Twentieth Century Chronicle

Page 54

Thus, the Mingzheng chieftain, who believed in Buddhism, had a close relationship with Bishop Ni Delong of the Tibetan Diocese. Although this bishop only took office in 1901, it is said that he had already come to Dajianlu when the current Mingzheng chieftain was 10 years old.

Therefore, Chieftain Mingzheng's exposure to Western culture was even greater than that of most people in Sichuan. Inside the chieftain's office, there were not only Western gadgets such as clocks, but also significant changes in lifestyle. For example, the chieftain's office was extremely clean, unlike ordinary homes in the Kang region. Chieftain Mingzheng wore sunglasses and had binoculars hanging around his neck when he went out, which was very fashionable.

Lin Xinyi was able to spend so much time observing the local customs and culture of Dajianlu because Dajianlu was a key point of transition between Han and Tibetan areas. Inland officials called it a "pass," and within the pass, there was still some rule by appointed officials. Beyond the pass, it was the domain of chieftains and lamasery monasteries. From here to Lhasa, the imperial court needed to use Ula laborers instead of hiring caravans.

These Ula corvée labor services were similar to a form of forced labor, requiring coordination through the chieftain; they couldn't be immediately arranged upon arrival at Dajianlu. However, besides these objective reasons, there was also a subjective factor: the fear that inland officials felt about the journey to Tibet.

The newly appointed Resident Minister in Tibet, Lian Yu, had been staying at the Tusi's office for over a month, unwilling to leave the pass. As a result, upon arriving at Dajianlu early, he instead encountered Zhang Yintang, the Assistant Minister who had departed from Beijing. The two negotiated several times regarding the matter of entering Tibet, but to no avail.

From Zhang Yintang, Lin Xinyi learned that the resident minister in Tibet, Lian Yu, had no intention of taking the blame for You Tai. In fact, the court did not select the new minister according to whether he advocated war or not, but rather according to the distance of the journey and his understanding of the Tibetan region. Therefore, the former prefect of Yazhou was unfortunately selected.

Lian Yu's understanding of Tibet was indeed more extensive than that of ordinary officials, but it was still quite limited, as his knowledge consisted mainly of snippets he overheard during his dealings with merchants. However, he was quite knowledgeable about the conflicts between the Han, Tibetan, and Tusi (chieftains). In Lian Yu's view, the conflicts between Sichuan, the Tusi, and Lhasa were deep-seated. Several Tusi rebellions in Kham had resulted in leniency towards the Han people, but the Tusi had resorted to drastic measures such as killing and burning down monasteries.

When the chieftain Zhandui rebelled, he burned temples and killed people within his jurisdiction, unable to tolerate the presence of lamas, resulting in the near-total destruction of temples in Kham. Gongbulangjie even openly declared his intention to tether his horse to a long stone in front of a temple in Lhasa. Ultimately, the rebellion was suppressed by joint forces from Sichuan and Tibet. However, to avoid paying for the Tibetan army's deployment, Sichuan suggested handing Zhandui over to Lhasa, thus creating a major and troublesome struggle between Lhasa and Sichuan for control of Kham.

Under such circumstances, the chieftains of Kham would not wholeheartedly help the imperial court resist the British invasion of Tibet, and the lamas of Kham would not welcome the imperial court to extend its reach into Kham under the pretext of entering Tibet to resist the British. Compared with the crisis of Tibet being occupied by Britain, these lamas were more concerned about their own territory not being invaded by the imperial court.

It was through this intelligence gathering that Lin Xinyi discovered that Zhao Erfeng's so-called great achievements in recovering Kham were actually the result of the Qing Dynasty's own actions. They had created the Kham-Tibet issue out of thin air, and ultimately, due to the British invasion of Tibet, Kham became a frontier contested by both Chinese and foreign powers. Zhao Erfeng's forceful elimination of both the lamasery and the chieftains completed the policy of replacing the chieftains with centrally appointed officials in Kham. This was called cleaning up the mess left by the Qing court, not a meritorious act of territorial expansion.

Because Lian Yu was trying to stall for time until things settled down in Tibet, Zhang Yintang was at a loss. As the assistant minister, he couldn't very well go to Lhasa himself and leave Lian Yu in Dajianlu. That would be completely improper and would not be approved by the court.

On May 17, Zhang Yintang consulted with Wu Luzhen and Lin Xinyi on countermeasures. Wu Luzhen said that at this time, they should force Lian Yu to set off and there was no need to persuade him with kind words.

Wu Luzhen's method wasn't necessarily unworkable, but it was unacceptable to Zhang Yintang. He couldn't afford to create personal grudges with the Manchus for the sake of national affairs. The Manchus were now a unified group; while they might not accomplish much, they could easily cause trouble. Kidnapping Lianyu wasn't difficult, but he really didn't want to bear the consequences of the Manchus' retaliation afterward, as it touched upon the core issue of the Manchu-Han conflict.

