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Chapter 6 He is not

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    Chapter 6 He is not

    "Hurd, after hearing so many stories about Hurd, Li Zicheng sighed in his heart. No matter how you say it, Hurd is British. Hurd's control of China's customs is detrimental to China's sovereignty.  //www.//There is no doubt that he himself is a practitioner of unequal treaty relations.  Perhaps on the other hand, Hart, as a guest guest, tried his best to advocate reforms internally to the extent possible and expressed his support for China's position externally many times, which is worthy of recognition.  But the latter point obviously belongs to a secondary level below the major issues of right and wrong.  Because most of these opinions were expressed without damaging the vital interests of the UK.

    Um!  Perhaps using such a sentence to describe comparison, specific historical conditions and specific characters have left an inconclusive legacy to future generations.

    At this time, Chen Lansheng's admiration for Hurd always made Li Zicheng feel a little disgusted, so he said directly.

    "Perhaps it is for personal gain. If I remember correctly, the customs salary is based on performance. Hurd is doing it for his own interests. If China is divided and the unified customs ceases to exist, Hurd's economic interests will  Damaged.¡±

    ¡°Prime Minister, it¡¯s true that Hart is a foreigner, but when we look at problems and people, we have to look at it from all aspects, and we can¡¯t blindly see him as a foreigner!¡±

    Chen Lansheng obviously disagrees with the Prime Minister's statement.

    "Although Hurd cares about his own economic interests, he refused to serve as ambassador to China. His ideal is to turn China into an Asian economic power! Besides, when the powers carve up China, Hurd should be able to fish in troubled waters. In fact, even in Hurd,  After De's death, his successor, the Anglian League, who was also British, did not enrich himself due to the civil strife caused by the outbreak of the Wuchang Uprising. Compared with many Chinese officials at the time, this was a truly commendable quality."

    "If he is so valuable, why should we remove him from his post?"

    Smiling, Li Zicheng elicited his own questions from Chen Lansheng's words. Now is not the time to disturb the General Taxation Department.

    "Because Anglian is not Hurd!"

    Chen Lansheng¡¯s words rang in Li Zicheng¡¯s ears.

    "From a personal moral point of view, Hart is not only greedy for money, but also greedy for power. But at least he still stands on China's standpoint. Putting China's interests first is the correct principle that must be followed! In 5 years, he and the British Minister Wei  Toma made many suggestions to the Qing court on restructuring a powerful country. He once pointed out: "If the policy changes, China can become the leader of various countries; if the policy does not change, it will become the slave of various countries."  "However, it took 30 years for these suggestions to resonate with China's reformists."

    There was a hint of ridicule in the words, but in the mirror of the Qing Dynasty, Hurd was a good official after all; he added.

    "It is precisely because of this that Hurd has become a character whose father and mother do not love him. In my opinion, Hurd is from the UK no matter what. In the eyes of the British at that time, Hurd seemed to be from China.  But this person, in the mirror of the Qing Dynasty, Hurd was a good official after all. Even if Hurd's loyalty to the Qing Dynasty was limited, he was at least dedicated. This is enough. But Anglian  completely different!"

    Looking at the Prime Minister, Chen Lansheng emphasized.

    "When Hurd was about to leave office, he originally planned to ask his wife's uncle Pei Shikai to take over his job. As early as 2000, he carefully set up the position of deputy chief tax officer and let Pei Shikai assume this important position. Seven years ago, Hurd was  When he returned to the UK on sick leave, he petitioned the Qing government to appoint Pei Shikai as acting chief tax officer. However, the British government did not follow Hart's arrangement because Pei Shikai was already over 60 years old and for other considerations. The British government, through the minister to China, informed the Qing government that  In the following year, Anglian was appointed as Deputy Chief Tax Department and took charge of the General Tax Department. Hurd was far away in the UK and was ill and unable to change this appointment. Moreover, Anglian was originally a close confidant of Hurd, so he transferred  Instead, he adopted a supportive attitude, writing to Anglian to congratulate him, and instructing him on how to covertly but resolutely complete the tasks of the General Taxation Department. In fact, Anglian was far from qualified for the position of the General Taxation Department, at least in this regard.  In terms of safeguarding China's interests, he is definitely not suitable for this position. Since Anglian took up the post of General Taxation Department, he has done two "major things"!"

