Chapter 48: Who Killed Song Jiaoren

  As mentioned earlier, the Sichuan Army Officer School was formed by the Sichuan Army Battalion, Sichuan Army Cheng School and Sichuan Army Primary School. Yang Xing only studied at the Army Cheng Academy for one year before transferring to the third batch of students at the Sichuan Army Primary School, making him a junior in his own right. In an army that traditionally emphasizes seniority, this was something worth boasting about.

  So Yang Xing was still quite uneasy about Yang Sen, and could only gradually tame this fierce horse in future actual military activities.

  After the bandits were basically eliminated in various places, Yang Xing determined to establish a strong national party group organization in each regiment, battalion and company based on his past experience, in order to unify everyone's understanding and prevent possible splits.

  Taking into account the actual situation, the propaganda team and logistics department are incorporated into the scope of small group control.

  Establish a temporary small group in the class, with the class leader and team leader as the convener, regularly organize group members to study.

  At the regimental level, a full-time instructor is established, including 1 propagandist, 1 quartermaster and 1 clerk, who will be responsible for the army's military needs, ideological education, combat mobilization and other work.

  In the headquarters, a political department is specially set up, including one minister, and including one organizational cadre, propaganda education cadre, security cadre, military supply officer, and military-civilian relations cadre. Mainly responsible for cadre selection, appointment, assessment work, ideological propaganda work, headquarters guard work, and distribution of military supplies among various departments (Dongfang is not a soldier, don't know the organization structure of the political department, let's just say it's a cross-through, think about it with your own brain).

  Locally, as he was only the head of the Shunqing Military Government Bureau at that time, a propaganda office was initially set up to publicize laws and regulations and oppose civilized matters such as foot binding.

  But just as Yang Xing was busy with his work, the whole country was once again plunged into the shadow of war, and the fear of war spread throughout the nation.

  That was when the famous revolutionary and actual founder of the Kuomintang, Sung Chiao-jen, was assassinated in Shanghai and died shortly thereafter.

  To President Yuan Shikai in Beijing: I, Song Jiaoren, will be arriving in the capital tonight on the Shanghai-Nanjing train to pay my respects. At 10:45, I was suddenly shot from behind by an assassin at the train station. The bullet entered my abdomen from the upper part of my waist and I am mortally wounded. In my humble opinion, since I joined the revolutionary movement, I have always been self-disciplined and law-abiding, never having any personal grievances or enemies. Although I was involved in the reform efforts, I prioritized human rights and justice, never seeking personal gain. Now that the country's foundation is not yet solid and the people are not yet prosperous, I am filled with regret as I face death. I implore you, Mr. President, to be sincere and just, to exhaust all means to protect the people's rights, so that our country can establish an unshakeable constitution. Even in death, I will consider it a blessing if my words are heeded. These are my final words before I die.

  Two days later, the assassin Wu Zetian was found, and various rumors followed.

  Rumors then spread throughout China, one of which was that Yuan Shikai had instructed the assassin to kill because the Nationalist Party would win a big victory in the parliamentary elections and Song Jiaoren would form a cabinet. Yuan Shikai, who was greedy for power, was unwilling to share his power and ordered Ying Guixin to bribe him and order Wu Shiying to assassinate Song Jiaoren.

  Another speaker was Chen Qimei of the Progressive Party, Chen Qimei was from Huzhou, Zhejiang Province, born into a small rural gentry family that had been engaged in farming and reading for generations. In 1906, he went to Japan and entered the Toyo School to study military affairs. Chen Qimei, along with Song's murderer Ying Guixin, Wu Shiying, and others were all members of the Gongjin Society, belonging to the same Tongmenghui camp, all being pure Nationalist Party members under the leadership of Sun Yat-sen and Song Jiaoren, sharing a common destiny, inseparable in interest.

  In addition, Ying Xun was a close friend of Chen Qimei. During the anti-Qing period, Chen Qimei often stayed at Ying's home, and their relationship was not ordinary. Chen Qimei had many cases of murder on his body, and he carried out assassinations as easily as eating vegetables. There were Tao Chengzhang before him, and Xu Baoshan, Xia Rui Fang, Zheng Rucheng and others after him.

