1905: Beer Hall Speaker

Page 132

Later, after checking the archives of the Qing Dynasty, Zhao Yan finally understood what the Qing Dynasty had done to the grasslands and the population reduction policy they implemented. He was sweating bullets when he saw it.

While the Qing dynasty proclaimed the unity of Manchus and Mongols, it was actually more ruthless in its treatment of the Mongols than any other Han Chinese regime. The Qing's goodwill was only directed at the Mongol nobility, and it constantly sought to win them over through marriage alliances and the granting of titles.

Then Inner Mongolia was divided into several banners, and Outer Mongolia into several more banners, which directly created a boundary line in the grassland that had no border. Herdsmen in each banner could only live a nomadic life within their own banner, and could not leave their banner even if they starved to death.

Finally, there was the issue of religious population reduction. Lamaism, which was promoted on the Mongolian grasslands and shared the same origin as Tibetan Buddhism, was a characteristic left over from the Mongol Yuan Dynasty, which the Manchu Qing Dynasty picked up and used as a weapon.

During the Qing Dynasty, each Mongolian family had to send one male member to become a monk in a temple. This meant that monks were no longer counted in the population, and other Mongolians had to provide resources to support these monks who only chanted scriptures and did not have children.

Over the past two centuries, the population of the Mongolian grasslands has decreased while the ecological environment has improved. It is a model project of returning grazing land to grassland during the feudal period, and the Manchu Qing regime made an indelible contribution to the protection of the grassland ecology.

The Mongolian grasslands of today, especially in the northern desert, are not like the barren deserts of later times, but rather a vast, lush green grassland stretching as far as the eye can see.

The central government is envious, but alas, there are no herders! With the existing herder population, after Zhao Yan, the Heavenly Chariot Khan, wreaked havoc, the population density of the grassland is almost turning into a no-man's land.

In an effort to make amends, Zhao Yan even relocated hundreds of thousands of Han prisoners from the Northeast Reform Camps to the grasslands for a special pardon, and then ordered them to settle on the grasslands and graze their livestock.

Meanwhile, people from within the Great Wall continued to send immigrants to the grasslands, constantly increasing the grassland population and allowing the original Han Chinese from the grasslands and the immigrant Han Chinese to live together, learn from each other, and integrate.

The more important task is to restore animal husbandry on the grasslands. With such a vast grassland, it would be a waste if it didn't produce tens of millions of cattle and sheep every year.

Reasonable grazing will not damage the grassland ecosystem; in fact, cattle and sheep manure can promote further optimization of the grassland ecosystem. As long as we don't follow the example of later Mongolia and engage in reckless practices, the grassland is still very valuable.

Before China's textile industry enters the era of chemical fibers, half of it will rely on cotton from Xinjiang and the other half on wool from the desert grasslands.

The British created the "Sheep Eat Man" movement to develop their textile industry, but the Republic doesn't need to do that. In fact, the Republic needs to create the "Man Eats Grass" movement because the grasslands are too big and there are too few people!

Besides wool, the grasslands also produce a large amount of beef and mutton, which will form the basis for improving the physical fitness of Chinese people in the future. Not to mention the extremely rich coal and copper mines on the grasslands, all of which require a massive labor force for mining and production.

With the current population, there aren't enough people to be herders, let alone to be mining or developing industry.

The central government has already planned a heavy industrial zone in southern Inner Mongolia, where a significant portion of China's armored vehicle factories will be located in the future.

In the future, at least eight million people will be needed in southern and northern Inner Mongolia to support these industries. After all, which of these industries—animal husbandry, mining, and heavy equipment manufacturing—does not require a large labor force?

The present-day Yunzhong City is a model of an immigrant city. Its location is roughly near the Oyu Tolgoi copper mine area in Mongolia in later generations. Zhao Yan doesn't remember much else, but he still keeps some valuable information in mind.

Before he traveled through time, he used this copper mine in Outer Mongolia as a gimmick to deceive many investors, so the impression in his mind was very clear. After pacifying the grasslands, he immediately drew a circle on the map and ordered the development of the copper mine resources here.

Everyone believed it. If Zhao Yan said there was a copper mine here, then there must be. If there wasn't, it just meant they hadn't dug deep enough!

Now that Yunzhong City has been completed, more than 100,000 prisoners in specially established reform camps have been stationed there. The newly established China Copper Group has also taken over all the mineral resources in the area and mobilized personnel to carry out mining operations.

