The Heroic Age of the Late Qing Dynasty

In the "Zhong Jing", "It is said that if you meet someone who likes to learn skills, you will call him a distant one. ... If you encounter someone who is lustful, drunken, or sexual, you will learn skills; if you are moved by music, you will believe that he will die, and you will have less worries about your birthday."

Are we living in a chaotic world now? Yes, we are. As an intelligence agency, we must carefully study how to speak. Otherwise, if you meet someone and want to extract intelligence from them through conversation without leaving any trace, but you can't even say a word to them, or if you say a few words and they don't get along, how can you get the intelligence?

When we speak, we need to tailor our words to different people. Just as Guiguzi wrote in his essay, "When speaking to the wise, the learned, the discerning, the noble, the rich, the poor, the humble, the brave, the foolish—when speaking to each type of person, the content of our conversation should be different." Because everyone's needs are different, we should use different words for each type of person and speak to each person according to their specific circumstances.

What is a technique? A technique is a method, a dharma door. There's a Buddhist saying: "All conditioned phenomena are like dreams, illusions, bubbles, and shadows; like dew and lightning; view them in this way." Different people use different methods; these are conditioned phenomena. Once used, they may no longer be effective. Therefore, we must use indirect methods, encouraging the other party to speak more frequently and extracting the information we need from their words.

Therefore, we have to face so many people speaking different languages, so we ourselves must have extensive knowledge. Otherwise, we will not understand what others are saying, or we will not understand them at all. If you say something that others are not interested in or do not understand, or even you have nothing to say, this is the biggest failure of our intelligence personnel.

This is almost the end of today's class. Students who have any questions may ask now."

"Teacher, how do we judge what kind of person a person is?

"You ask me, but I don't know either. So what can I do? There's only one way, and that's to investigate. Study his relatives and friends, his lifestyle, and everything you can gather about him. Through investigation and analysis, you'll know what kind of person he is."

"Teacher, how do we know what expression to use at the beginning?"

"Practice a lot beforehand. Act out in your head, ask colleagues, or practice with each other. We'll have scenario-based dialogues later on to familiarize everyone with how to respond in different situations. We say that seriousness is paramount in everything, and we in the Progressive Party value it above all else. As long as we diligently follow the rules and think through our actions, we'll almost certainly get an answer."

"Teacher, what do you think is the best speaking skill?"

The sound of the bell outside was heard, and Zhang Yinghao knew that the class was about to end.

"There's no single best technique, but let me tell you one. Think about it, who knows the most secrets? It's our best friends. Because only when you become 'one of them' will they share their secrets with you, or tell you when you ask them something. How do you make them think you're 'one of them'? We'll discuss this in the next class. Okay."

"get out of class is over."

"stand up.

"Goodbye, classmates.

"Goodbye, teacher.

Zhang Yinghao stood up and saw the teacher waiting for him in front. He quickly walked to the front and left the classroom with the teacher.

"Teacher, how was my lecture?"

"I didn't expect you, Long Aotian, to be here giving a lecture. Why do your courseware seem so familiar to me?

"Hey, isn't this what you taught us? I just took it and used it. You said that I can be a teacher with my level, but I am afraid of misleading the students, so I can only use your courseware to fill the void.

"You, you just said you're afraid of being serious about everything. We in the Progressive Party value seriousness the most. It seems you haven't learned enough!"

"Hey, isn't it just stressful to give a lecture in front of you?

"Stop, stop trying to be nice. Don't you know what's happening in our base right now? Can we find someone with your learning ability? Probably not. You only knew a few words before, but I didn't expect you to have such a strong memory. Work hard, okay? Don't waste your talent."

“Yes, yes, yes.

Who asked you to give this lecture? Don't you work in the Commerce Department? I remember I gave this course to the Commerce and External Affairs Office, right?

"Comrade Tianqiao asked me to come to teach. Teacher, your courseware has been collected by the comrades from the Political Security Bureau for use in training. Zhang Tianqiao has found those comrades who attended your class and brought them here to teach the students."

