Chapter 12 Chapter 6 1905: The Constitutional Vanguard

China in 1905 was the most radical year in modern history.The imperial court launched various reforms at a dizzying speed, involving many aspects such as politics, society, and finance. The intensity, scope, and shock of the changes far exceeded all the content proposed during the Hundred Days Reform. However, as the French political thinker Tocqueville said, "For a bad government, the most dangerous moment is usually the moment when it starts to reform." It is so big, but in the end it is still impossible to avoid the collapse of the empire?Is destruction the result of change, or the result of change failure?In the process of regime change, what is the weight of economic reform and political reform, and how should they be coordinated?Moreover, what role did the entrepreneurial class play?

The energy of change has actually been accumulating for thirty years, but it is constantly interrupted, and then gathers again more violently under internal strife and external insults. It flows angrily under the surface like earth fire, Once there is a crack, it will spurt out uncontrollably, causing huge and uncontrollable turmoil.In 1905, the situation of three forces wrestling with China was already very clear. One was the constitutionalists, the other was the revolutionaries, and the other was the wavering and hesitant court rulers.At this time, the entrepreneurial class has not yet constituted an independent force. Due to their different ideas and interests, they choose sides to join.

After the change of the Gengzi Kingdom, the national mood once fell into a short period of negativity, and then was greatly aroused again, and the point of stimulation was the Russo-Japanese War that broke out in 1904.On February 6 of that year, Japan launched a surprise attack on the Russian fleet at Lushunkou, China. In order to compete for interests in Northeast China, the two countries launched a great war using Chinese territory as the battlefield. Reason, declared "neutral from the outside." This battle was fought until May 1905, and ended with Japan's victory. The two great powers are truly invincible and have risen to become the strongest modern country in Asia.

During the Russo-Japanese War, Northeast China became a piece of scorched earth, and millions of people lost their lives, while the rulers stood on the sidelines with incomparable humiliation. Their shamelessness and incompetence could no longer be added, and the majesty and credibility of the empire went bankrupt.Among the literati and intellectuals, nationalism suddenly rose, and the voice for change was unstoppable.According to the calculations of Japanese scholar Ichiko Zouzo, around this year, the number of young people who went to study in Japan increased greatly, and the number soon exceeded 10,000. Fairbank called it "the largest movement of students going abroad in the history of the world so far." Many of them have become heavyweights in China's political, military, intellectual and business circles. The famous Japanese educator Matsumoto Kameroji said in 1927: "Among Chinese soldiers today, among the middle generals, there are Two-thirds have studied in our country.” In China, one reform after another has been put on the agenda.

The content of the reform mainly involves the three major aspects of finance, society and politics. The Qing government was the most daring in terms of finance and economics, which was seldom observed in later generations.Because it does not involve the political system, Cixi's memorial to the financial reform in her later years is almost "following the good".However, due to the lack of overall planning and the nationalist model, the economic reforms in the late Qing Dynasty were like a freak. In the end, the collapse of the interest chain between state capital and private capital directly led to the demise of the empire.

As early as July 1903, the imperial court specially set up the Ministry of Commerce, which became the main institution for the central government to formulate commercial laws and related laws. Commercial administrative agencies at all levels, such as the Trademark Office, and commercial celebrities such as Zhang Jian were hired as consultants to the Ministry of Commerce. In January of the following year, the "Imperial Qing Dynasty Commercial Law" was promulgated, including 9 articles of the "Commercial Regulations" and 131 articles of the "Company Law" , which is the first company law in the modern sense.Since then, a series of commercial regulations such as the "Concise Constitution of the Chamber of Commerce" have been promulgated and implemented. In 1906, the Bankruptcy Law, the Charter of the Trial Bank, the Charter of Qing Mining and so on were promulgated.The drafting and promulgation of these laws established the first relatively complete commercial law system, which means that Chinese companies have entered the normative doctrine of modern business from the franchise doctrine that has been followed for thousands of years. In 1906, the imperial court further reorganized the Ministry of Commerce into the Ministry of Agriculture, Industry and Commerce, and established the Department of Education at the same time.

The Ministry of Commerce also imitated the model of chambers of commerce in Western countries and Japan, advocating businessmen from all over the world to set up business associations and branches. The "Concise Articles of Association of the Chamber of Commerce" promulgated in 1904 has 26 specific operating rules, the second of which stipulates that "every province and port, such as the previous public business, has a 'commercial office' and a 'commercial association' Those with other titles should immediately follow the current regulations and change them to "chambers of commerce" to bring them together. Where there is no clubhouse, it is to understand the complexity of business and organize it as appropriate." This is the first time that China has allowed Civilian establishment of merchant organizations.

In the establishment of administrative agencies, the drafting of laws and the establishment of merchant organizations, the imperial court has repeatedly expressed respect for business.In the first paragraph of the articles of association established by the Ministry of Commerce, it is expressly stipulated that "the Department of Protection and Benefits shall be established to deal with all protection matters concerning the investment promotion of the School of Commerce of the Bureau of Commerce." For the last task, the national economy and the people's livelihood are getting poorer and weaker, and it is not because of this." Therefore, it is necessary to "clear away the old habits, connect with each other, and there must be no estrangement, which will cause disadvantages, and we should spare no effort to protect and maintain." The guidance of atmosphere and public opinion is undoubtedly very shocking.

