1905: Beer Hall Speaker

Page 78

Unless you surrender intentionally, or surrender and then willingly become the enemy's lackey, then it's not surrender, but treason!

Many people in the military and even the government suggested canceling the military benefits and retirement treatment of these prisoners of war, believing that those who surrendered were shameful. However, Zhao Yan rejected this suggestion outright and even verbally abused these people.

Zhao Yan's words were simple: "If you're so capable, why don't you go up there and try fighting? It's freezing cold, a hail of bullets, with mountains of knives and seas of fire in front and a bottomless cliff behind—who the hell isn't afraid?"

But once you've gone up there, you're a warrior. If you fight hard but can't turn the tide and have to surrender, that's just a matter of ability, not attitude!

Zhao Yan himself had personally experienced the battlefield, and those days were so grueling that he could barely stand it, so he understood these prisoners of war very well.

Of course, while captured personnel received reasonable and due treatment, that was all; they were not entitled to post-war rewards or additional combat merits.

The military treats them normally, without giving them any honors, but also without any suppression or discrimination.

The reason these people were listless and dejected was because they felt ashamed. They had surrendered and become prisoners of war in disgrace, but the country and the army had not punished them at all and had given them the treatment they deserved. This made them feel even worse than if they had suffered discrimination and oppression.

After Luo Ming, a leave officer, infiltrated the unit, many people came to him to try and build connections. They didn't want Luo Ming to plead for them, but rather they wanted to know if Luo Ming had any way to prevent them from being discharged. They wanted to fight for a chance to wash away their shame.

Luo Ming said he was unable to help with this request.

However, Luo Ming, who had received a lot of inside information, revealed to them that when the next major war breaks out, retired soldiers will be conscripted again, and this time it is just a ceasefire.

Retirement doesn't mean you're completely discharged. Veterans are still registered on the Ministry of National Defense's reserve roster after leaving active service. As long as you're not disabled and can still carry a gun, those shrewd people at the Ministry of National Defense won't let you off the hook.

Luo Ming suggested that after returning to China, they should settle down in the three northeastern provinces, as the higher-ups might conscript them from nearby areas for convenience in the next war.

Luo Ming's views and suggestions gave the captured soldiers hope, and the morale of the troops immediately soared. As long as there was hope, that was good; what they feared most was having no hope at all.

Returning to their hometown with the stigma of being captured would only invite ridicule, so they might as well stay in Northeast China and settle down. If given another chance, they would rather die than surrender!

Chapter 137 Luo Ming's Vacation Experiences (2)

After several days of trekking, Luo Ming finally returned to the banks of the Yalu River. Looking at the steel railway bridge spanning the Yalu River, Luo Ming was so surprised that he couldn't close his mouth.

When we crossed the Yalu River, there was no bridge, not even a trace of it. Back then, it was the First and Third Divisions who fought valiantly to cross the river and open up a passage for everyone.

That day, the bodies of the National Defense Army soldiers almost filled the river, a scene that Luo Ming would never forget.

But now the Yalu River Bridge, spanning the north and south, stands there conspicuously, and the railway has even been built all the way to Uiju in North Korea.

Such speed is astonishing. The only pity is that it wasn't repaired during the war, otherwise the front lines wouldn't have been in such dire straits.

If the North Korean wartime highway from Uiju to Kaesong near the 38th parallel was paved with the blood and flesh of North Koreans, then the Liaoyi Railway, which runs south from Shenyang all the way to Uiju and crosses the Yalu River, represents the souls of countless Manchu bannermen.

Building a railway is far more arduous than building a road. North Korea's strategic highways are still just dirt roads, but a railway is a whole hodgepodge of roadbeds, sleepers, rails, and power poles and wires along the line, making the project much more extensive.

The Liaoyi Railway runs from Shenyang to Uiju, North Korea, a distance of 235 kilometers. It was planned and supervised by Zhan Tianyou, the Minister of Transportation of the Central Government.

Construction was planned to begin in early June 1907 and completed on April 27, 1908, which was right around the time of the start and end of the war.

