Crimson Dawn

Chapter 70

There is a story in Mr. Lu Xun's works, a family gave birth to a child, a feast was held at the full moon, friends gave the child various blessings, and one person told the truth, "This child will die." It can be said to be a truth, an "absolute prophecy" that is destined to come true.And absolutely frustrating too.

Chen Ke already knew that something would go wrong, and he just wanted to profit from the failure.Hearing what Shang Yuan said, unlike Qin Tongren's faint depression, Chen Ke became vigilant.At this moment, Shang Yuan's sharp gaze swept over Chen Ke's face, Chen Ke only felt that something was wrong, and from Shang Yuan's expression of gain, it could be seen that Shang Yuan had already understood a lot of things.

Shang Yuan then began to talk about "why it can't be done".At this time, he was completely persuading Qin Tongren, and he didn't talk to Chen Ke at all.

The focus of Shang Yuan's talk is the "pay for service" system. The system of "serving service" mainly refers to the fact that enterprises should provide money to the Manchu Qing government unconditionally.Enterprises that need to provide repayments to the Qing government involve industries such as transportation, mining, telegraph, textiles, banking, and steel. The payout amount is quite large.

Starting from the Westernization Movement, the Manchu Qing government did set up many modern enterprises.Since there was no modern commercial system, the early enterprises were all state-owned rather than commercial. Before 1895, the fiscal revenue and expenditure of the Manchu Qing Dynasty were still in balance, but after 1895, due to the heavy burden of war reparations, the increasingly difficult financial situation, and the emergence of many new enterprises, private enterprises began to rise.It became one of the ways for the Qing government to reduce the financial burden by asking for repayment from enterprises and forming it into a system.

"Does Tong Ren know how much the return is? When the Mohe Gold Mine was founded in 1889, the government provided 20 taels of capital. By this year, the Mohe Gold Mine had provided 60 taels of return in six years. Last time you talked to me Going to this honeycomb coal factory, I think you can definitely earn a lot of money, but you are in the capital city at the foot of the emperor, and the remuneration is definitely not something you can afford."

Shang Yuan spoke clearly, Chen Ke nodded slightly.Since he has such insight, Shang Yuan is probably not an ordinary Juren.

Qin Tongren didn't care much, "It's just a white wolf with empty gloves, I don't care about money."

"Bookish!" Shang Yuan said angrily, "Even if you don't care about money, you feel empty-handed, but with this project, you should be able to imagine how many people want to eat your meat. They will definitely give your factory to you." It’s messed up. Do you think they just messed up your factory? And they will do everything possible to pour sewage on you, so that you will never turn over.”

"Brother Wangshan, these words are alarmist." Qin Tongren was a little puzzled.

"Scaremongering? I know a little about this Mr. Chen. He made a new medicine for the disease of flowers and willows in Shanghai. The medicine has miraculous effects and cured the disease. Then he immediately disclosed the formula of the new medicine. Why do you think Mr. Chen did this? Could it be that the compassion of hanging the pot to help the world is not working?" Shang Yuan sneered.

"Wen Qing, what else is going on?" Qin Tongren was quite surprised.

Chen Ke admitted frankly, "Brother Shang is right, there is indeed such a thing. And I only disclosed the formula of the new medicine to protect myself. If I monopolize the formula, there are countless people who want to kill me. I dare not offend those people."

Seeing Chen Ke's frank admission, Qin Tongren felt that something was wrong, but no matter how he looked at the current project, he said suspiciously: "Honeycomb coal is not a technical secret."

"It's not a secret? Just because it looks like it's not a secret, you can earn the most money. Those people will never let you go." Seeing that Qin Tongren didn't understand, Shang Yuan was even more angry. "This Mr. Chen is not an ordinary person. I know Tong Ren, you are devoted to everything. I think you haven't read Mr. Chen's book much."

"Well, that's true." Qin Tongren nodded in response.

"This Mr. Chen is very knowledgeable and has the world in his heart. If Tong Ren, a bookworm like you, can't understand it, it's fine. On the contrary, this Mr. Chen can't understand it. I absolutely don't believe it. I don't know what tricks he is doing in the capital." I know, but don't fool around with him."

This is so serious that Qin Tongren can no longer understand it. "What did Wen Qing do? What was written in that book? Brother Shang, I don't understand what you're saying."

After hearing this, Shang Yuan had a complex look on his face. He knew that Qin Tongren must not have time to read it, because this set of books is at his home now.And if Qin Tongren read this book, with his deep understanding of industrialization in the book, I'm afraid Qin Tongren would really vote for Chen Ke.However, with Qin Tongren's personality, since he knew that this book was unusual, he definitely had to read it carefully. He was furious for a while, but he said something wrong.Thinking of this, Shang Yuan glared at Chen Ke, thinking about what to say.

