The Heroic Age of the Late Qing Dynasty

Comrade Hu Songhui, Comrade Zhang Feng, if we have the chance, we should invite a few of these martial arts masters back. To be frank, even a dozen of us might not be able to defeat one of them. Do you understand what I mean?"

"clear."

"Okay, so we must treat the Boxers as strictly as we treat cults and gangs. We won't allow them to engage in feudal superstitions, and we won't allow them to open schools and recruit disciples. However, we can allow these martial arts masters to open martial arts schools to improve their health.

Through our treatment of cults, the Boxers, the Pao Brothers, and other organizations, we have distilled a universal experience for local governance. What experience is this? Let me ask you, comrades: what kind of society do you hope ours will be? What kind of environment do we live in? Comrade Bao Shilin, please tell us."

"Don't be bullied." "Zhang Feng."

"Live and work in peace and don't be deceived." "Masahiro."

"Safe and in good order." "Qing'en."

"You don't have to kneel or kowtow, and you don't have to bow your head when you see foreigners."

"Comrade Erlan." "Live a good life."

Zhang Yinghao's Quotes: The general trend of the world is not separation and reunion, but fighting and stopping!

Chapter 71

Zhang Yinghao laughed twice. "Haha, everyone, do you understand? You think it's so beautiful, but do you think the vast majority of ordinary people think the same way?"

"Yes."

"So what you are talking about is the new society and new world we want to build. This is what the people need, so we should make it clear to them that all people are equal.

You can't bully others, and others can't bully you. Swindlers, robbers, and thieves are all our targets, and they will be punished if they are caught. Everyone is doing their job and living in peace and contentment. In summary: no matter who it is, no matter which organization, if they destroy our ideals, they will be punished. Now everyone knows

It's clear.

So it is not us who want to ban or eradicate cults, it is the people who need it. It is not us who want to ban the Pao Brothers organization, it is the people who need it. It is not us who want to ban the Boxer Rebellion, it is the people who need it. If you see a thief stealing something, does it conform to our principles?

The ideal? It doesn't match, so the thief must be punished when he is caught. The evil cults perform shaman dances to cheat people out of money, and the Boxers kneel down to the eldest brother and the second brother, which are not in line with our ideal.

So, they are all wrong and must be punished. Got it?"

"understood."

"Do you all know how to govern the local area in the future? Why do I keep emphasizing order? It's because order is what the people need. We oppose anyone or anything that disrupts the order we need. Remember, it's the order we need, not the order needed by the landlord class, religion, clan, or exploiting class. So when we arrive in a place, the first thing we have to do is destroy the existing order and establish our new order. Think about it, in a place with large landlords, where all the land is in their hands, can we establish the order we, the proletariat, need? If farmers don't have any land at home, can they live a good life?"

After hearing this, everyone looked as if they had suddenly understood. In fact, the truth was so simple. If it was explained clearly, everyone would understand it. It’s just that no one thought about these things in detail. After all, the Chinese people have been deceived by the ruling class for thousands of years.

"And we still don't have a normal school, right? We need to open a school specifically for teacher training, with free tuition and guaranteed job placement upon graduation. Right now, we're relying on the comrades trained by the military, and that's not enough.

As for the medical and nursing schools, Comrade Qing'en, you must seize the moment. We've used so many cadavers as specimens, and we've trained several capable doctors and nurses. Let's have them start teaching. After a period of intensive training, they'll be assigned as military doctors. With patients, they'll have opportunities for practical application, and their skills will improve quickly. These things can't just rely on me issuing orders. We're short of talent in all areas right now. Any talent who can be used should be organized for training, and then improved through practical experience. Everyone should exercise their subjective initiative.

As for our schools, every town in the liberated areas must have at least one elementary school. While it's not urgent to have a secondary school now, it'll take at least a year or two, and by then, secondary education will be a major issue. We can wait if we lack teachers, but our children can't. The time to study well is limited; if you miss it, you miss it.

I'll dispatch the infrastructure team shortly to build a primary school in each town. For now, these schools will all operate on an exam system. Those who pass can skip a grade, and those who don't will continue their education. Even if each school only has two teachers—one for Chinese and one for math—at least these children will have future factory jobs. Children who can read have significantly better comprehension skills and are worth further development. As for those who haven't been to school, we all know that educating them requires many times more effort.

