Chapter 102 Zhang San’s suggestion (Happy Happy New Year!)

"Zicheng, I'm afraid you are here for Lianyungang."

Looking at Li Zicheng, Zhang Jian smiled. After borrowing money from the Liuhe Company to the government and obtaining the rights of way to the Longhai Railway and its affiliated areas, he began to pay attention to the railway in northern Jiangsu, especially the affiliated areas.

After Liuhe Company opened its investment invitation, Zhang Jian vaguely understood what Li Zicheng wanted to do. He wanted to use the name of a subsidiary area to implement local autonomy.

"I really can't hide anything from you."

As he said that, Li Zicheng sighed again.

"Others said that Zicheng generously donated money to help the government in need, but in fact, Zicheng had no intention of doing so at the time. After all..."

"After all, it's tens of millions of taels of silver."

Zhang Jian nodded in agreement. Yuan Shikai had also written to him, but in the end he only lent the government a few hundred thousand taels, and asked him to come up with tens of millions of taels. Not to mention that he didn't have it. Even if he did, I'm afraid it wouldn't work.

Be hesitant.

"That's why you created the company's railway annex that is tax-free, has courts and police, and is almost inferior to the railway annexes of Japan and Russia, in order to rebuff the government."

After all, he was still too young. Zhang Jian sighed in his heart, what kind of person was Yuan Shikai? After all, he had been his husband for a few months. Although he later called him brother instead of husband, he still felt very fond of that person.

learn.

"Yuan Shikai likes to start new things and be innovative. If it were anyone else, no one would dare to accept your conditions. But if it were Yuan Shikai, let alone this condition, he would dare to accept it no matter how harsh it is. He is a courageous person.

He is big and thoughtful. If what he expected is true, then it may be his request for Liuhe Company to accept the dismantling of the civilian army."

Zhang Jian said these words, which made Li Zicheng admire him. Before he even said it, he already knew that he had come to Nantong at the right time.

"If I don't hide it from my uncle, I still have some backup plans..."

Li Zicheng then went on to talk endlessly about the problems faced by the company and its subsidiaries, especially Yuan Shikai's possible suspicion of him and the "misunderstandings" caused by it.

"To be honest with my uncle, Zi Cheng has never had any intention of cutting off the land, nor has he any desire to be independent. All he wants to do is to build the Longhai Railway and the annexed areas. Now he is just using the annexed areas to carry out industry and serve the country.

It’s a pity that there were so many misunderstandings during this period, it’s hard for Zicheng to defend himself.”

While Zhang Jian listened, he held the tea cup and bowed his head slightly in silence. He had quite complicated feelings towards Yuan Shikai. When he was in the Wu Qing'en shogunate, he had the kindness to recommend Yuan, and he also had the feeling of giving advice on poetry.

Yuan also treated himself as a gentleman. Later, after he was promoted, he called himself "brother" in his letters. He even wrote a long letter of 2,000 to 3,000 words scolding him for being ungrateful. After that, the two of them had been together for more than 20 years.

They broke off contact and only had contact with each other two years ago. Zhang Jian asked himself that he knew Yuan Shikai better than others, and... he raised his eyes slightly and glanced at Li Zicheng sitting there. There was a hint of helplessness in his expression.

, and with some grievances.

In his heart, he did not believe that this young man had treacherous intentions, otherwise there would be no need for him to go to the capital. When he arrived in Shanghai, Sun Wen and others would promise him some benefits for his money, and he would not be willing to give it up by then.

The Communists who gave in to the enemy were bound to rebel if they got help from him, but he went to the capital, which is a lesson for him.

But what he did undoubtedly aroused Yuan Shikai's suspicion, and Yuan Shikai would naturally be wary of him. If it weren't for the existence of the Southern Democratic Party system, secondly Yuan Shikai's position as president was not stable, and thirdly, he was afraid of being criticized by the world.

…

After thinking for a long time, Zhang Jian raised his head, looked at Li Zicheng, and said seriously.

"Zicheng, your misfortune arises from your dependencies, and your success also arises from your dependencies. It can be said that misfortunes are where blessings depend on, and blessings are where misfortunes lie."

"Please uncle, please save me."

Li Zicheng quickly stood up and bowed deeply.

Facing Li Zicheng's respectful invitation, Zhang Jian just smiled slightly and spoke after a moment of silence.

"Politics are the affairs of the king and prime minister; scholars are the affairs of the scholar-officials; businessmen are the affairs of agriculture, industry and commerce. Politics is fictitious but real, politics is the result of karma, learning is both fictitious and real, and the understanding of cause and effect is power. Scholar-officials were born among the people, and

It is not far from the emperor and the prime minister, but who is to blame for the news, not the scholar-bureaucrats? The ambition I advocated to build the prototype of a new world is to avenge the shame of China's inability to self-govern. What is being done in Nantong is just a borrowing.

The power of the capital of each shareholder can fulfill my ambition to build the prototype of a new world."

Zhang Jian said what he was thinking in a serious and thoughtful manner.

