Crimson Dawn

Chapter 52

The officials of the Manchu and Qing Dynasties were old-fashioned, and they would not immediately express their opinions when they encountered anything.Chen Ke suggested He Ruming to take charge of the briquette manufacturing. He Ruming's immediate reaction was not to think that he was going to make a fortune, but to consider whether Chen Ke's doing so was a trap.The so-called "do nothing to be courteous, to rape or to steal." Chen Ke has no reason to give himself such a fortune for nothing.But Chen Ke's frank expression and encouraging words made He Ruming alert.

"Wen Qing doesn't need to worry." He Ruming immediately showed that prevaricated smile unique to officials.

When Chen Ke saw this look, he knew that He Ruming would never let go easily.He could understand this mentality, so he also smiled and said, "This is me, Meng Lang. Please forgive me, Mr. He."

"Wen Qing came to Beijing this time, presumably it wasn't because of the briquette?"

"According to Yan Fu's order, I went to Beijing to meet with some teachers."

He Ruming's eyes lit up when he heard this, "Wen Qing, can you let me know and see what I can do to help Wen Qing."

All kinds of relationships are needed in the officialdom.He Ruming also came to Beijing to work for the first time, if he could help Chen Ke, he would be able to make some new connections along the way.He will not let go of such a matter of waiting for benefits without cost.

"Mr. Yan asked me to visit Mr. Gu Hongming of the Imperial University Hall first."

"Haha, Wen Qing has written such a thick book, and it should be very well written. Don't think about it, Mr. Gu must like it very much." He Ruming talked about Chen Ke's works for the first time, "Wen Qing's books , I actually haven’t had time to read it yet. After receiving Mr. Yan’s letter, I’m preparing to come to Beijing to take up the post, but I’m too busy.”

"I don't know what your lord's official position is now?"

"Being a fifth-rank official in the Ministry of Rites. It's not worth mentioning. By the way, why did I hear that Wen Qing and my housekeeper are so unhappy, I don't know what's going on."

"It's all a misunderstanding, nothing serious. Don't worry about it, Mr. He."

"When is Wen Qing going to visit Mr. Gu Hongming?"

"Go this afternoon."

"Can I send Wen Qing there in a car?"

"Thank you, Mr. He, I'm going to walk there."

"Why is this?"

"Every time I go to a place, I must go there on foot, which can be regarded as seeing the customs and customs of Beijing."

"Listening to Wen Qing's accent, isn't he a Beijinger?"

"How is it possible. I have never been to Beijing."

"I've been to Beijing before, and the place has changed a lot in the past two years." He Ruming smiled.Then he talked about his anecdote.

Because most of the roads in Beijing are dirt roads, thick silt and dust are formed on the roads due to the age.Firstly, these sediment and dust come from the weathering of the road surface itself; secondly, residents litter; Shadows, soaring to the sky to block out the sun", an unknown amount of loess and dust will fall on the city of Beijing in a year.

Furthermore, the middle of those traffic arteries was originally a chariot road.Once the emperor came out, he had to spread loess on the chariot road. Over time, the chariot road gradually rose above the ground. Xia Renhu said in "Old Beijing Trivia": "Before the roads were built in Beijing, there were corridors in the center of the thoroughfare, which were not as wide as Two feet high, three or four feet high, rainy and muddy, often overturning, the situation is very dangerous. In the hometown of inquiry, it is said that this chariot road, when first driving, must be paved with loess. Yan, it will get worse as time goes on, until it becomes high clouds."

The corridor is higher than the ground, and there is also the factor of "residents also accumulate ash".It turned out that the residents in Beijing dumped all the rubbish cleaned in the courtyard on the road outside the door. As a result, "stove embers, ashes, and broken porcelain tiles piled up like a mountain", so that not only the road surface of the main traffic road was three or four feet above the ground "The street in front of Lianju's house is more than ten feet higher than the house, and people go down the steps, like a valley in the pit."

From this, we can imagine how far the street environment of Beijing City in the late Qing Dynasty has become!

