Chapter 34: Expelling the Tartars and Restoring China

  Shi Dingzhong was about to lose his temper, but Qiao Yu stopped him. For these hot-blooded young people, Qiao Yu had too many ways to deal with them. Smiling, he said: "You are all educated, and you should reason things out. If you just curse, aren't you no different from a shrew? You say I'm a running dog, then bring out the evidence and let's talk it over. Are you afraid?"

  Since Qiao Yu entered the house, Shi Yi's gaze had been on him. This person seemed to be even younger than himself, handsome and elegant, with a calm demeanor, polite manners, but with a hint of a smile at the corner of his mouth, as if everything was under his control. This self-confidence made Shi Yi feel particularly uncomfortable, and he walked up to Qiao Yu with an air of arrogance.

  "Go ahead and say it, we're not afraid of you. You assisted the Qing government in training police to capture Gu Jinglong and take revolutionary martyr Chen Heihu prisoner. More than 500 brothers were killed at your hands. What do you mean you're not a running dog for the Qing?"

  "You know what's going on with Ge Lao Hui? Do you understand what Tian Gang Village has done? If you listen to both sides, things will become clear, but if you only listen to one side, you'll be in the dark. You say they're heroes, but I say one is a hooligan and the other is a mountain bandit. Gu Jinlong has done so many evil deeds that almost every ordinary citizen in Chongqing knows about it. You can investigate this yourself. Moreover, I rescued over a dozen girls who were harmed by Tian Gang Village from their clutches, and they are now living in the backyard of the textile factory. You can go ask them what's going on with Tian Gang Village at any time! As military students, as commanders, you should not make assumptions or jump to conclusions without knowing both sides of the story. Your education is unqualified!"

  Qiao Yu's words made Shi Yi's momentum loosen a bit, and just now Shi Dingzhong had also told them these things, but at the time of the dispute, he didn't think deeply about it. Now that he has calmed down, it seems that Qiao Yu has a point too.

  "You all say that listening to both sides makes things clear, while listening to only one side makes things dark. We can't change our minds just because of your few words!" The speaker was a sturdy young man standing behind Shi Wing, who introduced him as Su Ding, one year younger than Shi Wing, and had excellent grades at the Speed Learning Academy!

  "That's right, I didn't make you believe me, you can go investigate if you want, but I have a few questions to ask you, don't know if you can answer!"

  "As long as it doesn't involve secrets, there's nothing we can't talk about!"

  "Alright, you've joined the Alliance already?"

  "That's right, for this country we will shed all our hot blood, if you want to catch us, then take action!"

  "Relax, let's just talk like we normally do with classmates. I've been abroad for five years and I'm also very familiar with the Alliance Society. I remember your sixteen-character manifesto is to drive out the Tartars, restore China, equalize land rights, and create a republic, right? I'd like someone to explain these sixteen characters to me!"

  Shi Yi's blood was boiling as he loudly said: "This is Mr. Sun's high vision, the Alliance leaders' extraordinary insight. Currently, China can only become better by overthrowing the corrupt Qing government and establishing a brand new country, creating a republic instead of an empire. The common people are generally impoverished, relying on equal land rights to achieve prosperity. Only by establishing a republic and possessing civil rights can we avoid being oppressed, live with dignity, and have our own character!"

  "What you said is not bad, then what is Xianbei and what is Zhonghua?"

  "The Tartars are naturally Manchu Qing, China is my great China, what's there to ask?"

  "How come there's no good question? Since that's the case, you explain the two words 'expel' and 'restore'. Not annihilate, not overthrow, but expel. Expel to where? Restore what?"

  Shi Wing was about to speak when he suddenly realized that he had fallen into a trap. Where could he be expelled to? The three northeastern provinces? Manchuria? Were these territories still part of China? Shi Wing didn't know how to respond, and Su Ding answered on his behalf: "Naturally, wherever you came from, hurry back there!"