Seeing Shangyuan's performance like this, Qin Tongren was even more confused. "Brother Wangshan, Wenqing, what is going on here?"

Chen Ke felt that he had to explain. "I wrote a book, which discusses the development of industrialization in detail. It seems that Brother Shang doesn't quite agree with this book."

"Don't you agree? Haha." Shang Yuan sneered, "Mr. Chen is too polite, I don't disagree, I quite agree. After reading the book, I still admire Mr. Chen. It's just that Mr. Chen is so Dacai, to set up this factory like this, I think Mr. Chen is tolerant of mischief."

Qin Tongren has already seen some clues, Shang Yuan is not trying to persuade himself not to set up this factory, but simply wants to tear himself apart from Chen Ke, so that he can stay away from Chen Ke completely.It seems that Chen Ke must have something extraordinary, so that Shang Yuan dare not persuade himself in private.Thinking of this, Qin Tongren simply asked seriously: "Brother Wangshan, what's going on?"

Seeing the situation as it is, Shang Yuan simply said directly: "This Mr. Chen is a revolutionary." Up to this point, his words could not reflect the seriousness of the problem, and he said with emphasis: "He is not The kind of revolutionary party that advocates some kind of constitutional government, but a real revolutionary party."

"Uh! Wenqing is a revolutionary party? Ha, haha." Hearing this, Qin Tongren laughed out loud, "If Wenqing is a revolutionary party, I don't think the revolution is such a bad thing."

After hearing Shang Yuan reveal his true face, Chen Ke didn't feel much in his heart.The revolutionary party is a fashionable thing these days. Today, when the actual control of the Qing court is declining, as long as you don’t rise up to rebel, as long as you don’t make too violent remarks to overthrow the government, even if you call yourself a revolutionary party, no government will come. catch you.The Manchu Qing was first defeated by Japan in the Sino-Japanese War, and then experienced the Gengzi Incident, making too many unforgivable mistakes.The imperial court is also very clear that the difference in their reputation has reached an unparalleled level.Successive failures have greatly questioned the legitimacy of the Qing Dynasty.Under such circumstances, the Manchu and Qing government no longer dared to use high-pressure methods to deal with intellectuals.

As for Chen Ke's own book, even if it is used as evidence, it will have no effect.Articles that are dozens of times stronger than Chen Ke's book can still be popular all over the world.

What interested Chen Ke was Shang Yuan's attitude. His drastic actions were not right no matter what.Now that Shang Yuan is calling for battle, Chen Ke feels that he has to fight.

"Brother Shang, I've heard about Brother Qin. He fought against foreigners and guarded the Tianjin Manufacturing Bureau. I respect Brother Qin's character very much. If I say that I want to harm Brother Qin, it is absolutely impossible. In fact, two days ago I also mentioned to Brother Qin that this business is not easy to do. If you don’t believe me, you can ask Brother Qin.”

Qin Tongren still remembered what Chen Ke said, but after hearing Shang Yuan's remarks, he was a little confused about Chen Ke.Shang Yuan and Qin Tongren are good friends. He knows that Shang Yuan is not a bluffing person. Since he has such an evaluation of Chen Ke, Chen Ke must be amazing.At this moment, he was a little confused.

"If you want to deceive a gentleman like Tong Ren, I will never forgive you." Shang Yuan didn't appreciate it at all, "Since Mr. Chen said that he has his own plans, I would like to ask why Mr. Chen wants to set up this factory in the capital .”

"I want to recruit some talents in the capital, and next year I will go to Anhui to do something. Without this factory, how would I know the level of talents I recruited."

"Anhui?" Shang Yuan and Qin Tongren asked almost at the same time.

"Where is Anhui?" Shang Yuan asked.

"Probably in the Huainan area. It's not confirmed yet." Chen Ke felt that the attitude of these two people was a little strange.

"Hmph! This is interesting." Shang Yuan sneered.

Chen Ke looked at Shang Yuan inexplicably, but seeing that Shang Yuan refused to explain, he looked at Qin Tongren again. "Brother Wang Shan is going to take office in Huainan soon." Having said that, he paused again, "Brother Wang Shan actually approached me and wanted me to go to Huainan with him to do something."

Is this too coincidental?Chen Ke thought that these two people would not be singing oboe, and wanted to trick himself?But if you look closely, it doesn't look like it.He could only laugh and said, "It's really a coincidence. Fate."