I know that the Political Security Bureau has collected all the contents of my lectures for study and research. I didn't expect Zhang Tianqiao to be so attentive and bring those who have attended the lectures here to give lectures. It goes without saying that those who can come here to give lectures are relatively outstanding.

"It seems that Comrade Tianqiao really put in a lot of effort. It's not easy to find you to come and give lectures.

"Teacher, do you still need to attend the class later?"

"I don't want to listen anymore. What's the matter? Are you feeling stressed? I'll go to the library here later, and then I'll leave. You don't have to accompany me anymore, go and get busy."

"Oh, okay. The Chairman's building is the library.

He pointed with his finger. Seeing the house he was pointing at, Zhang Yinghao said, "Okay, Comrade Tianqiao just introduced it to me. Thank you. I'll go over first."

"Okay, goodbye, teacher.

"Goodbye."

Chapter 117:

Zhang Yinghao arrived at the library, showed his ID, and looked around. The collection wasn't huge, but he spotted books on Capital in the political section. He then remembered that he'd once asked Chen Yiwei to buy him books on Capital and The Communist Manifesto, but he wasn't sure if he'd gotten them yet.

Zhang Yinghao wasn't a student there, so it wasn't convenient for him to borrow books from the library. He picked up a book and read it for a while, then put it down and returned to his office. After this inspection of these places, Zhang Yinghao felt more confident.

I had just returned to the office for a while when a correspondent ran in with a piece of paper in his hand.

"Chairman, this is a report just sent back from Chongqing. The foreign devils have begun to take notice of us.

“Oh, bring it over here and have a look.

Zhang Yinghao took the paper and read it carefully. It stated that the foreigners, who controlled trade channels and had been managing Chongqing since its opening, had learned of our influence through import and export. In reality, the Forward Party's influence in Chongqing was as conspicuous as a candle in the night; after a while, it would inevitably be exposed. It also stated that the foreigners had sent a message to Comrade Liu Xinsheng, demanding a meeting with Liu Xinsheng, the Chongqing official.

In reality, Zhang Yinghao didn't know the specifics of the situation. Songs like "Chinese Revolution" and "Unity Is Strength" had begun to spread among workers at the Chongqing docks, and their spread had surpassed Zhang Yinghao's expectations. They had already reached Shanghai. There, Zhang Yinghao had little control over the organization, and the lyrics were quickly obtained by the foreigners.

The political sensitivity of the foreigners there was far superior to that of the Qing Dynasty, and much higher than that of the foreigners in the mainland. They immediately discovered the problem and launched an investigation. Finally, they found that the problem was in Chongqing and immediately sent a telegram to Chongqing for inquiry. If the Chongqing authorities had conducted a thorough investigation, they would definitely have found some clues, which is why we are in this situation.

This was Zhang Yinghao's frustration. These minor matters could have been handled on their own. If he couldn't make up his mind, he could have just held a meeting to discuss it. He hadn't expected them to travel all that distance to ask for advice. Trade was booming in the base area, with people coming and going daily, so it was crucial to pass on this information promptly. Otherwise, the opportunity would have been lost, wasting manpower and resources.

Zhang Yinghao knew without a second thought what the foreigners were up to. There were only a few possible scenarios. The first was trade. With Chongqing as the gateway through which the base was trading, the volume of trade was increasing, and more and more machinery and equipment were being imported. This meant that more and more foreigners would want to get involved and profit, and Zhang Yinghao welcomed this.

The second scenario was to investigate himself thoroughly and see if there was any interference. Without a thorough investigation, Zhang Yinghao didn't believe these foreigners would simply resort to force. The most important thing was that in this inland area, he really wasn't afraid of these foreigners.

As for the foreign devils' desire to understand his attitude towards the great powers and the treaties, Zhang Yinghao felt that he was overestimating himself. He had not yet grown to the point where the great powers would pay attention to him, otherwise the foreign devils would not have come to the base to challenge him and make money.

