1905: Beer Hall Speaker

Page 23

This is political inertia. Even if there is a change of dynasty, you can't completely change the officials. The Manchus couldn't do it when they seized the Central Plains, so it's even more impossible for Zhao Yan, a Han Chinese, to come to power.

Because Zhao Yan couldn't possibly conjure up so many officials in a short period of time. Governing the local area, communicating information up and down the chain of command, appeasing those below, and satisfying those above—these all sound very simple.

The things the officials seem to be doing are the kind of things that "I could do too"—they seem to be doing nothing of substance, just some formalities, you could put a dog in there.

But in reality, you won't see the truly important things unless you're one of them, unless you go into that office and look at the real minutes and documents, not just the newspaper reports.

You also need to actually attend those core meetings—note, the kind that aren't on TV news, because the meetings that are on TV are all just pointless chatter about "I could do that too."

The officialdom you see on TV and in novels is a completely different world from the officialdom in government building conference rooms and offices! The former is all about power struggles, while the latter is only half about power struggles, with the rest being mostly about governance and administration that you will never know about.

Despite the various problems with the Manchu bureaucratic system, Zhao Yan had no choice but to continue using it and wait for a new generation of bureaucrats to emerge.

The most important thing for a regime is to first establish effective rule, and then improve the quality of rule. You have to eat your food one bite at a time and drink your soup one spoonful at a time.

Now, Zhao Yan, using Zhang Zhidong as a significant bargaining chip, has expressed his desire to unite the Manchu Han officials. Zhang Zhidong has also seen through Zhao Yan's purpose, and instead of refusing, he appreciates this young man even more.

After their public political show, the two went to the Zhang family residence for a private conversation, where they made serious compromises on their political interests.

Zhao Yan promised to treat the Han officials who survived and supported the revolution well and to evaluate and retain them. However, the Han officials must firmly support the advancement of the revolutionary cause and completely sever ties with the Manchu Qing dynasty. Of course, this requirement was not applied to officials in the Qing-occupied areas, but only to officials in the revolutionary areas.

Zhang Zhidong was satisfied with Zhao Yan's promise and agreed with and understood his request, while also offering his own supplementary suggestions.

That is, Zhao Yan had previously promised to conduct a large-scale "imperial examination". Zhang Zhidong made a request that "outstanding officials" be given certain preferential treatment, such as opening some back doors for their children, which is equivalent to protecting them.

Furthermore, officials' past deeds during previous dynasties should not be investigated, including but not limited to corruption, suppression of the Korean uprising, and praising the Qing dynasty.

Zhang Zhidong also offered some minor suggestions regarding other requests, such as the handling of official or semi-official assets like the Hanyang Ironworks, arsenals, and railways.

Zhao Yan only gave a six-word reply to these opinions and requests: "In principle, no problem!"

Zhang Zhidong had been in officialdom for decades and had lived for nearly seventy years. This was the first time he had heard such a reply, and countless question marks appeared in the old man's eyes.

But Zhao Yan just smiled mysteriously and didn't give any further answers.

The old man eventually had no choice but to accept the outcome. After all, times had changed, and this was all the old man, now in his twilight years, could do.

After finishing his tea, Zhao Yan left Zhang Zhidong's residence. He didn't ask what Zhang Zhidong's reward was; there was no need to ask, as a smart person would know the answer.

Zhao Yan knew that from now on, the officials in Huguang would not only obey his orders, but also respond to them. Previously, they obeyed under duress, but after Zhang Zhidong had done the ideological work, they would respond actively and proactively.

Chapter 41 Selflessness? Fearlessness?

Three days after Zhao Yan and Zhang Zhidong concluded their meeting, all officials in the three towns of Wuhan cut off their queues and shaved their heads. At the same time, officials in various parts of Hubei and Hunan who had previously only revolted and had not cut their queues also shaved their heads.

Under the leadership of Huguang, officials in the southern provinces began to cut off their queues, and the general public also began to cut off their queues on a large scale.

Neither the revolutionary army nor the provisional government ever issued a mandatory order to cut off queues; at most, they only required officers and soldiers who joined the revolutionary army to cut off their queues.

The spontaneous wave of queue-cutting that has now formed in various parts of the south has initially confirmed the influence and prestige of the revolutionary regime.

This is the benefit of appeasement: it shows no mercy where violence is necessary, but avoids excessive use of violence where appeasement is appropriate.