Zhang Yintang then turned his gaze to Lin Xinyi. After thinking for a long time, Lin Xinyi said, "Dajianlu is actually a city that developed based on Han-Tibetan trade. If Han-Tibetan trade declines, then the current prosperous market in Dajianlu will quickly decline. The 48 restaurants all depend on Han-Tibetan trade for their livelihood, and they all have the interests of the chieftains of Kham. If their business is affected, it means that the chieftains' interests will be lost."

The British invasion of Tibet was essentially aimed at controlling its politics and economy, which inevitably meant controlling the Tibetan tea trade. The journey from Darjeeling to Lhasa takes only about ten days, while transporting tea from Hubei and Sichuan to Lhasa would take at least six months. Therefore, once Britain controlled Tibet, Dajianlu would decline.

Therefore, in resisting the British invasion of Tibet, the interests of the chieftains and the imperial court were aligned. To maintain the tea-horse trade between the Han and Tibetan peoples, the construction of the Sichuan-Tibet Highway was the most important task at present.

The Resident Minister in Tibet should be overseeing the construction of the Sichuan-Tibet Highway in Dajianlu and explaining its importance to the chieftains of Kham. As for the matter of going to Tibet to resist the British army, that's a minor matter; the Assistant Minister can handle that.

Zhang Yintang also felt that Lin Xinyi's suggestion was more suitable. He went to the Tusi Yamen (chieftain's office) again to discuss with Lian Yu matters such as the need to build the Sichuan-Tibet road and to publicize the war against the British in the Kham region. This time, Lian Yu finally gave in. As long as they didn't advance towards Lhasa, he was willing to try anything.

On May 18th, representatives from forty-eight local villages were summoned to the Tusi (chieftain)'s office, with the Mingzheng Tusi also in attendance. Although the meeting was convened in the name of the Lianyu (United Yu) government, only Zhang Yintang spoke throughout the entire meeting. Prior to this, Zhang Yintang's guards had been giving presentations within the city for several days, providing the merchants and residents with a basic understanding of the British invasion of Tibet. However, because it wasn't an official government document, people remained somewhat skeptical.

However, at this meeting, Zhang Yintang frankly recounted the entire matter, focusing on the tea plantations in Darjeeling and the British covetousness of the Tibetan tea trade, which finally aroused unease and anger among the attendees. Even the Mingzheng chieftain, who had previously shown little interest in the construction of the Sichuan-Tibet Highway, was now hesitant and indecisive.

As a chieftain of Kham who survived in the gap between the Han and Tibetan peoples, Chieftain Mingzheng did not want to change anything in Kham under his rule. He only wanted to follow the wisdom of his ancestors and hold onto his position as chieftain. The construction of the Sichuan-Tibet Highway was clearly a new development that disrupted the tranquility of Kham. The increased convenience of travel between Chengdu and Lhasa meant greater convenience of travel between Sichuan, Lhasa, and Kham. This meant that the chieftains had less room for maneuver, since they could only maintain their rule in areas beyond the reach of the imperial court.

Kham was on the periphery of Chinese rule, and the same was true for Lhasa. Both Han and Tibetan people described Kham as a barbaric, uncivilized land. However, this uncivilization also protected the autonomy of the Kham chieftains. Thus, the Mingzheng chieftain could accept Western lifestyles, display Western items in his office, and even seek medical treatment from foreigners when he was sick. But he did not allow his people to do the same.

However, faced with the even greater changes brought about by the British occupation of Tibet, Chieftain Mingzheng could not deny that he also could not accept the decline of the Han-Tibetan tea-horse trade, because he was the biggest beneficiary of this trade. Without the tax revenue brought to Dajianlu by the tea-horse trade, how could he maintain his current life?

The meeting lasted a full day, and in the end, Chieftain Mingzheng accepted the suggestion to build the Sichuan-Tibet Road. His statement also prompted the vassal states to make a decision, and the other vassal states also chose to support it. Thus, Lianyu finally had a reason to stay. That evening, he sent a radio message to Sichuan, and soon the Governor-General of Sichuan, Xiliang, expressed his support and suggested that Zhang Yintang go to Lhasa first. Obviously, Xiliang also knew that urging Lianyu to go to Lhasa as soon as possible would not yield any results.

After a day of preparation on May 19th, Lin Xinyi and his troops finally continued their advance along the so-called official road from the south gate of Dajianlu on May 20th. In Dajianlu, the Mingzheng chieftain hired several cooks who were fluent in Tibetan. Lin Xinyi then began to call on the troops leaving the pass to start learning Tibetan, at least to learn a few phrases for daily conversation.

