Twentieth Century Chronicle

Page 37

Judging from the Qing government's approach to local governance, the local government offices were primarily responsible for suppressing forces resisting the Qing government and maintaining social order. Local gentry were the leaders in local development; although their leadership abilities were not particularly sophisticated, they did make the local people feel the power granted to them by the imperial court.

We cannot currently overthrow the ruling alliance of the government and the gentry simultaneously, but from the Opium War to the Boxer Rebellion, the cooperation between the government and the gentry has become increasingly superficial. The emergence of the Southeast Protection Conference was a manifestation of the gentry's attempt to wrest more local autonomy from the imperial court.

What we can do now is to help the enlightened faction among the gentry overthrow the Qing government's local organizations and supporters, thereby seizing the Qing government's governing power in the localities. The Southeast Protection Conference was an institution used to organize such enlightened gentry, and to make this institution truly effective, it should be given the power to develop the local areas.

As long as the Southeast Protection Conferences at all levels can lead the local people in construction, the people will soon automatically gather around the Southeast Protection Conferences. Then, if the Qing government intends to forcibly dissolve the Southeast Protection Conferences, we can use this organization to challenge the local government and further undermine the Qing government's prestige.

Of course, our support for the Southeast Protection Conference does not mean we will relinquish its leadership to those enlightened gentry. I hope comrades remember that while we accept enlightened gentry joining the working class after self-reform, the class to which they belong will inevitably be eliminated.

Therefore, we cannot hand over the leadership of the Southeast Protection Conference to the gentry. We need to encourage progressive intellectuals and representatives of the working class to actively participate in the Southeast Protection Conference, ultimately preparing the ground for the Workers' Party to seize leadership. After the revolution succeeds, this Southeast Protection Conference will no longer be necessary, and we will elect representatives of the working class to organize People's Committees to lead everything…”

Zhang Zhidong's support for Tian Junyi's expansion of the Southeast Protection Conference's power at all levels, thereby forming a gentry self-governing organization independent of local government offices, was partly driven by self-interest. After the deaths of Li Hongzhang and Liu Kunyi, Zhang Zhidong believed his chances of gaining central power were high. However, he was unwilling to relinquish his territory of Huguang (Hubei and Hunan provinces), knowing where his power stemmed; once he left Huguang, all he would have left was his reputation.

While the others were loyal to him, they still advocated loyalty to the imperial court. Only Tian Junyi and other scholars from the two lakes and two rivers region did not have such deep feelings for the imperial court, but they still had high expectations for him as the promoter of the new policies in Huguang.

Therefore, Zhang Zhidong believed that these young people were the ones truly in his grasp, and he tacitly approved Tian Junyi's efforts to expand the power of the local gentry self-governing bodies. As long as these local gentry supported him, no one else could control the Huguang region.

In addition to uniting the power of local gentry, Tian Junyi also paid great attention to the production organization of Hanyeping Company. In early March 1903, he visited the newly expanded ore wharf of Hanyang Ironworks. The red sandstone building walls made the wharf look quite magnificent.

Compared to the foreign wharves along the Yangtze River in Hankou, this new wharf is now quite impressive. After nearly a year of expansion, the new wharf can now accommodate ships of up to 3,000 tons, whereas a year ago it could only accommodate small steamships of a few hundred tons. Although it has far surpassed other wharves in the Hanyang area, it is still quite backward compared to the foreign wharves in Hankou.

Because loading and unloading at Hanyang Wharf and Huangshi Wharf still relied mainly on manual labor, transportation costs became very high. After all, the more cargo a vessel carries, the cheaper the freight rate; the loading and unloading costs for a 300-ton small boat and a 3000-ton large ship differ significantly.

The newly expanded ore terminal is also equipped with coal loading machinery. It is said that in Germany, a 7700-ton coal ship can be loaded and unloaded using this machinery with only 100 workers in 26.5 hours, while manual loading and unloading would require 400 workers in 72 hours.

This was just the beginning. Tian Junyi also ordered a dockside electric grabber from the Germans, which was said to be able to grab 3 tons of weight at a time and load and unload 300 tons of cargo per hour. This new machine would be installed on the unfinished new dock that could accommodate ships of 10,000 tons. Once these modern machines were installed, the ore docks in Hanyang would surpass the foreign docks in the Hankou area.

