In December of the twelfth year of Guangxu, at the request of Guan Xuqing, the cabinet headed by Prince Gong handed over the "overall planning for five years", although the government has been implemented for several years under the subtle influence of Guan Xuqing, but it really appears as a document and systematically, this is the first time that later historians have also taken this link involving politics, economy, military, culture and other fields as the starting document of the "Guangxu reform", although it can only be counted as a five-year plan from this year, China officially entered the "Guangxu government" period

Therefore, in the first five-year plan, in addition to the implementation of six-year compulsory education, like the thirteenth year of Guangxu next year, the number of provinces that accept the six-year obligation will be expanded by nine provinces, namely: Vietnam, northern Vietnam, Burma, Taiwan, Henan, Shanxi, Shaanxi, Jilin, and Heilongjiang, and there is also the reduction of the illiteracy rate among adults

Guan Xuqing's plan is to increase the literacy rate to 30 percent in the next five years, and to complete the popularization of basic compulsory education in all provinces in the country, to this end, he has even forcefully increased the proportion of education expenditure to more than 20 percent of state expenditure, and insisted that no matter what happens, education expenditure must not be lower than this percentage

The local provincial, government, and county finances at all levels must also strictly follow this ratio, and the officials will include the implementation of education in the scope of the officials' assessment of the 100-year plan, and it is believed that this will not be outdated in any dynasty, and after graduating from Tsinghua University, batch after batch of college students will be sown in the provinces like spring seeds, hoping that in the future it will be able to blossom all over the land Only with the improvement of the quality of the people, the country will have an inexhaustible supply of talent

In terms of increasing investment in education, Guan Xuqing also thought of some methods in later generations, such as the establishment of a cost-sharing mechanism and a loan mechanism for non-compulsory education; reconstruct taxes and levy education taxes; issuance of educational lotteries; To develop all kinds of private schools and private schools, Guan Xuqing intends to adopt the first and fourth measures, of course, this does not mean that the second and third measures are bad

The levy of education tax has long existed in the West, for example, there are 28 states in the United States to set up education taxes, there are 12 kinds of less, and more than several sources, which is not only conducive to the full collection of education fees, but also conducive to the steady growth of education funds year by year, but under the influence of China's thousands of years of private ownership culture, the people do not have a high understanding of taxes

It is the tyrant who imposes heavy taxes, and it is not a matter of a day or two to change the misconception of tax land, but in China, it is necessary to maintain the cohesion of the country

The personal prestige of the ruler is a very important matter, especially when the people have begun to wake up, and Guan Xuqing does not intend to destroy the image of the government that has been rebuilt with great difficulty for the sake of education tax

In the same way, the issuance of education lottery tickets may only be a shadow in the mirror for the time being, although the whole country education investment is insufficient and financial pressure is very much back, the issuance of education lottery is a feasible investment channel

Like the United Kingdom's weekly lottery sales have reached 100 million pounds, the United States alone Texas annual lottery sales reached 3.2 billion US dollars, the United States has 13 states partially or all of the lottery income into education, California $1 lottery has 34 points for education distribution, special education lottery can be well absorbed, the use of social idle funds to develop education is far better than the hope project

Therefore, Guan Xuqing can only pin his hopes for expanding investment in education on the other two measures, which are fortunately very suitable for China's national conditions

The establishment of a cost-sharing mechanism and a loan mechanism for non-compulsory education means that the state puts the main investment in compulsory education, and non-compulsory education is charged in accordance with the principle of "who benefits, who bears" and cost sharing when it is clear that the state bears a certain training cost

Considering the very high cost of higher education, the principle of ensuring equal educational opportunities and the actual affordability of the people, Guan Xuqing finally set the tuition and miscellaneous fees of the university in the range of 5O%~65% of the total cost of training a student

