Twentieth Century Chronicle

Page 109

An Jung-geun gave a report that lasted nearly 45 minutes. After listening, Lin Xinyi said to him, "The problems you mentioned have also been reported elsewhere. I have also seen the solutions to these problems. I have already had these problems compiled and added to the training materials for the farmers' association cadres."

However, I called you back not to inquire about your current job, but because I have another task for you. Please take a look at this newspaper first.”

Ahn Jung-geun took the newspaper and quickly skimmed through the key points. His expression only became slightly more serious, without much change. Lin Xinyi then said to him, "Japan has declared war on Russia. I've discussed the Korean issue with you before. The reason Korea is able to maintain its independence is because Russia and Japan need a buffer zone."

Japan's declaration of war against Russia disrupted the balance of power in Northeast Asia, meaning that regardless of who won the war, either Japan or Russia would annex the Korean Peninsula afterward.

Ahn Jung-geun had truly figured out the problem by now, so he didn't feel much grief or indignation. He calmly asked Lim Shin-yi, "My new job seems to be related to North Korea, so what am I supposed to do?"

After observing him for a while, Lin Xinyi said, "Russia cannot win this war, and once Japan wins, no one can stop Japanese imperialism from annexing the Korean Peninsula. However, the goal of Japanese imperialism is not only the Korean Peninsula but the mainland, so the Korean Peninsula is only their first target to be annexed."

Thus, after Russia suffered a major defeat in the Far East, the main stakeholders in the conflict of interests in Northeast Asia were actually only China and Japan. Other countries had only secondary interests in their own regions, and they were unlikely to risk their lives for Japan or China over the Korean Peninsula or Manchuria.

Whether Korea can maintain its independent status depends on whether China and Japan can be evenly matched. Of course, this is a question viewed from a bourgeois perspective. From a proletarian perspective, Korea only needs to do one thing to maintain its independence: eliminate the imperialists and reactionary classes of Japan, China, and Korea. Then the people of the three countries will naturally live in peace.

Therefore, the Alliance hopes that you can return to North Korea to organize the North Korean people and prepare them ideologically for the unity of the three peoples…”

Chapter 385 The Road to Korean Independence

Ahn Jung-geun suddenly felt a little nervous, an emotion rarely seen in him. His father, as a member of the Enlightenment Party, had to flee back to his hometown after the failure of the Gapsin Coup to avoid being captured by the court; he was only six years old at the time.

This escape left a very deep impression on him, so from a young age he loved playing with guns and knives, riding horses and shooting arrows, or hunting in the deep mountains and forests with hunters, or trekking through mountains and rivers with his companions, preparing for possible escapes.

Once, while hiking with his friends, he saw a flower blooming brightly on a cliff and couldn't resist trying to pick it. However, he lost his footing and fell off the cliff. But he remained unusually calm as he fell, showing no signs of panic. As he fell, he managed to grab onto a tree on the cliff and save his life.

This calm and bold approach enabled him to assist his father in defeating the Donghak Party during the Donghak uprising, when he was only 15 years old. His recommendation to the Japanese Naval Academy was actually unexpected, as the already weakened Enlightenment Party on the Korean Peninsula had effectively been abandoned by the Japanese Army.

After the First Sino-Japanese War, the army no longer needed a vassal state of Korea supported by Japan. What the army needed were more pro-Japan advocates of Japan-Korea integration. The ideology of the Enlightenment Party no longer aligned with the army's view of Korea. Therefore, although the army placed Park Yeong-hyo in a position of power, it did not intend to invest any resources in the Enlightenment Party.

The establishment of the Marine Corps School presented Park Yeong-hyo with an opportunity, which he saw as a chance to cultivate future leaders for the Enlightenment Party. This led to Ahn Jung-geun's entry into the Marine Corps School. Initially, Ahn Jung-geun naturally leaned towards the Enlightenment Party's stance, believing that Korea needed to be enlightened to achieve self-reliance like Japan.

Entering the Marine Corps School was precisely to find a path for North Korea to become self-reliant. However, he never expected to encounter a unique Japanese man like Hayashi Shin-yi, who completely overturned his worldview formed over the past 20 years. In particular, his trip to Tibet and India truly showed him what the path to self-reliance meant.

But precisely because of this, he felt nervous, because he didn't know if he could lead North Korea down this path. Lin Xinyi seemed to sense his anxiety and then said to him, "Before you return to North Korea, you can go to Wuhan first and talk to the comrades of the Chinese Workers' Party. If you want to stop Japan from annexing North Korea, North Korea cannot stop it on its own."

