Chapter 13 Chapter Seven 1911: Under Revolutionary Fire

(The trend of seeking change in the late Qing Dynasty inspired the revolutionary enthusiasm of a generation of young people. In the spring of 1911, Mao Zedong, a 17-year-old youth from Shaoshanchong, Xiangtan County, Hunan Province, went to study in Changsha, the provincial capital, and wrote this poem before leaving. 48 years later, he returned to Shaoshan, has become the national leader who founded the People's Republic of China.) In January 1911, Sheng Xuanhuai was appointed Minister of the Ministry of Postal Communications.At this time, the constitutional movement was stranded, social contradictions were extremely intensified, revolutionaries were rioting everywhere, and warlords in various provinces had evil plans. The Qing Empire was like a powder keg that was about to explode.The irony of history is that the person who ignited this powder keg was actually Sheng Xuanhuai, who has been building the industrial cornerstone for the imperial court for the past 40 years and hopes to pass his name down to future generations.

The incident started with the railway dispute, which is closely related to Sheng Xuanhuai's nationalization philosophy. After the Sino-Japanese War, the Daxing Railway gradually became a boom, and the imperial court regarded it as a national policy. The people saw huge benefits, and international capital was unwilling to lose the opportunity.As a result, it has become the biggest hot spot for competition and games among all parties. Sheng Xuanhuai firmly believed that the railway must be nationalized.His logic is that since the railway is an economic enterprise that concerns the lifeline of the country and has such huge benefits, it should naturally be operated by the state as a monopoly.Therefore, in the past seven years, he has spared no effort to build railways, and at the same time, he has paid close attention to the rights and interests of various railways.In terms of investment philosophy, his idea is: if the country has money, it will resolutely invest in state-owned enterprises. If there is no money, it has to introduce foreign funds, but it would rather borrow than sell shares. If it borrows money, it would rather borrow foreign debt than domestic capital.

In 1897, a British company proposed to build the Guangdong-Han Railway from Guangzhou to Hankou. Sheng Xuanhuai believed that this railway line was very important. Therefore, he proposed to borrow money from the American consortium to build it, and the China Railway Corporation led by him "generalized its program".Under his auspices, the Qing government and the United States Hexing Company initially signed the "Guangdong-Han Railway Loan Contract", borrowing 4 million pounds, with an annual interest of 5%, nine deductions, and the railway property as guarantee. The loan period is 30 years. In 1899, the representative of Hexing Company came to China to discuss and make a formal agreement, and proposed to open mines in Shaozhou, Hengzhou, Chenzhou, etc., which caused local dissatisfaction in the three provinces of Hubei, Hunan, and Guangdong.Conger, the U.S. Minister to China, intervened and threatened that the Canton-Han Railway "must be done by the United States and must not be allowed to others." So in July 1900, Sheng Xuanhuai signed the "Aohan Railway Loan Renewal Contract" with him, and the loan amount was renewed. Increased to 40 million US dollars, and there are two main additions: first, to further expand the right of way in the United States, stipulate the construction of branch lines such as Pingxiang, Yuezhou, and Xiangtan, and quickly build the Lukou-Pingxiang route, so that the United States can obtain mining rights along the line Second, the construction of railways parallel to the main line and branch lines is not allowed in the areas where the Guangdong-Han Railway and the branch lines pass.

Sheng Xuanhuai's decision was regarded by private capital as "selling the national interest", but he refused to agree to it until his death.When building Beijing-Hanzhou, Shanghai-Nanjing and other main line railways, the method he tried repeatedly was to borrow heavily from international consortia such as Belgium, the United States, and the United Kingdom. The Han Dynasty has already been connected in one go, and the north and the south are connected. According to the original music, the Libi (Belgium) was first paid, followed by the United States (the United States), and finally the British (UK). It did not exceed 30 years. All roads are nationalized with bare hands, and then they are used to expand branch roads to facilitate mine transportation, which is not very great!" His idea is very clear: first rely on foreign debts to build the railway as soon as possible, and then repay the debts one by one, the big deal Thirty years later, the ownership of the railways was all returned to the country.

However, the reality is not advancing as he imagined.The fate of the Guangdong-Han Railway project was so good, and there were many turmoil in the following years.With the rise of nationalist sentiment in the country, there are endless voices demanding the recovery of the right of way.Private capital and state-owned capital had sharp conflicts in railway affairs, and Sheng Xuanhuai's idea of ​​state-owned monopoly was firmly challenged. In 1903, Xiliang, governor of Sichuan, proposed to build the Sichuan-Han Railway with private capital instead of borrowing foreign debts. Branch lines, the establishment of railway companies. In July 1905, Zhang Zhidong convened a meeting of gentry and businessmen from the three provinces in Wuchang, and decided to take back the construction rights of the Guangdong-Han Railway from Hexing Company of the United States. For the transfer price of the amount, Zhang Xiangshuai instructed "but the company belongs to me, and the floating price does not matter", and finally redeemed it with 6.75 million US dollars.From 1904 to 1907, 18 railway companies were established in various provinces, of which 13 were commercially run, 4 were jointly run by government and businessmen or government-supervised commercially, and 1 was run by the government.

In the century-old history of Chinese enterprises, the energy industry (coal and iron mines and later electric power and oil) and resource industries (railways, banks and later aviation and telecommunications) have always been the areas with the most concentrated interests, and the competition for them and the allocation of interests constitutes all the hallmarks of the country's economic policy.This feature was already very clear in the late Qing Dynasty.Since the Westernization Movement, international companies were the first to invest in these fields, followed by state-owned capital, while private capital did little due to weak distribution and unclear policies.After 1904, with the promulgation of "Company Law" and other decrees, the operation of enterprises and equity rights were relatively clearly defined, especially the emergence of the joint-stock company system, and private capital began to boldly enter the energy and resource industries.