At that time, the bad habit of defecating in places was still prevalent in the capital.According to "Yanjing Miscellaneous Notes", since Jiaqing, there have been paid public toilets in Beijing, and "the entry must be paid with a penny".However, people still openly defecate in the street, and residents dump their toilets on the street, coupled with the cow dung and horse urine from passing livestock carts, resulting in some streets "full of dung and soil on the side of the wall", and the streets and alleys are filled with stench.Back then, Tongrentang in Dashilan was a well-known pharmacy, and its business was booming every day, but the front door became a "place where street people gather and defecate".In the famous Changdian, people "could defecate freely" behind the big screen wall opposite Lu Zu Temple.Due to the filth and filth of some streets in Beijing, such a "medical prescription" was circulated in those days: "Renzhonghuang, Renzhongbai, oxtail, puffball, and stove heart soil, each divided into equal parts, mixed with rootless water (rain and snow) , dried in the sun, ground into fine powder with wheels, blown into the nose by the northwestern wind, and swallowed, so that the desire for fame and fortune will naturally disappear." Although the irony is very spicy, it vividly reflects the street environment and city sanitation in Beijing at that time. situation.

At that time, not only the street environment in Beijing was bad, but also the traffic was chaotic.On the main traffic roads in the city, not only the Yong Road is high and narrow, but also there are many stalls selling goods on both sides. Cars, horses and pedestrians flock to the road. Once traffic jams, it is often impossible to walk for a long time.In addition, "in midsummer, there is a scene of running a hot car, and Mr. Guijie enjoys galloping", and "those who are caught off guard will die immediately on the road".

The alleys and alleys in the city are also disorderly. "The coachman is used to being ashamed to give way", so he quarreled and cursed, and the traffic jam lasted for a long time, neither pedestrians nor cars could move.

After the implementation of the "New Deal" in the late Qing Dynasty, the above-mentioned situation changed a lot, and factors of modern road administration appeared.

First of all, in order to change the situation of "the road is not ruled" and "management of the street hall" is "just a document", the Inner and Outer City Industrial Inspection Bureau was established to be responsible for street management and inspection affairs. In 1905, the East and West Bureaus of Inner City Road Works and the East and West Bureaus of Outer City Road Works were established to be responsible for the construction of streets and roads in the capital.Since 1904, more than a dozen gravel roads have been built successively. Especially in 1909, for the funeral of Empress Dowager Cixi, when roads were built in the area around Haixuan, they were first filled with gravel, then filled with lime water, and then rolled flat with steam.At that time, this paving method was called "saw work".This kind of pavement is flat and firm, and has been well received by the government and the public.

It was already October 1905 when Chen Ke arrived in Beijing. The gravel pavement started to be built in 10 has already been completed a lot, especially the construction of the main road has been completed.The appearance of the capital city has improved quite a bit.The biggest improvement is the establishment of a modern police system.He Ruming was transferred from Tianjin, and he praised Yuan Shikai's achievements in building a modern police system.In words, he praised Yuan Shikai like a flower.

The establishment of the police organization in the late Qing Dynasty was the result of the transformation of the traditional Chinese political structure.Its appearance shows that the old-fashioned Baojia and fast-catching systems have been unable to adapt to the needs of social development. "Today, traitors in all provinces of China are full of shops. , Idle and idle, have no constant career, relying on their deceitful tricks, rampant among shops... all because there is no patrolling and arresting in urban and rural areas in the mainland to suppress... Unscrupulous gentlemen tend to protect them, and the officers even communicate with each other... But in the case of patrolling and arresting There is no one in the service, and there are cases of robbery and robbery that cannot be prevented beforehand, but rewards are offered afterwards, and it is still difficult to solve the case despite the cost... and the disadvantages of the servants are hard to recover." It is precisely because of the long-standing disadvantages of the old security system that the patrol police The establishment of the system has become the general trend. "It is rumored that Yuan Weishuai is deeply hated because the book servants in various states and counties have dominated official affairs and harassed Helu. He plans to immediately recruit the fourth battalion of patrolmen to go to nearby states and counties to suppress local governments and handle civil cases."

The police system has shown its unique superiority since its establishment. "Yuan Gongbao sent soldiers from the patrol battalion to patrol inside and outside the city day and night, clean up the streets, interrogate traitors, and change shifts on time at night. They were especially cautious. They collected traces for them at night, and the people praised them. There is a trend of not closing their doors at night." "The five miscellaneous places in Jinbu are the most difficult to clean , It has been four years since the founding of the patrol police, and the current situation has been achieved. Although it is not true that the road does not pick up lost items, and the door is not closed at night, but the thieves are more likely to stalk the streets, you should know the effectiveness of the patrol police.” Not only the Chinese praised it, but foreign newspapers also commented: "After Tianjin was handed over, the patrols were more organized and the roads became cleaner. It was unexpected. If this is the case in all parts of China, why not become a powerful country in the world by self-improvement?"