What's more interesting is that in order to express its determination to attach importance to business, the imperial court has spent a lot of brainpower. Although the emperor has no "rice" in his hands, he can still give away a lot of "hats". It is clearly written in the book, "Now that the imperial court attaches great importance to business administration, it is urgent to get rid of prejudices." Therefore, it is stipulated that the size of the reward depends on the number of shares raised. Those who raise more than 50 million yuan will be awarded the first-class consultant official of the Ministry of Commerce. In addition, first-rank Dingdai is added; those who collect more than 20 million yuan of shares can be awarded first-class viscount, first-rank Dingdai and Ssangyong gold medals; To the fourth-class consultant officer of the Ministry of Commerce, plus a fourth-rank top wear.A businessman named Zhang Zhenxun was awarded the title of assistant minister, third-rank Jingtang alternate, inspector minister of commerce, and minister of Taipusi because of his "great contribution" in raising funds and making donations.

This kind of mercantile policy has been seen once in a thousand years since Qin Shihuang.Yang Xingfo, a scholar of the Republic of China, once sighed and said: "Zeng Guofan, a famous minister of Zhongxing, only rewarded marquises, Li Hongzhang was no more than earls, and the rest of the heroes who fought in hundreds of battles were expected to be barons. The bad habits of cheap merchants for thousands of years are truly rare creations."This behavior of "attracting" and "rewarding" entrepreneurs with administrative rank seems to be a characteristic of Chinese culture, and it is still tried and tested a hundred years later.

The Qing government's determination and measures to change in the economic field one after another have brought a new look to the empire.Fairbank believed in "Cambridge History of China", "It was only after the emergence of Chinese industry from 1905 to 1911 that the temptation of profit prevailed, and economic gain became the main motive." Since the promulgation of the "Company Law" and other laws, China has had official statistics on the number of companies. According to Zhang Zhongmin's calculations in the book "Difficult Changes-Research on the Company System in Modern China", from 1904 to 1910, the country officially registered There are about 410 companies in China, which is much higher than the 100 companies that may have existed in 1903. According to Lin Zengping’s statistics, among the 72 modern enterprises that have been documented in the first 30 years, government-run and government-supervised commercial offices accounted for the total. Of the 77.6% of the capital, the commercial office only accounted for 22.4%. By this period, it was just reversed, and the commercial office accounted for 76.3%. From 1905 to mid-1908, 201 new factories were established across the country, with a total investment of 45.81 million yuan, an average of 50 factories per year, and an annual capital increase of 11.45 million yuan.The average number of factories set up per year is more than 20 times that of the 30 years of the Westernization Movement and 2.5 times that of the Jiawu period, and the investment amount is more than 5.7 times and 2.9 times respectively.The scope of investment is also wider. In addition to the great development of the original silk reeling, cotton spinning, matches and other industries, national capital enterprises also appeared in tobacco, soap, electric lamps, glass, boilers, pencils, chemicals and other industries.There were 977 joint-stock companies by 1911. Many scholars agree that, in the years around 1905, "people flocked to invest in businessmen", and the number of companies established exceeded the total amount of state investment in the 30 years of the Westernization Movement.Misao Yasuhara, a Japanese expert on China issues, concluded that 1905 was a new starting point for the development of China's modern industry, that is, it entered the "era of national prosperity" from the "era of national prosperity". In 1907, the 8-year-old Dasheng Spinning Mill held its first shareholder meeting.At that time, Dasheng’s investment and contacts in other enterprises reached 400,000 taels, and these investments were not approved by shareholders.The records of the meeting are still relatively complete in the Dasheng archives of the Nantong Archives.Before the "Company Law" in 1904, Dasheng's status could be said to be "unrestricted and without legal status". Zheng Xiaoxu, Zhang Jian's friend and official stock representative, proposed to "change to a limited and legally complete company" and named it " Dasheng Co., Ltd.", all in favor.As for the other investment companies, it is suggested to set up a "Tonghai Industrial Company" to manage them, without having a direct relationship with Dasheng, and allocate an additional 200,000 taels in addition to the original 400,000 taels, for a total of 600,000 taels, which can be regarded as the share capital allocated by Dasheng to Tonghai. Divided into 120,000 shares, 5 taels per share, and the shares were distributed to Dasheng shareholders. At the shareholder meeting, there was also a debate between official shares and