According to the "Xianglu Xinzhi" compiled at that time, in Hubei, Hunan, Sichuan and other provinces, there was an upsurge of all people investing in railways, and there was even a spectacular scene of "beggars and beggars also took part in shares". Xian regards the establishment of the provincial railway as the only major event, and it spreads across the country like a storm...even farmers, coking coal workers, masons, weddings and weddings, foreign cargo loads, milling cutter grinding, fruit and chestnut spread loads, horses and servants, And don’t rush to be the first to buy shares.”

In Sheng Xuanhuai's view, this kind of scene where even the best beggars come to participate in the construction of the railway is not necessarily a good thing. The construction of the railway requires a large capital investment, and the return on investment period is long, and the stock is scattered and the capital is weak.And this is indeed the case. Due to the lack of standardized management capabilities and construction technical support, many commercial railways are progressing slowly.But at this stage, whether the railway should be run by the private sector or by the government, whether to use private capital or to borrow foreign capital, has become a sensitive political issue and a matter of national sentiment. The opposition between black and white has reached the point where it is difficult to reconcile. In 1909, Zhang Zhidong built the Huguang Railway. Under the lobbying of Sheng Xuanhuai, he changed his position of supporting private capital to build the railway four years ago, and signed a "consortium of banks from Germany, Britain, and France" on the grounds that it was difficult to raise commercial shares. Huguang Railway Loan Contract", with a loan of 5.5 million pounds.After the incident was made public, a large-scale wave of resistance was immediately aroused. Zhang Zhidong, who was once famous as the world's first hero, actually "was heartbroken and embarrassed, and vomited blood to death" in this turmoil.In his last memorial before his death, he was still swaying in the contradiction between government-run and private-run: "The railway share capital is divided between the government and the people. The Guangdong-Han Railway and the Hubei-Jingchuan-Han Railway have a heavy relationship. The official is in charge, so that it can be realized as soon as possible, and the merchants and people in this province are allowed to attach half of the shares forever, so that they can use the funds to make good use of their livelihoods.

Compared with Zhang Zhidong's swing, Sheng Xuanhuai insisted on nationalizing the railway.It was the uncompromising on this issue that led to a complete break between the private entrepreneurial group and the imperial court.Among the well-known business people at that time, apart from Zheng Guanying, most of them did not take Sheng Xuanhuai’s decision seriously. Zhang Jian, who had always advocated privately run enterprises, held clear opposition opinions. .In 1905, Tang mobilized the Zhejiang Association in Shanghai to boycott the construction of the Suzhou-Hangzhou-Ningbo Railway by British and American companies, and established the "Zhejiang Provincial Railway Company" invested by private capital in Shanghai, and became the prime minister himself. In August 1910, the Ministry of Posts and Communications forcibly dismissed Tang Shouqian from the position of prime minister of the railway company and was not allowed to interfere in road administration.Tang Shouqian, who has always been moderate, immediately leaned towards violent revolution.In the Revolution of 1911 more than a year later, he instigated the Hangzhou New Army Uprising and was elected as the governor of the Zhejiang Military Government.

In May 1911, shortly after becoming Minister of the Ministry of Posts and Communications, Sheng Xuanhuai demanded that the privatized Guangdong-Han and Sichuan-Han railways be taken back to the state. The minister duanfang supervised the matter.Sheng Xuanhuai closely negotiated with Britain, Germany, France, and the United States on loan matters. From the perspective of later generations, Sheng Xuanhuai made two serious mistakes in addition to the major differences between the state-owned concept and the private sector on the railway issue.First, there is a lack of candid communication with private capital. Based on his years of experience in politics and business, he believes that under the authority of the imperial court, private capital has always been a "soft persimmon".The second is that in terms of equity recovery, private equity is obviously bullied.According to the plan he announced, the government will only return 60% cash to private shareholders, and the other 40% will be non-interest-bearing stocks. That is to say, investors not only have no investment income, but also bear 40% of the risk of loss.His plan was firmly opposed by Zheng Guanying, a good friend and former director of the Guangdong-Han Railway. He sent urgent letters to Duanfang and Sheng Xuanhuai respectively, arguing that "if the government is nationalized, it should return the principal and interest, and cannot lose money. If it is not sympathetic to others It is said that the power of the thunderbolt is used to carry out this policy, fearing the collapse of people's hearts." After receiving the letter, Sheng Xuanhuai turned a deaf ear to it.

