Twentieth Century Chronicle

Page 127

Before Wilhelm II came to power, Bismarck's German diplomacy was very clear: to isolate France diplomatically, to resolve the hostility of Russia and Austria-Hungary towards Germany through the Three Emperors' League, and to support Britain in forming a Mediterranean alliance with Italy and Austria-Hungary against Russia, thereby forcing Britain to need Germany to block Russia's westward expansion.

However, after Wilhelm II came to power, he first broke the Three Emperors' Alliance and tried to lead Germany down the path of foreign expansion. To be honest, this diplomatic direction was not entirely unworkable, but Wilhelm II did not have the determination to carry it through to the end.

For example, now that Russia is bogged down in the Far East, Wilhelm II is not considering the possibility of completely destroying Russia. Instead, he has begun to sympathize with Russia, feeling that a white nation should not be defeated by a yellow-skinned one. Therefore, he tries to take advantage of Russia's teetering on the brink of defeat to extend a helping hand, thereby restoring the Three Emperors' League and dismantling the Franco-Russian alliance.

In other words, just when Wilhelm II was about to see the light at the end of the tunnel in his path of foreign expansion, he suddenly decided to turn back—a clearly extremely foolish choice. While Russia certainly needed Germany's support, it couldn't afford to lose its ally, France. The Russians understood perfectly well that Germany needed Russia because of the Franco-Russian alliance; without it, would Germany still need Russia?

Given the scale of French investment in Russia, the dissolution of the Franco-Russian alliance would mean that the Russian economy would suffer a more severe blow than the defeat in the war. Therefore, it is clear that Russia has adopted delaying measures in response to Germany's peace proposal. Russia does not want France and Britain to think that they have reached some kind of secret agreement with Germany.

Of course, Wilhelm II's discriminatory attitude towards people of color was not unusual in Europe. Even in the United States, where public opinion was extremely hostile to St. Petersburg, President Roosevelt couldn't help but say to the Secretary of State after hearing the results of the Battle of Cam Ranh Bay: "While I hope the Russians will learn a lesson in the Far East and that their greed will be curbed, I do not want to see such a defeat."

Simply put, Russia's defeat in this war exceeded the expectations of the major powers. What was originally a struggle for interests has now turned into a racial conflict. Britain suffered heavy losses in the Boer War, but at least it was fighting against white people. The conflicts in Tibet and India can be considered wars between yellow races, since Britain did not use purely white troops.

However, the wars between Russia, China, and Japan were unmistakably wars between white and yellow races, and these wars greatly inspired people of color to resist white colonization. In the past few centuries, people of color have never truly defeated a genuine white superpower; at most, they have repelled white invasions, but at a great cost.

However, this Far Eastern war proved that people of East Asian descent could also learn and master the combat skills of white people, thereby defeating them. The claim that white people were superior was thus refuted. This is why Egyptians celebrated the victories of Japan and China; they did not admire Japan and China, but rather saw themselves as members of the East Asian race.

Therefore, when the results of the Battle of Cam Ranh Bay reached Europe and America, the people of Europe and America who were originally hostile to St. Petersburg suddenly felt sympathy for the Russians and believed that the war should end. After all, they did not want to see a great war in which white people were completely defeated by yellow people.

On March 6, a special meeting was held in Tsarskoye Selo, St. Petersburg, to discuss whether the war in the Far East should continue. Admiral Aveland, Minister of the Navy, Sakharov, Minister of the Army, Count Fredericks, Grand Prince Vladimir, Grand Prince Alexei Alexievich, and other senior generals of the Army and Navy attended the meeting, which was chaired by the Tsar himself.

This meeting mainly raised four issues:

First, given the current situation in Russia, can we meet Kuropatkin's demands in order to help him achieve his goal of defeating the enemy in the Far East?

Second, if the enemy launches a surprise attack on Fengtian, Harbin, or Khabarovsk in the near future, are our current forces capable of repelling the enemy?

Third, if we fail in Fengtian or Harbin, what will be the consequences for Northeast China when a peace treaty is concluded?

Fourth, should we immediately attempt to conclude a peace treaty?

General Sakharov stated at the meeting: "Given the current situation, the war cannot end. To negotiate peace after our complete defeat, without a single victory or even any success, would be a disgrace. It would damage Russia's prestige and keep it out of the ranks of great powers for a long time. This war must continue, not for material gain, but solely to wash away this stain, which will remain until the Russian army achieves something. If the war does not end in victory, the domestic strife will not be quelled, or even alleviated."

