Master Yuan, start!

The second part is a little more in-depth "People-centered, Universal Harmony"

The third part is the most important and currently the most confidential: "Restoring China"

The outermost layer is composed of ordinary members, or outsiders who have learned about the Red Confucian Society;

The middle class is mostly composed of students, most of whom have a simple idea of ​​saving the country and want to save the country with Chinese methods rather than Western methods;

Only the innermost layer, those who followed Yuan Xiangcheng to Korea in the beginning, were Yuan Xiangcheng's real "own people"

Therefore, in view of the confidentiality system within the Red Confucian Society, most of the peripheral members currently only know that the Red Confucian Society is a gang that "respects Confucianism and ancestors."

A considerable number of people even mistakenly identify the Red Confucian Society as the "Hong Confucian Society", believing that it is an organization established to promote Confucianism and preserve the foundation of Chinese cultural heritage.

The reason for this misunderstanding is that Lin was exiled to the outside of Siguan to "educate and educate the people". He was a descendant of the Kong family.

After the three Kongs toured the world, Yuan Xiangcheng ordered the members of the Red Confucian Society outside the Great Wall to assist the descendants of the Kong family in spreading Confucianism. In many small villages and towns outside the Great Wall, wooden sculptures of Confucius, carved one by one by the descendants of the Kong family, were erected.

In addition, Yuan Shikai also asked students from schools and universities outside the Great Wall to join the Red Confucian Society to teach children in villages and towns on a public welfare basis.

Because the articles these students narrated were mostly Confucian enlightenment books such as "Three Hundred Thousands", the "Hongru Society" gradually became famous among the people outside the Great Wall.

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After all, in late 19th-century China, various civil organizations were very active. In the countryside, there were the Jindan Dao, the Red Lantern Society, and the Boxer Rebellion; among the intellectuals, there were the Qiangguohui, the Jiuguotuan, and various salons outside the Great Wall.

A society of great scholars may not be that shocking, but at least it is really doing practical things, serving the people and teaching children. Who can point out that it is not true?

Before the Anti-Curtain Movement, the only people who knew the true stance of the Red Confucian Society were the 50-odd people in the Central Committee. With the cautious expansion over the years, the number has only increased to more than 80.

The other members could more or less feel Yuan Shikai's indifference towards the Qing Dynasty and the imperial court in daily meeting affairs.

But as long as Yuan Shikai did not raise the banner of rebellion, they would not choose between the Qing Dynasty and Yuan Shikai.

The vast majority of people just muddle through; those who aspire to higher things simply seek promotion and wealth; going further still, it is to save the country and the people.

Following Yuan Shikai could not only get promoted and make money, but also save the country and the people. Few people were willing to take the initiative to provoke conflicts between the Qing court and Yuan Shikai.

...

Hearing Wu Changchun's question, Yuan Xiangcheng sighed slightly and took out a list: "Jing'an Wu Changchun's words, do you think I don't want to fight quickly?"

Wu Changchun was puzzled, but he still took the list, read it and searched it aloud: "医暴歹婕碉稹瘛紙簟纰常!" and it came out.

In the 18th year of the reign of Emperor Guangxu, an order was placed with Krupp for 11 6-inch rapid-fire cannons, including sights and accessories. Each cannon had 200 rounds of ammunition, totaling 36 pounds. Including insurance, the total cost was pounds, equivalent to taels of silver.

In the 19th year of the Guangxu reign, 18 pieces of Armstrong's Twelve Zodiac Signs Express Cannon were added to the factory.

In the 20th year of the Guangxu reign, 3.5 200-inch field guns were added to the Incheon Machinery Bureau, each costing 2000 taels, a total of 40 taels, with ammunition and ammunition calculated separately.

The more he read, the lower his voice became. At the end, when he saw the bright words "A total of 272 million taels of silver", Wu Changchun raised his head and looked at Yuan Xiangcheng.

He finally understood why the Wehrmacht had suspended its offensive.

Although having sex is fun, I really can’t afford the money!

Chapter 235 Selling Indulgences

When most of China was immersed in the fierce offensive of the National Defense Army, only Yuan Shikai knew that it was time to pay off his debts.

Standing on the dock in Yantai, watching the merchant ships unloading their cargoes, Yuan Xiangcheng felt both happy and couldn't help sighing.

The time has come to pay the final payments for several warships ordered from Britain and Germany in the past few years. However, this is still acceptable, after all, the warships are purchased on a buyout basis.

However, various types of ship and land artillery and ammunition are the real big spenders.

As for artillery shells, the British and German factories charged extremely high prices. Taking the Krupp 150mm rapid-fire gun as an example, a steel shell cost 300 marks, which was equivalent to 91 taels of silver; a shrapnel shell cost 220 marks, which was equivalent to 68 taels of silver; and a steel shotgun shell cost 285 marks, which was equivalent to 88 taels of silver.

The daily training consumption of the five battleships basically remained at the level of 5 rounds per gun per month. The Beiyang Fleet consumed an average of more than 10 rounds per year, which was about 4000 taels of silver.

