The Qing Dynasty

Chapter 649 Langfang
Three hours passed quickly and the train's electric horn began to broadcast that the train would arrive at Langfang Station in ten minutes.

Duan Qirui, who often traveled between Baoding and Beijing and to Henan, was no stranger to this small electric horn. It was also produced by Tianjin Zhendan Electric Company and was installed on the train only last year.

This kind of electric horn is very convenient. In the past, when the train was about to arrive at a certain station, the crew on the train would shout out the station name in each carriage to prevent sleeping passengers from missing their stop.

It is completely different nowadays. This kind of small speaker is installed in every carriage. When the train is about to arrive at a station, the small speaker will sound a reminder. Sometimes, even when the train is moving, it will play operas and crosstalk on a gramophone, which gives many opera fans a great enjoyment.

Duan Qirui spent these three hours or so very comfortably.

It was said that he was in the same room with those people, but since he got on the train, Officer Zhang had never shown up except to send him to the compartment. Duan Qirui was the only one occupying the compartment.

Moreover, the tea brought by Officer Zhang's patrol officers was also very good.

Duan Qirui was quite particular about drinking tea. He could tell that Officer Zhang's tea was Jasmine Peak Needle from Wu Yutai Tea House in Beijing, which was a top-quality scented tea.

One or two ounces of Jasmine Peak needles cost one dollar.

In this way, Duan Qirui, sitting on the sofa by the window, sipped tea and admired the scenery along the way.

Duan Qirui would pass this route once a year because he would go home before the Spring Festival every year.

When thinking of the Spring Festival, Duan Qirui would not think of Teng Yuzao. This name came from three years ago when Teng Yuzao and Zhang Zhidong jointly wrote a letter suggesting that the court should officially name the first day of the first lunar month as the Spring Festival.

The Spring Festival is the Lunar New Year, the beginning of the lunar year. The first day of the first lunar month is the traditional New Year's Day.

The Spring Festival is the most solemn and grand festival in our country. It is a major folk festival that combines praying for blessings, warding off disasters, celebrating, entertaining and eating. It is only not called the Spring Festival, but is called Shangri, New Year's Day, Zhengri, Yuanchen, Xinzheng, Xinyuan, New Year's Day and so on.

Looking at the scenery outside the window, Duan Qirui thought silently that Teng Yuzhao's position as the governor-general of Zhishan Province and the Minister of Beiyang was indeed a blessing for the people of Zhishan Province!

Before entering Langfang, all the places they passed were under the jurisdiction of Shuntian Prefecture. It was not until Langfang that this place came under the jurisdiction of Zhili. The difference between the jurisdiction of Shuntian Prefecture and Zhili was so huge that Duan Qirui was deeply moved.

In the jurisdiction of Shuntian Prefecture, Duan Qirui had only seen a wide asphalt road along the railway. This was built for Shuntian Prefecture free of charge by Teng Yuzhao, who said that the capital was the face of the imperial court and must have a decent road.

However, due to poor maintenance, the road surface in this section within Shuntian Prefecture has become bumpy and dirty.

Once you enter Zhili, you will find that the roads are not only well-maintained, but also very clean, without any dirt or debris such as cow and horse manure.

As for the villages and towns on both sides of the line, in Shuntian Prefecture you can still often see the ruins of houses that were burned and bombed by the Eight-Nation Alliance a few years ago, while in the villages and towns in Zhili, not only are there no ruins, but they are also much cleaner.

It is said that all the buildings in Zhishan Province that were damaged by war and which the poor people were unable to rebuild were rebuilt free of charge by the governments of the two provinces. Teng Yuzao even made this a criterion for evaluating officials.

Duan Qirui also sighed repeatedly when he saw the crops along the lines of the two places. The crops in Zhili were obviously growing better than those in Shuntian Prefecture. Duan Qirui knew that this was because the farmers in Zhili used fertilizers produced by the fertilizer factory under the Beiyang Alkali Factory.

In order to force the people in Zhishan Province to use chemical fertilizers, Teng Yuzao also forcibly added a five-year fertilizer tax in the two provinces. All the tax collected was used to purchase fertilizers to supply the villagers.

Although this was the only tax added after Teng Yuzhao abolished almost all the exorbitant taxes in Zhishan Province and even gradually reduced the land tax, it still aroused dissatisfaction among the people at first, especially the reactions of some gentry and large landowners were even stronger.

To the extent that some gentry whose sons served as officials in the court contacted some large landowners and wrote a letter to the court, demanding the abolition of the new tax, which attracted extensive coverage by the Capital Times controlled by Yikuang.

