The fuse of the Wuchang Uprising was the Road Protection Movement.
The reason for the road protection movement was that the Qing court wanted to "nationalize the main railway lines".
Senior Officials' Understanding of Railways in the Qing Dynasty
On May 9, 1911, the second day after the establishment of the cabinet, a major event was done: it was announced that all main railway lines across the country would be nationalized, and private capital could only participate in the construction of branch lines.
This is a "good thing" done by the new cabinet member Sheng Xuanhuai, Minister of Posts and Communications.
At first, the senior officials of the Qing government hated the railway extremely, because the railway destroyed the original peaceful pastoral life and made the world more turbulent and less controllable.
In the 1860s, Liu Kunyi, governor of Jiangxi, believed that China had its own commercial post roads, and there was no need to build railways; Li Futai, governor of Fujian, believed that railways would disturb the people and disrupt customs; Zeng Guofan believed that the construction of railways would destroy the fields and houses of the people. It is the tyranny that takes advantage of the poor. More importantly, the construction of the railway is to "remove the barriers and open the door" to provide convenience for the foreign powers to invade China.
Li Hongzhang is not an ordinary person, he knows the benefits of railways. In 1880, he quietly built the railway from Tangshan to Xugezhuang in Kaiping Coal Mine, with a length of about 10 kilometers. The locomotives were drawn by mules and horses, and for a period of time they were drawn by locomotives. After being accused, they were changed back to mules and horses. In 1883, Sino-French relations were tense, and a war might break out. Li Hongzhang used this as an excuse and proposed to use locomotives to transport coal for the Beiyang Navy, so he was allowed to use locomotives to pull coal.
In 1889, more and more people were in favor of building the railway, and the pros and cons were basically tied. In the face of various controversies, Empress Dowager Cixi issued an imperial decree on February 14, 1889, asking the local officials to express their opinions. The local officials knew that the pros and cons had their own power in the imperial court and could not be offended easily. The results clearly stated that both sides supported and opposed A few, most of them are vague and ambiguous. Zhang Zhidong, governor of Guangdong and Guangxi, had turned to support Westernization after the Sino-French war, so he clearly expressed his support for the construction of the railway.
In the end, the Qing court made a decision to build the railway in May 1889, affirming that the construction of the railway was "a key policy for self-improvement" and "it can be built resolutely, without the need to build a house".
"Zhushi Daomou" is an idiom, which refers to discussing with passersby how to build a house when building a house. It is a metaphor for lack of assertiveness. If you ask people when you see them, and there are different opinions, you will inevitably fail to get things done.
After the Sino-Japanese War, the Qing government realized that building a nationwide railway network could change China's backwardness. Since 1895, China's railways have begun to be built on a large scale.
The Jinlu Railway built by foreign capital was completed and opened to traffic in 1897, which greatly encouraged foreign capital. Foreign capital poured into China like a tide. The network also began to survey and build.
In those few years, China’s railways grew from scratch, and played an important role in China’s economic development at that time. It not only drove the development of mineral resources and the establishment of factories along the railways, but also drove a number of cities along the railways, such as Harbin, Shenyang, Zhengzhou, Shijiazhuang, etc. developed and expanded.
Sheng Xuanhuai believes that railways should be state-owned
In 1903, as a measure of the New Deal, railway construction was opened to private commercial capital, and localities could run their own railways. In less than two years, 19 railway companies were established in 15 provinces from Heilongjiang in the north to Guangdong in the south, including the Sichuan-Han Railway Company in Sichuan.
Self-run railways in various regions have limited financing methods and financing capabilities, and there are various problems:
For example, 76% of the shares of the Sichuan-Han Railway Company come from the "rental shares" of farmers in the province. Since the rented shares paid by farmers are far from the amount required to exchange for one stock, the majority of farmers actually do not enjoy interest and benefits. For dividends, the dividends are all taken up by government agencies at all levels (including the participation of the Gelaohui) that collect "rental shares" in the middle.