Chinese comrades will certainly support the Korean people's cause of independence; however, given China's current strength, it is probably not capable of helping the Korean people achieve independence. But Manchuria will become the best base for the Korean independence cause. As long as Japan cannot annex Manchuria, the Korean people can accumulate strength there until the Korean independence forces overwhelm the Japanese imperialist forces, at which point they can launch a counterattack on the Korean Peninsula and restore Korea's independent status.

"China now needs the support of the Korean people, because it is difficult for China to hold onto Manchuria on its own. However, a Sino-Korean alliance can ensure that neither Japan nor Russia can annex Manchuria. As long as Manchuria remains in Chinese hands, the Korean Peninsula will eventually be relinquished by Japan. Therefore, your support for China's sovereignty over Manchuria is laying the foundation for Korea's independence."

Ahn Jung-geun listened attentively to Lin Xinyi's words with a serious expression. Seeing that the other party had paused, he couldn't help but ask, "Besides that, is there anything else you want to tell me?"

Lin Xinyi stared at him for a moment before solemnly saying, “Don’t speak of sacrifice lightly. I know you won’t give up anything easily, but your personality is too impulsive. The cause of Korean independence won’t see the light of day in a year or two. I’m worried that you won’t be able to endure it and will fight the Japanese imperialists to the death, which will greatly damage the cause of Korean independence. This is not only a warning to you, but also a warning to Korean nationalists. If you all die, then who will lead the cause of Korean independence?”

Ahn Jung-geun's expression immediately relaxed. In his view, he wasn't the one who was impulsive; the person sitting opposite him was the real impulsive one, organizing such an expedition without any resources. He nodded and replied, "I understand. I will definitely stay until the day Korea regains its independence. However, do you intend to stay in India any longer? Hasn't Japan already joined the war against Russia?"

Lin Xinyi relaxed upon hearing this and leaned back, saying, "Judging from the current nature of the war, Japan's purpose in joining this war is to replace Russia's power in the Korean Peninsula and Manchuria. Japan is joining this war as another imperialist power."

While objectively this war would strike at Russian imperialism, the Japanese army was subjectively still an imperialist force, so I wouldn't expect it to display any military honor. I can assert that wherever the Japanese army passed, whether in Korea or China, the people there would completely lose faith in Japan, because this army wasn't there to liberate them.

This is why I suggested you place your main base in Manchuria, because after this war, the Chinese and Korean people will realize that they are each other's best allies. As long as you stand on the side of the people against imperialism and feudalism, the Chinese and Korean people will become your strongest support.

Therefore, I have no interest in a war waged by such an imperialist army; I am only interested in reforming an imperialist army.

Ahn Jung-geun nodded subconsciously. He understood that the other party was speaking from the heart. If Lin Xinyi really wanted to do his part for Japanese imperialism, then with his abilities, he would definitely become the most terrible enemy of the Chinese and Korean people.

In his personal opinion, the so-called Japanese elders like Ito and Yamagata were completely incomparable to their opponents, because these Japanese elders' strategies were entirely within their grasp, and even the British had now lost confidence in capturing them. Although the British suspended negotiations at the beginning of the year, they privately offered a reward for information leading to the arrest of Lin Xinyi and others, a common tactic used by the British.

The bounty on Lin Xinyi's head rose from £100,000 to £300,000, while the highest bounty on others was only £25,000. It is said that the bounty on Lin Xinyi actually originated in London, because Indian stocks and bonds on the London Stock Exchange had fallen by £44 million, a truly enormous sum.

However, in the past six months, the British have not been able to get close to Lin Xinyi. Instead, they have been repeatedly set up by the intelligence agency established by the Labour Party, which has killed dozens of elite British and Indian detectives, causing panic in the British police department.

Furthermore, because Lin Xinyi publicly revealed the British bounty on his head and stated that if anything were to happen to him, everyone should continue to fight against the British, these words did not make the Indian people covet the high reward. Instead, they began to report suspicious individuals around them to the People's Committee.

The British bounty tactic failed for the first time, instead further highlighting Lin Xinyi's status in the hearts of the Indian people. This was certainly a case of overreaching, but even Ahn Jung-geun had to admit that if he and Lin Xinyi were in each other's shoes, he probably wouldn't be able to face such a high bounty so calmly.

Young, resourceful, decisive, and bold… with so many outstanding qualities in one person, Ahn Jung-geun could only be thankful that the other was a comrade and not an enemy. Otherwise, he would have found a way to eliminate him no matter what. If such a person became the leader of Japan, then Korea would almost certainly never be able to regain its independence.

An Jung-geun stayed in Burnia for five days, mainly to hand over his work and wait for the ship to depart. He wasn't going back alone; besides his cousin, more than ten other people would be returning to China with him. Although the People's Committee of India was expanding its power rapidly, Lin Xinyi intentionally reduced the power of the Chinese, allowing a group of members of the Labour Party of India to take center stage.