Vice Admiral Dubasov echoed, "Regardless of the terms of the peace talks, they will deal a heavy blow to Russia's prestige. For the future of Russia, such a defeat is comparable to a 'serious and intractable disease'."

In his final remarks at the meeting, Grand Prince Vladimir Alexandrovich stated: "In all fairness, if we cannot accept the terms of peace talks, then the war must continue."

Thus, a special meeting convened to end the war ultimately turned into a decision to continue the war, as no one wanted to bear the responsibility of seeking peace due to defeat. The meeting ultimately decided to continue sending reinforcements to Kuropatkin, insisting on a victory before discussing peace.

The Russians' rejection of the peace offer a sigh of relief to the Japanese. Ending the war at this point is clearly not good for Japan, as it has not gained a dominant position on the mainland. At most, ending the war now would only give Japan naval control of the Yellow Sea and the Sea of ​​Japan, and the entire Korean Peninsula. The Chinese would not cede southern Manchuria, and Russia would not cede Primorsky Krai to Japan.

However, the peace proposals raised by Germany and the United States put Japan in a dilemma. The Japanese knew very well that they could not deal with more than two great powers. The Anglo-Japanese Alliance was against the majority of enemies that were attacking Japan. The British obviously could not obstruct the peace proposals of Germany and the United States in order to continue the war between Japan, Russia and China.

Therefore, if Russia had accepted Germany's suggestion at this time and then brought in the United States as an intermediary for peace negotiations, Japan, although it had won a victory at sea, would ultimately not have gained any real benefits. This is because Russia's strength in the Far East would still remain, and the Chinese would certainly have accepted peace; all they wanted was for Russia to withdraw its troops from their territory.

Russia's current refusal to engage in diplomatic negotiations gives Japan an opportunity to end the war on the battlefield. If Japan can achieve a decisive victory on the mainland, then Russia will have no choice but to cede its special interests in southern Manchuria to Japan. If this major battle can completely crush the morale of the Russians, then places like the Primorsky Krai might be worth considering.

Of course, the army no longer held much hope for the pre-war plan to drive Russian forces west of Lake Baikal, because the Russian army was too wary of Harbin. The Japanese army had not even reached the edge of Harbin, let alone Lake Baikal.

While both the Russian and Japanese armies were busy preparing for the Battle of Mukden to determine the victor, Cai E was traveling through the Taihang Mountains in a special car. In early March, the Taihang Mountains were still a landscape of withered yellow grass and snow, but along the bridges and roads he passed, Cai E could see many workers busily working.

With a significant investment of manpower and resources, the construction of the Zhengtai Road accelerated rapidly. By March 3rd, the section between Shijiazhuang and Taiyuan had been opened to traffic for the first time. However, this opening did not signify the completion of the entire project; rather, it was a temporary measure implemented to reinforce and ensure the requirements of military transport.

Although this approach increased the difficulty and investment in construction, it established a railway link between Wuhan and Taiyuan, greatly improving the speed of transporting troops and supplies. Cai E was quite satisfied with this, just as pleased as he had been when his trip south persuaded Central Committee members like Tian Junyi to support his plan.

With the support of the Central Committee, he could now focus solely on the upcoming battles. At 6 p.m., the train arrived at Taiyuan Station. As Cai E disembarked, he saw Xu Xilin waiting for him on the platform. The two began to talk as they walked out of the station.

Xu Xilin waited for Cai E, mainly to discuss the relationship between the army and the local authorities. For the past six months, Cai E had been busy with military reorganization and training. After all, even the new army in the eyes of the Qing Dynasty was just an army with new weapons in his eyes, not a truly new army inside and out. Without a reliable army that understood tactics, it would be difficult to complete his battle plans.

After Xu Xilin went north, he was mainly responsible for three tasks: disaster relief, land reform, and ethnic issues. Local work required the military to exert force, while the military's development also needed local support; therefore, cooperation between the two sides was relatively harmonious. Cai E felt that Xu Xilin was not as cold-hearted as others described; he appreciated Xu's business-like style.

Chapter 452 Shanxi Merchants

The Shanxi merchants originated in the Ming Dynasty and flourished in the Qing Dynasty. In the Ming Dynasty, they mainly engaged in border trade and monopolized the supply of salt and grain to the border troops. In the Qing Dynasty, they further became the logistics supplier for the Qing army and the monopolistic merchants in trade with Mongolia. In the late Qing Dynasty, they moved into the financial industry.