private shares. At the meeting, some shareholders proposed to establish stock rights, from 1 to 100 shares, one right per share; from 100 to 500 shares, every 20 shares plus one right; from 510 to unlimited shares, every 40 shares plus one right.Shareholder Wang Shaoyan pointed out on the spot, "There are no shareholders with more than 500 shares in commercial shares, and every 40 shares above 500 shares are set to add one right, which is obviously for official shares." Too bad, especially the official shares."Shareholder Zhang Danru said, "The number of official shares is too large to be rivaled by commercial shares. If the number of shares is large, the number of powers decreases. In order to protect small shares, this has to be done." Shareholder Lu Shutong questioned, "Why must official shares not protect small shares?" Shares?” In addition, there is another shareholder named Liu Housheng who gave other companies’ practices, for example, the Zhejiang Railway Company uses the method of increasing the number of rights, and the number of Jiangsu Railway Company’s rights cannot exceed 25 rights at most, and neither company has official shares. , but there are restrictions on large shares, "It can be seen that this is a public policy, not for official shares." The focus of this debate is how to regulate the decision-making power of official shares in Dasheng. Although during Zhang Jian’s tenure, official shares have only paid dividends and not participated in decision-making, private shareholders are obviously not at ease about this. To be clear. Fortunately, Zheng Xiaoxu, the representative of official shares, is an enlightened man. He said that the "Company Law" does not distinguish between officials and businessmen. Anyone who buys shares is called a shareholder. The words "official shares" and "commercial shares".With his support, the shareholders' meeting finally passed a resolution, "Delete one right for every forty shares above 500 shares. From one to one hundred shares, one right per share, and more than one hundred Unlimited shares, every twenty shares plus one right.” Such a system design is obviously beneficial to private shareholders with smaller shares. Compared with the drastic economic reforms, the Qing government's social reforms were slightly reduced, while political reforms were hesitant and vacillating. As early as 1902, the emperor decreed that women's foot binding was banned. In 1904, the decree was issued to establish a new school and promulgate the syllabus, and at the same time, women were allowed to study in the new school.All of these are actually a legal recognition of a series of changes that have taken place in the past three decades, including feminism and modern education.By 1905, the most earth-shattering reform decree was the "abolition of imperial examinations." In September, Zhang Zhidong, Yuan Shikai and others presented a memorial, demanding the immediate suspension of the imperial examinations, on the grounds that: "The imperial examinations continue, the number of schools is not wide, the minds of scholars cannot be firm, and the wisdom of the people cannot be fully developed. It's hard to be new."In that month, Empress Dowager Cixi issued a decree, announcing that the 1,300-year-old imperial examination system would be abolished from the next year. "Abolition of imperial examinations" is an epoch-making event.It has completely liberated the Chinese from the backward and rigid Confucianism of Confucius, Mencius, and moved closer to modern civilization in terms of knowledge and ideology. Its profound significance cannot be overestimated.However, from the perspective of national governance, it has become a precursor to the overthrow of the existing regime.The imperial examination system that has lasted for thousands of years has a certain degree of fairness, and it is the only way for ordinary poor children to leap forward to the upper class. Fairbank commented: "In a society that we think pays special attention to personal relationships, China's imperial examinations are amazing. It is selfless. Whenever the country is at its peak and the imperial examination system is effectively implemented, it always makes every effort to eliminate private inquiries and fraud in the imperial examination.” Its abolition extinguished the last trace of nostalgia for the empire of a generation of educated young people, and the elite class learned from the imperial examination. Scattered out of the established track, and soon developed an opposing and uncontrollable force.A fact that can be observed by comparison is that in 1978, at the beginning of China's reform and opening up, one of the earliest reform measures was to restore the college entrance examination system.In the sensitive period of social transition, it is quite possible to participate in research. In politics, the most important call for change is a constitutional monarchy. On this point, the Westernization School and the Reform School reached a high degree of consensus, and they both became constitutionalists.Kang Youwei, Liang Qichao, and others who were hunted down six years ago have become the mainstream, and Tan Sitong's sentence before his death, "Go and stay in Kunlun with liver and gall" has become a reality.The