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Modernization is an ordinary and trivial project that has no heroes and does not need heroes, and it takes long-term and gradual efforts to realize the industrialization, urbanization, and popularization of education in Western countries in one or two hundred years, and what is needed is the down-to-earth hard work of countless people.

Chen Wenqiang has been struggling, and now in this situation, he thinks that he has done his best, and it is opportunistic. Those radical revolutionaries regard the revolution as a panacea for governing the country and helping the people, but whenever there are difficulties, that is, to solve them with "revolution", it is obviously too naïve and radical.

In the final analysis, revolution is both destruction and construction. Among them, construction is a more difficult process. And construction, in the final analysis, whether it is industry or a new type of political structure, requires a huge amount of money to support.

Take, for example, the simplest and most popular form of judicial independence. In China's traditional society, the chief executives of various localities (such as prefecture and county officials) are also in charge of the judiciary, and if judicial independence is to be implemented and the separation of political and judicial affairs is to be implemented, it is necessary to set up separate judicial organs in addition to the official offices at all levels, and the prefectures and counties across the country will also increase their expenditures by 30 to 40 million taels, and the cost will inevitably become a headache (historically, this work has not been completed after the Republic of China).

Let's talk about strong soldiers and insults. This should be the most important thing in a country, right? But how much money is needed to train 10,000 troops, and how much is the annual maintenance cost? If there is a war, how much will it cost? I'm afraid that no one in the revolutionary party will calculate this, and they will not think so deeply at all.

"The six towns of Beiyang have an annual maintenance cost of up to nine million taels. That's still the amount without the fighting. According to the plan of the imperial court, it is necessary to organize and train the new army of thirty-six towns every year-" Chen Wenqiang thought for a moment and said: "The annual maintenance cost is at least around 50 million taels, which should be a very difficult burden to bear. ”

After a pause, Chen Wenqiang continued: "I'm just giving an example, and the meaning to explain is very simple, it is difficult to guarantee funds now; There is no money. It is difficult to replenish supplies and ammunition on a sustained basis. Four months, give me four months, and I'll be able to come up with a million dollars for the uprising. ”

Chen Zixin, who had rushed from Qiongzhou to report the work, was a little disappointed, and in his opinion, or in the eyes of the Qiongzhou branch, the infiltration and smuggling of personnel and materials into northern Vietnam, which had been put into practice since the spring of this year, would be enough to have the capital to invade Guangxi and make a big move. However, Chen Wenqiang's judgment after listening to the report was extremely cautious, and he postponed the incident by three months.

"Can't you go any further?" Chen Zixin asked a little unwillingly.

Chen Wenqiang thought for a moment. He shook his head lightly and said, "This time is not as good as last time." It is necessary to persist for a long time, and it is to make the banner stand and not fall. Although the revolutionary army has been tempered in actual combat and its combat strength has been greatly enhanced, in my opinion, it is still difficult to achieve this. Besides, by smuggling. How much weapons and ammunition can be hoarded, and some of them will be distributed to Huanghuatan! After you go back, find a way to smuggle a batch of machinery and equipment and manufacturing materials, as well as some technicians in the base arsenal. You don't need to build guns, you can repair guns. And the ability to replace the primer and reload the bullet can make a great difference. ”

"Okay, I'll go back and convey your decision to Wu Qi and Lao Wan." Chen Zixin nodded a little helplessly.

"Plus, tell them another piece of good news." Chen Wenqiang recounted how Siemens helped him set up a wireless telegraph: "As long as the installation is completed, we can add one or more radio stations to have direct contact with the troops of the uprising." The information we gather from outside can be passed on to them as quickly as possible, and the more certain we are of victory. For this reason alone, it is necessary to postpone the time of the uprising. ”

"That's really good news." Chen Zixin showed a smile on his face and said: "From then on, if you are in charge here, you can directly contact and command thousands of miles away, saving you from sending someone to deliver the letter, which is both time-consuming and dangerous." ”

"Exactly." Chen Wenqiang leaned back in his chair and said proudly: "If the power of the telegraph is large enough, or if the telegraph technology improves, it is very possible for us to establish this instantaneous connection with various branches at home and abroad." ”

"If that's the case, of course it's great." Chen Ziqiang pondered for a moment and said: "Since the time of the incident has been pushed back, I think it is more appropriate to send the new members of the development of various branches directly to the new bases of Vietnam, Yunnan and Guizhou, so that they can conduct military training there, and they can also adapt to the environment and be more familiar with the terrain." ”

