While Qiao Yu was giving lectures to these people, he was preparing to build other factories. He also placed an order of 300,000 taels with Bushit, including fifty sewing machines and a batch of printing and dyeing equipment. In addition, Qiao Yu also asked Bushit to get it for him.
A batch of munitions is coming, including one hundred pistols and three hundred rifles. What I want is the most advanced Mauser in Germany, and some bullets.
Now that the airs have been put up, it is necessary to strengthen the strength in hand. In fact, both the Qiao family and the Bai family have a large number of guards, and the families of the big businessmen are also armed to varying degrees. After the late Qing Dynasty, especially after the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom,
, has obviously lost its ability to control the local area, and it has been able to maintain it for such a long time entirely due to the complex balance between local governors.
Li Hongzhang, Zhang Zhidong, Liu Kunyi and other old-school Chinese faced changes unseen in three thousand years and focused their energy on the West instead of spying on the imperial power, thus creating a situation in which the Manchu Qing Dynasty could maintain itself.
During the Xuantong period, the Manchu and Qing dynasties were more like a broken ship with no bottom. Local forces continued to grow, and what they did was effective. Businessmen with some influence would hire a considerable number of guards to ensure their own safety. Many chambers of commerce in Jiangsu and Zhejiang had their own
The armed forces, both old and new, have been seriously corrupted by the revolutionary party. It can be said that it is unreasonable for the imperial court to survive.
Limin Textile Factory now has a total of more than 30 guards, led by Han Yong, which is enough to protect safety. However, Qiao Yu knows that this number of people is far from enough, so he took the opportunity to establish an investment company.
Expand strength.
Qiao Yu thought about it carefully. Building his own team is the most important thing. Loyalty is the most critical. People who must not sneak into the party must be kept pure. Secondly, they must try their best to select some who are valuable to cultivate. Firstly, they must not sneak into the party.
The first batch of troops are preparing to become military officers in the future. Being too stupid will definitely not work.
It seems that smart young people can only be selected from the countryside. If they are recruited in Chongqing, they will inevitably be infiltrated by the party. Therefore, Qiao Yu brought his eldest brother Qiao Cheng over. Qiao Cheng has not been idle these days.
He was mainly responsible for the raw materials. Now that he had managed to straighten things out, Qiao Yu came to find him.
"Brother, I have placed an order with the Germans to purchase a batch of munitions, and I am ready to set up a factory protection team!"
"Shun Qing, I think it's absolutely possible. As our production increases, more and more cloth has to be transported to other counties, and more and more raw materials are needed. And the ground is getting more and more turbulent. Our existing guards are indeed
Not enough, it’s up to you to decide how much Lao San will be recruited, you don’t have to ask me!”
"Brother, I'm going to bother you with this matter. I think since we are recruiting guards, we need to find people who are loyal to us. Those guys who know how to wear party robes must not get in. I think we can only choose from rural areas with clean assets, age and
A shrewd young man of sixteen or seventeen years old, without any bad habits, must have good physical fitness, and preferably be able to read a few words! I want to train him myself."
When Qiao Cheng heard Qiao Yu's request, it was a bit high. Although there was a lot of surplus labor in the countryside, they would not come out to dance with guns unless they had to. Therefore, the army now recruits mostly idle personnel, hooligans and the like.
Yes, children from good families will not easily become soldiers, let alone guards. Suddenly a thought flashed through Qiao Cheng's mind, and his face immediately changed color.
"Lao San, if you don't want to train your own army, what are you going to do?"
Qiao Cheng knew his third brother relatively well. Qiao Yu had a more impatient and reckless temperament, but he seemed to be a changed person after coming back from abroad. Of course, he only thought that Qiao Yu was influenced by foreign countries. He was also worried that Qiao Yu would get involved with the revolutionary party.
When they got together, Qiao Cheng felt relieved when he saw Qiao Yu working hard to run the factory. But today, Qiao Yu suddenly proposed to recruit guards, and the requirements were so high. Qiao Cheng immediately became alert, fearing that his third brother was going to rebel.
!….
Qiao Yu also knew that he had to win his eldest brother to his side and said: "Brother, to be honest, the purpose of recruiting guards this time is to train a military generation and control it in my own hands. I don't deny that I have plans to rebel, but the main thing is
In order to protect ourselves, we have so many factories and this family business has attracted the covetousness of the Brother Laohui. In addition, the court is also in financial crisis now. There is no guarantee that they will not target us. Brother, if that happens, we
How to deal with it?”
When Qiao Cheng heard Qiao Yu's explanation, he lowered his head and began to think deeply. He had participated in the entire preparation of the textile factory, so he naturally knew how much effort had been put into it. He would not be willing to let it fall into the hands of others. Moreover, the situation Qiao Yu mentioned has indeed happened.
