Chapter 52

  The Qing officials were all old foxes, and when they encountered anything, they would not immediately express their opinions. Chen Ke proposed that He Ruming take charge of the beehive coal manufacturing project. He Ruming's direct reaction was not to think about getting rich, but to consider whether Chen Ke's move was a trap. As the saying goes, "No one offers kindness without ulterior motives." Chen Ke had no reason to give himself such wealth and honor for nothing. But Chen Ke's candid expression and encouraging words actually made He Ruming vigilant.

  "There's no need for you to rush." He Ming's face immediately showed that special kind of bureaucratic smile.

  Chen Ke saw the look on his face and knew that He Ruming would not easily let go. He could understand this mentality, so he also smiled and said: "This is indeed my fault. Please forgive me, Lord He."

  "Did Wen Qing come to Beijing this time just for the beehive coal matter?"

  "Following Shuren's order, I went to Beijing to pay respects to several of my seniors."

  Upon hearing this, He Ruoming's eyes lit up, "May I ask, what can I help you with?"

  In the officialdom, what is needed is all kinds of relationships. He Ruoming also just arrived in Beijing to take office, if he can help Chen Ke, he can also take advantage of it and get some new connections. This kind of effortless benefit, he will not let go easily.

  "Mr. Yan asked me to first go visit Mr. Gu Hongming at Beijing University."

  "Haha, Wen Qing wrote so many thick books, it should be extremely well-written, no need to think, Mr. Gu is definitely fond of them." He Ruoming mentioned Chen Ke's works for the first time, "Wen Qing's book, I actually haven't had a chance to read yet. After receiving Mr. Yan's letter, I was busy preparing to come to Beijing to take office, and it was extremely hectic."

  "What position does Mr. He hold in the current government?"

  "I'm just a fifth-rank official in the Ministry of Rites. Not worth mentioning. By the way, I heard that Wen Qing and our housekeeper had some unpleasantness, don't know what's going on."

  "It's all a misunderstanding, nothing out of the ordinary. Lord He needn't take it to heart."

  "The Wenqing is ready when will go visit Mr. Gu Hongming."

  "I'm going this afternoon."

  "Can I send someone to drive him over?"

  "Thank you, Mr. He, I'll walk over."

  "Why is this?"

  "Every time I arrive at a place, I always go on foot, and it's also a way to take in the local customs and people of Beijing."

  "Listening to your accent, aren't you a Beijinger?"

  "How is it possible? I've never been to Beijing."

  "I've been to Beijing before, and it's changed a lot in the past year or two," said He Ruming with a smile. Then he started talking about his anecdotes.

  Beijing city, due to the fact that many roads are unpaved, has accumulated a thick layer of dust and sand over the years. "When the weather is fine, the sand is deep and the dust is fine, when it rains, the road is filled with muddy water and foul smells rise into the air." These dusts and sands come from three sources: firstly, the erosion of the roads themselves; secondly, the indiscriminate dumping of garbage by residents; thirdly, the severe sandstorms that occur "several times a month or several tens of times a month, or even every day", "every time the wind blows, the dust and sand fill the air, blocking out the sun". Every year, Beijing city is blanketed with an unknown quantity of yellow dust and sand.

  Then, the middle of those transportation routes were originally elevated roads. Every time an emperor came out, yellow earth had to be laid on the elevated road once, and over a long period of time, the elevated road gradually became higher than the ground surface. Xia Rentiger said in "Old Beijing Miscellaneous Notes": "Before the streets of Beijing were repaired, there was an elevated road in the middle of each thoroughfare, which was less than two zhang wide and three or four chi high. When it rained, the mud was slippery, and carts often overturned, making it very dangerous. I asked old villagers about this, and they said that these were originally elevated roads for imperial carriages, which had to be covered with yellow earth every time an emperor passed by. At first, they were level with the ground, but over time, residents' ash also accumulated there, becoming more and more severe until they became high ridges."

  The road was higher than the ground, and there were also factors such as "the residents' stove ash accumulated evenly". It turned out that in those years, Beijing's households would dump the garbage swept from their courtyards onto the roads outside their doors. As a result, "ashes, broken ceramics, and tile fragments piled up like mountains", causing not only the main roads to be three or four feet higher than the ground, but also the streets in front of residential gates to be more than ten feet higher than the houses, with people having to descend step by step, as if falling into a pit.

  It can be imagined what degree the street environment of Beijing city had reached in the late Qing Dynasty!

