Yang Shukan thought for a long time and then said: "I promised you that the alliance will withdraw from Dongchuan, but I also hope that you can keep your word and don't go back on your word!"
"You can rest assured that I have never left my words unanswered." Yang Shukan, Zhang Peijue, Zhu Zhihong and other alliance leaders were sent out of Chongqing. Now, most of the power in Dongchuan has fallen into the hands of Qiao Yu and the Chongqing Chamber of Commerce.
, now the patrol police are doing their best to restore order in the market. Qiao Yu also generously paid for the compensation for the people who were damaged yesterday. In addition, he also arrested some scum who took advantage of the chaos yesterday. He killed those who deserved to be killed and locked up those who deserved to be detained.
Busy and busy, we also have to deal with the patrol battalion soldiers who participated in the rebellion.
These people took Dayang and became extremely obedient. Qiao Yu sent people to investigate carefully and found that most of the members of the party had escaped from the army. Without their intervention, it seemed that they wanted to control the army.
Much easier.
Qiao Yu, accompanied by Han Yong, first came to inspect the mental outlook of the soldiers in the patrol camp. After looking at it for a while, Qiao Yu shook his head. The old, weak, sick and disabled were mixed among them, and the military appearance was not good. It was strange that this kind of army could have combat effectiveness.
, while watching, suddenly a soldier suddenly ran up to Qiao Yu, fell to his knees, with snot and tears left behind: "Master Qiao, please reward me with some opium cigarettes, I will kowtow to you! Please."
, I'm going to die!" As he spoke, the soldier couldn't help but grab his chest with his hands, and he was completely unaware of the bleeding. Han Yong whispered: "Master, there are a considerable number of heavy smokers in the patrol camp. I have taken them away.
There are a few of them, these people are poisoned to the bone and are not worthy of pity!"
Qiao Yu also felt a sense of sadness in his heart when he saw it. It was not that he felt pity for the big smoker in front of him, but he felt a little sad for China, which had fallen from a kingdom of heaven to a sick man of East Asia. How many years had this little opium harmed China? He waved his hand and asked someone to take this away.
The heavy smoker was dragged away, and he took a closer look at the other soldiers. Many of them were breathing heavily and shed tears. It seemed that he was addicted to smoking. I felt sad for his misfortune and angry at him. I'm afraid this is what he was talking about.
Qiao Yu quickly came to Taishang and cleared his throat.
"We are all descendants of Bashu. I will never treat you badly. You can rest assured in the future. There will be hot food and spicy food. But there is a prerequisite, that is, you must obey my orders. If you disobey the orders, you must also know the consequences.
!There are now more than 1,500 soldiers in the patrol camp, and most of them are addicted to cigarettes, just like this person just now. Do you think such people still have fighting ability? Are they still like soldiers? In addition, there are
There are many old and weak people who have no combat effectiveness. Such an army must be rectified to eliminate the old and weak and retain the strong. But don't worry, even if you are eliminated, you will not be hungry, but you will be trained after training.
Become a local patrol policeman and be responsible for local security. Your income will never be reduced, but one thing you must remember is that you must not get involved in opium. Those who are addicted to tobacco must quit as soon as possible. I don’t want heavy smokers in my team!"
Opium is indeed a deeply hated thing. Since the end of the Qing Dynasty, the scale of drug cultivation has been very large in the three southwestern provinces. Sichuan is also the hardest hit area. In 1908, the output value of Sichuan's opium reached 35 million taels of silver, which was consumed in the province.
The income of the central government of the Qing Dynasty was 23 million taels, which was comparable to the central income of the Qing Dynasty. Opium smokers accounted for an astonishing number. About half of the men in the city smoked opium. People with a little money and status all smoked opium.
This drug is completely regarded as the enjoyment of the upper class. More than 20% of women smoke opium, and the proportion in rural areas is also quite high. Men account for about a quarter, and more people smoke opium in some remote mountainous areas.
More.
One of the reasons why it has reached such an astonishing scale is that the common people are not aware of the dangers of opium at all. The more important problem lies with the Manchu and Qing government. Due to issues such as the Boxer Indemnity, the Qing government urgently needs to deprive the common people to fill the fiscal vacancy and impose excessive taxes and miscellaneous taxes. There are so many, and the price of food is too low, often people work hard to farm for a year without enough to fill their stomachs. However, opium, a "cash crop", can bring huge profits. One tael of opium can buy one silver dollar, and One acre of land can produce thirty-fifty taels of opium. Even after deducting various taxes, the profit is several times or even dozens of times that of farming. Therefore, opium cultivation has become popular...