Because of the rush to meet deadlines and complete the project, people began to disregard human life in pursuit of speed. At the most severe times, construction continued even in the dead of winter when temperatures dropped to minus thirty degrees Celsius. It could be said that the bones of a Manchu lord were buried under every railway sleeper.

Zhao Yan set a good example. In the Battle of Isko Valley against the Russians, he used the Manchus as cannon fodder, killing more than 300,000 Manchus and burying them far from home.

Minister of Transport Zhan Tianyou saw this and felt distressed. It was such a waste to use so many high-quality laborers to fill in the gaps in the railway; using them to pave the tracks would have been the best solution.

With hundreds of thousands of free laborers willing to work for free and risk their lives, this is simply the perfect choice for road construction.

Since the head of state bears the blame while he gets the credit, why not?

"The next train to Shenyang is about to depart. Those who want to go, please board the train quickly. Military personnel travel free of charge, and everyone else must present a ticket!"

"Unload all weapons and disengage the safety before loading them onto the vehicle!"

"If you are carrying explosives, please wait for the next dedicated military train. This train is all passenger carriages, and we can't withstand an explosion!"

After the armistice, the railway lines along the Northeast began to change from being used entirely for military purposes to being used for both military and civilian purposes. Later, they will be completely converted to civilian use. Therefore, many passenger trains have been opened now, specifically for civilian transportation.

After all, it's about replacing old industries with new ones; the newly established Korean province needs a large number of Han Chinese from within the Great Wall to balance the local population structure.

Unfortunately, not many Han Chinese are coming to North Korea right now. Even the long-time Han Chinese residents in North Korea are rushing back home. The newly appointed governor is too ruthless. His exploitation of the people is so outrageous that even the Han Chinese are afraid of him!

Uiju Railway Station is located near the Yalu River. The station doesn't even have a roof, and the platforms are still just frames.

The steam-belching train stood conspicuously on the tracks, with a ticket inspector standing in each carriage. Military personnel boarded for free, while ordinary citizens with tickets had to wait in line.

Many impatient soldiers climbed in through the windows, ignoring the crew's warnings against bringing explosives, and brazenly boarded the vehicle with grenades.

Those troops carrying artillery and heavy weapons could only wait patiently for the next dedicated military train, or cross the Yalu River on foot, but the bridge was also packed with people and impassable.

Besides the military, a large number of North Koreans also want to leave North Korea with their families. Although it is hard to leave one's homeland, faced with the "arduous march" of the new governor Du Qingwu, even the most powerful North Koreans have to leave their homeland.

Luo Ming was, after all, an officer. It would be too shameful for him to climb through the windows like those soldiers. So he obediently boarded the train through the gate. While queuing, many North Koreans came over to ask their wives and daughters to come with them. They did this not for any other reason than to ask Luo Ming to take them to the Northeast and leave North Korea.

After North Korea established a province, Governor Du Qingwu vigorously promoted the "Arduous March" policy, raising the local tax rate by a level and exploiting every North Korean regardless of class. He also vigorously promoted infrastructure construction, conscripting North Korean laborers everywhere to build roads, ports, mines, and reclaim wasteland.

Although North Koreans are known for their docility, obedience, and hard work, they couldn't withstand Du Qingwu's actions. A large number of North Koreans began to leave, with only a small number migrating south into Japanese-controlled areas. The majority of them illegally crossed the Yalu River into Northeast China.

Du Qingwu was too lazy to gamble on either side, so he let things take their course. As long as the North Koreans didn't cluster together in North Korea Province, it was fine. They didn't care where they went, even to the Northeast.

The Northeast Development Project is currently facing a labor shortage. Given the predominantly Han Chinese population, it wouldn't be a problem to accommodate a small number of Koreans.

The central government of the Republic does not mind North Koreans integrating into its own society, but rather it is concerned about North Koreans clustering together in North Korea. As long as the North Koreans disperse, the Republic, with its size, can assimilate them in no time. After all, they are all East Asian people, and after two or three generations of assimilation, the differences will be indistinguishable.

