Master Yuan, start!

Although today's trains cannot reach hundreds of kilometers per hour as fast as those in later generations, a speed of tens of kilometers per hour is definitely not slow.

Moreover, he took the train north with the intention of inspecting the area.

Because the railway trunk line on the west coast of North Korea has been fully opened. The railway starts from Yizhou south of the Yalu River in the north, and goes south to Pyongyang and Seoul, until it connects with Jeonju across the sea from Qingdao.

After the West Coast Railway was completed, the teachers and students of the Railway School led by Zhan Tianyou were not idle. Instead, they were divided into two groups and rushed to different places.

A group of veteran students, led by instructors, went to the southern part of Shengjing to lay the Shenglu Railway, which Yuan Shikai had previously requested the Qing court to build.

The railway was built from Lushun and went all the way north. The first phase destination was Shengjing Shenyang, the residence of Shengjing General; the second phase destination was a small town called Changchun under the jurisdiction of Jilin General; the third phase destination was a small village called Harbin by local residents on the banks of the Songhua River under the jurisdiction of Alchuka Deputy Governor.

Since the southern coast of Shengjing is all plains, and Shengjing is the place where the largest number of people from the Northeast gather, there are no technical difficulties and no shortage of manpower.

Currently, the Shenglu Railway is progressing smoothly. More than 150 kilometers have been built, stretching from Lushun to Gaizhou.

In other words, 40% of the goal of the first phase of the Shenglu Railway project has been completed, and only the last 200 kilometers are left to connect Shengjing and Shenyang.

In addition, Yuan Shikai did not forget to connect the railways between Northeast China and Korea.

Another group of new students from the Railway School, led by Zhan Tianyou, crossed the Yalu River and built a railway from Andong on the Yalu River to Shengjing Shenyang in the mountainous Liaodong hills.

Because it is too difficult to cross the mountainous area, the progress is currently slow. Only 50 kilometers have been built, barely from Andong to Phoenix City.

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The four red ones are North Korea Railway, the green one is the southern section of Shenglu Railway, and the pink one is Shengjing-Andong Railway

Moreover, due to the lack of bridge construction talents, Yuan Shikai did not build a railway bridge across the Yalu River. After the train arrived in Yizhou, Korea on the south side of the Yalu River, the cargo had to be unloaded manually and loaded onto the ferry.

It then sailed down the Yalu River for dozens of miles, then docked at Andong Wharf on the north side of the Yalu River, where it was loaded onto trucks and transported to Andong Station.

Even though it was so troublesome, Yuan Xiangcheng's train ride was still much faster than the ferry.

The current train speed is 40 kilometers per hour. The distance from the Yalu River to Seoul is 300 kilometers. Including maintenance along the way, Yuan Xiangcheng can arrive in less than 8 hours.

After arriving in Andong, riding a fast horse that can travel 200 miles a day, it only takes a week to reach the capital city 700 kilometers away from the Yalu River.

0 It took less than 10 days, which was not too fast, but definitely not slow either. It was just enough to give the officials and scholars in the capital sufficient time for public opinion to ferment.

Yuan Shikai also planned to take advantage of his return to Beijing to inspect the Jiashen Right Army Production and Construction Corps on the Sino-Korean border.

These talents are the roots of Yuan Shikai's city and the spark that will build China in the future, so they must be given sufficient attention.

Accompanying Yuan Xiangcheng was the carefully selected Red Confucian Society guard battalion, totaling more than 2000 people, who were responsible for protecting the group's safety on the journey.

Most people traveled on horseback, while a small number of people took the train with Yuan Shikai to the Yalu River.

The reason why so many people were brought was because after these people arrived in the capital, they would become an important means for Yuan Shikai to stir up trouble.

Inside the train, guards with guns were standing guard at the front and back of each carriage.

He wore a well-fitting Western-style Jiashen Youjun uniform, a round military cap on his head, and held his head high and chest out.

They were all from the Qing Dynasty, so how could these soldiers look sickly and weak at all?

So cool!

Clothes make the man, and saddles make the horse. It turns out that only zombies are most suitable to wear the Qing Dynasty's long gowns and jackets.

It would be more perfect if there were no braids, but it’s almost time. The Qing Dynasty won’t last long, and the braids won’t last long either, Yuan Xiangcheng thought.

At present, the Red Confucian Society has basically infiltrated the Jiashen Right Army, and political instructors have been established at every team headquarters and company level.

