Entering ChinaAs soon as the edict came out, all parties waited and watched. On April 25, 1901, Yuan Shikai, the governor of Shandong, took the lead in breaking the deadlock and put forward his own reform proposals. The rising political star who bloodily slaughtered the Boxers in Shandong was supported by Britain, Germany and the United States for his “heroic acts” to protect foreigners. After the fall of Beijing, he gave a lot of help to Cixi, who was like a lost dog, and later led his army north to Gyeonggi to clear the way for the two saints to return to Luan.
Yuan Shikai’s twists and turns do not have much new meaning, and basically repeat the ideas of Li Hongzhang and others. Of course, what impressed him the most was his ability to get things done. Under his rule, Shandong introduced a Western-style education system, built a university, a military academy, a mint, and a bureau of commerce, and doubled the size of the army.
is very different from Yuan Shikai, Zhang Zhidong is a superintendent with ability, learning and morality. He advocated “Chinese style and Western use”, and went further than the Westernists, accepting and learning the Western form of government. Since the beginning of the Wuxu period, Zhang’s popularity has risen day by day, and he has also received the attention of foreign countries, and Ito Hirobumi once declared: “The only minister of affairs in China is handsome.” ”
During the Gengzi period, Zhang Zhidong advocated “southeast mutual protection” while inquiring about the news of the imperial court. He has a lot of eyeliners in Xi’an, and often communicates with secret telegrams, such as his brother-in-law, Minister of Military Aircraft Lu Chuanlin, and his student and Rong Lu’s staff Fan Zengxiang. The most frequently asked thing is “how to discuss the affairs of Hubei within the house”, and “when Rong (Lu) talks about contemptible, what is the discussion”.
Even though the new deal has become a foregone conclusion, Zhang Zhidong is still very cautious, which is his sophistication in officialdom for many years. When the edict was issued in January, his first reaction was to find out where it came from: “Who is here?” Who is in favor? After many inquiries, he learned that this edict came from the “holy will” and was drafted by his protégé Fan Zengxiang, so he was relieved.
At this time, Wang Zhichun, the governor of Anhui, sent a secret telegram, saying that he had heard a piece of news, and he hoped to “play the complex change method and not focus on the west”. If the law is not biased towards the West, what law will it change? Zhang Zhidong hesitated. He asked Lu Chuanlin: “What is the benevolence of this matter?” …… Will the provinces be able to do a real job? What can be done? Lu Chuanlin’s answer was quite vague, not only denying the rumors, but also persuading him not to “imitate Western law more”. Zhang Zhidong can only communicate with the governors, unify their opinions, and play together, so that more people can take responsibility.
After the governors discussed, Zhang Zhidong and Liu Kunyi, who had the highest prestige, led the draft. The two decided to draw up a draft first, and then consult with each other.
In addition to his qualifications, Liu Kunyi, who was born in the army, cannot compare his knowledge and articles with Zhang Zhidong, and he is old, so the main manuscript was basically handed over to Zhang Zhidong. Zhang carefully observed the movements of all parties and figured out the intentions above, after all, the scene of the coup d’état was still vivid, and the slightest carelessness could lead to a catastrophe. Zhang Jian, who drafted the draft for Liu Kunyi, put forward the idea of “putting aside the political yuan” in his “Discussion on Changing the Law”, but Liu Kunyi disagreed, feeling that it was “grand and profound, and intended to be done once and for all, but the accumulation of habits is too deep, and it may be difficult to do it for a while”. In fact, the opening of the House of Representatives is also Zhang Zhidong’s proposition, and out of prudence, he did not include it in the draft.
It wasn’t until July that Liu Kunyi and Zhang Zhidong finally jointly signed three variations, known as “Jiang Chu will play three variations”. Cixi issued a decree: “Liu Kunyi and Zhang Zhidong will play the rectification of Chinese and French and imitate the Western law, and it is feasible to do a lot of things; That is, according to the presentation, try to choose the event at any time. The provincial officials should also make a concerted effort to do so. “Finally, the New Deal has entered the implementation phase.
The content of the New Deal can be divided into three parts:
- Educational reform. It is mainly to imitate the West (in fact, Japan) to establish a new academic system and develop a new style of school; Reform the imperial examination, stop the martial arts; Incentive study tours, etc.
- Rectify the rule of officials. The main ones are to stop donations, eliminate the errand of the clerks of the yamen, increase the patrol police department, and improve the judiciary.
- Strengthen the army and enrich the country. The main thing is to eliminate the old army and organize and train the new army; Establish the Ministry of Commerce, promulgate and implement the Articles of Association of the Ministry of Commerce, the Articles of Association of the Reward Company, the Commercial Law, the Company Law, the Public Articles of Association of the Mining Railway, the Articles of Association of Mining and other laws and regulations; Promote postal services, etc.
At first glance, there seems to be nothing new about the New Deal. The people of the time criticized: “Nanpi (Zhang Zhidong) changes the law, and they all start from the very small branches, which can be said to be good at greeting.” When Zhang Zhidong wrote a letter to Lu Chuanlin, he also said: “My brother is short and sparse, how do you know the big plan?” Yesterday, Xian Shuai (Liu Kunyi) replayed the change of the law in three folds, most of them are scholarly articles, lay officials economically, do step-by-step things, and accumulate the work of the baht, there is no amazing talk, and there is no difficult thing to do. ”
However, the measures in the new policy, such as the reform of the imperial examination regulations, the improvement of the judiciary, and the formulation of economic laws and regulations, have in fact clearly pointed to the reform of the system itself.
Of course, the New Deal still lacks a few “strong medicines” after all, such as the House of Representatives and elections. Over the years, the transition between the old and the new has been dramatic. Liu Kunyi thought that the “Discussion on Changing the Law” was “intended to be done once and for all” and the response was mediocre, which made Zhang Jian extremely disappointed. On the other hand, Zhang Jian’s “amazing talk” is also not a “step-by-step thing” in the eyes of some more radical people? At the time of the national crisis, the scholars were deeply immersed in the anxiety of the destruction of the country and the extinction of the species, unable to be calm, unable to calm down, thinking about changes when encountering setbacks, and always wanting to find a decisive way to completely solve China’s problems. Although change is accelerating, failure to catch up with those ahead can lead to intense disappointment. Moreover, because the hope is too good, although the reality has changed, it is not as big as hoped, and they will want to find another dose of “fierce medicine”.