Chapter 185 The Impact of the Anglo-Japanese Alliance

When the news of the Anglo-Japanese Alliance was announced, the only ones truly shaken were the Russians. Kaiser Wilhelm II was greatly excited about the alliance, telling his close advisors, "Britain and Japan should have formed an alliance long ago, so that Britain and Russia would have gone to war in the Far East."

Wilhelm II made this judgment based on the assumption that the Anglo-Japanese Alliance was for Britain to go to war with Russia. He and the German upper class believed that this was another Crimean War, in which the British would personally take to the battlefield to defeat Russia in the Far East, and Japan would be nothing more than a vassal following Britain into the war.

From the German perspective, Britain and Russia had numerous conflicting interests regarding China, and it was clear that their respective spheres of interest could not be clearly defined without a war. In this power struggle, Japan was simply not qualified to be a protagonist. Therefore, Wilhelm II's jubilation stemmed from his delight at the outbreak of Anglo-Russian conflict in the Far East.

For France, the alliance between Britain and Japan was a complex issue. On the one hand, the French worried that it would embolden Japan's expansion in Southeast Asia, as Japan's previous actions in the Philippines had already made the French very wary. On the other hand, the French hoped that Russia, under the threat of the Anglo-Japanese alliance, would consolidate its forces in the Far East and truly focus its attention on Europe.

Although the Moroccan crisis ended with Germany's concessions, and the atmosphere of war in Europe seemed to have eased somewhat, the French were well aware that the British pressure on France to not give Germany any compensation was actually deepening Franco-German tensions. While French nationalists cheered this as a victory, the French ruling elite did not see it that way.

To humiliate a great power, one must first defeat it militarily; diplomatic humiliation only further fuels the great power's desire for war. Germany was not the Qing government; the Qing government never considered its rule over China legitimate. Therefore, to preserve its control over China, they were willing to cede Chinese interests to the great powers.

This mentality is typical of colonizers: since everything is stolen anyway, why fight to the death for what's stolen? At worst, everyone gets a share. Isn't it more advantageous for everyone to sit down and divide the victims' property than to fight to the death? Therefore, the French were willing to make concessions to Britain in Egypt, and if it weren't for British obstruction, the French wouldn't have minded ceding some interests in Morocco to Germany. After all, France had already compensated the Spanish and Italians, so why not the Germans?

However, France would not concede to Germany on the issue of Alsace and Lorraine, as these two territories were its homeland. Without them, France as a unified nation-state would cease to exist. As for Germany, Alsace and Lorraine were already German territory. They might concede on the issue of Morocco, but not on this one; otherwise, the foundation of Germany as a unified nation would also cease to exist.

Both France and Germany were well aware that war between them was inevitable; the problem lay in the fact that neither side was prepared. Under such circumstances, how could the French possibly want Britain, Japan, and Russia to fight in the Far East?

Leaving aside France's internal turmoil, Russia, while deeply surprised by the Anglo-Japanese Alliance, was primarily wary of Britain rather than Japan. Meanwhile, Russia's domestic economy was still struggling to recover from the economic crisis of 1900-1901, and the problem had even escalated into a political one.

The essence of Russian capitalism was to export Russian grain in exchange for the machinery needed by Russian industry. From a certain perspective, Russian industry did not exist for the sake of the Russian economy, but for foreign bankers and capitalists. As for Russian agriculture, it became a supplier to foreign capital markets.

This led to a problem: while Russia's grain exports increased year by year, famines broke out repeatedly in Russia's countryside and cities. Starting in 1891, the beginning of Russia's rapid industrial growth, the scale of the famines grew larger and larger. After 1897, famines began to become a habitual occurrence.

In 1892, Tolstoy mocked the Tsarist government's attempt to provide relief to Russian peasants, saying, "The strange insects that live on the sap of plants intend to feed these plants."

The devastation of the Russian countryside made the economic crisis of 1900-1901 particularly devastating for the Russian economy. It wasn't that many people starved to death in Russia as a result, but rather that everyone from peasants to workers, and even university students, felt dissatisfied with the current autocratic government.

Even Zubatov, the head of the Special Bureau of the St. Petersburg Police Department, believed by 1902 that the hardline approach of continuing to suppress workers, peasants, and even university students was not feasible. He believed that Russia needed political reform and founded the St. Petersburg Machine Workers' Mutual Aid Association in 1903 in an attempt to control the workers' movement through government-led trade unions.

Although Zubatov's actions were rejected by NKVD Plevy, who dismissed him and placed him under house arrest in August 1903, the chronic famine in rural Russia did not disappear simply because of the Tsarist government's hardline stance. Plevy argued that the current social chaos was due to exaggerated reports in the newspapers, rather than the actual situation being that bad. He demanded that newspapers cease reporting on famines in various regions and that no further social relief efforts be launched.

