Chapter 34 The Change of the Governor of Sichuan
On June 6, 1907 (the 33rd year of the Guangxu period), the Governor's Office in Chengdu, Sichuan.
"Xinghai, I am about to be transferred to the position of governor of Yunnan and Guizhou. The position of governor of Sichuan is temporarily represented by Zhao Jihe. Although I am no longer in governor of Sichuan, the Sichuan-Han Railway and Weiyuan Steel have always been in mind... If you encounter anything that cannot be solved, please let me know." Xiliang said helplessly.
Xiliang was also helpless about this sudden transfer order. In fact, he was simply affected. This was originally a faction between Cen Chunxuan and Prince Qing Yili, who fought against power. If Yili wanted to drive Cen Chunxuan away, he appointed him as the governor of Yunnan and kicked out of the capital. But Cen Chunxuan was not a soft persimmon, and the famous "official tutor" ignored this at all. "I won't go to the post, Yili, do you have the ability to bite me?" So, the governor of Yunnan and Guizhou was missing.
The two gods and immortals fought, and Xiliang, the unlucky guy, was transferred to Yunnan and Guizhou as a scapegoat. The political achievements project that was about to be completed was made for others. If Xiliang was willing, he would be called a ghost, but he had no choice. The bannermen and governors of this era were far less powerful than the Han people. People like Zhang Zhidong and Liu Kunyi, if they were not willing, Lao Fu could not be transferred.
Wen Desi replied respectfully: "Sir, don't worry. These two things are the ones that we attach the most importance to, and we will never let them down. Weiyuan Steel is expected to be trial production in September in the second half of the year. The roadbed and bridge culverts of the Sichuan-Hanzhou Railway are also laid. At present, 80% of the roadbed and culverts on the Chengdu-Chongqing Line have been completed. As long as the railway tracks of Weigang are put into production, the railway can be laid immediately..."
"I know, Xinghai, you are a rare pillar of the country. When it comes to the Westernization of the Qing Dynasty, no one can compare to you. I feel at ease when doing things." Xiliang nodded with satisfaction.
He knew the progress of the steel mill and railway. In order to curry favor with him, General Wen had to write a report on the construction situation every three days and sent it to the Governor's Office. Xiliang himself was a pragmatic person, and Wen Desi's approach was right. In particular, Wen Desi used the project report form of later generations, and all situations were represented by curves, graphics, and data, which looked clear and intuitive, and clear at a glance. Even outsiders could understand it, which was much better than the official documents at this time.
Over the past year, Xiliang has been reading the reports for a long time and the detailed explanation given by Xingke Company, so he is no longer so novice about railways, steel mills, etc. At the same time, he also discovered the benefits of this new type of report, so he asked Xingke Company to help his Governor's Office design a set of work reports, which are currently being promoted. However, now it seems that he can only go to Yunnan and Guizhou to promote it.
"When the steel mill produces the first furnace of steel, if the old man is free, he will ask the old man to cut the ribbon..." Wen Desi said with a smile.
He was also quite depressed and was hurriedly called to Chengdu by Xiliang. It turned out that this was the case. Although he had known that Xiliang was going to be transferred, he was not very happy at this time. He had been working with Lao Xi for more than a year and was still very happy. Although Lao Xitongzi is an industrial novices, the advantage is that he has no doubts about using people. He was very relieved to hand over the matter to Wen Desi. But if it were a governor, things might not be so easy to handle.
Judging from the historical records of the original time and space, the two of the Sichuan Governors after Xiliang were the Zhao brothers who took turns to serve as the banker. The two of the brothers' evaluations were not too high, and they were probably not as easy to talk to as Xiliang. There is another variable, which is Chen Kuilong. Originally, this guy took over as the governor of Sichuan this year, but because his wife disliked Sichuan as a miserable place, he didn't come to take office and directly transferred to the Governor of Huguang. But now history has changed. With the big fat piece of Star Science Company, with Mr. Chen's style of three feet tall, it is hard to say whether he would come and make a fortune.
"Sir, I wonder how this Lord Zhao is?" Wen Desi changed the subject when he saw Xiliang's depression.
Shirae also understood what Fun Desi meant, and thought for a while and said, "He is a capable person, but he is mostly abilities in border affairs. He knows nothing about Western affairs... Don't worry, you are responsible for the railway and steel mill. I told him yesterday. He dare not do anything like this big thing."
"Thank you, Mr., for your care..." Wen Desi quickly stood up to thank him.
Xiliang was probably a little unwilling to give up and said, "Hehe, Zhao Jihe is good at suppressing bandits. He is doing a good job in the border of Sichuan and Tibet. I'm fine when I go to Yunnan and Guizhou. It's up to him that Zhao Jihe is going to have a headache for the bandits in Huaying Mountain..."
