Twentieth Century Chronicle

Page 57

Upon hearing of their arrival, Lin Xinyi was already waiting on the steps. After greeting them, Lin Xinyi led the way and said, "A minister has already handed over his seal. We are currently receiving the archives and treasury documents from the government office. It looks a bit chaotic, but things should be back to normal by tonight."

Following Lin Xinyi up the stone platform, Zhang Yintang, who was standing on the platform, couldn't help but ask him, "How did you persuade the ministers?"

Lin Xinyi did not show any smugness, as if he had just done a routine official duty, and replied to Zhang Yintang: "Oh, it was just to analyze the situation for the ministers and officials in the government office, to let them know that we are not their enemies."

Zhang Yintang said nothing more, since You Tai was already waiting for him in the hall, and he naturally couldn't presume to continue chatting with Lin Xinyi there. Zhang Yintang stepped forward and greeted You Tai, who invited him inside to talk, while Lin Xinyi and Wu Luzhen waited outside. Only then did Wu Luzhen have time to carefully inquire about what had happened.

Even after learning about Lin Xinyi's plan, Wu Luzhen still felt uneasy. He said, "Are we really just going to let them get away with this? They've been causing such trouble on the frontier. How can we warn others if we don't punish them?"

Lin Xinyi glanced at the decorations of the small building and casually replied, "Uniting with secondary enemies to strike the primary enemy—that's what a united front is. Although they are also our enemies, at this time our primary enemy is still the British, and even some Tibetans. Spreading our strength across them will only make it harder for us to defeat the British. As long as they don't jump out to obstruct our main objective, there's no need to waste too much strength on them."

Thinking about his meeting with the Dalai Lama these past two days, Wu Luzhen finally sighed and began to talk to Lin Xinyi about the meeting. Lin Xinyi wasn't surprised at all. He said to Wu Luzhen, "I investigated the backgrounds of the soldiers stationed in Tibet in Tashi City, and I discovered something: there is no commoner class in Tibet at all."

Here, there are only serfs, nobles of all ranks, and monks who are dependent on the land. As for the common people in Tibet, they generally refer to foreigners or people from the mainland. They are not in the Tibetan network of personal dependence, so they have the right to travel freely and choose their profession.

Although the British army was an invader, in terms of social status, they were actually a class higher than the Tibetan serfs, similar to the Mongols or people from the mainland, and were entitled to sit on equal footing with the nobles.

Therefore, this network of personal dependence is Tibet, and the land is merely a tool for serfs to work and support nobles and monks. In the eyes of monks and nobles, a few defeats on the battlefield are nothing, and even losing Gyantse is nothing. As long as the British army does not destroy the temples and nobles who control the area, they are not actually concerned about making peace with the British.

The Dalai Lama's attempt to get monasteries and nobles to provide private armies and funds for Tibet's war effort is clearly a violation of Tibetan traditional culture, and naturally, few are willing to support him. As for the monks and laypeople who support the Dalai Lama, they are merely marginalized groups far removed from power. They lack both military and financial resources, and therefore do not find the Dalai Lama's demands offensive.

After listening, Wu Luzhen seemed to be deep in thought, and soon asked Lin Xinyi, "Then how can we get the support of the temples and nobles?"

After a moment's thought, Lin Xinyi said, "To redistribute interests, the British army's elimination of the main force of the Tibetan army means the decline of the nobility's power. We should first unite with the secular forces of Tibet to regulate the power of the monasteries, and then use the opportunity of rebuilding the Tibetan army to cultivate a military force independent of the monks and nobles. That way, our voice in Tibet will increase, and we can then promote political, economic, and religious reforms in Tibet..."

While the two were talking, Zhang Yintang and You Tai finished their handover and then called the two men inside for another talk. After You Tai left, Zhang Yintang couldn't wait to ask Lin Xinyi, "How did you promise Minister You and the others that you would make up for their deficits and not investigate their corruption and abuse of power during their tenure?"

Chapter 195 On Reform

Although Lin Feng did indeed reach a consensus within the Resident Minister's Office in a very short time—a feat Zhang Yintang admitted he couldn't match—Lin Feng's significant concessions to these corrupt officials made him feel that such an achievement was somewhat insignificant. This was merely a superficial solution, giving these corrupt officials an opportunity to completely cover up their problems, which clearly couldn't rectify the atmosphere within the Resident Minister's Office.

In response to Zhang Yintang's dissatisfaction, Lin Xinyi bluntly asked, "Lord Zhang, who else can we rely on here besides the Tibetan garrison? The imperial court's more than two hundred years of separate governance between Han and Tibetan people has resulted in Tibetans today being close to the court, but not considering themselves to be part of the same country as the Han people."

In other words, there were quite a few Tibetans who considered Tibet an independent country, like Outer Mongolia, Korea, and Vietnam, and thus an external vassal state. Furthermore, the lowest-ranking serfs were not even allowed to leave their homes without their lord's permission. In mainland China, land was property, but in Tibet, people were property.

