The Heroic Age of the Late Qing Dynasty

Onward, onward, toward victory. The red flag of revolution flutters in the wind, and the sons and daughters of China strive to become stronger. Working diligently to build a beautiful nation, we vow to realize our ideals in the future. Onward, onward, the revolutionary momentum is unstoppable. Onward, onward, toward victory.

Our roads are bathed in sunshine, our songs reach far and wide. We have friends all over the world, building bridges of friendship across the five continents.

Onward, onward, the revolutionary momentum is unstoppable. Onward, onward, towards victory.

Our path is vast, our future is glorious. We dedicate ourselves to this magnificent cause, boundless happiness and supreme glory. Forward, forward, the revolutionary momentum is unstoppable.

Move forward, move forward, towards victory.

Chapter 193:

Impassioned, awe-inspiring, and unwavering, the song is unwavering, unrepentant even until death. Zhang Yinghao wrote this song alongside the "March of the Volunteers" before his surprise attack on Chengdu. He simply changed the line "I vow to turn my motherland into a paradise" to "I vow to realize my ideals in the future." After all, the concept of paradise is a Western import, and one associated with religion, so Zhang Yinghao felt the change was necessary.

At this time, the revolutionary army won a complete victory in the face of the Qing Dynasty's encirclement and suppression. Wherever the revolutionary army went, the bandits and bullies in various places were eliminated and almost disappeared. The public security was unprecedentedly good.

Well, a large number of people have gained land, and it is appropriate to sing this song at this time. In this chorus of tens of thousands of people, it is filled with people's infinite hope for the future; the joy of gaining a new life; freedom, the Lord, hope, unity, and the belief that we will be invincible and unstoppable.

How many people shouted at the top of their lungs, how many people sang with tears on their faces, how many people gave without regrets, how many people were deeply moved at this moment, and how many people were truly liberated.

Zhang Yinghao knew that the power of the people was great and invincible. At this moment, Zhang Yinghao believed that many of his comrades should feel the same way as he did.

Bao Shilin listened to the chorus of at least 100,000 people, the overwhelming momentum making his scalp tingle. He looked at the cadres who had come with him to greet Zhang Yinghao, and almost all of them had goose bumps and hair standing on end.

Bao Shilin felt a tingling sensation on his scalp, but he also felt a sense of unease. He glanced at Zhang Yinghao, who remained calm, as if the crowd around him didn't exist. He had no idea what he was thinking. He simply waved to the crowd, chanted slogans, and sang along with them. Bao Shilin collected his thoughts and followed Zhang Yinghao to the conference hall.

When Zhang Yinghao led his team into the city, three special guests also saw the scene of the people gathering to sing. At this time, their faces were gloomy and dark, and they felt like they had entered another country. Seeing the degree of passion of these citizens, they fully believed that as long as they were given a gun, these citizens would

The people dared to go to the battlefield immediately.

These three were the British Minister to China, Sir John Jordan, the Consul General in Chongqing, Sir John Smith, and the Commissioner of Customs in Chongqing, Sir William Gillard, along with an interpreter. Previously, they believed the Sichuan rebels were like the Boxers in Beijing, a motley crowd whose capture of Chongqing and Chengdu was pure luck.

As time went on, they collected more and more information. But the content they collected completely overturned the view that the program they had created in the first century was a revolutionary party. These people were not only revolutionaries, but also had a complete and mature program.

They have a strict organization and strict discipline. They are united in their external affairs and speak with one voice. These investigations have left the great powers confused. How can this be true? The backward Far East has actually formed a modern political system. It is as strange as a white rabbit popping out of a chimney. This makes them feel that the four

There has been a huge change in Trump's attitude.

When the British met Zhang Feng in Chongqing, according to their previous plan, the revolutionary military government was not in a rush to engage the British, so Zhang Feng adopted the same reckless approach as in Chengdu. As for the consulate and customs office in Chongqing, Zhang Yinghao remained unhurried. As long as the British didn't deliberately embarrass him, he wasn't bothered to confront them head-on.

The British forced Chongqing to open as a port, and they had a stronghold there. Therefore, an attack by the Qing Dynasty would have required British assistance and promises. The Qing Dynasty wanted to involve the British, but they could only play the role of grandsons before the British. Therefore, without British intervention, the Qing Dynasty was constrained and dared not attack without authorization. Most importantly, with the presence of powers like Britain and France in Chongqing, the Qing Dynasty could not arbitrarily block the Yangtze River shipping route. If they dared to do so, they would have slapped the British in the face.