"Jian Jian embraces ruralism and operates local self-government, such as industry, education, water conservancy, transportation, charity, and public welfare. It started with one or two Jian brothers. Later, with the sponsorship of various friends, it was established one after another, with a rough scale, and the affairs

It has not yet been accomplished, and the time cannot come again.”

After letting out a sigh, Zhang Jian looked at Li Zicheng who was thoughtful and continued.

“The local autonomy I practice is to transform society from the perspective of economics rather than politics. It uses industry, education, and charity as the three pillars of local autonomy. It focuses on local economic and cultural construction and has no intention of controlling and transforming grassroots politics.

Even in the cultivation of talents, I only focus on talents in agriculture, industry, and commerce. I have founded various schools, but I have always insisted on not running two schools: law and politics and military."

His words made Li Zicheng stunned. He couldn't help but think of Nantong in his mind. At the same time, he thought about the prestige enjoyed by Zhang Jian in various places around Nantong. In the Nantong area in the north of the Yangtze River, he seemed to be the head of the country.

, other forces have not invaded, and its strength can be known. Although he has little relationship with the current political circles in China, he has a solid foundation in the economy and local autonomy. Not only the president and the current cabinet, but also local governments

The government is no different. Although he is cautious and down-to-earth, his potential influence in China's political circles is not small.

In other words, Zhang Jian's economic and local self-government foundation established his political potential; and this political potential in turn supported his local self-government cause. It is with him as the core that

The elite group has mastered the actual decision-making power of local affairs in Nantong, which gives Nantong's regional modernization a practical guarantee of authority. This kind of political authority based on economic and local autonomy is different from that based on naked coercion.

Local separatism based on sexual violence is completely different. The starting point of the local autonomy he pursued was not to openly confront and deny centralization in politics. What he focused on was the revitalization of the local economy and the development of regional society. In fact, Zhang Jian may not have

Deliberately seizing the political control over Nantong, they achieved actual control over Nantong. Local officials, such as the county magistrates, police chiefs, bureau chiefs and garrison envoys of Hai and Tai counties, have become

The first thing he did after taking office was to visit Zhang Jian. Even the director of the Nantong Police Department often asked Zhang Jian for instructions when handling cases. Moreover, the government would ask for his opinion in advance when appointing or removing these officials. In other words, he had no control over Nantong, but he had no control over Nantong.

There is actual control.

"Since the previous dynasty, the most specialized schools for law and politics have been established in our country. But I don't think so. These law and politics graduates are not only useless to society, but also harmful. I feel sad that Nantong construction engineers, farmers, workers, There are specialized schools for business and medicine, but they don’t dare to deal with legal affairs, so they should be sincere and cautious..."

At this moment, Zhang Jian's words did not reach Li Zicheng's ears. Thinking about his words, he couldn't help but think about the current situation. He was living in an era when national authority was in decline and the political system was completely disintegrating. , Although such an environment of the times is not conducive to the growth of Zhang Jian-like figures as the national bourgeoisie, it provides relatively loose political soil and conditions for the emergence of Zhang Jian-like figures who govern one side and are self-reliant local power elites.

In Nantong in the early 20th century, Zhang Jian could be said to have monopolized power and acted on his own initiative. Even the local governors and warlords gave him "courteous" concessions. This contradictory and complex political phenomenon was precisely the result of the loss of national authority at that time and the local elites. The increasing expansion of power was caused by China’s special political and social environment in the late Qing Dynasty and the early Republic of China.

But what happens later?

"The affairs of politicians and ministers, the affairs of scholars and officials, and the affairs of farmers, industry and commerce all have their own division of labor. What I am committed to is local economic culture and social improvement. My goal of local self-government is not to establish a political foundation. A local government dominated by individuals that competes with the central authority is just a new village where the people can live and work in peace and contentment by relying on the state to survive, live and defend themselves."

With a long sigh, Zhang Jian continued.

"What is the purpose of treating the root cause? That is, everyone embraces villageism and governs his or her own locality. The people are in great pain today, so they turn to the government for help, but the government is so stubborn; they turn to society for help, and society is as corrupt as that. However, directly relieving the people's suffering will not give up. Is there any other way to achieve self-government?”

Seeing that Li Zicheng seemed to be deep in thought, Zhang Jian said again seriously.

"At the beginning, you asked for a lot of money and used the company's land to prohibit the country from getting involved. Yuan Shikai was naturally wary. Although the company's land was independent, you had less place to check and balance, but the president was wary of you. It can be said that the gain outweighs the loss. However, if you don't have this power, I'm afraid that you will encounter many obstacles today, which will lead to the failure of your career. As the saying goes, you gain what you lose. Zicheng, I am not willing to save you, but I am really powerless. As for Liuhe, Longhai Road Bureau, I'm afraid it can only go all the way, but..."

After first expressing his helplessness, Zhang Jian turned to Li Zicheng and spoke.

"You might as well show your weakness"

"Showing weakness?"

Li Zicheng, who was thinking about the problem, was stunned. How could he show his weakness?

Li Zicheng's surprise made Zhang Jian smile slightly, put down the tea cup in his hand, and looked at the young man in front of him with a smile.

"Zicheng, have you been to the Shanghai Concession?"...
Chapter completed!