Of course, this new policy in Zhishan Province was not affected.

Moreover, it is said that the use of chemical fertilizers has indeed led to a significant increase in the yield of farmers' land in the two provinces. This matter has been reported continuously by newspapers in Shanghai, Hankou and other places.

After two years of practical testing, landlords and gentry in Jiangsu, Zhejiang, Guangdong, Guangxi, Shanxi, Anhui, and even Henan and Shuntian Prefecture have begun to purchase this fertilizer produced in Zhili for use.

According to the Ta Kung Pao, even the Japanese are now importing fertilizers from Zhili.

As for the scenery along the way, when entering Zhili, in addition to roads, villages, towns, crops, etc., there is one thing that Duan Qirui admired very much: many new trees have been planted on both sides of the railways, roads, rivers, and villages in Zhili. According to the Ta Kung Pao, this is to conserve water and soil.

Although they are all ordinary tree species such as poplars and willows, in this midsummer season, looking around, you can see lush green trees everywhere, which is very pleasing to the eye.

It is said that planting trees is also an assessment item for the performance of officials in Zhishan Province. Now private tree felling is prohibited in certain areas of the two provinces, and it will gradually be expanded to all areas of the two provinces in the future.

Although he felt that the train had begun to slow down, Duan Qirui did not move and continued to stare out the window. He really wanted to take a good look at the changes in the railway station in Langfang, an important town entering Zhili.

Every time he passed by this station, he could feel a big change.

"Knock, knock, knock," the sound of a few gentle knocks on the door made Duan Qirui, who was half lying on the sofa by the window and leisurely sipping tea, sit up involuntarily, thinking that it was the patrolman outside the door coming to change his tea again.

Officer Zhang said that he was worried that people from the Ministry of War and the Ministry of Revenue would disturb Duan Qirui, so he left four patrolmen in the corridor. When Duan Qirui went out to the bathroom, the four patrolmen were very polite to him.

As for the two Ministry of Revenue officials, the patrol police didn't care at all and scolded the servants serving the two Ministry of Revenue officials for walking around frequently in the carriage several times.

Probably because they had already experienced the bad attitude of the patrolmen, the two fourth-rank officials just huddled in the box and did not show up.

Duan Qirui stood up, walked to the door and opened it. The person standing outside was not a patrolman, but Officer Zhang himself.

Officer Zhang walked into the box and said to Duan Qirui with a smile.

"General Manager Duan, I have received an order that our Marshal Teng has arrived at Langfang Railway Station to welcome General Manager Duan, so we need to get off the train after we arrive at the station."

Duan Qirui was stunned at first by what Officer Zhang said, and then he blurted out in surprise.

"Xingfu knows I'm taking this train home!"

As soon as he said this, Duan Qirui couldn't help but smile bitterly. He suddenly realized that Teng Yuzhao must have been paying attention to him and might even have known about his treatment from the Ministry of the Army.

Moreover, everything, including the driver who took the initiative to buy the ticket for him and the special care shown to him by Officer Zhang, were intentionally arranged by Teng Yuzhao.

After thinking this through, Duan Qirui looked relieved. Duan Qirui sighed and said.

"Xingfu is so sorry for taking so much trouble for me! Well, I'll get off here, so I can thank Xingfu." As he was speaking, the train had already entered the station and began to slowly stop at the platform.

Duan Qirui, who was about to reach out to pick up his suitcase, was suddenly attracted by the scene on the platform, and his outstretched hand stopped instantly.

Because he saw that the platform of Langfang Railway Station was already filled with many Zhi army soldiers. A rough look showed that there should be two or three hundred people.

Duan Qirui knew that the Zhi army's troops at all levels were large-scale organizations, so he judged that this should be a sentry unit.

These troops of the Zhi Army were not only fully armed, but even their bayonets were mounted on the Mosin-Nagant rifles in their hands. Against the backdrop of the bright and cold bayonets, they looked murderous.

Fortunately, they did not spread out their formation, but lined up neatly, which made people feel a little more at ease.

In front of this sentry team, there were more than twenty Zhili army officers holding Mauser pistols with cocked muzzles, guarding several generals wearing golden general's rank, and a dozen colonels.

The murderous aura of these people seemed to be even stronger than that of the sentry behind them.

What surprised Duan Qirui was that the ferocious-looking big man in the lead was not only a lieutenant general, but he actually recognized him as Liu Shijiu, the commander of the Fourth Regiment of the Zhi Army, who was an ally of Teng Yuzhao.