Russo-Japanese War was seen as a contest between the two systems. The constitutionalist "Oriental Magazine" commented, "This is not a war between Japan and Russia, but a battle between constitutionalism and autocracy." Japan's victory seems to prove that From this point of view, in June 1905, one month after Japan’s victory, Zhang Zhidong, Yuan Shikai and others repeatedly called for constitutionalism. At that time, five of the eight governors-general of the country clearly advocated constitutionalism. The minister went abroad for inspection. Standing on the opposite side of the constitutional party is the revolutionary faction, who put forward a more radical political proposition than constitutional monarchy, that is, violent revolution. In February 1905, Zou Rong, a 20-year-old revolutionary, died of illness in a prison in Shanghai. He had previously published the book "Revolutionary Army", advocating the overthrow of the existing regime. , "Son of a scoundrel", and Cixi is even a "prostitute". He shouted "Revolution! Revolution! If you get it, you will live, if you don't, you will die, don't retreat, don't be neutral, and don't linger." In December, foreign students in Japan, At the age of 30, Chen Tianhua committed suicide by crossing the sea, and left behind two articles, "The Alarm Bell" and "Menghuihui". Their thoughts represented the most radical revolutionary thoughts at that time.Also on September 24 of this year, the five ministers sent by the Qing government to study abroad were attacked by bombs before their trip at the Beijing Station. The 27-year-old assassin Wu Yue had his chest and abdomen blown apart, his hands and feet were broken, and he died on the spot.During his lifetime, he became close friends with Chen Tianhua and others, and praised the "terrorist revolution". (Before Wu Yue left, he conspired with fellow Anhui villagers Chen Duxiu, Zhao Boxian and others in the small building of Wuhu Science Book Club. The three of them wrestled into a ball for the task of going north. Wu asked: "Which is easier, giving up a lifetime of hard work or hard work?" Chen replied: "Naturally, the former is easy, but the latter is difficult." Wu said: "However, I will make it easy, and it will be difficult to leave it to the king." The discussion was decided, and drinking and mourning songs were used to strengthen his actions. Chen Duxiu later became the founder of the Chinese Communist Party. One of them, and was elected the first General Secretary.) What we need to observe next is, in this era of great transformation, when the constitutionalists and the revolutionaries are in opposition, and when China is facing a major choice in its destiny, what choice will the entrepreneurial class make?What have they done? Let's start with a piece of news from that year. In December 1905, a sensational joint trial case occurred in Shanghai. At that time, Li Huang, a Cantonese official wife, returned to Guangdong from Sichuan with 15 maidservants due to the death of her husband. When she passed by Shanghai, she was arrested by the Shanghai British Concession Patrol Office on the charge of human trafficking.When the case was being tried by the Joint Trial Office in the Concession, a dispute arose between the Chinese and British interrogators over where the female prisoner should be detained. The British interrogator, De Weimen, rudely declared, “I don’t know there is a road to Shanghai, and I only obey the orders of the consul. Guan Jiongzhi, the Chinese interrogator, said angrily, "Since that's the case, I don't know there is a British consul." During the dispute, De Weimen ordered the police to snatch the prisoners by force, and tore Guan Jiongzhi's court clothes.The Chinese who were watching reacted strongly to the humiliation of their own officials. They rushed to the court, surrounded and arrested them, and set fire to the police house and Deweimen's car. The British police officers shot and killed many people and arrested more than 500 Chinese officials. people.After the massacre broke out, the Chinese businesses in the British Concession went on strike one after another to protest, and the foreign patrols were not to be outdone, they all quit their posts, and the Concession suddenly fell into chaos.This international dispute in Shanghai has caused some uproar. The British are the most powerful and arrogant in China. The Qing government was cowardly and incompetent, and did not dare to deal with it head-on, so they entrusted businessmen to come forward to coordinate. At that time, Yu Qiaqing (1867-1945), a Shanghai businessman who was less than forty years old, acted as a mediator. Like many businessmen on the beach, Yu Qiaqing was born as a poor "gold digger". In 1881, when he was 14 years old, he came to Shili Yangchang from the countryside of Ningbo. It rained heavily that day. He was afraid that the new cloth shoes made by his mother would get wet, so he hugged the shoes in his arms and went barefoot to a paint shop. relatives.Since the opening of Shanghai in 1843, Ningbo merchants, who have always been good at business strategy, are the largest and most powerful business gang. Sun Yat-sen once commented, "Every port in our country has a business of Ningbo people, even in European countries. The footprints of Ningbo