For those with special difficulties, the state has established a diversified funding system such as student loans and scholarships to ensure that talented students from disadvantaged families can successfully complete their studies, which is exactly the international practice, such as the United States, which implements "tuition discounts" to provide education assistance to students who cannot afford all the education expenses

Since 1989, Australia has officially implemented the student financial aid policy of the 'Higher Education Contribution Program' and the Australian Student Bursary

In addition to increasing investment in education, education planning is also the top priority of the five-year plan

First of all, it is the issue of determining the allocation of education fundsGenerally speaking, the changes in the distribution of education funds in the world are those of countries with a low level of economic and educational development that are compatible with the changes in economic and educational development, and compulsory education generally refers to the junior high school stage of primary education and secondary education

With the development of the economy, the gradual shift to the development of secondary and higher education, the allocation of education funds has also been adjusted accordingly, Zeng Man pointed out in the "Study on the Cost of Education in Developing Countries": "In developing countries, public funds for primary education account for half of the entire funding, and secondary education accounts for 13,15 The distribution of public education funds is to stabilize the state investment, mainly for universal compulsory education, with annual compulsory education accounting for 59% of the total expenditure, and the opening of private schools to gather private financial resources to achieve this shortfall in all education funds, and pursue a "catch-up strategy." It is not without reference significance

Since the beginning of his pro-government, Guan Xuqing's investment in education has been mainly focused on building universities, and this kind of "elite education" is inseparable from Guan Xuqing's desire to gather a group of useful talents to carry out social, economic, and political reforms

However, Rong Hong, who was reused by Guan Xuqing, was very dissatisfied with such an education policy, in his opinion, this may be able to quickly transform some educated people into talents, but without basic education, it is equivalent to cutting off the source of these talents, which is tantamount to pulling out seedlings and boosting them, and in the end the gains will outweigh the losses

Therefore, under his auspices, the Ministry of Rites came up with an education plan that listed six-year compulsory education as the "top priority" in education funding

Education funds should be tilted toward compulsory education, and the government's responsibility and behavior in the burden of compulsory education funds should be further strengthened, and household and household finances should increase their support for rural compulsory education, and it is necessary to increase the proportion of compulsory education in the total education expenditure, and also to increase the average level of student funding

Finally, the plan sets that primary education accounts for about 70% of the total education expenditure, and that the non-compulsory education stage will gradually establish a reasonable sharing mechanism among the government, society, families, and individuals

If the first was motivated by Guan Xuqing's desire to attach importance to education, and was acceptable to cabinet officials who were proficient in Confucianism, the second was undoubtedly military planning

In the seven years since Guangxu, military investment has accounted for more than 50 percent of the Qing Dynasty's fiscal revenue, which is rare in any country in the world

These cabinet ministers under Guan Xuqing have different morals and morals, and they are not excluded from selfishness, but they can be said to be the choice of the moment when it comes to ability, especially in dealing with foreign powers

Now Britain, France, and Russia are completely offended, although they have taken advantage in the short term, but it is really hard to say how it will be in the future, Germany and the United States, which can be relied on, have an invincible army in the world, but they are trapped in the European powers, and they are unable to extend their tentacles to the far Far East, while the other has the world's first industrial strength, but there is no military strength to match it, and it is also impossible to help at a critical time, so only when it is strong, can it be proud of the world

Therefore, the military planning can be said to be the most detailed of this twists and turns

First of all, in addition to retaining the current 1 million regular professional soldiers, an additional 1 million reserve soldiers will be served by men of 18 to 20 years old in the country, and the cycle is two years, and those who are particularly outstanding can be turned into professional soldiers

To this end, on the basis of the original basis, the number of army academies and academies will be increased to five, namely, the Yunnan Military Academy, the Northwest Military University, the Huangpu Military Academy, the Baoding Noncommissioned Officer School, and the Beijing Army Academy