Seeing that the time was gradually becoming right, Yuan Shikai promoted the establishment of the Soldiers' Representative Congress not long ago.

In the grassroots army, soldier representatives were elected through universal suffrage, and together with political instructors and military commanders, they formed the most basic command unit of the Jiashen Right Army.

The "three grassroots members"

The so-called three members are the military commander who is responsible for leading troops in combat and implementing superior combat plans; the political instructor who is responsible for the political education and ideological work of soldiers; and the soldier representative who is responsible for supervising the allocation and use of funds of the organization at this level.

Yuan Shikai promoted the establishment of the Soldiers' Congress in order to improve the three-member system at the grassroots level. Previously, there were only military commanders and political instructors, and there was no time to establish a soldiers' congress.

After making peace with the Russians, a large number of soldiers along the Tumen River were withdrawn. Yuan Shikai finally made up his mind to take advantage of the hard-won period of stability to carry out a major military construction.

With the grassroots three-member system, the grassroots troop organization of the Jiashen Right Army can ensure that it can still maintain a certain level of combat effectiveness even if it loses the ability to communicate with superiors or friendly forces.

In the worst case scenario, relying on the presence of three people: military commanders, political instructors, and soldiers' representatives, the troops will not easily mutiny or be bribed.

Among these three members, the personnel power of the military commander belongs to the Military Department of the Red Confucian Society; the appointment power of the political instructor belongs to the Affairs Department of the Red Confucian Society; and the soldier representative is elected by all officers and soldiers, and theoretically the superiors have no right to dismiss him.

In this way, a separation of powers was formed within the military among the Party, the Army and the masses, which respectively control the three most important powers in the military: military, political and financial.

This approach can ensure that the Red Confucian Society's tentacles reach the grassroots level, and the grassroots forces can use this to ensure a certain degree of democracy.

Because of this, personal dependence, beatings, and corporal punishment would not occur frequently within the Jiashen Right Army.

If a soldier encounters grievances, he can go to the military commander or the political instructor to express his feelings. If the former two do not respond, he can also find a soldier representative.

The power of soldier representatives comes from grassroots soldiers, and after being elected as soldier representatives, their salary is twice that of ordinary soldiers, and the longer they serve as representatives, the longer they will receive double salary.

Therefore, in order to protect their own interests and reputation, soldier representatives will naturally uphold the rights of soldiers and fight for their interests from the perspective of grassroots soldiers.

Even if the lower-level soldiers are treated unfairly by military commanders or political instructors, their most basic rights and interests will be guaranteed with the efforts of soldier representatives.

Yuan Xiangcheng wanted to avoid the situation like the Japanese army, where the seniors bullied the juniors without any bottom line.

He also didn't want to see a tragic situation like that in the Russian army, where officers on the front lines drank vodka and flaunted caviar while the lower-level soldiers squatted in trenches.

Of course, it is unrealistic to avoid it completely. Yuan Xiangcheng can only try his best. With the development of science and technology information, the system of the army in his hands will definitely be gradually improved in the future.

For example, after the advent of wireless telegraphy, we could start building a staff system, dividing the military power within the army into two parts, one part belonging to the military chief and the other part belonging to the staff.

At that time, battalion-level and above units can use staff officers to partially replace the ecological niche of soldier representatives, forming a three-legged structure consisting of military commander, political instructor, and chief of staff.

And now, the grassroots three-member system is the solution he has given based on this era.

This is also an important step for him to fulfill his previous promise to the members of the Red Confucian Society: "The Jiashen Right Army will gradually come under the command of the Red Confucian Society in the future."

However, some people in the Red Confucian Society still could not understand why Yuan Xiangcheng did this.

If there are too many orders, won’t things get chaotic?

So, halfway through the journey, Yuan Xiangcheng sent Chenghou to the front carriage to rest.

Taking advantage of the free time on the train, Yuan Shikai summoned all the members of the Red Confucian Society who were traveling with him to the capital, and held a briefing amid the sound of "what's more, what's more" on the train.

It was obvious that the technology of the Pyongyang Iron Works was not up to standard. Yuan Xiangcheng led everyone to a spare carriage at the back, and suddenly a howling cold wind came in through the gaps in the iron sheets.

Only then did Yuan Xiangcheng realize that the carriage he was riding in should be a "special version". No wonder it was covered with thick blankets and decorated with various fabrics.

It turns out that it is not only for decoration, but also for filling gaps!