Even if they knew Zhang Yinghao and his group believed in Marxism, it wouldn't be a big deal. In fact, Marxist doctrines are widely accepted abroad, and ideas like revolution are not unfamiliar to Westerners. The French Revolution, the Charter Movement, and the execution of emperors are not uncommon. Foreign countries also have a vast library of sociology books, not just on Marxism.

Western countries only began to pay attention to communist ideas after the founding of the Soviet Union, because the Soviet Union completely turned the national concept on paper into reality, and only then did it frantically suppress and exclude communist ideas.

The Japanese, for example, are so terrified of communism that even a scholar's book, "Insect Society," was rejected. In serious cases, some people misread the word "society" (会社) in Japanese companies, misreading it as "会社" (society), and then openly robbed them. Even during the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression, the Japanese were constantly trying to win over Chiang Kai-shek's government to fight the Communists.

However, the Soviet Union had not yet been established, and the world did not fully understand things like revolution, socialism, and communism. After all, the Japanese played a huge role in the Xinhai Revolution. Without the support of the Japanese, it is not certain whether the Xinhai Revolution could have taken place.

If people today knew what the future would look like and what would happen, then Zhang Yinghao believed that no country would want the Qing Dynasty to fall. Because after the fall of the Qing Dynasty, although China continued to decline for decades on the surface, the new power it nurtured changed the world.

Zhang Yinghao read the document carefully, thought for a moment, and then wrote: "Liu Xinsheng and the Chongqing Working Committee comrades, in accordance with your advice, have contacted the authorities of Britain and other powers. Your office has responded flexibly. Currently, I suspect there are two possible reasons. One is trade, and the other is that the British want to contact and understand us.

Regarding trade, we welcome any trade involving machinery and equipment. Whenever you have the opportunity, you should expand the scale of trade for your base area and work with the commerce and industry departments. Regarding our influence and attitude toward foreign countries, answer if it's not confidential; otherwise, refuse to answer due to insufficient authority.

If there are other matters, you can discuss them. If they are truly of great importance, please send us the details immediately and attach your opinions for reference. Comrade Liu Xinsheng must truly shoulder his responsibilities. If time is urgent, you can make decisions on the spot, prioritizing the safety of our comrades and the interests of the base area. We should now focus on developing our own comrades, opening remedial classes and schools to provide children with opportunities to learn.

After Zhang Yinghao finished writing it, he read it again and felt that it was nothing serious, so he felt relieved and asked the correspondent to send the document to Liu Xinsheng in Chongqing.

During this time, those working in the northwest and Dabie Mountain regions of the base area gradually received transfer orders. The personnel department also smoothly arranged for deputies or other personnel to take over their positions. Those working in other areas also received notices to return to the base area.

This first group of people gathered at the base to rest for a while, and then left the base two days later to return to their hometowns to start the revolution. When these comrades heard that they were going to return to their hometowns to start the revolution, they were all excited. After all, everyone knew that the situation was serious, but they didn't know why the Qing Dynasty was so slow to respond and had not yet sent troops to attack the base.

In fact, the revolution has been going on for so long now, and I don't know how many study sessions have been held. Everyone has gradually understood what is going on. Therefore, most people are holding their breath, as if waiting for a counterattack from the Qing government. Now, after so long, there is still no movement. Even I know this is abnormal.

Zhang Yinghao didn't think there was anything unusual about this, because reality is often stranger than fiction. After all, fiction requires a lot of thought to construct plots, but reality doesn't, because this is reality, an objective existence that cannot be changed by will.

Zhang Yinghao expected that suppressing his forces would take at least until after the signing of the Boxer Protocol. Only then would the local authorities mobilize forces to suppress him. If the situation escalated, they would at least have to mobilize garrisons from other provinces. In the past, Sichuan hadn't been able to quell the Railway Protection Movement, and troops had to be dispatched from Hubei to quell the rebellion. Otherwise, the Xinhai Revolution wouldn't have begun in Hubei. Furthermore, the Qing Dynasty hadn't yet organized a new army, so Zhang Yinghao felt he could still handle the situation with the patrol battalion and the Green Camp troops.