merchants, with their great influence and ability, are definitely second to none." Yu Qiaqing's rise is quite apt.He only studied in a private school for three years, but he worked diligently and had a flexible mind. In the paint business, Yu Qiaqing often had contact with foreign companies, so he studied English hard, and he spoke very fluently in a short time, which laid a solid foundation for his future foreign career. .Soon, he was promoted to run the street before he finished his teacher, and was responsible for the business liaison in the store. In order to keep this young man, the owner kept using salary increases, gifting dry stocks and other methods to win him over.After working in the paint shop for ten years, Yu Qiaqing joined the German merchant Lulin Mathematics as a street trader, and was soon promoted to a comprador.Four years later, he donated more than 400 taels of silver and won the title of an alternate Taoist platform from the imperial court. In the same year, he relied on his own savings to buy dozens of properties in Shengshunli and Shunzhengli, Zhabei, forming an extraordinary In addition, he also planned to establish a small bank named Tonghui Bank.Another six years later, he jumped to Sino-Russian Daosheng Bank as a comprador, and then transferred to ABN Amro as a comprador. ABN AMRO was one of the largest international consortiums in the Far East at that time. Yu Qiaqing did not resign from this position until he fled Shanghai during the Anti-Japanese War.In the following thirty years, Yu Qiaqing worked as a comprador for a foreign company while managing her own business. Standing shoulder to shoulder with the contemporary Shanghai businessmen, Yu Qiaqing's industry is not the biggest, but he is the one with the most influence.In the following decades, he wandered among foreigners, laborers, capitalists, politicians, and underworld gangs. He was the most slick and mediating Chinese businessman. Prestige, a nickname for an elder who is good at mediating disputes.) He regards himself as a "first-class common people", shrewd and quick-witted, but also has a classical complex of helping all living beings.In the troubled times, he always struggled to maintain his independent personality as a businessman, but at the most sensitive moment later, he made a move to change the collective destiny of the Chinese entrepreneurial class. It was in 1898 that Yu Qiaqing showed her talent of "transferring people" for the first time.In the French Concession in Shanghai at that time, French businessmen forcibly demolished a graveyard of Ningbo businessmen on the grounds of building hospitals and slaughterhouses.The Chinese always regarded their ancestral graves as the most inviolable sacred place, and the arrogance of the legal person immediately aroused great public outrage. The Ningbo merchants, which were already powerful in Shanghai, declared a general strike in anger.Unexpectedly, the concession authorities were also very tough and refused to make concessions, and the two sides were at a stalemate for a while.At this moment, Yu Qiaqing went to find "short-term friends" from his hometown, and encouraged these poor laborers to come to strike together. He especially persuaded the maids in the concession to encourage them not to do laundry and cooking for foreign employers. Meals, he will pay behind his back to make up for it.The merchants went on strike, the coolies went on strike, and the maids went on strike. The French Concession immediately fell into chaos, and Yu Qiaqing went to the authorities alone to negotiate.The French had no choice but to make concessions, and the cemetery property rights were finally returned.After this battle, Yu Qiaqing became well-known on the beach in Shanghai. It was Yu Qiaqing who settled the troublesome situation after the rioting in the court case. Yu Qiaqing's trick is still to play "dangerous games" between foreigners and the public.On the one hand, he used the identity of a comprador to mediate and communicate with the British, and on the other hand, he found those "short-term friends" and invited them to gather in his apartment to conspire. If you don't fight hard, the humiliation of the merchants will increase day by day."Under his planning, the Chinese of all classes in the concession announced an indefinite general strike.When the situation got into trouble, he turned to the consulates of Germany, Russia, France, Japan, the Netherlands and other countries in Shanghai—he had worked as a comprador for the banks of the three countries, and begged them to come forward to coordinate and settle the matter.Relying on these maneuvers, the British Concession authorities finally backed down. They were forced to remove the presiding judge who caused the trouble, remove the head arrester who punished the Chinese officials, publicly apologized to the Chinese government, and released Li Huang and all the detained Chinese. . Over the past few decades, almost all the disputes between China and the barbarians ended with China’s forbearance and compromise. Humiliation and avoidance have become a habit. The case ended in such a complete victory, which of course made the court and all the Chinese cheer.On the day when the case was concluded, Yuan Shuxun of Su Song Taidaotai