In all fairness, Yuan Shikai has indeed played a considerable role in the establishment of the police system, and has made remarkable achievements.Beijing has gradually introduced a police system since 1904.Chen Ke saw policemen maintaining social order on the street this time.It's just that Chen Ke naturally doesn't care too much about such things.No matter how these policemen were, compared with the police system Chen Ke had seen in the 21st century, they were nothing more than child's play.

He Ruming said some words of praise of his own, but seeing that Chen Ke just listened attentively, he didn't mean to be moved in the slightest.Then I felt that Chen Ke was a little ignorant.The look on his face was a little sullen.

Chen Ke noticed it, and quickly said: "Master He, I have been overseas and have not returned to China. I really don't know anything about domestic affairs. Thank you, Mr. He, for teaching me."

After hearing this, He Ruming couldn't say anything more, he smiled lightly, "I see." After speaking, he picked up the teacup, "Two, drink tea."

Chen Ke knew the etiquette of serving tea to see off guests, so he got up and said goodbye.The butler sent the two of them to the door, and watched them return to the opposite yard. The butler felt very surprised. It was just an ordinary meeting of courtesy, but he didn't expect the two of them to have such a deep talk with their master.The housekeeper looked at the opposite door again until the opposite door was closed, and then turned back to his own yard.

"Wen Qing, why didn't you talk about the briquettes first." Chen Tianhua asked a little dissatisfied as soon as he returned to the room.

"I didn't plan this for a long time, but I suddenly remembered it." Chen Ke replied.

"Why?" Chen Tianhua was a little surprised.

"I want to develop our party members in Beijing. It is better to find others than the Westernization Movement School. There is no meeting ceremony, and it is extremely difficult to get to know the Westernization Affairs School. This briquette is my meeting ceremony."

"If briquettes can be made, those Westernization factions may not be willing to make revolution." Chen Tianhua replied with a slight frown.

Chen Ke looked at Chen Tianhua seriously, "Tianhua, believe me. If the Westernization Movement does not accept the briquette matter, they will not revolutionize. If the briquette matter is really involved, they will revolutionize instead."

Seeing Chen Tianhua's puzzled expression, Chen Ke took out a pen and paper, "I'll explain this to you in detail."

When Chen Ke and Chen Tianhua were discussing the future development, He Ruming had already called the butler to him and asked him to tell the truth about how he knew Chen Ke.

Seeing the master's serious expression, the butler didn't dare to hide it. Chen Ke laughed rudely when he met in Tianjin, and then met by chance in Beijing. He saw the two guys' arrogant appearance, but the butler finally couldn't hold back. Ask the coachman to whip Chen Ke.The ins and outs of these things are described again.

The housekeeper was still a little worried, and the master would scold him for it.Unexpectedly, after listening, what He Ruming repeatedly confirmed was whether he had seen Chen Ke before.After thinking about it, the housekeeper finally said with certainty: "I have never seen these two people before I met them at Tianjin Chariot and Horse Company."

"Listen to the accents of these two people, where are they from?" He Ruming asked.

"This...Chen Ke, I really didn't recognize who it was from. What he spoke was neither Beijing dialect nor Tianjin dialect. But I've never heard such an accent before." The butler said in embarrassment, "It's that Chen Xingtai, It should be from Hunan."

He Ruming thought back on today's meeting again, but nothing else.However, Chen Ke's suggestion of making briquettes was beyond He Ruming's expectation.Chen Keneng is not an incompetent person in cooperating with the British.Not to mention being recommended by Yan Fu.Hearing the benefits of honeycomb briquettes that Chen Ke said was quite exciting.But He Ruming has worked in Tianjin Machinery Bureau for more than ten years and knows the efficiency of the imperial court well.If the imperial court were to do this, it would take many years just to convince those adults.I don't know how long it will take until I get the money and start working on it.And the person who handled the money, Ke Naka, wanted... Thinking of this, He Ruming only felt a little headache.

Seeing that He Ruming was silent, the steward asked: "Shall I go and find out their origins?"

He Ruming shook his head lightly, "It is clearly written on this person's name card that he cooperated with the British in Shanghai. But this person is obviously from the north. How did he get to Shanghai? I'm afraid there is a lot to tell here. He Ruming thought about it again, "Check carefully."

The housekeeper was about to leave, but He Ruming stopped him, "By the way, where did you put the book that Mr. Yan Fu sent last time when you moved. Find it for me and send it to the study."