These people, including Liu Shijiu, were obviously waiting for the train that was about to stop, but Duan Qirui was sure that they were definitely not going to take the train, but were waiting for someone.

Seeing Duan Qirui's expression, Officer Zhang said with a smile.

"General Manager Duan, you should recognize Liu Zhentong!"

Duan Qirui stood up and nodded, saying, "Of course I recognize Liu Zhentong, but I heard that his troops are monitoring the Japanese and Russian armies outside the Great Wall. Could it be that he has led his troops back?"

"But he doesn't care about the war outside the pass!"

Although Duan Qirui was talking, his eyes were fixed on Liu Shijiu.

Officer Zhang obviously couldn't explain what Duan Qirui said, he just said.

"Of course our Marshal will not ignore the things happening outside the Great Wall. I guess he has other plans!"

"As for Liu Zhentong, I heard that he led his troops back to seek justice for his brothers in the Zhi army."

Duan Qirui naturally understood what Officer Zhang said. This was probably a request for the Ministry of Army and the court to meet their demands for military pay and severance pay.

Looking at the aggressive Liu Shijiu, Duan Qirui suddenly showed a smile.

Duan Qirui was well aware of Liu Shijiu. He had long been notorious for his evil deeds. As a member of the Boxer Rebellion, he had never had the slightest respect for the imperial court, let alone the Ministry of Army.

Other generals would at least give some face to court officials, but Liu Shijiu would not care about that.

In view of the example of Yixin in the past, many officials in the court believed that if they angered Liu Shijiu, they might be chopped to death by him.

It is estimated that this time when Liu Jiujiu led his troops back, Teng Yuzhao used the strategy of "it takes a bad man to deal with a bad man" to borrow Liu Jiujiu's power to intimidate the court and force them to compromise.

Duan Qirui sighed helplessly, "Let's get off the car. I'd better meet Teng Xingfu earlier, and then I can go home earlier."

Duan Qirui's words were not just casual remarks. He was now completely tired of the treacherous officialdom.

Although he agreed from the bottom of his heart that Teng Yuzao was more suitable to be the prime minister of the cabinet, he still couldn't stand Teng Yuzao's methods.

"General Manager Duan, please wait a moment!" Police Officer Zhang stopped Duan Qirui who was about to leave.

Seeing Duan Qirui looking at him in confusion, Officer Zhang motioned Duan Qirui to look out the car window.

At some point, the Zhi army officers who were gathered around Liu Shijiu and holding Mauser pistols had already rushed towards the train.

Duan Qirui couldn't help but frown at the actions of the Zhi army officers.

"Officer Zhang, are they going to attack the people from the Ministry of Revenue and the Ministry of War on the train?"

Officer Zhang smiled and shook his head, "Don't worry, General Manager Duan, they won't do anything to these people. At most, they will just drive them back."

Soon Duan Qirui heard crying and begging for mercy coming from the adjacent carriage.

Officer Zhang smiled helplessly and said, "General Manager Duan, let's get off the car later to avoid being accidentally injured by stray bullets."

Soon, the group of Zhi army officers who rushed onto the train dragged more than 20 officers from the Ministry of the Army off the train.

Most of these officers from the Army Department were still normal, and there were even a few young officers with blood at the corners of their mouths who still stood with their necks stiff, looking unconvinced. However, the two leading officers were so frightened that they collapsed directly on the platform.

Seeing that the weapons of the people from the Ministry of Army had been confiscated by the Zhi Army, Officer Zhang said to Duan Qirui.

"General Manager Duan, let's get off the car too!"

As he spoke, Officer Zhang rushed to pick up Duan Qirui's suitcase and walked out of the box.

As soon as he got off the train, Duan Qirui heard Liu Shijiu's loud voice scolding the people from the Ministry of Army.

".Damn it, you guys just came to Zhili empty-handed. What is the salary policy for my troops? Where is the severance pay for the disbanded troops?"

"We didn't see anything, and you guys dare to ask me to obey you with your bare mouths. You're just dreaming. I won't beat you or kill you today. You all can get the hell out of here."

"Also, go back and tell that bastard Tie Liang that if you want to reduce my troops, you have to bring me money first. Otherwise, if you, the Army Department, dare to set foot in Zhili again, I will break your legs."

Hearing Liu Shijiu's shout, Duan Qirui finally felt relieved, as long as no one was killed!
Duan Qirui could not help but quicken his pace, following closely behind Officer Zhang, following the passage opened by the two patrolmen who pushed aside the passengers who were watching the excitement, and walked quickly away from the crowd towards the second-floor office building of Langfang Station.
(End of this chapter)