Qiao Guangyuan's decades of ups and downs in officialdom made him very familiar with the officialdom of the Qing Dynasty. After Qiao Yu took charge of Sichuan, he carried out drastic reforms. Sichuan has undergone tremendous changes in a short period of time, which also allowed the old man to see the differences.
Ordinary things, he knew very well that if he wanted to change the current situation, he would need to carry out drastic reforms. However, based on his understanding of officialdom, he knew very well that Yuan Shikai's wish to carry out reforms based on the old figures of the former Qing Dynasty was wishful thinking.
Qiao Yu also fully agreed with his father's judgment. Although the Revolutionary Party accounted for almost half of Tang Shaoyi's cabinet, and Tang Shaoyi himself also joined the Tongmenghui, these personnel were still under the control of Lao Yuan.
In other words, sooner or later it will be occupied by the old-style bureaucracy of the former Qing Dynasty, and the road to democracy, legal system, and constitutional government will become increasingly difficult.
"Dad, I'm afraid there is only one way now, which is to ensure that Tao Chengzhang succeeds in the election and the United Party can dominate the cabinet in the future. Then there may be hope for constitutionalism!"
Qiao Guangyuan shook his head: "Shun Qing, I advise you not to have too much hope in Tao Chengzhang and the others. When dynasties change, whoever has the strongest army enjoys the greatest benefits. Lao Yuan holds the Beiyang Army.
Although Tao Chengzhang also has tens of thousands of liberation troops, they are just miscellaneous and will be dismissed, so they have no power to compete with Lao Yuan!"
"Dad, Tao Chengzhang can't do it. There is not only the Hubei Army, but also the Sichuan Army. Now even Tan Yankai from Hunan has joined the United Party. If we can get the support of Hu Hanmin, Li Liejun and others from the Tongmenghui, in terms of military strength, it will be enough to compete with the United Party.
Lao Yuan resisted!"
When Qiao Guangyuan heard this, he smiled slightly: "Shun Qing, I am not talking about others, but are you willing to use your Sichuan army and Lao Yuan to fight for the so-called constitutional government?"
Qiao Guangyuan's words immediately hit the point. Whether it is the Sichuan Army or the Hubei Army, they are all local forces in the final analysis. Once they embark on the road to constitutionalism, they must strengthen the central government and weaken local forces. As the representative of local forces,
Can you really fully support Tao Chengzhang, just for a so-called ideal?
Qiao Yu couldn't help but raise questions in his mind. He was afraid that the governors of these places, including himself, wanted to use political parties to compete with Lao Yuan, rather than sincerely wanting to support constitutional government. It seemed that he was really wishful thinking.
"Shun Qing, the United Party is very powerful now, but Zhang Jian, Cheng Dequan, Li Yuanhong, and Tan Yankai are just fagots and unreliable. Moreover, I have read in the newspapers these days and found that the Revolutionary Party is not monolithic. The Tongmenghui and the Liberation Hui are the same
The battle between the two factions is becoming more and more intense. I am afraid that without Lao Yuan taking action, they will cause chaos on their own. I am just worried that if you make a wrong step before this change of situation, then you will regret it forever if you make a mistake. Sichuan's power is simply not enough now.
Man’s greatest enemy is overestimating his own abilities!”
After Qiao Guangyuan said a few words, a layer of cold sweat broke out on Qiao Yu's face. He was also doubting whether Tao Chengzhang could succeed in the end. He also knew very well that this possibility was too small, but Qiao Yu because
I know very well in my heart the suffering that China is going to suffer, so I wishfully hope that Tao Chengzhang can succeed. Now it seems that I am indeed too idealistic.
"Dad, you are absolutely right. My children will not place their hopes on the United Party. To forge iron, you have to be hard on yourself. My main task now is to build internal affairs!"
The old man nodded. He had long advised Qiao Yu not to rely too much on Tao Chengzhang. Now that Qiao Yu finally knew the danger, the old man felt relieved and asked: "Then what are your plans?
"
"I plan to do five main things. The first is to rectify the administration of officials. To govern a country is to govern the officials. The second is to support industry and commerce. The third is to strengthen public security and eliminate bandits. The fourth is to repair roads and water conservancy. The fifth is to completely ban smoking!"...