Chen Wenqiang thought for a while, nodded in agreement, and reminded: "Personnel should sneak in in small quantities and batches, don't be afraid of trouble, safety is the first thing to be guaranteed." I think it is possible for the branches to distribute the travel expenses so that they can land in southern Vietnam under various pretexts and then go to the base area on their own to rendezvous. If it is transported by a special ship, it is more likely to be intercepted by the Qing army and legal persons! ”

"There is indeed such a danger, but it has always been a method of separating people and goods, and there have been no accidents." Chen Zixin thinks that it is a good thing to have one more way, anyway, there is no shortage of funds.

"Actually, we still need an opportunity." Chen Wenqiang thought about it and said: "It's best if there is something like a civil uprising in Guangxi and Yunnan, and we can take the opportunity to launch it." There is also Liu Yongfu, who must try his best to fight for it, as an officer of the Qing court, his actions may affect many people. ”

"Liu Yongfu is still very influential in Vietnam, Yunnan and Guangxi, and he is working hard to do his work." Chen Zixin said thoughtfully: "Judging from his attitude, there is still a lot of hope. ”

"You have worked so hard in the uprising, I can't spare it for the time being." Chen Wenqiang thought about it for a while and said, "In two or three months, I should be able to handle all the trivial matters clearly and return to Qiongzhou for a while." Wait until the end of the year. I may also visit Germany. When I have a lot of time, I'm afraid I will have to wait until the second half of next year. ”

"The second half of next year?" Chen Zixin frowned and thought for a while, and asked tentatively: "At that time, Mr. Song must have also ended his overseas visit and propaganda, and the two of you will have the energy and time, is it about to set off a revolutionary climax?" ”

"What do you think?" Chen Wenqiang smiled faintly. He said: "The period of ten years is said to the outside world, but the success of the revolution is only five or six years. In other words, the early goal of the revolution, the overthrow of the Manchus, would be achieved in five or six years. As for the later construction, that is a difficult task with a long way to go. After all, revolution is not a panacea, and a strong country and the rise of a nation cannot be achieved in one fell swoop by passion and saliva. ”

"I see." Chen Zixin nodded vigorously, showing an excited expression, and said hesitantly: "Can it be announced in the past five or six years?" It's going to be very uplifting and inspiring. ”

"Let's take the caliber of ten years as the standard!" Chen Wenqiang shook his head and said with a smile: "Does this enthusiasm still need to be encouraged?" I'm afraid everyone is in a hurry to do it again! But I still say the same thing, don't rush for quick success, don't rush and be reckless. We can't count on the party, nor can we rely on the surrender of the old army, we have to rely on the army we have built, and we need to recruit new soldiers from a good family. Even if it takes training. They need to be taught to read, they need to know what a revolution is. Nor can it be arbitrarily co-opted. ”

……………

In fact, it is not only Chen Wenqiang who thinks that the old army is unusable, Zhang Zhidong has already realized this when he was training the new army in Hubei Province a few years ago. At first, he also tried to reorganize the old army, but after discovering that the middle battalion of the guard army, which was reorganized from the left battalion of Wu Kai, "did not see any improvement in training", he "ordered the whole bank to be abolished". From now on. He basically gave up the reorganization of the old army and concentrated on "recruiting another strong man".

When recruiting new recruits, in addition to being physically fit, it is required that the address of the family must be declared. Neighbors are kept together, and refuse to accept "those who are restless and have committed crimes". Most of the recruits recruited in this way must be simple and strong young people. That is to say, compared with the Beiyang New Army, which was semi-reorganized from the old army, the Hubei New Army, which was basically composed of new soldiers, had relatively simple soldiers, few prejudices and no habits.

It can be seen from this that the difference between the old and the new sources of soldiers will inevitably affect the intrinsic quality of soldiers. The old army "is a rabble, comes and goes impermanently", "the inside and the outside are uncertain, and it is difficult to distinguish between the good and the bad", and "the accumulated habits and disadvantages are all in the past." The army reorganized by this will inevitably have strong habits of the old army.

