Guan Zhuofan picked up the pen and wrote down on the paper one by one:

Pinghu and Jingshan, the turmoil in China's core region has ended; Zuo Zongtang and Xuanjun joined hands to enter Gansu, and pressed the rebellion from the area bordering the Central Plains all the way to the west, and the war forced the northwest corner.

On the whole, China already has a peaceful internal environment necessary for long-term construction, reform, and development.

Let's take a look at the world out there.

Japan's backbone is discounted. Perhaps, it will try to grow back. However, Guan Zhuofan believes that it is more likely that Japan's bone frame will be completely dispersed. It depends: if it tries to graft itself, I'll punch it again; If its various components have their own intentions and always want to break off and reconnect, then I will send the Buddha to the West to help him dismantle his bones.

In short, in the foreseeable future, Japan will no longer be able to obstruct China's modernization process from the outside, as it did in the original time and space.

Based on the existing historical data, the European and American powers do not see that they have enough desire to sabotage the process of China's modernization.

What's more, the United States has become an ally of China. And after the conquest, the "fighting friendship cemented by blood" between the two sides was further deepened.

In addition, Britain has begun to start the process of rapprochement with China. A highly symbolic bill is being hotly debated in the House of Commons in the United Kingdom. At present, the situation in all respects shows that the British Empire has expressed a strong willingness to cooperate with China in an all-round way.

On the whole, China has a relatively long-term external peaceful environment necessary for construction, reform, and development.

Turn your gaze back home.

Westernization is in full swing, and partial construction and reform have begun. China's modernization is on the road.

Thereinto. There are far-reaching and significant reforms. The people of the time thought it was difficult to do, and later generations thought it was not feasible, but Guan Zhuofan resolutely did it, and actually started successfully, unloading a thousand catties of heavy burdens for the future journey of thousands of miles - for example, the reform of the Eight Banners.

In the process of ending the war and initiating reforms, Guan Zhuofan himself, at both the central and local levels. It has preliminarily completed its own power layout.

At the central level, he won the firm support of the empress dowager of the two palaces, the conditional support of the Manchurian aristocracy, and finally became the supreme person in charge of the government, and had more power to comprehensively implement reforms.

He and his supporters have become an overwhelming majority within the Military Aircraft Department, the central pivot, and the formulation and promulgation of policies are tied to his thoughts alone. It's almost as much as you want to do it -- and of course, you can't do it. Said another.

The establishment of an "advisory committee" not only takes the most important new policies such as railways directly into their own hands; It also used the financial killer of national bonds, pinched the lifeblood of the country, tied China to industrialization and modernization, and pushed China to the point of no return for reform.

In addition, the "advisory committee" has also torn up the gaps in the old bureaucratic system and laid the first foundation for the comprehensive reform of the bureaucratic system in the future.

At the local level, the most important coastal provinces, Jiangsu, Zhejiang, Guangdong and other wealthy, have fallen under the direct control of Guan Zhuofan; In the Tianjin region of Shandong, Fujian and Zhili, Guan Zhuofan also maintained a strong influence through other means.

However, most of the provinces in the interior are still outside the "guanxi" forces, and their control over the localities is far from sufficient. Whether it is to concentrate resources on industrialization or to consolidate his personal power base, Guan Zhuofan will further strengthen his control over the local government, which will be one of the priorities of his work in the next stage.

The control of the road of speech has been preliminarily realized.

However, at this stage, this "control" is only limited to the level of "suppression", that is, it has only barely achieved the suppression of speech against reform. In the next stage, it is necessary to encourage and cultivate voices that support and advocate reform, and truly stand on the commanding heights of public opinion.

The building and control of the armed forces have been relatively successful.

First of all, after a whole year of further transformation and training, Xuanjun successfully completed the "upgrading".

The "literacy project" has achieved remarkable results. When the Queen Mother was paraded, Wall once proudly said to Guan Zhuofan: "The Xuan Army must be the army with the highest literacy rate in the world!" ”

Discipline and cohesion have been greatly improved. In fact, it is precisely against this background that the case of the squad leader surnamed Feng beating a soldier surnamed Li and the case of Ma Jinzhong sneaking out of the camp have attracted special attention, aroused fierce debate among the members of the "Military Committee," and alarmed Guan Zhuofan's personal judge.

In other armies, none of these things are a fart.

The substantial improvement in cultural quality, discipline, and cohesion has brought about a marked increase in combat effectiveness.

Coupled with strict military training, as well as new techniques and tactics such as the "three-three system" developed by the Xuan Army, Guan Zhuofan can say to himself: This is the best army in the world, and it is certain to defeat any army of any country in a war that lasts for a short time.

"Shorter duration"? Well, what if it "lasts longer"?

Well, that's not going to work - behind me, there is no self-sustaining support system that can be sustained without a steady stream of support, and the resources of war will soon be exhausted.

So, get industrialized!

Secondly, Tong Guò was responsible for the reorganization of the Green Battalion, which indirectly controlled most of the security forces in China.

Third, the rest of China's armed forces, mainly the Hunan and Huai armies, are being greatly and continuously dismantled, and their total number is less than one-fifth of its peak.

It can be said that I have mastered most of the armed forces of China.

In addition, although the first step of national integration has not yet been officially taken, the general direction and framework have been determined, and have been firmly endorsed by the supreme ruler of the empire.

Overall, I don't seem to have done a bad job this year.

Next, China's near-modernization drive will be rolled out in an all-round way, and some reform measures will enter the "deep water zone". Well, what I'm going to think about now is, when, and under what circumstances, I'm going to have a substantive conflict with the conservative forces in China? Even, are you alive or dead?

