The Heroic Age of the Late Qing Dynasty

After talking with his mother, Zhang Yinghao no longer had the heart to look at the documents. He tidied up and went back to bed. Closing his eyes and thinking about his mother's question about killing, Zhang Yinghao suddenly remembered a few words from Li Bai's poem "The Knight's Song": "A man's duty is to kill. Killing one person is a sin; killing ten thousand is heroism. Killing nine million is the best of heroes. Among heroes, the path is different."

Different paths, different paths, isn't that different paths? Thinking about it, Zhang Yinghao still couldn't sleep, so he got up again and went to the desk, picked up the pen and started writing "Zongheng Jianghu":

Riding a horse across the rivers and lakes, I enjoy my life in this carefree world. A hero will not bow down for a beautiful woman. His passion is higher than the sky, and he has a cold and proud character. He was forged by heaven and earth, and his sword shakes away all demons and gods.

A young man should be a hero.

Holding the sword of setting sun and blood, and the knife of cold moon and frost in heart, you can see all the mountains from the top of the mountain.

A man's journey in this world.

Holding the sword of setting sun and blood, and the knife of cold moon and frost in heart, you can see all the mountains from the top of the mountain.

A man's journey in this world.

The next morning, Zhang Yinghao received the information on three foreigners. He had met Luo Sanle before. However, when negotiating or doing business with others, one must always treat each encounter as a first meeting, otherwise, sooner or later, one will suffer a loss. So, Zhang Yinghao carefully reviewed Luo Sanle's information. Next was the British Commissioner of Customs in Chongqing, Gwynedd, a chubby Englishman in his fifties. After reviewing his information, Zhang Yinghao moved on to the last person. It wouldn't have mattered if he hadn't read it, but when he did, he was shocked. China expert Jordan, a name Zhang Yinghao was very familiar with. Jordan's position at the time was Minister, but Zhang Yinghao knew that Jordan had succeeded Sadaoyi as Minister Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary to China. He had been the emperor in China for over a decade or two, a truly formidable figure.

Zhang Yinghao led his comrades and shook hands with them, saying, "Welcome, Consul Luo Sanle, how are you always? Director Gweiling, Minister Jordan, welcome to Chengdu. I am the Zhang Yinghao you are looking for."

The translator next to him translated Zhang Yinghao's words to these foreigners. Zhang Yinghao knew that people who could hold important positions in China would definitely be able to understand what he said. However, the British Empire was used to being arrogant and naturally disdained to use Chinese to respond to an anti-government armed force. The translation was just for them to show off.

Zhu Erdian and Ge Weiling had seen Zhang Yinghao from afar yesterday, but seeing his youthful face still filled them with surprise. They had already been surprised when they saw Zhang Feng's youthful appearance, but now, seeing Zhang Yinghao, they were almost embarrassed. They even thought they had been dumped. Otherwise, how could the leader of the Sichuan rebels be so young? Or were all the revolutionaries in Sichuan so young?

They had long known that Sichuan rebels didn't force their whips to be cut, yet they saw soldiers, factory workers, and countless young people cutting their whips. And the most popular hairstyle wasn't the traitor's side-parted haircut, but the flat-topped haircut. To the uninitiated, it looked like a monk. Now he finally understood why: it was because Zhang Yinghao shaved his head that way.

Jordan was a China expert, and he had a strong premonition that the countless troubles the British Empire would face in the East would be connected to this man. If possible, he would have even taken out a gun and shot Zhang Yinghao. Unfortunately, before they came in, they almost had their pants searched. He knew he didn't have any metal objects on him, and even if he did, he probably wouldn't be a match for this rebel leader.

"Hello, Zhang, nice to see you again."

"Haha, Consul Luo Sanle, we Chinese have a saying that it's a great pleasure to have friends coming from afar. I'm very happy too. Come, please take a seat. Waiter, bring tea. Have you gentlemen had breakfast?"

"We've all eaten."

"It's good to eat. Is it to your taste?" "It's delicious."