    Two ¡°big things¡±?  Chen Lansheng's words aroused Li Zicheng's curiosity, so he put down his tea cup and listened to the two "big events".

    ¡°Before the Revolution of 1911, although customs taxes had been used as collateral for various debt indemnities, they were still collected and kept by local customs supervisors and their affiliated banks, and were handled in accordance with the instructions of the Ministry of Accounts and Finance of the Qing Dynasty.  After the Wuchang Uprising broke out, most provinces and regions across the country responded quickly and declared uprisings one after another, and the Qing Dynasty was on the verge of destruction. The imperialist countries pretended to be "neutral" on the surface, but secretly colluded with each other, waiting for opportunities to sabotage the revolution. Anglian and the British Minister to China  Zhu Erdianliu was angry and ordered Anglian to revolt against the customs and taxation departments of various provinces under the pretext of maintaining the credibility of debt repayment.If the tax is retained, it will be deposited in HSBC Bank.  Then it forced the Qing government to deposit customs taxes in Northeast China, Tianjin and other places still under its control into HSBC Bank.  After that, the diplomatic missions of the great powers in China, headed by the United Kingdom, took the opportunity to organize the "Joint Committee of Banks of Various Countries", with three banks, HSBC of the United Kingdom, Dehua of Germany, and Dosson of Russia, as directors, and formulated the "Collection Collection Agency of the General Taxation Department"  According to Article 8 of the "Measures for the Payment of Customs Debts", each customs and taxation department remits taxes to the above-mentioned three banks in Shanghai every week, and then the general taxation department will notify the relevant countries on schedule.  At that time, the Qing government was in dire straits internally and externally and was on the verge of collapse. The Qing emperor was about to retire, so he naturally fully accepted this approach.  From then on, the huge amount of customs duties began to be deposited in the British and French banks in Shanghai. In the first year of the Republic of China, the customs duties and taxes were a huge 45 million guan liang, and last year it reached 70 million guan liang. The huge amount of taxes was deposited in foreign banks. It not only strengthens the control of foreign banks over my country's financial industry, but also consolidates the position of the foreign tax department in my country's customs. This is the first "big thing" Anglian has done for my country's customs, and its impact is far-reaching!  "

    At this time, Li Zicheng finally recovered some of the familiar roles played by foreigners in history textbooks - important agents of foreign powers invading China. Although it was only a brief explanation, Li Zicheng explained to the tax chief  Si was filled with disgust. If he couldn't replace this kind of person, why would he replace him?

    "And then, the second "big thing" of the Ange Liaison Office is to control "Guan Yu" and thus intervene in our country's finance. The so-called "Guan Yu" refers to customs taxes deducted from customs administrative funds and embassies and consulates stationed abroad. The remaining balance after funds and tariff guarantees, and most of the tariffs were paid for debt indemnities. Three years ago, the tariffs were not enough to pay debt indemnities. However, before and after the outbreak of the European War, my country's industry developed first and imports surged. , then the silver price rose, my country's foreign trade developed, and tariff revenue also increased accordingly. Last year, there was a surplus of 6 million taels for the first time. By the first half of this year, the customs surplus had reached 10 million taels, and by the end of the year it could reach 23 million taels. Of course, this is related to our country's participation in the war and the suspension of payment of the German and Austrian parts of the Boxer Indemnity. These surpluses should have been freely disposed by the Ministry of Finance, but due to the general tax avoidance control of the tax custody revenue and expenditure rights, under the instruction of the United Kingdom, the request When the government uses Guanyu, it must apply for it, and Anglian can only disburse it with the approval of the mission. And"

    Before Chen Lansheng could finish speaking, Li Zicheng said angrily.

    "Remove him!"

    Originally, Li Zicheng thought that the current customs deformity was a legacy of the Hart era, but he never thought that the customs deformity actually started from Anglian. There is such an "imperialist agent" in control of China's customs.  If you want to achieve tariff independence, it is simply a dream. Such a person is completely different from Hurd. Hurd can be described as sophisticated and smooth. As for Anglian, he only has the interests of the United Kingdom in his eyes, not the interests of China.  If he tries to achieve tariff independence, he may be the first to stand up and oppose it.