In addition, Zhang Zhidong attached great importance to the cultural quality of the New Army and warmly welcomed young intellectuals. The Hubei New Army did recruit a large number of intellectuals, and "there were quite a few Xiushi who entered the camp." At the same time, Zhang Zhidong also set up large and small "lecture halls" and "newspaper reading rooms" in various banners and battalions of the New Army, and this is undoubtedly conducive to improving the cultural quality of the soldiers. In particular, the Hubei Army Special Primary School was set up to "carry out universal education in military training." The Hubei New Army, which has a relatively high level of education, is naturally more open in ideology and concepts, and has a relatively strong ability to understand and accept it.

It is precisely because the Hubei New Army does not have the habits of the old army and is open-minded that it is easier for the revolutionaries to win over. Planting melons and getting beans, Zhang Zhidong must never have imagined that the new army he trained in order to consolidate the rule of the imperial court later became the gravedigger of the Qing Dynasty.

From taking over the Hanyang Iron Works, to taking over the Guangdong-Hanzhou Railway, and finally setting up the newly built railway patrol police road Yamen in Jiangxia (now Jiangxia District, Wuhan), which is more than 20 kilometers away from Wuchang, Chen Wenqiang has been observing and thinking about such an unexpected event as the Wuchang Uprising, why was he able to blow the clarion call for the destruction of the Manchu Qing in the heart of China?

Not only observation and contemplation, but also contact and research; Not only for things, but also for all kinds of people. For example, why was the fat man in front of Chen Wenqiang now favored by the revolutionary party and forced out to be elected as the governor?

“…… His Excellency the Governor was very appreciative of the telephone and found it quick and convenient to establish telephone communication between the garrison camps, which was extremely beneficial for commanding, mobilizing and maintaining law and order. Therefore, the Governor sent a subordinate to negotiate with Lord Chen. Li Fatzi politely stated, feeling strange at Chen Wenqiang's thoughtful scrutiny, "In addition, the Governor hopes that Lord Chen can consider taking over the Hubei Gun Factory, and if you have any difficulties and requirements, you can ask Your Excellency Chen." ”

Substantial progress in the effective range of long-distance telephones began in 1899. American physicist Michael? Popping installed coils on telephone lines at a certain distance to improve the clarity of the sound, and it was successful. Siemens-Halske was the first company in Europe to use Plain Wire.

In 1891, the rotary dial-type automatic telephone could send out DC dial pulses, control the action of the automatic switch, select the called user, and automatically complete the exchange function. Thus pushing telephone communication to a new stage.

Chen Wenqiang in order to tie up the big tree of Zhang Zhidong. Not only did they install electric lights and use steam engines to supply electricity to the Yamen of Wuhan's Supervision Office, but they also set up a small exchange bureau in Wuhan and set up telephone lines between the Yamen, the farthest one of which was more than 20 kilometers away from the Yamen of the Patrol Police Road and the Supervision Office.

I didn't expect Zhang Zhidong to like this foreign toy of "thousands of miles of sound", but to see the convenience of military command and army mobilization, I am afraid it is out of the consideration of professional military personnel. For example, this Li Yuanhong, Li Da Fat.

"In terms of laying the wire, apart from funding, there is no difficulty." Chen Wenqiang paused and said with a smile: "The Governor is estimated that he will not pay for it, and Lord Li is condescending again, so Wen Qiang will be generous again." As for the Hubei Gun Factory-"

Li Yuanhong smiled, after all, the first purpose was achieved, as for the second. That's what Zhang Zhidong meant, whether he succeeds or not, and what the conditions, he just needs to go back and convey it.

Hubei Gun Factory started production in 1896, expanded year by year, and successively built gun carriages, shells, gun bullets, molten copper, pot steel, steel medicine and other factories, mainly casting German 1888 committee rifles, that is, the famous Hanyang made. And can imitate the Krupp mountain gun, the production of bullets, shells, etc.

Zhang Zhidong has always wanted to make the Hubei Gun Factory the largest arsenal in China. He also ordered the provinces to purchase firearms from the Hubei Arsenal instead of foreign countries, and to pay on time. Obviously, he is eyeing the big fat piece of weapons needed by the army in the 36 towns across the country, and at the same time, he is also trying to get rid of the big burden of the Hubei Gun Factory.

You must know that although the Hubei Gun Factory is known as "large-scale". But it costs a lot of money every year, and sales are poor. Zhang Zhidong once asked the imperial court to allocate an additional 150,000 taels of foreign tax and silver in Jianghan and Yichang, but it was a drop in the bucket and to no avail. He repeatedly appealed to the imperial court. "The financial resources of a province can absolutely not be used to meet the urgent needs of the overall situation," and "it seems that Hubei cannot be solely responsible for raising military salaries," but the result is still borne by Hubei Province. Local funds are insufficient to meet needs, so they have no choice but to solicit donations from the people and borrow foreign debts.

