Chapter 641 Duan Qirui was ignored
Ten days later, in the capital, in a small courtyard with a separate entrance on the back street of the Ministry of Army.
Duan Qirui was sitting on a bamboo rattan chair in the shade of a locust tree in the yard, reading a newspaper carefully. On the coffee table beside him, besides a teapot and teacups, there was also a thick stack of several newspapers and magazines.
That day, Duan Qirui, who was full of thoughts, returned from Cao Kun's place in Henan. As soon as he got off the train at Baoding Railway Station, he saw many people pointing at the newspapers in their hands and talking about them in surprise.
Some of the people reading the newspaper had expressions of surprise, some of them were delighted, and some were arguing about something excitedly and fiercely.
It was only when they saw Duan Qirui in military uniform and with two grooms that they stopped talking and quickly dispersed.
Although at this time the people around Tianjin were already accustomed to the Zhi army.
The Zhi army had strict military discipline and was extremely kind to ordinary people. No one would fail to pay when buying things. Everything was fair trade, and there was no harassment of the people without reason. As for bullying men and women, that was impossible.
On the streets, in addition to the patrols of two or three policemen, you can often see Zhili military police wearing white armbands patrolling in formation, specifically investigating Zhili troops who violate military discipline and oppress the people.
Teng Yuzhao even set up military police offices in Tianjin New City and surrounding counties, so that people could report any violating officers and soldiers at any time. Once any violating officers and soldiers were found to be violating the rules, they would be expelled from the army at the very least, or punished by military law at the worst.
Therefore, in northern Zhili, the Zhili army and the common people got along very well. Even the common people and businessmen would sometimes take the initiative to come forward and greet the Zhili army officers and soldiers, and they had no fear of the Zhili army officers and soldiers.
But in Shuntian Prefecture and even in Southern Zhili where the Zhi army had no garrison, the people were still afraid to avoid the Qing army, including the New Army, as well as officials and servants. But when they saw Duan Qirui, who was looking imposing and had his horsemen with him, how could anyone not avoid him?
However, the conversations and arguments among these people had already reached Duan Qirui's ears.
What caught Duan Qirui's attention was that he heard the words Teng Yuzhao, Prime Minister of the Cabinet, and even Baoding Military Academy appear in these conversations and arguments, which made Duan Qirui feel a little strange.
But then he heard the newsboy on the platform shouting, "Extra Edition, Extra Edition, Marshal Teng is holding a press conference, intending to resign as president of the Zhili Army and recommend himself to be the first prime minister."
Duan Qirui was startled by the newsboy's cry. Although he had already learned from Cao Kun that the Ministry of the Army was going to disband the new armies in various provinces, and he was even aware that Tieliang was targeting the Zhi Army and their Henan Army, he did not think that Teng Yuzhao would agree.
Because, in his opinion, the war outside the Great Wall has not yet ended, and the land outside the Great Wall has not yet been completely recovered from Tsarist Russia. It is not appropriate to require the Zhi army and the new army in other provinces to be reduced in size.
He was even well aware that Teng Yuzhao was not only stubborn, but also extremely resentful of the act of ceding land and paying compensation. Before the vast tracts of land outside the Great Wall were completely recovered, he would not agree even if the Lord wanted to take away his military power.
But unexpectedly, Teng Yuzhao agreed so easily!
This surprised Duan Qirui, even shocked him!
What surprised Duan Qirui even more was what happened next. The newsboy shouted, "Marshal Teng is willing to vouch for the students of the military academy, saying that the students are definitely not revolutionaries, nor have they been bewitched by the GMD. They only cut their hair to facilitate training."
"For this reason, Marshal Teng has sent an urgent telegram to the Queen Mother, asking her to stop the Army Department's reckless practice of sending troops to arrest people and to withdraw the troops immediately."
"In order to ensure the personal safety of the students at the Military Academy and prevent anyone from attacking the school and provoking an incident, Marshal Teng has ordered the Baoding Arsenal Guard to go to the Military Academy to protect the students."