Plevius claimed, "This is nothing more than a small group of liberal intellectuals deliberately exaggerating the economic problems in the countryside in an attempt to gain some political advantage for themselves. But I say that these villains who want to disrupt Russian society will not succeed. Under His Majesty's leadership, Russia will only get better day by day."

…The current difficulties are only temporary. If farmers and workers complain less and work harder, they won't have to worry about their families going hungry. Those liberal intellectuals should open their eyes and look at the real Russia. Our economic and import/export data are clearly improving. What makes them say that workers and farmers aren't even getting enough to eat? No, the reason workers and farmers aren't getting enough to eat is because they're wasting time that should be spent working on meaningless protests…”

The suppression of public opinion by Interior Minister Plevi was not merely aimed at so-called liberal intellectuals. Once the reactionaries used the means of controlling public opinion, any dissenting voices would be completely suppressed, because they possessed such power and dared to use it.

While the repeatedly attacked left-wing and liberal intellectuals were certainly dissatisfied with Previ, they were not entirely unprepared for this, as they knew their rhetoric was an attack on the government. However, it was the local autonomous groups, the reformists who advocated social reform but also supported the Tsarist government, who were the ones most deeply hurt this time.

In the winter of 1903, a letter began circulating among local self-governing association activists: “Your Excellency: At present, Russia, the Russian people, and the Russian system of local self-government are in dire straits… We have recently been silent witnesses to many tragic and infuriating facts that are weighing down on the conscience of society like dark clouds…”

Years of poor harvests and heavy taxes (such as ransoms and variable taxes) left the people exhausted and destitute. Peasants were effectively stripped of all autonomy, with officials and volunteers in the stable government taking over everything, unsolicitedly upholding unique and legal principles, and artificially creating a famine of spiritual sustenance for the people…

Domestic and foreign activists, with the benevolent assistance of adventurers who treat the fate of their homeland as a game, ruthlessly plunder the nation's productive forces… The press is stifled, utterly unable to expose the crimes of the maintainers of order infringing upon the freedom and honor of Russian citizens. Only irrational, rampant forces are arrogantly and loudly dominating the entire vast, ravaged, damaged, and humiliated land of the motherland, and everywhere they encounter no due retaliation…

This letter represents the fact that the classes in Russia who were unwilling to revolt in the past have now risen up against the Tsarist autocracy. This is of course terrible news for the Tsar himself, but who would tell him the contents of such a letter?

Of course, the adventurers accused in the letters—such as Imperial Chancellor Alexander Bezobrazov, Interior Minister Vyacheslav Plevy, and Governor-General of the Far East Alekseyev—all agreed that "Russia needs a small, victorious war to stop the revolution."

So who was the target of this small war? It couldn't be Germany, nor Austria-Hungary, because Germany was right behind Austria-Hungary. Nor could it be Afghanistan or Persia, because the British were right behind them. So these adventurers naturally turned their attention to China, a country that was weak but possessed a vast territory.

According to Alexander Bezobrazov, "With just a thousand Cossack cavalrymen, I could make 20 Chinese troops tremble and beg for mercy before His Majesty the Tsar."

In early 1904, Russia prepared to send its Minister of War, Kuropatkin, to Japan. His purposes were twofold: first, to assess Japan's strength and weaknesses, and second, to ascertain Japan's stance on Russia's potential war against China. Upon arriving in Vladivostok, Kuropatkin was surprised to hear of the Anglo-Japanese Alliance announcement. However, he did not halt his trip to Japan; instead, he remained in Vladivostok and sent a telegram to St. Petersburg seeking further instructions from the Tsar.

The Tsar quickly replied, clearly indicating that he did not have a high opinion of Japan. His new instructions to Kuropatkin were: "Acknowledging Japan's progress, recognizing Japan's future position among the Far Eastern nations, criticizing the Anglo-Japanese Alliance for having a counterproductive effect (meaning that Russia would not make concessions to Japan because of the Anglo-Japanese Alliance)... No discussion of the Korean Peninsula issue."

Chapter 186 Construction

For Hubei, 1904 marked the beginning of a period of stable development. The infrastructure construction that started in 1901 finally began to bring substantial returns to the industrial area centered on Wuhan in 1904.

The streamlining of the three waterways—the Han River, the Yangtze River, and the Xiang River—and the reclaiming of the construction rights for the Lu-Han Railway finally gave the Huguang Economic Development and Urban Construction Committee a certain degree of control over the economy and transportation in parts of Hubei and even Hunan.