and Guan Jiongzhi, the public judge of the court, specially joined hands with Yu Qiaqing. The three of them came to Shanghai's most prosperous Nanjing Road, walked slowly, and shouted loudly to various companies to open the market boldly along the way.Yu Qiaqing looks forward to the wind, and all women and children know each other for a while. After the "joint trial", Yu Qiaqing followed the trend.He wrote to the Bureau of the Ministry of Industry in the concession, proposing to add directors of Chinese businessmen on the grounds of coordinating various matters of Yinghua businessmen. In February 1906, the Bureau of the Ministry of Industry agreed to establish the Chinese Entrepreneurs Council, and seven people including Yu Qiaqing were the first Chinese Entrepreneurs Directors. (Shanghai Executive Committee: A municipal institution in the Shanghai Concession that is not regulated by Chinese law. In 1854, it was jointly formed by the concessions of Britain, the United States, and France. The board of directors of the "Shanghai Executive Committee" was elected by 7 people, Chinese Translated into Shanghai Municipal Committee or Shanghai City Hall. It has the management power, administrative power, jurisdiction over people and taxation power of the concession.) Yu's successful mediation twice is very much related to his good use of the power of "short-term friends". He was born in the grassroots and naturally has a natural response to the grassroots.At the beginning of the 20th century, Shanghai Bund, full of dragons and fishes, was a huge "adventure field". Apart from politicians, literati and businessmen, the working class and the bottom society were the most numerous and most emotionally excited. They are forces that cannot be ignored. They are the most important, utilized and relied upon forces in every social turmoil and revolution. At that time, there were two main factions at the bottom of Shanghai. One was Huang Jinrong (1867-1953), a fellow of Yu Qiaqing from Ningbo. , Inspector, until the only Chinese inspector general of the police force, he set up his own Huangmen, recruited more than a thousand disciples, manipulated opium, gambling and other black businesses in Shanghai, and was the most famous "rogue tycoon".The second is Du Yuesheng (1888-1951). He was born in Pudong, Shanghai. He worked as an apprentice in the Shiliupu fruit business. He became famous, even Zhang Taiyan, a great scholar, Yang Du, a famous scholar, and Mei Lanfang, a famous actor, were very close to him. Compared with Huang and Du, Yu Qiaqing is a serious businessman.He is well aware that in troubled times, "the truth emerges from the barrel of a gun".Therefore, after proposing the establishment of the Chinese Entrepreneurs Council, he took advantage of the opportunity to propose the establishment of the "Chinese Entrepreneurs Gymnastics Club" to form a self-defense armed force to protect the interests of the Chinese Entrepreneurs in the concession.This proposal was passed after he went all out to appeal. The establishment of the "Gymnastics Club" allowed Yu Qiaqing to have his own armed organization, which not only gave him a new voice in the business and official circles, but also made him a bit tougher in his interactions with Huang Jinrong and Du Yuesheng. point.These three people use different methods to control a black force in Shanghai Bund, which seems to be singing and dancing, but is actually undercurrent and dangerous.Since then, Yu Qiaqing has regarded himself as a "first-class commoner". When he meets court officials, he must wear a suit, when he meets foreigners, he wears a double-breasted shirt, and when he meets businessmen and gang brothers, he wears suits, gowns, or Daotai tops according to needs. Walking among all kinds of people, it is like a "color-changing dragon" with ease. Yu Qiaqing had a close relationship with many ministers of the Qing court, especially with the Emperor Ai Xinjueluo Zaizhu and Nanyang Minister Duanfang. He once purchased military uniforms for the Beiyang New Army and made a lot of money. In 1909, Through Duan, he suggested to the Qing government to form the "Nanyang Persuasion Association" to promote industry. This association was jointly organized by the government and businessmen. It was the first domestic product exhibition in China. After more than a year of preparation, it opened in Nanjing the following year .The Quanye Association has branch halls for agriculture, medicine, education, military equipment, machinery, and navigation. It also set up three reference halls for foreign goods. The three-month meeting has 200,000 visitors. Eye-opening, it can be described as unprecedented.The organizer, Yu Qiaqing, was commended by the court for this, and Duanfang even recommended him to be the counselor of Zhengsanpin. But at the same time, Yu Qiaqing walked around very frequently with the revolutionaries, especially with Chen Qimei, the leader of the Shanghai Tongmenghui. It was at this time that he met Chen's sworn brother Jiang Zhiqing.Jiang is 20 years younger than Yu, and because he is from Ningbo, they are very able to talk together.This person changed his name to Jiang Zhongzheng in the future, and his name was Jieshi. The various activities of Yu Qiaqing around 1905 revealed