"That's good. I don't have any coffee at the moment. I wonder if Director Gweiling and Minister Jordan would like some tea?"

"No problem. I like tea, too." "Okay."

"That's good."

At this time, the waiter brought a few cups of hot tea and placed one on Zhang Yinghao's right hand. Zhang Yinghao said casually, "Thank you."

The waiter brought the tea without answering, then brought the tea to Ge Weiling and the others and placed the tea beside them.

“Three grams.”

“Three grams of oil.”

Then he passed it to Zhang Yinghao and the person sitting next to him, "Thank you."

"Thank you."

Just the act of serving tea astonished Zhu Erdian and Gweiling. As negotiators, they naturally kept a close eye on Zhang Yinghao and his men's every move. They felt as if they were not in a backward Eastern country, but rather attending a high-class gathering hosted by gentlemen. They also understood more clearly why the Qing army was no match for these revolutionary forces. These people looked nothing like those in the Qing court, but more like Westerners. Their short hair, elegant manners, and focused expressions made them look nothing like a group of rebels who had just rebelled a little over a year ago.

In reality, they didn't realize that anyone who could come here was naturally an excellent comrade, and their manners and interactions had already been practiced several times before meeting Zhu Erdian and his companions. As for saying "thank you," in the base area, it was common for superiors to pour water or tea for their subordinates, and no one dared not say "thank you." Everyone was so accustomed to saying "thank you" that they were used to it.

"Come, have some tea, please."

After Zhang Yinghao finished speaking, he picked up the teacup, blew on it gently, took a sip, and said, "We picked this tea ourselves. I wonder if it suits your taste."

"Yeah, not bad."

Chapter 197:

"Haha, I think so too. Sichuan is a major agricultural province. It's hard to say anything else, but when it comes to the abundance of natural resources, Sichuan is quite good."

After hearing this, Zhu Erdian said directly: "Well, Sichuan is good. Let's get straight to the point. I wonder what you think of the British Empire?"

Everyone pricked up their ears upon hearing this, knowing that today's main event was about to begin. Everyone's eyes turned to Zhang Yinghao. Zhang Yinghao knew that this question was actually a continuation of the previous conversation with the foreigner, and this was forcing Zhang Yinghao to express his position.

Zhang Yinghao was completely unconcerned at this point. With a province as his base, he wasn't afraid of any country in Sichuan. He stared at Jordan and said, "The British Empire is powerful, and your navy is also powerful."

Jordan immediately smiled. If this traitor knew the British Empire was powerful, that would be easy to deal with. He was worried about the Boxers, who were clueless and ignorant, which would be even more troublesome. But perhaps they didn't hear Zhang Yinghao's other point, which was that your army is not good in the Far East.

"Now we have signed a treaty with the Qing court. Do you agree with these treaties?"

"Has it finally come to this?"

Zhang Yinghao curled his lips inwardly, thinking, but he smiled and said, "Court Minister Jordan, are you kidding? We are now in a state of hostility with the Qing Dynasty, and you want us to recognize the treaty signed by the Qing Dynasty? I am not a party to the treaty, so why should we recognize it?"

"You don't admit it?"

"We weren't involved, so how can we acknowledge it? If I go find an Indian and ask him to write that the British Empire owes me 10 million taels of silver, will you, Britain, acknowledge it?"

"How is that possible? We certainly won't admit it."

"That's it. We didn't participate in it, we didn't do it, how can we admit it?"

"But the Qing government is your central government, and you must recognize the treaty they signed."

"Haha, Mr. Zhu Erdian, this is hilarious. We are an anti-government armed force, but you want us to recognize the treaty signed by the central government. Then we can just become the Qing army. I think you are planning to bully me!"

Just as the talks were about to collapse, Luo Sanle interrupted, saying bluntly, "Zhang, don't get excited. Setting this aside, your current drug ban in Sichuan is a serious violation of the interests of the British Empire. We demand that you immediately release those opium traffickers and promise not to ban drugs in the future."