However, if millions of North Koreans live together on the Korean Peninsula, assimilation will be a long way off, and it will always be a ticking time bomb.

The North Koreans gathered at Uiju Station right now are the dumbest group. If you took another route to illegally cross the Yalu River, no one would stop you. North Korea has become a province, so you are nominally a citizen of the Republic. Who would stop you?

But you insist on coming here to compete for a spot with the northward-bound army; you're just asking for trouble.

Luo Ming ignored the North Koreans and quickly got on the bus to find a seat. There were no seats left, but when the soldiers who had sat down saw Luo Ming's captain rank, they obediently stood up and made room for him in a good window seat.

Luo Ming didn't stand on ceremony and sat down directly.

A dozen minutes later, accompanied by a whistle, the train began to move slowly, and the old Russian-made steam locomotive pulled the dozen or so carriages and slowly accelerated.

As the train crossed the Yalu River Bridge, soldiers on the sidewalks on both sides of the bridge hurled insults at their comrades on the train, while the soldiers on the train grinned and continued to gesticulate.

The train quickly crossed the Yalu River Bridge and entered Liaoning Province in Northeast China. Once inside the Northeast, the scenery changed again.

In the towering mountains of Changbai Mountain, a large number of reform camp prisoners and Manchurian militia members are working desperately to build roads in the treacherous terrain. The railway line is currently only a single track, but Zhan Tianyou designed a double-track railway!

These unlucky guys finished the repairs, but now they have to keep repairing them. Besides the railway, they also have to build highways! There's just endless work to do; they'll work themselves to death as long as they don't die.

The Han Chinese in the reform camps had one more term of imprisonment. If they were lucky enough to survive until the end of their term, they could be released. However, the Manchu bannermen in the Manchu detachments were sentenced to life imprisonment and forced labor until death.

Their ancestors enjoyed so much good fortune, and now they, the descendants, have to pay it all back with interest.

The train continued forward, and after a slow morning of travel, it finally emerged from the mountains and entered the Liaoshen Plain. At this point, the scenery outside the train window changed again.

When Luo Ming followed the army through this area at the beginning of the war last year, it was all swamps and wetlands, but now, on his return, the roadsides were full of fertile fields.

It seems that the unpaid, hardworking laborers not only have to build roads, but also construct irrigation ditches for drainage, clear swamps, eliminate wild animals, snakes, insects, and rodents, and reclaim wasteland. All of these tasks also fall to them.

Don't underestimate these jobs. They may seem like ordinary farm work, but they are actually very dangerous. If you're not careful, you could fall into a swamp and drown, be attacked by wild animals, or be bitten and poisoned by snakes, insects, or rodents. These can all be fatal.

Furthermore, digging irrigation ditches, building reservoirs, and reclaiming silted and barren land are all physically demanding tasks that can be life-threatening.

Currently, a large number of reform camps and members of the Manchurian militia have mobilized a million laborers, barely managing to clear and reclaim land along the railway line. They are still powerless to clear the deeper Liaoze and even the wetlands of the Songnen Plain in the north.

The soldiers on the train looked at the oxen and horses working hard to build infrastructure along the way and couldn't help but sigh. It was truly a world of change. The Han people who were once slaves were now sitting on the train enjoying the scenery, while the Manchu people who were once high and mighty had become oxen and horses, working day and night. Even the railway sleepers were buried with the bones of many Manchu people.

But the soldiers felt no pity; instead, they were relieved that the leader had come to power, otherwise they would have been reduced to cattle and horses, while the Manchus, who were still high and mighty, would have been sitting on the train.

The train kept stopping and starting along the way, needing to refill its water and coal supplies frequently. The journey of more than 200 kilometers took a full day and night to reach Shenyang.

When Luo Ming got off the train, he felt like his whole body was about to fall apart. He was covered in sweat and foot odor. After being crammed into a train car with a group of soldiers who had been pulled down from the front lines for a day and a night, even a piece of sandalwood would turn into a stinking rock in a latrine.

Luo Ming got off the train in Shenyang. The free train ride was over, and from now on, he would have to pay for everything.