After the war of unification began, the purchase volume was increased. Each gun was ordered with a reserve of 200 rounds of ammunition. The small-caliber machine guns and medium-caliber rapid-fire guns on the left and right sides of the ship, and the large-caliber rapid-fire guns at the bow and stern needed to be prepared.

In addition, in order to deal with the provocation of the Jiangnan Navy heading north, Yuan Shikai also ordered people to transport a large number of artillery shells to fixed artillery positions in Incheon, Lushun, Yantai and other places. On average, each gun in these three places could receive 200 rounds of ammunition.

Fortunately, the 60mm and 90mm field guns and shells were produced by the Incheon Machinery Bureau, and the price quoted was not as high as that of foreigners. On average, a shell cost about ten taels.

However, although the unit price of these small-caliber artillery shells is low, their consumption is far greater than that of large-caliber artillery shells.

When bombarding Xuzhou, Yuan Xiangcheng provided more than 3 rounds of artillery shells, and Sheng Fei directly used more than 2 rounds, which was equivalent to the output of the Incheon Machinery Bureau for three months.

In other words, if Yuan Shikai did not stop, he would not only face the situation of having no money to pay, but also no cannons to fire.

Wars are fought with logistics, and this has never been the case since ancient times.

This is the limit of the total financial revenue outside the Great Wall. Even so, the army has a strength of 20 because of the semi-compulsory military service system. If it were all mercenaries, it would not be able to sustain it.

After listening to Yuan Shikai's explanation, not only Wu Changchun understood why he suspended the offensive, but even Zhang Jian, who was unfamiliar with military affairs, understood it.

"Weiting, I understand. This is what you often call the theory of contradiction. Is it and isn't it?" Zhang Jian had just arrived in Yantai from Shengjing. Without even having time to rest, he braved the rain to attend the meeting.

Yuan Xiangcheng, who was originally troubled by financial problems, couldn't help but light up when he heard this. He didn't expect that Zhang Jian could see the philosophical principle in it.

He walked quickly to Zhang Jian, took off his straw raincoat for him, and said with a smile: "Brother Ji Zhi, that's exactly the case. Things always transform into their opposites. The favorable factors in the past will turn into unfavorable factors in the present.

The Wehrmacht captured Xuzhou at an astonishing speed, relying on massive artillery fire. However, after capturing it, the ammunition problem became an obstacle to continuing southward.

"That's easy!" Zhang Jian raised his eyebrows and immediately thought of a solution: "Weiting, if you are short of money, you can get at least a few million taels, or as much as tens of millions."

"Oh?" Yuan Xiangcheng became interested: "Where's the money?"

Upon hearing this, Zhang Jian smiled and took out a Northeast Border Industry Bank banknote from his pocket and waved it in the air.

"Tens of millions of taels of silver are hidden in this piece of paper!"

Zhang Jian's words made Wu Changchun and Ming Ye, who were waiting expectantly, think that they were being fooled.

"Brother Ji Zhi, as the supervisor of the Border Industry Bank, why do you have to tease a rough guy like me?"

"Exactly. I've also looked at the Border Industry Bank's balance last year. The total balance is only a little over 700 million taels of silver. If we take it all out, what if there's a run on the bank?"

Wu Changchun and Ming Ye were both military men and were not familiar with the twists and turns of financial methods, so when they heard Zhang Jian take out banknotes, they thought he wanted to use the money in the bank to support the war.

But what does tens of millions of taels of silver mean? Even if the Border Industry Bank was sold out, it still couldn't produce that much. Thinking of this, Yuan Xiangcheng looked up at Zhang Jian and thought of another possibility.

"Brother Ji Zhi, are you talking about government debt?"

Jiu: "Yes, Wei Ting, that's right. If you want to raise money on a large scale in a short period of time, there is no other good way except to learn from the foreigners and issue government bonds!"

Zhang Jian's answer was somewhat unexpected to Yuan Xiangcheng. It was not that he had not thought about issuing government bonds, but he thought that it should be sold at least after the country was unified. Wasn't it too early to issue them now?

The first public bond in Chinese history was the "Zhaoxin Stock" issued by the Qing Dynasty. It was secured by China's land tax and salt tax, and aimed to raise 1 million taels of silver at an annual interest rate of 5%.

There is also a reason why the Qing Dynasty issued 1 million taels of public bonds. After the defeat in the Sino-Japanese War of - and the signing of the Treaty of Shimonoseki, the Qing government was really out of money.

The Treaty of Shimonoseki required a compensation of 2 million taels of silver, half of which had to be paid in the first year, and the rest could be paid over six years.

But at that time, the annual income of the Qing Dynasty was only 9000 million taels, and selling the Forbidden City was not enough to pay the compensation. That's when they thought of issuing government bonds to raise money for the compensation.

However, even though the Qing Dynasty offered measures such as granting official positions to those who subscribed for more than 1 taels and requesting commendations, Zhaoxin Stock did not succeed.