"Oh, I'm sorry, Consul Luo Sanle, it's not us who need to ban drugs, but the people of Sichuan. You know that selling opium makes money, and I'd love to do something profitable, but public opinion is like this, and there's nothing we can do! And those opium traffickers have been publicly tried by the people and sentenced to death. They've already been shot, and I can't release them!"

"What, you bunch of thugs..."

"Calm down, calm down, Consul Luo Sanle, you are a gentleman, you must be more polite."

Luo Sanle almost laughed out of anger. A yellow monkey actually told him to pay attention to his manners. It was simply an international joke.

“Do you really want to ban smoking?”

Zhang Yinghao was silent for a moment before he laughed, "Haha, you really have to sell opium?"

"What do you mean by that?"

"As far as I know, you didn't sell much opium in Sichuan before. Instead, Sichuan exported opium to neighboring provinces. I think we should stop worrying about opium. We can do other businesses.

The export trade through Chongqing only costs 25 million taels of customs silver, which is actually not much at all. As long as you British people ensure the smooth flow and safety of the Yangtze River, we can increase this amount to 40 million or even 5000 taels of customs silver, which is not much either.

"Like Sichuan's unique pig bristles, tung oil, tea, silk, bamboo products, and ready-made clothes. Which one doesn't make more money than opium today?"

Zhang Yinghao's move had the foreigners tempted, their inherent greed aroused. However, even though they were tempted, they couldn't just agree. Ge Weiling said, "We'll talk about this later. We're going to open a port in Wanxian, which will be under the jurisdiction of Chongqing Customs. What are you going to do?"

"Have the British become so arrogant?"

Zhang Yinghao thought to himself, but said, "I still say the same thing. You should go to whoever you signed the treaty with to fulfill it. I have no responsibility or obligation to fulfill any treaty or agreement you signed with the Qing court. However, we can completely maintain the status quo of the customs in Chongqing. We can discuss it slowly later."

Are you kidding? Wanxian is now a smuggling port. Can it be given to you foreign devils?

"Are you asking us to be your bodyguards and use us as shields?" "Not bodyguards, nor shields, we have common interests.

Well. You also know that after we occupied Chongqing, we did not touch Li Qing Hai Tian, ​​but worked hard to maintain the status quo. You have a consulate in Chongqing, but we

We don't have a consulate in your country. We haven't cut off any trade, but have been slowly increasing it. Aren't you making more money?"

"What about Wanxian?"

"These are two different things. Let's not confuse them. Whether it's Wanxian or Chongqing, we both need to maintain the status quo. Otherwise, you will have to send

Send out your troops and warships, but we will not guarantee your safety at that time."

"Are you threatening the British Empire? The British Empire is not threatened." "No, no, no, Minister Jordan, Secretary Gwilling, Consul Luo Sanle, I have no intention of threatening you or the British Empire. Your British Empire is so powerful, and we are so weak. Only the strong can threaten the weak, not the weak. How can the weak threaten the strong? But, Secretary Gwilling, Consul Luo Sanle, I wonder how many more years you two can work in Chongqing?"

"what do you mean?"

"What I mean is, we should maintain the status quo and increase trade volume. We should make more money. Only by cooperating with each other can we make a lot of money! What do you think?"

"Well, we need to go back and discuss this."

"Of course we need to discuss it. There's no rush. We have plenty of time. Let's take our time. Come, have some tea."

The foreigner understood the meaning of serving tea and seeing off guests, and immediately said, "Zhang, can I take a walk around Chengdu?"

"Haha, welcome, welcome. You can walk around for as long as you want. Do you want a guide?"

"No, then, Zhang, see you next time?" "Okay, see you next time."

The negotiations were temporarily over. Zhang Yinghao smiled as he saw Zhu Erdian and the others out the door, then turned back and immediately held a meeting. The foreign devils, however, had not achieved their goal, so they also held a meeting after returning.

Zhang Yinghao returned to the main seat and said directly, "Okay, the negotiations are temporarily over. Everyone has heard what we said. Now, please share your thoughts!"

