The Qing Dynasty

Chapter 629: Impressive Momentum
Teng Yuzao continued to exhort, "But Xingcheng, I have to remind you that you can't start the establishment of a party too early. This matter will have to wait for a while, at least until I get the position of the first prime minister of the cabinet."

"For now, you just need to establish close ties with the fan clubs scattered around the country and the main figures of the Qiangxue Society."

Yang Shiqi naturally happily agreed to Teng Yuzhao's instructions and requests.

Seeing that Yang Shiqi seemed still a little unwilling, Teng Yuzhao wanted to give him a few more instructions when Yang Shixiang suddenly spoke.

"Marshal, since your resignation as president of the Zhili Army is going to be published in the newspaper, why not make another statement to clearly express your support for constitutional reform, and it would be best if you could implicitly express your willingness to serve as the first prime minister."

"Commander."

Yang Shiqi seemed to be inspired by Yang Shixiang. He put away the joy that could not be concealed on his face and said the same thing.

"In my opinion, since you are going to issue a statement, you should not be too vague. It is better to be clear and make it clear that the Marshal wants to be the Prime Minister."

"You can even say that you didn't give up the post of President of the Zhili Army because you were worried about the damage to the country due to the war outside the Great Wall. The reason you resigned this time is that you are willing to coordinate and organize the military and political departments as the Prime Minister to jointly protect the safety of the territory outside the Great Wall."

"If this is the case, people of insight in the government and the opposition will certainly be more targeted and respond more actively, and the effect will be better."

The brothers Yang Shixiang and Yang Shiqi had different opinions on Teng Yuzao's statement, but each had his own strengths.

Yang Shixiang's method adheres to the Chinese people's usual tactful and modest viewpoint, but it also has its shortcomings, that is, the court can completely pretend to be ignorant and ignore his ideas.

Yang Shiqi's method was to go straight to the point and make things clear. This not only gave knowledgeable people in the society an immediate target to recommend, which helped to quickly create a great momentum, but also gave some court officials who were loyal to him a backbone. This made it easier for the government and the opposition to jointly push him to serve as the first prime minister.

By that time, the calls from both the government and the public would be growing louder, and even if Cixi wanted to arrange for Yikuang or other Manchu nobles to serve as prime minister, it would probably be impossible. At least she would not be able to ignore Teng Yuzhao.

It does have its shortcomings, however, it is too direct, and even has the implication of directly demanding the position of the first prime minister from Cixi, which is easy to be criticized.

Teng Yuzao thought for a moment and looked at the generals, "What do you think of the idea of ​​Lianfu and Xingcheng?"

The impatient Liu Shijiu was the first to speak, "Marshal, I agree with General Manager Yang's approach. It is obvious that only you are the most suitable candidate for the prime minister of the cabinet. Why do we have to hide it? It is best to do it this way."

Wu Peifu also said, "Master, I also agree with General Manager Yang's method. This way, the court cannot ignore Master, otherwise it will be condemned and they may even worry about causing unrest."

Subsequently, Li Xianze, Liu Changfa and Liu Bingyi also unanimously agreed with Yang Shiqi's proposal.

Teng Yuzao looked at Yang Shixiang again. Yang Shixiang understood that Teng Yuzao should also be inclined to Yang Shiqi's method, and said with a wry smile.

"Marshal, Xingcheng's method is the most direct and effective. If we follow his method, the court will have no choice but to give you the position of Prime Minister."

Sighing, Yang Shixiang said, "But if this happens, the commander-in-chief will no longer be Wang Mang. I'm afraid some people will say that the commander-in-chief is Cao Cao."

Liu Nineteen snorted disdainfully and said, "Be a Cao Cao, so what!"

Wu Peifu smiled and said, "If you want to talk about Cao Cao, then Cixi is actually the living Cao Cao. Although Guangxu and Cixi are now the co-rulers of the government, Guangxu does not even have freedom of movement and is still under house arrest. He is the real Cao Cao."

Everyone expressed their support for Yang Shiqi. Teng Yuzao suddenly asked Yang Shixiang, "Mr. Lian, you have many more ways in the court than Li Yaoting. Have you heard when the court will implement constitutional reform at the earliest?"

"It is said that it is tentatively scheduled for July or August next year."

After hearing what Yang Shixiang said, Teng Yuzao did not say anything, but walked over and poured himself another glass of beer. After thinking for a while, he seemed to have made up his mind. He drank the glass of beer in one gulp, put the glass on the table, and then said.

Both the Lianfu and Xingcheng methods are good, but I still prefer Xingcheng's method."