Since the matter concerned the Military Academy, Duan Qirui had no time to think about Teng Yuzhao's resignation as President of the Zhili Army. He hurriedly asked two groomsmen to buy him a special edition of the Ta Kung Pao.
He took the newspaper and read it quickly, then ran over and grabbed a station staff and asked if any troops had come to Baoding.
Duan Qirui was shocked and angry when he learned that an hour ago, Ma Longbiao's unit of the Third Brigade of the Second Regiment of the Shuntian Army had got off the train here and judging from the direction they were heading to the Military Academy.
He was originally planning to take a rickshaw back to school, but after what happened, Duan Qirui dared not go back leisurely, so he had to run to the telegraph office in the city to borrow a horse.
But when Duan Qirui just arrived at the telegraph office, he met the director of the telegraph office who was also in a hurry to go to the Military Academy. The director knew Duan Qirui and told him without waiting for Duan Qirui to ask.
"I just received a telegram from the Ministry of the Army, asking Ma Longbiao to bring Duan Qirui and Zhang Xiyuan to the Ministry of the Army for questioning, and not to mention the issue of students cutting their hair again. He also asked him to deliver it to Ma Longbiao in person immediately."
Duan Qirui knew that this must be the result of Teng Yuzhao's urgent telegram to Cixi.
Although Duan Qirui felt a little relieved, he still did not dare to delay. He was very worried that Ma Longbiao would have a fierce conflict with the guards and students, or even fight with swords. There were more than a thousand firearms in the military academy, including three Maxim heavy machine guns.
If a fight breaks out, it will not end well! This is why Duan Qirui rode a horse to the school in time.
Ma Longbiao was a little surprised when he saw that the telegram was sent directly to him by the Ministry of the Army instead of his immediate superior Wang Yingkai. However, he understood that Tie Liang was worried that conveying the message through Wang Yingkai might delay the process, so he sent it directly to him.
Duan Qirui and Ma Longbiao were not only old acquaintances in the Wuwei Right Army, but Duan Qirui had also served as the commander of a town, so Ma Longbiao was naturally very polite to him.
He just politely asked Duan Qirui and Zhang Xiyuan to go to the capital with him so that he could report to his superiors.
However, Duan Qirui disagreed with Zhang Xiyuan's going to the capital with him, and only agreed that he would go to the Ministry of War with Ma Longbiao, on the grounds that the students needed someone to suppress them, otherwise they might cause trouble.
Ma Longbiao didn't care much about whether Zhang Xiyuan went to the capital, as long as Duan Qirui was willing to go. Under the current circumstances, even if Duan Qirui refused to go to the capital with him, he would have no choice.
After thanking Liu Zhengang, Duan Qirui hurried into the school again. After talking to Zhang Xiyuan, he followed Ma Longbiao to the Ministry of the Army.
Duan Qirui rushed to the capital with his luggage. He knew very well that although the Ministry of Army had withdrawn its order and only wanted him to come for questioning, Tie Liang had long disliked him. This incident gave Tie Liang a handle and he would become a scapegoat. He would not be able to continue his work as the general manager of the military academy.
What puzzled Duan Qirui was that after arriving in the capital, Tieliang did not question him, and did not even let him enter the Army Department. He was brought directly to the Army Department by a captain clerk outside the Army Department, who relayed Tieliang's words and asked him to wait for investigation. At first, Duan Qirui thought that this was a temporary house arrest, but what surprised him was that the Army Department did not arrange anyone to look after him, and he even had to take care of himself in all aspects of his life, as if he did not exist.
This even made Duan Qirui very angry at one point. He thought that Tieliang had treated him as nothing.
Just one day later, Duan Qirui's mentality quickly calmed down, because not only Tieliang, but also Feng Guozhang who was in the Ministry of Army did not show up, and even Yuan Shikai was silent.
Although the Ministry of War did not restrict his actions, Duan Qirui, who was already disheartened, had not stepped out of the yard in recent days, and all the things were done by his two servants.