  "You still want to take the three eastern provinces, I know you have a saying about building a country with eighteen provinces. What about Xinjiang, Inner and Outer Mongolia, Tibet? Do you want them or not? These are not within the scope of your so-called China. You should know that these territories add up to more than half of the land. My brother is now serving under General Zhao Erfeng, fighting bravely and sacrificing his life to defend the country's territory. I suppose you study military affairs for the same reason. But with one sentence 'Drive out the Tartars and restore China', you would make China shrink by half! This stroke of the pen is even bigger than that of Empress Dowager Cixi. You are really impressive!"

  Three young men were suddenly speechless, their faces changed color, and even Yu Jianxiong, who had not spoken all along, was panicked. They had all studied military affairs and were naturally familiar with China's geography. These areas were the barriers of the Chinese mainland. If they were gone, China's national defense security would become extremely severe, almost like the Song Dynasty in history. How could something that was originally very reasonable become so harmful when said by Qiao Yu? The three young men who had not experienced the world couldn't understand it at all.

  "Do you know where these two sentences come from? This was proposed by the Japanese during the First Sino-Japanese War. The Japanese put forward this slogan to undermine China's will to resist, in order to occupy more territory. There must be ulterior motives that I don't need to elaborate on. Your leaders blindly copied this slogan, thinking they had gained an advantage, but in fact, they made a huge mistake with endless troubles. Now the border is unstable, and with this kind of thinking, the disaster of division and fragmentation is just around the corner."

  Qiao Yu glanced at the three young people who had already fallen into shock, knowing that his words had taken effect. Shi Dingzhong, on the other hand, was overjoyed in his heart, having argued with these three brats for two days, even locking them up at home to prevent them from contacting the Tongmenghui, and if he had known that Qiao Yu had this skill, he could have invited him over earlier.

  "Master, you'd better give these young whippersnappers some guidance. Their minds are full of revolutionary nonsense and the old man is at his wit's end!"

  "Shi Shu, everything must be reasonable. Shi Gongzi is not a person who doesn't understand reason. You can't use your father's authority to pressure me, it won't work. In front of the truth, there are no parents and children, only right and wrong. I said the first two sentences earlier, and there are eight more words. What about these eight words? I can only say that they are 'locking the door to make a cart', an idea proposed by American economists, believing that equal land ownership is a human right. Mr. Sun took it over without hesitation, but unfortunately, this idea has been proven unfeasible in the West as well. The methods for implementing equal land ownership are price increase and capital control, aren't I correct?"

  Shi Yi and the other two nodded subconsciously, Qiao Yu smiled: "If it's a price increase, you'll all share the profit. Have you ever thought about what to do if it's a price cut?"

  "How can prices still be dropping after the revolution?"

  Shi Dingzhong's mind was also extremely flexible. Originally, he didn't understand the way Shi Yi and others thought, so he couldn't do anything about these young people. Now that Qiao Yu had reminded him, the old man had also figured it out. "You think this land price won't decrease? Just like now in Chongqing, because many factories are concentrated in the east of the city, the land price in the east has risen rapidly, while the originally high-priced west side has decreased a lot. As for controlling capital, I think the most important thing is to develop capital right now. Mr. Qiao established several factories and changed the entire face of Chongqing. This capital cannot be controlled, but must be vigorously developed. Mr. Qiao was absolutely right, you people are really close-minded and too self-righteous."

  Shi Dingzhong has been in the officialdom for a long time, and after careful consideration, it's clear that the so-called "standard land price" is just a joke. The land price cannot be measured by a unified standard, "I have been in the officialdom for a long time, and since ancient times, it has been difficult to accurately measure the land area, let alone determine the standard land price. Especially in such a large country like China, the use of land is not uniform, and it would take an unimaginable amount of effort to determine it clearly! This is just a castle in the air! After Mr. Qiao's explanation, I finally understand that it's just a slogan pieced together from here and there, a flawed outline. How can you be so infatuated with it?"