The Qing Dynasty

Chapter 497 Customs and Concessions

Having said this, Teng Yuzao's expression turned serious.

"The imperial court allowed Zhili to take care of itself for ten years and would not provide any financial support to Zhili. However, Zhili, which had been ravaged by war, was in urgent need of recovery to ensure the livelihood of the people."

"If it were just this, it would be fine. According to my guess, the final result of this peace negotiation is likely to be that the coalition forces in Zhili will withdraw immediately after the peace negotiation is concluded, but the Russians who are fighting outside the Great Wall may not withdraw immediately. They may stay outside the Great Wall for a while."

"There are also the Japanese who have already occupied Korea. The Japanese have always coveted our land. For the Japanese living on the island, the area outside the Great Wall is a springboard for them to further encroach on and invade. The Japanese will continue to cause trouble there. We have to guard against all of this."

"Therefore, we must also maintain a strong army. After the peace talks, the vanguard army must not only not be reduced in size, but must even be expanded and strengthened."

Teng Yuzao took a deep breath and continued, "Through this incident, when the foreign devils invaded together, I believe you all understand one thing: if you fall behind, you will be beaten!"

Teng Yuzao waved his hand heavily. "If we don't want to fall behind others, we must reform and develop. So how should we reform? And where should we start?"

"There is no need to hide the fact that we should vigorously promote Westernization. Wei Yuan said it well in "Haiguo Tuzhi"! We should learn from the foreigners to control them. Zhili should not only vigorously develop industry, but also education and science and technology."

When Teng Yuzhao was excited, he suddenly realized that he had gone a little off topic and stopped talking in time.

"All of this requires money. Where does the money come from? Money won't fall from the sky. We in Zhili can only find a way ourselves. In order to solve the money problem, Zhili must make changes."

"In order to end this war as soon as possible and give Zhili a stable space for development, some things can be discussed, such as the compensation I just mentioned, which is to gain the upper hand, and can be discussed."

Teng Yuzao's impassioned speech made the four of them excited and excited. Xu Shichang was even eager to give it a try. However, they did not expect that Teng Yuzao suddenly stopped talking.

"But there are two points that are not negotiable."

"The first is the customs. The customs in the areas under my jurisdiction as the Minister of Commerce of the Beiyang government must be taken back. Specifically, the customs in Tianjin, the Niuzhuang customs in Fengtian, and the Yantai customs in Shandong."

Yang Shixiang interrupted with some embarrassment, "Customs, I'm afraid the court won't agree."

Teng Yuzao shook his head and said, "Under normal circumstances, the court would naturally not agree, but now Zhili is in a state of disrepair and has hundreds of thousands of troops to supply. If we ask for it now, the court will definitely agree. If we don't take this opportunity to ask for customs taxes, the court will definitely not give it to us when Zhili develops in the future."

"So, I will also submit a memorial to the court on this matter, stating in advance that these customs offices will be taken back, and I will also select suitable candidates for customs management and recommend them to the court for approval. Of course, I will also guarantee that every year, based on the tax revenue of the three customs offices last year, the court will receive its share, and based on last year's sailors, it will increase by 3% each year."

Teng Yuzao sighed and said, "Considering that many of the court's loans and indemnities are secured by customs taxes, in order to reassure the foreigners, the court can send personnel to supervise these three customs, and even supervise the customs to collect taxes according to the law and not engage in private fraud."

Xu Shichang said with some concern, "Marshal, if this is the case, the court will definitely agree, but can you guarantee that the customs revenue will increase year after year?"

Teng Yuzao smiled and said, "Juren, don't think that I, Teng Yuzao, am a warrior who can only lead troops to fight. To be frank, I can lead troops on horseback and govern the people on foot. Not only am I good at both civil and military affairs, but my civil administration is far better than my military skills! In this regard, no official in the world can match me."

Although Teng Yuzao said that he was bragging, his expression was full of confidence, as if he was the best. Teng Yuzao waved his hand, stopped talking about the customs, and continued.

"Second, the jurisdiction of the Tianjin Concession must be taken back, and any foreign army must withdraw from the Tianjin Concession. Not a single soldier may remain."

"Considering that many of their expatriates have lived here for many years, they have not only purchased real estate, but also opened some factories and foreign companies."

"Zhili only took back the jurisdiction and taxation rights. Foreigners who violated laws and disciplines were dealt with according to the laws of the Qing Dynasty, and foreigners were not allowed to interfere. As long as the foreigners could do this, the concession could be temporarily handed over to them for management."

"To put it simply, sovereignty is ours. Judicial and taxation powers will be taken back, and everything else can remain the same. They can even keep a portion of the tax revenue to pay for the management costs of the concession area and municipal development."

Although the term "municipal construction" mentioned by Teng Yuzao was very new, Yang Shixiang, Xu Shichang, Wei Jinghai and Liu Changfa could still understand it.

"However, I have to warn them that I will conduct an assessment every five years. If the municipal construction of a concession fails to meet the standards within five years, I will take that concession back. The specific standards will be based on the rebuilt city of Tianjin."

Teng Yuzao did not intend to take back the concession in one step, as that would increase resistance to peace talks.

On the contrary, at this time, Teng Yuzao would rather preserve this window facing the West so that Chinese people can have more direct and convenient access to Western modern education and advanced technology.

However, the Japanese must be driven away, but we will have to find a way to do that later.

No one in the room minded what Teng Yuzao said about using Tianjin as a benchmark for comparison. Some even thought that Teng Yuzao was deliberately making an excuse to keep the foreign concession.

However, they will soon feel the power of Teng Yuzao's words.

Teng Yuzao spoke to Yang Shixiang and Xu Shichang who were somewhat worried.

"Don't worry that the foreign devils will give up the peace talks because the conditions we put forward are too harsh, and instead continue to send more troops to fight us to the end."

"I can say responsibly that the foreigners will never continue to increase their troops on a large scale. The reasons are not only the ones I just mentioned, but also because the Queen of England passed away at the beginning of the year. The current King of England is his son Edward VII. They have just experienced national mourning and are being dragged down by the Boers in South Africa. They are eager to end the war in the Far East immediately."

Yang Shixiang still said hesitantly, "What the Marshal is planning is really far-sighted and beyond the reach of ordinary people. If we act accordingly, not only will the dignity of the country be maintained, but Zhili will also recover quickly and Westernization will be greatly developed."

"However, the imperial court is now determined to get the foreigners to withdraw their troops as soon as possible, and will even make concessions on ceding territory and paying compensation. I am afraid that the imperial court will not agree to put forward these conditions of the Marshal in the peace talks. I am afraid that without the imperial court's approval, Li Zhongtang will not agree."

Yang Shixiang's words made Xu Shichang, who was excited, quickly calm down. He nodded repeatedly with a worried look on his face to show his agreement with Yang Shixiang's words.

Teng Yuzao sighed and said, "Mr. Lian is right. The imperial court is indeed frightened by the foreign devils and really doesn't want to continue. It's not that it's hard for them to agree with my point of view, but they will almost certainly not agree."

(End of this chapter)