Chapter 42 Zhejiang: We businessmen have power

Ningbo is the largest commercial port in Zhejiang, and it was one of the first five ports opened during the Opium War.Ningbo people are also famous for being good at doing business.The Ningbo Gang has a great reputation in Shanghai, with hands and eyes open to the sky, and it has done a good job in China.Therefore, in this city, merchants and gentry close to merchants are the most powerful and active group of people.In every larger family, some people go into official careers and some people study business.Those who go into official career also enter the business world after retirement.When the Wuchang Uprising broke out, Ningbo, like other places, had both old and new troops.The new army is a standard led by an association, while the old army is more than a thousand people under the command of the patrol battalion.Just like the old and new armies in other places, the two sides are fighting openly and secretly, and they are incompetent.However, unlike the old and new armies in other places, neither side has much pursuit of revolution or royalism.The new army is certainly new, but the old army has lived in an open commercial port like Ningbo for a long time, and its thinking has long been enlightened.They compete with each other, often out of mutual affection.

But no matter what, the two armies were angry in the city, and even pulled out the cannons, untied the cannon jackets, and confronted each other, which always made the citizens feel uneasy.In case the two armies fight, the unlucky one is of course the city.At this time, of course, businessmen cannot sit idly by.A few dignitaries, the president of the general chamber of commerce, the general manager of the spinning mill, a gentleman who was once a Hanlin and a public servant of the chamber of commerce, the president of the education association, and the president of the self-government association came out to discuss and decide to set up their own militia. Only with your own arms can you have confidence.Immediately decided to recruit 500 people, divided into sub-groups according to the eight districts inside and outside the city, each sub-group had a sub-group leader, and each sub-group had two small platoons with 20 people in each row.A student studying in Japan, who is suspected of being a revolutionary party, will be the head of the regiment.The salary of the militia is no problem, it is high-level right from the start, on the same level as the new army, eight yuan a month, twice as high as that of the patrol battalion.It's just that in a hurry, the weapon is a bit troublesome.There are no decent firearms in the government's arsenal. Most of them are the first-generation foreign guns and arquebus used when hunting long hair. Obviously, they can't be shown.So I only pulled dozens of breech quick grabs for training purposes.Another tall horse was allocated for the regiment chief, and four tall men were found to be bodyguards for the regiment chief. Each of them had a big knife with a long red tassel on the handle, and followed him in and out.Then I bought some guns one after another, and borrowed some bullets from the patrol battalion.Although the commander of the patrol battalion competed with the new army, he was guilty in his heart. He was not really willing to fight. He was very happy to see the gentry and merchants contacting him.

In fact, while contacting the patrol battalion, the merchants did not forget to contact the new army. Everyone did not have too many political ideals. In addition, in the troubled times, their respective subordinate systems no longer mattered, and they had to rely on the merchants for their salaries.Therefore, the new army and the old army, under the peace of the merchants, reconciled with the reform.The largest magistrate in the area, Daotai full of people, saw that the situation was not good, so he slipped away.Without the government, the militia is in charge. Under the leadership of the militia, the militia patrols the streets every day. The head of the regiment rides a horse, accompanied by four big men and four swords.Then the flags, military bands, and costumes are neat and mighty, brighter than the new army, and the army is majestic. The police and the original business group also joined in and walked around the city every day.It is said that even the thief dared not come out in fright.With the formation of militia groups and business groups, the citizens were reassured, and all shops were open for business as usual.Next, the people of Ningbo, regardless of military, civilian or business studies, began to prepare for the new government.Everyone sat together for a meeting. The Xietong of the new army was elected as the governor of the Ningbo military sub-government, the commander of the patrol battalion became the deputy governor, and the various ministers working under him were all businessmen and gentry.In fact, Ningbo's home is still run by former gentry and merchants.Everything, almost nothing has changed.Then, the militia and business groups, the new army, the patrol battalion, and representatives from all walks of life gathered in the small school grounds to announce the recovery of Ningbo and the establishment of a new government.Then the new army was sent northward, and patrol battalions were sent around to recover the counties. The militia and business groups defended the city, which actually became the largest force in Ningbo.

Unlike Wang Jinfa, a veteran revolutionary who entered Shaoxing and first opened the prison and released the prisoners, the new Ningbo government not only did not release the prisoners, but immediately shot five death row prisoners (if the rules of the Qing Dynasty were followed, these death row prisoners would have to be decided by the court in the autumn trial) , revolution, this rule does not count).One of the female prisoners murdered her husband because of adultery, which is hated by thousands of people.On the day of the shooting, the new government selected several political and law students as interrogators. According to the reformed criminal law of the Qing Dynasty, the five people were sentenced to death and shot immediately.Proclaim to the public that any crime committed in the past deserves death, and it is the same now.Killing prisoners is to establish prestige and maintain order.Strictly speaking, this order is not the new order of revolution, but the old order of the past.

In comparison, Shaoxing's military sub-government established by Shan Dawang Wang Jinfa's troops was much less gentry and businessman-like, and the city's order was much worse.Obviously, this is because in Ningbo, the initiative of the gentry and merchants led the change.It not only avoided the almost inevitable annexation and conflict between the old and new armies in the revolution, but also became the home of these warriors.Needless to say, even though neither of the two neighboring cities had ever used force during the restoration, the post-revolutionary order in Shaoxing was hardly comparable to that in Ningbo.As the former master of the party and the king of the mountain, Wang Jinfa's subordinates have too many rogue proletarians from the mountainous areas, Wang Jinfa's former brothers, while the civilian and business groups in Ningbo are mostly local children of good families.Some of them were retired patrol battalion soldiers who also made their home in Ningbo.Shaoxing Wang Jinfa's subordinates violated the military discipline a lot, violated the common people a lot, raped and looted constantly, and even gathered a crowd to destroy the "Yueduo Daily" which criticized them.Later, people from Shaoxing went to the province to sue, claiming that there were many people with "blond hair who harmed Shao", but there was no such thing in Ningbo.

The gentry and businessmen in any place care more about order than ordinary civilians, and pursue the stability of change, but whether they can take the initiative and control the situation depends crucially on the strength of the local gentry and businessmen and their ability to handle affairs.In this regard, the businessmen in Ningbo, like their counterparts in Wuxi and Jiangyin, have shown a little trick.Of course, such a revolutionary restoration has nothing to do with the revolutionary party.Zhejiang is a place with a very developed market economy and a fairly mature merchant society. Although the Restoration Society has been cultivating here for many years, after the revolution, it was not the territory of the Revolutionary Party.Only one Wang Jinfa controlled Shaoxing, and because of his bad reputation, he couldn't stay any longer.It is not to say that the peasants at the lower level have no power, but the power of the peasants needs to be mobilized, and it can only be achieved through deep mobilization. This kind of mobilization is exactly what the revolutionaries, including kings like Wang Jinfa, try their best to avoid.Therefore, even after a great revolution, merchants still have power.Once the gentry and businessmen stop supporting the Revolutionary Party, the Revolutionary Party will be useless.