This was done in order to ease nationalist sentiments within the Indian People's Committee. Under the British Indian government's suppression of Indian nationalists, many Indian intellectuals flocked to the base areas controlled by the Indian People's Committee. While their arrival strengthened the Indian People's Committee, it also created conflicts between religions and ethnic groups.

Although some members of the Congress Party argue that all Indians are of the same ethnicity and that religious belief cannot change ethnic identity, such rational voices are not very loud. For example, Muslims believe that they do not belong to the Indian ethnicity, but are foreign people from Central Asia. Some Hindus argue that Indians can only practice Hinduism, or that Hindus are the true Indians.

This ethnic and religious conflict was most vividly manifested in the issue of language unification. Hindus considered Hindi to be the national language of India, while Muslims believed that their language was Urdu and that designating Hindi as the national language was discrimination against them. However, language unification was a prerequisite for compiling basic textbooks and promoting basic education. As a result, the two sides broke down over the issue of language unification, and all subsequent work simply could not proceed.

Lin Xinyi has spent nearly half of his energy dealing with these religious and ethnic conflicts over the past six months. He naturally doesn't want Chinese people to get involved, because the Tantric Buddhism practiced in Tibet is in conflict with Hinduism, and the Chinese from the mainland have even more diverse beliefs. So if he gets too involved, it will only cause dissatisfaction from both sides.

Therefore, Lin Xinyi argued that the Asian Alliance should only support the Labour Party of India and not get too involved in India's ethnic and religious conflicts to prevent being exploited by the British and the Indian landowning class. After all, the prestige they have gained in India is actually due to their support of the Indian people against the British, which does not mean that the Indian people are willing to let the Chinese replace the British in governing them.

Promoting the autonomy of Indian villages and communities, advocating for the division of Indian ethnic groups, and achieving national autonomy under the principle of ethnic equality were methods Lin Xinyi believed could stabilize India's social order after its independence from the colonial system. Sending some cadres who had received training back to Wuhan would also facilitate the development of the domestic revolution.

Those who were able to return home were not unhappy. No matter how good India and Shannan were, they were not their homeland. Therefore, Lin Xinyi's proposal received the support of most people. On the contrary, members of the Labour Party of India hoped that the Chinese comrades would withdraw more slowly because they were not yet ready to manage a country.

On the morning of July 14th, Lin Xinyi saw Ahn Jung-geun and 17 others off on a train. They were to travel to the Ganges River, cross it under cover of darkness, and, with the help of members of the Labour Party of India, proceed to Calcutta. From there, they would take a boat to Singapore and then transfer to Shanghai. On the same day, the Japanese army finally appeared on the banks of the Yalu River.

Chapter 386 The Initial Battles of the Japanese Army

Russia's invasion plan for Japan was actually incomplete. To alleviate public anxiety about a war breaking out in the Far East with Japan, the Russian military initially downplayed the Japanese army's combat capabilities, comparing them to an Eastern army similar to the Qing Dynasty's. Therefore, the Russian army's assessment of a potential war with Japan was extremely rudimentary: they believed that only about six corps of ground troops would be needed to land on Japan.

In other words, prior to the Japanese attack on Port Arthur, Russia had no real plan to wage war against Japan on the Far East mainland. The Russian military's proposed war plan against Japan was merely a hypothetical military exercise on how to land on Japan and force its surrender, with absolutely no possibility of implementation.

A week after the attack on Port Arthur, Army Minister Kuropatkin finally formulated a real plan for war against Japan. The plan focused on: seizing control of the sea from the Japanese navy; conducting defensive work and extensive guerrilla warfare before amassing sufficient forces; launching a counter-offensive; and landing in Japan.

According to the Russian general's assessment of the plan, it "proceeded logically and logically, step by step, ultimately shifting the objective to the Japanese archipelago, concluding concisely and captivatingly: 'The Emperor has been captured!'"

However, how to amass sufficient troops in Manchuria became a major problem. Russia had plans to fight against the Qing, Korea, and Japan, but it had not anticipated fighting both the Qing and Japan simultaneously. The attack on the Qing also encountered significant problems. Previously, it was believed that only one army corps would be enough to take Beijing, but now the Russian army had mobilized three corps, one of which had even been decimated by the Chinese.

This means that if Russia wants to fight both Qing China and Japan simultaneously in the Far East, its current 10 corps are clearly insufficient. Transporting one corps requires 96 military trains. Although the Trans-Siberian Railway has been opened and the southern branch line has been completed, the Trans-Siberian Railway can only handle 7 trains per day and night, 4 of which are military trains, and one of the 4 military trains needs to transport goods.