By the middle of last year, the exploration team had almost confirmed the copper deposit area and started mining operations.

Until this year, the Yunzhong copper mining area has already produced tens of thousands of tons of refined copper ore, which is then transported to the interior of China.

The importance of copper resources is too much to elaborate on here, but the military won't be the first to benefit, since those poor military guys can't afford many copper-made artillery shells and bullets.

The happiest and most benefited are the Ministry of Finance and the central bank, as they control the right to mint coins; once copper mines are in their hands, they are turned into currency.

The central government has recently been injecting too much money into the economy, issuing paper currency incessantly to make up for the fiscal spending shortfall. As a result, there have been signs of inflation and currency devaluation in the market, and the military has been the hardest hit.

After the currency devaluation, the military's originally agreed-upon arms orders all encountered various problems due to rising prices. Rifles were produced in a shoddy manner, artillery orders were asked to pay extra, and warships also saw price increases.

Zhao Yan sensed that things were not going well, so he ordered the Ministry of Finance to find a solution. The Ministry of Finance responded in a blunt and direct manner: to print copper coins to replace paper money and allow them to flow into the market.

With the support of the Yunzhong Copper Mine, the new copper coins began to flood the market in large quantities. The central bank also began to use various means such as government bonds and deposit-loan swaps to withdraw excess paper money from the market, effectively curbing signs of currency devaluation.

Even in import and export trade, foreign merchants were very willing to accept Han Yuan copper coins as settlement. They did not accept paper money, but they accepted copper coins indefinitely.

The profits from the Yunzhong Copper Mine further spurred the central government's determination to further develop the two desert provinces. Zhao Yan also continued to expand his influence in the southern desert province, establishing a new immigrant city in Ordos.

Besides mining, animal husbandry in the two desert provinces was also recovering rapidly. In 1908, the two desert provinces sold more than 100,000 tons of beef, mutton, wool, dairy products and other urgently needed commodities to the markets inside the Great Wall.

At the beginning of this year, both South and North Mongolian provinces began building dairy processing plants, meat processing plants, and canneries. The governments of both provinces are also vigorously developing the livestock industry and attracting immigrant labor.

The most surprising thing was that the British came uninvited. More than a dozen British companies jointly invested more than £1.5 million in the two desert provinces to build several wool processing plants and livestock product processing plants. The only unpleasant thing was that most of their products had to be shipped back to their home country. Although they were paid, it was still a bit annoying.

The British even intended to invest in the Cloud Mines, hoping to get a share of the profits. They offered very generous terms, even at a loss, with the only hope being that Britain could share in the copper production capacity of the mines. However, this was rejected by the central government.

Cloud City can now be considered an industrial city, with a population of 160,000, all of whom rely on local mining and animal husbandry for their livelihood. The vast majority are specially designated prisoners, while a small portion are immigrants who have moved from within the pass.

The local prosperity also attracted a large number of downstream herders and merchants from within the Great Wall to come and trade, making this place the core trading center in the border area between the northern and southern provinces of the Gobi Desert.

The southern province was extremely resentful and jealous, wanting the central government to place Yunzhong under its jurisdiction, while the northern province vehemently opposed it, even threatening to march south to Baotou to destroy this treacherous brother, the southern province.

The majority of the revenue of Mobei Province now relies on Yunzhong, this treasure trove. If it were to be taken away by Mobei South, Mobei would immediately become impoverished.

Fortunately, Inner Mongolia Province will soon have Ordos as a treasure trove, giving both the northern and southern provinces a financial pillar, which can be considered a delicate balance.

However, the two provinces were still not at peace and were fighting fiercely. The officials of both provinces were transferred from within the Great Wall. When they were in the Great Wall, the two governors even had a pretty good relationship and it seems that they even got married.

After being transferred to the northern desert, they became complete enemies, unable to stand each other and each thinking of killing their brother to strengthen themselves.

The biggest advantage of Inner Mongolia Province is its proximity to the interior of China, which makes travel more convenient and allows it to more easily benefit from the huge market inside the interior.

The northern province is much larger than the southern province, and has better development potential. With a larger population and a thriving livestock industry, the output of the northern province will definitely be much higher than that of the southern province.

So now, Southern Inner Mongolia is deliberately holding Northern Inner Mongolia hostage. After immigrants from within the Great Wall come over, Southern Inner Mongolia is intercepting them in various ways, resorting to all sorts of shameless and underhanded tricks.