  At that time, the bad habit of urinating anywhere was prevalent in the capital. According to the "Yan Jing Za Ji" records: Since Jiaqing, Beijing has had paid public toilets, and "those who enter must pay one coin". However, people still openly urinated on the streets, and residents poured toilet waste onto the streets, adding to the cow dung and horse urine from passing carts, causing some streets to be "filled with feces and urine", and the alleys were filled with a foul smell. The famous Tongrentang pharmacy at Dashilan was bustling with business every day, but its entrance became a place where people would gather to urinate. The famous Changdian area had people urinating freely behind the large screen wall opposite the Lv Zu Ci temple. Due to the filthy state of some streets in Beijing, there was a popular "medical recipe" circulating at the time: "Human urine yellow, human urine white, cow urine, horse urine, and ash soil, each mixed equally, with rainwater or snowmelt added, dried in the sun, ground into fine powder by cart wheels, and blown into the nostrils by northwest winds, will naturally eliminate one's desire for fame and wealth." Although the satire was very biting, it vividly reflected the street environment and urban sanitation of Beijing at that time.

  At that time, Beijing's streets were not only in poor condition, but also chaotic. On the main roads within the city, not only were the roads high above the ground and narrow, but there were also many stalls selling goods on both sides, with cars, horses, and pedestrians all crowding onto the road. Once a traffic jam occurred, it was often impossible to move for half a day. In addition, "in the scorching summer, there is the thrill of racing hot cars, with wealthy young masters speeding for joy", "those who fail to avoid them are instantly killed on the spot".

  Inside the city, alleys and lanes were also in disarray. "Carters are used to being arrogant, they think yielding is shameful", so they quarreled and cursed each other, blocking the way for a long time, pedestrians and carts could not move at all.

  The above situation changed significantly after the Qing government implemented the "New Deal" at the end of the dynasty, and modern road administration factors emerged.

  First, to change the situation of "the road is not managed", "the street management office" and "only in name", the inner and outer city gongxun bureaus were established, responsible for street management and inspection affairs. In 1905, the inner city road construction east and west bureaus and the outer city road construction east and west bureaus were established, specifically responsible for the repair of streets and roads in Beijing. From 1904 onwards, more than a dozen stone-gravel roads were repaired, especially in 1909 when Cixi's funeral procession was held, the road in the Haiwang area was paved with crushed stones, then filled with lime water, and finally flattened with a steam roller. At that time, this method of paving was called "sawing work". This kind of road surface is flat and solid, and received unanimous praise from all over the country.

  Chen Ke arrived in Beijing, it was already October 1905. The stone road surface that had been under construction since 1904 had made significant progress, especially the main roads were almost completed. The city's appearance had improved a lot. And the biggest improvement was the establishment of the modern police system. He Ruoming was transferred from Tianjin, he highly praised Yuan Shikai for his achievements in building the modern police system. In his words, he flattered Yuan Shikai like a flower.

  The establishment of the police institution in the late Qing dynasty was a result of the innovation and transformation of China's traditional political structure. Its emergence indicated that the old system of Baojia and capture-fast had become difficult to adapt to the needs of social development, "Nowadays, in various provinces of China, there are many rogue people in the markets, some called Qingpi, some called Guanggun... These people do not farm but eat, do not weave but wear clothes, idle and lazy, without a fixed industry, using their deceitful tricks to cheat and deceive, roaming around the markets... All because there is no patrol in the cities and countryside to suppress them... It is precisely because of the old-fashioned security system's accumulated ills that the establishment of the police system has become an inevitable trend. "It is heard that General Yuan Shikai recently recruited four battalions of police to suppress local areas near various states and counties, and also handled civil cases."

  Since the establishment of the police system, its unique superiority has been demonstrated. "Yuan Gongbao selected a group of patrolmen to patrol day and night in the city, cleaning streets, interrogating thieves, changing shifts at night, being especially cautious, making villains hide their tracks, and citizens praising them, with the wind not closing doors at night." "The five ports are mixed together, the most difficult to clean up. Since the establishment of the patrol police four years ago, we have achieved the current situation. Although it is not a matter of picking up lost items on the road or closing doors at night, thieves have hidden their tracks in the alleys, and how can we know the effectiveness of the patrol police?" Not only Chinese people praised it, but also foreign newspapers evaluated: "After Tianjin was returned, the patrol police were more organized, the roads were cleaner, and it was beyond expectations. If all parts of China are like this, what's wrong with becoming a strong country in the world?"