two "threads": first, the entrepreneurial class has gradually become the mainstream of the new civil society with a conscious attitude. The responsibility of the executive director; second, they wander among various political forces, swinging between constitutionalism and revolution. At this stage, the awareness of political participation of entrepreneurial groups has generally awakened, and even theoretical demonstrations have been obtained. Zheng Guanying believes that: "Political revolutions in Europe and the United States, businessmen have to participate in political power, so the interests of the people expand and industries develop." As early as 1904 At that time, Shanghai's "Commercial News" published a public declaration, "The prosperity of business makes the people rich, and the people's wealth makes the country strong. The foundation of prosperity and strength should be shouldered by our businessmen." The accumulation of business power is related to the rise of chambers of commerce. are closely related, and this feature is most prominent in large cities such as Shanghai, Wuhan, and Guangzhou. According to historical data, the earliest commercial organization in the late Qing Dynasty was the Shanghai Commercial Conference Office in 1902. In 1904, after the promulgation of the "Concise Constitution of the Chamber of Commerce", chambers of commerce in various places sprung up like mushrooms after rain.Encouraged by the imperial court, business associations were set up in provincial capitals and commercially prosperous areas across the country, business branches were set up in small and medium-sized cities, and business offices were set up in villages and towns.The Chamber of Commerce has the authority to handle commercial litigation, investigate business conditions, deal with bankruptcy and fraud, accept the establishment of public offices, apply for patents, and notarize deed bonds. It partially undertakes the government's economic management functions.With the establishment of chambers of commerce in various places and towns, commercial forces were able to gather, and since then they have become a public force that cannot be ignored. In 1907, representatives of 80 important city chambers of commerce across the country gathered in Shanghai and proposed the establishment of the Chinese Chamber of Commerce.By 1911, there were nearly 2,000 business organizations of various kinds across the country, with 23,000 directors and more than 200,000 members, which was almost all of the middle class at that time. (According to the statistics in the book "The Golden Age of Chinese Capitalism" by Bai Jier, by 1911, there were 794 chambers of commerce and 723 education associations across the country, and there were too many provincial councils and county self-government associations. For example, most of its hosts are new businessmen.) In some large open cities, chambers of commerce actually control the city's municipal construction and management power to varying degrees. In 1905, Shanghai established the "General Engineering Bureau inside and outside the city". Once established, it immediately appeared as a large-scale and relatively complete local self-government organization. , Agriculture, industry and commerce, public utilities, charity relief, finance and taxation, and other affairs that are routinely assigned to local governments, they have more comprehensively assumed and mastered the responsibilities and powers of municipal construction and management.Under the management and management of the General Engineering Bureau, the Shanghai Chamber of Commerce, the Autonomous Office and the City Hall, the urban appearance of Shanghai has undergone major changes, showing some characteristics similar to the early autonomous cities and burghers in Western Europe. Show grandeur. In addition to safeguarding its own interests and undertaking municipal management functions, the chamber of commerce has also made a choice in terms of the country's destiny. As part of vested interest groups, the entrepreneurial class is conservative and opposed to turmoil. They will never choose revolution unless they have to.This can be seen from their contacts with the revolutionaries.By 1905, Sun Yat-sen had been engaged in subversive activities for ten years. In August of that year, he founded the China Tongmenghui in Tokyo, Japan, and determined the revolutionary political platform of "expel the Tartars, restore China, establish the Republic of China, and equalize land rights."For years, he traveled secretly between Tokyo, London and New York, raising funds for the riots.The vast majority of those who gave him financial support were overseas Chinese. Famous businessmen in China may have sympathy, but few actual funding.The only well-known sponsor was Zhang Jingjiang (1877-1950) in Zhejiang, who was a descendant of the Zhang family, one of the "Four Elephants" in Nanxun.After Hu Xueyan's gamble failed, the giants of Nanxun who allied with him were no longer in good spirits. Zhang's family had few businesses in China at that time. Zhang Jingjiang's wealth came from his trading company in Paris, France, whose main business was to smuggle precious Chinese cultural relics. To sell abroad. In the winter of 1905, 28-year-old Zhang Jingjiang