The local government also relies on opium to increase tax revenue. However, this crazy cultivation will inevitably bring serious consequences. Food production is insufficient and wealth is consumed in a flash. Zhao Erxun has vigorously banned smoking since he became the governor of Sichuan. Persuading the people, encouraging the planting of other crops, and strictly banning smoking can be said to have a very significant effect. Now the number of opium smokers in Sichuan has dropped a lot, which can not but be said to be a major political achievement of Zhao Erxun.
However, as an old army, the patrol camp has countless bad habits, and there is still a lot of opium smoking. After hearing Qiao Yu's words, everyone couldn't help but think about it. Whether they continue to eat food and serve as soldiers or as patrol officers, this is the most important thing. It means quitting smoking. Some people who are not deeply infected will quit smoking immediately. No matter how hard they work, if they can get a job and have no worries about food and drink in the future, it will be worth it. Those who have been poisoned to the bone marrow have no choice but to accept their fate.
Before the matter was dealt with here, Wang Dongcheng, Wang Gui, Xue Shan, Xu Hua and other big businessmen came to Qiao Yu under the leadership of Bai Kuan. From a distance, Wang Dongcheng's laughter was heard: "Shun Qing , What a generous act, we people have all worked in vain in this life, and our future generations will be terrible!"
When Qiao Yu saw these people coming, he had to discuss with them what to do next. Now everyone is in the same trench, sharing weal and woe.
"Boss Wang, you're welcome. Come to my office. Let's talk about business!"
"We have been waiting for a long time!" Several big businessmen laughed. There was a rebellion last night, and these people were also worried. Although they had been notified by Qiao Yu in advance, they still had no idea whether Qiao Yu could After the rebellion was suppressed, there was still a trace of doubt, but the result far exceeded their hopes. Not only was the rebellion suppressed, but the imperial court was also forced to sign a city alliance, which gave them the power to supervise taxation.
These big businessmen are extremely clever and cunning people. They have not noticed the mere two hundred thousand taels of silver. What they have seen is that there are more and more factories in Chongqing, and a large amount of raw materials need to be transported. At the same time, A large amount of goods have to be shipped out, and local officials have to be checked during the transportation, otherwise they will not be able to pass smoothly. Now that they have the power of supervision, it is equivalent to extending their hands to every county, and no one can do anything about those dog officials. If you want to make money from them, this alone can save millions of taels of silver a year, and it can also unblock local joints and make it easier to sell goods. The benefits are immeasurable.
At the same time, these people also really admired Qiao Yu's courage and vision. After everyone sat down, Wang Gui was the first to give his thumbs up: "Brother Qiao, this is your job. In the past, we businessmen had to give money to those officials. We can barely manage to keep things in business, now we can openly supervise them to collect taxes, and we no longer have to look at their eyes to act, which is really satisfying!"
"Brother Wang is too polite, but he only knows one thing but not the other. After all, this is against the laws of the court. If we want to survive, we must rely on our own strength, otherwise the local landlords will tear us all apart.
Got it!"
"Yes, the landlords still have the upper hand in the countryside, and the clan power is also very large. If we want to supervise, we must seize the benefits from them and those evil officials. It is easy to suffer backlash. Mr. Shun, you still need to come up with some specific details.
That’s the charter!”
Xue Shan on the side also interjected: "Yes, I only thought of the benefits and did not think of the disadvantages. Also, although we signed an agreement with Zhu Youji and Niu Chuanshan, what should we do if these officials turned around and refused to acknowledge it?
Aren’t we trying to draw water from a bamboo basket but in vain?”
Qiao Yu smiled and said: "Boss Xue is right, but the imperial court seems to have no time to take care of this. I heard a few days ago that the rumors of nationalizing Sichuan-Han Road are getting stronger and stronger, and now the imperial court's new cabinet is about to be unveiled.
, I estimate that no matter who is in power in the new cabinet, they will nationalize the railways and rely on this to borrow some money from foreigners. No one can get by without money. As for the Sichuan-Hankou Road problem, everyone knows better than me.
There are so many problems. I am afraid that the unrest in Sichuan is just around the corner. I am now eager to extend my influence to the local area. I just want to help us stand firmer before the unrest comes. At least we must keep the safety of the trade routes, otherwise we will
The newly built factories are facing a crisis!"
Many people present are well aware of the problem of Sichuan-Han Road and know that it is a hornet's nest. However, the current rumors in the court are indeed as Qiao Yu said. It seems that the momentum of nationalization is very clear, and everyone is also aware of it.