Furthermore, with the railway bridge from Hanyang to Hankou already under design, the ore terminal in Hanyang will be able to transport goods to Hankou by rail, thus regaining the shipping capacity of the Yangtze River wharves that had been forcibly occupied by foreign concessions.

After inspecting the new wharf, Tian Junyi and Yang Defu boarded a train bound for the Hanyang Ironworks. In less than half an hour, they arrived at the Hanyang Ironworks' office building. Today was the day for the directors of Hanyeping Company to discuss the company's organization and production. Tian Junyi, as the general manager, attended the meeting.

Sheng Xuanhuai was naturally resentful at being forced to withdraw from the three factories and mines of Hanyeping, and at one point wanted to make a comeback. Therefore, he did not take his own people with him, such as Li Weige, the chief translator of Hanyang Ironworks. However, compared to the other directors, the people Sheng Xuanhuai left behind were already considered capable.

Tian Junyi met with the directors and initially didn't say much, only asking them for their opinions on the production organization of Hanyeping Company. After the directors stammered and gave their opinions, only Li Weige offered a few appropriate suggestions.

Chapter 126 Hanyeping Company

After the meeting room quieted down again, Tian Junyi coughed lightly and said to the directors representing Daye Iron Mine, Pingxiang Coal Mine, and Hanyang Ironworks, "I plan to manage the production and sales of Hanyeping Company in two departments. In terms of production, I advocate centralized leadership and decentralized operation. The head office will be responsible for the development direction of Hanyeping Company, but it will be divided into several parts: Daye Iron Mine, Pingxiang Coal Mine, Hanyang Ironworks, Transportation Company, and Sales Company, each operating independently and with independent accounting."

The board members had no objection to this point, but Tian Junyi's next words still surprised them greatly: "I don't understand industrial production, so I have been paying attention to the situation of Hanyeping for the past few months without getting involved."

However, one thing I am clear about is that steel is the heart of industry. Without this heart, China's industry cannot thrive. The country lacks both steel-made production tools and steel-made consumer goods. However, the Hanyang Ironworks can hardly produce anything. Last year, it even stopped steel production because the crude steel it produced had too high a phosphorus content.

But what was last year's pig iron production? 3.8 tons. Frankly, even divided among 4 million people, that's not enough to even give each person an iron ring. The Hanyang Ironworks was originally built to enrich the nation and strengthen its military, but what kind of national wealth or military strength can 3.8 tons of pig iron provide? If your heart doesn't even beat, how can various industries produce steel to manufacture tools and industrial products?

So, your claims that Pingxiang's coal and coke are too expensive, and that the more they produced in the past, the more they lost money, which is why they couldn't expand the ironworks, and that they should take advantage of the good steel market to maintain production, recoup their investment costs first, and then seek to increase production, are, in my opinion, utter nonsense.

We established this factory to meet the needs of the nation, and naturally, we should produce for the nation's needs. Profits are not within my consideration. The sales company will purchase qualified steel from the ironworks without limit at a price of cost plus a fixed profit. After completing the renovation of the 10-ton crude steel plant next year, we will proceed with the second phase of expansion, followed by the third and fourth phases, until the production capacity and daily transportation capacity of the iron ore and coal mines reach their maximum limits.

Similarly, the products from Daye Iron Mine and Pingxiang Coal Mine will be sold to the sales company at production cost plus a fixed profit. From now on, each mine will only be responsible for production planning. Whether they can make a profit is a matter for the head office. As for those personnel in each mine who hinder production, they will either be dismissed or transferred to the sales company; in short, they cannot remain in the production departments of the mines…”

The other directors then realized that this was less a coordination meeting for the company's production organization and more a final ultimatum issued by Tian Junyi in his capacity as general manager. The commercial directors were indignant, feeling that their interests had been violated, while the government directors remained silent. Their appointments came from the Governor-General's Office of Huguang, and they naturally knew that Tian Junyi had already secured his position with Xiang Shuai and was not someone they could shake.