In other words, even if the transport plan were executed perfectly, it would still take 32 days to transport an army from Europe to South Manchuria, with the actual time spent likely being 50-60 days. Besides inadequate auxiliary facilities, a lack of coal and maintenance facilities, the lack of locomotives and freight cars in the Far East was also a major constraint on the Trans-Siberian Railway's transport capacity.

In the past few years, the Russians have mainly focused on how to complete the Trans-Siberian Railway and the Chinese Eastern Railway, and haven't really put much effort into improving the railway's transport capacity. Of course, it's not that the Russians don't value the railway's transport capacity, but rather that Russia's industrial capacity cannot support such a large demand. Russian capitalists want these locomotives and carriages to be manufactured domestically, rather than spending precious funds to purchase them overseas.

After Japan entered the war, the plan to purchase locomotives from the United States and transport them to the Far East became impossible, making it difficult to increase the transport capacity of the Trans-Siberian Railway in the short term. This meant that the Russian army would be unable to launch a counter-offensive for at least four months.

The Russian army's idea of ​​using defensive and guerrilla warfare to stop the Japanese advance northward was absurd, as Russia was an invader in both Manchuria and Korea, and its brutal actions there meant that the Russian army had no support from the Korean people. The Russian cavalry's guerrilla operations in North Korea quickly failed; they were attacked not only by the Japanese but also by Korean soldiers.

On June 27, the Japanese army occupied Pyongyang, while the Russian army was unaware of this. After losing the excellent cavalry commander Mishinko, the Russian cavalry operating on the south bank of the Yalu River became even more disorganized, and the Japanese First Army led by Kuroki Tamemoto quickly restricted the movement of the Russian troops in North Korea.

After gaining control of the sea, Japan quickly reinforced its troops at Incheon Port, bringing the strength of Kuroki Tamemoto's First Army to 3.5 men and 128 cannons. Meanwhile, the Russian army had less than 3000 men north of Pyongyang. Given that North Korea is mostly hilly, the Russian army, which was mainly composed of cavalry, could not play much of a role.

Therefore, the Russian army was ultimately forced to withdraw its troops to the north bank of the Yalu River and form the East Manchurian Detachment from Lieutenant General Zasurich's troops, which was deployed along the Yalu River. The East Manchurian Detachment had a strength of about 2.5 men and 78 artillery pieces. Although the Yalu River was a natural defensive line, there were no bridges across it because Russia refused to connect the railway line from Korea to Mukden.

However, the south bank of the Yalu River is much higher than the north bank. The main Russian forces were positioned in the Jiuliancheng area, but due to time constraints, when the Russian troops withdrew to the south bank of the Yalu River at the end of July, they had only constructed artillery bunkers and infantry bunkers with breastworks, and had not yet built a solid defensive system.

Lieutenant General Zasurich strictly followed Kuropatkin's orders to avoid engaging the Japanese army and only prevent them from crossing the river. However, Lieutenant General Zasurich carried out this order too rigidly. In order to prevent the Japanese army from crossing the Yalu River upstream, he dispersed his troops along a nearly 150-square-mile line along the Yalu River, which gave the Japanese army the opportunity to break through Jiuliancheng.

For example, the main position, which was defended by Major General Kashtarinsky, spanned nearly 40 kilometers and had only 6000 men and 30 artillery pieces. The Japanese army quickly observed this from the advantageous terrain, and Kuroki Tamemoto immediately concentrated his forces in this area. He deployed 20 120mm Krupp howitzers and 72 field guns to suppress the Russian artillery and to build a pontoon bridge across the river right under the noses of the Russians.

On August 27, the Japanese army began to build a pontoon bridge in this area. The Russian army initially intervened with artillery, but the Japanese engineers were quite tenacious and persisted in their work under the Russian artillery fire. The Russian artillerymen's lack of training caused the shells to miss their targets, which further increased the courage of the Japanese engineers.

It wasn't until August 29th that the Russian artillery gradually found its footing and was able to accurately fire at the Japanese engineers building the pontoon bridge. However, by this time, the pontoon bridge was already largely completed. On the morning of August 30th, the Japanese army quickly launched a river-crossing operation. The Japanese army had assembled three divisions in this direction, while the attacking force consisted of only two companies of Russian infantry and two companies of artillery.

Japanese artillery quickly suppressed the Russian artillery bunkers built on open ground, preventing them from attacking the pontoon bridge. When the Russian artillery attempted to relocate, they were met with devastating fire from the Japanese artillery. As Japanese infantry began their forced crossing of the Yalu River, Russian machine guns delivered a severe blow to the Japanese.