Didn't we hear Tibetans singing folk songs like this on our way to Tibet? "There are wild beasts without owners on the mountains, but no people without owners below." In other words, within Lhasa, there isn't really a commoner class; everyone is either a serf or the master of a serf.

The so-called Spring Capital Assembly was essentially a meeting between a group of nobles and a group of monks. These monks were also serf owners in Tibet, albeit indirectly owning their serfs through their temples. Does Lord Zhang really think these slave owners can hold out against the British?

Zhang Yintang also knew the problem in Tibet, and he was also clear about the British methods of ruling India. Therefore, he said with a solemn expression: "Of course I know that Tibetans are unreliable. The British have been in India for two or three hundred years. They are most experienced in dealing with these local emperors. As long as they recognize the ruling power of these local emperors and force them to be loyal to the British King, they can slowly erode the ruling power of these local states."

Our past governance of Tibet has indeed been far too crude. Given its vast territory, sparse population, and abundant mineral resources, we should have adopted the system of the various Indian kingdoms, treating it as a colony of our dynasty. However, to do so, we must first demonstrate the authority of the imperial court, reform the corrupt practices in Tibet, and thus win the hearts of the Tibetan people…”

Lin Xinyi hadn't expected that Zhang Yintang was actually from the Showa era's staff school. He could only state his opposition clearly: "I don't think this is a good idea. The British were able to colonize India only because no other country intervened at the time. Now that Britain's ambitions toward Tibet have been revealed, if the court doesn't think about uniting the Tibetan people and still wants to treat Tibet as a colony, then the Tibetan people will inevitably turn away from the central government and truly side with Britain. This is a dead end."

After pondering for a long time, Zhang Yintang asked in return, "If we don't do this, then we can only watch as the British gradually erode Tibet's power, and eventually, like Nepal, Dhemengxiong, and Bhutan, we will secede from China. It's a matter of either reforming or not reforming; we might as well try to change things in order to find a glimmer of hope."

Lin Xinyi nodded and then shook his head, saying, "I support reforms in Tibet, but I oppose the kind of political reforms Britain implemented in India, similar to those for princely states. Such reforms may seem to bring power back to the central government, but they also eliminate any shared interests between the central government and the princely states. This is especially unsuitable for a declining China, as it forces rebellions in border regions."

Having traveled with Lin Xinyi, Zhang Yintang knew that although the man was young, he possessed great wisdom and insight. He would likely have dismissed the objections of others, knowing they couldn't offer any alternative solutions. However, regarding Lin Xinyi's objections, he chose to consult him: "If we don't do this, what other methods do you think the court has to quickly and completely control Tibet and thwart the British's greed?"

After a moment of contemplation, Lin Xinyi spoke, “The court should support reforms in Tibet, but the direction of these reforms should not be to centralize power, but rather to liberate Tibetan serfs, alleviate the suffering of the Tibetan people, and curb the unchecked power of monasteries and nobles. Only in this way can the central government truly gain the support of the Tibetan people and ensure that monks and nobles cannot incite them against the central government. If the majority of the more than one million Tibetans support us, what do we have to worry about with the British and Tibetan centrifugals?”

After thinking for a long time, Zhang Yintang said, "What you said is certainly true, but is it feasible? The monks and nobles in Tibet depend on the serfs for their livelihood. If we ask them to emancipate the serfs, I am worried that they will directly side with the British. With our current strength, I am afraid it will be difficult to fight against the British who have the support of the Tibetans."

Lin Xinyi nodded in agreement, saying, "Lord Zhang is right. If we directly propose the liberation of serfs, even the Dalai Lama will give up fighting the British and instead turn to deal with us, the enemies of Buddhism who want to destroy the foundation of Tibet."

Therefore, we must proceed step by step, first establishing the legal basis for China's rule over Tibet, then demanding that Tibetans reach a consensus to resist the British invasion, obtaining authorization from the Tibetan People's Congress to establish the Tibetan Border Defense Army, and liberating the freedom of soldiers and their families in the name of establishing the Tibetan Border Defense Army, so that the army and their families can become free people in Tibet first.

With such a free force, uncontrolled by nobles and temples, we can use it as a foundation to liberate the serfs who serve the army, and then seek to open up transportation routes between the interior and Tibet, establish schools in Tibet to spread knowledge, and send some Tibetans to the interior to study, thus laying a solid foundation for further reforms in Tibet…”

Zhang Yintang was somewhat conflicted. The path of reform described by Lin Xinyi was quite different from the one he had considered. Of course, the two of them agreed that they wanted to reform Tibet. If Tibet did not change, it would truly no longer belong to China.