In response to the dissatisfaction of the board members, Tian Junyi stated unequivocally that they could convert their shares into 10-year corporate debt, calculated at an annual interest rate of 4%, with the principal to be repaid after ten years. As for the company's operating policy, he assured them it would remain unchanged as long as he remained general manager. The meeting ended in discord, but Tian Junyi still secured control of the Hanyeping Company.

After the board members left, Tian Junyi left behind the chief translator, Li Weige, and said, "The German manager praised you to me, saying that you are familiar with the production management of the ironworks. I know that Sheng Xuanhuai hired you, but I hope you can accept the offer from Hanyeping Company to become the plant manager of Hanyang Iron and Steel Plant. Firstly, to assist the Germans in completing the reconstruction of the steel plant, and secondly, to quickly establish the production capacity of the new equipment."

After thinking for a moment, Li Weige asked, "It's certainly a good thing for the factory to not have to worry about product sales and only be responsible for production, but can the head office sustain it?"

This expansion of the ironworks will cost approximately 4500 million marks. If we add the renovation of the docks and the upgrading of equipment in the iron and coal mines, the Hanyeping Company has already spent more than 6000 million marks, or 2000 million taels of silver, since its establishment.

Indeed, thanks to your efforts, we have obtained the protection of steel tariffs. Now, the imported iron is already a quarter more expensive than the cost of pig iron in our factory. But can this situation really last? If the court changes its mind under pressure from foreigners, how will we repay the foreign debts incurred by the Hanyeping Company?

If all my efforts amount to nothing more than working for foreigners, I'm afraid I have little interest in becoming the factory manager.

Tian Junyi looked at him and said, "Isn't the purpose of implementing the new policies to resist foreign interference in our country? So either we get ahead of the foreigners and strengthen ourselves first, or the foreigners keep seizing our rights and eventually we won't even have the chance to implement the new policies. We can only choose one of these two paths. We can't expect a God to come and save China."

Li Weige opened his mouth, but in the end he accepted Tian Junyi's invitation. Tian Junyi then introduced Yang Defu, who was standing next to him, to him and said, "He is a worker representative of the Hanyang Arsenal. They hope to establish a workers' union that includes the Hanyeping Company. I hope that the factory can assist the union's development in the future."

Li Weige glanced at Yang Defu with surprise, and after a moment of silence, asked Tian Junyi, "Can we speak in private?"

Tian Junyi gave Yang Defu a look, and Yang Defu offered to leave for a moment. After he left the meeting room, Li Weige said to Tian Junyi, "Let the workers organize a union? What would this union be for? This would probably be a huge obstacle to production, wouldn't it?"

Tian Junyi looked at him seriously and replied, "I don't think the union will hinder production. On the contrary, I think the union will become the foundation for stable production in the factory."

I have read your proposed reform plan for the Hanyang Ironworks. Many of your suggestions are beneficial to the workers, such as establishing technical schools and building hospitals. It is clear that you understand that a stable and technically skilled workforce is key to the ironworks' production.

I plan to establish a workers' night school and expand the workers' hospital and canteen, but I believe these things should not be managed by the factory administration, as they would become tools for some people to make money. The union, representing the workers, can manage these logistical departments, and to protect their own interests, they will certainly not allow anyone to sabotage their operation.

Furthermore, the labor union can also represent workers in submitting production-related suggestions to the factory management and correcting unreasonable production methods. I believe that, in some respects, the frontline workers understand better than we do how to produce a qualified piece of steel…”

Although Li Weige was somewhat skeptical of Tian Junyi's idea, he ultimately accepted his proposal. After all, compared to establishing a union, being able to freely transform the Hanyang Ironworks was more in line with his expectations.

After leaving the factory building, Yang Defu couldn't help but ask Tian Junyi, "Mr. Tian, ​​with your current position, we can simply raise the workers' demands directly with the factory management, and they shouldn't refuse, right?"

Tian Junyi stopped and turned to look at him. After a few seconds of silence, he said, "Yes, I can do that. It's really just a matter of a notice. But the result of doing so is that the workers will think I'm some kind of benevolent official, instead of seeing it as a right they deserve."