Out of anger and fear of imperialism, the direction of public opinion at the time was "no foreign loans." When Zhang Zhidong built the Guangdong-Han Railway in Hubei, he also wanted to attract investment from China at first, and did not borrow foreign money. In the end, there were only four businessmen. Willing to contribute, and after careful investigation, it was found that only two of the four people were rich, and they were not really rich, because the foreigners behind them were manipulating them.
In addition, the technical standards for railway construction in various regions are inconsistent, and they often cannot be interconnected with railways in other provinces. Therefore, the planned national railway network has not been able to be completed for a long time.
Faced with this problem, in 1906, the Ministry of Posts and Communications, through research and research, made a booklet called "Overall Railways Booklet", which proposed suggestions for the future management mode of China's railway construction, which basically means nationalizing the main trunk lines. Sponsored by the state, the branch line can be handed over to the local government. However, the Qing government did not implement it immediately, because there were great differences between the central and local governments on this matter.
On May 5, 1911, Shi Changxin submitted a report to the imperial court, claiming that according to his investigation, Guangdong gentry and merchants had been competing for the construction of the railway, but the results were very poor, and no road was built; It has not been found; although the Sichuan gentry and merchants raised a large sum of money from the people, they did not work hard to build the road, and they used the funds for other purposes. He believes that national trunk lines cannot be built by private capital at all and must be nationalized.
Zaifeng then approved and forwarded the research report of the Ministry of Posts and Communications. On May 8, the royal cabinet appeared. On May 9, Sheng Xuanhuai, the Minister of Posts and Communications in the new cabinet, made a reply, strongly agreeing with Shi Changxin's proposition. Therefore, the Qing government announced that the national railway lines would be nationalized, and all cases of railway lines approved by the previous government would be revoked.
Sheng Xuanhuai, the richest man in the late Qing Dynasty
From the point of view of the overall interests of the country, it is very reasonable for the main line to be nationalized. Moreover, nationalization is also conducive to reducing the burden on farmers.
However, after several years of commercial operation in China, China’s railways have accumulated a large amount of private capital (including many farmers’ rented shares), and now they are nationalized all at once. If this part of the money cannot be properly arranged and returned, it will be a matter of the blood of the people, and it will be inevitable. Agitation.
But what is Sheng Xuanhuai's plan? The money will not be refunded, but will be exchanged for state shares.
Specifically, it is to freeze all the funds of the existing railway companies in the four provinces of Sichuan, Guangdong, Hunan and Hubei, and convert all the original stocks into state stocks. The shareholders are still those people, but the stocks in their hands are owned by the original commercial railway company The stock of the state-owned railway company was converted into the stock of the state-owned railway company, and the funds were not returned, and they were still used in the company for railway construction. However, Sheng Xuanhuai also borrowed 6 million pounds from the British, French, American, and German bank consortia, which was enough to build roads, but he insisted on nationalizing this part of private capital, which was unacceptable to many people.
road protection movement protest
All localities expressed that it was difficult to accept this nationalization plan, but the imperial court and the cabinet ignored it, and repeatedly urged the railway companies to clean up their accounts as soon as possible and prepare for the handover.
The gentry and businessmen in various provinces couldn't bear it anymore, they broke with the government and broke with the government. On May 14, 1911, more than 10,000 people from various groups in Hunan held a meeting, and agreed on fifteen measures for road protection, requiring Governor Yang Wending of Hunan to report this condition to the central government to protect the basic rights and interests of business people, otherwise they will strike the market, strike classes, and resist taxes and donations. .
The Qing government ignored it and asked Yang Wending to suppress it severely. He was not allowed to spread leaflets, and he was not allowed to gather to make speeches.
On May 24, 1911, Tan Yankai and other Hunanese who were in Beijing submitted a protest letter to the Metropolitan Procuratorate, exposing the so-called state-owned railway policy. This policy continues to be enforced. At the beginning of June, all the members of the Hunan Consulting Bureau resigned in protest of the state-owned railway policy. All schools in the province went on strike, and businessmen in the whole province went on strike.
