Chapter 13 Chapter 11 The Celestial Empire Collapses, Manipulating the Situation Behind the Scenes

On Christmas Eve in 1910, a train slowly entered Harbin Station. 31-year-old Wu Lien-teh (1879-1960) stepped off the platform in the cold wind holding a Baker microscope.His identity is the "Chief Medical Officer of Epidemic Prevention in the Three Eastern Provinces". Two months ago, in the small border town of Manzhouli, two laborers returning from Russia died violently in the hotel where they were staying.The guest who lived with him also fell ill and died. The symptoms were fever and hemoptysis, and the onset was rapid. After death, his body turned purple. Soon, death kissed city after city.Two weeks later, the outbreak was discovered in Harbin.

As a railway hub, Harbin has a prosperous business and a prosperous culture. A foreign film is introduced every half a month, and China's first symphony orchestra was born. With the railway as the boundary, Harbin is divided into two districts, "Daoli" and "Daowai".Corresponding to the Russians and Japanese who live in a superior life in Daoli, there is a Chinese gathering area centered on Fujiadian outside Daoli.The houses here are low, dirty and dirty, which is simply a breeding ground for viruses. After the outbreak of the plague, hundreds of death reports reached Beijing every day.Panic spread to Fengtian (Liaoning), and even triggered a wave of runs.

What's more troublesome is that Japan and Russia put forward all kinds of unreasonable demands on the grounds of the Qing government's ineffective epidemic prevention. Fear of taking the opportunity to intervene." In view of this, it was not the Ministry of Civil Affairs but the Ministry of Foreign Affairs that the Qing court was responsible for handling the Northeast epidemic. It is a matter of sovereignty, and the attitude of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs is to control the plague at all costs, leaving nothing to the outsiders. Of course, the premise is to use the right people.

Wu Lien-teh, who was born in Malaysia, is the first Chinese to obtain a doctor of medicine from Cambridge University. In 1907, Dr. Wu, who was already well-known in the Malay Peninsula, received a letter inviting him to serve as the deputy supervisor of the Tianjin Army Medical School. "Governor of Zhili Yuan Shikai" was imprinted on the bottom of the letter paper. However, when Wu Lien-teh made good arrangements for his family and traveled to Beijing, he learned that Yuan Shikai had been vacated and returned home. Thanks to the recommendation of Cheng Biguang, a naval officer whom he knew when he was in the UK, Wu Lien-teh's appointment was confirmed by Minister of Military Aircraft Tie Liang, and it is still in effect.

Two years later, a telegram from Shi Zhaoji, You Cheng of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (after the minister and Zuo Cheng, the non-executive deputy minister) completely rewrote the trajectory of Wu Lien-teh's life. At that time, Shi Zhaoji accompanied the five ministers abroad to investigate the constitutional government. He passed through the Malay Peninsula and had a relationship with Wu Lien-teh, which left a deep impression on him.Therefore, when he heard that Yuan Shikai planned to hire experts to reform the military medical school, he strongly recommended Wu Lien-teh. Harbin. Daotai Yu Sixing received Wu Liande and his party, and told them that Fujiadian had become a hard-hit area, and some family members of the patients were afraid of being taken away by the quarantine personnel, so they threw the patient's body on the street at night.Some were still alive, freezing to death in the snow.

Worse than indifference is ignorance.The chief executive of Fujiadian is a county magistrate who holds the title of Juren and speaks Wu's official dialect.He knew neither English nor Russian, and he couldn't communicate with the Western doctors sent by Fengtian before.Just like that, he still likes to put on airs, making Wu Liande wait in the living room of the county government office for more than half an hour before being interviewed. In order to find out the source of the disease, Wu Lien-teh dissected the body of a Japanese woman who had intermarried with the locals. Forced by custom, the dissections were carried out in secret.

Under the microscope, he clearly saw an oval-shaped germ—as the newspaper said, it was the plague. Wu Lien-teh immediately reported to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and proposed three epidemic prevention measures: 1. Control traffic to prevent the spread of the epidemic; 2. Isolate Fujiadian; 3. To recruit doctors from the customs. However, the question he couldn't answer was: Not long ago, the doctor sent by Japan to investigate the cause hired people to catch mice as soon as he arrived in Fujiadian. He dissected hundreds of mice, but found no Yersinia pestis. In this regard, Wu Lien-teh made a bold assumption, pointing out that it was a kind of "pneumonic plague" transmitted by respiratory droplets without an animal medium.

At the same time, he designed a mask with absorbent cotton wool between two layers of gauze.Due to its low cost and easy production, medical staff still use it today and call it "Wu's mask". Unfortunately, no one believed his "droplet theory" at that time.Wu Lien-teh visited several hospitals and found that the infectious disease wards did not have isolation areas, and medical staff lacked basic protective measures.After all, I still didn't realize that this was an interpersonal communication. The situation was not reversed until the French doctor Menis died of the epidemic.

Menis has been in China for many years. Under his auspices, a plague that broke out in Tangshan three years ago and killed 800 people was brought under control, and he became famous for this. Menis responded to the call to support the Northeast, but when he passed by Fengtian to visit Xiliang, the governor of the three northeastern provinces, he was an "important official", saying that Wu Lien-teh was inexperienced and should give way to himself. Xiliang rejected his request. Menis came to Harbin emotionally and went to the Railway Hospital to diagnose four patients without wearing a mask.

As a result, he fell ill after only three days, and died after struggling for another three days in the hospital. The death of Menis shocked Harbin, masks were sold out, and Wu Lien-teh's status also underwent subtle changes. He was finally able to mobilize all resources, give orders to doctors, police and even magistrates, and become the commander-in-chief of this tough battle. Under Wu Lien-teh's deployment, Fujiadian was divided into four districts, with dedicated personnel in charge.Every day, forty search teams are dispatched from various districts to conduct house-to-house quarantine; residents must wear armbands when traveling, and special applications are required for cross-district activities.