met Sun Yat-sen on a ship.Hu Hanmin, a veteran of the Republic of China and who has been following Sun Yat-sen, recalled this very dramatic story: At that time, Sun Yat-sen was wary and avoided him.Unexpectedly, Zhang Jingjiang stopped Sun Yat-sen on the deck and said: "Don't lie to me, I know you are Sun Wen, don't think that I am against you, but I am the person who most agrees with you!" After the meeting, the two sides came to an understanding, The two agreed that if money is needed for a revolution in the future, they can send him a telegram and agree on a secret code, such as 10,000 yuan for "A"; 20,000 yuan for "B"; Then 30,000 yuan, and so on.Sun Yat-sen wrote down Zhang's address in a small notebook, but he didn't pay much attention to it at the time.Two years later, when Sun Yat-sen planned to launch an uprising in Hanoi, the funds were not guaranteed. He suddenly thought of Zhang Jingjiang and said to Hu Hanmin: "Last time I met a strange man on a boat with slightly swaying feet. He said he would help the revolution. The first word is 10,000 yuan, and the second is 20,000 yuan. I'm afraid this person is a detective from the Qing court." After hearing this, Hu Hanmin said: "Anyway, it's not a loss anyway. Try sending a telegram to see if there is any loss." Why not?" So he sent a one-word telegram to the address left on the sheet, and within a short time, 10,000 yuan was remitted.After that, Zhang became one of Sun Yat-sen's most important "golden masters".He later served as the chairman of the National Government Construction Committee and the governor of Zhejiang Province. At the first National Congress of the Kuomintang, Sun Yat-sen personally nominated him as a candidate for the Central Executive Committee. "The audience erupted with prolonged applause." . Except for dramatic stories like Zhang Jingjiang, it is difficult for us to find funding stories of big domestic businessmen. The "New York Times" once disclosed a private letter written by Sun Yat-sen to a London financier, in which Sun implored him to "actively seek financiers who are willing to provide us with funds", and he also revealed, "I have found someone willing to provide guarantee A Qing Dynasty bank, three rice mills in Bangkok, some Singaporean businessmen, and three coal mine owners in Malaysia, whose combined assets total $20 million, equivalent to £4 million... To ensure success, we need a loan of £500,000 to complete our organization, enabling us to capture at least two wealthy provinces in a first surprise move." Wu Yuzhang, a veteran of the Communist Party and an early member of the Tongmenghui, once told a very representative story in his memoir book "Xinhai Revolution". 1903.农民子弟出身的吴玉章去日本学习明治维新的经验，在轮船上他结识了同为四川人的邓孝可，邓父邓徽绩是全国最大火柴公司之一重庆森昌火柴厂的老板，吴玉章记录道：“由于思想上有许多相同之点，我们一路上倒也谈得颇为投契，他约我到日本后，一定和他一起去横滨拜访梁启超，我也就答应了。但是我们自从在轮船上分手后，他一直沿着改革主义的道路走下去，后来一到日本就拜在梁启超的门下，终于成了反对革命的立宪党人，而我却与他分道扬镳，走上了革命道路。” 吴、邓都是大好的热血爱国青年，因阶层身份迥异，而对国家前途有了不同的抉择，无产者选择革命，有产者选择改良，这就是当年中国的现实。事实上，企业家集团对革命党人的靠拢是在立宪运动失败之后。 从1905年到1910年，企业家阶层一直是立宪运动中最活跃的一个群体。 推动清廷立宪，虽是时代大势，却也要冒无穷的风险。朝中洋务派出身的大员往往顾忌身份，对喜怒无常的慈禧颇有忌惮，不敢出头领衔。维新派的康梁诸人，虽然名望很高，有极大的舆论引导能力，但是在地方上则没有根基，而且缺乏资金，不能形成大规模的实际行动。于是，多金而理念超前的企业家集团成了惟一的选择。 当时最热烈的立宪运动发生在民营经济发达的上海、江浙一带，而领袖就是“状元企业家”张謇。 随着纱厂的成功，张謇的声望已达顶点，1903年商部成立后，他被任命为“商部头等顾问官”，俨然就是官方认可的商业最高领袖了。1904年，张謇为张之洞起草了《拟请立宪奏稿》，同时，他主持刻印《日本宪法》，意在为中国变法提供范例，一时间“奏请立宪之说，喧传于道路。”连袁世凯也写信给张謇，用十分自谦的口吻说：“各国立宪之初，必有英绝领袖者作为学说，倡导国民，公凤学高才，义无多让，鄙人不敏，愿为前驱。” 在朝野的共同推动下，1906年9月1日，慈禧终于下达了“预备立宪诏书”，同年11月，张謇等人在上海成立预备立宪公会，入会者都是一时精英，东南工商界、出版界、教育界、报界的重要人物几乎囊括其中，比如高梦旦、张元济、狄平子、孟昭常、孟森等，有一半会员都曾投资办企业，包括荣家兄弟、李平书、虞洽卿、朱葆三、周金箴、王一亭、王清穆等。2007年，历史学者傅国涌在南通档案馆看到当年预备立宪公会交纳会费的一张收据，印制漂亮，绿色边框，红色印章，百多年后仍光鲜如初。张謇对立宪的前景十分向往，他认定：“立宪大本在政府，人民则宜各任实业教育为自治基础；与其多言，不如人人实行，得尺则尺，得寸则寸。” 学者侯宜杰在《二十世纪初中国政治改革风潮：清末立宪运动史》一书中用大量的事实证明，企业家阶层是立宪运动最强大的推动力。在推动立宪过程中，各级商会形成网路，并逐渐学会英国式商会的自治和民主管理。In organizations such as the Preparatory Constitutional Convention, merchants had a clear advantage.如侯宜杰所言的，企业家们认识到“今日中国之政治现象，则与股份公司之性质最不相容者也。而股份公司非在完全法治国之下未由发达，故振兴实业之关键在於通过立宪确立法治，限制政权，保障民权来改良政治环境与政治组织”。 在上海的示范下，湖北宪政准备会、湖南宪法政分会、广东粤尚自治会、贵州的宪政预备会和自治学社等先后成立，梁启超在日本成立政闻社，杨度等人则在东京组织宪政讲习会，研究各国宪政模式，为以后的参与做准备。据当时媒体报道，预备立宪诏书下达后，全国的许多地方召开了庆祝会，四处张灯结彩，敲锣打鼓，热烈庆贺，莫不“额手相庆曰：中国立宪矣，转弱为强，萌芽于此”。这一年的11月25日（农历十月十日）是慈禧寿诞，北京各学堂万余人还齐集京师大学堂，举行了庆贺典礼。另外，在天津、江苏、南京、无锡、常州、杨州、镇江、松江等地都举行了立宪庆贺会。在1907年5月，天津甚至还举行了有史以来的第一次市政选举，在袁世凯的主导下，12461人参与投票，选举产生了“天津县议事会”，它将负责辅助政府处理地方兴办教育、征税、市政建设、公益事业、移风易俗等事宜。盐商李士铭被选为议长。 立宪开局看似大顺，但是其后的推进却非常的艰难。1907年秋，宪政讲习会向政府呈递请愿书，要求速开国会，各省闻风响应，中央政府无动于衷，1908年8月，政闻社因“明图煽动，扰乱治安”的罪名被查禁，同时，朝廷颁布钦定《宪法大纲》，正式宣布预备立宪，预备期为9年。立宪派很是不满，觉得预备期太长，郑观应便直接写了一封《上摄政王请速行立宪书》，提出，“早开国会，颁布宪法……决不迟延，斯人心悦服，党祸自消，内乱悉平矣。”继而，他十分尖锐地说，“若不及早立宪，效法强邻，尚自因循粉饰，必致内乱，四面楚歌，悔之无及。”其言辞威胁，已十分露骨。 最大的变数出现在11月。14日，百日维新后就一直被软禁的光绪皇帝去世，一天后，慈禧太后去世，两人死期如此接近引发无数猜测。三岁的溥仪被抱上皇座，其父醇亲王载沣监国摄政，国号宣统。慈禧的去世让帝国失去了一个铁腕的统治者和“最大公约数”，原本就威严尽失的中央政权面临更为严峻的考验，缺乏政治技巧的载沣等人为了维持满人统治，组建了一个“皇族内阁”，通过种种手法剥夺了汉人总督们的权力，还逼着当时声望最高、继李鸿章之后最有权势的袁世凯交出大权，回老家钓鱼。自此，统治集团内部的洋务派大臣开始对政权产生严重异心。 在野的立宪派的绝望则是因多次请愿运动的失败而酿成的。1909年12月，奉天、吉林、直隶、江苏、湖南等16省的咨议局代表在上海聚会，委派代表进京请援，要求速开国会，清政府以“筹备既未完全，国民知识程度又未划一”为由拒绝请求，第二年的6月，请援团再次北上请愿，清廷仍然拒绝松口。10月，参加请愿的人数急剧增加，规模扩大，不少省份出现游行请愿行动，政府恼羞成怒，在一些城市进行了强行镇压。张謇等人从此大为失望。朝野破局，渐进的变革道路到此彻底勒断。 就这样，清政府尽管在经济改革上表现得超乎寻常的激进和开放，但是在政治改革上则犹豫摇摆和缺乏远见，它相继失去了洋务派、维新派、知识分子以及工商阶层——几乎所有人的信任，颠覆式革命已成必然之势。然而，即便是这种时候，革命仍然需要一根导火索。 谁也没有想到，点燃导火索、被《清史稿》确认为“误国首恶”的那个人居然会是他。