After calming down, Duan Qirui arranged for his groom to go out and buy newspapers. Not only newspapers from the capital, he also specifically wanted the Ta Kung Pao, and also old newspapers from the past two days.
The newspapers in the capital reported very little about Teng Yuzao. Duan Qirui knew that the newspapers in the capital must have been under some kind of pressure. If he wanted to know more, he could only read other newspapers.
But no other newspapers or periodicals could be bought in the capital. Not to mention newspapers from other provinces, even the Ta Kung Pao from nearby Tianjin was not allowed to be sold in the capital.
Although Teng Yuzao and the court did not fall out, that was only between Teng Yuzao and Cixi. The court still recognized Teng Yuzao as a minister of the court, and Teng Yuzao also recognized the court. But these were naturally superficial, and both sides were trying their best to cover up this appearance which was far from harmonious.
But the court officials below, especially the princes and nobles headed by Yikuang, were not so polite, or they did not have too many scruples, from minting coins to printing banknotes.
As for banning the sale of the Ta Kung Pao, which has always been biased towards Teng Yuzao, in the capital, they did it blatantly.
Even though the Ta Kung Pao has strived to uphold the "Four Nos" principle of "non-partisanship, non-selling out, non-selfishness and non-blindness" since its founding, and has always reported objectively and fairly, and even often published public reports accusing certain unsatisfactory aspects of government offices at all levels in Zhishan Province, it is still resolutely excluded by these stubborn forces in the capital.
The important officials in the court naturally knew about the thoughts behind these and the superficial actions. Although Duan Qirui was not at the core, they had heard some rumors.
The most obvious thing is that the court's paper money, also known as Baochao, could not circulate in Zhili, at least on the surface.
For example, all banks and ticket offices registered in Zhili and Shandong would not store the court's treasure notes. All Aurora-related factories, including those that purchased tickets for the Lu-Han and Lu-Zhang railways, also did not accept the court's treasure notes. They only accepted various silver dollars and paper money issued by Zhili, commonly known as Zhipiao.
For the same reason, Zhipiao was legal currency only in Zhishan Province and outside the Great Wall. It was banned by the imperial court in Shuntian Prefecture and other provinces, and only Baochao could be used.
Fortunately, there were some delays in the exchange of Baochao. For example, Baochao could only be exchanged for Longyuan minted by the Ministry of Revenue at the Bank of the Ministry of Revenue and banks in various provinces. However, due to the silver content and the roughness of the minting, there were some discounts in circulation among the people, which led to the reluctance of the people to use it.
The Zhili notes issued by the Aurora Bank had maintained a strong value since their issuance. The Aurora Bank had branches in Zhili and Shan provinces, Anhui, Jiangsu, Liangjiang, and Fujian where the Zhili army was stationed, making exchange convenient. Moreover, the silver dollars minted by the Aurora Bank were of good quality and contained enough silver, so not only local merchants were willing to accept them, but even foreigners in Shanghai were willing to use the Zhili notes.
In particular, officers and soldiers stationed in Jiangsu, Liangjiang and Fujian also used direct tickets, and their military supplies also used direct tickets. This allowed direct tickets to circulate in these places, but the number was not large. In the past few years, the total number of direct tickets circulating in these provinces was only more than 20 million.
Since the Ministry of Revenue Bank still owed millions to the Aurora Bank, the imperial court had no choice but to turn a blind eye to all this.
But they were not so polite to the Ta Kung Pao. The Shuntian Prefecture banned the Ta Kung Pao from appearing locally, and the situation in the capital was even worse.
Not only was it not available in the city, it was not even available outside the city. Patrolmen would drive away newsboys. The Ta Kung Pao was only sold inside the Majiabao Railway Station outside Yongdingmen. The railway station was still under the jurisdiction of the Beiyang Government, and the patrolmen of Shuntian Prefecture had no control over it, so Ma Bian had to run there to buy it.
Through these newspapers and periodicals, Duan Qirui quickly learned about the situation outside.
The information he got from newspapers made Duan Qirui surprised and puzzled at the same time. He even had an inexplicable worry.