Then they will only rely on me and the Labour Party to fight for their legal rights in the future, and lose their will to fight, which is a very bad situation for us.

The working class is the source of the Party's strength, not the other way around. The Labour Party may not necessarily win the final victory, and may even degenerate into a reactionary force at some stage, but the working class will definitely win, and the working class will definitely maintain its advanced nature.

Therefore, the Party's main task is to organize the working class and propagate revolutionary ideas, but not to fight in their place. The working class must mature before the Party can mature as well. The Party's enemies are not only reactionary elements outside the Party, but also our own messianic complex, a flaw that intellectuals are most prone to making…”

Yang Defu was among the first working class to join the Labour Party. Although he did not fully understand the Labour Party's revolutionary theories, he greatly admired the party. These gentlemen in long gowns were not only willing to teach the workers to read and write, but also willing to work alongside them. This attitude of treating people equally was something that secret societies and radical young students could not learn.

Secret societies were widespread among workers because, apart from a few skilled workers, most workers were just manual laborers who sold their physical strength. These people lacked security, and whether they were sick or injured, they were essentially unable to make a living. Secret societies were more like mutual aid organizations to them. When they were in trouble, they would rely on secret societies to help them. When secret societies asked them to do something, they naturally had no choice but to obey.

As for the young students, their promotion of patriotism and nationalism on the streets certainly made people feel that the world was not quite right. However, the workers respected these students because they were the future masters and the reserve force to rule the country. Therefore, when they heard their views, they naturally had to support them. At least the court that these young students opposed was the source of their pain.

But only by standing with the Labor Party did Yang Defu feel that he was truly and practically changing the plight of his fellow workers, rather than believing, as the students said, that as long as the government was changed first, the world would improve, and they wouldn't have to live such miserable lives. As for secret societies, they had no ideology; they were just a group of laborers banding together to survive.

Faced with this confusing situation, Yang Defu felt that following Mr. Tian and the Party was always the right thing to do. After seeing Tian Junyi off at the ferry, he returned to the ironworks to contact the Labor Party members there and complete the tasks assigned by the Party, which filled him with enthusiasm.

Upon returning to Hankou, Tian Junyi met with Yang Quyun, Xie Zuantai, and Cheng Jiacheng. Yang Quyun was in charge of the Hankou branch of the Central Bank, while Xie Zuantai and Cheng Jiacheng were responsible for industry, commerce, and agriculture. They were just as busy as Tian Junyi, but their spirits were high. Compared to before joining the Workers' Party, they were clearly more mature and confident at this time.

Of course, in the eyes of others, the growth of Tian Junyi, Cai E, and others was even more frighteningly rapid. If in the past people could still debate with them on issues of revolutionary theory, now most of the time they could only listen.

Chapter 127 What is Socialism?

The design drawings for the Central Bank's Hankou branch building are currently being prepared. The branch is currently located in Huaiyan Lane, in the middle section of Hanzheng Street, in a courtyard rented from salt merchants. Salt merchants were the most profitable business in the Qing Dynasty and were also the merchants who most enjoyed dealing with government officials; the Hankou branch benefited greatly from this location. This lane is also one of the best-preserved alleys outside the concession area, very clean and tidy.

The Labor Party set up a headquarters in the back garden of the Hankou branch because it was quiet and safe. Although Tian Junyi had used economic means to place people in the police stations of the three towns of Wuhan, he was also aware that Liang Dingfen was still wary of him. Therefore, he had now canceled the regular meetings held at his home.

However, Liang Dingfen was still a traditional intellectual. He was talented but looked down on laborers, and while he valued loyalty and filial piety, he always used power and profit to manipulate others. He didn't believe that people could give up their interests for ideals. Faced with such a stubborn individual, there was naturally no room for compromise between them.

However, Liang Dingfen abandoned his judgment that Tian Junyi was a revolutionary, because he felt that although Tian Junyi was not entirely loyal to the court, he at least had a patriotic heart, similar to figures like Zuo Zongtang. After the Opium War opened China's doors, the gentry in Hunan had begun to distinguish between the court and the nation, and Zuo Zongtang was the most famous representative of this. As a Manchu saying goes, "They are protecting China, not the Qing Dynasty."

