On October 22, 1911, the third year of Xuantong of the Qing Dynasty, Changsha Customs and Taxation Department.
In Changsha City, sporadic gunfire continued.
After surviving a day of anxiety in the war and chaos, the Changsha Customs and Excise Department and the Englishman Wei Kefei received a note from the Hunan Military **, which had just been born today, and the new regime had just been born to him and made a clear request: The Military ** would take over all the customs in its territory.
After all, the other party is a military regime, and Wei Kefei is still quite jealous in his heart, so he hurriedly reported the matter to the superior leader and the General Taxation Department of Anglian.
The British Anglian immediately issued an order: since the Chinese customs duties had been designated to pay off foreign debts, it was proposed that the relevant taxes should be deposited in the custody of the General Department of Taxation or the consular corps, and all of them should be deposited in HSBC.
Although the words are polite, but the meaning is very straightforward, sorry, customs duties cannot be handed over to the military **. At the same time, Anglian did not forget to ask the British minister Juerdian for help.
The family did not say anything, and Zhu Erdian immediately supported Anglian's approach on behalf of the British, and sent a telegram to the British Consulate in Changsha, ordering it to fully cooperate with all actions of the Customs and Excise Department or the consular corps.
British Minister Jurcan.
It is an eternal truth that the economic base determines the superstructure, and the Hunan Army is certainly no exception. The lucrative customs duties and taxes are close at hand, but the foreigners are holding on tightly, but they just refuse to let go.
At that time, the arrogance of foreigners was well known, and the military ** was at a loss for what to do, and after repeated considerations, the military ** still continued to send a letter with the mentality of giving it a try: it was recommended that the tax should be deposited in Dahan Bank, and neither party was allowed to use it without authorization.
Isn't Dahan Bank a bank controlled by you Chinese, it's simply ridiculous! Wei Kefei continued to reply: I disagree.
Then it is always possible to open an account in the name of Hunan Jun** and deposit it in HSBC, and Hunan Jun** will retreat again and again.
However, the Hunan Army did not wait for Wei Kefei's nod of approval, but waited for gunboats from various countries.
In the end, the customs tariffs were still firmly in the hands of Wei Kefei, and the Hunan Army couldn't use a penny. At that time, the same situation was happening all over the country.
The revolution ** can't get customs duties, so the Qing court, which has been friends with foreigners for half a lifetime, is it? In fact, the Qing court did not get a penny.
At the beginning of the revolution, the great powers of various countries quickly set up special agencies to immediately withhold local tariffs in the name of debt repayment and reparations.
Moreover, the operation of the foreign powers can be said to have stunned the Qing court, because not only were the customs duties of the independent southern areas intercepted, but even the customs duties of the areas still under the actual control of the Qing court also fell into the pockets of the foreign powers, and all the above funds were remitted to foreign banks for temporary management.
Satisfied with this, Zhu Erdian wrote in his report to Great Britain**: "Customs duties at all ports of China are now under the full control of the General Department of Taxation for reimbursement and compensation. ”
The ruthless blood pumping of the great powers made the already weak financial situation of the north and the south worse, and soon, the Qing court and the revolutionaries realized that this battle was really impossible to fight......
In December of the third year of Xuantong (1911), the Forbidden City in Beijing.
A eunuch staggered into the warm pavilion of the Yangxin Palace, and handed an urgent telegram from the Du branch to the hands of the Empress Dowager Longyu, and after reading the telegram, the Empress Dowager Longyu did not say a word and fell into a deep confusion.
Since the outbreak of the Wuchang Uprising, in just two months, the country's finances are about to collapse, as the minister of Duzhi said in the telegram: "Now the situation is critical, the treasury is exhausted, I hope that the empress dowager and the emperor urgently allocate the internal silver, if you can't raise any more money, I am afraid that the collapse is imminent." ”
However, the Empress Dowager Longyu had just collected 1 million taels of silver from the treasury not long ago to support the military salary, and now that the treasury is empty, how can there be any silver money.
However, the financial difficulties of the imperial court were also urgent.
With the successive independence of the provinces, the land tax and salt tax, which were originally important fiscal revenues, were intercepted by the local government, and the customs duties were managed by the foreign powers, and the Qing court's revenue and expenditure immediately exceeded its means. At that time, the national treasury was less than 60,000 taels of silver, and the family wealth of a country was almost cleared.
The Qing court ran out of money, and various chain reactions were immediately apparent.
Even before the Wuchang Uprising, the Qing court's financial situation was already struggling, and it had to issue an edict to cut the salaries of officers at all levels by 40%, and the army was in an uproar, and in less than half a year, the revolutionary situation was surging.