The three leaders of the Huguang Railway Bureau, Zhan Tianyou, Kuang Sunmou, and Yan Deqing, were no longer satisfied with just building railways. Instead, they attempted to construct a large-scale transportation network that combined railway transportation, inland waterway transportation, and maritime transportation, with Wuhan as the central hub.

These individuals are all STEM talents who studied in the United States. Their knowledge is not limited to railway construction. However, the most suitable job for them in China at present is railway construction. And the most effective way to change social atmosphere in China is through transportation. After all, building a factory can only affect a few hundred or a thousand people, but the completion of a railway can change the lives of millions to tens of millions of people.

However, once the Wuhan industrial center began to take shape, these individuals were no longer content with simply building a few railway lines. Naturally, they understood better than Tian Junyi what it meant to be an industrial and transportation hub city, having witnessed the miracle of Chicago in the United States.

However, they never had the opportunity to turn their ideals into reality before, and the Qing government did not have such ambitions. The most insightful ministers of the Qing Dynasty, such as Li Hongzhang and Zhang Zhidong, only wanted to build an industrial force capable of suppressing the people, so they had no idea of ​​developing China's mineral resources in an orderly manner.

At first, Zhan Tianyou didn't quite believe that Tian Junyi could lead the Hubei-Hunan Economic Development and Urban Construction Committee to complete such a large-scale infrastructure and industrial construction plan. After all, one person's strength cannot change the conservative forces in a country. Having been sent to the United States as a child student, he felt this most deeply.

However, after working in Hubei for six months, he realized that Tian Junyi was not alone; he had an entire group supporting him. Because of this group's support, he was handling more work in a single day at the Huguang Railway Bureau than he had in the previous month. In the past, as the technical head of the project, he also had to handle many miscellaneous tasks. But at the Huguang Railway Bureau, he was a leader, planning and directing the entire Huguang Railway construction.

If in the past Zhan Tianyou could only move the project forward with 100 points of effort, he could now move it forward with just 1 point of effort. The difference between the two is simply incomparable.

After the Luhan Railway project was taken over, the construction progress quickly increased from building 1.5 to 2 li per day to 3 to 4 li per day. After 1904, the speed reached 7 to 8 li per day, and the construction of the Zhengzhou to Xinyang section of the railway was completed ahead of schedule.

In May 1904, Zhan Tianyou and Kuang Sunmou, on behalf of the Huguang Railway Bureau, submitted an application to the Huguang Economic Development and Urban Construction Committee. The applications were twofold: first, to launch the Bianluo Railway and the Pingdingshan branch line; and second, to develop the Pingdingshan coal mine, establish a large-scale thermal power plant, and promote the electrification of the Luhan Railway.

Zhan Tianyou emphasized to committee members Tian Junyi and others: "Without electrification, the maximum speed of a railway is no more than 30 kilometers per hour, but after electrification, the speed can be increased to 60 kilometers per hour. The Luhan Railway is a major transportation artery connecting the north and south. Electrification of this railway is of positive significance. Moreover, since Germany is willing to provide us with technology, we should take it over, because it is not something that can be completed in a short time if we rely on our own research and development."

While the other committee members were very interested in the proposal from the Huguang Railway Bureau, they still shook their heads at the enormous investment required for electrification. Moreover, unlike Germany, the Luhan Railway needed to build large power plants to complete its electrification, but the large coal mines were all in the north, and the rivers suitable for hydroelectric power generation would require a power grid to be established before they could be effectively utilized.

After more than three years of construction, the committee members finally had a preliminary understanding of industrialization. Industrialization is not about building a factory, but about establishing raw material production areas and sales markets around the factory production, connecting the three with a fast transportation network, supplying cheap energy, and supplementing it with convenient currency settlement methods.

Therefore, although the Huguang Railway Bureau proposed an electrification project, the bulk of the work actually focused on the infrastructure, power plants, and coal mines that were配套 (supporting) the project. The biggest problem at present was that neither the Jiaozuo coal mining area within the Lu-Han Railway's boundaries nor the newly explored Pingdingshan coal mining area were under the control of the Huguang Governor-General's Office; in other words, there were too many uncontrollable factors.

However, Tian Junyi ultimately made the decision. He told the committee members, "We should still proceed with electrification, not only for the railway itself, but also for the power supply to the cities along the railway line. Currently, relying on railway electrification to transmit electricity to the cities along the line is far better than building a small power station in each city. Even if they are not currently under Hubei's control, they are still still within China's borders..."

Tian Junyi dared to make such a decision because after the railway officially opened in March, Wuhan's import and export volume increased by more than 10% in April. Imports and exports that were originally destined for the hinterland of Henan were now flowing to Wuhan, and this was just the beginning. With the opening of the Henan section of the Luhan Railway, those cities in the hinterland of Henan that previously had few exports suddenly realized that they still had some goods to export. Because freight rates decreased after the railway opened, goods that were not worth exporting before could now be shipped out.