    Whether it is due to the need for tariff autonomy, the need to control "customs surplus" to enrich the national treasury, or the need to "control taxes and establish the status of the Bank of China as a central bank", Anglian must be removed from the position of "General Taxation Department"  Pull it up, otherwise he will have to ruin his own big thing. Fortunately, the remedy is urgent now.

    "Replacement must be done. However, Prime Minister, if the State Council wants to unilaterally replace Anglian without a suitable excuse, I'm afraid it will cause trouble! Moreover, although Anglian has never considered China's interests,  However, it has implemented some reforms within the customs and resolved some internal injustices during the Hart era. Without a suitable excuse, I'm afraid"

    Seeing that the Prime Minister supported him, Chen Lansheng was overjoyed and quickly persuaded him.

    "Okay, Lansheng, since you want to take action from the General Taxation Department, I'm afraid you already have an idea. Tell me your idea!"

    Waving his hand, Li Zicheng said bluntly that now he had no time to waste any more. He must pull Anglian out of the position and replace it with a suitable candidate before implementing tariff autonomy.

    "Prime Minister, there are now three departments in the customs - the Department of Taxation, the Department of Maritime Affairs and the Ministry of Works which was just established three years ago. The Department of Maritime Affairs is responsible for surveying coastal and inland waterways, operating lighthouses and lightships, and repairing buoys and beacons.  Maintains the port and maintains law and order there. And the Ministry of Works is responsible for and repairs the houses and properties of the Customs. But the center of the Customs is, of course, the Revenue Department.¡±

    Because the Prime Minister does not know much about the customs, when giving his suggestions, Chen Lansheng naturally introduced the customs to the Prime Minister first.

    "The personnel of the Customs and Taxation Department are divided into three sections: the internal section, the external section and the port affairs section. Each section is divided into two parts: "foreign staff" and "Chinese staff." The internal section of each port is the administrative department of the customs.  Responsible for administration and accounting. It is headed by a Tax Division, who is assisted by a Deputy Tax Division and four levels of assistants, all of whom are assigned, promoted, assigned and transferred by the Chief Tax Division.The Department of Finance only informs the Tax Office of appointments.  "

    Chen Lansheng made the introduction, while Li Zicheng just listened with his ears. His lack of understanding of the customs forced him to listen to the introduction, and then analyze whether his method would work based on his introduction.

    "Hurd has repeated more than once the intention expressed in his 4-year memorandum to the effect that the foreign tax administration "will end when it has produced a local administration that will replace it and be equally honest and efficient."  Its job". However, in fact, during his tenure as the General Taxation Department, no Chinese became even the lowest assistant in the internal shift. He once thought that Tongwengong who had a certain degree of English speaking and writing ability  affairs, may eventually be supplemented as assistants at that level. Among these people are customs school graduates at the customs temporary level, mainly Chinese students from missionary schools, and their Chinese education may not be enough; in short, this is used as a reason to repeatedly  proposed as a flaw that prevented them from achieving higher office. Hurd could also cite the fact that senior officials in Beijing opposed the promotion of these priests, which was not surprising due to their church school backgrounds and their Kinnan origins. The largest number  are Cantonese, followed by Jiangsu, Zhejiang, and Fujian. They are usually hired at large ports through examinations conducted by the tax department. They are selected partly because of their knowledge of several dialects, in addition to their English ability. They are initially  Mainly interpreters or translators, and by the time of Hurd's death, many were doing the same kind of office work as foreign agents. The establishment of the Tax School in 1908 finally provided a group of well-trained graduates from whom  And among the most qualified services, Anglian began to appoint a group of Chinese assistants."

    If the prediction is correct, he must be trying to make some fuss about people. From the moment Chen Lansheng mentioned this "Huayang", Li Zicheng began to think secretly in his heart.