Of the 100,000 immigrants who set out from within the Great Wall, 80,000 would be intercepted in the southern desert. If it weren't for the fear of provoking a conflict and causing the northern cavalry to march south, the southern desert probably wouldn't have let even 20,000 people pass through.

The two provincial governors, one from the north and one from the south, almost came to blows every time they met at the central government meeting. The struggle was so intense that even the troops stationed on the grasslands found it absurd.

Lieutenant General Li An, commander of the Eighth Army Group stationed on the grassland, was somewhat afraid. Both provinces had extremely fierce personalities, and the surviving Han people on the grassland were not easy to deal with. The southern immigrants who were moved from the interior were also armed. These people gathered together, which was a powder keg.

The provincial governors above them are even more dangerous; they don't need the military power of the national defense forces. They can fight a war on their own with just the Han Chinese from the grasslands and the armed immigrants from within the Great Wall.

After the civil officials from within the Great Wall came to the grasslands, they all learned the grassland mindset; if they could take action, they would never talk much.

The northern and southern provinces on the grasslands have repeatedly engaged in large-scale armed conflicts over their interests, and this is especially true in Yunzhong City, where the Eighth Group Army has almost become a peacekeeping force for the grasslands.

The central government is also having a major headache. None of the border provinces are peaceful. The four northeastern provinces are constantly in turmoil, with all sorts of underhanded competition and infighting. Meanwhile, the grasslands are openly engaged in conflict.

It often turned into a massive brawl involving thousands of people, with county magistrates and mayors leading the charge. The southern immigrants from the interior were all pumped up and adding fuel to the fire. The original Han Chinese from the grasslands were bewildered, wondering what kind of feud these Han Chinese from the interior had made before they came.

Chapter 220 Immigration (4)

Our gaze continues westward, toward the even more distant Xinjiang.

Xinjiang, located in the Northwest, is one of the three northern regions of the People's Republic of China. It is also one of the areas designated as "naturalized areas" by the central government, and it is the only region in the entire People's Republic of China that has been excluded from the environmental protection strategy.

Environmental protection is being vigorously promoted in the interior, especially in the northern regions, where environmental protection projects are being launched everywhere. Zhao Yan even established Arbor Day and is working tirelessly to promote greening in the northern provinces.

However, after arriving in the Northwest, instead of afforestation, the policy of eliminating greenery was strictly enforced. Mr. Wang Dingyun, the Northwest Military and Political Plenipotentiary Party Representative, was a vanguard in the elimination of greenery, leading his troops to cut down wherever greenery was found.

Wang Dingyun is now raising the banner of human rights and freedom, causing bloodshed all over the Northwest, and he has even recruited cavalry from the desert and grasslands to continue his horse-riding plan.

Locally, Wang Dingyun constantly sowed discord among the various groups, causing them to kill each other. He deliberately reduced the limited resources for survival, releasing only a little at a time, letting the green tribes fight and compete for them. Only then did he send out grassland cavalry to harvest the heads. After everyone had died, he declared it a humanitarian disaster and a cruel genocide.

The National Defense Army only enters to "peace" and carry out the final cleanup work after everyone has died. After the cleanup is completed, Han Chinese immigrants from inside the Great Wall will be moved over.

The greening tribes in the Northwest can no longer continue their activities and are fleeing westward, seeking refuge in Afghanistan, Tsarist Russia, and Persia. Some have even gone as far as the Ottoman Empire.

Wang Dingyun led his troops into the Northwest to quell the rebellion at the end of 1906. More than four years have passed since then. He fought his way from Shaanxi to Gansu and Ningxia, advancing steadily and surely, and carrying out afforestation wherever he went.

Xi'an's Muslim Quarter was reduced to just an alley by Wang Dingyun, and Lanzhou in Gansu was almost massacred. The so-called "Three Horses" became HD after encountering Wang Dingyun's 12th Army Group. Why HD? Because there were no horses!

In the end, Wang Dingyun actually gained international influence because of his ruthless efforts to eradicate pro-CCP racism. Europeans called him a new-century crusader, a modern-day Baldwin IV.

The Ottoman Empire referred to China as an enemy of the Islamic world, and even regarded China as an enemy country, resulting in a prolonged period of diplomatic severance between the two countries.

Internationally, Zhao Yan's newly established reputation for human rights and freedom was almost destroyed by Wang Dingyun, simply because Wang Dingyun's murderous intent was even stronger than that of his senior brother, Wu Zifu.