Therefore, after the promulgation of the "Right of Way Recovery Order", merchants and people in various provinces revolted. On May 14, 1911, Changsha held a mass rally of 10,000 people, and then more than 10,000 railway workers from Changsha to Zhuzhou took to the streets to demonstrate.Immediately afterwards, Sichuan organized the Baolu Comrade Association, elected the constitutional party members Pu Dianjun and Luo Lun as the chairman and vice president, and swore to "break the contract to protect the road".Deng Xiaoke, who parted ways with Wu Yuzhang back then in Japan, is now a director of the Baolu Comrade Association. He wrote an article "Selling the Postal Department!"Traitor Sheng Xuanhuai! ", changed the previous moderate reform stance, and wrote very fiercely, "It took away my road and money, and did not build a road for me. My God! I want the people of Sichuan to endure this, except for 10 million people in Sichuan. All dead, all women and children, no dogs or chickens or ears! Otherwise, you can be a ninja. There has been no such feeling since the existence of creatures, no such reason since the existence of the world, no such darkness since the existence of the sun and moon, and no such barbarism since the existence of human beings. Now It was Sheng Xuanhuai who was so brutal that he oppressed me in Sichuan.” According to records, people in Sichuan at that time “read the newspapers and read them, weeping, reading and crying.” Sheng Xuanhuai has become a public enemy of the people of Sichuan. (After the success of the Revolution of 1911, Deng Xiaoke served as the Minister of Salt Affairs of the Sichuan Military Government. His younger brother Deng Xiaoran inherited his father's business and concentrated on business affairs. Deng Xiaoran has a famous grandson, Wu Jinglian, one of the most famous economists in the world.) On June 30, Zheng Guanying wrote another letter to Sheng Xuanhuai, urgently proposing, "Investigate what the opposition party says is unfair, the intention is only to give 40% of the future to the beneficial stocks, and negotiate according to the original agreement. If it fails, the original bank will be returned... The combination of grace and power can be easily resolved." Sheng Xuanhuai, who was determined to go his own way, was still indifferent. On September 7, Zhao Erfeng, governor of Sichuan, arrested Luo Lun, Pu Dianjun and others, shot and killed hundreds of petitioners, and ordered the disbandment of the Baolu Comrade Association.The enraged people in Sichuan destroyed the wires everywhere, set up checkpoints along the way, and cut off the official documents.The civil upheaval happened suddenly, and the Qing government urgently dispatched the new army from Hubei to assist Sichuan, leaving Wuhan empty. On October 10, under the instigation of the Tongmenghui, hundreds of new troops launched an uprising, and the sparks immediately started a prairie fire.This is the Revolution of 1911, which overthrew the thousand-year-old emperor's rule.Duan Fang, who supervised the state-owned railway affairs, was killed by the new army in Zizhou—one of the instigators was Wu Yuzhang, who had joined the League, and his head was cut off and sent to Wuhan. "Drafts of Qing History" records in great detail the whole process of the nationalization of railways leading to the collapse of the empire—— First of all, Shi Changxin discussed the disadvantages of road companies in various provinces where merchants and people gather shares to build roads. It is advisable to order ministers to designate all the main roads in the middle as state-owned, and the remaining branch roads are still to be repaired by gentry and merchants in various provinces. The memorial said: "China has a vast territory and vast frontiers. There must be major roads across the four borders, which are sufficient to facilitate the administration and hold the center. In the past, the regulations were not good enough, resulting in chaos and divergence in road administration. Without branching, without measuring the power of the people, one Paper petitions are always ready for business. For several years, Guangdong has closed half of its shares, and there is not much way to build; It is unstoppable. I am afraid that the time will prolong and the people will become more and more tired, and the upper and lower will suffer from it. We should ask the main roads to be nationalized, and the branch roads to be left to the people. Let the people know that three years ago, the provinces set up separate companies to collect shares. The main road should be taken back by the state immediately, and it is urgent to build it. It is abolished before the approval of the project, and Sichuan and Hunan provinces lease shares and stop it. Therefore, there is an edict of state-owned railways, and the rules are set up to supervise the management of Guangdong-Han and Sichuan-Han Minister of Railways." "Xuanhuaifu made a loan agreement with Britain, Germany, France, and the United States. The provinces heard about it, and the public was suspicious. Hunan Province first resisted, and Sichuan Province followed. Xuanhuai is also the Huidu branch's withdrawal method;' Please take back the stocks of the companies in Guangdong, Sichuan, Hunan, and Hubei provinces, and exchange them with the stocks of the Ministry of Special National Railways. Guangdong Road will issue 60% of the shares, and Hunan and Hubei Railways will return them as they are. Give the national poly stocks. There are more than 7 million taels in stock, or they are still participating in the shares, or they can develop industries, and