For the family members of patients and suspected patients, Wu Lien-teh specially borrowed 120 carriages from the railway company for isolation.The doctor checks every day, and the body temperature is normal for seven consecutive days before he is allowed to go home.Seeing that there are three meals here and there is a stove to keep warm, some poor people are reluctant to return. A month later, the whole system was on the right track, but Wu Lien-teh's intuition told him that the problem might have been covered up. Although it is unclear how long pneumonic plague can live underground in the severe winter (later it was confirmed that it was three months), the coffins still made Wu Lien-teh feel as fresh as a freezer. Not daring to take it lightly, he was led by a guide to a large cemetery in the northern suburbs, and the scene in front of him stunned the two of them... The spring breeze of reform is blowing across the land of China. In the autumn of 1910, the long-awaited Zizhengyuan finally unveiled its mystery and held an opening ceremony in Beijing. At seven o'clock in the morning, Pu Lun, the chairman of the Zizhengyuan, led a group of secretaries to wait at the venue.Two hours later, ministers of military aircraft and ministers of various ministries arrived one after another. What is refreshing is that this group of important ministers collectively took off the court beads and wore ordinary clothes to welcome the regent. After Zaifeng arrived at the scene, he accepted the big gift of three kneelings and nine kowtows from the officials, and asked the Minister of Military Aircraft to read the decree before leaving in a hurry. The ring of one hundred and one elected members (appointed by the emperor) and ninety-eight elected members (selected by the provincial councils) officially started. The first scene: the attack of the master of Chinese studies. The Ministry of Justice has proposed a draft of the new criminal law, which includes a clause that says "it is not a crime for a woman without a husband to have sex". How a woman handles her body is a personal freedom.But at that time, the vast majority of women still had their feet bound, and although Beauvoir was born, she was far away in France—one can imagine the uproar caused by this bill, which is suspected of encouraging premarital sex. When it was brought to the Council of Senior Citizens for discussion, a group of old-fashioned elected members suddenly felt a sense of crisis that the ethics code would collapse once, and they did not hesitate to fight desperately. Elected councilors are not the youths of the May 4th Movement, who insist on doing their best to overthrow the cannibalism.Instead, it found a new way, from the perspective of integrating with the laws of the world, abolishing extraterritoriality, and preventing foreigners from interfering in our country's judiciary. In the meeting place, both sides were fighting each other's words and fighting endlessly. Suddenly, two great Confucian scholars jumped out of the elected members: Lao Naixuan and Yu Changlin. The two walked up to a certain democratically elected member and bowed to each other in a very respectful manner. The councilor hurriedly got up to answer the salute, but Yu Changlin suddenly grabbed his collar and said sharply: "Brother, brother, I don't understand something, I hope you can enlighten me." When the incident happened suddenly, the councilor avoided him in astonishment, and even his collar was torn. Yu Changlin didn't care about it, and said calmly: "Brother is in favor of 'no adultery is not a crime', if a brother has a younger sister or beloved daughter who has not yet left the court (married), and someone actually comes to your house, let's do it like this. As for the crime, I can probably just let this person go and not interfere. I don’t know how to respect him, so please give me some advice.” Lao Naixuan on the side also echoed, saying "I must ask for advice". The congressman was embarrassed, and was unable to get down from the stage by two old antiques who were hand-picked into the Zizhengyuan with the qualifications of masters and scholars. Scene 2: Grinning in the gallery. When electing members of the special appointment unit, three of the votes were written in Mongolian, which the secretary did not understand.I asked for an interpreter, but I didn't know him either. A member of parliament suggested asking the Mongolian prince, but Na Tong, the Minister of Military Aircraft who was on the sidelines, suddenly said: "This is not a matter for members of the parliament." It is also said that there is an interpreter from the Lifan Department in the auditorium, why not ask about it? The secretary did what he said, but the interpreter from the Li Fan Department still didn't understand.As a result, Natong, who was known as a gifted scholar and wrote the plaque of "Tsinghua Garden" for Tsinghua University, lost his composure on the spot and clapped his hands and laughed.A group of Mongolian parliamentarians with low laughs also applauded and giggled, and the order of the meeting suddenly became chaotic. However, elected members often launch counterattacks. Under the leadership of Lei Fen, Yi Zongkui and Luo Jie, who are known as the "Three Heroes", they compete with the elected members for pennies. The highest legislative body that performs the functions of the Congress and is independent of the executive system. As a result, a fierce high-end duel broke out with the Military Aircraft Department, the highest authority. The fuse is commonplace.The Guangxi Provincial Consultative Bureau submitted a motion against the Guangxi Patrol Academy to the Senior Advisory Council, which was quickly resolved. Unexpectedly, the imperial court actually ordered the Zizhengyuan to submit the decision to the Ministry of Civil Affairs for review-the two originally parallel departments became superior and inferior in form. Before Pu Lun's decree was read, the court was in an uproar. The grievances gathered at the military