Hubei gentry and merchants were also dissatisfied. Groups such as the Hubei Consultative Bureau, the Railway Company, and the Constitutional Government Preparatory Committee called the government on May 14 to protest, demanding that the government take back the order, otherwise they would stop paying taxes and donations to the government.
The shares of the Guangdong-Han Railway are all commercial shares, mainly invested by overseas Chinese. On June 6, the shareholder meeting of the Guangdong-Han Railway Company passed a strongly worded protest statement, saying that if the Qing government insisted on destroying the commercial situation and sending people to seize it, then they would definitely rise up and fight to the death.
The sentiment in Sichuan was even more intense. On June 13, the content of the syndicated loan contract between Sheng Xuanhuai and the Bank of the Four Kingdoms spread to Chengdu. The public was in an uproar, and it was only when they realized that the right of way was lost. This kind of borrowing from foreigners was considered a traitorous act at the time. , is more important than selling the road.
The Chuan-Han Railway Company held an emergency meeting and decided to immediately organize a meeting of road-protecting comrades. On June 16, the Yuefu Street in Chengdu was filled with water, and more than 2,000 people gathered here were excited. Luo Lun, Deng Xiaoke, Liu Shengyuan, etc. gave speeches one after another, bursting into tears.
Luo Lun ascended the altar, bowed to the audience, and said, "The Sichuan-Han Railway is over! Sichuan is also over, and China is also over!" After saying this, he burst into tears, and immediately the audience was wailing, even the policemen present were crying too. Then Luo Lun slammed his fist on the table and shouted: "We will oppose to the death! We will organize a temporary organization to resist unanimously and resist to the end! Merchants strike! Workers strike! Students strike! Peasants resist paying rent and taxes!" Taiwan Everyone shouted "Yes!" The Sichuan Baolu Comrade Association was established. The president named Pu Dianjun, and the vice president named Luo Lun. These two are the speaker and deputy speaker of the Sichuan Provincial Consultation Bureau.
The general meeting made a temporary motion. All the participants went to the governor's office to petition the acting governor of Sichuan, Wang Renwen, asking Wang Renwen to represent the public opinion and impeach Sheng Xuanhuai for the crime of deceiving the king and harming the country. Wang Renwen readily accepted the people's petitions, and called the cabinet several times in the next few days, asking the Qing government to severely punish Sheng Xuanhuai, correct the state-owned railway policy as soon as possible, and protect the legal property of the gentry and merchants from loss.
Send troops to suppress
Seeing that Wang Renwen was disobedient, on July 31, the Qing court ordered Zhao Erfeng, the new governor of Sichuan, to take up his post, and asked Zhao Erfeng to send more troops to forcefully suppress the trend of Sichuan people protecting roads. On August 2, Zhao Erfeng arrived in Chengdu.
Zhao Erfeng has been engaged in frontier affairs in the southwest frontier for a long time. He has a deep understanding of the social situation and folk customs in Sichuan and Tibet, and he also deeply sympathizes with the loss of Sichuan people in the process of nationalizing the railway. After he took office, he asked the Qing government to change the established policy of state-owned railways, but did not receive a positive response from the Qing government. The situation in Sichuan gradually spiraled out of control. There were strikes, strikes, tax resistance, and donations in many places in the province.
Zhao Erfeng called the cabinet on August 27, suggesting that the government submit the loan for road construction to the Council of Ministers for discussion in order to make a difference. If the Council of Ministers decides to stop, the government will not lose face. If the government insists on it blindly, it may lead to a catastrophe, and the whole country may be implicated by it.
The Qing court was unwilling to accept Zhao Erfeng's suggestion. Duan Xiang, the minister in charge of the Sichuan-Han Yue-Han Railway, suggested to the government that Zhao Erfeng should be severely impeached. At this time, the governor of Huguang, Ruicheng, also suggested sending Hubei troops to Sichuan to suppress it first, and ordered Zhao Erfeng to punish those who caused troubles in Sichuan Province.