they are all at their own discretion.' The order is ordered. More than 2,400 people, including Luo Lun, a Sichuan gentry, are state-owned in order to collect roads. Sheng Xuanhuai , The Duanfang Huidu branch made a plan to treat the people of Sichuan, which is purely powerful. If they are not equal, they dare not obey orders. The chaos in Sichuan came into being, and the revolution in Hubei also occurred. The general trend is indisputable." After the "accident" caused disaster, the imperial court announced that Sheng Xuanhuai would be resigned from all positions and "never be employed." He boarded a German freighter in panic and fled to Kobe, Japan. The final conclusion given in the "Drafts of Qing History" is: "Xuanhuai violated the law and violated the law, deceived the emperor, smeared policies, and caused disasters. The words "the chief evil for the country" express the helplessness and cruelty of history.In any country's modernization process, the self-disintegration of state-owned capital is a common path, and we have not seen an exception so far.People of later generations who have read history to this point, should be vigilant and wake up. In the middle of the night on October 10, 1911, Zhang Jian, the "No. 1 Entrepreneur" in Nantong, boarded the "Xiangyang Pill" in Hankou and returned to Shanghai.At that time, the Hubei branch of Dasheng Spinning Mill had just opened, and he came to attend the opening ceremony.When the ship started, he stood on the deck and saw the city of Wuchang on the other side of the Yangtze River ablaze with flames and gunfire. No one knew what happened. He felt ominous and told the sailors to leave quickly. Judging from the surviving records, he is the only great entrepreneur in the world who witnessed the outbreak of the Revolution of 1911. At a historical juncture, the end of the Meiji Restoration in Japan coincided with the fall of the Qing Dynasty by chance. In 1911, the 44th year of Meiji, the 60-year-old Emperor suffered from uremia, and he died in July of the following year.Just as the Meiji Restoration was coming to an end, the 1911 Revolution broke out in China. The collapse of the Qing court, in the hearts of many Chinese, seems to be a fateful event that will happen sooner or later. There is no joy or sorrow, only indifference.In the past few decades, there have been natural disasters, man-made disasters, internal and external troubles, but the arrogant royals and nobles have never given a little wisdom to deal with them. They can't see the crux of the times, and all their lingering actions are just to protect themselves. Poor interests and dignity.Since the demise of Li Hongzhang 10 years ago, and the disappearance of the last defenders of Taoism, the empire has become one of the most abstract and contrived empty shells in the world.When it finally collapsed, it was nothing more than a long nightmare that disappeared with the morning mist.In the process of the empire's demise, the reactionary nature of the monopolized bureaucratic capital group was mainly reflected in the conflict between its interests and the vast private capital group.Therefore, the rationality of governing is questioned. If other social or political accidents occur at this time—such as the invasion of foreign regimes, serious natural disasters and economic crises, or riots against alien rule in the late Qing Dynasty—then it is very Easy to revolutionize. When the revolution broke out, the entrepreneurial group, which had been extremely disappointed with the Qing regime, showed the characteristics of conforming to the general trend of the times.But this is not surprising at all, the survival principle of businessmen is to form an alliance with the strong. As a civil leader of the constitutionalists, Zhang Jian had been opposed to the revolution before. He sighed: "It is asserted that the Qing court is hopeless, and the country must find other ways to win."However, he wanted to build a new house, but he was unwilling to set fire to the old one. On October 12, he took a boat from Hankou to Anqing. After learning that the uprising broke out in Wuchang, he immediately rushed to Jiangning to ask the garrison general Tie Liang and suggested that he send troops to reinforce Hubei.However, the subsequent development of the situation was completely unexpected. His two closest constitutional party members, Tang Shouqian and Cheng Dequan, successively declared independence in Zhejiang and Jiangsu. Zhang Jian was stunned and had to accept the reality.He called Yuan Shikai and said, "Nowadays, the military disaster has begun, and the counties and counties have disintegrated. Looking around the world, silently observing people's hearts, it is the trend that nothing can be the result of peace." Soon, he got in touch with the Shanghai League, and he The third elder brother came forward to welcome the revolutionary party to Nantong, established the Tongzhou military government, and declared peace and restoration.Zhang Jian's internal turning points and contradictions reflect the complex relationship between entrepreneurs and revolution. In Wuchang, during the October uprising, the city was quickly plunged into extreme panic over the revolution. The New York Times was the first international media to report on the Revolution of 1911 and boldly predicted in the headline that "Manchu Qing rule may end". , the trade in Hankou, Hanyang, and Wuchang has come to a complete standstill. The working class has lost their livelihood and is trying to rob. More than half a million people in the city have fled to the countryside. To make people feel more