  To be fair, Yuan Shikai did play a significant role in the establishment of the police system and achieved remarkable results. Beijing also gradually introduced the police system from 1904 onwards. Chen Ke saw police officers maintaining social order on the streets this time. However, Chen Ke wouldn't pay much attention to such things naturally. No matter how these police officers were, compared to the police systems Chen Ke had seen in the 21st century, they were just child's play.

  He Ruoming said some words of praise for himself, and saw that Chen Ke was just concentrating on listening, without any emotional expression. He felt that Chen Ke was indeed somewhat ignorant of the heights and depths of the world. His facial expression became somewhat displeased.

  Chen Ke saw through it and hastily said: "Lord He, I have been overseas for a long time and returned to China not long ago. I really don't know anything about domestic affairs, thank you Lord He for teaching me."

  After hearing this, He Ruoming didn't say anything else. He smiled lightly and said, "I see." Then he picked up his teacup, "You two, have some tea."

  The host knew the etiquette of serving tea to send off guests, so he stood up and bid farewell. The butler escorted the two men to the gate, watching as they returned to the courtyard across the way. The butler felt a sense of surprise - originally it was just a routine courtesy meeting, yet the two men had ended up having such an in-depth conversation with his master. Not until the opposite gate closed did the butler look back at the gate several times before turning around and returning to his own courtyard.

  "Wen Qing, why didn't you mention the beehive coal matter first?" Chen Tianhua asked with some dissatisfaction as soon as he returned to the house.

  "This wasn't something I had planned for a long time, but rather something that suddenly came to mind." Chen Ke replied.

  "Why?" Chen Tianhua was somewhat puzzled.

  "I want to develop our party members in Beijing, it's better to find the Yangwu faction than others. Without a gift for meeting, it's extremely difficult to get to know the Yangwu faction. This honeycomb coal is my gift for meeting."

  "If the beehive coal can be made, those foreign affairs faction would probably refuse to make revolution." Chen Tianhua replied with a slight frown.

  Chen Ke looked at Chen Tianhua seriously, "Tianhua, trust me. If the Westernization Group doesn't take over the coal mine, they won't revolt. But if the coal mine really gets going, they will actually revolt."

  Seeing Chen Tianhua's puzzled expression, Chen Ke took out paper and pen, "I'll give you a detailed explanation of this matter."

  When Chen Ke and Chen Tianhua were discussing future development, He Ruming had already called the housekeeper to his side and asked him to explain how he knew Chen Ke.

  Looking at the master's very serious expression, the butler didn't dare to hide it, and told about meeting in Tianjin, Chen Ke being very rude and laughing, then coincidentally meeting in Beijing, seeing these two guys' arrogant appearance, the butler couldn't help but let the coachman whip Chen Ke. The whole story was recounted once.

  The butler was worried that the master would scold himself for this. Unexpectedly, after listening to it, He Ruming repeatedly confirmed whether he had seen Chen Ke before. The butler thought back and forth, and only then did he say: "Before meeting at Tianjin Che Ma Xing, I really hadn't seen these two people."

  "Listen to their accents, where are they from?" He Ruoming asked.

  "This... Chen Ke, I really can't tell where he's from. His words are neither Beijing dialect nor Tianjin dialect. But I've never heard this accent before." The housekeeper said with difficulty, "It's that Chen Xingtai who should be a Hunanese, no mistake."

  He Ruoming thought back to today's meeting, and there was nothing else. It was just that Chen Ke's suggestion to make honeycomb coal was beyond He Ruoming's expectations. Chen Ke could cooperate with the British, and it seemed he wasn't incompetent either. Not to mention that he had been recommended by Yan Fu. Listening to Chen Ke talk about the benefits of honeycomb coal, it was quite tempting. However, He Ruoming had worked at the Tianjin Machinery Bureau for over a decade and deeply understood the efficiency of the imperial court. If it were up to the imperial court to do this, just persuading those high-ranking officials would take several years. And when it came to getting the money to start the project, who knew how long that would take? Moreover, the people in charge of the funds would embezzle... Thinking about this, He Ruoming felt a bit of a headache.

  He Ruoming hesitated and didn't speak, so the housekeeper asked: "Do you want me to go and find out their background?"

  He Ruoming shook his head slightly, "The name card clearly states that he is cooperating with the British in Shanghai. But this person is obviously a northerner. How did he end up in Shanghai? There must be more to this story." He Ruoming thought for a moment, "Investigate carefully."

  The housekeeper was about to leave when He Ruming called out to him, "By the way, where did you put the book that Mr. Yan Fu sent last time? Move it to the study room for me."