Then Tian Junyi suddenly realized that the prosperity of the Hankou market was exceeding his previous expectations. The railway would recoup its investment in about ten years, which explained why the foreign powers were so eager to build railways in China.

Most importantly, the opening of the railway from Zhengzhou to Hankou directly caused land prices in Hankou to rise again, and land prices in Hanyang also began to rise, because the railway bridge between Hankou and Hanyang was about to be completed, and the two places would finally be integrated. The value of the land in Hankou held by the Huguang Economic Development and Urban Construction Committee has increased more than 30 times.

The committee is now using land as collateral to issue city bonds overseas, thereby initiating infrastructure development in Hanyang, Wuchang, and the Huguang region. The committee had initially pledged to place commercial orders with Britain and Germany worth no less than 100 million taels of silver within three years; by May 1904, this had already reached 150 million taels, and was projected to reach 180 million taels by the end of the year.

It was precisely because of these massive orders that the Germans remained aligned with the committee, while the British also maintained a high degree of tolerance towards it. For example, the five foreign concessions in Hankou had reached a preliminary agreement with the committee: the water, electricity, and road administration within the concessions would be handed over to the Hankou municipal government for unified management; the police system within the five foreign concessions would be unified first, and theoretically subordinate to the Hankou Police Bureau; and gambling, prostitution, and drug trafficking would be prohibited within the concessions.

As Hankou's city and industry continued to develop, the gambling, prostitution, and drug businesses not only failed to bring any benefits to the concessions, but instead turned the concessions into a den of iniquity. The Germans were the first to demand the abolition of these businesses, because after a large number of German engineers and businessmen settled in Hankou, they found it difficult to tolerate these businesses operating near their families.

After some hesitation, the British accepted the committee's recommendation. The positions of Britain and Germany forced Japan, which had initially been the strongest opponent, to back down. As the weakest of the great powers, Japan's business in China was primarily focused on brothels. Its domestic cotton yarn industry had not yet reached its peak, so there were no signs of it shifting its operations to China.

Therefore, the committee's demand to ban prostitution, gambling, and drugs within the concessions was not merely a matter of face for Japan, but also a matter of interest. However, Japan at this time was also in a period of rise, attempting to achieve equality with the great powers, and Japanese diplomats still placed considerable emphasis on the principle of unity among the great powers. Thus, after Britain and Germany reached an agreement, Japanese diplomats still made concessions.

Consul in Hankou, Asano Susumu Lai, reported to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs: "If Shanghai's development depends on Britain, then Hankou's development is actually due to Germany behind the scenes. Given our current situation, it would be of no benefit to antagonize Germany..."

While the recovery of some rights in the Hankou concessions was a great relief to all sectors of Wuhan society, the committee was still communicating with the Germans, requesting their assistance in building the Tianjiazhen fortress area to protect Wuhan's security. The Germans were hesitant about this request; on the one hand, they also wanted to expel other foreign powers from the middle reaches of the Yangtze River, but on the other hand, they did not want to provoke public anger.

While Tian Junyi was negotiating with the Germans, he also received a request from the Sichuan Governor-General's Office. After the meeting, he kept Zhan Tianyou behind and frankly told him: "After careful consideration, the Sichuan Governor-General's Office believes that building the entire Sichuan-Hankou Railway would put too much financial pressure on them, so they have decided to build the Chengdu-Chongqing section first."

Considering the current conflict in Tibet, this section of railway will initially be built as a narrow-gauge line. Surveying, design, and construction will proceed simultaneously, and we intend to entrust the construction of this railway to the Huguang Railway Bureau. Do you think we can organize a group of people to go to Chongqing this week to conduct preliminary work?

After thinking for a moment, Zhan Tianyou said, "The transport capacity of the narrow gauge is too poor. Since we're going to build it, why not do it all at once? Building it first and then converting it to standard gauge would be a waste of manpower and resources."

Tian Junyi shook his head and said, "If the Sichuan-Hankou Railway can be started soon, then I will naturally support the construction of the standard gauge railway. However, as things stand, our capacity for the entire Sichuan-Hankou Railway is not yet sufficient. If we are only using the Yangtze River waterway and the Chengdu-Chongqing Railway for water and land transportation, then the narrow gauge transportation capacity is already sufficient."

However, the most important point is that Sichuan needs this railway to build an economic corridor within the province, which would help reduce opium cultivation. Agricultural products also need lower transportation costs…

Zhan Tianyou finally fell silent. If the railway was being built for the purpose of banning opium, then the sooner the better. However, he still asked with some concern, "Even if we build this railway now, it will take at least two years to complete. Can the war in Tibet drag on until then?"