Yuan Xiangcheng smiled helplessly. He didn't expect that in the early stages of his career development, there was already a culture of fawning on superiors and flattering them within the organization.

"There is a long way to go to clean up the unhealthy practices," Yuan Xiangcheng sighed to himself and led everyone into the spare carriage.

A group of dozens of people filled the entire carriage, leaving no room for sitting. They pushed each other, filling the carriage, which had just been a little leaky, with steaming hot air.

Yuan Xiangcheng was surrounded in the center and had to stand on a wooden box to avoid being crushed.

After seeing everyone come in, he raised his voice and said earnestly to the Jiashen Right Army members around him, who were both soldiers and members:

Many comrades do not understand why I am promoting the establishment of a soldiers' committee, believing that this goes against common sense and will affect the combat effectiveness of the Jiashen Right Army. Is that true or not?

At first, no one spoke.

It may also be that the sound of "what's more" was too loud and Yuan Xiangcheng did not hear it, so he asked again and looked around at the soldiers.

Everyone whose eyes he glanced at lowered their heads, but still no one spoke.

"Speak boldly. Some of you are representatives of grassroots soldiers, and some of you have learned Western democratic ideas." Yuan Xiangcheng encouraged everyone.

“Some of you have practiced democratic concepts in your daily lives, and some of you have learned about them from books.

Our Red Confucian Society is a democratic party that allows people to speak. Speak your mind; the sky won't fall!"

U: Stop? qi6 six W Tong Wei tasted the blame

Some soldiers were at a loss as to what "democracy" meant by being a soldier representative.

Some of the soldier representatives initially thought that it was just a matter of choosing a leader for the gangs at the docks. Whoever could win the favor of the brothers would be chosen as the "big brother" or "leader".

Unexpectedly, the chief instructor suddenly mentioned democracy, which really stumped them.

However, some members of the Red Confucian Society who had read newspapers and Western books still dared to speak out:

"General Instructor, we are not against democracy, but we are worried that if everyone in the military is democratic, then you will not obey me and I will not obey you.

So when it comes to marching and fighting, who should we listen to?

If the soldiers' representative said they would stop fighting, would the brothers lay down their weapons and surrender?

Yuan Xiangcheng took a quick look and realized he looked familiar, so he asked, "Comrade, what is your name, and when did you join the Red Confucian Society?"

"Head Instructor, my name is Wang San. I don't know how my father gave me this name, but my last name is Wang and my given name is San.

"It was only at the beginning of this year that I was accepted as a member of the Red Confucian Society by a political instructor in the same camp," Wang San replied.

"Okay, Comrade Wang San. I remember that when the Gapsin Rebellion broke out in Seoul five years ago, it was you who went to the Incheon military camp to report military intelligence." Yuan Xiangcheng pointed out Wang San's origin in one sentence.

Wang San shouldn't have been in this carriage. He could have been promoted to a higher position, but his promotion progress was delayed because he often clashed with the political instructor in the camp.

However, Wang San, who was called, had no idea what Yuan Xiangcheng was thinking at the moment. After hearing Yuan Xiangcheng's words, he consciously straightened his chest.

When the people around Wang San heard Yuan Xiangcheng's words, they realized that there was an extraordinary colleague standing next to them.

This was an old man who had led the chief instructor in the Incheon uprising. 90 years before the establishment of the Gapsin Right Army, he had followed the chief instructor to quell the Korean rebellion.

I just don't know why, after so many years, he is still a battalion commander. Feng Guozhang, who was promoted the fastest during the same period, has become the head of a town, while he is still in the middle level.

Yuan Xiangcheng didn't care what the others were thinking. He thought for a moment and asked everyone:

"What is the second half of our Red Confucian Society's purpose?"

This time, everyone answered in unison: "Putting people first and achieving world peace!"

Yuan Xiangcheng was very satisfied. At least he could memorize it. Being able to memorize it without appreciating it was already great.

Just like an article in the Chinese language textbooks of later generations, Sun Yat-sen did not know the meaning of the book when he memorized it as a child, but as long as he memorized it, he would gradually understand it.

Yuan Xiangcheng replied: "That's right. If we put the people first, the world will be united. But how do we put the people first?"

Confucian sages once said that all people, regardless of age, status, or social status, are subjects of Heaven.

Since we are all God's subjects, it means that we are all born equal and there is no essential distinction between high and low.

Everyone is equal, and as people, we can naturally express our opinions on a matter.