"Chairman, what on earth does this British man want to do?"

"Hey, what do they want to do? You have heard of colonization, right? Colonization means breeding, just like raising pigs, cattle and horses.

Why do we raise pigs? We raise them big, fatten them up, and then kill them for meat. But when the British colonized the country, they were raising their nation. So what was the purpose of raising pigs?

It's just plunder. What do the British want? They want to keep us like pigs, and they can plunder us however they want. As for the opium problem, is it easier to rob a healthy person or a sick person?

"They're dreaming."

"The British will die if they don't sell opium." "Damn, that's just a pipe dream."

"Haha, maybe the British are born drug dealers? But we think they are dreaming, but the British don't think they are dreaming."

After that, Zhang Yinghao recounted the history of the development of the British, from defeating the Spanish Armada to the triangular trade and colonizing the world. From the Opium War to the Second Opium War, and then to today's Eight-Nation Alliance invasion of China. After recounting it, he said: "Comrades, we say that we are materialists. Materialists must first admit the facts. The fact is that we cannot deal with the enemy's cannons and warships. Then we must face reality. What is reality? This is reality. The British are strong and we are weak. Now in the eyes of the British,

"They think we are inferior and uncivilized. They probably still think we are the Qing court and the revolutionary army is the Qing army. They probably think they can sweep across Sichuan with just a few thousand people."

"The only way to know is to fight."

"Haha, yes, you won't know until you fight. What's needed is this unyielding spirit, a fearlessness of death. In my opinion, if the British want to take over Sichuan, they must be prepared to lose at least 50,000 soldiers. They will also have to face endless barrages and endless security battles. However, the conflict has not yet developed to the point where war is needed to resolve it. Haven't you noticed that the British haven't issued a war threat yet? War is just a continuation of politics. They have a lot of political cards but they are useless now."

"Chairman, please tell us about it."

"Haha, if you're willing to listen, I can talk about it."

Zhang Yinghao spread out a map of China, drew a line on the Yangtze River, and said, "Sichuan is an inland province, and the Yangtze River is our only way out. However, the Yangtze River is under the British sphere of influence and is temporarily under the jurisdiction of the Qing Dynasty. If the British use warships to block our way, or if the Qing Dynasty sets up checkpoints, we will be at a loss. At least so far, the British have not threatened to cut off our Yangtze River shipping routes, right? This is because the British feel they have us by the throat and know our weakness. They think this is an important card, but playing it is not as effective as sending tens of thousands of troops.

Our Sichuan trade in goods is now inseparable from the British route. Of course, if the British continue to push their limits, we will fight them, no matter how difficult it is. A single blow is enough to prevent a hundred blows. For now, we can only compromise and let the British make more money, while the Qing Dynasty collects some customs duties. After all, we still have to pay them hardship fees."

After saying this, Zhang Yinghao slid his finger to Xizang and said, "Look at Xizang again. The British have always wanted to turn Xizang into their colony, and even wanted to make it independent. They crossed the Himalayas from India and have done a lot of things. Xizang has been our territory since ancient times, of course, since the Yuan Dynasty. We also have to thank Emperor Kangxi for once again bringing Xizang under the jurisdiction of the court.

The Xizang area is a natural barrier for Sichuan and even the whole of China.

It stretches across the entire Indian subcontinent to the south, borders Shaanxi, Gansu, and Qinghai to the north, and borders Xinjiang to the west. I don't need to tell you how important this strategic location is, do I? Even Emperor Kangxi said: "Xiang shields Qinghai, Yunnan, and Sichuan. If the barbarians continue to occupy it, there will be no peace on the border."

So I guess now that if the British want to cause trouble next, they will definitely start in Xizang. In order to prevent us from interfering in Xizang, the British will definitely threaten us with force from the Yangtze River and test us. If we interfere in Xizang, their gunboats will even go directly to Chongqing and bombard our cities along the river. So when necessary, we will attack Chongqing and other riverside areas.