After weighing the options several times, he finally decided to try Lin Xinyi's method first. His own path could only be implemented after the British withdrew from Tibet, and it was clearly impossible to carry it out under the current circumstances. Lin Xinyi's method, on the other hand, could at least be tried now. After all, with the British army soon to reach Lhasa, the Dalai Lama, monks, and nobles didn't have much courage to offend the imperial court as well.

However, he still asked Lin Xinyi, "Even so, isn't it too lenient of you to let these corrupt officials go like this? Can they really repent and start anew?"

Lin Xinyi shook his head and said, "This is what I want to suggest to you, sir. The current office of the Resident Minister in Tibet should also undergo a complete reform. We can't let these people control any real affairs anymore. We must force them to do things. Even those who are unwilling to do things, we can't let them ruin our plans."

After hesitating for a moment, Zhang Yintang finally said, "Reforming the system of the Resident Minister's Office in Tibet is probably not something I can do; it requires the permission of the imperial court."

Lin Xinyi said, “This is the significance of You Tai and his group’s existence. Under the current circumstances, Lord Zhang can issue a document to the court in their name and then establish a temporary system. It takes at least half a year for the mainland to travel to and from Lhasa. If we slow down the messengers, a year will have passed. No matter what the court decides, at least we can now truly establish the Lhasa office.”

Zhang Yintang was momentarily speechless. He suddenly felt that Lin Feng at this moment was quite similar to Yuan Shikai; both of them were relentless in achieving their goals, only the latter lacked a bit of public-spiritedness. A thought struck him, and he casually asked, "How do you plan to change it?"

Lin Xinyi leaned forward slightly and looked at Zhang Yintang, saying, "Under the ministers, an office will be set up to manage internal and external documents and seals. All internal and external documents must be issued through the office. A confidential office will be set up within the office to handle telecommunications, and an archives room will be set up for filing and future reference."

The General Office was to establish a Police Bureau, a Military Affairs Bureau, an Education Bureau, and a Propaganda Bureau. The Police Bureau should not only be responsible for the security of the government office and its surrounding area, but should also be a pioneer in promoting the establishment of a police headquarters in Lhasa; the Military Affairs Bureau would control all armed forces within Tibet; the Education Bureau would similarly prepare for the promotion of education throughout Tibet; and the Propaganda Bureau would be responsible for conveying the voice of the imperial court and the Resident Minister in Tibet to ordinary Tibetans, and controlling the discourse of the three major monasteries and the Kashag government to prevent the emergence of pro-British or pro-Russian voices…”

Both Zhang Yintang and Wu Luzhen nodded in agreement after hearing Lin Xinyi's proposal to reorganize the Resident Minister's Office in Tibet. Wu Luzhen also said, "If it is reorganized in this way, then we don't need to worry about ministers and General Ma causing any trouble. They won't have a chance to speak unless they leave Tibet."

Zhang Yintang was very interested in the plan to establish the Lhasa Police Department, as this was the institution that most directly reflected the central government's power. Previously, although the Qing Resident Minister in Tibet possessed many powers, they all had to be implemented through the Kashag government. When the Qing army controlled the Tibetan army, the Kashag government naturally obeyed obediently. However, after Qishan petitioned to abolish the responsibility of the resident officers and soldiers in Tibet to train Tibetan troops, the Resident Minister's office lost control over the Kashag government.

The duty of the officers and soldiers stationed in Tibet to train Tibetan soldiers, in addition to being able to control the Tibetan army, is that if all Tibetan nobles do not choose to rise to prominence through the path of monks, they will choose to start as military officers or civil officials in the Kashag government. However, the latter is almost monopolized by the great nobles, and it is difficult for ordinary minor nobles to rise to prominence through the civil official path. Therefore, minor nobles who have the ability to rise to prominence generally emerge from the army.

What Qishan actually eliminated was not the communication channels between Han and Tibetan peoples, but the influence of the imperial court on the officials of the Kashag. As a result, after 1857, the orders issued by the Resident Minister in Tibet were increasingly disregarded by the Kashag government. Even the British said that Chinese officials had no say at all, and that if you wanted to negotiate with Tibet, you had to go through the local officials.

If the Qing government's office in Tibet could directly control the police department in Lhasa, it would be able to regain some control over the government of the Kashag (Tibetan government). After all, most of the nobles lived in Lhasa, and the three most powerful monasteries in Central Tibet were also located there. Controlling Lhasa would be equivalent to controlling the Central Tibet region, and there would be nothing left for Tibet to cause trouble.

While the three were discussing reforms in Tibet, on July 14th, British Brigadier General MacDonald led 2000 British troops from Gyantse toward Lhasa. In reality, London did not want the British Indian government to go too far on the Tibetan issue; London was now more concerned about the collapse and fragmentation of the Qing Empire, which would benefit the Russians.