However, I'd heard in my previous life that the Qing Dynasty also had a powerful army called the Gansu-Shaanxi Green Camp. Anyone who can read a map can understand the importance of Shaanxi and Gansu. Furthermore, the people of Shaanxi and Gansu are known for their tough character and constant fighting. So, it's no surprise that there's such a so-called powerful army there. While the Gansu-Shaanxi Green Camp was likely a cavalry unit, still a relatively elite force even today, they're nothing more than sitting ducks once the machine guns are deployed.

Moreover, ever since the opium epidemic spread across China, there was little peace left. The increasingly corrupt Qing government, while placing greater emphasis on its armed forces, was short of funds, and the army quickly became corrupt. The elite Shaanxi-Gansu troops gradually vanished into the depths of history, lost to the masses.

However, the current Gansu and Shaanxi Green Camp should still have a certain degree of combat effectiveness. After all, under normal circumstances, according to historical trajectory, the Qing Dynasty will take more than ten years to fall. This is because the Qing Dynasty has invested a lot of money in training new troops, and not many people in the court still think that the Eight Banners and the Green Camp still have combat effectiveness.

Thinking of this, Zhang Yinghao quickly walked to the front of the map to study it. Not long ago, Zhang Yinghao did not have a decent map. This map was captured from the governor of the state capital after he captured the state capital.

Zhang Yinghao studied the map carefully. The Shu Road was the general name for the route between Guanzhong and the Sichuan Basin. Separated by the Qinling Mountains, Hanzhong Basin, and Daba Mountains, the Shu Road was divided into two sections: Guanzhong – Qinling Mountains – Hanzhong, and Hanzhong – Daba Mountains – Sichuan Basin.

There are four main roads crossing the Qinling Mountains: Chencang Road, Baoxia Road, Tangluo Road, and Ziwu Road, from west to east. The section crossing the Bashan Mountains is divided into four more roads: Yinping Road, Jinniu Road, Micang Road, and Yangba Road, from west to east. These routes, in their arrangement and combination, formed the main routes through Sichuan and Shaanxi in ancient times.

Zhang Yinghao observed for a long time and decided that the most important thing now was to focus on the Jinniu Road and the Micang Road. These two roads were the most convenient for large armies to travel. Of course, the Yangtze River, the golden waterway, was also included. Controlling a few key military towns would be enough to control the situation.

Suddenly, Zhang Yinghao noticed several familiar place names. One of the most important was Jiange County. Li Bai's poetry was so good that it vividly described the difficulties of the Shu Road. The Shu Road is so difficult that it is harder than climbing to the sky! Jiange is so steep and rugged that even one man can block the way with ten thousand men.

So it wasn't just Jiange that was a good place for Zhang Yinghao. The many places described in the poem were all good places for defending. Not only was there so many passes along the Jinniu Road, but there were also passes along the Micang Road. These places should have been planned ahead of time. Zhang Yinghao thought, "I shouldn't do all this myself. Otherwise, what's the point of having a military committee?"

So Zhang Yinghao wrote a document outlining the situation. He instructed the Military Commission to dispatch comrades to conduct advance reconnaissance, appropriately develop their forces, and make early preparations for any eventuality. After assigning these tasks, Zhang Yinghao felt a sense of relief. Regardless of when the Qing Dynasty would react and send an army to attack him, this was all he could do.

The expansion of the base was now very slow, controlled by Zhang Yinghao. Because the Qing Dynasty hadn't reacted for so long, Zhang Yinghao had two options: first, rapid expansion, conquering wherever he could and expanding the base. Second, a temporary, slow expansion. How slow? Pushing forward one village at a time.

