young marshal spring and autumn

Since Zhang Zuolin had unified the Republic of China in name, it was time to pay the Boxer indemnity. Naturally, the great powers had some expectations for him.

In the year of Gengzi (1900), the Allied Forces of Eight Nations invaded China. The Qing government signed the "Xin Chou Treaty" in Beijing on September 11, 1901 with the envoys stationed in China of 9 countries including Germany, France, Russia, Britain, the United States, and Japan.The sixth paragraph stipulates that the compensation for Guanping silver of various countries is 7 million taels, with an annual interest of 4%, and it will be paid off in 5 years. manage.

This huge indemnity has completely reduced Chinese society to a semi-colonial and semi-feudal society, and it is also an unequal treaty with the largest single compensation in modern history.China's population at that time was about 45000 million people, and each Chinese was apportioned about one tael of silver as Boxer indemnity.The repayment of the principal and interest of the indemnity will be handled in Shanghai, and it will be collected by HSBC, Dehua, Daosheng, Huili, and Zhengjin Wu Bank first.The following year, Citibank of the United States set up a bank in Shanghai, participated in the formation of the Banking Committee, and distributed the principal and interest received to the designated banks in various countries.The Qing government thought that the customs revenue could only cover the old foreign debts. In order to raise reparations, the annual amount of more than 2121 million taels was apportioned to the provinces and customs, which caused land taxes, Ding Cao, grain donations, deed taxes, pawn taxes, salt price increases, and customs duties. ﹑Lijin﹑unified tax and various exorbitant taxes continued to increase.

As the price of silver fell when repaying the indemnity, countries insisted on "paying in gold at the market price on the date of repayment". By 1905, the pound owed 120 million pounds (800 million taels of silver). On April 4, in order to pay the difference, the Qing government borrowed 26 million pounds from HSBC with an annual interest of 100%, repaid in 5 years, and the total principal and interest was 20 pounds.With customs duties and Shanxi Provincial Tobacco and Alcohol Tax per cent as payment, the bonds were issued in London at a rate of 1525000%, and the market price was 97% to 99%.This loan is actually an additional burden of Boxer indemnity.

According to the provisions of the "Xin Chou Treaty", the Qing government paid a total of 4 million taels of silver to the eight western countries, and the United States should get more than 5 million taels of which, equivalent to more than 3200 million U.S. dollars. In early December 2400, Liang Cheng, Chinese Minister to the United States, argued with US Secretary of State John Hay on whether China's compensation should be paid in gold or silver.During the conversation, John Hai revealed a sentence: "Gengzi's compensation is too much---" This information was immediately captured by Liang Cheng.This shows that the U.S. government has discovered that its relevant departments have "boosted and falsely reported" the losses reported during the Boxer Rebellion.Liang Cheng very astutely gave up the negotiation strategy, and no longer entangled with John Hai about whether to use gold or silver for the compensation, but "take advantage of the gap to return the lost benefits."So he didn't miss any opportunity, and he lobbied around the US Congress and members of the Congress to return the untrue compensation, and he got unexpected gains.

At that time, domestic elites in the United States did not approve of material plundering. For example, Edmond & #8226; James, the president of the University of Illinois, believed: "Business follows spiritual domination, which is more reliable than following military flags." Therefore, he sent a memorandum to President Theodore & #1906; Roosevelt in early 8226, requesting the US government to accelerate the attraction of Chinese students to the United States.He urged the U.S. government to take measures to attract Chinese students to create a group of new leaders who will dominate China intellectually and spiritually for the United States: "Which country can educate this generation of Chinese youth, which country can be The effort expended, while the spiritual and commercial impact reaps maximum rewards."

On March 3 of the same year, American missionary Ming Enpu visited President Roosevelt at the White House. He suggested that the president return part of the boxer indemnity paid by the Qing government of China, and specialize in opening and subsidizing schools in China. In 6, Ming Enpu published the book "China and the United States Today", in which he pointed out that more Chinese intellectuals should be allowed to study in the United States.

Under the promotion and advocacy of Ming Enpu and others, Roosevelt proposed a consultation paper to Congress, pointing out: "Our country should help China to carry out education strictly, so that this huge number of citizens can gradually become harmonious in the modern world. The method of assistance It is advisable to recruit students to come to the United States and enter our universities and other institutions of higher learning, so that they can become successful in their studies and become great talents. I hope that the educational circles in our country will appreciate this kindness and work together to sponsor the country to become a grand event.”