If the Qing Empire were to collapse now, the Russians would gain control of Xinjiang, Outer Mongolia, and Manchuria, and might even advance into Northwest China, while Britain would be powerless to stop them. Therefore, London repeatedly ordered Lord Curzon, the Governor-General of India, not to allow British Indian troops to cross Gyantse into Lhasa, to avoid a chain reaction.

Chapter 196 Spring Capital Conference

The current Governor-General of India, Sir Joseph Curzon, is an imperialist who traveled across Eurasia as a member of parliament and wrote works such as "Russia in Central Asia," "Persia and the Persian Question," and "The Far Eastern Question."

He represented a typical political ideology of the Victorian era: the sun would never set over the territory of the empire, and any force that attempted to challenge imperial hegemony should be severely punished until they accepted their defeat.

His political proposition was that in order to maintain the British Empire's overseas "borders" and hegemony, Britain should use India as a base to compete with Russia for Central Asia, and rely on India to "open up the land and rail routes to the Far East," and consolidate its dominant position in the Far East through naval protection.

The current Commander-in-Chief of the British Indian Army, Viscount Horatio Herbert Kitchener, represents another kind of British imperialism. As an officer who experienced the Sudanese uprising and the Boer War in South Africa, Viscount Kitchener was well aware that the British Empire had actually begun to weaken, the people in the colonies were gradually awakening, and new forces that were trying to challenge the hegemony of the British Empire were emerging one after another.

Therefore, the most pressing matter for the British Empire at present is not to further compete with Russia for Central Asia and to completely drive Russian forces away from the border of India, but to defend the security of India, the cornerstone of the British Empire.

Aside from differing views on the future of the British Empire, the two imperialists were actually in agreement on the security of India, the current core of the British Empire. Therefore, after assuming their respective posts in India, they actively promoted a long-term national policy of the British Indian government: three buffer zones, two concentric circles, and one inland lake.

Of the three "buffer zones," the first was "Tibet under British administration"; the second was the Indian Ocean, which meant that "the countries along the Indian Ocean were under British control, and the navy guarded all the passageways into and out of the Indian Ocean"; and the third was "Afghanistan, which blocked Tsarist Russia."

The inner circle of the two concentric circles is: the tribal regions on the northwestern border of India – Nepal – Sikkim – Bhutan – Assam – the tribal regions on the northeastern border of India; the outer circle is: the emirates of the Persian Gulf – Persia – Afghanistan – Tibet – Thailand.

One of the inland lakes is the Indian Ocean, which is controlled by Britain.

According to the long-term national policy of the British Indian government, the occupation of Tibet and Afghanistan was a military action that the British Indian government would inevitably carry out. However, the British Indian government had previously focused on the more important Afghanistan, so it temporarily shelved the Tibet issue.

However, given the Qing Empire's weakness and incompetence during the Boxer Rebellion and the active actions of the Russians in Manchuria, the British Indian government concluded that Russia and the Qing Empire could no longer join forces against India. Compared to the powerful Russians, the weak Qing Empire was obviously more likely to give up control of Tibet. This led to the military operation to invade Tibet under the pretext of border negotiations.

From London's perspective, this was Colonel Younghusband's unauthorized escalation of the operation, turning a border conflict into a military campaign against Tibet. However, the British Indian government was well aware that this was a long-planned operation. For this operation, they not only built various roads leading to Tibet but also exercised political and military control over Sikkim and Bhutan to ensure that the invading army had a safe rear base on the Tibetan border.

Upon receiving London's order that Indian troops not cross Gyantse to advance on Lhasa, Sir Curzon and Viscount Kitchener both issued orders to the front, instructing John Claude White, the political commissioner in Sikkim, and Colonel Younghusband, who was actually in charge of the military operation, to reach an agreement with the Tibetan local government as soon as possible, clarifying the relationship between Tibet and the British Empire.

Urged on by the British Indian government, the British Indian Army, having just captured Gyantse, hastily launched an attack on Lhasa without even taking a break. Of course, Brigadier General MacDonald and Colonel Younghusband believed that Tibet's fighting force was almost completely exhausted, and they were now more worried that Lhasa would surrender before they entered, which would cause them to lose the honor of conquering Lhasa.

However, the British Indian troops departing from Gyantse were clearly much more relaxed than before. On the one hand, the fatigue from continuous fighting and traveling on the plateau in the previous period had begun to accumulate to a limit; on the other hand, after annihilating most of the Tibetan troops in Gyantse, the number of attacks on the road had decreased significantly, and the attackers were mostly scattered and disorganized. This made the British Indian troops begin to feel that Tibet no longer had the strength to resist them and that the war was about to end.

As the British Indian Army advanced towards Lhasa at a leisurely pace, the Chundu Conference finally convened at the Norbulingka Palace on the morning of July 15th. As is customary, the Dalai Lama and the four Kalons did not attend the conference; it was chaired by Zhong Zijie. Zhong Zijie was an eight-member group consisting of four monastic officials (Yicang Lekong) and four lay officials (Zikang Lekong).