Zhang Yinghao chose the second approach for many reasons. First, it was to buy time for the Qing Dynasty. If the Qing government and foreign imperialists learned of the large-scale revolutionary activities in Sichuan, it would be disastrous for the Qing Dynasty. For foreign imperialists, it could become a bargaining chip, raising their demands and ruthlessly cutting into the Qing Dynasty's flesh. Zhang Yinghao would not allow this.

Many people would say, "Isn't the enemy of my enemy my friend?" This is a misunderstanding. Zhang Yinghao believes this depends on one's perspective. He views this issue from the perspective of China and the Chinese people.

Anything that harms China's interests and the interests of the Chinese people is an enemy. Although the Qing Dynasty is the target of our overthrow, it does not mean that the imperialists who attack the Qing Dynasty are our friends. The result is the same in reverse: imperialism is our enemy, and the Qing Dynasty resists imperialist oppression, but this does not mean that the Qing Dynasty is our friend.

However, in a war between the two sides, he would definitely prefer the Qing Dynasty to win. If he were not currently weak and needed to trade with the imperialists, Zhang Yinghao would even want to attack the imperialist army to relieve the pressure on the Qing Dynasty.

Chapter 118:

The second reason was the same old problem: their own strength was too weak. Once the territory expanded rapidly, there would be a serious shortage of cadres. The expansion of territory did not bring more strength to the base area, but instead diluted their own strength. If the Qing Dynasty came to encircle and suppress them, they would suffer huge losses.

The third reason was the talent pool. How many top students did Zhang Yinghao have under his command? Chen Yiwei was the only one. And then what? He couldn't find any more, which made Zhang Yinghao feel very helpless.

You have to know that in the past, whether they were called the Communists or the Red Bandits, many of the comrades in the team had studied abroad, so they were not short of such high-quality talents.

There is another most important reason, which is what Zhang Yinghao often said before: It was not the Progressive Party members who created the revolution, but the revolution was born among the people.

Here, the question of public awareness arises. Zhang Yinghao could not have led his troops into other villages, pointed bayonets, and forced the people there to unconditionally accept land reform, while forcibly dividing the land without any distinction. This would not be to liberate the people, but to oppress and coerce them, which would be meaningless.

Zhang Yinghao was concerned that his comrades in the base area would crudely carry out the campaign to "strike back the landlords and redistribute the land" without conducting relevant research. They would habitually resort to using weapons of criticism rather than the weapons of criticism. Therefore, Zhang Yinghao issued an order to mobilize the local masses to participate in the land reform.

Zhang Yinghao absolutely couldn't believe that his comrades couldn't mobilize the masses after seeing the huge benefits of land reform, or that after eliminating the landlords' armed forces, they would still encounter resistance from the local people and be unable to distribute land. At the same time, it also provided time for the base area to train cadres, allowing those participating in the work to fully understand the content of the base's work.

Therefore, Zhang Yinghao decided to expand slowly for the time being, adopting the same method as Emperor Taizu of the Ming Dynasty, building high walls, storing up food, and slowly claiming the throne. Building high walls does not mean actually building a city wall, but rather turning the people of the base into his own people. When the vast majority of people in the base abandon the Qing Dynasty, then the base will be full of iron walls.

To store up grain means to work hard to build factories, reserve enough materials and achieve sustainable production capabilities as soon as possible, so as to be used in the future when we are blockaded, so as not to be strangled by the blockade.

To slowly declare oneself king means to keep a low profile for the time being and to absolutely not come up with things like independence and autonomy.

Zhang Yinghao compiled these contents after a show of hands vote by the Central Committee, which took some effort on his part. The main reason was that some comrades felt that the base area had accumulated enough strength and could expand its territory rapidly. Of course, no one was arrogant enough to quickly eliminate the Qing government.

Zhang Yinghao finally suppressed this radical trend by presenting facts and reasoning. He wasn't sure if this constituted radical adventurism, but felt that these comrades simply didn't consider the issue realistically. Of course, Zhang Yinghao didn't know if his actions were right, but he felt that this was a safe approach for the time being, allowing him to fully control the situation and prevent it from getting out of control.