Luo Ming didn't have much cash on him; he only had fifteen taels of silver, but he received a lot more in Han Yuan banknotes, totaling more than three hundred and forty yuan. All of this was the combat allowance and military pay he had accumulated little by little since joining the army.

The subsidies and military pay that my younger brother Luo Liang had saved before his death were sent to his family along with his belongings. His family also wrote a letter. Now the whole family has been relocated to the vicinity of Changsha City with government funding. Although the family has left their hometown, they have gained 300 acres of cultivated land. The family has been well taken care of by the government.

Luo Ming dared not spend too much money on the road; he had to save it to give to his family. In fact, the military had reliable postal remittance routes, but Luo Ming still felt it was better to hand the money to his family in person.

Moreover, he would need to spend money on the way, and Luo Ming didn't know if he could spend the Han Yuan banknotes he had. These flimsy pieces of paper were not as reassuring as real cash.

After leaving the train station full of soldiers and stepping onto the streets of Shenyang, a thriving scene unfolded before Luo Ming.

Without the chaos and turmoil of North Korea, and without the hardships and struggles along the way, the streets of Shenyang were bustling and prosperous.

Against the backdrop of the central government's large-scale migration and development strategy in Northeast China, the area outside the Great Wall, which was once a desolate reserve for Manchuria, is now filled with the clamor of Han people.

The city walls of Shenyang in the distance can no longer accommodate the ever-increasing population, and even the new train station has to be built on the outskirts of the new city.

Construction sites and military camps were everywhere, and large-scale construction projects were rampant. The influx of people from within the Great Wall greatly stimulated the development of Shenyang.

Last year, when Luo Ming was stationed near Shenyang, the city was still a major military town with more soldiers than civilians. But when he returned this year, it had changed completely. The city was bustling with people, and accents from all over the country were gathered there. Luo Ming even heard the accent from his hometown of Guizhou.

The more land you cultivate outside the Great Wall, the more it belongs to you. Just as the Manchus entered the Great Wall and seized land on horseback, the Han Chinese are now doing the same thing by going out of the Great Wall to cultivate and seize land.

The world turns in cycles, and no one escapes the wrath of Heaven.

Chapter 138 Luo Ming's Vacation Diary (3)

"Sir, you've just returned, haven't you? Would you like to stay at an inn or rest for a while?"

As soon as Luo Ming stepped out of the train station, he encountered a middle-aged man with a fawning smile on his face. Judging from his accent, the man didn't seem to be a local.

There were many others like him, all waiting outside the train station for the soldiers inside to come out, and desperately trying to get close to each one they saw.

Luo Ming was a 22-year-old young man with plenty of battlefield experience, but his social experience was still at a novice level, and he didn't understand the routines of the train station at all.

Luo Ming had seen countless life-and-death situations on the battlefield, but he had never witnessed the deceit and treachery of society. He naturally trusted those who were his compatriots: "What is staying at an inn? What is resting?"

The middle-aged man said, "I am Zhang Youliang, a waiter at the Qingshan Inn. You look like you just came back from the front lines. After fighting for so long and being tired from the journey, you must need to find a place to rest."

"Taking a rest stop means finding a place to sleep, but staying at an inn is different. Inns and guesthouses provide everything; they have whatever you need."

Luo Ming preferred to be direct: "Just tell me the price, I'll listen first and then make a decision."

Zhang Youliang said with a smile, "It costs one to three cents to rest, and two yuan to stay at the hotel. The prices are clearly marked. There are only lower rooms and middle rooms for resting. The lower rooms are large communal rooms, costing three cents a night. The middle rooms are single rooms, costing five cents a night. There is no hot water for showering."

"It's only two yuan a night to stay here, and it has everything: hot showers, three meals a day, heated beds, and private bathrooms!"

"Do you accept this kind of money?" Luo Ming asked, pulling out a handful of Chinese Yuan notes.

Zhang Youliang's eyes widened when he saw the large wad of Han Yuan notes in Luo Ming's hand, and he quickly nodded: "These are the notes I'm taking!"