Therefore, the Chundu Assembly is essentially secular, because although the monastic officials originate from monasteries, those who enter the Kashag government are not actually true lamas. They mainly come from the middle class (rich farmers) and Xiacang families in Lhasa. These people are usually just nominally affiliated with a certain lama temple and are not actually a monastic group representing the interests of the lama temple from childhood.

Besides recruiting monastic officials from the middle class and Xiacang families, another way was to recruit young lamas from temples, called Zhacha. However, some nobles, Xiacang families, and rich peasants would send their children to temples to become lamas from a young age, so the number of Zhacha was still monopolized by these classes.

The term "rich peasants" here refers to the upper echelons of the "chaba" class. They performed corvée labor for nobles and temples, but at the same time, they also wielded the power to drive the poor and wealthy, similar to the roles of clerks and landlords in inland China.

More than 120 people attended the meeting, with about 60 representing the Xiacang family and the Chaba class, and more than 60 representing the nobles and monks. There were no representatives from the Duiqiong and Langsheng classes, which made each meeting a struggle between the nobles and monks, with other classes simply supporting the winner's decision.

Logically speaking, the Qingdu Assembly should not have participated in this meeting either, because the Qingdu Assembly does not actually have any decision-making power. It is more like the will of the upper class to clarify or announce something to the Tibetan people through this meeting. Its resolution can only become a suggestion to be submitted to the Kashag and the Dalai Lama. The Qingdu Assembly is on the same level as the Dalai Lama, so it is natural that it should not participate in this meeting, because it would lower the status of the Qingdu Assembly.

However, Zhang Yintang argued that the Resident Minister in Tibet had the authority to oversee all affairs in Tibet, and since the Chundu Conference was discussing Tibetan affairs, the Resident Minister's office naturally had the right to send representatives to participate. This unprecedented request greatly alarmed the Kashag government, but they ultimately accepted the order.

However, to the surprise of the Kashag government, Zhang Yintang did not send anyone to the meeting but attended it in person. Before the meeting began, Zhang Yintang first clarified the subordinate relationship between Tibet and China, and used the historical example of the court's counterattack against the Gurkhas' invasion of Tibet to demonstrate the court's determination to defend Tibet.

Zhang Yintang's speech did resonate with some attendees, but the conference's theme had already been predetermined, and it was not something that a single speech by a deputy minister could change. Soon, representatives of the people of Lhasa began to lament that the constant taxes and levies imposed this year were making it difficult for them to survive. Although they supported the fight against the invading British army, they simply could no longer afford to rebuild the Tibetan army.

Through the speeches of these representatives of the common people, some nobles and monks also opposed the mobilization of armed forces, personnel, and provisions belonging to the nobility and monasteries, arguing that this was clearly contrary to tradition. Their implication was that the court should, as it had done in the past when defeating the Gurkhas, mobilize troops and provisions from the interior, rather than burdening the Tibetan people with too much of a strain.

Zhang Yintang finally understood why Lin Feng said these people were unreliable. He was furious but helpless because a consensus had been reached at the conference. Unless he ordered the conference to be dissolved and issued orders directly in the name of the Resident Minister's Office in Tibet, he could extricate himself from the war and let the imperial court take the lead.

In the end, he could only nod to Lin Feng, indicating that he agreed to his plan. After receiving Zhang Yintang's statement, Lin Xinyi stood up and requested to speak in the name of the Resident Minister's Office in Tibet. Zhong Zijie discussed it and agreed, feeling that there was no possibility of any unexpected events under these circumstances.

Lin Xinyi stood up and addressed the delegates: "The Resident Minister's Office in Tibet respects the opinions of the delegates to the Chundu Conference. However, many delegates have just raised the issue of excessive corvée labor making it impossible to survive. The Resident Minister's Office has the following doubts: First, can these delegates truly represent the vast majority of the Tibetan people? Second, even if we use a proportional representation system based on the population of Lhasa, these delegates do not seem to have a representativeness of the Tibetan population."

Because the ability of the Tibetan people to afford the resources for rebuilding the Tibetan armed forces is crucial to its reconstruction, the Qing Dynasty's Resident Minister's Office has requested a special public assembly tomorrow to investigate whether the Tibetan people are burdened with excessive corvée labor. The Resident Minister's Office also requests to work with the Kashag government to select representatives of the people to ensure that the Dalai Lama and the Resident Minister can truly hear the voices of the Tibetan people at the grassroots level…

Lin Xinyi demanded the suspension of the Chundu Conference to investigate the issue of corvée labor for the Tibetan people. Representatives from the upper echelons of the Kashag and the three major monasteries largely disagreed, feeling it was unnecessary. However, representatives from the Xiacang families and the Chapa class preferred to hold such a meeting to restrain the endless corvée labor imposed by the monasteries and the government (Kashag).