plane.Angry bullets flew into the Forbidden City like a snowflake, but they were drowned by Zaifeng without exception. As a result, more violent questions were raised, and memorials demanding "explain the nature and status of the Zizhengyuan" were placed on the regent's desk. Zaifeng was also angry, and deliberately confronted him, praising the minister of military affairs in a high-profile manner, making the elected members feel that he was born by his stepmother and was not welcome. Reactionary slogans such as "the king has enmity with the world" came one after another. Liu Chunlin, a democratically elected member of the top scholar, even pointed out that Zaifeng "didn't study the constitutional regime very much".Facing the turbulent public opinion, Yu Shi Ou Jialian expressed emotion in his draft: In the past, the bandits caused the chaos, but today the chaos is caused by the students, the army, and the parliamentarians. Of course, struggle requires strategy.There are three sets of tactics used by elected members: fear, pull, and coercion. "Fear" means threatening to throw down the pick, clamoring to go home and sell sweet potatoes.The reason is very good: since the Council of Ministers has discussed "everything is empty", it is better to dissolve it as soon as possible. And even thought about the way out: "We can also run schools and businesses when we go back, and we still have responsibilities to the country." Pu Lun was so choked that he had nothing to say. "Pull" means to win over and unite all the living forces.For example, when Luo Jie asked Pu Lun to inform the Minister of Military Aircraft to come to the Zizhengyuan to accept the question, he clarified that this move not only showed respect for civil rights and laws, but also benefited the reputation of the speaker. "Forcing" means playing hooliganism.For example, when voting on the proposal of "cutting braids and making clothes easier", the elected members stubbornly insisted on voting by name, and did not give the elected members the opportunity to make up the number. As a result, even Prince Zhuang Zaigong (Zai Xun's younger brother) and other Manchu relatives followed the general trend and voted for it. ticket. Although the American magazine "Prospect" called the Zizhengyuan "the most outspoken institution advocating reform", in the eyes of the Revolutionary Party, it is still a tool for smearing. That is also stronger than the League's repeated battles and repeated defeats, with endless infighting. Most domestic uprisings instigated overseas by Sun Wen ended in failure, and Liang Qichao called him a "distant revolutionist". The only Zhennanguan uprising worth writing about has not yet been verified by historians. After a thorough investigation, it was found that there were no troops stationed at Zhennanguan. The revolutionary party climbed up and planted flags all over the fort. I thought I was singing. A few days later, the Qing army found out about this Beijing opera hall meeting and felt that it was too much.Zhang Mingqi, the governor of Guangxi, sent Long Jiguang and Lu Rongting to mobilize troops to bombard them, but there was no movement from the other side.Climb up and see that the Revolutionary Party has already slipped away. The so-called Sun Wen parachuted into the town of Nanguan and fired cannons at the Qing soldiers with his own hands is even more fictitious. In 1907, under diplomatic pressure, the Japanese government sent Sun Wen out of the country as a gift and secretly gave him 20,000 yuan in revolutionary funds. In the end, Sun Wen only left 2,000 yuan to Minbao, the official newspaper of the Tongmenghui, and took away the rest. The editor-in-chief of "Min Bao" Zhang Taiyan was waiting for the rice to be cooked due to the shortage of funds. He was furious when he heard the news and scolded Sun Wen for embezzling public funds. Although Zhang Taiyan was proud of playing mental patients all his life, when he filled out the household registration form in Japan, he wrote "sage" in the column of occupation and "longevity without bounds" in the column of age, and named his three daughters "Zhang (li)" and "Zhang 叕 (zhuo)". ""Zhang (zhan)" intends to cultivate in the direction of older leftover women, but in most cases, they are still clear-headed. The reason why he is called "Crazy Zhang" is because of his clear love and hatred. He posted a marriage notice in the newspaper, claiming that "you can remarry when you are dead, and you can get divorced when you are alive." His grudge against Sun Wen stemmed from the fact that Sun Dapao had repeatedly promised to Japanese politicians that he would exchange land in the three eastern provinces for Japan's support for his revolutionary cause. He also made a wish to Uchida Ryohei: "If you can assist the Chinese revolution, you will transfer Manchukuo to Japan." He also made a wish to Ogawa Heiji: "If the revolution of our generation can succeed, it will be fine to satisfy Japan's hopes with the land of Manchuria." In order to save Sun Wen's reputation and fight back against Zhang Taiyan's doubts, Wang Jingwei, who has always had a sacrifice complex, decided to feed a tiger with his body despite the dissuasion of his friend Hu Hanmin. He led Huang Fusheng, a member of the League, and Yu Peilun, a bomb expert, to sneak back to Beijing and opened a "Shouzhen Photo Studio". . It is rumored that the place where the crime happened was Yinding Bridge, so many literary and artistic youths who went to Houhai to drink could also express their nostalgia for the past by leaning on the railing.In fact, the real scene was at the Ganshui Bridge by the Shichahai Lake. For two days in a row, Wang, Huang, and Yu hid under the bridge and planted explosives. They were either scared away by barking wild dogs, or gave up because the wires they were carrying were too short. On the third day, everything was ready, Huang Fusheng and Yu Peilun arrived first, bowed their heads and worked hard. Under the moonlight, a group of lights flashed.Huang