dangerous, the doors of all prisons have been opened, Prisoners have been released and they are wandering around the city." It was in such a chaotic scene that the merchants in Wuhan played a role in maintaining stability. There is no historical data to prove that they had directly participated in the uprising. However, they quickly actively assisted the uprising soldiers, maintained social order, organized business groups, and drove away looters. mob.Li Yuanhong, who was elected by the uprising soldiers as the military governor, was Li Yuanhong, commander of the new military association in Hubei. He had very good interactions with local merchants and foreigners in Wuhan. What's even more incredible was that he could speak stuttering English.In the new regime formed by Li Yuanhong, the chairman of the Wuhan Chamber of Commerce was appointed as the police chief, and the Chamber of Commerce promised to lend 200,000 taels of silver to the rebels. On the southeast coast, the independence of the two most important commercial cities in China, Shanghai and Guangzhou, had a prominent demonstration effect, pushing the Qing government into the abyss of despair, and the group of businessmen who had lost confidence in the constitution was one of the important promoters behind the scenes. Since the fall of 1910, businessmen such as Li Pingshu and Yu Qiaqing have been secretly organizing a "revolutionary military salary recruitment team" to actively collect money for Chen Qimei. In October 1911, news of the Wuchang Shouyi came. Li, Yu and Chen Tiantian held a secret meeting at the "Minli Daily" newspaper run by the Tongmenghui to discuss. On October 24, Chen Qimei, Song Jiaoren, Cai Yuanpei and other members of the Tongmenghui held a meeting and decided Taking "contacting business groups and communicating with gentry" as the focus of the Shanghai Uprising, the "Minli Daily" was used to publicize the news of the victory of the revolution and inspire the hearts of the people. On November 3, Chen Qimei led members of the Tongmenghui to set fire to Shanghai Road and captured the city gate. Shanghai immediately declared its recovery, and Chen Qimei became the governor of the Shanghai Army.In his military government, the proportion of entrepreneurs is surprisingly high. Li Pingshu, chairman of China Commercial Bank, director of China Merchants Steamship and Jiangnan Railway Bureau, served as the chief of civil affairs. Shen Manyun, a major shareholder of Xincheng Commercial Savings Bank, was the minister of finance. Wang Yiting, the general director of the Dada Inland River Shipping Company, was the Minister of Communications, and the old compradors Zhu Baosan, Yu Pinghan, and the big grain merchant Gu Xinyi all held important positions. Among them, Yu Qiaqing is an extremely active one.After the restoration of Shanghai, he, who had been involved in the incident, volunteered to go to Suzhou alone to instigate a rebellion against Cheng Dequan, the governor of Jiangsu. With his sharp tongue, Cheng declared an uprising, and Suzhou was restored peacefully.During Suzhou’s period in the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, fierce battles broke out several times, and the millennium-old splendid ancient city was destroyed by wars, and the foundation of industry and commerce was almost shaken.Thanks to the mediation of the Yu family this time, it was preserved.Due to his meritorious assistance, he was appointed as the advisor of the Shanghai Dudufu and the chief of civil affairs in Zhabei, and also served as the acting director of the Jiangnan Manufacturing Bureau. What happened in Guangzhou is also very similar. Zhang Mingqi, governor of Guangdong and Guangxi, declared to remain neutral in the civil war. He also wanted to follow the example of the "Southeast Mutual Protection" ten years ago and choose a side from the sidelines.He ordered the concentration of troops to strengthen the defense of Guangzhou, and strictly prohibited newspapers from publishing news about the revolution. On October 29, initiated by Chen Huipu, chairman of the Cantonese Merchants Self-Government Association, with the participation of merchant organizations such as the Guangzhou Seventy-two Merchant General Chamber of Commerce, a total of more than a hundred people gathered in Aiyushantang, believing that "the current autocratic government must not be relied upon", and decided to "The republican government should be recognized immediately", they immediately sent people to both the Governor's Office and the revolutionaries to express the businessman's recognition of the republican system. On November 8, the revolutionary army advanced step by step to Guangzhou, and Zhang Mingqi abandoned the city and fled. The next day, representatives from all walks of life of the business gentry gathered in the Advisory Bureau and officially announced that "the Democratic Party is welcome to organize a republican government and provisional agencies", "declare republic independence, Send a telegram to all provinces and the whole country." On January 1, 1912, Sun Yat-sen, who returned from the United States, was sworn in as the first interim president of the Republic of China in Nanjing. On February 12, the 6-year-old little emperor Puyi issued the "Abdication Edict", and the Qing Dynasty fell in 228 years.The next day, Sun Yat-sen resigned as the interim president and recommended Yuan Shikai to the interim Senate to take over. As the German thinker Spengler wrote pessimistically in The Decline of the West, "A power can only be overthrown by another power, not by a principle." The republic in