At this time, almost all the merchants in Chongqing were foreigners. If the Qing dared to intercept Zhang Yinghao's goods, he would make it impossible for people from countries like Britain and France to survive in Sichuan. So, the Qing needed the British's approval to attack Zhang Yinghao, and the British needed Zhang Yinghao's approval to gain more benefits from Sichuan. Zhang Yinghao needed the Qing's approval to gain more benefits, and the Qing feared the British. Miraculously, under these constraints, the Yangtze River waterway has remained intact to this day.

So the Chongqing consulate and customs issues continued to drag on, but ultimately there was no solution. Meanwhile, Britain was expanding its interests in Sichuan by creating a new port in Wanxian, placing it under the jurisdiction of the Chongqing Customs. Chongqing was no longer under Qing control, and to instigate conflict between the British and Zhang Yinghao, the Qing agreed without hesitation, passing the buck directly to the British and Zhang Yinghao.

In Chongqing, the British met with Zhang Feng and explained the situation, albeit with a certain arrogance. But regardless of the threats and intimidation, Zhang Feng refused to comply. Zhang Feng had no say in the matter, and indeed, he didn't dare to make the decision. He could only send the man to Chengdu.

The three British people were really shocked when they saw the 10,000-person chorus in Chengdu. They were able to serve as diplomats, and their abilities were beyond words. They were extremely sensitive to politics, and they naturally knew

What does this mean? And they all know that nationalism is the biggest enemy of these colonists. Once the colonists in a place begin to develop a sense of national state, it will be the beginning of the resistance of these colonized people.

People feel it most deeply, as was the case with the former colonies of the United States, the Boer territories, India, and even Canada and Australia.

Why did the great powers give up their plan to colonize China? It was not because they were kind, but because they had uneven distribution of resources and fierce internal strife, which really made it impossible for them to do so. The real important reason was that the power of the Chinese people in the Boxer Rebellion frightened the Western colonizers. On the one hand, they called the Orientals yellow.

The monkey said that the Far East was an uncivilized barbarian land. On the one hand, he promoted the Yellow Peril Theory, was always vigilant about the increase of the power of the Qing Dynasty, and strictly controlled the work of the Qing Dynasty.

Industrial construction and military construction.

But now, the situation in Sichuan had completely exceeded the British's expectations. This emerging regime lacked the blind xenophobia of the Boxers, but instead preached nationalism. They had already assembled an army of tens of thousands, repeatedly defeating the Qing army, and were now able to mobilize tens of millions of people. This completely exceeded the three British's imaginations. They seemed to see the rise of an unstoppable new power.

At this time, Zhang Yinghao was also listening to the work reports of Luo Zelin and others. After all, in the few months that Zhang Yinghao was away, no one stopped their work.

Luo Zelin reported: "...Chairman, we now have over 50,000 registered full-time party members. Among them, there are over 40,000 male members and over 10,000 female members. The number of probationary members and active party members is even greater..."

"Oh, so many people? Have they all received relevant training?" Zhang Yinghao knew that going from zero to one was the hardest and slowest, but going from one to two was much easier, and from two to three to infinity was simply a matter of replication. If there were originally a thousand party members, a simple round of recruitment could increase the number to five thousand. With five thousand recruiting another round of recruitment, fifty thousand wouldn't be too many.

"Chairman, these comrades who have officially joined the Party have already undergone relevant studies. Although they do not yet have the proletarian consciousness you mentioned, we held a meeting to discuss it and felt that this consciousness is too difficult to achieve. The relevant decision has been sent to you for approval. What do you think?"

Zhang Yinghao smiled and said, "I'm a member of the Forward Party. Since the comrades have discussed this matter in a meeting, based on the principle of centralism, I naturally agree. Besides, our party oath doesn't say that everyone must have proletarian consciousness, right? It just gives some basic requirements. And is 50,000 party members a lot? Not many. Party membership is just a status, a testament to one's excellence. I hope everyone can reach the level of a party member!"

After this reminder, Zhang Yinghao finally remembered. He had been absent from the Party Committee's meeting to discuss recruiting new members, as he had been busy. The Party Committee's final decision was that recruiting new members didn't need to have proletarian consciousness, as Chairman Zhang Yinghao had suggested, and that the standards should be lowered. As long as someone was willing to work for the Party and obey its arrangements, the Party should give them a chance. As for whether they were qualified and whether they were admitted, that would require extensive further education.

Zhang Yinghao agreed to this, but only requested that the comrades joining the party be more workers, not landlords and gentry. As for female comrades, Zhang Yinghao welcomed any who dared to work, and even more so if they applied to join the party. As long as these female comrades dared to fight against the old society, they would be protected by the new society led by Zhang Yinghao.