We need to earn the respect of the local people, but also their respect; we must avoid a situation where things appear harmonious on the surface but are not truly harmonious at heart.

However, some of Zhao Yan's actions also aroused dissatisfaction within the Party, especially among the radical Zhao faction led by Wu Zifu. They were very dissatisfied with Zhao Yan's "appeasement" policy, believing it to be a sign of weakness and an inability to demonstrate the will for a thorough revolution.

The radical Zhao faction is a division made by outsiders within the Revival Party, with Wu Zifu as its representative, and those below him being the most fanatical revolutionaries within the Revival Party.

This doesn't mean that the rest of the Revival Party members, apart from the radical Zhao faction, were not revolutionary; it simply means that the radical Zhao faction members had more extreme and radical revolutionary ideas.

Wu Zifu had already gone south with the army to Yueyang, but he still rushed back halfway to ask to see Zhao Yan. No one could stop him; this young man was too stubborn.

Rushing all the way to the Governor's Mansion in Wuchang, Wu Zifu met Zhao Yan and, without any pretense, asked directly, "Teacher, do you still stand by what you said before?"

Zhao Yan was stunned when he saw Wu Zifu return: "Didn't you go south with the army? How come you're here?"

Wu Zifu did not answer Zhao Yan's question, but insisted on asking his own: "Teacher, please answer my question first!"

Zhao Yan's confusion deepened: "What's the problem?"

Wu Zifu said, "If the revolution is not thorough, then it is not a revolution at all. You said that, so does it still count?"

Zhao Yan nodded, put down his pen, and solemnly replied, "Of course, this is my conviction, and also my understanding of the revolution!"

Wu Zifu was even more indignant: "Then why did you, teacher, go to such lengths to befriend that corrupt old Qing bureaucratic group? Is this your practical implementation of a thorough revolution?"

Zhao Yan was also furious. He slammed his hand on the table and stood up, saying, "Are you questioning me? Or are you trying to teach me how to do things?"

Wu Zifu was fearless: "Teacher, I am just trying to reason with you. Why has your revolutionary attitude suddenly become weak? Why are you compromising with that group of old bureaucrats?"

Haven't they harmed this country enough? Couldn't the revolution have succeeded without them?

Wu Zifu felt that Zhao Yan had changed and was no longer the same as before. Before the Changsha Uprising, Zhao Yan was so passionate and spirited.

Zhao Yan has become increasingly conservative, and he is not as resolute as he used to be, both internally and externally.

While shaking his head, Wu Zifu recounted, "Teacher, what's wrong with you? Why have you become like this? Last year, we were in Shanghai and Jiaxing, penniless and constantly being hunted by the police."

Back then, you were full of fighting spirit, never compromised, and never admitted defeat! But now we have a revolutionary army, a provisional government, and a more powerful revival party.

But without realizing it, you've become timid and hesitant, compromising yourselves internally and yielding externally—a complete departure from the original ideal of a thorough revolution to shatter the old world!

Zhao Yan was dumbfounded. He was heartbroken, but he couldn't say anything!

Back then, I was just fooling you guys, planning to scam you out of money. Now, I've finally developed some bigger ambitions and am ready to lead you in a proper revolution!

When I was a conman, you called me the purest revolutionary. Now that I'm planning to lead you all in a proper revolution, you call me an opportunist? Is there no law or justice in this world?!

Even Zhao Yan, with his good temper, couldn't hold back any longer: "Wu Zifu, Minister Wu, Representative Wu, as the plenipotentiary party representative of the southward-bound army, you should follow your troops at all times and pay close attention to their movements."

Instead of abandoning the troops halfway, disregarding orders, and running back to question the leader with fabricated charges!

Wu Zifu laughed: "Arrested charges? But I only believe the irrefutable facts I see!"

"You have been dodging the question and have not answered it directly. You have become a politician who only cares about interests, instead of a revolutionary who upholds ideals!"

Zhao Yan picked up the official kiln teacup beside him and smashed it hard against the door frame behind Wu Zifu, but Wu Zifu did not dodge at all, and just stared at Zhao Yan with a stubborn look on his face.

"The Führer?" The guards rushed in, wondering what had happened from the commotion.

"Get out! Don't come in without my orders. I'm going to teach this Party representative who deserted his post a lesson!"

Zhao Yan stared at his disciple, who always called him teacher, and sighed, "Alas, do you think that revolution should be about the selfless dedication and fearless sacrifice of revolutionaries?"