China The birth of the Chinese Communist Party is like a hastily manufactured "imitation". Columbia University professor N. Pever once commented, "It has no basis in China's history, tradition, political experience, system, nature, belief concepts or habits. It is foreign, empty, and superimposed on China. It is just a caricature of political thought, a crude, naive, schoolboy caricature." Because of this, the Revolution of 1911 had a certain principle Sexuality, such as resistance to dictatorship, yearning for democracy, and commitment to nation-building, has been an illusion for a long time. With the collapse of the empire and the rebirth of the Republic of China, what kind of blueprint and practical ability do those politicians who gained power by ideals and violence have? Zhang Jian was appointed as the first industrial chief of the national government, and on January 3, 1912, he had a dialogue with Sun Yat-sen on policy in this capacity.This was also their first conversation. His evaluation of Sun Yat-sen in his diary that day was only four words: "I don't know the edge of the cliff".Historian Zhang Kaiyuan’s interpretation is, “Ya means marginal.That is to say, he felt that Sun Yat-sen had never actually run a business, and he thought things too simple and romantic.He does not know that construction is more difficult than revolution, and he thinks that revolution will solve all problems.In fact, at that time, the government decree could not leave Nanjing, and the military salary could not be issued. " Even in the eyes of the great warlords, revolutionaries have the impression of "not knowing the edge of the cliff". In August of this year, Sun Yat-sen went to Beijing to negotiate with Yuan Shikai.The two met 13 times, discussing major national affairs, Chinese and foreign situations, including railway, industrial, diplomatic, and military issues.Yuan is a "capable official in governing the world and a traitor in troubled times" in traditional China. As we all know, Sun Zheng, on the contrary, is full of patriotic ideals but "doesn't work". He believes that the first priority of China today is to build railways. Therefore, in secret talks, he expressed his willingness to "responsible for road construction" and hoped to extend the national railway. to 200,000 miles.Yuan expressed his appreciation on the surface, but turned around and said to his staff that Sun Wen was a "Dapao Sun". Yuan Shikai became the president of the Republic of China, and Sun Yat-sen became the prime minister of the China Railway Corporation. Yuan Shikai followed suit and allocated the luxury float specially made for the Empress Dowager Cixi to Premier Sun for use.In this way, Sun Yat-sen led a large number of unemployed Kuomintang members to inspect all over the country in floats. He also recruited a general who could only fight Huang Xing to be the supervisor of the Han-Guangdong Railway, and even wrote a letter to invite Sheng Xuanhuai who was hiding in Kobe, Japan. Rise up and join hands in the great cause.In hindsight, the Railway Corporation spent 1.1 million taels of government money, but did not build a single inch of railway.By 1998, the railways in all of China had not yet been built to 70,000 kilometers. Therefore, historian Tang Degang commented helplessly in the book "Yuan's Reign", "Mr. Zhongshan wanted to build 200,000 kilometers of railways in the early years of the Republic of China. Cannon?" Sun Yat-sen's economic philosophy has a tendency to nationalize management. On April 5, 1912, he once said something like this, "Yu is an extreme socialist party, and he really wants to adopt Georgianism to implement it in China. China has no disputes between capital and labor circles, and there is no legacy of trusts." The country has no assets, and the assets owned by the state are the assets of the people. The government of the Republic of China plans to change all domestic railways, shipping, canals and other important businesses into state-owned." Xianli George, later translated as Henry George, is An American thinker who advocated the nationalization of land, his book "Progress and Poverty" was highly respected by Sun Yat-sen, who believed that "it is deeply in line with the idea of ​​socialism" and "it is really a precise and unpolished theory." Sun Yat-sen's idea of ​​nationalization, at least in terms of railway affairs, is very similar to that of Sheng Xuanhuai.Therefore, he wrote to invite the latter to return to the country to help build the road.In his letter dated March 15, 1912, he wrote: "Invigorating the industry to revitalize the current situation is indispensable today. The deacon's great theory suits my heart. My younger brother will soon be disbanded and will be working here. The experience of the deacon is as high as possible. If you are rich, you must be able to teach me." (Deacon is not a job, but a respectful title for people at that time.) Sheng Xuanhuai defended his railway nationalization in his reply letter, saying, "The private capital is small and the interest is high. Investing in railway capital must be reserved for other industries. Words are like cast iron, and it is suitable for Chinese and foreign cheers!" Sun Yat-sen's idea of ​​nationalization did not form a policy at that time, and it would not be practiced until after 1927. After 1911, with the collapse of the Qing government, most of the state-owned Westernization Enterprises were privatized.Among them, the most symbolic is the equity reform of China Merchants Shipping, the largest government-supervised commercial enterprise at that time. The China Merchants Bureau was