After a moment's hesitation, Tian Junyi said, "A temporary battle cannot determine Tibet's allegiance. What ultimately determines Tibet's status is the access routes to Tibet. You can gradually make arrangements for this after you enter Sichuan, and you can also survey and prepare the railway routes from Sichuan to Yunnan and from Sichuan to Shaanxi..."

Chapter 187 Difficulty Traveling

Only after leaving Dajianlu did Lin Xinyi and his soldiers understand why Lian Yu had been so reluctant to leave the pass; the area beyond the pass was indeed a desolate wasteland. If the area east of Dajianlu still seemed habitable, then the area west of Dajianlu was like the end of the world, with absolutely no signs of human activity. Even the horses trembled on the so-called official road beneath their feet.

According to the Tibetan translator hired by Dajianlu, the road was described as follows: "In the first two or three months, the mountains are blocked by snow; in the fourth, fifth, and sixth months, you'll be soaked to the bone; in the seventh, eighth, and ninth months, it's a little easier to walk; in the tenth and twelfth months, you have to crawl like a dog." This illustrates how difficult the road to Tibet was. No wonder that tea from Dajianlu, which cost only a few coins a packet, became ten times more valuable after being transported to Lhasa.

Lin Xinyi and his companions were naturally soaked by the heavy rain along the way, but they managed to get through it. Although the journey was difficult, the scenery was truly breathtaking, especially after the downpour. So much so that when Lin Xinyi stood on a high mountain gazing at the beautiful sunset over the surrounding mountains, he couldn't help but exclaim, "This kind of journey truly purifies the soul."

Even Ahn Jung-geun, who was walking behind him, couldn't stand it anymore and scoffed, "We don't even know if we'll make it to Lhasa alive, and you still care about a pure heart?"

Lin Xinyi turned to look at him sincerely and said, "Right now you're only thinking about getting to Lhasa, and you don't have any other thoughts. Isn't that pure?"

Ahn Jung-geun was momentarily stumped by the question, but it wasn't until he was descending the mountain that he remembered, "So, the dead have the purest minds, because they have no thoughts at all."

However, compared to the soldiers and officials who entered Tibet, Lin Xinyi felt that the people of Kham who performed the Ula corvée labor were actually in a much more difficult situation. Although these Ula supporters only needed to perform their duties within their own territory, with a handover every 2-3 days, this corvée labor was mandatory. Not only did they have to use their own cattle and horses for transport free of charge, but they also received no compensation for the cattle and horses that died along the way.

Most of those coming to perform the corvée labor were women, which puzzled Lin Xinyi. However, due to the language barrier, he could only vaguely understand from the translator that, like in Tibet, women were in charge of household affairs and men generally did not participate in such matters. However, judging from the frequent banditry along this route and the large number of young monks in the monasteries of Litang and Batang, the male labor force in Kham was probably either absorbed into the monasteries or forced into banditry. No wonder there were so many women coming to perform the corvée labor.

While Lin Xinyi was observing and investigating the social conditions in the Kham region, Zhang Yintang was also observing this escort team. About four and a half platoons, or 229 people, followed him out of the pass. Half a platoon was left behind in Dajianlu to set up a military post and a radio transmission station.

The team that set out to cross the border was actually mostly composed of people recruited from Sichuan, but Zhang Yintang noticed that the unit wasn't divided into any Hubei or Sichuan factions. These kinds of small, closely-knit groups were all too common in the military. Besides being divided by region, there were also veterans and new recruits based on their enlistment dates. It would be quite unusual if they didn't engage in underhanded tactics among themselves.

However, he did not see such common occurrences in this unit, which made him look at Lin Xinyi with new respect. Although he acknowledged that Wu Luzhen was skilled in both literature and martial arts, and his knowledge far surpassed that of ordinary scholars, the soul of this unit lay in Lin Xinyi.

Wu Luzhen was the kind of person who could get everything done single-handedly, so the officers and soldiers of this army held him in awe. However, Lin Xinyi consistently emphasized the purpose of the advance into Tibet, discussing the situation in Kham and analyzing how to solve its problems with his troops. In Lin Xinyi's presence, everyone felt indispensable to the team. Therefore, while this army was willing to obey Wu Luzhen's orders, they preferred to help Lin Xinyi complete tasks beyond their own duties.

From Dajianlu to Litang, from Litang to Batang, and from Batang to Chamudo, the team had largely gelled during their month-long journey. By the time they reached Chamudo, it was impossible to distinguish between the people from Hubei and Sichuan. Zhang Yintang was naturally delighted to have such a capable military leader by his side, as it meant his journey into Tibet would be much safer.