I will explain and answer your questions one by one, but I also hope that you can understand my choice after you get the answers.

"First of all, they're offering huge rewards to their own people. You think they're using money to drive the revolutionary army to fight, instead of using revolutionary ideals, right?"

Wu Zifu nodded: "Yes, an army that is only held together by interests will fall apart if those interests are no longer there!"

"Only an army armed with revolutionary beliefs can be an iron-willed and powerful army!"

Zhao Yan did not refute, but asked directly: "Then let me ask you, do you understand the purpose of those soldiers joining the revolution, or what their understanding of revolution is?"

Is it so-called equality for all? Is it national independence? Is it the rise of the nation?

"No, none of that! You come from a wealthy family in Guangzhou. You don't understand the hardships of ordinary people at all, and you don't know what the real predicaments are for those at the bottom."

"What they lack most right now is not equality, independence, or national prosperity, but tangible things like money, food, land, and wives!"

"Pursuing personal interests and pursuing national interests, achieving personal goals and achieving revolutionary goals are not contradictory. Revolution is not only about pursuing overall goals, but also about taking into account the interests of every individual."

What you understand as offering substantial rewards is, in my view, exactly what every soldier deserves, because what we've reclaimed is all that we had previously lost.

Shouldn't soldiers who fight and die in battle be paid and compensated? This is simply a matter of a government's responsibility!

"If we don't give it now, we'll have to give it even more in the future!"

"Yes, we can certainly demand selfless dedication and unnecessary sacrifice from every revolutionary soldier and party member with lofty and sacred revolutionary ideals, but have you thought about the future cost?"

Wu Zifu asked in confusion: "What price will we pay in the future?"

Zhao Yan murmured, "Every gift from fate comes with a price tag attached in secret!"

"Free things are always the most expensive! The selfless are always the most selfish!"

“If we give it now, it’s a problem that can be solved with silver and land. If we don’t give it now, then in the future, we’ll only be able to solve these problems with privileges.”

"I have never believed in the existence of a free lunch, nor do I expect everyone to be selfless and fearless. As long as you are human, you will have desires and pursuits."

"Now I have given them enough rewards. If they make mistakes in the future, there will be no reason to explain, because the revolution has never owed you anything, and the country owes you even less."

“But if I choose to let them dedicate themselves selflessly and sacrifice themselves without hesitation, then in the future they will become a huge privileged group. The reason is precisely because of their fearlessness and selflessness. The revolutionary cause owes them, the country owes them, and this debt will turn into privilege.”

"Even if you spend ten or a hundred times more money than you do now, they will still not be satisfied. They will only think that this country belongs to them and this revolutionary cause belongs to them!"

Wu Zifu said, "Why should we let things that haven't happened in the future influence the present? You are using idealism to speculate, which does not conform to the materialist concept you have told us."

"I believe my comrades are not that kind of people. They are not even afraid of death, so why would they betray their beliefs for privilege?"

Zhao Yan said, "Yes, this is indeed something that hasn't happened yet, but as I've said before, we should analyze problems from a dialectical perspective and look at things from a developmental point of view."

"Not now, but who can guarantee it won't happen in the future? You can hold onto your beliefs, but what about your children and grandchildren? Will they be able to hold onto them?"

"Anyone can talk big, but when it comes to actually doing things, who can truly remain untouched by worldly affairs? It's easier to conquer a country than to govern it!"

“I have always believed that demanding selflessness and fearlessness from subordinates in the name of revolution is just being a rogue, using the future to mortgage the present. I don’t want to see the descendants of the second and third generations of revolutionaries acting recklessly because of your current contributions decades from now.”

"Therefore, I believe that giving everyone what they deserve now is a responsibility to the younger generation. No one should owe anyone anything, and that is true equality."

"Give me what you're owed right now. Don't keep whining about your past contributions. You have to take it, whether you want to or not!"

"From now on, I can deal with anyone who makes a mistake without any mercy, without worrying about the reputation of discarding them after they've served their purpose, because I've already given them everything I was owed!"

"If they take what they shouldn't, I will show them no mercy. That's the equality of revolution!"

Wu Zifu fell silent. He realized that what Zhao Yan said made sense; revolution was not a reason for everyone to abandon their interests and become completely selfless.

Because the benefits are there, they won't disappear. If you don't take them, someone else will. Everyone enjoys benefits equally according to their contributions. Is this still called promising huge profits? This is called fair distribution!

