Yuan Shikai promoted Jin Weidong as a compensation for him being blamed in public opinion in the future.

In Yuan Xiangcheng's view, the reason for choosing Jin Weidong was because of his Korean identity, which made him very suitable to act as a nominal arbitrator in this "Mongol-Han conflict" incident.

Under Yuan Shikai's instructions, he would not side with the Mongols; in the eyes of the Mongolian princes, a Korean would not side with the Han people either.

The deeper meaning is that we hope that with Jin Weidong as a benchmark, more North Koreans will turn their attention to the inland and gradually build the same "national consciousness".

After the abolition of the feudal system and the establishment of provinces, Korea nominally belonged to China, but in reality, local people were more concerned about news within Korea. They were not very interested in news from within China unless it involved Yuan Shikai.

Yuan Xiangcheng knew that this was not going to work.

Without a shared national memory, how can there be a shared national consciousness? That’s why we had to resort to this tactic.

However, ordinary people and scholars were unaware of these twists and turns behind the scenes, so the Golden Elixir Dao lasted for three years and also triggered the discussion between Liang Qichao and Chen Qianqiu today.

"What national defense bear? Their self-promotion in Incheon is a bit exaggerated!" Liang Qichao felt a little contemptuous when he thought of the flattery of some Korean classmates around him.

"Major General Jin may have military talent, but he's misplaced it." Chen Qianqiu discussed the current situation in eastern Mengdong. "He didn't appreciate the convenience of Mengdong's horses. He fortified the city and cleared the countryside, hoping to crush the uprising in one fell swoop. But he didn't expect the Jindan Dao to flee. "When you come, I run west. When you leave, I plunder everywhere."

Chen Qianqiu pointed out that the thing that Jin Weidong was most criticized for was that he only knew how to fight against bad debts. When facing the Jindan Dao, he could always defeat them but could never kill them.

Chapter 194 Ginseng Glimpses into Foreign Trade

"Gentlemen, here's your change."

Just as Liang Qichao, under the influence of alcohol, was about to further denounce Jin Weidong's "incompetence", the waiter ran up to the second floor with a bang.

When Chen Qianqiu saw someone coming, he quickly reached out to stop Liang Qichao.

"Zhuoru, this is a military and national issue, and neither you nor I can make the decision. The more we talk about it, the angrier we get. It's better not to talk about it."

"Of course I know, Tongfu." Liang Qichao put away a few banknotes, put them in his arms, and said with some regret:

"The National Defense Army built by Lord Yuan has never been defeated. However, the National Defense Bear has been slow to pacify the Golden Core Dao in the past two years. Many people in the south feel that the National Defense Army is just a facade and has tarnished Lord Yuan's reputation."

"These are all speculations by outsiders, they can't be taken seriously." Chen Qianqiu consoled him, "Some people in the capital are saying that Lord Yuan is playing with the enemy and indulging in the uprising.

Ultimately, whether the Wehrmacht is strong or not is something you can never tell simply by words; it all depends on whether they are taking advantage of the Wehrmacht.”

"Let's go. You and I came all the way from Incheon to Shengjing, not just to curse at people."

Chen Qianqiu stood up and didn't intend to continue this topic. Seeing this, Liang Qichao also followed him downstairs.

The two came to Shengjing this time not to sightsee, but to witness a major event.

The big event on the surface was to hold a ceremony to inaugurate the Sheng'an Shenyang Dandong Railway.

This railway was started to be built almost at the same time as the Korean Railway, but because it had to cross the Liaodong Mountain Area, the progress was not fast. Before the Qing Dynasty War, it was only built more than 50 kilometers to the north, and the Paw Patrol had to rely on the transportation of supplies in winter.

Fortunately, there were no major wars in recent years, and with Yuan Shikai's special care, the railway was finally completed.

The big thing going on in secret is something that has been circulating outside the Great Wall recently. It is said that after three years of preparation, Lord Yuan has decided to announce at the railway inauguration ceremony that he will march his troops south to wipe out the rebellious forces in the south.

After hearing the news, the students of Beiyang University could no longer sit still. Since it was summer vacation, they all rushed to Shengjing City in groups.

This was also the reason why Liang Qichao and Chen Qianqiu were in Shengjing City. They arrived a little early, and the young people couldn't sit still, so they each rented a bicycle and wandered around.

Just as the two of them stepped out of the restaurant, on the other side of Shengjing City, Yuan Xiangcheng was also busy working to increase fiscal revenue.

Generally speaking, the more intensive the business activities, the higher the local government's fiscal revenue will be.

The stalemate between the North and the South has lasted for more than four years. It was interrupted for a few months at the beginning due to the war, but later Yuan Shikai took the lead in implementing the policy of "abolishing customs duties and changing to commerce" outside the Great Wall, and added the method of "bonded area".

Therefore, in the past few years, merchants from the south have disembarked from the Incheon, Niuzhuang and Yantai docks every day, wanting to buy shops or land in the local area to trade goods between the north and the south or to start businesses.

In the areas under Yuan Shikai's rule, the lijin system was abolished, and all kinds of harsh taxes and levies attached to the lijin system no longer existed.