Zhang Yinghao wasn't sure if this was a pragmatic approach, but there was nothing he could do. A poor man's ambitions are short, a thin horse's hair grows long, and he was petty. Despite his limited knowledge, Zhang Yinghao expounded on dialectical materialism, historical materialism, and dialectical materialism. He also creatively proposed the concept of temporal materialism, a key element of which was his hope that his comrades would make friends with time, avoid rash advances, remain impatient, and guard against arrogance and impatience.

Zhang Yinghao was well aware that in his previous life, after liberation, China had accomplished tasks such as economic recovery, the Korean War, and land reform. Soon after, agricultural collectivization and the transformation of private industry and commerce were also completed. Faced with this series of victories, many people were filled with lofty ambitions and enthusiasm. Countless people became impatient, abandoning their pragmatic approach and adopting a rash and reckless style of exaggeration and communism. The ultimate consequence was the shift from production struggles to personnel struggles, and from this point on, the Cultural Revolution was inevitable.

Just as Zhang Yinghao was about to put away the map and look at the documents, Zhang Feng rushed into Zhang Yinghao's office and said angrily: "Chairman Zhang is in trouble.

Zhang Yinghao's heart skipped a beat and he asked anxiously, "Are the Qing attacking?"

"No, Chairman, that idiot Long Tongxu killed the landlord we captured.

"Oh, that's it?"

“Yeah, that’s it.

Zhang Feng asked doubtfully, "Chairman, we can't just kill these landlords now that we've captured them, right? Many of the landlords we captured before saw this, and so did many of the people working nearby."

"Of course we can't just kill him if we want to. Oh, by the way, where is Comrade Li Ziqiang now?"

“On the way here.

"Has he committed any other offenses?

"there is none left.

"Why did he kill the landlord?"

"Well, when he saw those landlords, he went crazy, rushed over and killed them all with a bayonet. We couldn't stop him at the time, and now we don't know what happened."

"Haha, it seems that our bayonet training is very good! You don't need to protect him, then we will wait here for him to come and ask him clearly." He,

Knowing that Zhang Yinghao saw through his purpose, Zhang Feng smiled awkwardly and said, "Indeed, you've practiced bayonet fighting well. When facing those landlords' armed forces, sometimes a single charge with a bayonet is enough to finish them off."

Zhang Yinghao had already guessed the general content of the Dragon Bronzebeard incident without even asking. It was definitely another tragic story. Zhang Feng had rushed over in such a hurry, so he must have come to plead for mercy, and he was trying to deceive him.

Sure enough, before this person arrived, he heard Long Tongxu's loud voice.

...Let me go, I'll go find Chairman Zhang myself. Let me go, that landlord is a bastard, I'll take the blame for my own actions."

Hearing these words, Zhang Yinghao knew that handling this matter wouldn't be a problem. He walked to the door and saw four or five soldiers carrying a man, who was still struggling on their shoulders. Zhang Yinghao waved his hand, signaling them to put Long Tongxu down.

As soon as the comrades put Long Tongxu down, he saw Zhang Yinghao standing before him. He instantly stood there like a good child, standing at attention and saluting. Seeing that he was about to speak, Zhang Yinghao didn't want to listen to any nonsense and said, "Okay, let me tell you the details."

"Chairman, that landlord, that old man.

"Don't curse in front of me.

"Chairman, that landlord is a ruthless person. I used to herd cattle for him. My sister brought me food, but the old beast saw me. He immediately had his lackeys hold me down and take my sister away. Later, he wanted to lock me up in the woodshed, but I escaped when the two lackeys weren't paying attention. I didn't dare go home until dark. When I got home, the house was already on fire..."

Long Tongxu couldn't hold it in any longer and burst into tears. Everyone felt very sad after hearing what he said.

"I immediately asked the neighbors and learned that my sister had been murdered by the landlord that day. When my parents heard that my sister and I had been captured by the landlord, they immediately went to the landlord's house to demand our release. I never expected... I never expected that old beast to be so heartless and beat my parents to death.