"Mr. Chen doesn't need to talk about this, let me ask you, since you are leaving next year, why do you want to make this briquette this year? If you make it, will the family business be left in Beijing?" Shang Yuan refused to let go.

"If it's done or not, I'm going to withdraw." Since the other party is a sensible person, Chen Ke simply told the truth, "My original plan was to find some brothers who can do things and cooperate with each other. I didn't expect to meet Brother Qin is such a talented person. Since Brother Shang is worried that I have cheated Brother Qin, then I might as well say it directly. Brother Qin, I am a revolutionary party."

After listening to Chen Ke's words, Qin Tongren saw that Chen Ke didn't intend to deceive at all, so he believed what Chen Ke said was true.But what Chen Ke said next surprised Qin Tongren even more.

"Brother Shang, I can see that you are also a revolutionary."

Qin Tongren stared dumbfounded at Chen Ke, and then at Shang Yuan.I saw Shang Yuan's gloomy face, but he didn't deny Chen Ke's words.

"Ming people don't speak dark words, and those who can see the revolution from my book are all revolutionary parties." Chen Ke concluded in a tone that was not reserved and boastful.

For Beijing citizens, the days after winter are quite boring.But in the early winter of 1905, a new kind of briquettes suddenly appeared on the market, called honeycomb briquettes.It was some banner people who promoted honeycomb coal at the beginning.According to the rules of the Clan Mansion, Bannermen are not allowed to do business.But Bannerman is not doing well on that idea of ​​"hardcore crops".In addition, Banner people love to show off, even if they have no money, they will slap their faces to pretend to be fat.Anyway, the Eight Banners did not know how to fight hundreds of years ago, and neither the imperial court nor other armies had any illusions about the Eight Banners disciples, so the number of banner people joining the army is already a minority.Among the majority of Beijing Bannermen, the lazy ones spend their days in teahouses.A batch of boring teahouse culture was born.

But for the more industrious banner people, it is said that there are policies at the top and countermeasures at the bottom. Although the banner people cannot do business, the business of driving a car is neither a business nor a long-term job. It is the most convenient to hire a banner man.They hang out in Beijing all day long, they know everyone well, and they know all the corners of Beijing.Driving around, it is very convenient to hire bannermen.These banner people who are willing to work hard walk around the capital all day, and they are more familiar with Beijing. They know exactly which people have what spending power.

Some people are willing to pay and hire them to promote honeycomb coal, so that this part of the banner people who are still hardworking can make money quickly.

As expected by Chen Ke, the first batch of honeycomb buyers were the Bannermen.Banner people have such a fixed income, and there are many places to spend money. Regardless of small things such as coal burning, they still calculate very clearly.Honeycomb briquette is cheap and fully combustible. Compared with coal pellets, briquette briquette immediately showed advantages after testing.Therefore, among the low-level banner people, briquette was promoted at an astonishing speed.

There is a story in the Tang Dynasty. When Bai Juyi first arrived in Chang'an, some people said, "The capital is expensive, but it is not easy for the Baiju." Not only the Tang Dynasty, but the life of Beijing officials in any dynasty and generation is not very good. Their income is not high. And in the capital, it's not their turn to make money.But Beijing officials have to maintain their dignity, and they are more careful about daily expenses.If not, it would be impossible for Chen Ke to rent a house in the official district of the capital.

Since the bannermen are in charge of promoting honeycomb coal, these low-level officials are their key promotion targets, and the promotion effect is quite good.This can be seen from the busy hours of the comrades in charge of the outer base stove in the briquette field.

Chen Ke and Qin Tongren personally took the lead. In the first few days, the comrades were divided into four groups, and one group was sent out to work every day.After seven or eight days, one group stayed in the factory to be in charge of production, and the three groups went out to build the stove together.And this is based on the fact that Qin Tongren mobilized his own power and invited more than 30 old workers from the Machinery Bureau from Tianjin.

At the Beijing party group meeting, Qin Tongren was quite inconceivable about such a situation.

That day when Shang Yuan came to the door, Chen Ke saw that the matter had been clarified, so he simply stated his "revolutionary road".The central government can effectively manage people down to the village level, the education system at various levels, the selection system of government officials integrating officials and local officials, and the economic system dominated by the state.Chen Ke's description of the future China that day left Shang Yuan and Qin Tongren speechless.

Before Shang Yuan left, he left a message, "I will come over tomorrow to see what kind of revolutionary Mr. Chen is." He really came the next day.He also brought the book entrusted by Qin Tongren to Shang Yuan.Chen Ke also let go, and simply started to form a new Beijing party group.Working while teaching.