So, everyone, look, we have endless work waiting for you to do. In the future, our opportunities to gather for meetings will become fewer and fewer. As our base expands, it will become increasingly difficult for us to see each other. If you have any questions, you can't provide me with timely feedback. So I hope that comrades will study hard and improve every day. In the future, we will meet in Chengdu, Wuhan, and Beijing.

Speaking of which, let's digress a bit today. Almost everyone here can read, and we've read the Three Character Classic, Hundred Family Surnames, and Thousand Character Classic many times. We can't say we know them by heart, but we've covered their content more than once. Today, I want to ask you a question. Our country has many famous sayings, like "Only those who endure the most bitter hardships can achieve the highest level of achievement." Which of these do you think is the greatest?

After letting everyone think for a moment, Zhang Yinghao said, "Comrade Jianyong, please tell us."

"There's no such thing as a free lunch." "Yeah, that's right, open it." "Born in hardship, die in comfort."

"Haha, we're all intellectuals now, that's great. Where's Comrade Haifeng?" "No desires, no strength."

"You are worthy of being the Discipline Inspector General. Very good, Comrade Chen Guiying." "As the Chairman said, only those who endure the most hardships can become the best."

"Does anyone else want to say anything? Do you think you know the greatest line?" "Live as a hero, die as a ghost hero."

"If I cannot eat from five cauldrons while I am alive, I shall be cooked in five cauldrons after my death." "If I am willing to sacrifice my life, I will dare to dethrone the emperor."

"That's right, that's right, haha. Many of you here already have the potential to be traitors, but I feel like you haven't said that one sentence yet. What is that sentence? It's a sentence from Chen Sheng in "The Biography of Chen She" recorded in the Records of the Grand Historian. Who knows what it is?"

"Are kings, princes, generals, and ministers of different races?"

"Yes, that's the sentence. Comrades, are kings, princes, generals, and ministers born? China's thousands of years of history is the best interpretation of this sentence. To date, there have been more than 500 recorded emperors in China. Are emperors born? No. So this sentence shouts out the people's strongest voice against the injustice of fate. Are kings, princes, generals, and ministers born? Why do you think you are a king, prince, general, and minister, and why can't I be a king, prince, general, or minister? Why? This is a question about fate, a question about injustice.

The countless peasant uprisings in Chinese history were all expressions of resentment against the injustice of fate.

Challenge. Liu Bang, a small Sishui Pavilion Chief, eventually defeated Xiang Yu and became the Emperor of Han. Genghis Khan, a great hero, escaped death because he was not tall enough to be a wheel, and eventually became the Emperor of Mongolia. Zhu Yuanzhang, a man who was born as a cowherd, eventually founded the Ming Dynasty.

The Qing Dynasty's founder, Aixinjueluo Nurhaci, started his army with only thirteen sets of armor and became the actual founder of the Qing Dynasty.

Comrades, are kings, princes, generals, and ministers of different species? Why can't we become like kings, princes, generals, and ministers? Why do some people have endless food and clothing? Why do some people have high positions and generous salaries? Why do some people feel superior to others and should bow down to us? Why? Why? Why? Do you want to change?

"want."

"Heroes of our generation emerge, transformed into dragons upon encountering storms. Now is the best era for us, the humblest of us. We don't want to be kings, princes, generals, or ministers, because kings, princes, generals, and ministers no longer exist. Our ideals are far greater than this; the world we want to build is beyond the reach of our current imagination."

Therefore, everyone must study hard and not fall behind. As long as we unite, we can forge great undertakings beyond our wildest dreams. I've long said that for those who follow me, wealth, fame, and status are all readily available. If you are content with these things, you are a failure. Those who remain in their place endure long, and those who die without dying live long lives. This is our goal, to live forever in the hearts of the people. We want to forge a new world, to create enduring achievements that will endure for generations to come. As long as China endures, your deeds will forever be a lesson for future generations.

If any of you engage in corruption, abuse of power for personal gain, or abuse of public office for personal gain, and are eventually caught, you will be infamous for eternity. Even if you're not executed, you'll likely be imprisoned. In the future, your descendants will read about their ancestors who didn't seize the opportunity to change their fate, falling behind at the most critical moment, and falling out of the ranks because of these reasons. Not only will you have no regrets, but your descendants will also suffer the consequences. So my advice to everyone is this: work hard and fulfill our oath to join the Party. That's all.