Before the establishment of the Bank of the Qing Dynasty, Shanxi banks remitted 2400 million taels of silver from Shanxi every year. The total annual revenue from land tax and other taxes in Shanxi Province was about 1000 million taels. In other words, the silver remitted by the people exceeded the cash of the imperial court.

When the Daqing Bank was established, the imperial court also gave Shanxi merchants an opportunity, wanting them to take the lead in setting up the Daqing Bank. However, for Shanxi merchants who had already formed a private financial industry, government-run banks imposed too many restrictions on private capital. Coupled with the traditional Shanxi merchants' idea of ​​not flaunting their wealth, they ultimately rejected this opportunity.

Or others might think that these wealthy Shanxi merchants were unaware of the intricacies of modern banks, which allowed a group of silk merchants from Jiangsu and Zhejiang to profit from the situation. But in reality, these Shanxi merchants had already purchased an entire street in Moscow; how could they not understand the differences between banks, money shops, and draft banks?

The real truth is that the silk merchants of Jiangsu and Zhejiang, backed by Shanghai and supported by various foreign powers, were not worried that the imperial court would swallow their capital, because their capital was borrowed from foreign banks.

However, the situation was different for Shanxi merchants. Although they had a longer history of dealings with the Russians, Russia, as a backward capitalist country, lacked its own capital and needed capital injections from Western European countries. Naturally, it was even less likely to support the financial capital of Shanxi merchants. On the contrary, the Russians were eager to keep the capital of Shanxi merchants in Russia to contribute to Russian commerce. Therefore, in the matter of establishing banks, Shanxi merchants actually received no external assistance.

Thanks to the Shanxi merchants' monopoly on trade with Mongolia, although their trade with Russia was defeated by modern technology, they could still continue to eat meat and drink alcohol thanks to the Mongolians. Therefore, the Shanxi merchants chose conservatism.

From the perspective of Shanxi merchants, as long as the imperial court still existed, their business in Inner and Outer Mongolia could continue, and their money shops and banks could be supported by trade with Mongolia. After all, this was a pattern that had been formed over hundreds of years, and all departments of the imperial court benefited from this business. Who could touch it? Who dared to touch it?

In 1900, the Eight-Nation Alliance invaded Beijing, expelling the Empress Dowager and the Emperor from the capital. This did indeed cause some tension among the Shanxi merchants, many of whom increased their investments in Russia, and some even harbored plans to adapt to a change of dynasty, much like the story of "when the Ming Dynasty was about to fall, we went to support the Qing Dynasty." However, after the Empress Dowager and the Emperor returned to Beijing and regained control of the court, the government's rule appeared to be more consolidated than before the Boxer Rebellion, and the Shanxi merchants naturally relaxed again.

However, the mutiny in Wuhan dealt a blow to the Shanxi merchants. These people from Wuhan rose up against the imperial court, but they first overthrew the money shops and draft banks. The Hankou Bank almost immediately eliminated the secret operating principles of the Hankou money shops and draft banks, forcing these money shops to operate under its control.

Although some money shops and banks withdrew from the Hankou market, what they resented most was letting outsiders, especially the government, know about their operating model, because a large portion of their deposits was inseparable from corruption. If they opened their business to government supervision, it would mean that many corrupt officials would no longer have any contact with them.

For example, one of the most profitable businesses of money shops was to provide loans to candidates for official positions to buy actual posts, and then provide them with plans on how to embezzle and corrupt after they took office in order to recover the loans. Could the government possibly know about such a business?

Therefore, Shanxi merchants actually hated the Wuhan Mutiny even more than the imperial court, and at one point even proactively borrowed money from the court to quell the rebellion. However, the court's troops were simply incapable of fighting, and their investment went down the drain. Just as the Shanxi merchants were wondering how long the imperial court could last, the Sino-Russian War broke out, which blocked their opportunity to transfer assets to Russia. Because this war also damaged the Shanxi merchants' trade with Mongolia, some Shanxi merchants still supported the imperial court's war against Russia.

However, to the disappointment of the Shanxi merchants, the imperial court could not stop the Russian attack. Instead, Wuhan grew stronger, and the Wuhan forces, which were originally in the south, invaded Shanxi. Taking advantage of the economic control over the region during the war, they directly extended their reach to trade with Mongolia and promoted land reform in Shanxi.