"The bandit in Huaying Mountain? What is that?" Wen Desi immediately changed his position to "a crowd who did not know the truth" and asked curiously.
"Xinghai, you are busy with railway steel mills, and it is normal for you to not know about this. At the end of last year, a bandit was found in Huaying Mountain. What is the name of [Kongshe]? The locals called them "Iron Hat Bandits" and the officialdom called them "Wu Bandits". These bandits are extremely fierce and have inflated many local bandits. Now they are in great power..."
"It's a good thing for these bandits to fight each other. The more they die, the more convenient it will be to wipe out..." Wen Desi continued to act as a "people who don't know the truth."
Xiliang smiled and said, "You don't know that if it's just bandits who are fighting each other, it's not a big deal. Sichuan has high mountains and dense forests. Since ancient times, bandits have been in trouble. It doesn't matter if one more or one less. But this Kyodo Society is different. They not only fight other bandit gangs, but also kill gentry. There are no less than a hundred schools of thought around Huaying Mountain. Some of these gentry have relatives and friends in the court. They sue the lawsuit, and it's difficult for us local officials to do it..."
"Since these bandits are so hateful, why don't the court send troops to clear them out?" Wen Desi pretended to suggest.
"Send a large army to clear out? How easy is this..." Xiliang shook his head and explained patiently.
Because Kyodo News is already very strong, it is definitely not possible to rely on local force. However, it costs a lot of money to dispatch a large army, and the court also needs to agree that the Qing Dynasty's treasury is empty enough to run away mice, and one can save one. How could it be possible to pay this money? Besides, although Kyodo News is arrogant, they did not attack the city and were just arrogant outside the city. The Qing court would never take such "honest" bandits seriously.
In their opinion, this is just a matter of public security, and it is not a lord who rebels and attacks the country like Taiping Heavenly Kingdom. Even if it is reported, the big boss in the court will definitely say: What a joke, there are so many bandits and thieves in the country. Do you want the imperial army to attack? Then what do you local officials do?
It is better to have less local officials than to have more things. The court doesn’t pay for troops to send me? I didn’t see that the Chongqing prefect, as the person involved, didn’t say anything.
Besides, Huaying Mountain is not a plain, it is a mountainous area with complex terrain. Even if the army is dispatched, the Communist Party will just hide in the mountains and will not stop a bird? How many people do you have and how much time do you hide cats with them? This is a matter of obvious waste of money and food and futility, and no one of the Qing officials will do.
What makes the bureaucrats even more worried is that if the court army fails to suppress the bandits, they will be defeated by the bandits. The relevant local officials will definitely be unlucky. It is good to throw away the black hat. It is not impossible to be sent to Caishikou for a knife. This kind of unlucky thing has happened to the Qing Dynasty. It has only been 40 years since the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, and only a few years have passed. So local officials either play the ball or pretend to be deaf and dumb. Even the practical faction like Xiliang is playing procrastination.
Well, Mr. Wen seems to have a militia in his hands. Why doesn’t Xiliang transfer them to fight?
This is definitely impossible. First, the militia is not an official army, and the government cannot be transferred. Even if you want to ask militia for help, you have to pay according to the rules. Secondly, the militia is a defensive armed force. As long as the bandits are not attacked, the militia has no obligation to suppress the bandits. Also, Xiliang regards Wen Desi as his own person. It is the affairs of the Chongqing prefect who has caused bandits in Huaying Mountain. He is not a fool. Why should he consume his own strength for nothing? The Chongqing prefect is not his son.
So the current Kyodo Society is a very embarrassing existence for the Qing Dynasty. They are powerful and cannot be solved by relying on local yamen runners, but the harm is not very great (by the standards of the Qing court). It is obviously unpaid to dispatch a large army for this reason. I am poor in the Qing Dynasty.
So the men played selectively ignoring Dafa and pretending that the Kyodo Society did not exist. Anyway, no matter how fierce they were, they were just making trouble near the mountainous areas. As long as they didn't come to attack the city, they would let them go.
As for those victimized gentry, those who don’t have any background will think they are unlucky. Who told you to live so close to the bandits? As for those who have deep background... Well, I deeply sympathize with you about your experience, but I am also powerless. If you have the ability, let the court send troops. As long as the court sends troops, I will naturally be willing to cooperate.
Another important reason is that the Qing court is in a time of fierce party struggles. The "Qingliu" led by Cen Chunxuan and the "Qingna Company" led by Prince Qing Yiliu have been in great battles. People have become dog-minded and they are about to fight through the sky. Now the entire Qing officialdom is busy, either holding on, standing in a team, watching and playing soy sauce, or stumble on each other, and there is no time to pay attention to a "bandit gang" in a remote countryside.