Under the pressure of the Qing government, Zhao Erfeng trapped Pu Dianjun and Luo Lun, leaders of the Baolu Comrades' Association and the shareholders' meeting on September 7, and closed the railway company and the Comrades' Association. Tens of thousands of people in Chengdu went to the governor's yamen to petition, demanding the release of the arrested people. Zhao Erfeng ordered to shoot and suppress, killing more than 30 people, resulting in the "Chengdu Massacre", and the situation was out of control.
On September 10, the Qing court dismissed Zhao Erfeng and put Duanfang on his behalf. He ordered Duanfang to take two thousand Qing troops (from Hubei's new army) and go there quickly. Determined to put down the riots in Sichuan by force and prevent them from spreading to the whole country.
Totek Duanfang (1861-1911)
On September 25, 1911, Wu Yuzhang and Wang Tianjie, members of the alliance, declared independence in Rong County, Sichuan Province, half a month earlier than the Wuchang Uprising, and were praised by Sun Yat-sen as "the leader of Rong County and the leader of the world".
On October 10, Duanfang led the Hubei new army into Zizhou, Sichuan (now Ziyang), and found himself in an embarrassing situation. Chengdu in the front was occupied by the Baolu Party, and Wuchang in the rear had become the world of the Revolutionary Party. In order to observe the development of the current situation, Duanfang decided to stay in Zizhou for more than 10 days. On November 27, Liu Yifeng, a subordinate officer, led troops to mutiny and killed Duanfang and his younger brother Duanjin.
Before being killed, Duanfang said: "I have been close to the officers and soldiers for 30 years, and now I am ordered to lead the army into Sichuan, and I am even more comforting to you. Why bother to force me with swords and guns?" Liu Yifeng replied: "It's all a personal favor. , Today's matter is a great hatred of the country, and I don't care about personal favors!".
Duanfang was a leader among the nobles in the Manchu Qing Dynasty. He had participated in the visits of five ministers. During Cixi's funeral, Duanfang arranged for people to take pictures of the funeral process, but was impeached for "disrespect". At that time, Zheng Xiaoxu once commented: "Cen Chunxuan is ignorant, Yuan Shikai is ignorant, Zhang Zhidong is ignorant, and Duanfang is ignorant."
Duanfang in the investigation of constitutionalism
It was precisely because Duanfang took away the new army that Wuchang was empty of troops, and a bomb accidentally exploded by the revolutionaries completely changed the whole situation.
In general, Zaifeng lacks the experience that a mature politician should have. He is too superstitious about state power and the power of "soldiers". He doesn't know that the emperor's policies must have the understanding and cooperation of officials at all levels to truly In terms of implementation, if any policy is forced to be implemented without specific implementation rules, there will definitely be troubles.
Zhang Zhidong had seen this for a long time. In 1909, when dealing with a railway fraud case, Yikuang deliberately recommended Xu Shichang to handle it. Zhang Zhidong told Zaifeng that "the public opinion does not belong, and there will be chaos." However, Zaifeng just replied coldly: "What are you afraid of? There are soldiers here!"
Wuchang Uprising: The Wall Falls and Everyone Pushes It Down
The revolutionaries in Hubei had long planned to take advantage of the chaotic situation in Sichuan for an armed riot. The uprising was originally planned to be held on October 6, the Mid-Autumn Festival, but was later postponed to October 16 due to insufficient preparations. However, at noon on October 9, when a bomb was being made, it accidentally exploded. After hearing the news, Huguang governor Ruicheng ordered the whole city to be under martial law and searched closely.
The revolutionaries lurking in the standard battalions of the Qing army could not get in touch with the general headquarters, but they did not give up their plans and determination to revolt. At 7:30 p.m. on October 10, the Engineering Battalion of the Eighth Town of the New Army fired the first shot of the Wuchang Uprising. Wu Zhaolin, the team officer, was elected as the commander-in-chief. Other battalions responded quickly and captured the Chuwangtai Armory.
After replenishing the ammunition, the rebel army launched an attack on the Huguang Governor's Yamen, the Eighth Town Command and other fortresses. The Huguang Governor Ruicheng fled to the warship amidst the sound of gunfire. .