Wu Zifu at least had a legitimate reason to kill, killing in the name of liberation, but Wang Dingyun killed without any disguise. Before Zhao Yan reprimanded him, he was a war criminal-level general who carried out the Three Alls policy. Even the Russian Tsar was impressed and said that the Russians would not dare to do such a thing on the Central Asian steppe.

Now, Russia's rule over the Central Asian steppes has become much more stable because of Wang Dingyun's presence. The green tribes on the steppes learned about Wang Dingyun's brutality from their fellow tribesmen who had fled from Xinjiang, and then felt that Russia was actually quite benevolent.

In short, Wang Dingyun, a thoroughgoing extreme nationalist, has already made a name for himself internationally. He and his senior, Wu Zifu, are known as the Far East Twins, and are also referred to in Europe as the two most evil princes under the Far East monarch!

Wu Zifu is a benchmark figure of the Comintern and a leader of the contemporary communist movement, but he is currently "confined" by Zhao Yan on the Tibetan Plateau and has not yet escaped.

Wang Dingyun is a leading figure in nationalism and a recognized successor to Zhao Yan's nationalist thought.

Under Zhao Yan's tutelage, Wang Dingyun has become more restrained, learned some methods, and has begun to use the guise of being great, glorious, and righteous to do some things that are hard to talk about.

"Representative, the latest confidential message from the central command!"

"Bring it!"

Inside Dihua City, Wang Dingyun was looking through a map and intelligence, searching for his next target. There were fewer and fewer targets in the Northwest region, and he was even starting to think about crossing the border to kill people outside the country.

There was no other way; without killing, there would be no results! He felt he was letting down his mentor by sending back several battle reports of beheading tens of thousands of enemies every few days.

Now that the news from the central government had finally arrived, Wang Dingyun was extremely excited. When he saw the wax seal bearing Zhao Yan's seal on the secret letter, Wang Dingyun's expression immediately became excited. His teacher had written to him, which must mean that he recognized his achievements!

Unexpectedly, the first sentence in the letter made Wang Dingyun frown: "You wretched creature, don't kill it, leave some to grow cotton!"

The contents of the letter were mostly straightforward and frank, roughly meaning: "I am convinced. You are a brave disciple, even braver than your master."

But everything in excess is as bad as deficiency. We should leave some seeds behind, at least we should build a few ethnic protection zones. We can't be more shameless than the Americans.

Americans know to leave some Native American reservations; if we don't, the Americans will laugh at us in the future.

I know what you're thinking, but nationalism needs a nation to be a nationalism. You've made it all the same. How will you demonstrate the existence of nationalism in the future?

We must leave some seeds behind; we can't have a completely homogenous system, otherwise the banner of democracy and freedom won't stand up in the future!

The letter ended with an appointment: Wang Dingyun was appointed Governor of Xinjiang Province and Commander of the Xinjiang Garrison, continuing to hold both military and political power in the Northwest.

Zhao Yan only remembered to write this letter after a sudden realization of the atrocities he had committed in the northern desert, which had resulted in a shortage of shepherds on the grasslands.

Coming to his senses, Zhao Yan remembered that he had an apprentice in the Northwest who was also killing people! Thinking that cotton cultivation in Xinjiang would require skilled personnel in the future, Zhao Yan quickly wrote this letter.

Major General Zhou Yongquan, commander of the 12th Army Group, also came over. He was very curious about what the head of state's letter said, since all the official documents from the central government were sent by telegram. The only person who wrote a letter to Wang Dingyun was Zhao Yan.

"Representative, what did the head of state say? Did he praise us?"

"Praise my ass, you're just scolding me again!" Wang Dingyun said helplessly, finally patting his forehead. "I was so busy killing that I completely forgot about what Master told me to do: plant cotton!"

Now my master has appointed me as the Governor of Xinjiang Province and Commander of the Garrison Area. I now have complete control over military and political affairs in the Northwest, and from now on, civil affairs and economic development in the Northwest will also be under my jurisdiction.

Major General Zhou Yongquan said happily, "That's great! We've been using the title of Party Representative for a long time, which is neither here nor there. Now we can finally have a legitimate title."

Wang Dingyun cursed, "Before, we only cared about military affairs and killed everyone. Now we want to focus on people's livelihood and economic development, but there are rivers of blood everywhere, and for miles around, not a rooster crows and white bones are exposed in the fields. What kind of people's livelihood and economic development am I supposed to do?"