"However, there are not enough female comrades. We need to mobilize more female comrades to work. Women hold up half the sky. Our nursing schools and normal schools should recruit more female comrades. These jobs are suitable for women."

"Okay, Chairman. Right now, our party members are concentrated in the army, government, and factories. There are relatively few party members among the peasants."

"Well, that's normal. Farmers are slow to learn. Our Progressive Party mainly recruits members from working workers. It's the Worker-Peasant Alliance, so if farmers want to join the Party, they should start with rural cooperatives. Those leaders should be considered relatively outstanding farmers, so we can develop them appropriately."

"Ok."

"Let the agriculture and water conservancy departments speak."

"Chairman, we've been working on water conservancy projects since we started in Zhangjiagou during the revolution. Currently, we've dug over 2,800 ditches, built over 50 reservoirs, added over 200,000 mu of irrigated land, and established five seed breeding bases. Our current grain reserves are 1 million tons, ensuring there won't be any problems with our military supplies. Cotton..."

Zhang Yinghao knew that the three key factors for high grain yields were pesticides, seeds, and fertilizers. Currently, Zhang Yinghao had no way to produce pesticides or fertilizers, only farmyard manure, so he had to start with seeds. As everyone knows, plump seeds are generally superior to shriveled ones, and the seeds from the breeding base were all good.

Of course, this is not what Zhang Yinghao wants. He knows that hybridization has a very good effect on the high and stable yield of many crops.

If they could create hybrid rice, could they not create a simple hybrid rice species? So Zhang Yinghao started researching this very early.

"Well, we need to increase cotton planting efforts. Also, you should discuss whether cash crops like sugarcane can be planted in large quantities..."

"Chairman, the best place to grow sugarcane is in Yunnan and Guizhou. The conditions there are much better than in Sichuan."

"Well, let's try planting and gain experience! And the industrial sector, please tell us about your current construction situation!"

"Chairman, the new steel plant built by our industrial department has been successfully tested and put into production. It has 5 ironmaking furnaces and 3 steelmaking furnaces, with an annual output of steel.

About 4 tons, and about 8 tons of iron..."

"Can you produce steel rails?"

"We can produce steel rails. If we do, we can produce about 2 tons per year. This is only the first phase of our project. In the future, our output will definitely exceed that of the Hanyang Iron and Steel Plant."

"Okay. That's the kind of ambition I should have."

"In addition, we have built four new textile factories, five garment factories, three cement factories, and more than 4 hardware factories..."

"Well, we need to adapt to local conditions. We need to plan well. We should develop agriculture where it is suitable, and develop industry where it is possible. What about the Ministry of Health?"

"Chairman, the blood typing tests you assigned us have been completed, and the supporting production plants for infusions and other supplies are already in production. Furthermore, Chengdu Medical College has begun large-scale enrollment, and the affiliated nursing school has been in session for a semester. The medications you mentioned earlier are now being finalized, and I believe they will be ready for production soon. And the requirement that each town must have a health center, as you stated earlier, is almost complete. We've provided some basic training to those rural doctors and are now assigning them to work at the local health centers..."

Chapter 194:

"Well, every town must have a health center. This is a political task that must be completed. It is the most important part of our medical system.

Even if those doctors can only treat simple diseases and only know simple medical knowledge, our people can suffer less pain and suffering.

If you understand the principle of inflammation and pus, and know how to disinfect gauze, you can save many lives."

Zhang Yinghao thought for a moment and continued: "As for the fact that blood types can be tested, let's start with the military. All military comrades

The blood type of each soldier must be tested, and the blood type number is written on the number plate of each soldier to facilitate battlefield treatment. In the future, new recruits will have their blood type tested when they are recruited. Look, after a battle, how many soldiers died from excessive blood loss? If blood transfusions can be given in time,

If so, many soldiers would not have lost their precious lives. Keep up the good work! What about the tax department?"

"Chairman, our tax revenue last year was only 8 million taels of silver, which is nearly half of what it was during the Qing Dynasty. This is mainly because we have abolished a large number of lijin taxes, cut most of the excessive taxes, lowered the price of salt, and reduced the

Land tax. Due to staff issues, many places hastily lowered taxes, but land reform was delayed, resulting in a reduction in tax revenue.

Everyone sighed when they heard that taxes were half what they were during the Qing Dynasty. They all knew how many checkpoints had been abolished, how much lijin had been reduced, and, coupled with the land reforms, they thought a third of the Qing Dynasty level would be good. They were surprised to find that it was only half, which was completely acceptable.