Because the Qing court's actions during the Sino-Japanese War of 1894-1895 really disappointed the world, not many people were willing to subscribe to the bonds, so that the bonds that were supposed to be purchased voluntarily ended up being "levied".

Even though Emperor Guangxu had issued an order that "merchants and civilians are free to borrow money as they wish," local officials continued to use this to make money and extort money, causing public resentment to surge and impeachment memorials to flood the country.

As a last resort, the Qing Dynasty was forced to order the suspension of government bonds just half a year after issuance, and only officials could purchase them. By the time the issuance was stopped, only 1000 million taels of silver had been raised, far from the target of 1 million taels of silver.

Later, in 1911, a gunshot rang out in Wuchang, and the Qing Dynasty was destroyed.

During the Republic of China period, a large number of creditors had no way to cash out their stocks that had become worthless, and the word "Zhao Xin" in Zhao Xin stock became a joke.

Yuan Shikai did not believe that the bonds he issued would eventually be redeemed, but given the level of communications and officials in the late 19th century, he was skeptical about whether the bonds could be issued smoothly.

Although the current economy outside the Great Wall cannot compare with that of Jiangnan, it can be considered to be developing healthily and benignly. If the issuance of public bonds is not smooth and eventually becomes a levy, causing the economic situation to worsen, then the loss will outweigh the gain.

"Ji Zhi, I understand that government bonds are the best way to raise money, but there is little money and few people outside the Great Wall. Even if we issue bonds, I'm afraid it won't be as good as when foreigners issue bonds."

"Not really." Zhang Jian couldn't hide his smile and pulled out a letter from his pocket. "Weiting, what do you think this is?"

Yuan Xiangcheng looked closely and saw the words "Personally written by Brother Ji Zhi, and colleagues from the Southern Jiangsu Chamber of Commerce" written in the official script on the envelope.

"What is this?" Yuan Xiangcheng took the envelope. He didn't know when Zhang Jian became involved with the merchants from southern Jiangsu.

"Weiting, you don't know what amazing changes have taken place in the business world of Jiangnan after the Battle of Xuzhou." Speaking of the business world in Jiangsu and Zhejiang, Zhang Jian showed a proud look.

"Because of the excessive slaughter in Jiangnan during the suppression of the Taiping Rebellion, local merchants had little affection for Liu Kunyi, who was from Hunan. However, he had never restricted commerce before, and the two sides had lived in peace.

However, after the news of his collusion with the French and the release of French goods came to light, the merchants in Jiangsu and Zhejiang became extremely disgusted with Liu Kunyi. However, with tens of thousands of Hunan troops by their side, even though they were disgusted, they did not dare to act rashly and could only hold their noses and cooperate with Liu Kunyi.

However, after the Battle of Xuzhou, everyone in the world realized that the Hunan Army was no match for the National Defense Army, so they wanted to find a way out. That's how they found me through the connections of my relatives and friends in Nantong."

"So, the merchants from Jiangsu and Zhejiang want to secretly show their loyalty to me and express their feelings?"

After listening to what Zhang Jian said, Yuan Xiangcheng could only sigh again that the bottom line of businessmen was beyond imagination. They had already started looking for a retreat before the army even landed, which showed their weakness.

"That's right." Zhang Jian smiled.

"That's why you thought of the government bond issue." After thinking through the whole thing, Yuan Xiangcheng couldn't help but applaud Zhang Jian's brilliant idea: "Even if it's not suitable to issue a large amount of government bonds outside the Great Wall, we can move it to Jiangnan and let these people buy the bonds. It really kills two birds with one stone."

"No, Wei Ting!"

Zhang Jian leaned in closer and said rather fiercely, "We're not asking them to buy government bonds; we're forcing them to buy them! Buying is entirely up to their will, but the fine has a specific amount!"

"Punishment?"

Yuan Xiangcheng is confused, how should he be punished?

"Weiting, have you heard of indulgences offered by foreigners?" Zhang Jian smiled maliciously.

"Of course I know, but what does this bond have to do with it?"

"Yes, there are!" Zhang Jian raised his voice: "If these people are unwilling to buy more government bonds, then they are supporting Liu Kunyi, supporting the Hunan Army, and resisting the National Defense Army.

When the National Defense Army marches south, anyone who buys too little or insufficient quantities will be arrested and their property confiscated as a warning to others!"

"hiss!"

Upon hearing this, Yuan Xiangcheng took a breath of cold air.

He originally thought that Zhang Jian's original intention was to sell government bonds freely in Jiangnan, but he did not expect that Zhang Jian actually wanted to force the "sale" to the wealthy merchants in Jiangnan.

What hatred or grudge is there? We are from the same Jiangsu and Zhejiang regions, so why should he be so cruel to his fellow countrymen?

Chapter 236: Every 300 years, a great figure emerges

Zhang Jian was a native of Nantong and became a backbone figure among the constitutionalists in history. It is not an exaggeration to say that he was an early spokesperson for the Jiangsu and Zhejiang financial groups.

The reason why Yuan Shikai accepted Zhang Jian was simply to build a bridge of communication with the scholars and businessmen in the south of the Yangtze River.