On May 1908, 5, the U.S. Congress passed Roosevelt's speech.On July 25 of the same year, the US Minister to China, Ricky Rookie, made an official statement to the Chinese government that he would return half of the "Boxer Indemnity" received by the US to China as a subsidy for students studying in the US.The remaining part of the "actual compensation" includes compensation for the military expenses of the US sending troops to China and compensation for the losses of US businessmen and missionaries in China.

On October 10, the governments of the two countries drafted regulations for sending students studying in the United States: starting from the first year of the refund, the Qing government should send at least 28 students studying in the United States every year within the first four years.If 4 people are sent in the fourth year, at least 100 people will be sent to the United States every year from the fifth year until the refund is exhausted.The students to be dispatched must be "strong in body, pure in temperament, perfect in appearance, innocent in net worth, and of the right age". They must be able to compose in Chinese and have knowledge of literature and history. Among them, 4% should study agriculture, mechanical engineering, mining, physics, chemistry, railway engineering, banking, etc., and the remaining 400% ​​should study law, politics, finance and economics, teachers, etc.

At the same time, China and the United States also agreed that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Qing government would be responsible for establishing a training school for studying in the United States in Beijing.Therefore, in June 1909, Beijing established the Academic Affairs Office of Traveling Beauty, which was the embryonic form of Tsinghua University. In August 6, the Ministry of Internal Affairs allocated the royal family's garden --- Tsinghua Garden, to the Office of Academic Affairs as the site of the Youmei Siye Museum. The Office of Academic Affairs recruited the first batch of students in Shijia Hutong, from 1909 candidates Among them, 8 were admitted and went to the United States in October.This is the origin of the Geng money for students studying in the United States.

In August 1910, the second recruitment examination was held. More than 8 people took the exam, and finally 400 people were admitted.Among the second batch of Geng students studying in the United States, a famous Hu Shi came out later. He ranked 70th in the examination that year.In the same list are the later linguist Zhao Yuanren and meteorologist Zhu Kezhen.

At the beginning of 1911, the Tsinghua Preparatory School for Studying in the United States was formally established with the use of Geng funds to train students studying in the United States.In the following ten years, according to statistics, more than 1000 students were sent by Tsinghua University to study in the United States. Beginning in 1909, the United States returned part of the principal and interest apportioned as a fund for studying in the United States. According to official history, until June 1924, the remaining principal and interest of more than 6 million U.S. dollars was returned as the Chinese Education and Culture Fund.

The US refund has had a great international impact.After the outbreak of the First World War, the Beijing government declared war on Germany and Austria in August 1917, and from December of the same year, most of the payment of Geng’s payment was postponed for 8 years. Appropriate for domestic public bond funds.After the war subsided, China also set foot in the status of the victorious country. All countries expressed their willingness to be "friendly" with China in order to maintain and expand their interests in China by peaceful means. Refunds are widely used in China's educational and cultural undertakings and industries.In official history, Japan is the only country that never withdraws a penny. It used this money to develop armaments and establish education, and quickly became a powerful empire in the 12th century.

At the end of 1922, the date for the five-year postponement of delivery had arrived, but due to economic crises of various sizes that occurred in various countries in the world during the same period, China was "no exception"-this was Zhang Hanqing's deliberate move to show poverty. He believes that it is time to cancel this huge and unequal treaty that has greatly damaged the dignity of the people of the country.The fiscal revenue of local governments under the control of the Feng Clan accounts for more than 5% of the entire Republic of China. However, the old Feng Clan headed by Zhang Zuolin does not agree with the central government's "obligation" for compensation, which makes the central government headed by Jin Yunpeng fundamentally Incapable of "performing" its duties.The reason given by Zhang Hanqing at that time was: the country had not yet been unified, and the Feng Clan did not have the ability and obligation to be responsible for the events of the country as a whole.Jin Yunpeng could not request a suspension of payment by sending a note to China and foreign countries.