The Japanese troops assembled on the pontoon bridge were so densely packed that they resembled sardines in a can. When the Russian four machine guns swept across the river, the Japanese soldiers fell like leaves onto the water, instantly staining the Yalu River red with blood. It took the Japanese several minutes to react and aim their artillery at the Russian machine guns.

In this river-crossing battle, a Japanese regiment was decimated by machine gun fire and forced to immediately withdraw from the war. However, the Russian army had far too few machine guns and its forces were too dispersed, while the Japanese concentrated their artillery and manpower. As a result, the Russian army was quickly forced to abandon its positions. On September 1, Kuroki Tamemoto completely surrounded Jiuliancheng, and Major General Kastalinsky ordered a retreat after holding out for half a day.

This was a disastrous breakout. During the retreat, the Russian army was surrounded and annihilated by Japanese artillery fire. The last group of Russian soldiers, who had not withdrawn in time and were unwilling to surrender to the Japanese, chose to challenge the Japanese to hand-to-hand combat. However, the Japanese ignored the Russians and, after surrounding them, opened fire and killed them.

The battle ended in a Russian defeat, but the number of casualties on both sides was actually quite similar. The Russians lost about 2400 men, while the Japanese lost nearly 2000. The Russian losses were mainly caused by artillery fire, while the Japanese losses were caused by machine gun and artillery fire.

In his postwar report, Kuroki Tamemoto noted, "The prince and other officers were greatly encouraged, and the morale of the troops was greatly boosted." The weakness of the Russian army overturned the Japanese army's impression of it. Regardless of how much the army had advocated for war against Russia, they did not underestimate the fighting power of the Russian army. Their reason for advocating war was the greedy nature of the Russians, who believed that a war between Japan and Russia was inevitable sooner or later. They advocated that war should be waged when it was advantageous to Japan, not because the Japanese army was stronger than the Russian army.

However, after this battle, the army generals led by Kuroki Tamemoto realized that they had overestimated the fighting power of the Russian army. Although the Russian army had failed in its battle against the Chinese, they still had a fear of the Russian army. Now, Kuroki and other Japanese generals felt that the Russian army was indeed not very good, and it was no wonder that they had failed to defeat the Chinese.

However, after Kuroki Tamemoto occupied Jiuliancheng, he did not launch a further pursuit of the Russian army, but waited for news of the Russian army further mobilizing its forces in southern Manchuria, as well as naval battle reports.

After the Japanese naval fleet defeated the Russian fleet at Port Arthur, the Japanese navy gained control of the Yellow Sea, but it did not eliminate the main force of the Russian Far East Navy. Following Petersburg's order to replace Stark with Vice Admiral Makarov as commander of the Pacific Fleet, the vice admiral, even before arriving in Port Arthur, had already issued orders to the Vladivostok squadron to launch an attack on the Japanese archipelago.

Under the command of Rear Admiral Jesen, the Vladivostok Squadron launched a commerce raiding operation in the waters near Japan, causing panic among the Japanese people. The activity of the Russian fleet also forced the Japanese Navy to find a way to blockade Port Arthur.

After Makarov took office, he not only boosted the morale of the Russian Navy, but some of his measures for the Russian Pacific Fleet also greatly enhanced the attack capability of Russian ships. For example, he ordered that the movement of large warships in Port Arthur be carried out entirely by tugboats, and then the warships would sail out of the port under their own power. As a result, the fleet's operation from the inner port to the outer port was reduced from 12 hours to less than 3 hours.

All of Makarov's reforms to the Russian Pacific Fleet were aimed at one thing: facilitating Russian naval operations. In his view, only warships active at sea were valuable; those confined to port were powerless. Therefore, the Japanese warships guarding Port Arthur quickly sensed the changes in the Russian Navy, and its strong ambition forced Admiral Togo Heihachiro to consider implementing a blockade of Port Arthur.

However, Makarov's luck was not good. On the evening of August 18, the Russian Port Arthur Fleet dispatched a destroyer squadron to lay mines in the open sea. At the same time, Japanese destroyers were also patrolling the waters off Port Arthur. One of the Russian destroyers lost its way at night and entered the Japanese destroyer formation. At dawn, the Japanese found it and sank it.

However, the Russian Navy in Port Arthur was unaware of this. At dawn, they dispatched two cruisers to search for the lost Russian ship. When they found the spot where the Russian ship sank and began to salvage the surviving sailors, four Japanese cruisers, including the Asama, appeared and began to besiege the Russian ship that was rescuing the sailors. The Russian ship then requested support, and then Makarov took his flagship and the main battleships to attack, attempting to destroy one or two Japanese ships.

During the pursuit, Makarov soon spotted a large fleet of Japanese warships in the distance. He immediately realized that this was a trap set by Togo to lure them out of port for a decisive battle. Therefore, he ordered a return to port, and Togo led the Combined Fleet in pursuit.