once the most prominent achievement of the Westernization Movement, and Li Hongzhang called it "the best way to start Westernization." However, since Tang Tingshu and Xu Run were forced to leave, the government and businessmen took over. loss situation. All the disadvantages of state-owned enterprises are vividly presented by China Merchants.First of all, the system is rigid and the management is extremely chaotic.Under the state-run system, no one is really responsible for the interests of the enterprise. Therefore, from the supervisor, the general office to all the managers, most of them are "slickers". "Six general offices, three directors, and one consultant are all fat The people who were recommended into the bureau were the "four unlikes" who were "non-scholar, non-agricultural, non-working, and non-business". The Bureau has 207 managers of various levels, and the annual salary expenditure is 74,000 taels of silver. Corruption was rife in the bureau. Not long after he took office, a supervisor named Yang Shiqi, the first thing he did was presided over the private distribution of 100,000 taels of water transportation fees. He also wrote a self-praising report to the court, saying, Has achieved results".Therefore, under the leadership of this kind of supervision, the overall situation is effective from top to bottom, colluding with each other, using corruption as a capability, in the shipping business, entraining private goods, under-reporting seats, over-reporting expenses, stealing passengers and goods, privately collecting storage fees, etc. Wait, it has become a public phenomenon.How could this kind of enterprise have the ability to compete? By 1895, China Merchants’ advantages in the Yangtze River shipping had disappeared. What's even more ridiculous is that even the water transportation business also suffered losses. Water transportation was originally a policy support specially given by Li Hongzhang to support China Merchants. Once signed a private contract with the Beiyang Army for the annual shipment of military rice. In 1902, Taikoo took 60% of the canal's water transportation volume.From 1898 to 1911, the water transportation of China Merchants actually made a loss of more than 980,000 taels. While the operation was extremely chaotic, what made matters worse was that the government also regarded this state-owned enterprise as a "cash machine".Due to the emptiness of the central government, the Qing government apportioned China Merchants under various names. In 1899, the imperial court stipulated that China Merchants should hand over 20% of the surplus every year before distributing dividends, "in order to repay the best". 68% is handed over as official profit, 13% is handed over as "service", and the remaining 19% is distributed according to equity.In addition, donation projects are emerging in an endless stream. Whenever a new business emerges, China Merchants is an important donation target. Sheng Xuanhuai asked China Merchants to donate 80,000 taels a year in the name of establishing Beiyang University Hall, Nanyang Public School and Dacheng Hall. In the late Qing Dynasty, the China Merchants Bureau became the "free transportation team" of the Beiyang army. After Sheng Xuanhuai, Yuan Shikai once controlled the China Merchants Bureau for five years. It is free of charge, and even foreign officials who visit China have to be escorted by China Merchants on a ship for free. In 1897, the Prime Minister’s Yamen ordered China Merchants to send a ship to send Russian envoys from Shanghai back to Tianjin. It lasted 13 days and cost 8,232 taels of silver. "Records, "Beiyang withdraws and spends hundreds of thousands of dollars every year, and the business situation dares to be angry but dare not speak." Zheng Guanying calculated an account in 1909, and the various apportioned expenses of China Merchants over the years were as high as 1.3 million taels, equivalent to the company's total one third of the share capital. In the ten years from 1895 to 1905, the total tonnage of foreign companies on China’s river-sea routes increased by 2.32 times, while China Merchants, the largest shipping company in China, did nothing, and its tonnage ratio dropped to about 17%.From 1903 to 1906, it was a period of rapid economic growth across the country, but China Merchants continued to lose money year after year without changing its face. It was a loss of one million, and the situation was declining, and everyone knew about it.” In this way, for 17 years, China Merchants not only lost its market advantage, but also had no accumulation. Instead, it had a net loss of 457,000 taels and became a A veritable loser. Any state-owned enterprise, only when it is rotten to the bone, will the hand of control be slightly loosened without petition. This is almost an "axiom".By the end of the late Qing Dynasty, China Merchants was plagued by many diseases, and the government-supervised and business-managed system had completely become a shackle that restricted the development of enterprises, and the power of the people began to emerge. In June 1910, when the state affairs were in turmoil, China Merchants held its first annual meeting of shareholders. More than 500 shareholders attended the meeting. The meeting passed a proposal and decided to "focus on business management, and all the right to employ people shall be vested in the business owners." August 1911 In November, under the struggle of shareholders, the Ministry of Posts and Communications finally promulgated the "Articles of Association of China Merchants Co., Ltd. for Commercial Steamships", acknowledging