Hearing this, the housekeeper was slightly taken aback, "Master, that set of books is currently being read by Miss Four and Eldest Miss."

"Huh? Why would they think of reading such books?"

"Miss Si saw the book was sent by Mr. Yan Fu, but you didn't read it, so she took it first. Later, Miss also read it."

"Understood, you go down." He Ruming sent the housekeeper away.He walked towards the backyard by himself.He didn't enter the main room, but went to the wing room.As soon as he entered the door, he saw two girls sitting at the table, but they were the two girls Chen Ke had seen before.There is a stack of books on the table.The older one was looking listlessly.The young one took a piece of embroidery and sat at the table to work.Seeing He Ruming coming in, the younger one got up quickly, "Daddy, you are here. Has the guest left?"

"Let's go." When He Ruming saw his daughter, a smile appeared on his face immediately.

"He's gone, so I can play the piano."

He Ruming's daughter is He Ying, the eldest daughter, and has two younger brothers.

"It's time for lunch soon. What kind of piano are you playing? Your younger brothers are still here." Although He Ruming rejected his daughter's request, He Ruming's tone couldn't hide the love for his daughter.

"But my aunt played it yesterday." He Ying felt that it was unfair, and there was some grievance in her tone.The aunt she was talking about was He Qian next to her.He Qian is He Ruming's fourth sister, the youngest.After He Ruming's parents passed away, they lived with He Ruming, who was his elder brother.

Seeing his daughter acting like a baby, He Ruming couldn't stand it any longer, "You are going to get married soon, so hurry up and finish the embroidery. Otherwise, if your mother yells at you, I won't care about it."

After hearing this, He Ying sat back on the stool, lowered her head and picked up the embroidery, but refused to continue.Seeing his daughter like this, He Ruming also felt that it was inappropriate. He whispered: "Your mother is going out this afternoon. Before she comes back, you can play the piano, but you have to finish today's embroidery."

As soon as He Ruming finished speaking, He Ying's face immediately brightened, "Thank you, Daddy." After finishing speaking, she quickly picked up the needle and continued to embroider.

Seeing that He Ruming had finished explaining about her daughter, He Qian put down her book, raised her head and asked, "What do you want me to do, brother?"

"I want to read this book. You lend it to me first."

"Brother, why did you think of reading the book of the Revolutionary Party?" He Qian laughed.

"What?" He Ruming was shocked after hearing this.

"This is a book about rebels, don't you know, brother?"

Yan Fu was actually entangled with the rebels?He Ruming couldn't believe this fact.But these days, whether it is the royalists like Kang Youwei who hope for the restoration of Guangxu, or those who shout for constitutionalism, they can actually be classified as anti-thieves.They are all opposed to the old Buddha who is actually in power now.Since the Gengzi Incident and Lafayette declared war on all nations, the imperial court has actually been struggling.He Ruming's political views are quite conservative. Although he is a Westernization faction, he tends to be a queen party.In his view, whether it is the imperialist party, the constitutionalists who "play the New Deal", or the more radical revolutionary party, they are all the same kind of guy, who has more success than failure.In comparison, although Cixi made many mistakes, she is still much more mature politically.

Seeing He Ruming's solemn expression, He Qian smiled and said, "Brother, this book writer is quite smart. Those in the imperial court will never see that he is a traitor. I'm afraid they will use it for help."

Looking at his younger sister He Qian's appearance of pointing out the government, He Ruming only felt quite regretful.He Qian is more like He Ruming's father, quick-witted and intelligent.There are three He Ruming brothers, only this younger sister. When the old man of the He family was alive, he was loved by thousands of people, and he never raised He Qian as a woman.Whatever He Qian wants to learn, the old man of the He family will teach He Qian.After He Qian read the book, she basically made no mistakes in her judgment on the imperial court.He Ruming firmly believes that if He Qian is a man, and the two of them join forces, He Ruming's achievements will probably be much higher than they are now.

"How about the writing?" He Ruming didn't doubt his sister's vision.

"Excellent. After I read it, a lot of things suddenly became clear." Speaking of this, He Qian suddenly asked: "I don't know what is the relationship between this author and today's guest?"

Facing his clever younger sister, He Ruming didn't want to hide anything, "The one who came today is the author of this book."

He Ruming also wanted to hear his sister's opinion. The most important thing was that He Ruming didn't really want to read all the thick books. Very handy thing.

Chapter 52

No. 52, to URL