Even so, over the years, the gun factory owed more than 80,000 taels of silver to Chinese and foreign firms, and the steel and pharmaceutical factory owed more than 30,000 taels of silver. However, the Qing government's financial resources were increasingly depleted and could not provide funds, so that the Hubei Gun Factory gradually ceased to set up five factories for gun factories, gun carriages, shells, cast bullets, and copper shells.

What made Zhang Zhidong even more troublesome was that the officials sent by the imperial court gave a very bad evaluation of the Hubei Gun Factory after inspecting the five arsenals, namely the Sichuan Machinery Bureau, the Guangdong Manufacturing Ordnance Factory, the Jiangnan Manufacturing Bureau, the Hubei Gun Factory, and the Dezhou Beiyang Machinery Bureau.

"The scale of the Hubei factory is magnificent, and the Shanghai factory is drunk, and it is not as good as working with guns and bullets. From the shell to the finished bomb, only 60% (the rest are scrap). There are many discarded and expensive. In particular, medicine is the worst, with a rate of not 600, and a constant increase of more than 3,000, with more than 4,000. The engineer has been in the factory for 10 years, and with such achievements, it is not a pity that due to the shortage of funds recently, he plans to build a new gun, and produces 30 fast guns per day. In terms of work quality, four or five out of ten branches could not pass the precise inspection, and the corner groove of the wire card and the outer diameter of the barrel had the disadvantages of deviation. The steel for the barrel is purchased from abroad, and the attached steel tank factory has been established for many years and cannot be self-refined......"

From a professional point of view, the criticism of the Hubei Gun Factory and the pointing out of many defects are very pertinent and objective. For example, although improvements have been made to remove the sleeve of the barrel, replace it with a handguard, and place the bayonet under the front guard, the process of the barrel still makes it impossible to fire pointed bullets (hard-stuffed into the chamber that is easy to explode), and the output of bayonets is not proportional to the production of rifles. The artillery manufactured was also a small model, mainly mountain guns (old mortars), and even the gun blanks had to be purchased from abroad.

Although Zhang Zhidong had the intention to revitalize the Hubei Gun Factory, he had no choice but not to understand science, but the resurrection of the Hanyang Iron Works, coupled with Chen Wenqiang's proficiency in foreign affairs, made him see hope.

In the face of Chen Wenqiang's deep groan, Li Yuanhong waited for a while, and said euphemistically: "Your Excellency the Governor has a saying: The arrears accumulated over the years can be drawn from the Hankou Huai Yan Jin, the Yichang Sichuan Yan Li Jin, and the Hubei Migu Li Jin, and there is no need for Lord Chen to repay it. Other conditions can also be discussed. ”

Chen Wenqiang shook his head and said with a smile: "Lao Li, you don't understand the key. The arrears over the years are only a small amount, and it doesn't matter if I come. However, the renovation of this factory is costly. As far as I know, the general office of the factory has issued a statement to the Governor, listing the funds needed for the renovation, which will be at least five or six million taels. You say, what am I going to take over the pistol factory? ”

"So much?" Li Yuanhong was taken aback, and then smiled a little embarrassedly, "This, brother really doesn't know." ”

"Your Excellency the Governor has previously negotiated a loan with the German company Gaolin." Chen Wenqiang stroked his forehead and sighed: "It's not so easy to borrow foreign debts!" It is a great embarrassment for the Governor to entrust me with this errand. ”

"Hehe, I'd better discuss these things with the Governor." Chen Wenqiang smiled bitterly, looked at his watch, stood up, and invited: "It's lunch time, if Brother Li doesn't dislike it, just have a light meal here with my brother." Brother Li's name, the brother admires him very much. ”

"Lord Chen is polite." Li Yuanhong got up and responded with a smile, "A little bit of a name, how dare you compare with Lord Chen." The adults invited hospitality, but the brothers dared to refuse. ”

"Brother Li is not so polite." Chen Wenqiang smiled and stretched out his hand to ask, "Please." Today, there are no delicacies from the mountains and seas, and I hope that Brother Li will have a lot of seas! ”

"Lord Chen, please first." Li Yuanhong's fat face had a harmless smile on his face, and he stretched out his hand to give in.

………….. (To be continued.) )