"The suggestion of the Lian Mansion is tactful and in line with the etiquette and habits of the Chinese people, but this method is not conducive to winning the support of court officials as soon as possible. Don't forget that what I, Teng Yuzao, did is still supported by some knowledgeable officials."

"What's more, most of the more than 400 people who were identified as culprits by the coalition of great powers are now safe and sound thanks to my efforts. Many of these people are still in office, and they will also be my helpers and supporters."

"As for the time to implement constitutional government, the court set it a little late. We have lagged behind the Western powers for more than a hundred years, and even behind the Japanese for nearly forty years. We must catch up quickly and realize modernization in education, science and technology, industry, military, and national governance systems. In short, these are the five modernizations. Time is running out!"

"So, we need to step up efforts to push for constitutional reform, and I think January 1 next year would be the best time."

Apart from chemical fertilizers, other aspects of agricultural modernization were simply impossible to start with in the late Qing Dynasty, not to mention in China, but also in Europe and the United States, so Teng Yuzao did not mention it.

Teng Yuzao added, "I'm not talking about our calendar time, but the Western calendar time."

As Zhili and Shandong had increasingly frequent foreign exchanges and the number of documents and contracts exchanged with the great powers increased, the time difference was very inconvenient, so last year Teng Yuzhao had suggested to the court that a dual calendar system be implemented in the country, that is, the lunar calendar and the Gregorian calendar be used in parallel.

Teng Yuzao then said to Yang Shixiang, "Mr. Lian, you should be the one writing the memorial and the statement in the newspaper. You should reflect what I just said in the statement."

"In addition, I want to let the world know that after I become the prime minister of this cabinet, I will vigorously promote new policies in the country. For example, in terms of education, I will call on all sectors of society to donate to establish an education fund, implement five-year compulsory education free of charge throughout the country, so that all children can go to school and vigorously eliminate illiteracy."

"Vigorously promote Westernization and realize industrialization as soon as possible. To this end, we must reduce industrial and commercial taxes."

"We will also reduce or exempt agricultural taxes, especially in the wealthy provinces of Zhili, Shandong, Jiangsu, Zhejiang, and Guangdong. Within five years, all land tax will be exempted for those with less than five mu of land. This will be gradually extended to other provinces in the future, with the ultimate goal of implementing it nationwide."

"Also, all military families must receive special treatment."

Teng Yuzao said a lot of things, and after a long while he looked at the people who were still in a daze, waved his hand with a sense of unfulfilled desire, "That's all for now."

"it is good!"

As soon as Teng Yuzao finished speaking, Liu Shijiu started clapping excitedly.

Then he bowed to Teng Yuzao as an exception and said excitedly, "General, I thank you on behalf of all the farmers in the world. Exempting the tax on less than five mu of land is a great favor to the farmers. This sentence has saved many lives."

Teng Yuzhao smiled bitterly in his heart. He originally wanted to exempt all agricultural taxes, but he simply couldn't do it. He could only start in the wealthy provinces with developed industry and commerce, exempting some self-cultivating farmers from land taxes, and it would be delayed for five years.

As for the nationwide promotion, it is still unknown how long it will take! Yang Shixiang also said, "Okay!"

"I will mention all of your proposals in my statement. These proposals not only cover the interests of businessmen, gentry, and all officials, but will also receive their support. Even the free education proposal will be warmly welcomed by the literati. These proposals are like election manifestos. You are set to be the prime minister."

Yang Shiqi also exclaimed, "Once the Marshal's statement is released, no one can stop the Marshal from becoming the first Prime Minister of the Cabinet."

Judging from the expressions of Yang Shixiang and Yang Shiqi, the two brothers did not take all of his ideas seriously and just thought they were just casual remarks made by him to win people's hearts.

Teng Yuzao just smiled and looked at the generals, "Let's talk about the military arrangements."

Teng Yuzao looked at Liu Shijiu, Li Xianze and Wu Peifu and said.

"After the meeting, Ningbo will arrange an airship for you. The three of you will rush back to the troops immediately and arrange the rotation of troops with the Restoration Army as soon as possible, and then make preparations for the troops to set out."

"Yes!"

Upon hearing that Teng Yuzao had arranged military affairs, the three of them stood up excitedly and saluted in response.

Teng Yuzao waved his hand to signal them to sit down, and then continued, "Big brother will take care of Cao Futian, and Ziyu will take care of the Eighth Regiment and the Cavalry Regiment."

He looked at Liu Changfa and Liu Bingyi and said, "Qingyun, don't move the artillery detachments outside the pass and the second detachment at Shanhaiguan. Just make sure the third detachment is ready. The ninth detachment in Shoucheng should also be ready to deal with unexpected situations."