Everyone, go back and look up the Party Constitution and the Party oath. Of course, there will be no more kings, princes, generals, or ministers, because that doesn't align with our ideal of equality for all. Okay, let's end today's meeting here. Oh, by the way, Zhang Kai, you can come to my office tomorrow to pick up the "Basic Knowledge of Public Security" I wrote for you. I've already finished it.

"it is good."

"Comrade Wang Qixian and Comrade Yuan Kesheng stay. Everyone else go back and rest. We will work hard tomorrow."

Yuan Kesheng was still standing there. The other comrades all glanced at him, then immediately stood up and walked out the door. Zhang Yinghao remained seated, expressionless.

Everyone had left, but Zhang Yinghao still didn't speak. The scene became more and more depressing. Wang Qixian sat in the chair and twisted his body uneasily from time to time.

"Tell me, what's going on with you?"

"Chairman, what I said is indeed true. It is indeed dangerous to deal with the Pao brothers." "I can see that. I also know the danger. Who taught you these words?"

"what?"

At this moment, Yuan Kesheng's eyes suddenly became a little flustered.

"What? We've been together for over a year now, and no one has ever said these things to you, causing you to worry about me and think someone might harm me. You wouldn't do such a thing. If it were before, when we were fearless, you wouldn't have even thought about these things."

"Chairman, this..."

"At this point, what's there to say?"

"Chairman, I...sigh. Someone introduced me to a woman, so she asked about my job description."

"Hmm? Your job description doesn't need to be kept secret, huh? Whose daughter is she?"

"That's right, um, the daughter of a county clerk." Upon hearing this, Zhang Yinghao sneered.

"Haha, congratulations, congratulations, you are such a lady from a noble family! They say that heroes are often tempted by beautiful women, no wonder!"

"Chairman, I was wrong."

"What's wrong with you? You're not wrong. A gentleman loves a beautiful lady."

"Those things were analyzed by this master. I thought they made a lot of sense at the time. But now I think about it, they weren't our reasons. They were the master's reasons."

"Hmph, I'm glad to know. This advisor is quite a clever man, indeed. He's already corrupting our comrades so quickly. He's really willing to sacrifice even his own daughter."

"Chairman, what do you mean?"

"Do you know what kind of wind is the most terrifying and powerful in the world?" "What? What do you mean, Chairman?"

"The most terrifying and powerful wind in the world is the pillow talk. Our comrades are generally young, and we are still in the early stages, so I didn't think much about our

Comrade, this is a personal issue. Since you have such an incident, this rule must be established today. Party members and cadres cannot marry landlords or members of the feudal bureaucratic comprador class for three generations.

Immediate family members within. Can you do that?"

"Chairman, I can do it."

"Kesheng, I treat you as a comrade and brother, and I don't want you to make any mistakes. The relationship between husband and wife is very close, and the landlords and other classes will be our enemies for a long time to come. If the person you marry is politically opposed to the policies of our Forward Party, or if such people use marriage as a means to infiltrate our Forward Party and seize power, they will cause great harm to our Forward Party's cause and cause endless harm. Therefore, marriages within the Forward Party and its new government must undergo political review to ensure the purity of the team."

"Chairman, what if these female comrades sever their political ties with their families?" "Haha, who doesn't love a lady from a noble family? Educated, well-mannered, gentle and virtuous. Just like in the opera, a poor boy marries a rich girl, how wonderful! But no one can decide their own birth, but we can still give these comrades a chance. Well, these comrades who publicly sever their political ties are not allowed to participate in Party affairs. They are not allowed to work locally. There is no upper limit for technical work, except for work that requires confidentiality. Well, within 25 years, their official positions cannot exceed the municipal level. That's all for now. Internal notifications, political review of three generations, and marriage political review will be temporarily handed over to the Party committees and governments at all levels. Documents that should be submitted to the Organization Department should be submitted to the Organization Department."

"Ok."

Quotations from Zhang Yinghao: Those who achieve success have already planned the blueprint before doing anything. After seeing the results, they move forward towards their goals with unshakable faith.

Chapter 72

Zhang Yinghao felt that with twenty-five years, his comrades should have had ample time to mature and seize power. If a large number of the descendants of landlords and bureaucrats were allowed to join the new government now, Zhang Yinghao felt he wouldn't be able to defeat them. Having never served as an official in his past life, he didn't know the intricacies involved. Therefore, if it came to a power struggle, Zhang Yinghao felt his comrades would be no match for them.