During the chase, the Russian fleet strayed into a minefield laid by the Japanese. Makarov's flagship struck at least one mine, and the newly appointed commander of the Pacific Fleet sank in the Yellow Sea. With Makarov's death, the Russian Navy in Port Arthur once again fell silent.

Chapter 387 Beiyang and Wuhan

The Boxer Rebellion was indeed a great misfortune for the residents of Beijing, but this calamity also purged some die-hard elements in the city. These die-hard elements were the main backbone of the opposition to the Hundred Days' Reform. They held the idea that the ancestral laws could not be changed and prevented a movement to reform the Qing Dynasty from within, but they could not stop the Eight-Nation Alliance from entering Beijing and committing murder and arson.

Because the Eight-Nation Alliance captured Beijing, the authority of the imperial court was greatly weakened. Therefore, Empress Dowager Cixi issued the "Reform Policy Upon Returning to the Capital" while in Xi'an to ease tensions with enlightened local gentry. This can be seen from the fact that after the Qing government regained control of Beijing, it continued the system of the "Pacifying the People's Office" and established the Post-War Relief and Patrol Bureau in the capital. This shows that the court was not just verbally advocating support for the new policy, but genuinely hoped to seek change to prolong the rule of the Qing Dynasty.

When Times journalist Morrison arrived in Beijing in 1897, he complained to a friend that “the city is too hot and dusty in the summer, and the roads are muddy and difficult to walk on when it rains. The city walls and walls of all sizes divide the city into small areas, and with the dense population of Beijing, it feels like being in a medieval castle.”

However, by 1906, newspapers reported that six new things had recently appeared in Beijing: "Rows of locust and willow trees are green; posts have been set up to direct traffic; children are on guard against danger; self-igniting lamps are shining brightly; cobblestone roads are swept clean; and four-wheeled vehicles are the most common vehicles." It can be said that Beijing was striving to change itself to keep up with a trend of change.

Although this transformation did not fundamentally redistribute social wealth, it at least changed the face of this ancient city, giving it a new look. Of course, for foreigners who have visited Hankou, this transformation of Beijing was still superficial. Although some funds were invested in urban public construction, the lives of the city's lower classes did not change much.

In contrast, the changes in Wuhan penetrated into all levels of society, with the living standards of the lowest strata of people continuously improving. In 1904, the average monthly wage of workers in Hankou was about 5 yuan, and by 1906, the average monthly wage of workers in Hankou had risen to 7 yuan.

Unlike Beijing's public infrastructure projects, which primarily served the wealthy and powerful, Wuhan's public infrastructure projects aimed to improve the convenience of life for all city residents. As a result, Wuhan's public transportation, water, electricity, and gas services received subsidies from the Workers, Peasants, and Soldiers Committee, enabling all residents of the city to enjoy the city's public services.

According to an American missionary, "The driving force behind the new policies of the imperial court was actually to compete with foreign countries for interests. Therefore, the new policies implemented by the imperial court were all based on whether they were profitable. As a result, the Chinese people could hardly benefit from the new policies."

Only a few people who set up new-style factories could benefit from it, because the wealth that the court plundered from the common people was used to subsidize these new-style factories. However, these new-style factories did not use the government's subsidies to expand production. Instead, they treated the government's subsidies as factory profits and distributed them to shareholders first, so that shareholders could recover their investment.

While Wuhan proclaims itself as socialist, it is essentially practicing monopoly capitalism. However, this monopoly does not rely on the organization and production of capital, but rather on administrative power. The Labor Party manages this capital in the name of the people and monopolizes production and markets through administrative orders, thereby obtaining monopoly profits, similar to Standard Oil in the United States.

…Although such a monopoly on administrative power inevitably leads to corruption, at least at this stage, the Labour Party has restrained corruption within the organization, relying on a purge that transcends the spirit of judicial independence…

The Wuhan Workers', Peasants' and Soldiers' Committee remains a dictatorship, albeit one that has evolved into a group of dictators. Their political ideologies are incompatible with the spirit of freedom in our country. If such a group were to gain control of China, conflict between the United States and China would inevitably erupt in the future.

…However, this strong autocratic system is more suitable for China than the current Qing government, because it can fully develop China's almost unlimited human resources, as can be seen from the rapid development of Hubei Province in recent years…”

In any case, the changes in Beijing in the last five years have surpassed those of the past 200 years. In fact, apart from the Manchus expelling Han Chinese from the inner city of Beijing when they entered the pass, the city has not changed in any real sense compared to the late Ming Dynasty.