Faced with such young people, Liang Dingfen was helpless, because most people in the Lianghu Academy he presided over shared similar views, with some even believing that China could not be saved without destroying the Qing Dynasty. It could be said that Tian Junyi was already quite moderate; if even such people could not be kept, then the court would be left with only a group of incompetent and corrupt officials.

Therefore, Liang Dingfen could only keep an eye on and utilize young people like Tian Junyi on behalf of Zhang Zhidong. However, for the Labor Party, which already had a revolutionary program and path, the unorganized Liang Dingfen was easier to deal with. The Labor Party was not just a group of revolutionary youths who only shouted revolutionary slogans; from organization to propaganda, the Labor Party had dedicated personnel in charge. Therefore, the Labor Party easily countered Liang Dingfen's surveillance.

Especially after gaining control of the Economic Development and Urban Construction Committee, which controlled a large amount of resources, Tian Junyi's control over Hankou had even surpassed that of Liang Dingfen, who had been operating in Wuhan for several years. Although he could not interfere with the personnel of the police station and the army, the budgets of the police station and the army were already in the hands of the committee.

After the establishment of labor unions, the Workers' Party's control over the three towns of Wuhan would be further strengthened. Wuhan, like Shanghai, was a modern industrial and commercial city, not a purely consumer city like Beijing. The most powerful force in this city was actually the laborers, because the power held by the Wuhan government and the gentry combined could not exceed one-tenth of the city's laborers.

The more hard Tian Junyi and other key members of the Labor Party worked to build the nation, the more they realized how powerful they were. This made them realize that the outbreak of revolution only needed an opportunity to unleash their accumulated power, which naturally motivated them to work even harder.

Inside the garden, several people sat in the pavilion. Yang Quyun reported his work progress to Tian Junyi: "The governor insists that silver coins should be based on taels. He opposes abolishing taels and adopting the yuan, and he also opposes the adoption of the gold standard currency system."

Meanwhile, the Germans repeatedly demanded that our new currency be exchanged at a fixed rate with the mark. They were even willing to lend us a sum of money to deposit in Berlin for settling foreign trade transactions.

My view is that the governor's vigilance towards foreigners was necessary, but his opposition to abolishing the tael and adopting the yuan might have been due to pressure from local money shops. There were hundreds of local money shops with a total capital of forty to fifty million taels. It must be said that, apart from the establishment of a central bank, these money shops were the only ones resisting foreign banks' interference in local lending.

Tian Junyi nodded slightly and said, "If the currency is not stable enough, then foreign trade will fluctuate wildly, which is certainly detrimental to the development of industry. Because industry does not pursue short-term profits, but rather a relatively stable sales channel."

This year, production couldn't keep up with demand, but next year half of the products will remain unsold, tying up working capital and profits. So what will happen the year after? Should production continue or be scaled down?

Therefore, a stable base currency is both necessary and essential for foreign trade. However, simply following the German lead might not necessarily be a good thing.

Yang Quyun was a little confused by Tian Junyi's words, so he could only ask directly, "So what exactly is Comrade Junyi's opinion?"

Tian Junyi bit his thumbnail and thought for a while before putting his hand down and saying, "Comrade Lin Feng once talked to me about a point of view. He believes that from slave society to capitalism, it is all a process of shaping people's cognition."

Why did Zhang Zhidong oppose the gold standard and the abolition of the tael and the adoption of the yuan? Because the standard currency of feudalism was power. What kind of treatment you wanted to enjoy depended on what kind of power you held, and had nothing to do with how much labor you put in or how much wealth you acquired.

Therefore, no matter how much Zhang Zhidong promoted the New Policies, one thing would never change: power determines everything, and the goal of the New Policies was to maintain power, not to challenge it. This is one reason why he did not accept the gold standard and opposed abolishing the tael and adopting the yuan.

Because he understood perfectly well that whether it was the gold standard or the abolition of the tael and the adoption of the yuan, the essence was to deny that power could determine the value of currency. Even if power faced only the slightest challenge, it would retaliate mercilessly; this was the instinct of power.