  Upon hearing this, the steward was taken aback for a moment. "Master, the young misses are currently reading that set of books."

  "Huh? How did they think of reading this kind of book."

  "Fourth Miss saw that it was a book sent by Mr. Yan Fu, and you didn't read it, so she took it first. Later, the miss also looked at it."

  "Alright, you can go now." He Ming sent the butler away and headed towards the backyard. He didn't enter the main house, but instead went to the side house. As soon as he entered, he saw two young girls sitting at a table, who were the same two girls Chen Ke had met before. There was a stack of books on the table. The older one was listlessly flipping through them. The younger one was busy embroidering with a needle and thread. Seeing He Ming enter, the younger one quickly stood up, "Father, you're back. Has that guest left?"

  "She's gone." He Ruoming saw his daughter and immediately had a smile on his face.

  "He's gone, so I can play the piano now."

  He Ruoming's daughter is named He Ying, who is the eldest daughter and has two younger brothers.

  "It's almost time for lunch, what are you playing the piano for? Your younger brothers are still here." Although he refused his daughter's request, the affectionate feeling towards his daughter in He Ruming's tone could not be concealed.

  "But Auntie played it yesterday." He Ying felt it was unfair, and her tone was somewhat resentful. The aunt she referred to was He Qian beside her. He Qian was the fourth younger sister of He Ruoming, the youngest in the family. After He Ruoming's parents passed away, she lived with her elder brother He Ruoming.

  Watching his daughter pouting, He Ruoming also couldn't help but say, "You're getting married soon, hurry up and finish the embroidery. Otherwise, if your mother scolds you, I won't intervene."

  He Ying sat back on the stool, lowered her head and picked up the embroidery, but refused to continue working. Seeing his daughter like this, He Ruoming also felt it was not appropriate, he said in a low voice: "This afternoon your mother went out, she will come back before you can play the piano, but today's embroidery you have to finish."

  As soon as He Ruo Ming finished speaking, a hint of spirit appeared on He Ying's face. "Thank you, Father." After saying that, she quickly picked up the needle and continued embroidering flowers.

  After finishing talking about his daughter's affairs, He Qian put down the book and asked: "Big brother, what instructions do you have for me?"

  "I want to take a look at this book. You lend it to me first."

  "Big brother, how did you think of reading books about the Revolutionary Party?" He Qian smiled and said.

  "What?" He Ruoming was shocked when he heard this.

  "Is this the rebel's book? Don't you know, big brother?"

  Yan Fu is actually entangled with the reactionaries? He Ming cannot believe this fact. However, in these years, whether it's Kang Youwei's monarchist party that hopes for Guangxu's restoration or those who shout for constitutionalism, they can all be classified as reactionaries. They are all opposed to the current ruler, Empress Dowager Cixi. Since the Boxer Rebellion, when Empress Dowager Cixi declared war on foreign countries, the imperial court has been in a precarious situation. He Ming's political views are quite conservative; although he is part of the洋务派 (a faction that advocates for Westernization), he leans towards the后党 (the "later party", which refers to those who support Empress Dowager Cixi). In his view, whether it's the emperor's party or the constitutionalists who "play new politics" or the more radical revolutionaries, they are all a bunch of useless people who can't accomplish anything but cause trouble. In comparison, although Empress Dowager Cixi has made many mistakes, she is still mature in terms of politics.

  He Ming's expression turned serious, and He Qian smiled: "Big brother, this writer is quite clever. Those people in the imperial court would never suspect that he is a rebel. I'm afraid they will even take him as an example to follow."

  Looking at He Qian's manner of pointing out the politics, He Ruming only felt a great deal of regret. He Qian was more like He Ruming's father, clever and wise. Among the three brothers, only this sister was favored by their grandfather when he was alive, and she was not raised as a girl at all. Whatever He Qian wanted to learn, her grandfather would teach her. After reading books, He Qian's judgment on the court had never gone wrong. He Ruming firmly believed that if He Qian were a man, the two brothers would join forces, and his achievements would be much higher than they are now.

  "How's the book written?" He Ruoming didn't doubt his sister's taste.

  "Excellent. After reading it, many things became clear." As she said this, He Qian suddenly asked: "I wonder what relationship the author has with today's guest?"

  Facing his clever sister, He Ruming didn't want to hide anything either. "The person who came today is the author of this book."

  He Ruming also wanted to hear his sister's opinion, most importantly, He Ruming didn't really want to read through the dozen or so thick books, since He Qian had already read them, it would be very convenient for her to tell him about the content of the book.

  The 52nd