And now, the Beiyang Army has not paid salaries for three months, the army's morale is unstable, and there is even a phenomenon of the army plundering the people.
The eyebrows were burned, of course, the Qing court thought of a way, and the first thing that came to mind was to issue public bonds. Soon, the public debt plan was introduced, and the Qing court planned to raise 30 million yuan, which was guaranteed by fiscal revenue.
Fearing that the issuance would not be effective, the Manchu imperial family not only issued a large amount of money to subscribe for the bank, but also mobilized the active participation of pro-noble ministers. However, with the successive independence of the provinces, the credit rating of the Qing court continued to decline, and there were very few actual subscribers, and they could not raise 12 million yuan in a patchwork of money.
The Qing court was anxious, and Yuan Shikai, as the prime minister and head of Beiyang, was also anxious, and in order to maintain Beiyang's huge military expenditures, Yuan Shikai had to contact the foreign powers everywhere to borrow money.
However, at this time, the situation between the north and the south was unclear, and the Manchu Qing was in danger of collapsing at any time, and the shrewd foreigners certainly did not blindly bet, and most of the Qing court's loan requests were rejected.
Thanks to Yuan Shikai's efforts, there were a few foreign capitalists who were willing to borrow from the Qing court, such as the French Baron Godui, who promised to borrow 24,000 francs, but for risk control reasons, the money was never released.
Yuan Shikai was busy on behalf of the Qing court, but he also did not borrow a penny.
Beiyang is asking for money, the Du branch is asking for money, and the local government is also asking for money, and at the critical juncture, the great powers have not given up the collection of past debts and indemnities, and the Empress Dowager Longyu has no choice but to start selling her property and selling some of the palace utensils in Shengjing and Rehe to supplement military salaries.
Not only that, like Chongzhen at the end of the Ming Dynasty, the Empress Dowager Longyu also pinned her last hope on the ministers of the Manchu Dynasty, hoping that they would be able to squander their wealth and help the court survive the difficulties.
But the situation of the Empress Dowager Longyu and Chongzhen is exactly the same. When the building was about to fall, the trees fell and scattered, and the mouths shouted a few times very hard, but in fact, few people were willing to take out real money to support the imperial court, and even the most blood relatives of the clan fled to Tianjin and other concessions for refuge.
The rapid collapse of finances, the situation of the court is becoming increasingly difficult, because of this, at the critical moment of peace between the north and the south, Yuan Shikai was quite difficult between the revolutionary republic and the constitutional monarchy of the Manchu imperial family, so he showdown with the Qing court: the finances are only enough to support half a month at most, and if he does not make a decision, there will be civil strife.
On the one hand, the Qing court was exhausted due to the financial crisis, and on the other hand, Nanjing's temporary ** life was not easy, and it was also troubled by the poor financial situation.
The last person to speak to the Qing court: Empress Dowager Longyu.
December 25, 1911, the Bund in Shanghai.
The "Jiangli Wheel" broke through the layers of mist on the surface of the Huangpu River and slowly approached the customs wharf.
From the moment they saw the figure of Sun Yat-sen on the ship, the crowd continued to burst into applause, and the cheers rose higher and higher, and everyone was looking forward to the arrival of this "Chinese Washington", eager for him to lead the Chinese people to overthrow the imperial system and move towards a republic.
When Sun Yat-sen docked and disembarked, many Chinese and foreign reporters flocked to the ship, and one reporter was the first to ask: "Mr. Sun, have you brought a much-needed huge amount of money to the revolutionary army?" ”
Subsequently, Sun Yat-sen fully deduced what it means that as long as you are not embarrassed, it is others who are embarrassed.
In this regard, Sun Yat-sen said bluntly: "Give no name a penny, and bring back the revolutionary spirit ear!" As soon as these words came out, both the reporters and the leaders of the revolutionary army who were in charge of greeting them were embarrassed to ...... on the spot
Sun Yat-sen arrives at Shanghai Customs Terminal**.
In fact, such an answer was also Sun Yat-sen's helplessness. Engaged in the revolution for many years, no one knows better than Sun Yat-sen that the victory or defeat of the two parties depends entirely on financial resources.
As early as after receiving the news of the Wuchang Uprising, Sun Yat-sen's first thought was not to return to China to lead the revolution, but to immediately pack his bags and go to Europe to raise funds. However, at that time, the situation in China was unclear, the foreign powers adhered to the policy of financial neutrality, and the Qing court had no way to borrow, and it was also difficult for you to come to Sun Yat-sen.
So, at the end of December, Sun Yat-sen, who had been running in vain, had to return to China with a cheeky face and decided to cross the river by feeling the stones, and solve the problem of money while making a revolution.