If someone is shouting that revolutionaries should be selfless and shouldn't make revolutions for personal gain, that person is either bad or stupid.

Should the final benefits be distributed among a tiny minority of people who claim to be selfless revolutionaries, while the vast majority of truly selfless people gain nothing?

In the end, it becomes a situation where the state owes them something, and the only solution is to use special privileges, while those who actually benefit continue to enjoy those privileges? Is that fair?

Chapter 42 Disagreements and Conflicts

Zhao Yan provided explanations for the internal issues, and also offered answers regarding the issue of compromise with external parties.

“Zifu, you ask me why I was weak and compromised with the old bureaucratic group. I absolutely do not acknowledge that this was a compromise or weakness. This is the art of united front work in revolution, and also the concept of unity in political science.”

“I have said that what I uphold is a nationalist revolution. I am a nationalist and I represent the Han people. Those Han officials are also Han compatriots. Why should I regard them as enemies? Why can't I regard them as a friendly force that can be won over?”

"Whether you acknowledge it or not, and whether you hold a positive or hostile attitude, the Han officials and the scholars behind them are still the elite class of our nation. This is an objective fact, and they are currently an irreplaceable elite group!"

"The imperial examination system, which has lasted for over a thousand years, has cultivated countless officials and scholars. The saying 'Those who excel in their studies will become officials' has influenced the Chinese people for many years. Have you ever thought about that?"

"My attitude towards Han officials is being watched not only by officials throughout the land, but also by scholars everywhere! Because they are the future officials!"

"I don't deny that we can indeed mobilize some intellectuals to join us, but are you confident that you can get all the intellectuals in the world to stand with us against the old bureaucratic system?"

"What do you want me to do? Kill all the Han officials, completely extinguish the hopes of all scholars in the world, and let them know that there is no future in studying to become an official, and that the only option is revolution."

"What the Manchus dared not do when they entered the Central Plains, how dare I do now? The Manchus only abolished the imperial examination system, how dare I uproot it entirely?"

Does killing all Manchu and Han officials mean offending all scholars in the world? Does killing all Manchu and Han officials mean uprooting the imperial examination system? Theoretically, no, but in reality, if you do it, others will think so!

If you think about it carefully, more than 90% of the Han officials in the Qing Dynasty came from the imperial examination system. What does the imperial examination system represent? Isn't it the ultimate ideal of "excelling in studies and becoming an official" for all scholars in the world?

These Han officials were the elite of the elite, selected from among the scholars through layers of screening. Even if you killed them all, or even dismissed them all, it would be tantamount to cutting yourself off from the scholar community and completely extinguishing their hopes.

This is 1906, not 1966!

You, a nationalist, have abandoned and driven the entire elite class of the nation to the opposite side. What kind of nationalist revolution are you talking about?

Zhao Yan became more and more excited as he spoke: "Whether you admit it or not, you were once a scholar who tried to take the imperial examinations. You should understand what the ultimate pursuit of scholars is."

Don't give me that empty talk about serving the people and continuing the legacy of the sages. In the end, you study not to pick chrysanthemums by the eastern fence and leisurely gaze at the southern mountains, but to become officials!

You know very well that the intellectual class is the elite of our nation. Tell me, how should I treat them? Kill them all? Or hold a knife to their throats and force them to revolt?

“If one out of ten of them could produce a person like you, Wu Zifu, I could force them to revolt with a knife. But if one out of a hundred of them can’t produce a revolutionary like you, Wu Zifu, then I can only try to win over the majority.”

Wu Zifu continued to argue, "We can train revolutionaries to take their place. Five-legged toads are hard to find, but there are plenty of people who want to be officials."

"Can't we train revolutionaries to take over?"

Zhao Yan retorted, "What about time? I'd like to too, but who's going to give me the time! Or are you greenhorns going to become high-ranking officials in the central government?"

"You lot can't even hold your positions as Party representatives in the military properly, let alone oversee hundreds or thousands of soldiers. You haven't even been given command or deployment yet, and you're already making countless mistakes."

"Do you really think being an official is so easy? What departments does a county have? How do you coordinate and command them? How do you prevent local unrest? How do you balance local stability with the interests of the central government?"

You probably haven't even figured out these most basic questions yet, have you? You can't even do the job of supervising the troops properly, how can you expect to govern a region?

You can't even understand the details of each individual matter, yet you want to manage every local task? With a thousand threads above and a single needle below, how can you possibly govern a region?