However, in the past, these representatives were all dependent on nobles and temples, so they naturally dared not openly make such a request. After all, under such personal dependence, they still needed the protection of nobles or temples to ensure that their social class would not fall. But since the Resident Minister's Office in Tibet was standing up against the temples and the government, they naturally would not object.

Even some ordinary nobles harbored resentment towards the government, because the powerful nobles occupied all the upper positions in the government. They were happy to see the Resident Minister in Tibet teach these powerful nobles a lesson, so Lin Xinyi's proposal was still approved.

Chapter 197 The Suffering of the Serfs

For some representatives of the Kashag government and the three major monasteries, this was not the first time they had tried to force the Resident Minister's office in Tibet to compromise by refusing to cooperate. After all, the Resident Minister had lost his foothold in Tibet after he cut off the channels of control over the Tibetan army.

After the last British invasion of Tibet, the authority of the Resident Minister in Tibet was greatly diminished. Even ordinary nobles and monks did not believe that the court could continue to protect the peace of Tibet. Some even began to contact Russia, trying to find another patron to protect Tibet.

Under such circumstances, it was actually a very reasonable choice for the Kashag government to manipulate the Chundu Assembly to oppose the reconstruction of the Tibetan army and the continuation of the war with the British army. They judged that the court was not capable of defending Lhasa against an attack by tens of thousands of British troops, and that continuing to resist might provoke the British army, leading to retaliation after they entered Lhasa, thus causing losses to the nobles.

The Kashag government simply chose the wrong time and the wrong opponent. Indeed, among the citizens of Lhasa today, apart from the Han Chinese, almost no one supports the Resident Minister's Office, because it has been inactive for a long time. The Resident Minister's Office still retains official duties mainly related to the appointment of Living Buddhas and Kashag officials; as for the legal cases of ordinary Tibetans, the Resident Minister's Office has shelved them and no one has paid any attention to them.

Since the Resident Minister's Office in Tibet did not exercise ordinary judicial power, it was naturally regarded as an unrelated entity by the Tibetans. The nobles and monks were full of resentment towards the bureaucracy of this office, because in order to obtain appointment documents from the court, they had to pay tribute to these Han officials. Without paying money, they could not expect to be officially appointed. This was also the biggest source of extra income for the Resident Minister's Office in Tibet.

Zhang Yintang's initial intention was to win over the Tibetans by purging these Han officials stationed in Tibet, thereby advancing his vision for Tibetan political reform. However, Lin Xinyi felt this was unnecessary, because the so-called likes and dislikes of the Tibetans were actually the likes and dislikes of the nobles and monks. Their wealth also came from the oppression of the Tibetan people. Disposing of these Han officials would not alleviate the burden on the Tibetan people; on the contrary, it would make the nobles and monks further despise the imperial court.

The British Empire colonized India for so many years, and every British official there was corrupt. So much so that the British gave these nouveau riche in India a special term, "nabob." Yet, the Indian people didn't rise up to overthrow the corrupt British officials. Instead, the Indian people repeatedly sided with the British to overthrow the princely feudal lords, thus creating the most brilliant jewel in the crown of the British Empire—British India.

This time, the Kashag government attempted to use its usual tactics, leveraging public opinion to coerce the Qing official in Tibet and the Dalai Lama. The biggest problem was the timing. Tibet was no longer stagnant; the Kashag government's prestige had plummeted due to the British invasion. Although the British army's rampage of burning, killing, and looting during their invasion of Tibet, including raiding temples, had ignited the anger of the Tibetan people, the incompetent Kashag government was also within the scope of their hatred.

The first British invasion of Tibet resulted in Tibet losing control of Dhemengxiong and being forced to open the Yadong border crossing. Since traveling from Calcutta to Lhasa is much easier than from Chengdu, it takes only two days from Calcutta to Darjeeling, five days from Darjeeling to Yadong, and eleven days from Yadong to Lhasa. In other words, the journey from Calcutta to Lhasa takes only 18 days, with the last ten days or so being difficult due to the mountainous terrain, but still much easier than the Sichuan-Tibet or Qinghai-Tibet routes.

This allowed Indian-made daily necessities to quickly become mainstream in Tibet after the British opened trade routes there, due to their low price. The British Indian government didn't just trade in Tibet; they also extended the hegemony of the rupee to Tibet by raising its price, lowering the price of silver, and then using daily necessities to buy back the rupee, thus completing the cheap acquisition of Tibetan goods.

After the British Indian government opened trade routes to Tibet, not only did a large amount of silver flow out of Tibet, but prices also began to rise. This was because the main consumers of daily necessities in India were the wealthy peasants and above. They preferred to sell Tibetan products at low prices to exchange for rupees and then buy Indian daily necessities, rather than buy outdated daily necessities from their homeland and the interior, except for tea.