So what was the gold standard currency advocated by the great powers? It meant that gold was wealth, and no matter where gold came from, as long as you owned gold, you could exchange it for everything, even power.

So, do the workers have gold in their hands? Obviously not, so power belongs to the bourgeoisie. And because this power was acquired through the exchange of gold, the bourgeoisie believes they have made a fair transaction, and that their dominance over the workers is their right.

Once a worker's mindset is successfully shaped, even if he is merely a laborer who sells his physical labor for a living, he remains a capitalist in spirit. He will believe that his lack of gold is due to his own lack of effort, not to being oppressed and exploited by capitalists.

Therefore, for us, both of these perceptions should be considered reactionary and must be overthrown and eliminated. The core tenet of socialism is that only labor can create wealth, and all transactions should be based on exchange with labor as the measure of value. This is the socialist understanding we need to disseminate to workers and establish for them.

Yang Quyun seemed to be deep in thought, while Xie Zuantai, who was standing to the side, had already grasped the situation and asked Tian Junyi, "So, the industrial and agricultural exchange system we are establishing now is to reshape the perceptions of workers and farmers?"

Tian Jun nodded and said, "Yes, labor creates wealth, but the part that you consume is only the maintenance cost of labor. Only the fruits of labor that you exchange are called wealth."

Therefore, socialist production is also for the purpose of exchange, but our purpose in exchanging is to satisfy people's needs, not to pursue profits.

Once this is understood, our production objectives become clear: agricultural production is to meet the needs of the urban and rural proletariat and industry, while industrial production is to meet the needs of the urban and rural proletariat and agriculture.

Therefore, for us, the nearly 60 million people in Huguang (Hubei and Hunan provinces) have all necessities for food, clothing, housing, transportation, and production that we need to meet. This is why we need to seize power, because neither the Qing government nor the local gentry could possibly oversee such production and construction. As for capitalists, there are practically no capitalists in our country; they are merely officials and merchants who monopolize power.

Cheng Jiacheng was once again moved by Tian Junyi's propositions. This outstanding student, who graduated from the Department of Agriculture of Tokyo Imperial University, agreed with Sun Yat-sen's revolutionary ideals in his first year of studying abroad. Later, he also attended classes at the Datong School opened by Liang Qichao in Japan, thus getting to know Tian Junyi, Qin Lishan and others. However, he was still studying and therefore did not attend many gatherings of the Labor Party until he returned to China this year and officially joined the Labor Party.

He joined the Workers' Party because he supported revolution. He found the Workers' Party's advocacy of socialist revolution to be very logical, at least more practical than Sun Yat-sen's nationalism and democracy. Sun Yat-sen's speeches were indeed inspiring, but after the initial excitement, people were still clueless about how to carry out a revolution. The Workers' Party's socialist revolution, on the other hand, at least had a definite goal: to eliminate the landlord class and implement land reform.

Although his family were also landowners, many members of the Labour Party were, because it was impossible for a non-landlord family to afford to send someone to school for more than ten years. Many people were unwilling to join because of the Labour Party's principles, and some even chose to leave after joining. However, those who remained almost all believed that the demise of the landowning class was an inevitable reality.

The question is simply whether they should do nothing and watch the landlord class perish along with the country, or take matters into their own hands and eliminate the landlord class, at least ensuring the country's survival.

Moreover, the Labor Party's claim of elimination was not physical, but rather an economic, political, and cultural demand to eradicate this class. Cheng Jiacheng found each revelation refreshing and didn't feel any anger, because he genuinely couldn't empathize with the landlord class's mindset.

Tian Junyi continued, "However, our current strength is insufficient, so we cannot abolish those unreasonable systems that hinder the fulfillment of the people's needs all at once after seizing power. We can only strive to do what we can currently do, such as utilizing production-sales cooperatives to centralize the exchange of agricultural and industrial products, thereby circumventing the control of foreign and private merchants over the exchange of agricultural and industrial products..."

Chapter 128 Cooperation

Tian Junyi further stated: "At present, we should focus our main efforts on the exchange between agricultural cooperatives and industrial and commercial cooperatives in the exchange between agriculture and industry."