Fusheng's heart tightened, and he whispered to Yu Peilun to report back, while he hid behind a tree to observe. The person who came was a coachman. His wife hadn't come home for three days, and she probably ran away with someone. She was so angry that she couldn't sleep, so she came looking for him with a light. Huang Fusheng saw him poking his probe under the bridge, and left immediately. He hurried over and pulled up the copper wires that had been laid, preparing to evacuate. Unexpectedly, the tin can containing the explosives was too heavy, and Huang Fusheng could not lift it out of the pit with his own strength.After dawdling for a long time, the footsteps were chaotic, and the coachman arrived with two patrolmen. Had to dodge people. The bomb was gone, but Wang Jingwei was not reconciled.While sending Yu Peilun to make explosives again, he stayed behind with Huang Fusheng. The Qing court looked calm on the surface, secretly followed the clues, searched everywhere, and finally discovered the source of the iron cans—the Yongtie Factory on Luomashi Street. The blacksmith saw a large group of wolves and tigers patrolling, and quickly recruited: Shouzhen Photo Studio. Prince Su Shanqi was in charge of trying Wang Jingwei and Huang Fusheng.Not surprisingly, the two of them would surely die, and Hu Hanmin, who was far away in Japan, even wrote a eulogy poem. Who knows, Shanqi is a loyal reader of "Min Bao", and he has heard the name "Jingwei" for a long time, so he wants to talk about current affairs with him. Shanqi: "The revolutionary party advocates the prosperity of the Han Dynasty and the destruction of the Manchus, which is narrow ethnic hatred. If there is a bloody revolution in the country, wouldn't outsiders just take advantage of the chaos to invade China? Neighboring Japan, with a constitutional monarchy, is a successful example of the Qing Dynasty." Wang Jingwei categorically denied: "The Meiji Restoration in Japan was by no means a bloodless revolution. It was caused by Saigo Takamori's first fight and the use of force to overthrow the curtain. The "constitution" of my Qing Dynasty is completely a cover. Only a democratic revolution and only bloodshed can save the country. China." Shanqi's eloquence was no match for Wang Jingwei, and seeing him contending with Huang Fusheng to be the "mastermind", he felt pity for his talents. That night, Wang Jingwei sat alone in the prison and recited the widely circulated song "Song of Generosity to Yan City, Be a Prisoner of Chu Calmly. Draw a knife quickly and live up to the boy's head". The jailer presented the poem to Shanqi, and the descendants of Huang Taiji’s eldest son, Hauge, were immediately moved by his heart: “You are such a beautiful woman, how can you be a thief? If it can be used by the country to save the nation and survive, I will be very lucky!” For this reason, he urged Zaifeng to give him a lighter sentence. As a result, the original felony of Zhu Jiuzu was sentenced to life imprisonment for the first time. In this regard, Zaifeng's explanation is "it is advisable to be lenient when suffering (suffering) crimes for the country", Sun Wen's interpretation is "deterred by the spirit of the revolutionary party", and later generations' analysis is "deliberately showing the greatness of the Qing court". degree and enlightenment". Didn't get to the point. After the Russo-Japanese War, Ito Hirobumi forced the Korean King Lee Hee to sign a protection treaty, handing over all military and diplomatic power to Japan. North Korea's decrees and the appointment and dismissal of senior officials are all in the hands of the "supervisor" Ito. In the words of Korean literati: Every time Ito Hirobumi enters the palace, his attitude towards Gaozong (Li Xi) is more arrogant than Cao Cao's attitude towards Han Xiandi. In 1909, Ito went to Harbin for talks with the Russian Finance Minister.Ahn Jong-geun, a North Korean righteous man, was ambushing at Harbin Railway Station. Seeing Ito get off the train, he rushed out of the crowd like lightning, fired three shots, and killed the "traitor who ravaged North Korea" in his hands.Soon, he died peacefully in Lushun Prison. In 1910, the Japanese invaders coaxed and coaxed Li Xi's son Li Ji (zhi, Chunzong) to sign the "Japan-Korea Merger Treaty".Lasting for more than 500 years, the Li Dynasty, which was the same as the Ming and Qing dynasties, has become a term in history books. Annexation of North Korea is just the starting price.Japan, which has always lived with high standards, quickly signed a defense alliance with Russia, agreeing to maintain their respective privileges in the three northeastern provinces and prevent other countries from entering. The crisis of national subjugation awakened the gentry class. With Zhang Jian, the chairman of the Jiangsu Counseling Bureau, Tang Shouqian (the chairman of the Zhejiang Counseling Bureau), Tan Yankai (the chairman of the Hunan Counseling Bureau), Tang Hualong (the chairman of the Hubei Counseling Bureau), Pu Dianjun (the chairman of the Sichuan Counseling Bureau) and others responded , launched a petition movement that spread across the country, forcing the court to abandon the so-called "nine-year preparatory constitution", quickly convene a parliament, and organize a responsible cabinet. Xu Teli, a teacher in Changsha, gave a speech at the school, saying that "if the Congress is not held early, it will not be enough to save the peril."With the blood racing, he lost control of his emotions. He took out a sharp knife, cut off the little finger of his left hand, and wrote eight bloody characters, "Please open the meeting and see off with severed finger". As soon as the representatives of the Provincial Consultative Bureaus arrived in Beijing, they submitted a joint petition to the Metropolitan Procuratorate, listing four reasons for the expedited opening of the Congress: 1. Using the old administrative agencies to implement a new constitutional government will definitely not work; Second, the imperial court has always engaged in secret diplomacy.How much land was cut and how much money was paid, the people have to go over the wall to find out.Wait another nine years, and the old book will be sold out; 3. There is no Congress and a responsible cabinet, and the public anger is all concentrated on the royal family.Reactionary ruling class, can you really sleep? 