  After the Xinhai Revolution, Ying Guixin served as the head of Chen Qimei's intelligence department. After Sun Yat-sen returned to Shanghai, Ying was again sent by Chen to be in charge of receiving and protecting Sun. When Sun took office as provisional president in Nanjing, it was Ying who organized a guard corps to escort him. The assassin Wu Shiying also died in the model prison in Shanghai under Chen's control. When Song Jiaoren united various factions within the Nationalist Party for elections, he gained more attention than Chen Qimei within the party. It is not impossible that Chen might have gotten rid of Song like he did with Tao Chengzhang and Xu Baoshan.

  After Song's death, the whole country was in an uproar. The Southern revolutionary party and Yuan Shikai in Beijing both accused each other of murdering Song Jiaoren.

  With the support of Chen Qimei, Jiangsu Governor Cheng Dequan and Civil Affairs Director Ying Dekui, after receiving evidence from the Mixed Court, publicly announced in a telegram the key points of the secret telegrams and letters exchanged between the criminal Ying Guiyin and Premier and Interior Minister Zhao Bingjun, as well as Interior Ministry Secretary Hong Shuzu, forcing Zhao Bingjun to issue a public telegram to defend himself.

  The Shanghai District Procuratorate also publicly summoned the incumbent Premier Zhao Bingjun. Zhao refused to go to Shanghai for interrogation, but under the strong pressure of public opinion, Yuan Shikai approved his resignation as Premier and was replaced by Duan Qirui as acting premier.

  Zhao Bingjun later committed suicide in Beijing to prove his innocence, but there were also rumors that he was assassinated by Yuan Shikai.

  Yang Xingke ignored these and during this time, he often stayed in the military camp at night, stayed in Shunqing Prefecture during the day, or went out to teach people agriculture and sericulture or display local economy.

  He said that Yang Xing had just arrived in Shunqing last year and went to a field, saw the scattered mulberry trees, and was overjoyed on the spot.

  In his previous life, he came from a rural area and had some knowledge of mulberry grafting technology. He immediately taught this technique to an old farmer.

  The old farmer was initially skeptical, but under Yang Xing's demonstration, it took only one day to complete the grafting of a whole hillside of mulberry trees. This year when they went to visit, everyone saw that this piece of mulberry garden had lush branches and leaves, and the mulberry leaves were much larger than those of other mulberry trees.

  Many old farmers surrounded the mulberry garden, marveling at it, and finally heard that it was the credit of the comfort envoy. When Yang Xing inspected the garden, one by one surrounded Yang Xing, all wanting to learn this technology.

  At this time, Yang Xing also showed a people-friendly side, and immediately demonstrated one or two, and required everyone to graft mulberry trees in winter.

  Who would have thought that the high-ranking official would be so down-to-earth, and actually understand these crafts? The onlookers burst into applause.

  Thinking of the scene where some officials in later generations inspected various places, Yang Xing immediately stood on the edge of the field and talked with several old farmers, communicating about this year's weather conditions and harvest.

  An old farmer asked in surprise: "Sir, how are you so familiar with farming? This is indeed rare!"

  Yang Xing smiled and said: "This uncle, I was originally from Pengzhou too. In my childhood, I followed my parents to farm, so I know a thing or two about farming."

  The old farmers were delighted and immediately knew that Yang Xing was down-to-earth. Although they still showed respect, they obviously spoke from the heart to Yang Xing.

  The land in northern Sichuan is vast and sparsely populated, the main problem is that it relies on heaven for food, and unlike hybrid rice cultivation, the yield is extremely low. Moreover, the landlord cleverly exploits and takes a large share of the annual harvest as rent, leaving very little behind, many people can only rely on sweet potatoes and vegetables to fill their hunger.

  Thinking of the conversation in history, 1958 and 1959, the earth was turned upside down. Thinking of hybrid rice in history, thinking of Mr. Yuan Longping in history, he immediately consulted with his secretary, Wu Fei Bai.

  Wu Fei Bai, born in 1890, originally named Wu Cheng Ji, from Pengzhou Lixi. At the age of 13, he was admitted to the county school as a Xiucai. In 1906 (Qing Guangxu 32nd year), after the abolition of the imperial examination system, he entered the new school with Yang Xing and became close friends.

  Later, due to his mother's early death and his stepmother's coldness towards him, he was treated harshly at home. He then went to Hepu County Industrial School to study industrial skills.

  During his time in Hechuan, he came into contact with new ideas and joined the Tongmenghui. After dropping out of school, he engaged in revolutionary activities.