However, compared to the changes that occurred in July and August of 1906, the new policies implemented in Beijing over the past few years were nothing. At the end of July, the imperial court finally could not withstand the pressure exerted by Wuhan and the Beiyang government, and agreed to allow the Beiyang government to send people to reorganize the First Division of the Beiyang Army and to rectify the security situation in the city.

This time, the Beiyang government's reorganization of the First Division was not like before, where they treated the Manchus with respect. Instead, they were truly going to dismantle and reshape the First Division. After the reorganization was completed, the First Division would be stationed in Chengde, and its duty to defend the capital would be abolished.

With the surrender of the main force of the Russian Western Route Army, the Russian troops stationed in Chengde lost their motivation to advance towards Zhangjiakou. In addition, with the Japanese army joining the battle, the newly appointed Far East Army Commander-in-Chief Kuropatkin simply abandoned the second front and prepared to withdraw the Russian troops to the Chaoyang area, shifting from offense to defense.

Retreating from the enemy lines was certainly not an easy task, but Yuan Shikai had no intention of holding back the Russian troops in Chengde; he only demanded the recovery of lost territory. The Russian troops also promised not to damage the Chengde Mountain Resort, and the two sides quickly reached an agreement on the withdrawal from Chengde.

As for the Workers' and Peasants' Red Army in Zhangjiakou, they were also in a state of being willing but unable to do so at this time because of the lack of supplies. In order to encircle and annihilate the main force of the Russian Western Route Army, the Workers', Peasants' and Soldiers' Committee invested nearly 10 million yuan. If the relief for the people of Shanxi is added, the Workers', Peasants' and Soldiers' Committee is also struggling to keep up with the pace of spending. After all, they also have to bear the disaster relief in Hunan and Anhui and the construction tasks in Hubei, Henan, Sichuan and Jiangxi.

Under these circumstances, Cai E could only acquiesce to the Russian army's withdrawal from Chengde. The Japanese were completely unaware of this tacit understanding between China and Russia. They simply felt that the Chinese army was somewhat weak and that the Beiyang and Wuhan divisions should work together to attack the Russian forces in Chengde and wipe out more than one division, which would greatly reduce the burden on the army's campaign in southern Manchuria.

Aoki Nobuzumi's view on the Russian army's successful withdrawal from Chengde was that "Beiyang and Wuhan were wary of each other, so they could not cooperate sincerely. The Russian army also withdrew quite decisively, so the Chinese wasted a great opportunity."

However, Shimakawa Takezaburo, the translator at the Chinese legation, saw things differently. In his view, the Wuhan and Beiyang factions were perfectly aligned in dealing with the Manchus. The Wuhan faction played the good cop, pressuring the Manchus to abdicate, while the Beiyang faction played the good cop, persuading the Manchus to relinquish power, leaving the Manchus utterly helpless.

Shimakawa Takezaburo was nominally a translator at the Chinese legation, but in reality, he was an intelligence agent responsible for the Qing government. At that time, Gao Rentong, the abbot of Baiyun Temple in Beijing, had great influence in the palace, and even people like Li Lianying were his followers. Therefore, the Russian diplomat Pukodi deliberately approached Gao Rentong and settled his residence in the back garden of Baiyun Temple.

The Japanese detected this and started their investigation from Baiyun Temple as well, hoping to find out what kind of secret agreement had been reached between China and Russia. Shimakawa Takezaburo made several large donations to Baiyun Temple, thus gaining the favor of the Taoist priests there and successfully becoming a disciple of Gao Rentong, thereby learning about the activities within the Qing court.

Wuhan not only forced the Qing government to relinquish military power over the First Division of the Beiyang Army, but also reorganized the police departments inside and outside Beijing. The most crucial military force of the Qing Dynasty in Beijing was the Infantry Commander's Office and the Five Patrol Battalions. The Nine Gates Admiral managed these two departments. In the early and middle Qing Dynasty, these two forces numbered approximately 3, including more than 2 infantry and more than 1 cavalry.

However, by the Guangxu era, these two units had almost completely decayed and become corrupt, much like the Beijing Army at the end of the Ming Dynasty. They could only collect salaries but not fight on the battlefield. Before the Boxer Rebellion, they had about 10,000 infantry and 5,000 cavalry. In the Boxer Rebellion, those who dared to fight were killed by the Allied forces, and those who remained were even less capable of fighting or doing anything.

Therefore, after the Qing government restored its rule over Beijing, it did not re-establish the Infantry Commander's Office and the Five Police Battalions. Instead, it simply retained the "Public Security Office" left over from the Eight-Nation Alliance, which was renamed the Public Works and Patrol Bureau in 1902. In 1904, a mutiny occurred in Wuhan. At Yuan Shikai's suggestion, the Beijing Police Department was established in 1905 to manage the security of Beijing and its surrounding areas. Although the Infantry Commander's Office and the Five Police Battalions remained in place, they were practically no longer involved in any real affairs. The powerful figures were the Manchu noble ministers Yulang and Shanqi.