4. How do you explain the success of the people's intelligence quotients that have been insulted all day long? Enlightened factions within the system, such as Xiliang, governor of the three eastern provinces, Li Jingxi, governor of Yunnan and Guizhou, Sun Baoqi, governor of Shandong, and various ministers stationed abroad also called the imperial court one after another, demanding that the government follow public opinion. Shuntian Fucheng even warned: "European coups mostly occurred in middle-class society (gentry), and there are all historical sites." From this, it is not difficult to imagine why Zaifeng wanted to forgive Wang Jingwei who plotted to assassinate him—it is better to take the opportunity to show off than to stop the boiling. The problem is that the previous ruler was too good at acting, so vivid that he had already trained the people's eyes to see him, and he was unwilling to be easily fooled, and insisted on playing the real game. Seeing that the first round of petitions was rejected by the imperial decree, and was splashed with dirty water by the Minister of Military Aircraft (just to increase his power, not out of public opinion), the councilors quit, and it was agreed that the provincial councils would only If the case of "quick opening of the Congress" is raised, if it is rejected again, the group will be dissolved. The second round of petitions was launched immediately, and large-scale crowds took to the streets to demonstrate in various places. Beijing youths Zhao Zhenqing and Niu Guangsheng led a group of students to see off the delegation that was going to the Zizhengyuan to deliver petitions.They handed the representatives a letter with the subject of the students' intention to "buy Congress with blood." Not knowing what to do, Zhao Zhenqing and Niu Guangsheng suddenly drew their swords out of their sleeves, intending to commit suicide, but were fortunately held down by the representatives. Taking advantage of his unpreparedness, Niu Guangsheng resolutely cut off a piece of flesh from his left leg.Everyone was still in shock, Zhao Zhenqing cut off a piece of flesh from his right arm. The two smeared blood on the letter, and the representatives wiped away their tears. The elected members of the Zizhengyuan voted in favor of the proposal in the petition to call for the opening of the National Assembly in the third year of Xuantong (1911). As a result, all the bills were shelved, and as soon as the meeting was held, they shouted, "In this critical autumn, there is no way to save the nation except the congress."Seeing that the work could no longer be carried out, Pu Lun had to agree to discuss the matter of expediting the opening of the meeting. Luo Jie, Lei Fen and others spoke one after another, weeping and filled with righteous indignation.When voting, elected members insisted on standing up to vote.As a result, even the most conservative elected members have lost the courage to speak out against them in full view. Unanimous vote. When Pu Lun reported, Zaifeng put on his signature "silence and nothingness". Mr. Pu compromised and said: "Nine years of preparation is out of date, at least three years in advance." Shanqi has been engaged in receiving interviews all year round (Shangshu of the Ministry of Civil Affairs), and he knows that public opinion cannot be violated, and he also persuaded: "The people's hearts are extremely angry, and catastrophe is bound to happen." What Zaifeng considered was the secret memorial of Chen Kuilong, governor of Zhili, which said that "if there is no congress, a responsible cabinet can be established first." Chen Kuilong's suggestion came from his father-in-law Yikuang's instruction. King Qing, who had been watching the fire from the other side for a long time, was ready to fish in troubled waters. Obviously, once the responsible cabinet is established, Yikuang, the oldest minister in charge of military aircraft, will be the best candidate for prime minister. Zaifeng had no choice.Yikuang is surrounded by Longyu, and his disciples are all over the government and the public, so he can't turn his face for the time being. Therefore, the princes and ministers were convened to discuss, and finally a resolution was formed: the next year (1911) set up a responsible cabinet, and the fifth year of Xuantong (1913) held a congress. Of course, the compromise is not unconditional.The above decree expressly ordered the disbandment of the petition group, prohibiting any further petitions, otherwise "must be punished according to the law." The subtext is: this is the bottom line, don't look forward to Shu. On November 5, 1910, dragon flags were hoisted and decorated with lanterns and festoons on East and West Chang'an Streets and Zhengyangmenwai Street in Beijing.Four festive characters are uniformly written on the lamps - celebrating the Congress. School is on holiday for three days.Under the instructions of the academic department, the schools organized students to gather in front of the Daqing Gate, singing songs and shouting long live. Many more are reluctant to be represented. The government ordered all newspapers to report on Universal Celebration, but only two newspapers complied; The petition group announced to the world that "the Congress will only be shortened by three years", and the petition movement declared failure.At the same time, urge the provincial councils to continue to put pressure on the government and demand that the party ban be lifted; Li Jingxi, who supported the lecture hall in Yunnan and secretly protected Cai E, inherited his uncle Li Hongzhang's tradition of laughing and scolding, and called the Qing