Among them, the Beijing Army Academy is not convenient for training near the Beijing Division, mainly artillery training, which often frightens the officials in the city, arouses the excitement of the masses, and will move to Beijing Fengtian, as for the naval academy, there will also be an additional one, in addition to the original Fujian Shipbuilding Academy and the Jiangnan Naval Academy in Wusong, and then add the Tianjin Beiyang Naval Academy, in addition, the plan is also expected to follow the example of the West during this period to formulate the first "Military Service Law" and formally determine the compulsory military service system

In addition to the improvement of the military system, the construction of national defense facilities is also an important part of this plan

In terms of coastal defense, the Beiyang Fleet of the Great Qingshui Division will focus on the defense of the Bohai Strait, the two major naval bases of Weihai, Yantai and Lushun and Dalian will be expanded, and more than 200 Krupp coastal defense guns are expected to be added to the artillery batteries in Lushun alone

After the expansion, the two bases will become the most fortified fortresses in Asia and even the world, so as to form two fists to protect the heart, and no fleet will dare to penetrate deep into the Bohai Sea to attack the heart of Beijing until these two fists are defeated

In fact, as long as the army defending the fortress does not make the stupid mistake of fleeing without a fight like the First Sino-Japanese War, or is isolated like the Russian ** team, these two fortresses are almost impossible to attack

It is foreseeable that in the near future, the Oshimizu division will gallop across the East China Sea and even the western Pacific Ocean, with the natural aim of deterring Japan, the lackey of Britain and France

The defense center of the Nanyang Fleet of the Great Shimizu Division is the Taiwan Strait, the three-in-one defense system of Mawei, Penghu, and Keelung, which is enough to shield the entire Taiwan Strait, and these three places originally had coastal defense batteries, but this time it is just to turn them into comprehensive naval bases, their role is not only to defend the powers from going north, but also to choke Japan's neck, whether it is now or in the future, Japan's lifeline, the Taiwan Strait is the top priority

The construction of a military port in Sihanoukville Bay in Vietnam Province will also be completed within three years, and by that time, the Qing Nanyang Fleet will be able to penetrate deep into the south of the 10th parallel north latitude and directly threaten Malaya, which is under British rule

Of course, such a role is not convincing enough, so the main role of Sihanoukville in the first few years after its completion was to provide a base for the navy to go to the South Seas for training, and Guan Xuqing also planned to build a military port in Mawlamyine, Burma

However, being dissuaded by Peng Yulin, Li Hongzhang and others, the key to the passage of the Pacific Ocean and the Indian Ocean is still in the hands of the British, and it is not easy for the fleet to pass freely

Moreover, Guan Xuqing also considered not to provoke the British too much, otherwise it would not be possible for the British Parliament to release some articles such as the China threat theory one day, or directly use troops against Burma

As for land defense, the two key southern fronts, one south and one north, are Burma, and it is not easy to recover Burma in order to turn it into a barrier in the Chinese mainland, so its local defense naturally needs to be well planned

Fortunately, the border between Myanmar and India is made up of the high Arakan Mountains and the bottomless valley of the Chindun River, a vast no-man's land with only two roads to navigate

One is from Myitkyina through Dagar and Hinbeyan to Dibrughal in India, which is the original road of the Ancient Tea Horse Road, and the road to the south of it is from Mandalay to Sirjar in India through Garewa, so the plan of the Ministry of War is to build two checkpoints at the mountain passes near Inbeyan and Garewa, as long as these two roads are controlled, it is equivalent to controlling the gate for the British army to enter and exit Burma by land

The defense of the north is not as simple as Burma, compared to the desert north and the northwest of the wilderness thousands of miles, unobstructed, the northeast is still dangerous to defend, and whether it is the political status of the Manchu Longxing land, or its potential economic status is not comparable to the northwest and Mobei, so the defense of the north is focused on the northeast

It's just that the Heilongjiang and Ussuri rivers, which freeze for several months in a year, are far from being a natural danger to stop the Russian army, and the flat northeast plain is the territory where the Russian Cossack cavalry gallops freely