In his previous life, during the Xinhai Revolution, the revolutionaries sacrificed their lives and blood to achieve victory, overthrowing the Qing Dynasty. Then, what happened? Power quickly fell into the hands of the old bureaucrats. The revolutionaries, betrayed, foolishly helped count the money, their blood staining the bureaucrats' hats red. This was something Zhang Yinghao absolutely could not tolerate, so he would rather put these people to death now than give them the chance to rebel.

"Tell me, what do you intend to do with the National Safety Committee for the Suppression of Counter-Revolutionaries and Work Sabotage? It's become so terrifying now. Is this the work of that advisor again?"

Seeing Yuan Kesheng nodded in shame, Zhang Yinghao squinted his eyes and looked at Yuan Kesheng for a while.

"I've told you time and again that any problems must be resolved by the Party Committee, and private transactions are prohibited. Are you ignoring my words? Do you understand that he's trying to bring down our Forward Party? Our Anti-Counterrevolutionary Committee isn't the Jinyiwei of the Ming Dynasty. We don't need a reign of terror or surveillance. Who is that advisor trying to scare by asking you to do this? Go back and thoroughly investigate this advisor's background. Find out who he's using his sugar-coated bullets on, and whose orders he's taking. Did the prefect once tell Tung to keep these people under surveillance? Tell them that if they try anything tricky, they'll learn the meaning of death, so they don't cause any more trouble."

"clear."

"You're considered an old comrade, and you've already made a principled mistake. This is your last chance. If you can't handle this, write your resignation letter. Go back and make public the reasons why those you arrested who don't need to be kept secret. There's nothing to hide. The more you hide, the more trouble you'll cause. If the crime is confirmed, then execute them, but you can't kill them without knowing the reason, leaving us all in the dark. What kind of rumors will spread? You've messed up the Purge Commission like this, and even our own comrades are afraid of it. What exactly do you want to do? It's okay if you didn't mention it before, and I'll let bygones be bygones. But if you don't think you can do this job, I'll give it to someone else."

"Chairman, I can do it well."

"Go back and think carefully about why you listened to that idiotic advisor. Write a self-criticism and submit it to the disciplinary inspection department. You must die knowing full well that you can't be deceived by others without knowing how you were deceived. Go back."

Zhang Yinghao looked at Yuan Kesheng's back. His comrades were still too immature. They had no problem charging into battle with guns, but they were too inexperienced to handle these matters. Zhang Yinghao had no solution himself, so he could only identify problems, ask questions, and solve them. He hoped that each failure would teach him a lesson.

"Comrade Wang Qixian, please take the trouble to organize the meeting minutes, formulate the resolutions, print them out, and distribute them for comrades to study."

"Yes."

After a meeting, decisions were made, and unified thinking led to a significant acceleration in work progress. Many comrades were completely clueless because they lacked a grasp of basic principles and didn't know where to begin. However, once these comrades found their starting point, their own working methods and techniques, many previously difficult tasks became easily solved.

"Chairman, good news! Our comrades have learned that foreigners are selling weapons. Among them are three Maxim heavy machine guns, five Gatling guns, a number of rapid-fire rifles, and a batch of Mauser pistols. As soon as they received the news, they sent a telegram for instructions."

"Tianqiao, you guys did a great job. Very good. Which country are these foreigners from?" "Germany."

"Okay, let the Germans ship all the guns to Chongqing, and I'll go and negotiate in person." "What if the Germans don't come?"

"You should inform the comrades over there and tell the Germans that only China is afraid of Germany, not Germany. There is still big business waiting for them in Sichuan, so the Germans will definitely come."

Zhang Yinghao was delighted when he heard about Germany. In this era, China has two natural trading partners: the United States and Germany. Both countries are too far away from China to pose much of a threat to each other. The United States is now like 21st-century China, exporting everything. Germany, as a developing country, also has severe overcapacity and urgently needs exports. Of course, Germany still occupies Qingdao, so it's not the best trading partner right now. However, Germany's relatively small interests in China make it a relatively ideal trading partner. Furthermore, in this era, trading with the Germans is what Zhang Yinghao feels most at ease with.