court to ask for a quick decision on the cabinet candidates, lest "faint old ministers occupy important positions and newly lucky ministers dominate salary position", pointed at Yikuang and Zaifeng. The time has entered 1911, and various signs show that the vitality of the sky is exhausted. Reactionary remarks such as "the government is insane and fears that it will die soon" and "looking directly at our people like snakes and thieves" can be found everywhere. According to the recollection of Kunqu opera master Zhao Zijing, one night in the spring of that year, when he was having a party with his friends at home, "Suddenly heard the rumble rising in the sky, like Lei Feilei", and a person outside the house shouted: "Meteor, what a light!" As a result, all the people in the room rushed out, only to see the night sky "the light is very flickering, shining far and wide. The sound followed, and the farther it was, the more intense it became. The echo made a crackling sound, and it disappeared after about five minutes." Soon, a folk song began to circulate in the ancient capital of Xi'an: don't pinch, don't count, Xuantong has only been two and a half years. Fengtian. More than 5,000 students went to the governor's yamen holding the banner of "please open a congress" and cried: "We all know that the three eastern provinces are about to perish, and we can't save them unless we open a congress." Governor Xiliang sympathized: "There is a saying in the imperial edict, 'People's sentiments can be reached, but people's sentiments should not be arrogant'. Of course it makes sense. But according to my psychology, I am not afraid of the arrogance of the people's sentiments. If the people's sentiments are not arrogant, we cannot know the relationship between the death of the country and the people's will." not die." Wuhan. People from all walks of life hosted a banquet for the comrades headed by Tang Hualong to practice in Beijing. The newspaper announced this tragic and high-spirited farewell meeting: The situation of the country is in jeopardy, foreign aggression is coming frequently, and the division of beans is imminent.But the corrupt government is still in a dream, relying solely on pessimism, great rivers and mountains are ruined by the hands of generations, and all kinds of loss of power and humiliation of the country are all described in detail. The name of this meeting is Tang Jun Hualong farewell, but in fact, Tang Jun Hualong dies and martyrs.Various groups in Wuhan acted as their backing. If something unexpected happened, the whole town of Hankou would be closed to hold a memorial meeting for Tang Junhualong, and then entered the capital one after another, continuing to fight to the death. Guangzhou. Afterglow. The setting sun stretched the shadows of a group of personal soldiers very long, and General Fu Qi of Guangzhou sat in a swaying sedan chair to rest his mind. As Rong Lu's nephew (the son of a cousin), Fu Qi is not conservative in his thinking, otherwise he would not have made a special trip outside the city to watch Feng Ru perform an airplane test flight. As soon as he walked onto the avenue outside the east gate, a middle-aged man rushed out diagonally, blocking the way and blocking the sedan chair.Fu Qi only thought that he was another grassroots petitioner who made troubles, but who would have thought that the other party would actually draw his gun and rise up! Gunshots rang out suddenly, Fu Qi was shot five times before he could recover, and was killed on the spot. At the interrogation site, Zhang Mingqi, governor of Guangdong and Guangxi, personally arraigned him. The assassin's name is Wen Shengcai. He was originally a miner in Nanyang, and later joined the Tongmenghui. Zhang Mingqi: "Why assassinate?" Wen Shengcai: "Murder!" Zhang Mingqi: "Why did you kill him openly?" Wen Shengcai said loudly: "Only the dictatorship is severe, and the country's enmity is not reported, especially for the compatriots!" Zhang Mingqi said helplessly: "One general dies, another general comes, what's the use?" Wen Shengcai: "Kill one to make an example to others, and I will pay for it." Two days later, Wensheng was abandoned; two weeks later, the Huanghuagang Uprising broke out, which shocked the world. This is a fight of great disparity. Headed by Huang Xing, a death squad composed of more than 120 people wrapped their arms in white scarves, and rushed straight to the Governor's Office of Guangdong and Guangxi amidst the sound of humming conch shells. It is also a battle, the League will show its best talents (Hu Hanmin, Zhu Zhixin, Chen Jiongming, Zou Lu), blood is flying everywhere, and the well-equipped governor's guard is unable to support it. Zhang Mingqi fled over the wall, the Revolutionary Party set fire to the supervisory office and withdrew, and started a street fight with Li Huai, the naval admiral who led his troops. Gunpowder smoke billowed, dyeing the picture in black and white. In slow motion, it was Zhang Yunyi who was only nineteen years old.He survived the catastrophe and was awarded the title of founding general in 1955; In the slow motion, it was Lin Juemin who wrote the touching letter, which was entangled with the "law of safety and security in the world" ("I am lucky to have you, why is it so unfortunate that I was born in today's China").Before he was arrested and killed, even Zhang Mingqi was moved by his calm expression, saying: "It's a pity Lin Juemin, his face is like rain, his heart is like iron, and his heart is as bright as snow"; In the slow motion, it is Yu Peilun who is full of bombs on his chest and rushes to the front of the line to throw bombs to open the way.When he and Wang Jingwei assassinated Zaifeng before, Yu Peilun had returned to Japan ahead of schedule to make explosives and avoided being arrested.As a result, he was reprimanded by Wang Jingwei's lover Chen Bijun as "running away" in front of everyone.And today, Yu Peilun, the one-armed hero (who lost an arm due to a trial bomb) can finally show