First, he saw Teng Yuzao's statement and his remarks at the press conference about his resignation as president of Zhili and his desire to become the first prime minister.
After reading it carefully several times, Duan Qirui felt that Teng Yuzao was serious about serving as the first Prime Minister of the Cabinet.
Moreover, in the following days, the Ta Kung Pao published several long articles written by authors named Xingyan.
The contents of these articles basically summarize the substantial increase in tax revenue in Zhili and Shandong provinces and the significant changes in the economy and people's livelihood under the leadership of Teng Yuzhao in recent years.
After seeing these growths and changes supported by numbers, Duan Qirui was really surprised!
These growth and change data are detailed, and in many aspects anyone can see them. This cannot be faked.
For example, what shocked Duan Qirui the most was the growth of fiscal and tax revenue.
Before Teng Yuzhao took charge of Zhili, Zhili, as a major province that paid taxes to the imperial court, had less than 9 million taels of tax. Now it has reached nearly 40 million taels.
Zhili has always been a province with high tax revenue for the imperial court. It and Zhejiang have always been ranked at the top among all provinces in the country, followed by Guangdong and Sichuan.
In the late Qing Dynasty, the taxes levied on various provinces were mainly composed of land tax and commercial tax commonly known as lijin, while some coastal provinces also had customs duties and salt taxes.
Although Zhili had natural advantages, for example, as a province with a high agricultural tax, its land tax included not only the agricultural tax called land tax silver, but also the tax on grain because of the canal transport passing through it.
Moreover, Zhili has always been a major salt-producing province. The northern provinces, including Mongolia, mainly use the salt here, and the salt tax has always been a large source of income.
As for tariffs, there is no need to say more. The tariff revenue of Tianjin Customs was a considerable sum decades ago.
At this time, the tax revenue of Zhili Province changed its composition. Now more than half of the fiscal revenue was composed of commercial taxes and customs duties, and agricultural taxes remained basically unchanged. Although the amount of salt produced increased several times, the increase in salt tax was not obvious.
(End of this chapter)
Ten days later, in the capital, in a small courtyard with a separate entrance on the back street of the Ministry of Army.
Duan Qirui was sitting on a bamboo rattan chair in the shade of a locust tree in the yard, reading a newspaper carefully. On the coffee table beside him, besides a teapot and teacups, there was also a thick stack of several newspapers and magazines.
That day, Duan Qirui, who was full of thoughts, returned from Cao Kun's place in Henan. As soon as he got off the train at Baoding Railway Station, he saw many people pointing at the newspapers in their hands and talking about them in surprise.
Some of the people reading the newspaper had expressions of surprise, some of them were delighted, and some were arguing about something excitedly and fiercely.
It was only when they saw Duan Qirui in military uniform and with two grooms that they stopped talking and quickly dispersed.
Although at this time the people around Tianjin were already accustomed to the Zhi army.
The Zhi army had strict military discipline and was extremely kind to ordinary people. No one would fail to pay when buying things. Everything was fair trade, and there was no harassment of the people without reason. As for bullying men and women, that was impossible.
On the streets, in addition to the patrols of two or three policemen, you can often see Zhili military police wearing white armbands patrolling in formation, specifically investigating Zhili troops who violate military discipline and oppress the people.
Teng Yuzhao even set up military police offices in Tianjin New City and surrounding counties, so that people could report any violating officers and soldiers at any time. Once any violating officers and soldiers were found to be violating the rules, they would be expelled from the army at the very least, or punished by military law at the worst.
Therefore, in northern Zhili, the Zhili army and the common people got along very well. Even the common people and businessmen would sometimes take the initiative to come forward and greet the Zhili army officers and soldiers, and they had no fear of the Zhili army officers and soldiers.
But in Shuntian Prefecture and even in Southern Zhili where the Zhi army had no garrison, the people were still afraid to avoid the Qing army, including the New Army, as well as officials and servants. But when they saw Duan Qirui, who was looking imposing and had his horsemen with him, how could anyone not avoid him?