Teng Yuzhao inadvertently glanced at Yang Shixiang, Yang Shiqi and Li Yulin, then swept his eyes over the faces of several generals one by one, and finally stopped at Wei Jinghai's face, staring at Wei Jinghai and asked.

"Are you sure about Pan Jinshan?"

Although Teng Yuzhao had confidence in Pan Jinshan, after all, many officers in the Third Town were Hu Dianjia's former subordinates, so he couldn't help but ask.

Except for Li Yulin, all the generals present were members of the Endeavor Society. Among them, Wu Peifu, Liu Shijiu, Li Xiangze, Liu Changfa and Wei Jinghai were all executive members. In fact, Liu Yuzhi and Li Jinyu were also executive members. They formed the committee of the Endeavor Society, but they were not in Tianjin.

Since the position of president was reserved for Teng Yuzao, major matters are now decided jointly by the executive members, and daily liaison matters are handled by the two secretaries-general and deputy secretaries-general. Wei Jinghai is now the secretary-general and Wu Peifu is the deputy secretary-general.

Wei Jinghai naturally knew that Li Yulin was still unaware of the affairs of the Endeavor Society, not to mention that this matter had to be kept secret from the Yang brothers before it was made public.

So, in response to Teng Yuzao's question, he just gave a simple answer.

"Don't worry, Marshal! The Third Town is still loyal to you."

Since Pan Jinshan was not yet a member of the Endeavor Society, Wei Jinghai simply said that the Third Town was loyal to Teng Yuzao and did not mention Pan Jinshan.

But Teng Yuzhao already understood that even if Hu Dianjia did not agree with him, his former subordinates would not be able to influence the Third Town.

This is not just a problem for most officers in the Third Town, who should still be reliable.

But he had already told Wei Jinghai in advance the reason why he swapped Hu Dianjia and Pan Jinshan, so they should not be unprepared.

Now it seems that we should have been prepared for the worst-case scenario.

"Where is Xia Yuanshou's town now? It should be close to crossing the Yellow River, right?"

The people of Xia Yuanshou's town were temporarily assigned to the Zhi army to go out of the pass by the imperial court under the pressure of Teng Yuzhao in order to prevent the Russo-Japanese War from affecting the interior of the pass. At this moment, Teng Yuzhao suddenly asked about the people of Xia Yuanshou's town again.

After receiving the notice from the Ministry of the Army, Xia Yuanshou began to gather the troops stationed in Sichuan.

Transportation in Sichuan was extremely inconvenient at that time, so it took a long time to gather the troops, and then they trudged all the way here without stopping.

However, the road out of Sichuan is also extremely inconvenient. There are only two ways to go, and one is to take a boat down the river.

The other route is by land, through Hanzhong into Shaanxi, and then through Tongguan into Henan.

Although the Lu-Han Railway passes through Henan, it does not pass through Luoyang, which is closest to Tongguan, but starts south from Zhengzhou and goes straight to Hankou.

Therefore, if you travel by land, you have to walk a long distance in Henan to Zhengzhou before you can take the train.

After Xia Yuanshou's troops assembled in Sichuan, they first divided into two small steamers that could only carry one sentry troop and equipment at a time, went down the river to Hankou for assembly, and then boarded the train.

Since the Army Department was reluctant to assign Xia Yuanshou's troops to Teng Yuzhao, they did not provide them with any convenience. It was Teng Yuzhao who asked Zhou Shoushen to hire the steamer for them.

The upper reaches of the Yangtze River have fast currents and are covered with reefs, making it impossible for larger ships to pass through at this time. The only ships sailing in this section are British and Japanese, and there are very few ships from other powers.

For unknown reasons, the British and Japanese suddenly announced the suspension of their upper Yangtze River routes. Zhou Shoushen had no choice but to turn to domestic companies to hire ships.

Among the domestic shipping companies, Shanghai's China Merchants Steamship Co., Ltd. said that their ships could not be separated, so Zhou Shoushen had to give up.

Apart from China Merchants Steam Navigation Company, at that time only two small shipping companies in Hankou and Shanghai had small steamers, but together they only had two small ships.

This greatly extended the time it took Xia Yuanshou's troops to move down the river.

"Commander."

Wei Jinghai replied, "If everything goes well, their vanguard troops have already crossed the Yellow River last night and should be almost in Baoding now."

Teng Yuzao thought for a moment and said, "Notify the Baoding train station immediately to stop the train. Then send a telegram to our people in Baoding to order Xia Yuanshou's troops to get off the train in Baoding and go to Cangzhou and Hengshui to station and wait for orders."

"Remember, emphasize in the telegram that he does not need to wait for the troops to gather before taking action. Once a batch of troops arrives, they should leave Baoding immediately. The action must be quick."

(End of this chapter)