However, Nanjing's temporary financial situation was far worse than he expected, and when he opened the bank account book, it was light to describe it as poor, so that the establishment and operation of the temporary ** were facing great difficulties.
Therefore, the day before he became the provisional **, Sun Yat-sen eagerly made a request to his follower, the Japanese Miyazaki: "If you can't guarantee to get me 5 million yuan within a week, I will have to run away if I become a **." ”
In the end, under Zhang Jian's guarantee, Huang Xing borrowed 300,000 yuan from Mitsui & Co. of Japan before he successfully established a temporary **. This was just the first step in the long march, and soon, Sun Yat-sen was overwhelmed by the huge expenses of the new **.
Among the many temporary expenses, the core is military salary.
At that time, there were millions of revolutionary troops in the south on paper, and there were more than 300,000 people from all walks of life around Nanjing alone, and the armies in various provinces and regions were even more mountainous, as numerous as cattle hairs.
In this regard, Sun Yat-sen often waved his pen and instructed Secretary-General Hu Hanmin to handle it. One day, Sun Yuqi, the governor of Anhui, sent someone to urge him to pay money, and Sun Yat-sen approved 200,000 yuan on the spot, but when Hu Hanmin went to the Ministry of Finance to withdraw money, there were only ten silver dollars left in the deposit.
Hasn't Nanjing, which owns half of the southern part of the country, made any efforts to open source?
Of course! The Qing court faced the same dilemma, when the land tax and salt tax were withheld by the local military leaders, and the customs duties were managed by the foreign powers, so that the most important fiscal revenues were lost.
Coincidentally, Nanjing Temporary ** also thought of issuing public bonds, and for this purpose, a special public debt department was set up to urgently issue public bonds of 100 million yuan. Who would have thought that the temporary ** was worse than the Qing court, and in the end only raised more than 6.3 million yuan.
At the same time, Chen Jintao, the chief financial officer, actively traveled to Shanghai's Shili Yangchang in an attempt to borrow money from the foreign powers. Don't even think about credit loans, this time, the great powers pointed out a "clear way" for the temporary **: you can use assets to apply for mortgage loans, such as your country's steamship China Merchants Bureau.
China Merchants Steamship was the core industrial asset of China at that time, which was the lifeblood of China's economy, and even the Qing court never mortgaged it or opened up joint ventures.
One is really daring to mention, the other is really daring to do it, and soon, the Nanjing cabinet meeting decided to mortgage the steamship China Merchants Bureau to the Japanese foreign bank for a loan of 10 million taels.
As soon as the news came out, the whole country was in an uproar.
China Merchants shareholders and directors were unequivocal in their opposition to the proposal, even at the risk of clashing violently with the military.
And this incident also attracted strong opposition from all walks of life, even the deputy ** Li Yuanhong also clearly expressed his opposition, and sent a message to Sun Yat-sen to persuade him: "China Merchants Bureau is an important transportation agency of the country, if the bureau is used as a mortgage to transfer to outsiders, then the transportation industry in the Yangtze River basin will be in the hands of outsiders, and do not listen to outsiders because of the small profits in front of them." ”
In the end, under tremendous pressure, the Senate voted against it, and the matter could not be reached.
The same plot was staged again in Hanyeping Company, and Nanjing temporarily put national sovereignty on the shelves again and again, and the Chinese people were full of righteous indignation.
It is no wonder that newspapers and periodicals such as "People's Voice" have criticized: "What the Manchus dare not do, but you dare to do it, I am afraid that the people of the whole country will scold you for not even being as good as the Manchus." ”
What's even more exaggerated, Sun Yat-sen even considered leasing the three eastern provinces that had not yet been unified to the Japanese to support the revolutionary Northern Expedition, but he was stillborn due to too much resistance.
After tossing for a long time, the temporary ** has already exhausted the skills of the donkey, and such a situation can really hurt Comrade Huang Xing, the commander of the revolutionary army.
In the face of a million-strong revolutionary army with a large number of people and low combat effectiveness, Huang Xing was worried about the problem of mutiny in the army all the time, so that he was worried. He once sighed helplessly: "If the peace talks between the north and the south come to an end, I feel that I will definitely not be able to issue a combat mobilization order, and I can only cut my belly to thank the world." ”
Obviously, at this point, both the North and the South are exhausted, and this civil war is doomed to be unable to continue. Therefore, under the mediation of British Minister Zhu Erdian, the two sides naturally sat down at the negotiating table and started round after round of peace talks between the north and the south.
The outcome of the peace talks is well known, and Yuan Shikai became the biggest winner. But in my opinion, it is not so much that Yuan Shikai stole the fruits of the revolution, but rather that when the country was in deep financial crisis and the whole country was looking for a reliable credit guarantor, history chose what it thought was the best option - Yuan Shikai.