.
Qiao Guangyuan lowered his head slightly and thought: "Shun Qing, these five points are all very good and hit the mark, but there are some things that are beyond your current status. A tree that is beautiful in the forest will be destroyed by the wind, and a person who is born in the world will be destroyed.
, I have been in the former Qing Dynasty officialdom for many years, and although I claim to be clean and honest, don’t you know where our family’s property comes from?”
Qiao Yu didn't expect that his father would take the initiative to mention this. Of course he knew that his father's hands and feet were not clean, but he couldn't say: "It's all inherited from our ancestors, and the family is thrifty!"
"There is nothing that we, father and son, cannot say, it's all about corruption. But am I really willing to be corrupt? Have I read all the teachings of Confucius and Mencius in vain? No, once you enter officialdom, you can't help yourself. If you don't corrupt, others will too.
Forcing you to be corrupt, if you don't corrupt, they will be worried about you, because you have no handle, and you don't have to ask for help. In turn, you will threaten their safety. For their wealth, there are only two
One way is to make you corrupt and become one of them, or else we will completely destroy you, that's all!"
It's like everyone is having a great time playing in a mud pond. Everyone is a little clay figurine. Suddenly you walk by in a well-dressed manner and don't pull you in. What should the big guy do? This thing is the same in ancient and modern times. Now Beiyang is basically
Inheriting all the bad official habits of the late Qing Dynasty, although those bureaucrats were forced by the general trend and had to change their brand of democracy and republic, they still did not change the medicine. If they did too well, these people would definitely do everything possible to suppress them.
Make it difficult for yourself.
What's more important is that now, when the warlords are no longer fighting each other and doing their own thing, Lao Yuan is still on top of the various princes, and everything has to depend on Lao Yuan's face.
"Shun Qing, your reform of the salt policy has actually offended a lot of people. Those salt merchants are still asking for salt roads and yamen at all levels. The price of salt in Sichuan has come down, but the salt tax has gone up. Anyone with a discerning eye knows that the problem lies with them.
So many people want to force Sichuan to give up the new salt policy. However, this salt thing is more troublesome and related to the livelihood of millions of people. They dare not take action rashly. If you reform the civil service and ban opium, other
What should you do if you point at people who live by selling their official positions? Those people who sell opium themselves will hate you to death! People’s words make gold, but accumulation destroys bones!”
Qiao Yu also felt angry in his heart. Those bureaucrats didn't think about how to make the people live a better life. Instead, they tried every means to frame people who did well. Is there any way out in this world?
"Dad, these things are top priorities and I absolutely must do them!"
"I'm not stopping you from doing it, but I want to approach it from another angle, such as suppressing bandits! Officials and bandits have been mortal enemies since ancient times. If you attack local bandits, no one will be able to say anything, and by the way, you can take care of other things.
Done!"
Qiao Yu was confused when he heard the old man's words. Can the suppression of bandits produce such great benefits? Can it also solve the problem of official governance and infrastructure construction?
"Dad, please stop being so pretentious. Your child is stupid and you need to explain it to me!"
"Haha, Mr. Shun, you are still young. In my opinion, there are four types of bandits in the world. The first type is mountain bandits and water bandits. They cause trouble to the place and must be eradicated. The second type is gangs, just like
The third type is the armed forces of some powerful landlords, and the fourth type is the gangsters on the street! If you want to suppress the bandits, just kill them all in one go. Then can you not achieve other goals?
"
When Qiao Yu heard this, his mind changed and he understood what his father meant. The first type of bandits must be strangled, but most of the bandits nowadays become bandits because they can't survive. You want to wipe them all out
, always give people a way to survive, then there is an excuse to support industry and commerce; and the second type of gang organization is closely related to the bureaucracy, it can even be said that many gangs rely on the support of the government to maintain their existence.
Many of them make a living by dealing in opium. As long as they are caught and followed, some scum in the officialdom will naturally be eliminated. As for the third type of local powerful armed forces, eliminating them can greatly enhance the authority of the government; as for the authority of the government,
Although those little gangsters are inconspicuous, they can bully the small businessmen and get rid of them, and the market will prosper!