After the success of the October Socialist Revolution in Russia, the Soviet Russian government announced the renunciation of all the privileges of Imperial Russia in China, including the return of the unpaid part of the boxer indemnity, and the abolition of the privileges of the Russians in China. One: The Beiyang government recognizes the nascent Soviet regime. In October 1922, with the support of Zhang Hanqing, the two countries signed the "Sino-Russian Agreement", which stipulated that the refund will be used, except for the repayment of various debts of the Chinese government with Russian money as collateral, and the remainder will be used for Chinese education. China and the Soviet Union sent personnel to form a fund committee (Russian Committee for Returning the Boxer Indemnity) to deal with it.

The United States has decided to turn to support Zhang Hanqing at this time, so it is not too pressing on this matter.Only France, the United Kingdom, and Japan clung to it, but the central government had no money, the "financial minister" was not in charge, and the imperialist countries did not dare to push China into the arms of the Soviet Union, so they had to postpone it for another year. , but the customs are all in the hands of foreign countries.

Now that the Feng faction controls the central government, old things are brought up again.Of course, the Zhangs and his sons did not want to let the money flow out for nothing, and had no choice but to repay the debt.But unless Zhang Hanqing completely overthrows the old order like the Communist Party did later, and refuses to recognize it at all, otherwise the word "reason" cannot be bypassed.

However, the conditions for overthrowing everything are immature: the United States, Japan, Britain, France and other countries have just signed the "Washington Treaty" and reached an "open door" policy towards China. At least on the surface, they have entered a "harmonious period". .With China's strength, it is really arrogant to start a full-scale war with the imperialism of the East and the West. I am afraid that the people of the future will call themselves the second Cixi.

However, the European and American imperialists announced that they would give up the remaining part of the boxer indemnity, but in actual operation, they always used this as an excuse to control the customs.However, the current situation really requires that "to fight against the outside world, we must first secure the inside." After many years of foreign aggression, I really don't care about it for a while.A little intolerance will lead to chaos and big plans. If the country cannot become stronger as soon as possible, the days of being insulted are still to come.

The least authentic is Japan.Japan sent special envoy Yamamoto, who is also the chairman of the "Manchurian Railway", to amend the Japanese part of the Boxer Indemnity as follows: "The Japanese Empire agreed to consider suspending the Boxer Indemnity. The facilities along the road will be handed over to the Japanese side for 20 years."

The so-called "Manchuria Railway", the full name is "South Manchuria Railway Co., Ltd". And also fully acted as the super logistics department of the Kwantung Army.As early as 1905, after the Russo-Japanese War, Japan seized from Russia the right to the south of Changchun on the South Manchuria branch of the Dongqing Railway in Northeast China, and then Japan established the "South Manchuria Railway Co., Ltd."On the surface, this is a joint-stock company, but in fact it is the stronghold of Japan's invasion of China. Its previous presidents were all directly appointed by the Japanese government.

As far as Japanese imperialism is concerned, without the support of the Japanese monopoly chaebol, it would not be able to carry out a war of aggression, because military strength is based on economic strength. At the time of the "September 1th" Incident, Japan's Kwantung Army had only more than 4 people, and they occupied the three eastern provinces in just over four months.Without the participation, cooperation and support of the powerful "Manchurian Railway", it would be difficult for the Kwantung Army to succeed.

这时的“满铁”已经在东北拥有了4。4亿的资本、1100公里的铁路、480平方公里的铁路附属地，还有将近4万名职工和50多个关系会社。它秉承主子的意旨，又盯上了被张汉卿视为对“南满铁路”重要限制和东北战略大动脉的“京哈线”。

Zhang Zuolin, who was already in power, would naturally not do such a thing of "leaving his name in history" and digging his own grave, but he did not want to have such a strong resistance from Japan at the major historical juncture where the Gengzi indemnity might be completely cancelled, and because of this, it will be completely eliminated in China. It is not wise to turn against Japan when the economy is restored, so it only privately stated that it could negotiate with Japan and instruct the government to conclude a secret peace treaty with Japan.But in return, the Japanese government must first clearly abandon the Boxer indemnity policy.

In this way, the Soviet Union took the lead, the United States demonstrated, and Japan gave up either explicitly or implicitly. The unanimity of the major powers with strong geopolitical influence on China soon became the unanimous follow-up of the signatories.Under pressure from major powers such as the United States, the Soviet Union, Japan, and Germany, or those with a dominant indemnity ratio, to renounce indemnity, the complete abolition of Boxer indemnity from all countries was a matter of course, and the great powers agreed.