Originally, the wealth that nobles and monks squeezed from the lower classes could be returned to them in the form of purchasing daily necessities. However, with the opening of trade between India and Tibet, nobles and monks only felt that they didn't have enough money to spend, and they no longer cared about the lives of the lower classes. In order to obtain more money to satisfy their desires, the previously restrained exploitation quickly turned into unrestrained exploitation.

This exploitation manifested itself primarily in two ways: usury and extra-standard corvée labor. Because nobles and monks needed more money to satisfy their desires, and compared to tea imported from the mainland, Indian goods were more diverse and offered a higher quality of life—expenditures that were previously unheard of in Tibet. This meant that nobles and monks, in order to live a better life, had to exploit their serfs more ruthlessly or expand their estates and the number of serfs they owned.

This led to a segment of the Chapa class, namely rich and middle peasants, being treated as a new source of income. In the past, they were the cornerstone of stability in Tibet, capable of suppressing the lower-ranking monks and providing new blood for the monks. After all, monasteries also needed people who could do things and read and write. Those lower-ranking monks and monastics might have the opportunity to enter the monastery, but apart from a very few geniuses, most of them could not learn to read and write and would end up doing menial tasks for the senior monks for the rest of their lives.

As a result, the number of beggars on the streets of Lhasa has increased from less than a thousand a decade ago to more than 2000 now. These new beggars are the Caba class, who have lost their land due to usury. Some have even had their hands and feet cut off, losing their ability to support themselves. They can only barely survive by relying on alms from pilgrims and lamas during their travels. People die on the streets every day, but new beggars appear on the streets of Lhasa every day, because only Lhasa can provide for these beggars to survive; there are not so many people giving alms elsewhere.

Lin Xinyi did something very simple: he selected the disgruntled artisans and beggars on the street and had them attend a special meeting to express their grievances or tragic experiences. He also placed the meeting outside the Norbulingka Palace under the pretext of not disturbing the Dalai Lama's rest and allowed Lhasa citizens to listen in.

On the 16th, the people's representatives attending the special meeting were still complaining. By the 17th, these people's representatives had begun to accuse the officials of the Kashag and the monks who lent money at exorbitant interest rates of being ruthless.

In 1891, Tenzin, a serf in Dongga Dzong, borrowed one gram of barley from his serf owner. By 1901, the serf demanded 600 grams in repayment. Unable to repay the debt, Tenzin was forced to flee to Lhasa to beg. His wife was driven to her death, and his seven-year-old son was taken to pay off the debt.

Serf Tsering Gonpo's grandfather once borrowed 50 grams of grain from Sera Monastery. His grandfather, father, and he, three generations, paid interest for 77 years, paying a total of more than 3000 grams of grain. However, the creditor said that he still owed 10 grams of grain.

As for the fact that the corvée labor was often several times more than normal, to the point that they had to borrow money at high interest rates to fill the gap, it had almost become a common phenomenon. Those artisans who were assigned corvée labor by officials and temples not only had to serve officials and temples for free, but also had to borrow money to support themselves and their families.

Some people's representatives often wept uncontrollably when they complained, and some even said, "Even if the snow-capped mountains turned into butter, it would still be taken by the lords; even if the rivers turned into milk, we wouldn't be able to drink a drop. Although our lives are given by our parents, our bodies are taken by the officials."

By the afternoon of the 17th, the officials of the Kashag and the representatives of the three major monasteries could no longer sit still. When the meeting adjourned that day, a terrible incident broke out. Kalon Shaza Panjor Dorje's steward, having heard that a certain craftsman had accused him at the meeting, rushed into the craftsman's house that night and cut out his tongue.

On the morning of the 18th, Lin Xinyi mobilized troops to surround the Shaza family's residence in the city, and then demanded that the Chundu Assembly strip Shaza of his noble status and estate. The Shaza family was a prominent noble family in Lhasa. Although Kalon Shaza Panjor Dorje was dismissed from his post and placed under house arrest in Norbulingka for advocating peace talks with the British, the Shaza family still wielded considerable influence within the Kashag government.

Initially, the officials of the Kashag intended to downplay the matter, because according to Tibetan customary law, it was customary for subordinates to slander superiors. Since the Resident Minister's Office had intervened, they planned to have the Shaza family compensate the craftsman who had his tongue cut out in order to settle the matter.

However, Lin Xinyi rejected the suggestions of the Kashag officials, retorting to them: "The Kashag government represents Manjushri Bodhisattva in governing Tibet. Since the Kashag government allows these people's representatives to recount their suffering, then they are under the protection of Manjushri Bodhisattva. What difference is there between cutting out their tongues and cutting out Manjushri Bodhisattva's tongue? Isn't this insubordination? If the Kashag government so disregards the dignity of Manjushri Bodhisattva, then the Kashag government should consider conducting a comprehensive review of the entire Kashag government."