The two sides talked for a while. Before leaving, Wen Desi sent a check of 200,000 yuan to the Governor General as "Cheng Yi". With the relationship between the two parties, Xiliang did not refuse. Among the Qing bureaucrats, Xiliang was already a very honest person. Of course, this "cleanness" was just equivalent to the overall officialdom at that time. He would not take the initiative to embezzle, solicit bribes, and do not charge black and dirty money, but he would not refuse the "filial piety" and "Cheng Yi" and other gray incomes in the "rules". Besides, everyone in the national officialdom knows that Wen Desi is from his school. As a younger brother below, it is a human relationship. It is really normal and it is not a big deal.
Next, under Xiliang's suggestion, Wen Desi visited Zhao Erfeng's mansion again. Zhao Erfeng is now the Minister of the Sichuan-Yunnan Border Affairs. This position is a new thing that has been set up for less than a year. The jurisdiction is roughly equivalent to another time and space line. Xikang Province during the Republic of China period, and the level is equivalent to the governor. Because the governor of Sichuan is the governor of Sichuan, he, the minister of the Sichuan-Yunnan Border Affairs, is the second-in-command of Sichuan, and it is normal for him to take over as the governor of Sichuan.
Wen Desi had not had much contact with Zhao Erfeng before, nor had he met him. He only knew that he was a cruel and decisive man. In recent years, he had been reincarnated in southern Sichuan, and returned to the riverside, killing people and destroying many heads. At the same time, he also destroyed mountains and ruined temples and leveled N many Laba Temples, which made many living Buddhas and Bodhisattvas in the local area "reincarnated".
However, after seeing himself, Zhao Erfeng's reaction was as expected. Lord Zhao was surprisingly enthusiastic. He first expressed his gratitude to Xingke Company for its funding in the past few months, and then he was very interested in talking about the transportation construction of Sichuan with Wen Desi. The talk was soaring. He also asked the servant to take out a map of Sichuan and spread it on the table to guide him.
As for the funding in the past few months, President Wen donated a batch of supplies to the local Qing army in order to combat the dirty and poisonous forces. It was mainly a new product trial-made by Xingke Food Factory, including canned lunch meat, ham sausages and instant noodles, and convenient rice. Well, this also has the factor of using Zhao Erfeng's subordinates as volunteer testers.
At that time, Zhao Erfeng was about to attack a chieftain, and General Wen's assistance was just right. The soldiers who were tired of eating traditional military rations praised these new types of food. The Qing army, which had sufficient supplies and increased morale, won a great victory, and Zhao Erfeng also remembered Wen Desi.
Now Zhao Erfeng talks about road construction, and it is also for the issue of Sichuan and Tibet. Mr. Zhao has been there for many years and has been vomited by the local bad traffic. In his opinion, those Tibetan soldiers are fighting for five slags, and the horned and bald donkeys are not even slags. If it weren't for the traffic conditions that make people vomit, he would have been taken by him a hundred times and a hundred times.
He knew that the Sichuan-Hankou Railway and Chengdu-Chongqing Highway, which Wen Desi is now responsible for building, not only has a progress that is far greater than similar projects, but also has a much higher quality. So he was so puzzled that Wen Desi wanted to build a road in the edge of Sichuan. The railway may not be too expensive, but it is good to build a highway.
I have to say that Wen Desi was also exposed by this thoughtful thought.
After a while, he replied cautiously: "Mr. Zhao, I support the road construction. As long as there is a road, it will be convenient for anything to do. However, we don't know the terrain of this river at all, and now I can't guarantee when it will be repaired..."
Zhao Erfeng smiled and said, "Haha, I know a little about this. What kind of surveying and mapping should you do before building the road. This is not a problem at all. You are now a fourth-grade alternate road. I am planning to set up a new transportation bureau on the Sichuan-Yunnan border border. Now I will appoint you as the General Office of the Sichuan-Yunnan Border Transportation Bureau, specifically responsible for the construction of Sichuan-Border Roads. Even if you send someone to survey and mapping, I will ask the local government to assist you. As long as it is necessary to build the road, you can do it cheaply in the local area..."
As for the funds for road construction, although the Sichuan border was so poor that Zhao Erfeng gritted his teeth and squeezed out 450,000 taels of silver. The rest was only for Wen Desi to find a way. Wen Desi knew that Zhao Laoer was not well-off, so it was not easy to get this number, which also means that he really wanted to build this road.
Mr. Wen must have to repair this Sichuan-Tibet highway. Even if it is not repaired now, it will be repaired after the rebellion. Now Zhao Erfeng is asking him to repair it, which is great. Then Wen Desi talked with Lao Zhao about the conditions, mainly to interfere in Sichuan-Tibet transactions, obtain the monopoly of specialty products in Tibetan areas, and to exempt the tax on the transactions in Tibetan areas within three years. Lao Zhao is also a wise man. He knows that the road is not easy to repair, and it is not too much for Wen Desi to put forward the conditions, so it is correct.
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Chapter completed!