After the first month of 1907, shareholders of money shops and banks in Taigu, Qixian, and Pingyao gathered at the Qu family residence in Qixian to seek advice from Qu Benqiao, the head of the Qu family, on the predicament faced by Shanxi merchants. Although the Qu family became wealthy relatively late among Shanxi merchants, and Qu Benqiao was far less famous in business than the wealthy Qiao Zhiyong, he was a Jinshi (a successful candidate in the highest imperial examinations) and advocated modern learning, thus making him quite well-known in Shanxi's educational circles.

After Wuhan's forces entered Shanxi, many former Qing officials were purged and dismissed. However, Qu Benqiao was appreciated by Wuhan for establishing Qixian Middle School and was appointed to preside over the Shanxi Education Committee to promote the construction of primary and secondary schools throughout the province.

Qiao Yingxia stayed at the Qu family's house for most of the day, then excused himself, saying he was worried about his grandfather's health, and went home. Back home, he visited his bedridden grandfather, Qiao Zhiyong. The 89-year-old Qiao Zhiyong looked quite well that day, and upon seeing his grandson return, casually asked, "What were they trying to do at the Qu family's house?"

Qiao Yingxia thought for a moment and then said, "I just want my uncle to step in and get them to let them off the hook. But I think it's unlikely to work."

Qiao Zhiyong looked at his grandson with great interest and asked, "Why couldn't it work?"

Qiao Yingxia replied without hesitation: "We Shanxi people always like to associate ourselves with officials when doing business. As long as the official we bet on rises to high positions, our own business will also benefit."

But times have changed. In Wuhan, the call has been to overthrow the old-fashioned landlord system and usher in a new era of the People's Republic. They are particularly abhorrent to official corruption and embezzlement, and they certainly wouldn't tolerate businessmen who constantly try to corrupt officials.

Qiao Zhiyong first smiled and nodded, but then quickly shook his head and said, "What you said is the surface-level principle. Do you know what the underlying principle is?"

Qiao Yingxia remained silent for a while, then shook her head and asked her grandfather what the underlying reason was. Qiao Zhiyong then said, "The underlying reason is that the imperial court can't handle things on its own, so it needs people to do things for them. Everyone revolves around the officials, actually hoping that the officials will choose them to do things after they go up."

But things were different in Wuhan. Since the uprising began, they had been handling things themselves. Look at the French repairing the Taiyuan Railway and the British Fook Company mining coal and iron ore in Shanxi. Wasn't it because the imperial court couldn't build railways and mines on its own that foreigners were able to take advantage of the situation?

What we Shanxi people resent is not foreigners building railways and mining coal and iron ore, but the government's decision to exclude our own people and let others build railways and mine coal and iron ore in Shanxi. So when the people of Wuhan took back the construction rights of the Zhengtai Railway from the French and the mining rights of Shanxi's coal and iron ore from the Fu Company, we didn't think it was a good thing.

Because everyone knows very well that Wuhan is not the imperial court; they don't need anyone else to do their bidding. They can handle things themselves. So, where will the Shanxi merchants find refuge? Therefore, it's natural that everyone opposes Wuhan supporting the imperial court.

Qiao Yingxia thought about her grandfather's words and realized they made sense. Whether it was distributing land or settling debts, it was essentially cleaning up a group of rent-seekers. These people had no other skills to make a living besides collecting land rent and interest. Now that Wuhan was no longer allowing them to collect land rent and interest while lying around, how could they stand it?

However, he quickly said to his grandfather, "The imperial court can't deal with the foreigners, and the foreigners can't deal with Wuhan. They can't even deal with the imperial court, so how can they expect Wuhan to back down?"

Qiao Zhiyong nodded in agreement with his grandson's opinion and said, "So, their attempt to get your uncle to stand up for them is actually pointless. No matter how respected your uncle is, if he wants to go against Wuhan on this issue, his fate will not be any more dignified than that of the Manchu princes in the capital. This is the foundation of the new era that Wuhan wants to establish; it will not allow anyone to go against its wishes. Our Qiao family really needs to change its way of life."

After a moment of contemplation, Qiao Yingxia said, "Grandfather is right. From now on, we must do real work to survive. Trying to live off land and money exchange to collect rent and interest will probably not be enough..."

Qu Benqiao shared a similar view with Qiao Zhiyong. He refused to plead with Wuhan on behalf of these Shanxi merchants. Instead, he advised them to actively cooperate with the various policies issued by Wuhan, voluntarily hand over the land, and settle their debts to Mongolia.

In contrast to the dissatisfaction of Shanxi merchants with Wuhan's land-based border trade policies, farmers and herders in Shanxi and Inner Mongolia welcomed and supported these new policies. The farmers in the Yanbei region, needless to say, accepted Wuhan's policies almost without question due to Wuhan's active disaster relief efforts and its victory over the Russian invasion.