Some cloth shops have already faced extortion from some subordinate staff and gangsters, but the amount is still relatively small, so they can avoid financial losses and avoid disasters.
"Lao San, I have no objection to recruiting troops to protect ourselves. We do need to have the strength to intimidate Xiao Xiao, but the imperial court is powerful after all. We must think twice before doing anything. You must know that the happiness and misfortune of your family are in your hands!
"
Qiao Yu grabbed his eldest brother's hand and said solemnly: "Brother, don't worry, I will definitely make a plan before taking action. Troubled times are just around the corner. The Qing Dynasty is already in turmoil. Last year, the imperial court signed a loan contract with the big powers to build roads.
Rumors have spread that the railways will be nationalized, brother, you know the stakes!"
Qiao Cheng seemed a little unclear, but then his face changed wildly and his hands began to tremble uncontrollably.
"Lao San, are you saying that the imperial court is going to disturb the hornet's nest of Sichuan-Han Road? Isn't that why birthday girls always eat arsenic?"
"Brother must have guessed that once the imperial court moves the Sichuan-Hankou Road, even if there is no chaos in the world, Sichuan will definitely not be at peace. That's why I rushed to seize some military strength in case of any eventuality!"
Qiao Cheng nodded frequently when he heard this. Speaking of the Sichuan-Hankou Road, it was really a hornet's nest. Railways can be said to be the lifeblood of transportation and were of vital importance. In the late Qing Dynasty, China's road rights fell into the hands of Westerners and became an important means of plundering China's resources.
Wherever the railways are built, the power of the great powers extends.
In order to cope with the invasion of foreign powers, the Sichuan-Hankou Railway Corporation was established in 1904, and was later changed to private ownership. It was a good idea to build the railway with private funds raised, but then the issue of raising funds came up.
Huge question.
The cost of building railways is astonishing. In order to raise funds, the governor of Sichuan, Xiliang, actually approved a seemingly absurd method of raising funds, which is to collect rent and tax from the common people, and convert this forced money into
The company's share capital also allows Sichuan people to become shareholders of the company.
The problem arose at this time. The Sichuan-Hankou Railway Company is a private enterprise, but it has the taxation power that only the government can have. It has become a second government, and the government has not effectively managed the company's operations. Soon these funds
They were squandered by a few major shareholders, resulting in serious losses, but the railway was not repaired at all. The most serious problem occurred during the Shanghai Rubber stock market crash in 1910. Some shareholders actually played with stocks, resulting in losses of millions of taels. This was also the case.
It was because of the huge deficit that the Manchu and Qing dynasties wanted to nationalize the railways. Of course, the Manchu and Qing dynasties also had their own plans to obtain it. During the stock market crash, the government was also in financial crisis and wanted to use the Sichuan-Hankong road rights as collateral to pay for the railways.
Borrowing from great powers.
But in order to be nationalized, the assets must be clearly accounted for. Who should settle the shortfall? The court has no money and is still borrowing money from the railway. How can it bear this shortfall? Those major shareholders are Sichuan gentry and powerful, and they really control the place.
Can a person like this make them vomit blood and cut their flesh? But we cannot let tens of millions of Sichuan people take the blame! That is the hard-earned money of the people, and Sichuan-Han Road is also the hope of the people of Sichuan. This is how a dead knot is formed, so a rash move will surely destroy the world.
Chaos...
Although the Qiao family is not deeply involved in the railway issue, Qiao Cheng also knows a thing or two about the issues at the top of the railway company and knows how dangerous nationalization is. He is undoubtedly fighting with the entire Sichuan gentry class and cannot solve the problem.
If you are good, you will fight with swords, so there is cold sweat on your forehead.
"Lao San, it's just a rumor right now. I think maybe the court will come up with a proper solution so that it won't cause a huge disaster!"
"Brother, do you still believe that this court can handle things well? Several of the Eight Banners lords in Beijing know about the problems of the Sichuan Railway Company. People like Sheng Xuanhuai are so selfish and have foreigners behind their backs. There is no doubt that they
The interests of the people of Sichuan will be sacrificed, it’s just a matter of time!"
Qiao Yu is very confident in his own judgment. This is something that history has written, and through his own personal experience, he has strengthened his judgment. At this time, the so-called road protection, the responsibility lies with a few major shareholders, and they should be punished to keep the
The property of the common people, but the Qing government's control over the local area was too weak, and it did not have the strength to deal with the powerful, so it was forced by the shareholders. The Qing government took the blame, causing chaos in Sichuan, and then the world.
It was already February, and it was only four months before the road protection movement broke out. Qiao Yu had to speed up the preparations. Qiao Cheng carefully thought about the stakes, agreed with his third brother's judgment, and hurriedly started recruiting people.