Qin Lishan used the pretext of unrest in Beijing, claiming that some Manchus were attempting to besiege the National Assembly because the Assembly was trying to revoke their staunch support. In late Qing Dynasty Beijing, Manchus truly did nothing but live off their Manchu stipends. Even when their families were starving, the men would still wander the streets with birdcages, while the women had to pawn their belongings or borrow money to survive.

The reason why Manchu bannermen could borrow money despite their laziness was because they had special vacancies; filling these vacancies was equivalent to obtaining official status. However, by the late Qing Dynasty, even though Emperor Qianlong expelled a large number of Han traitors from the Manchu bannermen ranks, the number of Manchu and Mongol bannermen was still hundreds of times that of the early Qing Dynasty. Compared to the number of Manchu people, the number of these vacancies was still a drop in the ocean.

Therefore, to fill a vacancy, one needed not only connections but also a certain reputation. If the higher-ups hadn't even heard of you, how could they fill the vacancy for you? For example, Feng Yuxiang's original name wasn't Feng Yuxiang, but to help him secure the position, his elders simply gave him a new name. The same principle applied to Manchus seeking employment; they would publicize their reputation on the streets, make more friends, and perhaps luck would come their way. Manchus who simply went to work honestly clearly couldn't change their fate.

The National Assembly was actually threatening the livelihoods of the Manchus, so naturally they wouldn't stand for it and incited themselves to surround the National Assembly once. However, these Manchus only dared to cause trouble and didn't dare to actually cause bloodshed, because Wuhan was too powerful. For nearly a month, Russian prisoners of war flowed through Beijing in an endless stream. Which Manchu would really dare to take a hard line against Wuhan?

Using this incident, Qin Lishan demanded that Yulang and Shanqi resign and apologize. He also swapped the main officials of the Beijing Inner City Police Department with those of the Beijing Outer City Police Department, most of whom were originally subordinate to Yulang and Shanqi. In this way, the Manchus' military protection of Beijing was almost completely stripped away. Although the action was taken by representatives from Wuhan, it was the Beiyang clique that was cheering them on from the sidelines.

Therefore, Shimakawa Takezaburo believed that the differences between the Beiyang government and Wuhan were not as significant as they appeared on the surface.

Chapter 388 Emperor Guangxu's Health Problems

In early August, after Qin Lishan's repeated requests, the National Assembly finally accepted his proposal to allow Emperor Guangxu to undergo a physical examination in the palace in order to determine his physical and mental condition.

This proposal has existed since the Wuhan rebellion, but Empress Dowager Cixi has repeatedly refuted it in the name of Emperor Guangxu, and has repeatedly ordered the Imperial Medical Academy to publish the pulse records of Emperor Guangxu's health, and even Guangxu's own statement that "he has had spermatorrhea for 20 years, at least two or three times a month", in order to show that he has no energy to rule personally.

In Cixi's view, Wuhan was trying to use Emperor Guangxu's health as a pretext to attack her, so she naturally refused to allow Wuhan to stage any farce involving a medical examination for the emperor. The members of parliament were aware of this, and therefore dared not agree to Wuhan's proposal, as they had no intention of standing with Wuhan against the court.

However, as Wuhan demonstrated its formidable military strength by defeating the Russian Western Route Army on the battlefield, while the First Division led by the Manchu princes was scattered by a small number of Russian troops who bypassed the defenses, the members of parliament suddenly dared not openly support the Manchus anymore. The tacit approval shown by the Beiyang Army towards Wuhan during the investigation of the First Division's defeat further convinced the members of parliament who truly held power in the court.

Therefore, after the First Division of the Beiyang Army was reorganized, the police officials of the inner and outer city of Beijing were exchanged, and a large number of Manchus were dismissed from their military and police posts, the members of parliament finally passed the bill proposed by Wuhan.

On August 2nd, Parliament established the Royal Affairs Committee, with Qin Lishan elected as chairman and Liang Qichao and Tang Shaoyi as vice-chairmen. Parliament authorized the committee to handle all matters concerning the royal family. This marked the first time Parliament had established an internal organization with real authority, rather than the previous one where members merely raised their hands or argued.

After the Royal Affairs Committee was established, it immediately informed Xu Shichang, Feng Guozhang, and Emperor Guangxu that it would enter the palace at 9:00 a.m. on August 5 to examine Emperor Guangxu's health and conduct a brief investigation into his daily life to determine if there were any unhealthy lifestyle habits.