Meanwhile, in the Chahar and Suiyuan regions outside the Great Wall, there was initial concern about the Han Chinese military force represented by Wuhan. Because of the Jindandao Uprising, the Mongols in the region harbored a sense of wariness towards Han Chinese military power. The root cause of the Jindandao Uprising lay in the brutal oppression of Han Chinese immigrants by Mongol princes under the guise of ethnic discrimination. According to the orders of the Mongol princes, any Han Chinese who dared to cut firewood without permission were executed, some even subjected to torture and murder, in order to intimidate Han Chinese immigrants.

The Jindandao Rebellion saw Han Chinese venting their resentment towards the Mongols on ordinary Mongol herders, leading to ethnic massacres. This hatred was so intense that even Li Hongzhang's Huai Army, the main force suppressing the Jindandao peasants, couldn't stand by and watch the Mongols' cruelty towards Han immigrants and repeatedly intervened to stop Mongol cavalry from massacring the rebellious peasants.

Following the national humiliation of the Boxer Rebellion, the Qing government dispatched Yi Gu, the Vice Minister of War with the title of Minister of the Court of Colonial Affairs, to Suiyuan to oversee land reclamation in western Inner Mongolia. The aim was to expand tax revenue for the Qing government. The regulations stipulated that "half of the reclaimed land would belong to the Mongolians, and all land rent would belong to the Mongolian banners."

In essence, this meant that the imperial court levied a wasteland tax on the already cultivated Mongolian lands, thereby encroaching on a large amount of arable land and enclosing many good pastures, which offended both the Mongolian and Han peoples.

In 1905, the Duguilong Movement broke out in Uxin Banner, centered around Hailiutu, and launched a struggle against land reclamation. They declared their opposition to the sale of land by princes and refused to pay various taxes. This movement included both calls for resistance against the imperial court and ideas that rejected Han Chinese.

The Yi Army was stationed in Suiyuan and other places not only to guard against Han Chinese immigrants, but also to suppress Mongolian resistance. After Wuhan took over the defense of Yanbei and Suiyuan, it gained the favor of the local Han Chinese immigrants, but not the goodwill of the Mongolian herders.

However, as Wuhan imported large quantities of daily necessities into the grasslands, breaking the monopoly of Shanxi merchants, and began to clear up land reclamation and Mongolian debts, the Mongolian people gradually began to trust the power represented by Wuhan.

Chapter 453 Xu Xilin's Work

For Xu Xilin, who rose to power through the anti-revolutionary purges, these petty actions of the Shanxi merchants were naturally all within his sight. However, the current focus of his work in the north was serving the war against Russia and supporting the democratic movement in Beijing. There was no plan to thoroughly purge the old forces in the local areas. Therefore, his work in the north was mainly based on the principle of striking down whoever took the lead. For those groups that secretly colluded but did not take any real action, he only paid attention to them and did not strike them first.

It's not that Xu Xilin's thinking became more conservative after the Southern Anti-Rightist Campaign, due to the dissatisfaction of his comrades within the Party. Rather, he felt that there were indeed some problems with his working methods, which led to some comrades within the Party being unable to accept them. However, he did not believe that his revolutionary direction was wrong; at least Tian Junyi still supported the Party's purification movement.

He switched from the Restoration Society to the Workers' Party because he believed that the Workers' Party's revolutionary program was correct. Before that, when he and his comrades in the Restoration Society were together, they could only vehemently denounce the Qing Dynasty. Almost no one could come up with a concrete blueprint for what kind of China should be established after the Qing Dynasty was overthrown. Their persistence in the revolution was not about how to establish a new China, but about proclaiming how irreconcilable their differences with the Manchus were.

While this revolutionary path, guided by anti-Manchuism, could certainly stimulate the revolutionary sentiments of young people, when it came to actually implementing the revolutionary plan, even a slight discussion of the enemy's strength and our weakness would be seen as an attempt to kowtow to the Manchus. Therefore, the Restoration Society could not discuss practical issues at all, but could only talk about how to carry out revolutionary actions against the Manchus. The more radical the plan, the more it represented the direction of the revolution.

The Restoration Society did indeed come up with many action plans, but it also produced the most traitors. This was because the Restoration Society would talk about revolutionary plans as soon as they recruited people. Some people might indeed be dissatisfied with the court, but they were not yet prepared to violently overthrow the Qing Dynasty. Therefore, they might appear very enthusiastic when they were encouraged to join the Restoration Society, but most of them would regret it after returning home and eventually betray the organization.