However, the conversations and arguments among these people had already reached Duan Qirui's ears.
What caught Duan Qirui's attention was that he heard the words Teng Yuzhao, Prime Minister of the Cabinet, and even Baoding Military Academy appear in these conversations and arguments, which made Duan Qirui feel a little strange.
But then he heard the newsboy on the platform shouting, "Extra Edition, Extra Edition, Marshal Teng is holding a press conference, intending to resign as president of the Zhili Army and recommend himself to be the first prime minister."
Duan Qirui was startled by the newsboy's cry. Although he had already learned from Cao Kun that the Ministry of the Army was going to disband the new armies in various provinces, and he was even aware that Tieliang was targeting the Zhi Army and their Henan Army, he did not think that Teng Yuzhao would agree.
Because, in his opinion, the war outside the Great Wall has not yet ended, and the land outside the Great Wall has not yet been completely recovered from Tsarist Russia. It is not appropriate to require the Zhi army and the new army in other provinces to be reduced in size.
He was even well aware that Teng Yuzhao was not only stubborn, but also extremely resentful of the act of ceding land and paying compensation. Before the vast tracts of land outside the Great Wall were completely recovered, he would not agree even if the Lord wanted to take away his military power.
But unexpectedly, Teng Yuzhao agreed so easily!
This surprised Duan Qirui, even shocked him!
What surprised Duan Qirui even more was what happened next. The newsboy shouted, "Marshal Teng is willing to vouch for the students of the military academy, saying that the students are definitely not revolutionaries, nor have they been bewitched by the GMD. They only cut their hair to facilitate training."
"For this reason, Marshal Teng has sent an urgent telegram to the Queen Mother, asking her to stop the Army Department's reckless practice of sending troops to arrest people and to withdraw the troops immediately."
"In order to ensure the personal safety of the students at the Military Academy and prevent anyone from attacking the school and provoking an incident, Marshal Teng has ordered the Baoding Arsenal Guard to go to the Military Academy to protect the students."
Since the matter concerned the Military Academy, Duan Qirui had no time to think about Teng Yuzhao's resignation as President of the Zhili Army. He hurriedly asked two groomsmen to buy him a special edition of the Ta Kung Pao.
He took the newspaper and read it quickly, then ran over and grabbed a station staff and asked if any troops had come to Baoding.
Duan Qirui was shocked and angry when he learned that an hour ago, Ma Longbiao's unit of the Third Brigade of the Second Regiment of the Shuntian Army had got off the train here and judging from the direction they were heading to the Military Academy.
He was originally planning to take a rickshaw back to school, but after what happened, Duan Qirui dared not go back leisurely, so he had to run to the telegraph office in the city to borrow a horse.
But when Duan Qirui just arrived at the telegraph office, he met the director of the telegraph office who was also in a hurry to go to the Military Academy. The director knew Duan Qirui and told him without waiting for Duan Qirui to ask.
"I just received a telegram from the Ministry of the Army, asking Ma Longbiao to bring Duan Qirui and Zhang Xiyuan to the Ministry of the Army for questioning, and not to mention the issue of students cutting their hair again. He also asked him to deliver it to Ma Longbiao in person immediately."
Duan Qirui knew that this must be the result of Teng Yuzhao's urgent telegram to Cixi.
Although Duan Qirui felt a little relieved, he still did not dare to delay. He was very worried that Ma Longbiao would have a fierce conflict with the guards and students, or even fight with swords. There were more than a thousand firearms in the military academy, including three Maxim heavy machine guns.
If a fight breaks out, it will not end well! This is why Duan Qirui rode a horse to the school in time.
Ma Longbiao was a little surprised when he saw that the telegram was sent directly to him by the Ministry of the Army instead of his immediate superior Wang Yingkai. However, he understood that Tie Liang was worried that conveying the message through Wang Yingkai might delay the process, so he sent it directly to him.
Duan Qirui and Ma Longbiao were not only old acquaintances in the Wuwei Right Army, but Duan Qirui had also served as the commander of a town, so Ma Longbiao was naturally very polite to him.