his will. Huang Xing was spared with two broken fingers, and the Revolutionary Party ended in failure again.Moreover, the eighty-nine people who died were a group of young talents with a high level of education.Therefore, Sun Wen said sadly: "The essence of our party, burn it!" However, it is undeniable that this battle dealt an extremely heavy blow to the Qing government. Even Li Huai, the admiral of the navy as an "current counter-revolutionary", had to admit: "People's thoughts are Han, the trend of the times, and it cannot be maintained by manpower." Huntington said: "Rulers in crisis of authority often become the most sincere reformers. Sincerity for reform stems from their sincerity for retaining power." Zaifeng is not hostile to democratic constitutionalism. After all, he is also a "post-80s" in the 19th century, and his thinking is not conservative.The problem is that he has to use mediocre qualifications to solve the dilemma and help the dying Qing court to rejuvenate, which is reluctant. Reform requires top-level design, but the top level only sees chaos.Zai Xun, Zai Tao, Pu Lun, Shan Qi, and Yi Kuang, each recruited members of his own party, worked in their own battalions, and were fighting fiercely.Zaifeng was caught in the middle. If he wanted to carry out political reform, he had almost no other choice but to consolidate power first. The much-anticipated responsible cabinet was finally born. The result is not as good as not. Prime Minister Yikuang, assistants Na Tong and Xu Shichang. The entire Yiqingyuan Group Co., Ltd. Zaifeng seemed to be defeated, but in fact he placed his own people in three key positions: Army Minister Yinchang, Navy Minister Zaixun, and Duzhi Minister Zaize. This is also what he learned from his good teacher, the Germans: if you have a firm grasp of military and finance, you can sneak up on your officials. The problem is that politicians are playing the game of balance, thinking that the interests of all parties are taken care of, and they are exhaustive, but they just ignore the most important link - public opinion. Among the cabinet members, there are only four Han people, but nine of them are full, and seven of them are from the royal family, which completely violates the constitutional principle that "the royal family does not hold power." As soon as the news came out, the whole country was in an uproar.As the "Cambridge History of the Late Qing Dynasty in China" concluded: "The Qing government's intransigent attitude is uniting constitutionalists everywhere. Although they cannot lead the revolution, they can almost accept the revolution immediately." The last straw that broke the camel's back was the state-owned railway case. As early as 1863, the British and American foreign firms in Shanghai jointly requested the Qing government to allow them to build a Suzhou-Shanghai Railway from Shanghai to Suzhou. Li Hongzhang, the governor of Jiangsu at the time, reported to the imperial court based on the actual situation, coaxing and intimidating: "The Taiping army started from Guangxi, and it took the Qing army half a year to reach Guangxi, which delayed the military plane. And if there is a railway, it only takes two days to travel from Beijing to Guangxi." .” As a result, the Qing court rejected it with the sentence "it is not in line with the law of our ancestors". In 1876, the foreign firm was in a hurry to "build plank roads in the open and build railways secretly", and established a "Wusong Road Company". It announced to the outside world that it would build a road from Shanghai to Wusong, and got the support of the local government. More than 2,000 workers quickly entered the construction site to lay the roadbed and lay the railway tracks. Within a month, the residents along the line heard the whistle. The imperial court obviously did not eat the set of raw rice and cooked cooked rice, and immediately stopped the unlicensed operation of foreign firms through Shanghai Daotai. This matter is originally the other party's fault, and it is enough to talk about it.As a result, the Qing government insisted on talking nonsense, saying, "It's against the will of the people to destroy my geomantic omen," and frighten foreigners with popular uprisings, as if the whole of China is honored except for fools and mobs. In fact, the appearance of Wusong Railway was welcomed by the people along the line. Because foreigners do not engage in violent demolition, they do not hesitate to pay high prices to avoid disputes when purchasing land, and conduct detailed surveys of residents' ancestral graves to prevent damage. At the same time, the railway boosted employment and the economy along the way, and the railway guerrillas imagined by the imperial court did not appear at all. The real hostility came from officials and squires. Local conservative forces once planned to block the construction by lying on the rails, but the driver tried to brake in time and failed. Inspired by the Daotai Yamen in Shanghai, they arranged for a poor and suicidal soldier to go "fishing" and successfully completed the task. Using a human life and 200,000 taels of silver in exchange for the dismantling of the Wusong Railway, and showing it to the outside world as "the aspiration of the people", how difficult the anti-science road of the Qing government was... June 9, 1881 was the centenary of the birth of Stephenson, the inventor of the train.On the same day, the Tangxu Railway built to transport coal from the Kaiping Coal Mine was opened to traffic. Li Hongzhang thought a lot about choosing this day to cut the ribbon. The opposition did not understand it, and immediately threw out the theory that "building a railway is equal to opening the door to thieves", which is very popular at the top, to frighten those in power. Under the instruction of Li Hongzhang, Liu Mingchuan went to Beijing to give a performance, saying that the railways of various countries are used to strengthen the national defense, and the transportation of troops arrives