So, who are the most powerful conservative forces holding back China's reforms?

Of course - the "landlord class", or rather, the "gentry class".

Well. The first thing I'm sure of is. Am I on my own? The ruling group I belong to. When I come into conflict with the landlord and gentry class, will they support me? Or will it be against me? Or, what can I do so that when the time comes, the group will support me instead of opposing me?

After crossing, Guan Zhuofan discovered that the ruling group of the Qing Dynasty - the Manchurian aristocratic republic. It would be very difficult to divide their class attributes by "economic components". After much deliberation, he was unable to classify this group into what we usually call the "big landlords" or "big gentry" class.

It can be said that the Manchurian aristocratic republic relied on the "landlord class" or the "gentry class" to a considerable extent, but it can never be said that they were the "representatives" or "spokesmen" of the "landlord class" and the "gentry class".

Because, the Manchurian aristocratic republic has always been highly vigilant against the "landlord class" and the "gentry class". To put it mildly, there are two hundred years of Qing. The former has been pressing the latter tightly under him, saying "represent" and "endorse"?

The reason for this is not complicated: whether it is the "landlord class" or the "gentry class", the word "Han" must be added in front of it.

Within Manchuria, of course, there were rich and poor people, but from the beginning to the end, it did not really form its own "landlord class" and "gentry class."

The Manchurian aristocracy was a republic and held the political power of the state, but the wealth directly owned by each individual who made up this group, especially land, was in fact very limited. The Manchu aristocratic republic was to control the wealth of the country in the name of the state.

In other words, the direct relationship between the individual Manchurian aristocracy and the "landlord class" and the "gentry class" was limited.

The main reason for the eventual success of Sejong's series of heartbreaking reforms is the main reason.

If we compare the Qing Dynasty with the Ming Dynasty, we can see this situation more clearly.

After becoming an ancestor, the pro-vassal of the Ming Dynasty not only lost their political power, but was also strictly guarded by the imperial court. However, as compensation, the emperor allowed, connived, and supported his relatives to acquire a staggering share of social wealth, including land. As a result, the clans became the most authentic "big landlords" early.

Later commentators often marveled at the strength of the civil official group in the Ming Dynasty, and the situation in which the emperor was subject to the civil official group can almost be described by the word "wonderful". The usual explanation is that the Ming Dynasty suppressed military force and emphasized literature, and the civilian official group was able to be arrogant. Guan Zhuofan thinks that this is of course one of the important reasons, but not the most important one.

The most important reason was that the emperor of the Ming Dynasty could not rely on the clan and was alone, and in order to rule effectively, he could not do without relying on the representatives of the gentry and landlord class -- the civil official clique. Therefore, strictly speaking, the civilian-bureaucratic clique did not work for the emperor, and the essence of the relationship between the two sides was that they were in power together.

This is the most important reason why the civilian clique is so awesome.

This is also the fundamental reason why land annexation is intensifying and industrial and commercial taxes cannot be collected.

Land, industry and commerce, are the meat of the civilian clique -- you tell them to cut their own flesh?

Only Zhang Juzheng and a very small number of people who understand are willing to eat it and spit it out a little bit.

If the emperor wanted to collect taxes and compete with the civil bureaucracy for the dominance of governing the country, he had to resort to the special tool of eunuchs.

This is why the Ming Dynasty became one of the most powerful eunuch dynasties in Chinese history - the emperor had no other choice.

It's a pity that the side effects of the eunuch tool are too great, killing a thousand enemies, causing eight hundred self-losses, and drinking to quench thirst, which is unsustainable, and no fundamental problems can be solved.

On the one hand, land annexation is intensifying, yeoman farmers are becoming fewer and fewer, and poll taxes are being collected less and less. On the one hand, the "budding capitalism" is resolutely unwilling to contribute new sources of taxation. At the same time, fiscal spending is getting bigger and bigger. As a result, the state's finances became more and more scarce, and there was no way to support it, and finally there was a loud bang, and the whole building collapsed.

In the process, the clans, who did not hold political power, but possessed more and more social wealth, maintained an interesting zero-sum relationship with the emperor, the source of their wealth and protector. When they drained the emperor's blood, the edifice collapsed, and these overfed imperial relatives were logically crushed into the meat soup in the pot of the peasant army.

Guan Zhuofan came to the conclusion that the ruling group of the Qing Dynasty, the Manchurian aristocratic republic, was supported by the state, and in terms of "economic components," it did not belong to any class, nor was it dependent on any class, and it was entirely possible to change its political stance because of economic interests.

That is to say, if the financial source of the state changes from the landlord class to the bourgeoisie, then it is entirely possible for the Manchurian aristocratic republic to change from relying on and supporting the landlord class to relying on and supporting the bourgeoisie.

In my hands, the state will control far more resources and wealth than the original time and space, and since the Manchurian aristocratic republic is supported by the state, then their "economic status" will be more "independent". So, when I came into conflict with the landlord and gentry class, what reason did the ruling clique of the Manchurian aristocratic republic not support me? After all, the landown gentry class, which is declining, will become poorer and poorer, and the benefits that can be used to share the profits to the ruling group will become less and less.

Come! Take a look, take a look! Let's see how much exciting wealth industrialization can create!

Make a fortune together, rather not be tempted?

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(The eighth volume of "Infinite Scenery in the Dangerous Peak" is finished, and the ninth volume of "The Golden Age" will be updated tomorrow)

*(To be continued......)

PS: Tomorrow will open the ninth volume of "The Golden Age", at the end of the month, hehe, if book friends still have unfinished tickets, would it be good to reward a lion? In the new volume, the Lions will work harder! Thank you!

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