He just politely asked Duan Qirui and Zhang Xiyuan to go to the capital with him so that he could report to his superiors.
However, Duan Qirui disagreed with Zhang Xiyuan's going to the capital with him, and only agreed that he would go to the Ministry of War with Ma Longbiao, on the grounds that the students needed someone to suppress them, otherwise they might cause trouble.
Ma Longbiao didn't care much about whether Zhang Xiyuan went to the capital, as long as Duan Qirui was willing to go. Under the current circumstances, even if Duan Qirui refused to go to the capital with him, he would have no choice.
After thanking Liu Zhengang, Duan Qirui hurried into the school again. After talking to Zhang Xiyuan, he followed Ma Longbiao to the Ministry of the Army.
Duan Qirui rushed to the capital with his luggage. He knew very well that although the Ministry of Army had withdrawn its order and only wanted him to come for questioning, Tie Liang had long disliked him. This incident gave Tie Liang a handle and he would become a scapegoat. He would not be able to continue his work as the general manager of the military academy.
What puzzled Duan Qirui was that after arriving in the capital, Tieliang did not question him, and did not even let him enter the Army Department. He was brought directly to the Army Department by a captain clerk outside the Army Department, who relayed Tieliang's words and asked him to wait for investigation. At first, Duan Qirui thought that this was a temporary house arrest, but what surprised him was that the Army Department did not arrange anyone to look after him, and he even had to take care of himself in all aspects of his life, as if he did not exist.
This even made Duan Qirui very angry at one point. He thought that Tieliang had treated him as nothing.
Just one day later, Duan Qirui's mentality quickly calmed down, because not only Tieliang, but also Feng Guozhang who was in the Ministry of Army did not show up, and even Yuan Shikai was silent.
Although the Ministry of War did not restrict his actions, Duan Qirui, who was already disheartened, had not stepped out of the yard in recent days, and all the things were done by his two servants.
After calming down, Duan Qirui arranged for his groom to go out and buy newspapers. Not only newspapers from the capital, he also specifically wanted the Ta Kung Pao, and also old newspapers from the past two days.
The newspapers in the capital reported very little about Teng Yuzao. Duan Qirui knew that the newspapers in the capital must have been under some kind of pressure. If he wanted to know more, he could only read other newspapers.
But no other newspapers or periodicals could be bought in the capital. Not to mention newspapers from other provinces, even the Ta Kung Pao from nearby Tianjin was not allowed to be sold in the capital.
Although Teng Yuzao and the court did not fall out, that was only between Teng Yuzao and Cixi. The court still recognized Teng Yuzao as a minister of the court, and Teng Yuzao also recognized the court. But these were naturally superficial, and both sides were trying their best to cover up this appearance which was far from harmonious.
But the court officials below, especially the princes and nobles headed by Yikuang, were not so polite, or they did not have too many scruples, from minting coins to printing banknotes.
As for banning the sale of the Ta Kung Pao, which has always been biased towards Teng Yuzao, in the capital, they did it blatantly.
Even though the Ta Kung Pao has strived to uphold the "Four Nos" principle of "non-partisanship, non-selling out, non-selfishness and non-blindness" since its founding, and has always reported objectively and fairly, and even often published public reports accusing certain unsatisfactory aspects of government offices at all levels in Zhishan Province, it is still resolutely excluded by these stubborn forces in the capital.
The important officials in the court naturally knew about the thoughts behind these and the superficial actions. Although Duan Qirui was not at the core, they had heard some rumors.
The most obvious thing is that the court's paper money, also known as Baochao, could not circulate in Zhili, at least on the surface.
For example, all banks and ticket offices registered in Zhili and Shandong would not store the court's treasure notes. All Aurora-related factories, including those that purchased tickets for the Lu-Han and Lu-Zhang railways, also did not accept the court's treasure notes. They only accepted various silver dollars and paper money issued by Zhili, commonly known as Zhipiao.