Luo Ming nodded: "Lead the way, I need a place to stay!"

Luo Ming had no concept of what a few cents or yuan meant; his understanding of currency was still limited to a few coins or a few coins of silver.

If you say that a night's lodging costs one or two taels of silver, Luo Ming will definitely turn around and leave. But if you say that two paper bills are enough, Luo Ming will readily agree.

The vast majority of soldiers who carried large amounts of Han Yuan notes shared this view; accustomed to copper coins and silver as currency, they had little interest in paper money.

Despite immense pressure, Emperor Zhao Yan, in addition to the promised land and military pay, also distributed a large amount of Han Yuan banknotes as compensation to them.

After all, at the beginning of the war, Zhao Yan promised them all wartime pay and rewards in the form of land. But after the war, Zhao Yan still felt that this was too stingy. He had personally experienced the front line of the battlefield and felt that land alone was not enough.

Therefore, after the battle, Zhao Yan reissued the soldiers' wartime pay and combat subsidies, all in Han Yuan notes.

The soldiers didn't pay much attention to the Han Yuan notes they received, since the land promised by the leader had already been given. These notes were just extras, and no one looked into them closely. They felt that these were just military notes given by the higher-ups to fool people, a token of goodwill.

So now Luo Ming doesn't feel bad about spending money. If he knew that two yuan was equivalent to one tael of silver, he would never spend two yuan to stay at a hotel.

Local merchants in Shenyang love these soldiers who spend money like water. They've just returned from the front lines and spend money without batting an eye. Doing business here is like picking up money.

Although the issuance period of Han Yuan banknotes was short, the free circulation of national bonds laid the groundwork in the early stages, allowing the Han Yuan banknotes to quickly circulate in the market after their issuance.

Moreover, the issuance of Han Yuan paper money was not Zhao Yan's unilateral decision, but a consensus reached after the exchange and compromise of interests among the entire central government, representatives from various regions, and representatives from all walks of life.

People from all walks of life approved of the issuance of the Huayuan banknotes and actively cooperated with it, because everyone benefited from it.

In the original Republic of China era, they also issued legal tender, and it did quite well in the early stages. The current Han Yuan is even more so; with the Chinese character on it, who would dare not recognize it?

Moreover, with Zhao Yan's formidable martial prowess as a backing, coupled with the nation's credibility and land guarantees, the Han Yuan circulated very smoothly.

Luo Ming followed Zhang Youliang directly to Qingshan Inn to check in. After checking in, he felt a little uneasy. The room was a superior single room with clean bedding and pillows, and it also had a private toilet and a bathroom with a large wooden tub.

As soon as he entered the room, the waiter brought out the food. Although there was no fancy meat or fish, it was all local seasonal vegetables and fresh food. Luo Ming, who hadn't eaten fresh, hot food in a long time, ate so much that he almost swallowed his tongue.

While Luo Ming ate, the waiters kept filling the bath tub with hot water. By the time Luo Ming finished eating, the hot water in the tub was also poured out.

Luo Ming couldn't understand how two yuan could provide such service. He had never been served like this before, and this was the first time he had ever taken a bath in a wooden tub. Whether in his hometown in Guizhou or in the army, there was never any way to sleep in a double room or a single room, let alone take a hot bath in a wooden tub.

Then something even worse happened. Zhang Youliang led a girl into the room with a wicked grin on his face: "Sir, the warm bed you ordered has arrived. If you're not satisfied, you can change it!"

Luo Ming was dumbfounded. You're giving me this for two yuan? Are you trying to rip me off?

Luo Ming stepped forward and quickly asked, "I don't expect to pay extra for this, do I?"

Having spent time in the military alongside a group of grown men, Luo Ming was no longer uncomfortable with such matters and even harbored some longing for them.

Zhang Youliang quickly replied, "The hotel price is clearly marked, and we definitely won't ask you for extra money, don't worry!"

Hearing this, Luo Ming was puzzled. Two pieces of paper provided food, drink, lodging, a bath, and even girls to serve him. What went wrong?