Of course, what impressed Zhang Yintang the most about Lin Xinyi was Lin Xinyi's investigation of the customs of Tibet and the situation along the way. Although the people of Kham who were on duty might not be able to tell the truth because of the time constraints on the march, even such a rudimentary investigation was much more in-depth than what he heard from the chieftains and lamas in Dajianlu.

Those chieftains and lamas had no intention of letting Han officials know the true situation in Kham and Tibet, so what they said was completely irrelevant. They simply told the officials going to Tibet to chant more scriptures, and their future would naturally be smooth. However, through the investigation report on the Kham Ula corvée service submitted by Lin Xinyi, Zhang Yintang realized that the problems in Kham were actually quite serious. In many places, the reason why only women came out to perform corvée service was because the men had run away.

According to Lin Xinyi's analysis of the problems in Kham, "The people of Kham have to support the chieftains, support the monasteries, and deal with the imperial court's corvée labor, so they have very little time to produce anything. In addition, a large number of young men are sent to the monasteries, making the already labor-deficient Kham even more lacking in labor. If this situation is not changed, Kham will probably soon erupt in rebellion, especially with the continuous influx of troops into Tibet."

Zhang Yintang's initial idea was to order a limit on the number of monks in lamasery, but Lin Xinyi quickly dissuaded him, saying, "The adults all say that lamasery in Tibet is like the imperial examination system in the mainland. Becoming a lama is the only chance for ordinary people in Kham and Tibet to rise in society. Limiting the number of monks in lamasery will only cause the local people to turn their resentment towards the imperial court. It will not harm the lamasery or the chieftains at all."

After much deliberation, Zhang Yintang also agreed with Lin Xinyi. If the common people here had no chance to rise in society, they would definitely resent the imperial court and instead support Lhasa or the local chieftains even more. He also knew that the key to solving this problem was to quickly build the Sichuan-Tibet Highway, allowing outside influences to enter the Kham and Tibetan areas, thereby changing their lifestyles and helping them accept outside civilization. However, this was clearly not a remedy that could be effective in the short term.

As the group emerged from the mountain pass, they saw a town suddenly appear on the plain below and the vast Changdu Monastery stretching for miles in the distance. Everyone cheered. Of all the places they had traveled from Dajianlu, apart from Litang and Batang, this was the only place that resembled a city. It was a joyful sight, as if the most difficult part of the journey was over.

On the mountain road, Furukawa Toshikawa looked down at the city and asked the Tibetan translator beside him with anticipation, "We must be close to Lhasa now, right?"

The translator nodded and said, "It's not far, about 2000 li away."

Toshihiro Furukawa was momentarily confused. He asked the translator, "How long is one li in Tibet?"

The translator looked at him strangely and said, "I meant 'li' in the inland areas, the 'li' of one li..."

Furukawa Toshikazu and his Japanese and Korean companions were speechless for a moment. After a while, Domoto Keiichi murmured, "This is too outrageous. We've been walking for so many days and we haven't even left Sichuan. Is the mainland really this vast?"

Although Kishida Gentaro and Ahn Jung-geun remained silent, their expressions were clearly not good. However, not far from them, Lin Xinyi stood on a rock by the roadside, looking down and saying enthusiastically to Wu Luzhen beside him, "That's the Lancang River down there. Once it crosses the border, it's called the Mekong River. Going downstream, you can reach Myanmar, Laos, Cambodia, and Vietnam."

Wu Luzhen looked at the two rivers merging below with some skepticism. One was clear, the other was muddy, and they eventually mixed together to form a half-clear, half-muddy river. He then casually asked, "So, is this river navigable?"

Lin Xinyi lowered his head and thought for a moment before saying, "It probably won't work..."

When Zhang Yintang's entourage entered the city gate, local Han officials had already come to greet them. At this time, Chamudo was under the administration of the Resident Minister in Tibet, so Han officials were stationed there to govern the area. There were six or seven hundred households in the area, and many large and small monasteries. There were also quite a few Han people who had settled there, because the area controlled Sichuan to the east and Qinghai to the north, and was a vital passage into Tibet. As a result, Han people settled down there to do business.

Although Zhang Yintang wanted to learn about Lhasa from the local Han officials, the area was too far from Lhasa, and the information he had was vague. Some said that the British had captured Gyantse and Shigatse, while others said that the Dalai Lama and You Tai had fled Lhasa. Almost all the rumors were bad news.

Zhang Yintang had no choice but to call Wu Luzhen and Lin Xinyi to discuss the matter. Faced with such chaotic and uncertain news, Lin Xinyi said without hesitation, "Since it's all bad news, it means the situation in Lhasa is indeed very bad. We should send a vanguard straight to Lhasa first, to understand the situation and to reassure the people of Lhasa. Otherwise, if the people's hearts are lost, even if we arrive, we won't have a chance to turn the tide."