We must use cooperatives as an organization to collect agricultural products, deliver industrial goods to rural areas, and secure the relationship between cooperatives and us through bank loans.

Our goal is to promote the development of productive forces, thereby meeting the needs of more workers and peasants. Therefore, money is merely a marker of exchange value. Only when engaging in foreign trade does money require gold and silver as a means of payment. Exchanges between two cooperatives should be conducted according to the labor value of industrial and agricultural products.

To ensure this exchange model can be established, increasing the price of agricultural products and continuously decreasing the price of industrial goods will become a long-term trend. Before seizing power, we cannot use administrative means to drive foreign industrial goods out of our market; therefore, we must first learn commercial methods to compete with them.

The process involves understanding the production and living needs of each cooperative, then the commercial cooperatives place orders with the industrial cooperatives, which can then begin organizing production. The commercial cooperatives act as intermediaries between agriculture and industry, banks provide sufficient production funds for all three, and the necessary gold and silver reserves are recovered through exports.

Currently, to earn foreign exchange through exports, one option is traditional export products such as tea, raw silk and tung oil, and pig bristles, while another emerging option is cotton. Hubei already has a tradition of cotton cultivation, and previously introduced American cotton. However, because the government only distributed seeds and did not handle subsequent planting and purchasing, the promotion of this American cotton was not very successful.

We should expand cotton planting areas through production cooperatives and gradually improve varieties to eventually develop cotton varieties suitable for the local climate. Germany is not a cotton-producing region, so their textile industry needs to import cotton from abroad. Currently, Germany mainly imports cotton from the Ottoman Empire, but the Ottoman Empire's cotton production cannot fully meet the development needs of Germany's cotton textile industry. Therefore, we can still recover some marks through cotton to pay for imported machinery.

Another emerging export commodity is soybeans. Industrial development in Europe requires large quantities of oils. Germany previously mainly imported copra for oil extraction from the Pacific Ocean, but their demand for oils is constantly increasing, so they also have a great interest in soybean oil and tung oil. Organizing the production of soybeans and tung oil can also earn us some marks.

Moreover, my country imports 400 million dan (a unit of weight) of cotton yarn annually, which is a considerable expenditure. If we could produce our own cotton yarn and then exchange it with farmers, we could save this foreign exchange and concentrate it on the construction of heavy chemical industries…”

Xie Zuantai most agreed with Lin Feng's proposed path of industrialization. He began developing airships before joining the revolution and successfully completed the design. However, the Qing government did not need his design, and it was from that time that he became completely disillusioned with the Qing government. He believed that as long as the government existed, China would have no chance of catching up with the world's progress, and thus became an anti-government supporter. His father also held the same revolutionary stance.

He was also one of the first figures in the Revive China Society to endorse the Labor Party, even earlier than Yang Quyun. If Yang Quyun turned to the Labor Party because he was disappointed by the Revive China Society's alignment with the Japanese, then Xie Zuantai chose to join the Labor Party because he endorsed its industrialization propositions.

After listening to Tian Junyi's concept of industrial-agricultural exchange, he nodded in support, saying, "Indeed, the most important thing at present is to develop heavy chemical industry, especially to complete the self-circulation of coal and iron."

We can now mine coal and iron ore, refine coal into coke, and turn iron ore into pig iron, but we still cannot turn steel into mining machines, manufacture the power equipment to drive the machines, or build locomotives or a completely domestically produced ship.

As long as we cannot complete this cycle, we will be forced to import equipment that we could have produced ourselves, and our industrial growth will be in the hands of outsiders rather than ourselves.

I believe that we must first achieve self-sufficiency in coal and iron ore production, ensuring that every piece of machinery in this chain is domestically manufactured. Then we can move beyond relying on foreigners and enter a phase of self-sufficiency. With our abundant coal and iron ore reserves, if we can develop them, the nation will become strong and prosperous, and the foreign powers can be driven out…”

This Huaiyan Lane Conference truly explored the rudiments of the Workers' Party's industrial and agricultural organization, production and sales, and monetary policy. In mid-March, the Economic Development and Urban Construction Committee held an industrial and commercial conference in Hankou, where Tian Junyi gave a speech on developing Wuhan's industry.