On the morning of October 11, the gunfire stopped, and the representatives of the rebel army went to the Hubei Provincial Consultative Bureau to discuss the establishment of a new government with the Consultative Bureau. The initiators of the uprising, Xiong Bingkun, Wu Zhaolin, Cai Jimin, etc., thought that they had little qualifications and could not convince the public, so they temporarily elected Li Yuanhong, the commander of the 21st Mixed Association of the Qing Army, as the governor of the Hubei Army of the Republic of China Military Government, and changed the Hubei Provincial Consultative Bureau The building is the Governor's Mansion, announced the abolition of the Xuantong reign of the Qing Dynasty, and changed the country's name to the Republic of China. The whole country is called to respond immediately, calling for "permanent establishment of a republic, standing side by side with the world's powers on the Pacific Ocean, and sharing the peace of all nations. ".
The current appearance of the Governor's Mansion of the Hubei Army
The old appearance of Hubei Army Governor's Mansion
News of the Wuchang Uprising soon spread to Beijing. On the 12th, the Qing government ordered Minister of the Army Yin Chang to lead the two towns of the army to set off immediately to recover Wuhan at any cost; ordered the admiral of the navy Sa Zhenbing to lead the cruiser fleet and the Yangtze River navy to enter the river in Wuhan and cooperate with the army to fight; ordered the governors of the provinces to strictly prevent revolution The party made trouble; ordered Zhihe and Henan provinces to protect the Beijing-Hanzhou Railway and the Yellow River Iron Bridge.
On October 23, an uprising was brewing within the navy of the Qing Dynasty. Sa Zhenbing saw that people were inclined to revolution, so he left under the pretext of going to Shanghai for medical treatment, and handed over the command of the fleet to Huang Zhongying. The ships hoisted white flags and announced that they would fall to the side of the revolutionary army.
The reason why Yin Chang was able to be Minister of War was because of his Manchurian blood and his background of studying in Germany. He had never fought a war, had no command ability and military talent, and the troops he led were not officers and soldiers trained by him, but Yuan Shikai's old men. Therefore, Yinchang is actually not very capable of commanding these generals, and he himself has no confidence at all. When he was appointed, he said, "I don't have a single man. If I am asked to go to Hubei to supervise the division, I will fight with my fist, or use the Kick it."
When the army he commanded arrived at Xinyang, Henan Province on the evening of October 17, he was no longer ready to advance, but set up camp there and established a command center. In fact, Xinyang is more than 200 kilometers away from Wuhan.
Due to a series of unpopular measures taken by the Qing government, many bureaucrats and gentry merchants have long been dissatisfied. Under the persuasion of the revolutionaries and the Advisory Council, various places have declared independence. In less than half a month, Hunan, Shaanxi, Shanxi, Jiangxi and other provinces successively declared independence and self-government from the central government.
For example, members of Guangxi 's Advisory Bureau and members of the Tongmenghui went to the governor's yamen to persuade the governor Xiong Bingkun to declare independence, so that Guangxi fell to the Republic without a single soldier. Qiu Fengjia, deputy chairman of the Guangdong Consultative Council, led the crowd to lobby Governor Zhang Mingqi not to fight with the revolutionaries. Zhang chose to leave Guangzhou and let the revolutionaries take over peacefully. Members of the Zhejiang Consultative Bureau, under the leadership of the speaker Chen Fuchen, separately conducted lobbying work, which resulted in Zhejiang generally declaring independence peacefully. Under the persuasion of several gentlemen, Cheng Dequan, the governor of Jiangsu Province, declared independence in order to protect himself from disaster. Perhaps he felt that this kind of revolution was too peaceful, so he picked up a few eaves tiles on the Fuya lobby with a bamboo pole to show that the revolution must destroy .
Almost everyone believed that only Yuan Shikai could solve this mess. Even Dongjiaominxiang said that the current situation "cannot be dealt with by Yuan." Zaifeng had no choice but to use the person he hated the most. Grant Yuan Shikai the governor of Huguang" and order him to go south to suppress the revolutionary army.