    "Excluding the internal staff who are considered elite, there are only a few Chinese assistants, and the external staff in the tax department include foreigners and 3,352 Chinese. Among the total 490 responsible personnel-the Inspector General, Deputy Inspector General  , they are the administrators, appraisers, inspectors, inspectors, deputy inspectors, inspectors and inspectors in the foreign class. Except for the 14 Chinese inspectors, who inspect the cargo of ships entering and leaving the port, all  They are foreigners. British nationals occupy a dominant position. Among foreigners, there are 454 British people. Among the 57 senior positions of inspector general, deputy inspector general and surveyor, they account for 32, and the remaining 333 nationals  They are weighers, night watchmen, crew members, guards, messengers, office boys, janitors, watchmen and laborers. In the Port Affairs Department, the 40 commanders, clerks, technicians and gunners are also foreigners, 29 of whom are British.  , while employees from 44 countries serve as deck crew, engine room crew and cabin crew. Among the 1,239 people working in the Ministry of Maritime Affairs, only a few Chinese hold "administrative" positions, and these positions are basically prohibited to 7 foreigners. In  In the small Ministry of Public Affairs, 14 of the 33 employees are Chinese. In short, of the 6,159 Chinese employees, compared to the 1,376 foreign employees, only a small number of them hold non-inferior positions. So"

    After reciting these figures completely, Chen Lansheng looked at the Prime Minister and said.

    "At that time, because the Qing government was not familiar with foreign merchants and firms, it entrusted the British consul Li Taitai to establish a customs and collect import duties on foreign goods. Originally, the Qing government planned to send a Chinese to establish the customs, but Wenxiang, the Minister of Household Affairs, said that "Chinese  It was rejected on the grounds that it was necessary to enrich one's own pockets, and this was the beginning of the General Department of Taxation. Hurd also expressed the views of the Foreign Taxation Department in many memoranda in April, 1875, 1898, 1902, and 1908.  It is intended that the foreign tax administration will end its work when it has produced a local administration that will replace it and be equally honest and efficient. Anglian also mentioned in the memorandum after taking office as the Director General of Taxation  And this matter, so, Prime Minister, we have to fight for this personnel right now, especially the internal staff who are regarded as the elite of the port, the current internal staff of customs, or the London Customs Service to supplement the dominant British  Recruited by a group, or recommended directly to the General Taxation Department by several foreign embassies in Beijing. If you want to force Anglian to break up, so that the State Council can justifiably dismiss him, you can only use personnel power as the trigger.  "

    In order to implement this plan, Chen Lansheng repeatedly calculated various possibilities, and finally thought about it. Only this personnel power can cover up all the "ultimate goals".

    ¡°From the end of the Qing Dynasty to the present, our country has studied in the world, and a large number of young people who are proficient in foreign languages ??have studied abroad. They are fully capable of entering the customs and are qualified for customs work. Therefore, the Ministry of Finance plans to make a request to the General Taxation Department to reform the customs.  In order to adapt to the localization development of the customs. It has stopped recruiting foreign personnel. Chinese and foreign employees have equal rights and obligations. Chinese and foreign employees have equal pay for equal work. A Chinese is appointed as the secretary of the General Taxation Department of the Customs. Chinese employees are sent abroad for further study. At the same time, all levels of positions are required to be local  Establish a progress schedule and stipulate a corresponding countdown. After the timetable expires, the foreign employees will be dismissed and replaced by local employees!"Looking at Chen Lansheng, Li Zicheng laughed.

    "I'm afraid Anglian, who is used to being domineering, won't even consider these requests and will reject them outright!"

    "Prime Minister, what we need is for him to refuse. If he accepts, it will take at least five to six years to control tariffs and customs clearance. We don't have that much time, but if he refuses directly, we can justifiably  Of course, the attitude at that time needed to be tougher for his removal from office. Although Anglian was the British choice for the general tax department, if we were tough enough, the UK would eventually agree with our attitude, and then we would do it when the British did not do so.  Before making a choice, first appoint a General Taxation Department! After creating a fait accompli, the British can only accept it!"

    Looking at the Prime Minister, Chen Lansheng said with regret.

    "If the 1998 treaty stipulates that the General Taxation Department must be appointed by a British person, it would be more appropriate to appoint a Chinese General Taxation Department, but"

    "I see!"

    Li Zicheng can certainly understand Chen Lansheng's regret. In fact, he is not limited by this treaty, but also by that treaty. There is even a treaty office under the State Council to remind the State Council which treaties it should consider.

    "The Finance Department will select a suitable candidate and get this matter done for me as soon as possible!"
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