But at the same time, due to the reduction in fiscal revenue in a short period of time, unscrupulous businessmen who dared to evade taxes were dealt with ruthlessly. If they caught a car, they would be fined and confiscated. If they caught a ship, they would be fined and confiscated.

In addition, news will be published in the business newspaper to explain the reason for the fine.

The Commercial News was a newspaper founded by Yuan Shikai in order to promote the prosperity of industries outside the Great Wall. It is more like a large-scale transaction matching platform than a newspaper.

The newspaper has a total of 4 pages and 8 pages. In addition to the front page and the second page which publish interesting stories and important news from all over the world, 6 of the remaining 5 pages are used to publish business information of merchants from all over the world, and 1 is used to publish news about punishing illegal vendors.

"Looking to buy timber from outside the Great Wall. Urgently need 1893 fir trees by March 3. Payment can be made in cash."

"The bicycles produced by the Incheon Machinery Bureau are of high quality and low price. You can go to Incheon to see them and have your boat fare reimbursed."

"Merchant Liu bribed a customs officer at Yantai Customs and smuggled 1000 kilograms of cloth into the country. All proceeds were confiscated, and he was fined 500 taels of Northeastern silver. The customs officer was dismissed from his post."

Such news about purchasing goods and promoting products can be found everywhere in business newspapers.

Relying on the nationwide electronic newspaper system, it publishes four issues a week, and publishes additional issues on major holidays.

In addition, Han Bei, who is in charge of finances within the Hongru Society, also suggested setting up issuing offices in Guangzhou, Hong Kong, Xiamen, Hangzhou, Shanghai, Incheon, Yantai, Lushun and Niuzhuang to expand its influence.

Although telegrams were very expensive in the late Qing Dynasty, costing about one tael of silver for two words, merchants traveling from north to south were still willing to pay this money in order to obtain timely business information.

The Business Daily is an extremely niche publication. As a weekly, the total circulation of each issue across the country is only about 10,000 copies.

However, this was the 19th century after all, an era when traveling merchants could easily spend several months away from home. Seeing such an epoch-making method of publicity, merchants naturally realized the huge business opportunities it contained.

Of course, the governors in the south were no pushovers either, especially Liu Kunyi. When he saw that Yuan Xiangcheng relied on a business newspaper to make the number of ships going outside the Great Wall endless, he began to think of copying him.

A year after the founding of the Commercial Press, he also started a similar newspaper in an attempt to compete with Yuan Shikai for customers.

But unfortunately, he didn't know that policies and business have first-mover advantages, and in the industrial age, the Matthew effect was very obvious.

After more than a year of operation, the impression of the Commercial News as professional, efficient and fair had been deeply rooted in people's minds, so within a few months, Liu Kunyi's high-end imitation newspaper was defeated.

Relying on the Commercial News, more and more funds, personnel and materials began to flow outside the Great Wall and into North Korea.

"Chief Instructor, great stuff!"

Yuan Xiangcheng had been thinking about his speech in the yard for a few days when he heard a call from outside the door.

"What are you so happy about?" Yuan Xiangcheng put away the manuscript and looked at Han Bei with a smile.

I saw him running in from outside, holding a square box carefully in his hand. After he got closer, he slowly opened the box.

This group 8226久8516 provides Feilu Lu Hedgehog Cat Pineapple Bun Dimension Princess extraction, welcome to join

8. "Chief Instructor, try this century-old ginseng. It's a great tonic."

5 hundred years old ginseng?

Looking at Han Bei who was smiling in front of him, Yuan Xiangcheng immediately noticed it.

Liu looked carefully and found a thick ginseng lying quietly in the box.

"Is this ginseng?" Yuan Xiangcheng frowned instinctively and asked, "Where did you get it?"

"This is Korean ginseng, Master, the world-famous Korean ginseng."

Seeing Yuan Xiangcheng's expression change drastically, Han Bei put away his expression as if he was presenting a treasure and started to explain.

4Han Bei didn't know that this ginseng reminded Yuan Xiangcheng of something bad.

In the original time and space, Yuan Shikai often drank ginseng soup and ate deer antlers, which were very nutritious foods. He did not swallow them in small sips, but put handfuls of them into his mouth and chewed them. In the end, he died of the tonic and died at the age of less than 60.

Of course, Yuan Shikai's rejection of Western medicine and modern medical technology was also an important reason.

But in the final analysis, it is because of the "damage" of the body.

So when Yuan Xiangcheng saw something like ginseng, he couldn't help but think of the "miserable situation" of later generations.

"Head Instructor, although this ginseng is called Korean ginseng, 8% of it is actually produced in Jilin."

As his thoughts were flowing, a voice pulled Yuan Xiangcheng back from his thoughts.

Han Bei thought that Yuan Shikai was blaming him for wasting the people's energy and asking for credit and reward, so he hurriedly explained the importance of Korean ginseng.

"Chief Instructor, Korean ginseng is extremely hard to come by in the south. If any pharmacy doesn't have a few pieces of high-quality Korean ginseng, it will be looked down upon and its reputation will be tarnished!