We must give up everything temporarily. And we may have to face the double blockade and attack from the foreign devils and the Qing Dynasty, or even face attacks from three or even four sides.

So, comrades, always be prepared for war, for the real test will come next."

"Chairman, if that's what you're saying, we can't let this foreign devil go back. We should just hold him hostage."

Zhang Yinghao waved his hand and said: "It is useless to arrest these three foreign devils. Instead, it will become an excuse for the great powers. If these foreign devils are really arrested, then the foreign devils will get what they want. That will really solve the contradiction.

Will it intensify? Now the contradiction has not yet intensified completely, time is on our side. I have said long ago that the internal factors are the decisive factors in things. As long as we

"I have done it, and with the support of 45 million people in Sichuan, the threat from the British is nothing."

"Are we going to prepare for battle right now?"

"We've actually been preparing for war. How can there be any peace now? We're surrounded by enemies on all sides. We can be said to be in a land of war. I've said it before: who are our friends and who are our enemies? This is the primary question of our revolution. Come on, everyone's been in the revolution for so long, let's talk."

"Manchu Qing Dynasty." "Foreign devils." "Landlords and gentry."

Chapter 198:

"Since everyone knows our enemy, why haven't we implemented land reform yet? Are we waiting for the landlords and gentry to collude with the Qing or the foreign devils? If these landlords and gentry collude with the Qing or the foreign devils, what are you going to do?"

It was only after his mother's words yesterday that Zhang Yinghao realized that many people on his side must be opposed to the killing of the landlords. Having been away from Chengdu for so long, he didn't want to investigate who was behind it. There was no point in finding out. Political views differed, and reasoning with them was simply not going to work.

After hearing what Zhang Yinghao said, many people looked unhappy.

"Chairman, you know it's easier to destroy than to build. We simply don't want to completely destroy the existing order. We want to improve it bit by bit, transforming the landlord class's order into the order we need. Besides, those landlords and gentry aren't necessarily going to betray our country and our ancestors."

"It seems that you are well prepared!"

After listening to this, Zhang Yinghao sneered and said, "Let me ask you one question: after the reforms, will the landlords benefit more or will the poor people benefit more? If we don't take advantage of the perfect opportunity to eliminate the landlords and evil gentry, then after the local area is pacified, we will still have to compete with the landlord class for control of the masses and for the right to speak in the local area. We are almost all outsiders. Will the masses listen to us or the local landlord class? We have improved the lives of the masses. Will the masses attribute the credit for this improvement to our Forward Party or to the landlord class? There are so many things to do now that I can't handle it, and some comrades are still in the mood to compromise. I really don't know what you are thinking."

"Chairman, revolution doesn't mean those who follow us prosper and those who oppose us perish. Our revolution represents justice. Since revolution is conceived among the people, as long as we spread the word, the landlord class will eventually be destroyed. Even if we simply let them doom themselves slowly, it's the same thing. Taking advantage of the collapse of the old order to establish a new one is indeed the fastest way, but the local people will also suffer great pain and loss, and many people will die. Didn't you say that a human head is not a leek; if you cut it off, it won't grow back."

Zhang Yinghao glanced at the person speaking. No one said anything. It was obvious that many comrades already agreed with this statement or had heard similar remarks before. Zhang Yinghao suddenly remembered yesterday's report. Many people came in from outside, and among them were undoubtedly so-called revolutionaries. They naturally interacted with these comrades and told them their stories. It seemed that many comrades had been deeply influenced.

At this time, Zhang Yinghao had already planned to start an internal reorganization. Some people had just achieved such a small success, but they were already cocky and talking nonsense. These comrades of his were really inferior to the landlord class in many aspects.

Only then did Zhang Yinghao truly understand why many ancient emperors carried a sword, specifically to purge dissidents from within their ranks. While Zhang Yinghao wouldn't kill those who disagreed with him, he felt it was necessary to purge some of those who had left his own ranks. Revolution involves not only overthrowing the enemy and the old system, but also overthrowing one's own comrades and outdated ideas. Metabolism is, in fact, a very painful process.