For the same reason, Zhipiao was legal currency only in Zhishan Province and outside the Great Wall. It was banned by the imperial court in Shuntian Prefecture and other provinces, and only Baochao could be used.
Fortunately, there were some delays in the exchange of Baochao. For example, Baochao could only be exchanged for Longyuan minted by the Ministry of Revenue at the Bank of the Ministry of Revenue and banks in various provinces. However, due to the silver content and the roughness of the minting, there were some discounts in circulation among the people, which led to the reluctance of the people to use it.
The Zhili notes issued by the Aurora Bank had maintained a strong value since their issuance. The Aurora Bank had branches in Zhili and Shan provinces, Anhui, Jiangsu, Liangjiang, and Fujian where the Zhili army was stationed, making exchange convenient. Moreover, the silver dollars minted by the Aurora Bank were of good quality and contained enough silver, so not only local merchants were willing to accept them, but even foreigners in Shanghai were willing to use the Zhili notes.
In particular, officers and soldiers stationed in Jiangsu, Liangjiang and Fujian also used direct tickets, and their military supplies also used direct tickets. This allowed direct tickets to circulate in these places, but the number was not large. In the past few years, the total number of direct tickets circulating in these provinces was only more than 20 million.
Since the Ministry of Revenue Bank still owed millions to the Aurora Bank, the imperial court had no choice but to turn a blind eye to all this.
But they were not so polite to the Ta Kung Pao. The Shuntian Prefecture banned the Ta Kung Pao from appearing locally, and the situation in the capital was even worse.
Not only was it not available in the city, it was not even available outside the city. Patrolmen would drive away newsboys. The Ta Kung Pao was only sold inside the Majiabao Railway Station outside Yongdingmen. The railway station was still under the jurisdiction of the Beiyang Government, and the patrolmen of Shuntian Prefecture had no control over it, so Ma Bian had to run there to buy it.
Through these newspapers and periodicals, Duan Qirui quickly learned about the situation outside.
The information he got from newspapers made Duan Qirui surprised and puzzled at the same time. He even had an inexplicable worry.
First, he saw Teng Yuzao's statement and his remarks at the press conference about his resignation as president of Zhili and his desire to become the first prime minister.
After reading it carefully several times, Duan Qirui felt that Teng Yuzao was serious about serving as the first Prime Minister of the Cabinet.
Moreover, in the following days, the Ta Kung Pao published several long articles written by authors named Xingyan.
The contents of these articles basically summarize the substantial increase in tax revenue in Zhili and Shandong provinces and the significant changes in the economy and people's livelihood under the leadership of Teng Yuzhao in recent years.
After seeing these growths and changes supported by numbers, Duan Qirui was really surprised!
These growth and change data are detailed, and in many aspects anyone can see them. This cannot be faked.
For example, what shocked Duan Qirui the most was the growth of fiscal and tax revenue.
Before Teng Yuzhao took charge of Zhili, Zhili, as a major province that paid taxes to the imperial court, had less than 9 million taels of tax. Now it has reached nearly 40 million taels.
Zhili has always been a province with high tax revenue for the imperial court. It and Zhejiang have always been ranked at the top among all provinces in the country, followed by Guangdong and Sichuan.
In the late Qing Dynasty, the taxes levied on various provinces were mainly composed of land tax and commercial tax commonly known as lijin, while some coastal provinces also had customs duties and salt taxes.
Although Zhili had natural advantages, for example, as a province with a high agricultural tax, its land tax included not only the agricultural tax called land tax silver, but also the tax on grain because of the canal transport passing through it.
Moreover, Zhili has always been a major salt-producing province. The northern provinces, including Mongolia, mainly use the salt here, and the salt tax has always been a large source of income.
As for tariffs, there is no need to say more. The tariff revenue of Tianjin Customs was a considerable sum decades ago.
At this time, the tax revenue of Zhili Province changed its composition. Now more than half of the fiscal revenue was composed of commercial taxes and customs duties, and agricultural taxes remained basically unchanged. Although the amount of salt produced increased several times, the increase in salt tax was not obvious.
(End of this chapter)