day and night, and it has never been heard that they are used by the enemy. And attach a tip of "self-discipline": "If the railway is built, the eighteen provinces will become one, and the power of military and payment will be in the imperial court in the future. The opposition also sacrificed saints, saying that building railways is against the way of saints. Li Hongzhang had no choice but to go out in person, and wrote a long essay of more than 4,000 words, talking about the example of the sage "cutting wood into a boat, and turning wood into a boat", arguing that building railways is also the right way to "benefit the world if there is no economic benefit". Zhang Jiaxiang, a bachelor's student at the Imperial Academy, changed his thinking and countered from the perspective of "destroying the interests of the people", saying that the railway would take the livelihood of the coachmen and boatmen and cause social unrest. Li Hongzhang gave an example: When the railway was first built in Britain, it also had such concerns. Later, it was found that the railway drove the development of towns along the line, and the demand for horse-drawn carriages increased instead of falling. A more violent counterattack came from Liu Xihong, who had accompanied Guo Songtao on his mission to Europe. Mr. Liu threw out the words "Eighth, the railway is not feasible, eighth, it is not beneficial, and ninety is harmful", and immediately shocked everyone. In fact, as early as during his stay in the UK, Liu Xihong was already "famous overseas". A Persian prince once asked him: "Why doesn't China build trains?" Liu Xihong replied humorously, "Because we are building a super train that does not use coal and rails, but can travel thousands of miles a day." 见波斯藩王迷惑不解，刘锡鸿自鸣得意道：“根据四书五经的教导，正朝廷以正百官，正百官以正万民，此行之最速之火车也。” 波斯藩王哈哈大笑，刘锡鸿陶醉在自己的“妙论”里，以为又创造了一条周恩来式的外交趣语。 对此，《泰晤士报》直言不讳地指出：“阻止铁路之人，必将贻笑于后代。” 反对派的冥顽不灵让李鸿章身心俱疲，在一封私信里吐露心声道： 鸿章老矣，报国之日短矣。即使事事顺手，亦何补涓埃（微小）？所愿当局者洞悉中外真情，勿务虚名而忘实际，狃（拘泥）常见而忽远图，则天下幸甚，大局幸甚！ 甲午之后，自上而下的改革扭转了形势，“要致富，先修路”的常识逐步深入人心，大兴铁路渐成热潮。 然而，庚子国变把慈禧变成了列强的羊咩咩，逆来顺受。洋人们一拥而上，纷纷争夺中国的筑路权。 英法两国在取得滇缅和滇越铁路的修筑权后，进一步觊觎贯通长江中上游富饶地区的川汉铁路，英国甚至已派人入川勘察路线。 时任四川总督的锡良当即上疏朝廷，力主自办川汉铁路，防止列强染指，得到批准。 1904年，谕旨下发，成都岳府街挂出了“官办四川省川汉铁路总公司”的牌子。 按规划，川汉铁路的预计路线自湖北汉口经宜昌，过四川的万县、重庆、内江、资阳，最后抵达成都，总长一千五百公里。 锡良与湖广总督张之洞约定，全程分为三段： 一、宜昌以东至汉口，连接京汉铁路的区段由湖北负责修筑； 二、宜昌以西湖北境内的铁路，由四川负责（待全部完工后，经二十五年时间，湖北政府出资赎回）； 三、四川境内的铁路，由四川负责。 蜀道之难，路人皆知。如此漫长的铁路线，初步预算高达五千万两白银，锡良不借外债，中央又没钱可拨，底气从何而来？ 来自踊跃的川民。 虽说不与秦塞通人烟，但进入到20世纪后，在邹容和吴玉章等人的带领下，川人的爱国热情开始如煮沸的火锅，滚滚发烫。 见平日整天在茶馆扯把子、冲壳子的闲人都关心起捍卫路权的国家大事来，锡良决定走一步险棋。 在《川汉铁路总公司集股章程》中他规定：除官方出资和绅商认购之外，设立“抽租之股”，年纳粮十石（一百升）以上的耕田之家，按实收抽取3％，照市价折合银两后作为铁路股款。 同有去无回的农业税相比，作为有价证券的租股可自由买卖和转让，一旦路成，还可分红。因此，推行极为顺利，甚至连倡优乞丐都争相入股。 截至1911年，租股独大，征收了九百多万两白银。七千万川民，全部因此同川汉铁路扯上了关系。 然而，这种全民参与办铁路的景象，在盛宣怀看来却未必是好事。因为修铁路需要巨额投入，且投资回报期长，股散本弱，难成大事。 盛宣怀坚定地认为，铁路必须国有化。其逻辑是：既然铁路事关国家命脉，又有如此丰厚的利益，由政府垄断经营天经地义。 问题是盛宣怀早已在政治斗争中失势，正走载泽的门路谋求复出，暂时还轮不到他说话。 锡良则趁商部政策放开之机，大搞国企改革，于1907年实现了国有资本的彻底退出。“官办川汉铁路总公司”变为“商办川汉铁路有限公司”，并高薪聘请詹天佑担任总工程师。 与此同时，张之洞也召集湖广绅商计议，以六百七十五万美元从美国合兴公司手上收回了粤汉铁路的修筑权。 一时间风起潮涌。 1907年，全国有十八家铁路公司，其中十三家是商办，以至于泥木匠作、舆马帮佣，各行各业的人都跑来入股，把洋人看傻了。 美、英、法、德组成的“四国银行团”利用外交和报纸极尽恫吓与要挟，煽动说清政府把路权下放给各省是致命的错误。 四国银行团的算盘是：通过给川汉铁路工程放贷，侵占路权。 1911年2月，同日本完成了媾和的俄国准备在东北设立军事观察站，新一轮的亡国危机使清政府吓破了胆。 四国银行团顺势施压，说中国要想获得美、英、法、德的支持，前提条件就是缔结针对川汉铁路的贷款。 问题是路权现在属于川汉铁路有限公司，彻头彻尾的民营企业，除非强抢，别无他法。 虽说对天朝而言，打劫民众向来是其政治生活的重要组成部分，但仍需一条堂而皇之的理由。 铁路国有化无疑是最好的说辞，因为当时各国政府都在推行私营铁路收归国有的政策，大谈“接轨”就行了。 而玩“国进民退”，经验丰富的盛宣怀显然是最佳人选。但使尽浑身解数东山再起的他，只捞到个邮传部侍郎的帽子，离发号施令还差一步之遥。 1910年，徐世昌入军机处，邮传部尚书一职由唐绍仪署理。 如无意外，“署理”二字很快便会拿掉，这一掌管全国电报、铁路的肥差还是抓在袁党手中，不过从左手交到了右手。 此时，一件诡异的事情发生了。 唐绍仪接到委任状后推三阻四，拒不赴任，连媒体都看出其用意，在报纸上刊文说这是为了让“盛侍郎有邮部尚书之望”。 唐绍仪的反常行为，出自袁世凯的授意。 几年前，大头刚当上直隶总督时，曾乘人之危，将属于盛宣怀的轮船招商局和中国电报总局抢到北洋旗下。二人由此结怨，积恨已久。 于是，由袁世凯幕后导演的这场“赠人玫瑰手有余香”的大戏，外人自然表示看不懂了。 站在载沣的立场，想托庇于四国，就必须向四国银行团贷款筑路，而这一切的前提是将川汉铁路收归国有。 再往深了想，既要搞国有化，又要向列强借钱，没有比常年周旋于官商和洋人之间的盛宣怀更令人放心的人选了。 袁世凯当然看到了这一点，但同时也看清了另一个更严峻的现实。 之前，张之洞遵从民意，赎回了粤汉铁路的筑路权，被舆论赞为“民族英雄”。 结果，当他向绅商们筹款修路时，所有人都两手一摊，表示没钱。 张之洞无奈，拖下去又徒增笑柄，只好向英国贷款修路。 谁知，已被点燃的民族情绪势不可挡，反对的呼声一浪高过一浪，认为“去美来英”，原先的合约还不如不废。 声讨中，张之洞又成了人人喊打的卖国贼，把一生好名的老头儿逼得“心焦难堪”，乃至“呕血而死”。 可见，承担着对内收路、对外订约的邮传部尚书一职，已从晚清第一肥差变成一桶随时可能爆炸的硝化甘油。 正因如此，在袁世凯的布局中，唐绍仪必须撤离。 他已经看出，铁路国有政策将是清廷的亡命符。而最好的吟咒者，便是兼具能力与决心的盛宣怀。 打了几十年交道，袁世凯比盛宣怀他妈还了解他。 首先，此人迷信权力，从来不跟民间资本做坦诚的沟通，唯知以官家的身份利用、欺凌，一旦上位，必能成功搞出一个民怨沸腾的局面； 其次，盛宣怀不是给李鸿章当助手，就是跟洋人搞商务，缺乏基层工作经验，若出现乱局，绝对摆不平； 最后，是基于对中国社会的整体判断。在这张由官、学、商组成的牌桌上，文人有道无术，官员寡道多术，商人无道有术。 以无道而居要位，天下宁不乱乎？ 盛宣怀果然没有“辜负”袁世凯的期望，如愿以偿地当上邮传部尚书后，第一件事便是授意御史石长信上了一道奏折，颇有创意地将全国铁路分为“干路”和“支路”，干路只许官办，支路则可商办。 邮传部立刻呼应，上奏说： 从前规画未善，致路政错乱纷歧，不分支干，不量民力，一纸呈请，辄准商办。乃数载以来，粤则收股及半，造路无多。川则倒账甚钜，参追无着；湘、鄂则开局多年，徒供坐耗。循是不已，恐旷日弥久，民累愈深，上下交受其害。 作为从小到人民公园瞻仰“保路死事纪念碑”的老成都，实事求是地讲，盛宣怀并未夸大事实。 以沪杭甬铁路（上海、杭州、宁波）为例，清政府原拟借英资筑路，遭到江浙两省绅商的强烈抵制。 于是，两省各自成立公司，承担境内铁路的修建。 浙江铁路公司推举咨议局议长汤寿潜为总经理，在全省募集股金。股款中，有老人的寿衣棺材费，有寡妇的生活储蓄金。 结果，汤经理的亲友团集体跑来赚快钱，争相介绍筑路物资。由于缺乏监管，浙江铁路公司盲目采购、亏空严重，最后竟资不抵债。若非政府施以援手，汤寿潜多半卷款跑路。 川汉铁路的问题更严重。 筹备了八年，集款远远不够。开工无期，耗费却日多，挪借侵蚀、假公济私的腐败行为比起官场来不遑多让。 财务主管施典章甚至调拨公司三百五十万两资金跑到上海搞投资，中饱私囊，结果遭遇股灾，钱全部打了水漂。 许多川籍京官都看出这种靠民间融资修路的风险，纷纷上疏要求政府出面干预： 民尽锱铢，局用如泥沙，出入款项，均无报告； 前款不敷逐年工用，后款不敷股东付息。款尽路绝，永无成期…… 因此，当铁路（干路）收归国有的上谕发布时，一开始，民间的反对并不激烈。 将民愤瞬间点燃的是几天后朝廷与四国银行团签订的出让筑路权的《粤汉铁路、湖北境内川汉铁路借款合同》。 两湖相继举行大规模集会，抗议“国有”之命。川路公司也紧急召开了股东大会。 因有巡警在场，会议一开始非常沉闷。忽然，场下一人长叹道：“四川亡矣！”言未已，即掩面恸哭。 一时间四周哭号相和，声震屋瓦，连巡警也扔了警棍，伏案而泣。 面对失控的场面，劝业道（商务厅厅长）周善培起身道：“此事不是哭就能解决的，诸君当另想办法。” 机灵的已然会意，走出会场，带着哭丧团朝总督衙门走去。 四川总督，此时由布政使王人文（1863—1939）代理。事先得到消息的王大人命人将督署大门敞开，在大堂檐下摆了一张长案，神色泰然地立于案上，静候请愿团。 王人文素以开明著称，川绅被他凝重的表态感动了： 总督职在为民，民有隐，职当代请。请而不得，去官，吾职也，亦吾所乐也。 奏请的电报很快传到权力顶端，王人文避而不谈“铁路国有”，只委婉地提出：川路租股涉及全省百姓的利益，当有万全之策，切不可操之过急。 载沣漠然以对，绕开新成立的皇族内阁，直接跟邮传部和度支部协商决策此事，激怒了奕劻，以至于日后局势崩坏，作为内阁总理大臣的庆亲王拒绝为此负责，态度极其冷淡。 其实，度支部掺和进来是一个再明显不过的信号：四国银行团的贷款是救命钱，载沣要拿来缓解财政枯竭的困境。 因此，给王人文的回电很不客气地将川绅定性为“巧借铁路筹款，专事苛虐小民”的土豪劣绅，并斥责川汉铁路有限公司“亏倒巨款”。 王人文担心刺激到绅商，将朝廷的斥电捂了一个星期，再次上奏苦劝。 回电却愈发严厉： 览奏殊为诧异，王人文着传旨严行申饬。 与此同时，载沣起复投闲已久的端方为督办川汉铁路大臣，具体操办收路事宜。 此差可谓万人艳羡——还有比政府接收大员来钱更快的职业吗？ 端方的铁路大臣，行辕设在汉阳。乃至同城为官的湖北布政使连甲拐弯抹角地找到袁世凯，想通过他走端方的门路，谋一个“会办”的兼差，捞笔丰厚的外快。 纸包不住火，王人文不敢再掩盖煌煌上谕，将之前那封指责川绅“误国殃民”的朝旨公布了。 事实上，朝旨并没有冤枉川路公司的大股东和高管——折腾得民穷财尽也没见着铁路的影子，还搞出一堆财务窟窿。 川绅自知理亏，集体呈请朝廷，百般辩解，并试探着问了一句： 从前已收已用股款，将来如何退还？ 为了施压，还不忘把升斗小民推到前台