"Quickly go and take stock of the population in the Northwest. How many are Mongol and how many are Han Chinese? We need to know the numbers. Also, tell all the troops to spare the lives of those killed. We still need labor to grow cotton!"

"Yes, representative, oh no, commander!"

After a rough calculation, Wang Dingyun realized that he, as the provincial governor, was practically a commander without any real power.

Before I entered Xinjiang, the population of Xinjiang was about two million, including all ethnic groups. That was the only figure. But as I fought my way through, the population of Shanxi decreased by one-tenth, the population of Gansu decreased by almost half, and Ningxia simply became a peaceful summer.

Now Xinjiang has only 280,000 people left, of which 100,000 are prisoners who were pardoned from reformatories, more than 40,000 are local Mongolians, and the rest are local Xinjiang people who have completely submitted to the rule of the king.

Wang Dingyun felt a chill run down his spine. This was such a large territory, sparsely populated to begin with, and he had just indiscriminately slaughtered everyone. Who would farm the remaining land? Who would mine the mines?

Both Zhao Yan and Wang Dingyun, master and apprentice, made the same mistake: before killing, they didn't consider the vast land and sparse population, or the future labor demand; they only cared about their own pleasure. Only after they finished killing did they realize how regrettable it was that all the best labor force had been wiped out.

Americans used black slaves, and the Republic also had the opportunity to use green slaves, but they were all killed.

"Commander, you've become the provincial governor, but you have no one to lead you. In the interior, even a county magistrate governs a population of two or three hundred thousand or more. You're practically a lone figurehead as the provincial governor!"

After Zhou Yongquan understood the situation, he also gasped. His young master had finally become a high-ranking official, but he had slaughtered all the people under his jurisdiction. If this got out, no one would be able to stand it.

"Commander, what should we do?" Zhou Yongquan couldn't help but ask, "The Führer wouldn't order our 12th Army to grow cotton, would he?"

Wang Dingyun angrily said, "What are we going to do? Just let it be!"

"Hurry up and send people to the mainland, to the provinces within the Great Wall, to ask those with large populations for immigrants! Before I came to Xinjiang, Xinjiang Province had two million people. After I become the governor, Xinjiang Province must still have two million people, no more, no less!"

"Also, go and call everyone to a meeting. All those with stars on their shoulders, come here. I'm calling a big meeting!"

"Notify the civilian officers accompanying the military that they must also attend the meeting!"

Wang Dingyun's mind is now focused on making amends after the fact. He hadn't paid any attention to these things before, thinking that once he had cleaned up Xinjiang, the central government's decision on establishing provinces would be none of his business. After all, new officials don't settle old scores!

But to his utter surprise, he ended up becoming the new official, and his master played a trick on him: the one who tied the knot must untie it!

Now he has to clean up the mess he made. His only thought is to plug the population deficit. Otherwise, the local annals of Xinjiang will record that before the first governor of the Republic took office, Xinjiang had a population of two million, but after the governor stepped down, Xinjiang's population was less than two million!

If Wang Dingyun couldn't figure out a solution on his own, he would call everyone over to discuss it together. With so many people, there would surely be some ideas.

As expected, Wang Dingyun summoned more than two hundred civil and military officials from Dihua City, and after discussing for three or four hours, he immediately came up with a number of ideas.

First of all, starting this year, all 55,000 officers and soldiers of the 12th Group Army have brought their families and relatives to Xinjiang to settle down. Soldiers and officers are encouraged to move their entire families here. Once they come, they will be given at least a thousand acres of land. If there are too many people, we will allocate a farm for them.

With over 55,000 officers and soldiers, and their families all coming, the total number would be at least 200,000.

The second option is to seek immigration policies from the central government, but the distance from the interior of China to Xinjiang is simply too far, and relying on official immigration is definitely not fast enough.

At this moment, Wang Dingyun recalled the historical stories his master had taught him, remembering the American gold rush in the west. There were gold mines in San Francisco, and there were also gold mines in Xinjiang! And quite a lot of them!

Wang Dingyun, newly appointed to office, immediately disregarded the gold mine state-owned regulations of the Precious Metals Department of the Ministry of Finance and issued a free gold mining policy in Xinjiang, granting ownership to whoever finds gold in any mine!

Moreover, they sent telegrams to various provinces within the Great Wall, fabricating numerous stories of overnight riches from Xinjiang's gold mines. They also dispatched officers and soldiers to spread these rumors within the Great Wall, attracting restless Han Chinese from there to come to Xinjiang to pan for gold.