Qin Tongren had heard of the republican system propagated by Sun Yat-sen's revolutionary party, and his evaluation of this system was——a lot of nonsense.The reason for opposing the "Republican System" was not how loyal Qin Tongren was to the Manchu Qing. After the Gengzi Incident, Qin Tongren had almost died on the battlefield, and he had long been completely disappointed with the court.The reason why he doesn't want to overthrow the imperial court now is that the rebellion will make China fall into complete division.Today, when foreign enemies are on the lookout, civil wars will give foreigners ample opportunities to meddle in Chinese affairs.In Qin Tongren's view, rejuvenating the country through industry is the only way.The republic itself only allowed the rise of the local gentry.Qin Tongren's views on Sun Yat-sen's revolutionary parties are unusually sensitive and correct.He firmly believed that once the revolution started according to the "democratic republic" theory proposed by Sun Yat-sen and his gang, it would only lead to the rise of warlords and the fragmentation of China.

Shang Yuan's political ideas are even more interesting. Shang Yuan himself was born in a family of big landlords in Shangqiu, and Chen Ke felt a little embarrassed by his profound views on landlords and gentry.He clearly pointed out that the current gentry has no enthusiasm for industrialization itself.The reason why they hope to implement constitutionalism is to seize the power of the imperial court.Then I can rely on the land to dominate in the local area.Therefore, whether it is anti-foreign religion or anti-foreign goods, it is the instinctive reaction of the landlords after the attack of industrialization on the traditional handicraft industry.If Jean really implemented constitutionalism, it would not be able to resolve the profound contradiction between industrialization and traditional handicrafts.

In response to this situation, Shang Yuan and Qin Tongren have the same attitude that an unprecedentedly strong government is necessary to promote industrialization.But the current situation is that Man Qing is still at least seemingly the strongest.This is why the two are extremely lacking in interest in the "democratic revolution".

The political views of the two of them represent the attitudes of a considerable number of people of insight in this era.The reason why this group of people opposed the republic in history was not because they had any deep-rooted hatred for the republic itself, but because they believed that the republic advocated by Sun Yat-sen and his group of birds could not realize the goal of saving the country and the people in practice.

Shang Yuan and Qin Tongren are political "centralizers", and the other is a hardliner who insists on "comprehensive state dominance" from the perspective of "big industry" and "complete industrial structure".Chen Ke's book just theoretically points out a feasible path for Shang Yuan and Qin Tongren, who are known as "stubborn reactionaries" in history.

The size of the party group is expanding day by day, and Shang Yuan and Qin Tongren continue to introduce various people to participate.There were 13 participants in this group meeting, and the topic was completely linking theory with practice——Looking at the living standards of Beijing people in terms of the development of honeycomb briquettes.

But that's what the title says, Qin Tongren has always been engaged in the military industry, and has no such experience in targeting people's livelihood.Looking at the data on the report, he found it completely unbelievable.After the power of industrialization is displayed, the handicraft industry has no chance to resist.Since briquettes were sold, many people have tried to imitate them.But just drilling holes in briquettes is a very "high-tech" job.The briquette factory uses machines, and the efficiency is not comparable to that of an individual.The counterfeiters spent so much energy that they couldn't make a few usable coals a day.Even if it is built, the labor paid cannot recover the cost.As a result, the expected manual competitors did not appear at all, and the sales of honeycomb briquettes continued to rise.

"Wen Qing, when do you think this peak will appear." Qin Tongren couldn't help asking.He very much hopes that the curve that seems to go straight up to the sky can run forever without stopping.

The secretary of this meeting was Su Wuming, and Chen Ke brought him here.He looked up at the report on the blackboard and asked, "Do you want to draw this too?" Su Wuming had never learned coordinates, so he felt that this thing was not pleasing to the eye.

Along with Su Wuming, there were also several students from the Imperial University.It is said that when Pu Yi came to the throne, there was a folk song circulating in the ancient city of Xi'an: "Don't pinch, don't count, the Xuantong is only two and a half years old."Two and a half years have passed, and the Qing Dynasty really fell as soon as it was said, without ambiguity at all.The hardcore people in society these days, even those who support the Qing Dynasty, do so out of their own interests, rather than being loyal to the Qing Dynasty.Even the students in the Beijing Normal University began to support the revolution. The fall of the Manchu Qing Dynasty first started from everyone's thinking.It has now reached the point of no return.

"Wu Ming, I made several copies of that, just put it in the file." Chen Ke replied.

Chapter 70

No. 70, to URL