that China Merchants was "completely commercial shares" and "according to commercial laws and regulations." Two months later , The Revolution of 1911 broke out, and four months later, the emperor abdicated. That is to say, China Merchants finally gained capital freedom six months before the Qing government was about to fall. However, the paint on the signboard of China Merchants Co., Ltd. was not yet dry, and it soon became a contention for the new regime. In December 1911, Chen Qimei, the governor of the newly established Shanghai Military Governor's Mansion, sent a letter to the China Merchants Bureau, requesting to "send personnel to the bureau as the chairman". Come to the Bureau to negotiate at any time, and at the same time put forward two conditions, one is "to stop the war" and the other is that negotiators must not interfere in the affairs of the Bureau.Chen Qimei wrote several times later, requesting to send staff to settle in, but the board of directors politely refused on the pretext that "this matter is of great importance and cannot be decided by a small number of directors of the association". In January 1912, Sun Yat-sen formed the provisional government of the Republic of China in Nanjing.At that time, the political power was unstable, the order could not leave Nanjing, and the treasury had no money at all, so Huang Xing, the chief of the army, was so anxious that he "was unable to sleep or eat, and vomited blood."Therefore, at the first cabinet meeting of the provisional government, the revolutionaries made three resolutions, the second of which was specifically aimed at China Merchants: "To raise military pay, China Merchants intends to mortgage 10 million taels." Mortgage acceptance The country is Japan. The next day, Yao Yulin, commander-in-chief of the Guangdong Northern Expedition Army, called China Merchants in the name of "all officers and generals of the army" and issued an order to "mortgage China Merchants and temporarily borrow from the central government for military use". The telegram was limited to China Merchants within 48 hours reply.Commander-in-Chief Yao's order was resisted by China Merchants. On the board of directors, except for two Guangdong directors who expressed their approval, the rest refused to express their views. On the 22nd, China Merchants replied to the government, requesting a 10-day extension. On the 23rd, Huang Xing sent a telegram to Chen Qimei that if China Merchants did not reply immediately, they would send troops to "detain and await orders." China Merchants still resisted.并相当利益，才可有词宣告各股东，不致临期反对。”为了引起舆论关注，这份电报还被刊登在上海的报纸上。 随后几天，双方仍然拉锯。2月6日，临时大总统孙中山亲笔写函给招商局，说明“政府因于军需国用孔亟，非得巨款无以解决民国之困难”，并对董事会的抵制表示理解，提出委派专员与企业进行更进一步的沟通。四天后，政府特派陈其美、汪精卫参加了招商局的特别董事会，在再三的讨价还价后，董事会最终同意借款，同时则提出几项优待条件，其一是“本利俱由中华民国政府担任偿还，不使招商局受丝毫之损害”，还有一条则是要求“扩张其外洋航线，予以相当之补助津贴。” 这场借款风波，政商对立，剑拔弩张，惊险非常，堪称企业史上很奇特的一幕。招商局董事们的行为，表明在当时的氛围中，企业家阶层正呈现出前所未见的博弈力量。这项借款事宜达成后，英美两国担心日本从此控制招商局，便积极阻止，最终以招商局借给沪军都督府50万两了事。 虚惊一场的招商局从此进入完全商办时期，一直到1932年，它又被蒋介石政权以无比强势而血腥的方式收回为国有。（因军饷无着，南京国民政府除了将轮船招商局抵押外，还试图以合办汉冶萍钢铁厂为条件，向日人借款。实业部长张謇坚决反对，他在给孙中山和黄兴的信中说，“凡他商业，均可与外人合资，唯铁厂则不可。铁厂容或可与他国合资，唯日人万不可！日人处心积虑谋我，非一日矣，然断断不能得志，盖全国三岛，无一铁矿，为日本一大憾事。而我则煤铁之富，甲于五洲，鄙人尝持一说，谓我国铁业发达之日，即日本降服我国旗下之日”。1912年1月29日，中日“合办”汉冶萍草约在日本神户签订。此举引起各方反对、责难。2月18日，孙中山咨复参议院，宣布此借款已取消。） 清帝国的灭亡，在商业世界引起的另外一个连锁效应，是“天下第一商帮”晋商的“殉葬”。 山西商人从明朝中叶起就以善于经营而崛起，他们在中国北方以及俄罗斯等北亚地区形成了一个庞大的商业网络，控制了绸缎、茶叶贸易和钱庄生意。而他们最大的商业模式创新发生在1823年，在山西平遥县，一个叫雷履泰的人发明了“通汇通兑”的票号模式。在当年的贸易往来中，商人们遇到的最头痛的难题是异地汇兑，十万两白银的重量就有2.5吨，往来搬运，不但费用高而且风险很大，这一直是千百年来商业贸易最棘手的难题，因此催生了两大生生不息的“衍生行业”，一是押钱的镖局，二是各地的劫匪。雷履泰原本是一家颜料行的掌柜，他发明了“汇银于此，取银于彼”的汇兑模式，他设计了一套完整的汇票防伪办法，能够保证异地兑换的安全性。他将颜料行改成了票号，起名为“日升昌”，挂出的牌匾就是四个字“汇通天下”。在不到二十年的时间里，日升昌在国内主要城市开出35家分号，形成了第一个全国性的汇兑金融网络。受其启发，山西商人纷纷涉足票号业，有清一代，全国共有知名票号51家，其中43家为山西人所开，仅平遥、太谷、祁县三地就占了41家，日升昌所在的平遥县城西大街上，一度比肩林立了十多家票号总部，其显赫尊贵，堪比后来的纽约华尔街。因为汇兑灵活，诚信可靠，连朝廷的官银和王公贵族的存款也大多托付于山西票号，可以说，晋商控制了中国的金融业，他们也因此成为富甲天下的第一商帮。 1900年，八国联军攻陷北京，慈禧西逃，在经过山西时，山西票商盛情接待，支付了这个流亡朝廷的所有花销，日升昌因此还得了一块“急公好义”的御匾。然而，战乱给票商造成了惨重损失，京城一带的山西票号分号被抢劫一空，帐本被烧。王公官吏们带着存折或银票逃到山西，要求兑现银钱，票号东家们挖出自己窖藏的银子，咬牙兑付。二十世纪最初的十年，帝国摇摇欲坠，与之关系密切的票号也病入膏肓，时局稳定时，生意尚可一做，一旦战乱，票号首先遭殃。1911年武昌起义，各地票号受到散兵游勇的劫掠，仅日升昌在京城等5个城市被抢的银子和财物就达15万多两。天下更易后，清政府所欠的巨额债务无人承揽，票号遭到灭顶之灾，据计算，晋商因中央财政破产而造成的损失超过1200万两白银。更致命的是，票号模式受到了新兴的商业银行的挑战。一些先觉的票号掌柜曾经商议将票号改组为银行，但是，乱局之下重组无术。1913年，在袁世凯政府财政部的牵线下，山西票号提出向美国银行团借款500万元银洋作为本金，以重组票号体系，但终因不能提供抵押，被拒绝借款。这一年，山西14家最主要的票号，被拖欠的债权达3100多万两白银，日升昌17个分号中债权近300万两白银。各地军阀更是摧逼甚急，广西军政府端着步枪冲进日升昌的票号，强行提走10万两前清官银。 1914年10月，天津《大公报》刊出了一条轰动中国商界的大新闻，“天下票号之首”日升昌宣布破产。报道描述道：“彼巍巍灿烂之华屋，无不铁扉双锁，黯淡无色；门前双眼怒突之小狮，一似泪下，欲作河南之吼，代主人喝其不平。前日北京所传，倒闭之日升昌，其本店耸立其间，门前当悬日升昌金字招牌，闻其主人已宣告破产，由法院捕其来京矣。” 晋商“殉葬”后，中国的金融中心从平遥县城的青石板大街南移至十里洋场的上海。穿马褂的票号日渐式微，着西装的银行取而代之。 就在日升昌破产的8个月后，1915年6月2日，在上海宁波路八号的一个石库门房子里开出上海商业储蓄银行（后简称上海银行），资本7万银元，职工只有8人，总经理是34岁的美国宾夕法尼亚大学毕业生陈光甫（1881－1976），他问员工，“我们该怎么服务于顾客”。员工答，“不论顾客办理业务的数额是多少，一千元还是一百元，我们都要热情接待。”陈说，“你们只答对了一半，他就是一分钱不办，我们还是要热情接待。” 陈光甫办的不是第一家民资银行，但却是第一家与国际金融惯例全面接轨的银行。在之前，所有的票号、银行均将揽资对象定位于政府、企业和有钱人，陈光甫却把目光对准了普通市民，他破天荒地推出了“一元帐户”，只要有一元钱就可以在他的银行里开户，上海银行因此被同行讥笑为“一元银行”，但是，正是这种平民理念让陈光甫别开天地。他将西方银行业的经营管理方法和制度逐步引入中国金融业，先后开创了零存整取、整存零取等一系列储蓄种类。他很善于从国人的消费中发现外资银行无法看到的商机，中国人在办红白喜事的时候有送礼的习惯，上海银行因此发行了红色、素色两种礼券，专门用于馈赠。（关于银两、银元与银行券：在我国货币史上，白银自汉代起成为货币金属，实行的是银两制。1910年，清廷颁行《币制条例》，以“元”为货币单位，重量为库平银七钱二分，成色是90%，名为大清银币。1913年，袁世凯政府公布《国币条例》，规定重量七钱二分、成色89%的银元为货币单位，所铸银元因有袁世凯头像而俗称“袁大头”。在这期间的市面上。银元和银两一直并用。全国约有20多家银行拥有发钞权，其发行纸币被称为“银行券”，持券人可随时要求兑换为现银。1933年，南京国民政府宣布“废两改元”，发行全国统一的铸有孙中山头像的银元，1935年，又实行币制改革，宣布废止银本位，推出全国惟一的纸钞，称为法币。以大米为换算单位，清朝中晚期一两银子价值人民币150—220元左右（2008年）。本书中两、元并用，请读者留意。） 此外，与传统的钱庄所不同的是，陈光甫敏锐地看到了中国民族工业的前途，上海银行积极向民营棉纱、面粉工厂放贷，甚至还吸引工厂主成为银行股东，这让它在随即到来的工业化浪潮中大获其利。在此后二十多年里，陈光甫先后在国内开了八十多个分行，还在美国、英国设立分支机构，俨然成为最重要的民资银行家。 从雷履泰到陈光甫，中国金融业脱胎换骨。