  After the Xinhai Revolution, Wu Fei was appointed as a member of the first Sichuan Provincial Assembly. Later that year, he heard that his friend Yang Xing had been appointed as the Magistrate of Shunqing and the Commander of the 2nd Battalion of the Sichuan Army, so he immediately returned to Shunqing. He was soon introduced by Yang Xing as his right-hand man and was appointed as the Secretary-General of the Shunqing Magistrate's Office, specifically in charge of government agency work.

  Historically, Wu Fei Bai was a master of Confucian classics. He studied the "Mozi Jing" (upper and lower volumes), the "Jing Shuo" (upper and lower volumes), and completed the renowned work "Mozi Bianjing Jie", later renamed "Mojing Jiefu".

  Wu Fei was not only a master of Confucian classics, but also a well-known educator in northern Sichuan. He taught at Sichuan University when Mr. Zhang Lan was the president and later at Nanjing Central University. During his time in Nanjing, he provided assistance to all refugees from Shunqing and Peng'an who came to Nanjing. His wife often said: "Two-thirds of his salary is used for 'piao' (helping others) and 'shu' (buying books)". After the victory of the Anti-Japanese War, he founded the Northern Sichuan Institute, which established a scholarship specifically for poor students.

  In addition, Wu Fei is not the kind of person who only reads sacred books and does not ask about external affairs. He often relies on his Tongmenghui membership identity to dare to fight resolutely against some warlords' clever and tyrannical methods.

  In 1923, warlord He Guanglie levied "land tax", convened a meeting of representatives from various counties. He attended the meeting as a representative of Pengzhou. At the meeting, he supported the masses and student representatives in condemning He Guanglie, saying: "At this time of national crisis, you can be a hero or a traitor, leaving a good name for centuries or a stench for ten thousand years, the choice is yours!" The four sides were shocked by his words.

  The meeting abolished "Tianzuodong" and made a declaration that all donations and taxes to be collected in the future must be approved by the Autonomous Preparation Association.

  For such a great master who worries about the country and its people, Yang Xing is respectful. As soon as he heard that the original Yang Xing was once a childhood friend, he immediately invited him to join the Proclamation Office and entrusted him with a heavy responsibility as Secretary-General.

  Wu Fei Bai was studying at the vocational school, and he also praised Yang Xing's grafting method. After Yang Xing introduced it briefly, Wu immediately decided to promote this grafting method throughout Shunqing.

  In addition, Yang Xing's planting was very dense. At that time, he asked Wu Fei Bai, "Is it better to plant rice seedlings sparse or dense?" After a long while, Wu Fei Bai replied, "It should be sparse, if it is too dense, although the seedlings will grow very luxuriantly, but if they are too dense, they won't get enough sunlight, and the grains of rice will not be full, and there will be very few grains."

  Yang Xing nodded and said, "Brother Fei, these things look very simple on the surface. But how can ordinary people understand these principles? We should return the technology we have mastered to our fellow villagers."

  "Wu Fei Baiyi listened for a long time before responding: 'Brother Zhengdong, how can I repay you? As for these things, I have also personally taught people, but the effect is limited.'"

  Yang Xing thought for a moment, and then blurted out a sentence: "Technology goes to the countryside, first cultivate a few backbone personnel, and then let these backbone personnel go to the countryside to teach the old farmers, in this way, the villagers will surely master agricultural skills."

  Wu Fei Baiyi listened, and with great joy said: "That's right, but Brother Zhengdong. Teaching agricultural skills is only a symptomatic treatment, not a fundamental solution. In our Shunqing area with many hills, villagers rely heavily on heaven for food, what can we do about it?"

  Yang Xing laughed and said: "The Chinese have always relied on heaven for food, to solve this problem, we must repair the water conservancy, you plan it out, organize each place to build reservoirs, dredge rivers, so as to ensure a bumper harvest in case of drought or flood."

  "Wu Fei laughed and said: 'The construction of water conservancy has always been a matter of benefiting the country and the people. Brother Zhengdong, as long as you are willing to allocate funds, I will take care of it myself. If I don't make this land in northern Sichuan undergo a great transformation, my surname is not Wu.'"

  Yang Xing was overjoyed and was about to leave when he saw an old farmer pointing at Wu Fei Bai and said, "Look at this old farmer, in order to irrigate this dry land, he actually carried manure water from his home several miles away. We can let everyone dig a well nearby and store the manure water."