No one in this era understood Germany's urgent need to open up the Eastern market better than Zhang Yinghao. If Sichuan could be opened to Germany, or if a certain faction could cooperate with Germany, it would be like a perfect match for the ambitious Kaiser Wilhelm II, and they would eagerly pursue it.

The last time I traded for the pistol, my territory was too small to seize the opportunity, but this time I had to seize it no matter what. Bringing the German to Sichuan to trade with him would also lay the foundation for future transactions. Furthermore, the Yangtze River basin was the British sphere of influence, and bringing in German forces would help offset some of the British pressure in the future.

At this time, a messenger ran over and said, "Chairman, we have captured two foreign devils. They want to see you and have been sent here."

"Oh! Comrade Tianqiao, go reply to the telegram. Do whatever it takes to get this German here. When will he arrive in Chongqing? We'll go to Chongqing together. You also need to notify Comrade Xinsheng and make preparations. You go and make the arrangements. I'll go check on those two foreign devils."

Li Tianqiao smiled and nodded, then turned and left without saying anything. Zhang Yinghao didn't care. He walked into the living room with his teacup and saw two blond, blue-eyed foreigners with crosses hanging around their necks. After a few glances, Zhang Yinghao felt they might be missionaries.

If he hadn't taken Guang'an City, Zhang Yinghao would have avoided them if he could. But now that he had conquered his own territory and was planning to start trading, he needed to cooperate with these foreigners. Although the foreigners were still doing evil in Beijing, after so many years of experience, Zhang Yinghao was no longer a cynic. He knew what he had to do.

As a time traveler, it is okay for Zhang Yinghao to bully others on his own initiative, but it would be a big problem if others took the initiative to bully him, because Zhang Yinghao cannot stand being bullied.

A treaty was signed with the Qing Dynasty, and then along with the seizure of resources, politics,

Military, economic, religious and cultural aggression. The foreign devils' tactics have not changed much in the past few hundred years. In the 22nd century, they are still the same, but they are more covert and deceptive. Zhang Yinghao does not intend to recognize those unequal treaties.

I am weak, so I have to endure it.

Before Zhang Yinghao could say anything, the two foreigners started speaking in broken Chinese.

".....Ou's name is George, he washes Payne. We are protected by the fried dough sticks, we have the rights of gay friends..."

Zhang Yinghao was listening intently, but he still didn't understand a few things. He did get the gist of it, though: one was named George, the other was named Penn. They were talking about their freedoms and the inviolability of the British Empire. Zhang Yinghao figured the two foreigners must have recently arrived in China. He remembered Qing'en saying that the doctor only started learning Chinese after arriving.

Zhang Yinghao was tired of listening and asked, "What are you doing here?"

The foreigner's answer was probably that they were there to spread the glory of the Lord, and he even made the sign of the cross on his chest in a pretentious manner.

After a while of irrelevant conversation, Zhang Yinghao finally understood the situation. He thought it was a dream to have them preach in his own territory. So he didn't bother to talk nonsense with them and just said, "I have an opportunity to make a fortune. Do you want to join me?"

Hearing about the opportunity to make a fortune, the two foreigners immediately became interested. It didn't matter whether they were preaching or not. Seeing the changes in the expressions of the two foreigners, Zhang Yinghao knew that they were two foreigners who came to make money. In fact, these foreigners came from afar to what they considered a barren land. What else could they do if not to make a fortune? They came to the East because they heard too many stories about making a fortune. As for coming to Chongqing, it was naturally because of the war in the north that they couldn't go there. Chongqing is now a good place to make a fortune. Aren't the various privileges that the British seized from the Qing Dynasty at the cost of launching a war also for the purpose of making money?

"What a chance to make a fortune."

Damn, after hearing the word "get rich", my Chinese became much more fluent.

Zhang Yinghao said, "We've planted and purchased some cotton here. We're planning to buy some textile equipment, with the first batch being 600 looms. Can you get them? Do you think this is a chance to make a fortune? It all depends on your ability. This is also our first time doing business. What do you think? Are you interested?"

The two foreigners immediately became excited. The British started out in textiles, and they were no strangers to these machines. In this era, no matter if they were not from a foreign company or what power was behind them, even if they had no power, once there was an opportunity to make money, these foreigners would desperately try their best to make a living.

They also knew that this was a big deal, so they said, "Of course, please let us discuss it."

Zhang Yinghao saw that the two foreigners had a good relationship, so he asked, "What's your relationship?"

"partner."