This resulted in very tense relations among comrades within the Restoration Society, as everyone was afraid of being betrayed. Therefore, they frequently pressured new members to carry out assassinations that lacked the necessary conditions, leaving them no way out. Even if someone passed the test, it didn't mean they weren't resentful of the members who pressured them. Consequently, factional struggles within the Restoration Society were even more intense than those within the Tongmenghui (Revolutionary Alliance).

Xu Xilin's decision to leave the Restoration Society and join the Labor Party after only a few months in Wuhan may well have stemmed from his weariness of the factional infighting within the Restoration Society. Of course, most importantly, the Labor Party's revolutionary program was much more realistic, unlike the Restoration Society's radicalism and lack of practicality.

While the Labour Party also values ​​the reliability of its members, this reliability is not tested by unconditional obedience between superiors and subordinates or between old and new members. The Labour Party tests the ideology of its members by their agreement with the party's platform.

Xu Xilin thought this was very good, much better than the old party members who always regarded themselves as the embodiment of the revolution and believed that new party members who did not obey them did not agree with the revolution.

The most basic program of the current Labour Party is to promote land revolution to eliminate the landlord class. If you do not accept this, you are not a comrade. Even if you accept this, the path to eliminating the landlord class can easily divide the party into three factions: left, center, and right.

Xu Xilin advocated the complete confiscation of landlords' land and its distribution without compensation. Like Tian Junyi and others, although his family owned a large amount of land, he did not believe that the land revolution required compensation to landlords.

Tian Junyi's words struck a chord with him: "The so-called compensation for confiscating land for landlords, who will pay for this compensation? Does the state have the money to compensate landlords? Isn't it still up to the farmers and workers to pay?"

If we do this, it means we are acknowledging that the landlords' private ownership of land is justified; otherwise, why should we provide compensation? Since we believe that private ownership of land is justified, then our current demand to strip the landlords of their ownership of the land is a form of plunder, not based on the principle that laborers create the world and therefore own it.

Our purpose in confiscating landlords' land was to eliminate private land ownership. Although we are now distributing land to peasants, it is not to create a group of small landowners, but to make laborers understand that they are the owners of the land. Public ownership of land is based on common labor, not on state monopoly.

Eliminating the landlord class did not mean physically eliminating the landlords, but rather eliminating this rent-seeking class from the relations of production and transforming them into laborers. In other words, after being transformed into laborers, the former landlord class would also possess their own labor rights within the public ownership economy.

The so-called economic compensation given to the landlord class was not, in essence, the elimination of the landlord class, but rather the continuation of this rent-seeking class in another form. They were not transformed into laborers, which meant that our socialist transformation was incomplete, and that a large number of people who did not work still existed in our society. This also meant that the revolution would sooner or later be overthrown by opportunists who infiltrated the revolutionary ranks.

Xu Xilin completely agreed with these words. He devoted himself to the revolution in order to break the old world and build a new one. Otherwise, what would be the point of a revolution? If this jar cannot be moved, that table cannot be moved... that is not a revolution. At most, it is just a cleansing movement. The Self-Strengthening Movement and the Reform Movement were both cleansing movements. Practice has proven that cleansing movements cannot save China, not even the Manchu dynasty.

As Tian Junyi said in a private conversation with him, "A large number of our party members only think about revolutionizing others, but resolutely oppose revolutionizing themselves. If this continues, even if the party overthrows the Qing Dynasty, it will only establish a new dynasty of a labor party, and the people will still not see any hope of liberation..."

Xu Xilin wholeheartedly agreed, believing that the purification movement of the Party should be carried out continuously, and that those veteran Party members who tried to rest on their laurels should be periodically removed from their leadership positions to receive education from the masses, in order to maintain the Party's revolutionary nature and advanced nature. The reason why many Party members opposed the expansion of the anti-rightist purge was simply because the revolution had reached the Party members themselves, making them feel uncomfortable.

Therefore, although he was sent to work in the north, Xu Xilin still paid close attention to the political situation in Wuhan. After all, the work in the north could not be separated from the support of Wuhan. If the political direction in Wuhan was wrong, then the political work in the north would also be in trouble.

In contrast, Cai E was less concerned with politics, placing greater emphasis on national defense. However, during his numerous private exchanges with Tian Junyi in Wuhan, he ultimately brought back many useful political ideas for Xu Xilin.