The defense of the northeast is a comprehensive measure, in addition to the construction of large-scale fortresses and fortresses, but also large-scale migration to this area, to achieve the strategy of hiding troops for the people

When entering Russia, the Qing Iron Cavalry marched all the way, in fact, on the contrary, one day in the future, if Russia came back, it was really not easy to defend against the Qing Dynasty, so the defense of the Qing Dynasty on the back was the most headache for Guan Xuqing

To regain this land, not to mention anything else, just for the sake of the Northeast, a world-class industrial base, the Northeast is rare in the world, coal, iron, oil, non-ferrous metal reserves are very rich in the region, it also has a vast black soil, can provide a large number of agricultural products, and it is close to the coast, surrounded by Dalian, Vladivostok such a good port, convenient shipping, flat terrain, the construction of railways and highways are very convenient, but such a God-given industrial base is always under the threat of others, This is not irritating, not to mention that the gold reserves in the area south of the Outer Khing'an Mountains are more than four times that of the whole of China in later generations, and what this means after the gold standard settlement is now implemented, it is self-evident

Therefore, no matter how difficult it is and how much it costs to pay, we must hold on to the land that has been recaptured

As for military equipment, the nine major arsenals will gradually be separated from the control of the governors of the provinces and placed under the rule of the Ministry of Industry, and each arsenal will also begin to implement independent accounting, that is to say, whatever equipment will be replaced in the future, you will have to use money to buy it, and which one will buy weapons, it will depend on whose things are cheap and good, and this is naturally done in order to enhance the initiative of the various arsenals

After using the technology of mortars and hand grenades with Krupp to exchange a batch of equipment, the Jinling Machinery Bureau and the Hanyang Arsenal finally had a little Krupp appearance, perhaps the Germans in order to take care of his Austrian allies, or for other purposes, the Germans opened the mortar and grenade technology to Austria-Hungary after obtaining the consent of the Qing Dynasty, and Guan Xuqing certainly did not mind the sincerity of the Austrians to help China build another arsenal in the north, After all, the Skoda Arsenal in Bohemia, Austria is on par with the German Krupp, and in the end, the Austrians chose a factory of Shandong Machinery Bureau in Liaocheng, Shandong

In this way, the Qing Dynasty has three first-class in Asia, and the Hanyang Arsenal has begun to study the first generation of rifles in the Qing Dynasty, and the reference material is naturally the old Mauser who is the most used in the military and has the deepest understanding of technology, but the Germans are studying Mauser Guan Xuqing instructed Cai Yong, the general office of the Hanyang Arsenal, to contact the Germans to see if he can learn some of the most technical As for the Jinling Machinery Bureau, it is said that the Makqin machine gun is being imitated, and the first Makqin machine gun imitated in history was born in 1888. It should not be far off

During the Sino-British War, Guan Xuqing profoundly realized the huge logistical burden brought about by the use of "Wanguo" weapons, and the military department used almost the same logistical personnel as the combat units to ration various types of bullets and shells

And different types of weapons also increase the command difficulty of the commander, which is especially obvious in the coordination of firepower, so in this plan formulated by the Ministry of War, this problem was strongly raised, and came up with a solution, light weapons, such as rifles, machine guns, grenades and mortars, these have been able to make their own, after selecting a model, the next problem is only to expand production, the difficulty lies in the choice of artillery, the Ministry of War is inclined to cheap and high-quality Grusen guns, Guan Xuqing likes the famous Krupp guns in later generations, In the end, the two sides compromised and adopted the Grussen gun for the small-caliber camp guns and mountain guns, and the Krupp guns for the large-caliber howitzers and cannons

After all, during the Sino-British Burma War, it was too difficult to replenish the ammunition of American equipment used by the army, the Southwest Army

It was more convenient to replenish all the German equipment used, and later there were captured British equipment, and the battle was finished, and there was no place to replenish it

And the unification of armaments will also make it impossible to repeat this situation in future wars