Holding up a pencil, he addressed the more than three hundred merchant representatives in the hall: "This pencil is worth 300 coins, which is roughly a day's wages for a dockworker. And this fountain pen in my hand is worth 2.5 liang, which is roughly a month's wages. In Europe and America, this kind of fountain pen is the lowest quality product."

Ladies and gentlemen, since the imperial court implemented the new policies, new schools have been built on a large scale throughout the country. However, we have also encountered several problems in the process of school construction. First, there is a shortage of teachers, but this problem can be solved by establishing normal schools. Second, there is a shortage of school buildings and desks and chairs, but we can also build these ourselves.

However, the textbooks and pens that students need have, frankly speaking, become the biggest obstacle preventing poor families from enrolling in school. No matter how much we reduce or waive tuition fees, students still have to pay for their own textbooks and pens. For some families, their income is not even enough to make ends meet, so how can they possibly spend money on textbooks and pens?

This problem needs to be addressed from two aspects. First, the government needs to develop the local economy and increase people's income; second, we hope that everyone can invest in real businesses to reduce the cost of living for the people…

Hankou merchants were not lacking in capital and vision. For example, Liu Xinsheng, the former comprador of the French firm Lixing Foreign Firm and now the comprador of the Hankou branch of the French Banque de l'Indochine, had already begun acquiring land in Hankou before the Huguang Governor's Office built the Zhanggong Causeway. However, the Governor's Office prohibited land transactions in Hankou and forcibly seized all the land outside the city walls.

Liu Xinsheng initially opposed this project and even joined a group of merchants in filing a complaint with the Governor-General's Office. However, the complaint ultimately came to nothing, because compared to the personal interests of these merchants, the construction of the Zhanggong Causeway clearly had more support from the people of Hankou. Moreover, the landowners did not have any resentment about the expropriation, since the Governor-General's Office had expropriated the land at a price higher than the market price; it was simply that half of the purchase price had been converted into land debt.

Compared to Liu Xinsheng's offer of one or two strings of copper coins to acquire a burial plot, landlords and peasants naturally supported the governor's government's forced requisition.

Many businessmen also wanted to invest in real industries and modern manufacturing. For example, Song Weichen, a businessman from Ningbo, had always wanted to invest in the water and electricity industries, but due to insufficient funds, it was still in the planning stage. However, the Governor's Office suddenly established the Wuhan Water and Electricity Company, which directly ruined his plans.

The Liu brothers, Li Ziyun, Zhou Wenxuan, Zhou Zhongxuan, and others were all envious of the booming urban development in Hankou, but they didn't know how to get involved. In the past, the Governor-General's Office would only require them to buy shares in government-run enterprises, but would not grant them management rights, which naturally did not arouse their interest.

But now the Economic Development and Urban Construction Committee has come over, not only ceasing its focus on their wallets but also pointing them in the direction of investing in real businesses, which makes them somewhat tempted but also somewhat worried.

For example, Liu Xinsheng asked Tian Junyi suspiciously, "Committee Member Tian, ​​you don't mean to ask us to take over the land in your hands at a high price, do you? I heard that the land around the city wall is now priced the same as the land inside the city wall. How can we afford such a high land price?"

Liu Xinsheng's words resonated with many merchants, who didn't believe the land was worth the price. They reasoned that new roads were being planned for the area between the railway and the concession, meaning these former poor people's dwellings would inevitably see their value rise. It couldn't be that land along the river was worth 800-1000 taels per square foot, while land just a few hundred meters away wasn't even worth 100 taels per square foot. It was only because the land was now in the Governor-General's hands that people felt it shouldn't be worth so much.

In response to the merchants' discontent, Tian Junyi simply gestured for silence, saying, "Please be quiet, be quiet, let me say a few more words. The Economic Development and Urban Construction Committee does not intend to sell land for profit. Our goal is to develop the three towns of Wuhan, ultimately connecting Wuchang, Hankou, and Hanyang into a unified whole."