In their private conversation, Cai E first conveyed Tian Junyi's support for Xu Xilin's land revolution and efforts to clear up land reclamation issues and Mongolian debts in the north. However, he quickly added, "However, Comrade Tian Junyi still supports the principle of national self-determination. He has also discussed this issue with Comrade Lin Feng."

Comrade Lin Feng believes that the new republic should not inherit the legal system of the Qing Dynasty, otherwise it would be an indirect recognition of the effectiveness of the conqueror system, which would mean that the republic cannot create a new era that truly belongs to the people, but will only become part of the current global colonial system.

Once our party endorses the legitimacy of the Manchu Qing dynasty, it will inevitably lose its legal basis for leading the people of Asia in resisting colonial imperialism, because our party has already acknowledged the validity of the Manchu conquest of China. This will also simultaneously inspire the various ethnic minorities in China's border regions to achieve their own independence and nation-building through resistance against the Manchu Qing. If the Han Chinese can oppose the Manchus, why can't other ethnic minorities? The so-called inheritance of Manchu legal legitimacy by the Han Chinese is simply the inheritance of the Manchu Qing's tradition of oppression against various ethnic minorities.

Today, China is in its most weakened period in history, while facing its most powerful external enemies. If the Han people claim to have inherited the Manchu legal system, it means that external enemies could invade China through the Manchu rule, and people from other countries would not sympathize with the Han people.

Since you have chosen the legitimacy of conquerors, you should naturally accept the possibility of being invaded when your military strength is insufficient. This is the colonial system of the survival of the fittest, which the West admires. How can such a double standard—viewing the Manchu Qing's massacres of various ethnic groups as a process of ethnic integration while opposing the massacres of one's own people by external enemies—be convincing to the public?

China's self-reliance must be based on the principle of national self-determination, because this principle is the most readily accepted universal principle among the vast majority of colonized races in the world today. Only a new China built on the principle of national self-determination can lead the peoples of Asia, Africa, and Latin America to oppose the imperialist colonial system and ultimately escape their colonial status.

So what is the principle of national self-determination? Who can represent a nation in making the choice of self-determination? This is what the Labor Party should seriously study. Can those Han landlords and gentry who supported the Manchu colonization of China represent the Han people in making a self-determination? No, only the laborers of each nationality can determine the future of their nation. A thorough purge of those reactionary upper-class figures from various nationalities is necessary before national self-determination is possible.

For example, the Qing dynasty's massacre of the Dzungar tribe, and the stance of the Outer Khalkha Mongol princes and Inner Mongolian princes in this massacre—preventing the Mongol people from criticizing it, and instead allowing these Mongol princes to represent the Mongol nation in making statements about national self-determination—this is not supporting national self-determination; it is capitulation to class enemies.

The Labour Party should firmly support the self-determination of all nationalities, but it must never allow reactionary classes to incite mutual antagonism among the working classes of all nationalities under the principle of national self-determination. The Labour Party must help the working classes of all nationalities thoroughly liquidate the upper classes and conduct class education for the workers of all nationalities so that they truly understand where their class interests lie. This is the true principle of national self-determination.

Of course, under the current circumstances, the consciousness of the workers of various nationalities is not yet sufficient, and they do not yet fully understand what their class interests are. Therefore, we should allow some upper-class individuals of nationalities who are willing to reform themselves to join the revolutionary ranks, but we cannot rely too much on them…”

Xu Xilin repeatedly communicated with Cai E about the principle of national self-determination, and in the end he accepted the explanation brought back by Cai E and revised his resistance to the principle of national self-determination.

Chapter 454 Assault Plan

Xu Xilin was persuaded so quickly because after arriving in the north, he participated in actual work on the frontier and discovered that the ethnic issues there were completely different from what he had imagined in the interior. In the interior, he could only feel the oppression of Han people by Manchus, but in the frontier regions, it was the pervasive oppression of the lower classes of each ethnic group by the upper classes, and the Manchu Qing dynasty incited ethnic antagonism through its policies of dividing the various ethnic groups.

For example, the Jindandao Uprising was seen by the Han people as a peasant rebellion against the oppression of Han immigrants by the Mongols, but by the Mongols, it was a massacre of Mongols by the Han people. The Duguilong Movement initially started as a resistance against the land reclamation policy by poor Mongol herders and oppressed Han immigrants, but with the addition of some Mongol princes, the Duguilong Movement turned into an independence movement in which the Mongols excluded all Han immigrants.