Yuan Shikai rejected the Qing government's appointment on the grounds that "the foot disease has not recovered", but he made a suggestion almost every day to show his concern for the current situation and the safety of the court.
Yuan Shikai came out
 Yuan Shikai's attitude had a profound impact on the Qing army generals on the front lines in Wuhan. If Yuan Shikai did not leave the mountain, they would not work hard and let the southern revolutionary army capture some important strategic strongholds.
On October 20, Xu Shichang was ordered by the Prime Minister of the Cabinet, Prince Qing Yikuang, to sneak from Beijing Weifu to Zhangde, Henan, and urged Yuan Shikai to take care of the overall situation. Xu Shichang and Yuan Shikai have known each other for a long time, and the two have been in secret business. Yuan Shikai gave six suggestions to the Qing court: convene the National Congress next year, organize a responsible cabinet, tolerate the Wuchang incident, lift the party ban, give Yuan Shikai full power to command the army, and provide sufficient military expenses. , brought back to Beijing by Xu Shichang, and told Zaifeng. It is a suggestion, but it is actually a condition for leaving the mountain.
Xu Shichang, known as "Crystal Fox"
There was no way, Zaifeng agreed to Yuan Shikai's suggestion. On the 27th, Tiao Yinchang returned to Beijing and granted Yuan Shikai the title of imperial envoy, with full authority to command the aid troops and the Yangtze River Navy, without being restricted by the Military Advisory Office and the Ministry of the Army.
On October 30, the imperial court announced the abolition of the "Cabinet Provisional Regulations". When the situation settled down, the cabinet would be reorganized and members of the royal family would no longer be in the cabinet; coerced persons). On the one hand, this was a response to Yuan Shikai's suggestion a few days ago, and on the other hand, it was also a response to the unavoidable situation at the time.
During the 20 days from October 10 to October 30, Hunan declared independence on October 22; Shaanxi declared independence on October 23; On October 29, the Taiyuan Revolutionary Party and the New Army launched an uprising, killed Shanxi Governor Lu Zhongqi, and established the Shanxi Military Government;
On November 1, the much-maligned royal cabinet resigned collectively. Zaifeng appointed Yuan Shikai as the prime minister of the cabinet, but Yuan Shikai believed that the cabinet should be elected by the National Assembly, how could it be appointed by the emperor, so he called back and said that a meeting would be held for election. In the first national-level election in the history of the Qing Dynasty, Yuan Shikai was elected as the Prime Minister of the Cabinet.
On October 31, Yuan Shikai came to Xinyang, Henan, and went through the handover procedures with Yinchang, and Yinchang returned to Beijing. On November 1, Yuan Shikai arrived in Xiaogan, Hubei, set up the former enemy headquarters in Xiaojiagang, and began to command operations, demanding that the Qing army storm Hankou at all costs. Li Yuanhong and Huang Xing commanded the revolutionary army and fought fiercely with the Qing army on the outskirts of Hankou.
On the same day, the Qing army under the command of Feng Guozhang finally broke through the defense line of the revolutionary army, entered the urban area of Hankou, captured a series of important military sites, and seized a large amount of military supplies. The main force of the revolutionary army is the Hubei New Army, mainly the Eighth Town and the Twenty-One Mixed Association. These two armies were also well-trained and well-equipped armies compiled and trained in the late Qing Dynasty, but they were not opponents of the Beiyang New Army.
When Huang Xing summed up the reasons for the failure, he said: "The Qing army is all well-trained soldiers in Beiyang. They are well-ordered and good at shooting." However, "the civilian army (that is, the revolutionary army) is all armed with rifles and has no machine guns. Every time it gets close to the enemy, it will suffer heavier losses than the enemy." .
Yuan Shikai was overjoyed and prepared to go to the front in person, but at this time news came that Zhang Shao and others planned the Luanzhou Mutiny, which was a milestone event.
Text｜Wei Jianfan
references:
[1] 马勇，《晚清二十年》
[2] 雷颐，《帝国的覆没》
[3] 雷颐，《面对现代性的挑战-清王朝的应对》