At first, the officials of the Kashag tried to resolve the matter through other members of the Resident Minister's Office in Tibet. However, the Resident Minister's Office in Tibet surprisingly reached a consensus, demanding that the Kashag government severely punish the Shaza family. They could not tolerate such nobles who offended the dignity of the court continuing to hold or control the power of the Kashag.

On the afternoon of the 18th, officials from the Kashag went to see the Dalai Lama to plead for the Shaza family. The Dalai Lama summoned Zhang Yintang again. He was quite anxious about the changes in the situation, so when they met, he said to Zhang Yintang, "Didn't you come to Tibet to help us resist the British army? Why are there so many more problems now?"

Zhang Yintang calmly replied to the Dalai Lama, "The issue of excessive corvée labor for serfs wasn't raised by us at the Chundu Conference; it was brought up by the delegates themselves. The Resident Minister's Office in Tibet is merely investigating this issue. We are currently just ensuring that the Chundu Conference can proceed normally. If anyone threatens the delegates or cuts out their tongues, how can the Chundu Conference possibly continue?"

Based on the two days of meetings so far, this is no longer just a problem of excessive corvée labor for officials and monasteries, but rather a problem of corruption among some nobles and monastic officials through the abuse of corvée labor. I believe that Tibet currently needs to rectify these corrupt practices; otherwise, it will be impossible to rebuild the army…”

Chapter 198 New Deal

When Zhang Yintang went to Norbulingka, Lin Xinyi was busy in the office of the Qing Dynasty's resident minister in Tibet. Through investigations into the backgrounds of the officials, he identified those who were capable and sidelined those who were not.

The so-called "putting them aside" does not mean leaving them idle. Instead, they are placed in three newly established departments: education, propaganda, and archives. Although these people are not very capable, they are at least educated and can do these written tasks. Although their knowledge and ideas may not be suitable for Lin Xinyi's requirements, it is still a kind of progress for Tibetan society at present.

As for the officers of the garrison in Tibet, Ma Quanji, who was the first to defect to Zhang Yintang, was appointed as the director of the Education Department, while the others were placed in the War History Office, where they were required to investigate and write various war histories of the Qing army's defense of Tibet since the beginning of the dynasty, thus completely relieving these officers of their control over the garrison in Tibet.

The entire garrison in Tibet was short by about 50%. Apart from a portion stationed in Shigatse, Yadong, and Gyantse, the main force was still deployed along the route from Lhasa to Chamdo. Although the army's combat effectiveness was questionable due to a lack of training, the soldiers' long-term presence in Tibet and their marriages and families in the region meant that nearly 20-30% of the army consisted of people of mixed Han and Tibetan descent. The remaining Han soldiers were also fluent in Tibetan and familiar with the terrain of Tibet, as they were the only people from the interior who could move freely without hindrance in Tibet.

After the officers and soldiers of the garrison in Tibet near Lhasa were incorporated into the new army that entered Tibet, the strength of the new army increased from more than 650 people to nearly 1,000 people, or 5 companies. At this time, the military force in Lhasa consisted of only 500 men, the Dalai Lama's guard, and the monks and soldiers of the three major monasteries and the private soldiers of nobles. Their combined strength may have exceeded that of the new army that entered Tibet, but they were far inferior in terms of military equipment and combat power.

After the Chundu Assembly evolved into a grievance meeting, the conflict between nobles, temples, and citizens of Lhasa began to intensify. Lin Xinyi then prepared to expand his army into Tibet once again. This time, his expansion mainly targeted artisans, especially hardware workers and butchers, because according to Tibetan law, hardware workers and butchers were of the lowest social class, even lower than beggars.

He discussed with Wu Luzhen, saying, “I think we can reorganize the current army into main force, regular force, and reserve force. The main force will consist of three companies: one platoon equipped with brand-new weapons, two platoons with a mix of new and old weapons, and a logistics platoon responsible for communicating with local residents and rescuing the wounded; the regular force will consist of two companies: except for one platoon equipped with brand-new weapons, the rest will all use old weapons; the reserve force will consist of two companies: which are the troops we are currently recruiting. Only one squad will be equipped with new trial weapons, and the rest will all use old weapons. This force will mainly be used to fill the gaps in the front-line manpower, and we will recruit as needed.”

After thinking for a moment, Wu Luzhen said, "I think this plan is feasible. However, do we really want to break ties with these nobles and monks? We just received news that the British army has already set off from Gyantse and is on its way to Lhasa. Shouldn't we take over the defense of the area from Gyantse to Lhasa first? If the British army gets to the gates of Lhasa, I'm afraid we won't be able to defend the city."

Lin Xinyi shook his head and said, "If we can't hold it, then we don't hold it. We came to Tibet to protect the Tibetan people, not to protect Lhasa. If we lose Lhasa, the British will lose their objective. Do they expect to control the whole of Tibet with just over 1 men? So, by losing Lhasa, we've actually gotten rid of a burden. When the British can't hold out any longer, we can take back Lhasa."