The class struggle between the Mongol and Han lower classes was distorted by nationalism in the struggle, which eventually led to inter-ethnic antagonism. This was because of the lack of a genuine principle of national self-determination. The lower-class laborers were manipulated by the reactionary rulers at the top and turned the oppression they suffered into the oppression of other ethnic groups. In the end, the contradictions between ethnic groups overwhelmed all other issues.

Just as Liang Qichao attempted to create the concept of a "Chinese nation" to cover up the various massacres perpetrated by the Manchus upon entering the Central Plains, the genocide between the Hui and Han peoples during the Tongzhi Hui Rebellion, and the Manchus' genocidal policies against the Dzungar tribe, who would accept such deception? During the Wuchang Uprising, when the Manchus initially attempted to massacre the Han people, did they care about the concept of a "Chinese nation"? Later, when the Han people gained the upper hand, would they abandon their revenge against the Manchus because of the concept of a "Chinese nation"?

Liang Qichao's concept of the Chinese nation was merely a way for a unified dynasty to suppress the discontent of various ethnic groups with a powerful state apparatus while it was still in control, rather than solving the problem. Once this unified dynasty lost its ability to control the situation, nationalists from various ethnic groups would inevitably annihilate this nominal nation with a hundredfold or even a thousandfold rage.

The principle of national self-determination is, in effect, aimed at resolving these historical ethnic hatreds. While acknowledging the differences in culture and customs among ethnic groups, it supports the working class of each ethnic group in holding the upper classes accountable, thereby resolving these historical legacies. This is because these historical massacres were all initiated by the upper classes of each ethnic group, with the lower classes merely being deceived and passively involved.

Through the purge of reactionary elements in the upper classes by the working classes of various ethnic groups, when the Mongols no longer took pride in Genghis Khan, the Manchus no longer praised Nurhaci and Huang Taiji, and the Han people no longer regarded Genghis Khan and Nurhaci as their ancestors, the historical hatred among the various ethnic groups was naturally resolved, and the foundation for national unity was formed.

So, who are the most opposed to the principle of national self-determination? Naturally, it's the upper echelons of each nationality and those who consider themselves beneficiaries of their respective nationalities. Do they oppose national self-determination itself? No, they oppose the theory of class struggle embodied in the principle of national self-determination. Under the principle of national self-determination, they can no longer divert attention from internal class contradictions by instigating national conflicts.

Cai E was naturally persuaded by Tian Junyi in the same way. When he realized that the fundamental purpose of the principle of national self-determination was to establish a foundation for reconciliation and national unity in the new era, he naturally turned to the principle of national self-determination. At least under this principle, he no longer needed to worry about the various tribes of Outer Mongolia completely siding with the Russians.

Xu Xilin's repeated inquiries to Cai E about the principle of national self-determination eventually connected with the ethnic issues he encountered in his practical work. After realizing that the principle of national self-determination could solve many of the ethnic problems he was dealing with, he naturally changed his already wavering Han nationalism.

After communicating with Xu Xilin, Cai E continued his journey towards Datong. Along the way, Cai E frequently saw troops marching towards Datong. These were the various units of the reorganized 14th Division, formerly the Shanxi New Army. Seeing the high morale of these troops on the march made him feel very pleased.

After the Battle of Zhangjiakou last summer, Cai E began a military reorganization, mainly to incorporate the Shanxi New Army and the Yi Army into the Workers' and Peasants' Red Army system. This was actually a very large undertaking. After all, these two armies retained too many traces of the old army and had a very strong sense of regionalism.

If these two armies hadn't been stationed in the northern frontier for so long and hadn't become quite accustomed to the local environment and climate, and if there hadn't been a shortage of time, Cai E felt that disbanding and re-recruiting these two units would have been simpler than reorganizing them. After all, the newly recruited troops could be organized and trained entirely according to his ideas, while these old troops would need constant integration with the Workers' and Peasants' Red Army system, and their bad habits would need to be corrected.

It was during this reorganization process that Cai E first realized the importance of the political commissar system and the soldiers' committee. Without these two organizations, he felt that he would never have been able to transform these two units in such a short time, since he did not have enough cadres to replace all the officers in these two armies.

The political commissar system's ideological reform of the old army, and the soldiers' committees' supervision of the old officers, allowed the Workers' and Peasants' Red Army to quickly take control of these two units. The subsequent retirement of some older officers and soldiers further weakened the influence of the old officers within the army. Thus, the two previously demoralized armies now appeared virtually indistinguishable from the Workers' and Peasants' Red Army in Wuhan.