"This goes without saying. Land reform is fundamental. We were lucky to have this much last year. I don't expect to live on that little bit of land tax. As for the issue of salt prices, there's no need to mention it. If we also earned millions of taels of silver through salt taxes, we would be the second Qing Dynasty. The current price of salt is not cheap, it's still too expensive. Salt is a necessity for the human body, but the daily demand is not large. In the future, a pound of salt will be cheaper than a pound of grain. Moreover, many places now collect taxes in silver. In the future, we will try our best to only collect our RMB. We must ensure that our RMB circulates quickly and that the people accept our paper currency. Of course, in Nongran Village, our taxes are grain, but if the people are willing to pay taxes with money, there is no problem."

"it is good."

Zhang Yinghao knew that the abolition of the lijin tax meant a reduction in income. However, the circulation of commerce and the prosperity of trade were even more important. Land reform hadn't been completed yet, but in all areas of the province where it had already been implemented, the land rent was still 30%. The Chinese people had been dealing with land for thousands of years. Sichuan, known as the Land of Abundance, was a prosperous province, yet the land rent remained exorbitantly high.

The land in western Sichuan is relatively poor, yet the rent is still over 50%. On the Sichuan Plain, rents of 60% to 70% are common, with some even reaching 90%. After Zhang Yinghao and his team lowered the rent, the people suddenly had nearly double the amount of food they needed, and could now eat fine grains year-round.

In the rural supply and marketing cooperatives, people could buy salt, cloth, farm tools, and more at affordable prices. This was like an additional income for the people. How could they not be happy? Zhang Yinghao wasn't at all worried about some people being unable to pay or unwilling to pay even the 30% tax. With underdeveloped productivity, anyone who didn't pay taxes would suffer a loss far greater than the small tax revenue alone could compensate for by simply eliminating their access to cheap goods from the supply and marketing cooperatives.

Now the people in the areas where land reform has been carried out have benefited.

The farmers in the area are almost jealous. As long as the new government's policies are implemented, the burden on the people will be much lighter. With this goal,

Of course, Zhang Yinghao only learned this through his later investigations.

Zhang Yinghao couldn't develop industry without a market. For Zhang Yinghao now, the vast rural market in Sichuan was his own blood-regenerating pills and strength-enhancing pills. However, there were no consumer electronics here, primarily agricultural tools and other goods. Furthermore, Zhang Yinghao needed a vast rural labor force to develop industry, and the Qing Dynasty's practice of tying labor to the land through a leasing system was unacceptable. Furthermore, the Qing Dynasty's landlords and gentry severely exploited the common people, leaving most people with little to no savings year-round. How could they afford Zhang Yinghao's industrial products?

If we want to develop industry, we must develop commerce and let the labor force

To liberate them, we must smash all things that are not suitable for industrial development, and use various means to promote commercial circulation. At the same time, we must also liberate the rural areas.

Labor force is gradually liberated.

"Next, Comrade Shilin, please also talk about the financial issues!"

"Chairman, we have already issued 1 billion yuan in RMB. We can say that we have over-issued currency, but our money is still acceptable to the people. All supply and marketing cooperatives only accept RMB, not silver or copper coins, and this has achieved very good results. Military and police spending has reached 80 million yuan, while civil servants' salaries and office expenses are around 50 million yuan. Education spending has also reached 100 million yuan."

Many people present were stunned when they heard these figures. Zhang Yinghao didn't feel anything. According to Zhang Yinghao's fixed grain price, ten billion yuan in banknotes was equivalent to one hundred million taels of silver. For the vast Sichuan province, without the circulation of silver and money, it was actually not much.

"Yes, that's right. Education is the foundation of a nation. Everyone knows our country lags behind the world, and this lag is comprehensive: economic, political, organizational, and so on. But in my opinion, it's really all about people. Everything revolves around people, and when people lag behind, everything else will naturally lag behind.

As everyone knows, we currently cannot produce high-quality cannons or machine guns. Our barrels simply can't last as long as others. This is reality, and we must acknowledge it. Therefore, without sufficient talent, we cannot develop industry and enter the industrial age. If this continues, we will be like the Qing Dynasty, at the mercy of others.

The key to solving this problem lies in education. Only by developing education can we address the current state of public ignorance and cultivate sufficient talent. I'm not just talking about children's education; how many times have we received training? I'm also referring to adult education, universal education. Only in this way can we fully escape our backwardness and embark on the path of rejuvenation and prosperity.

Therefore, in our country, education spending will always be our top priority. We must always prioritize meeting educational needs, no matter how poor we are. Well… although education is a national concern, we must also add that no matter how hard it is, we must not let children suffer.”