  Wu Fei explained: "These lands are all owned by wealthy landlords, and ordinary people can only rent a piece of land for a few years. The rent is very high, so who would dare to occupy a piece of land? Therefore, many people would rather work hard themselves than build a thatched hut or something like that nearby to store manure."

  Yang Xing listened and after a long while blurted out: "China is backward, these landlords who rely on land to oppress the people are truly the chief culprits."

  Although the current situation is chaotic, how dare Yang Xing shout out the reduction of rent and interest for future generations, he can only reluctantly leave.

  Although the current situation is chaotic, how dare Yang Xing shout out the reduction of rent and interest for future generations, he can only reluctantly leave.

  Yang Xing knew that in order to stand firm in the Republic of warlords, heavy industry was needed, steel was needed, and artillery fire was needed. However, the investment in heavy industry was huge, the cycle was long, and the effect was also very slow.

  Unlike light industry, it requires less investment, produces quick results and can drive local employment and boost regional economy.

  After the reform and opening up, the coastal areas of Guangdong Province took off one after another with light industry as the pioneer, finally creating a Chinese miracle.

  However, Nanchong is an inland area, and in order to develop light industry, it must be combined with local conditions.

  Dongfang's previous life graduated from Northwest Institute of Textile Science and Technology (later renamed Xi'an Polytechnic University, it seems to have become Xi'an Engineering University during the crossing), and is still familiar with light industry.

  In this era, to develop light industry, mainly includes the following: first is cotton spinning, second is silk weaving, third is leather making... and so on.

  Due to the sunshine, in the previous life, Sichuan was not a major cotton-producing province. China's major cotton-producing provinces were originally in Shandong, Henan, Hebei, Jiangsu and Shaanxi Guanzhong area. It wasn't until the end of last century that it moved to Xinjiang.

  In their previous life, in Sichuan, many people flocked to Xinjiang to plant cotton, probably for this reason.

  So, the cotton textile industry doesn't need to be thought about much and it's impossible for it to become a pillar of the economy in northern Sichuan, just let a few private enterprises do it.

  So there is only the silk industry left.

  In addition, the previous life was in the textile and light industry, Dongfang knew that Sichuan's annual raw silk production ranked first in the country. In the late 20th century, Sichuan (including Chongqing) produced 23,000 tons of raw silk per year, while the national silk production was only 65,000 tons, accounting for over 30% of the national total.

  In the 1990s, China's cocoon production accounted for more than 40% of the world's total, with mulberry cocoons accounting for 91.1% and oak cocoons accounting for 9.9%. Mulberry cocoons were mainly produced in Sichuan, Zhejiang, Jiangsu, and Guangdong provinces, accounting for 86.98% of China's mulberry cocoon production, with the most concentrated areas being the Taihu Lake region, Jialing River region, and Pearl River Delta. Oak cocoons are a specialty product of China, with about 3/4 of the country's total production coming from Liaoning Province, followed by the Shandong Peninsula in eastern Shandong and other places in western Henan, with a total output of 534,000 tons in 1990.

  It is said that Shunqing, located on the banks of the Jialing River, was a famous silk city in its previous life. It seemed that every year in the 1990s, an international silk festival would be held in Shunqing (today's Nanjing). In the depths of memory, people often talked about how, during the 1980s when official speculation was rampant, there were many rumors that Deng Gong's eldest son had repeatedly taken out and sold Shunqing silk, which showed the status of Shunqing silk throughout the country.

  Moreover, at that time, the status of China's silk industry in the world was clearly inconsistent with its traditional reputation as a silk-producing country. In the early 20th century, the real silk powerhouse in the world was Japan, not China.

  Here is some statistical data, or it can be said to illustrate the problem.

  World sericulture production of silk (in tons)

  Year

  World Total

  China

  Japan

  India

  Brazil

  CIS (Commonwealth of Independent States)

  Korea

  Others

  It would seem that China's raw silk production did not surpass Japan until thirty years after the founding of the PRC, and only when the country had an export-oriented economic structure.

  For silk, this soft gold, an industry that can quickly bring about primitive capital accumulation, the East has not always allowed little Japan to be arrogant, allowing little Japan to make too much money from silk and accumulate too much social wealth.

  Thinking of this, Yang Xing was determined that since he had become the head of the Shunqing Military and Political Bureau and had 20 million yuan in his hands, he should make the most of it to accumulate wealth for himself.

  How can this be exhibited? Mengniu's experience and Yili's experience are very worthy of respect, that is, through taking enterprises as the leader, to drive the development of the silk industry.