Everyone couldn't help but applaud when they heard Zhang Yinghao's passionate words. Zhang Yinghao waved his hand and continued, "Sichuan is a great place. Now the entire province has become our base. Does anyone know where we can find a railway engineer? We want to build a Chengdu-Chongqing railway. Since our steel mill can produce rails, no matter how poor we are, we will build this railway. In 1902, our slogan was 'Sell everything we have to build a railway.' Okay, go on."

"In addition to the above expenditures, 15 million was spent on water conservancy projects, 10 million on road construction, and another 1 million was allocated for the special fund for the establishment of the Anti-Smoking Bureau..."

Suddenly, a figure rushed into the meeting room. Seeing Zhang Yinghao in the meeting, he stopped at the door. Zhang Yinghao looked and saw that it was his wife Xueer. Needless to say, after not seeing each other for such a long time, the newlyweds naturally missed each other very much. At first, everyone looked at each other in silence, and suddenly they burst into laughter. Xueer immediately felt embarrassed. Zhang Yinghao also laughed, stood up, walked over, took Xueer's hand and said, "I plan to go home after the meeting. You wait for me outside first."

"Ah."

After Xue'er turned and left, Zhang Yinghao returned to his seat and jokingly said, "I'm married. I haven't seen you for such a long time, and I miss you. You guys who don't have wives should find one quickly."

After hearing this, everyone immediately laughed again.

"Okay, let's continue the meeting."

"I just said the special fund for smoking cessation is one million yuan..."

"Chairman, three British people want to see you now. They want to open an additional port in Wanxian. What do you think we should do?"

"Have you held a meeting to discuss this?"

"We have no experience, so we don't know what to do."

Zhang Yinghao frowned and said, "I don't know what to do? Do I know what to do? If I don't know what to do, can I just not do it? Forget it, let's arrange for us to meet these three British people together tomorrow and find out what they are up to."

"Chairman, news of our revolution has spread across the country, north and south, up and down the Yangtze River. Many people are coming to us now, from Shaanxi, Gansu, Hunan, Hubei, Yunnan, Guizhou, and even from the three northeastern provinces. In short, there are people from all over the country. What do you think we should do?"

"Hmm? I think we've discussed this before, right? No matter who they are, once they arrive at our base, they have to obey us. First and foremost, they must support the nationalization of land. As for the rest, they'll work half a day and attend classes half a day. Isn't that what we've always said?"

"That's what they say, but some people want to join our army directly, some want to join our government directly, and some people come to our base and start giving us orders, saying this and that, and their words are really unpleasant."

"Haha, our base can't afford to serve those who don't want to work. Those who are unwilling to learn humbly and start giving orders right from the start will inevitably make mistakes. Why should we care about their nonsense? If they don't want to work, how will they eat? If they can't stand it, they will leave. I still say that those who don't work with us are not our kind. With so many people here, we can't lack a few nonsense people."

"Ok."

"Any questions?"

Zhang Yinghao truly missed his wife, and he was quick to resolve the situation. Even so, the meeting ended an hour later. There was no other way; these matters were endless, one problem after another. Regarding his family, Zhang Yinghao could only say that he had a clear conscience.

"Okay, if you have any questions, that's all for today. The Chinese New Year is only a month away, so everyone should hurry up and finish the remaining work for this year so that everyone can have a good New Year. Adjourn."

Zhang Yinghao picked up his notebook, stood up and walked out. When the others saw Zhang Yinghao leaving, they started talking to each other. Zhang Yinghao didn't care about anything else. He took Xue'er's hand and said as they walked, "Have you eaten yet?"

"No! Mom asked me to come and tell you to go back for dinner. Look at you, you've lost weight."

"Hey, without fresh milk, bird's nest, or abalone, I definitely can't gain weight, but being thinner does make me look more energetic."

When Xue'er heard this, she immediately remembered the joke Zhang Yinghao had told her about men getting fatter and women getting thinner after marriage. She looked around frantically, and when she saw no one was around, she said, "You've just come back and you're already acting like a nobody."

Zhang Yinghao said with a smile: "I haven't seen you for such a long time. My temper has burned all my fat. I need to cool down tonight. Hehe, how is your job now?

Sample?"

Xue'er ignored Zhang Yinghao's dirty talk and said with a wry smile: "It's so difficult."

"Oh, tell me in detail."

"Alas, in Sichuan, there are many homeless children. Although we can take them in, we can't provide them with adequate medical care. You know, many children living on the streets have physical disabilities or defects, and ordinary medical care is useless. Now there is also the problem of finding teachers. Teachers are being sought everywhere, and many old teachers have been hired as teachers. If these children still don't get the education they deserve, they have no hope."