/kloc-At the end of 0/9, a new floodplain (green part) was added at Suzhou Estuary of Huangpu River.

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1In the summer of 895, treaty of shimonoseki was first published, and Zhang Zhidong acted as the governor of Liangjiang. In addition to paying compensation for the Qing government, he was eager to repay another debt. Two years ago, he ordered more than 40,700 spindle spinning machines in Hubei through two foreign firms, Shanghai St. Regis and Dias, and prepared to open Wuchang South Cotton Mill. After the South Cotton Mill failed to attract investment, the yarn machine was stored in Shanghai. Except for more than 20 thousand taels of silver in advance, the payment for yarn buying machines is prepaid by foreign companies. At this time, due to interest, exchange rate rise and other factors, the arrears of this yarn machine have reached more than 600 thousand yuan, and are still growing.

In August, Zhang Zhidong sent Ye Dazhuang to Shanghai to start donating cigarettes, trying to open up financial resources from the opium trade, with little effect. It coincides with the soaring land price in Shanghai, and cases of fraudulent loans and beach sales have occurred from time to time. In a case in June+10, 5438, three local insurance companies jointly promoted 50 mu of beach land in Xinzha under a pseudonym, and prepared to sell it to a foreign firm for 32,000 taels of silver. Unexpectedly, those beaches are all their own, and things are exposed. Inspired by these cases, Zhang Zhidong called Shanghai Daotai Huangzu.com on February 3, 65438:

It is said that hundreds of acres of land in the new concession have not been upgraded and have been resold sporadically. If this really happens, local insurance is really bold and hateful, and it should be thoroughly investigated immediately. It is said that there are still many places that have not been promoted to the department, so the governor, together with Shanghai County and Ye Cheng, actually found out and confiscated them at different prices. If you ask for a promotion later, you must be severely reprimanded and don't let me get mixed up.

The focus of this telegram is not to investigate the false promotion, but to order all beaches that have not been promoted to stop the promotion and "confiscate the difference". Obviously, Zhang Zhidong found a new source of income in the beach.

The so-called "promotion" refers to the extension of ownerless wasteland to tax fields. Through promotion, the state gets the land tax and farmers get the certificate of land ownership. At the time of promotion, farmers will pay the government a fee, that is, it will be promoted to sub-branches, which is generally lower than the land price at that time. 1882, Shanghai county concentrated on a beach cleaning promotion. At that time, the price of silver in Ke Sheng was 6 Liang per mu, while the average land price reflected by the title deed in Shanghai Road was about 0/30 Liang per mu. When Shanghai beach publicizes, it habitually follows the example of "mother and son are born together". Xintan is equivalent to the extension of adjacent land, and only the owners of adjacent land are eligible to apply for promotion.

The policy of reclaiming farmland to promote learning was the national policy of the Qing government to encourage reclamation, and the change of the policy of promoting learning was always approved by the governor in the past. In the eighth year of Daoguang (1828), the governor of Jiangsu, Tao Shu, allowed the Qing court to prohibit Jiangsu from promoting science and technology in the beach in order to quell the conflict among the people. However, this policy was abolished by Yiliang, the governor of Liangjiang, as early as the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom uprising. Zhang Zhidong temporarily replaced the governor of Liangjiang, but he blocked the promotion of Shanghai without saying a word, and his style was rather overbearing. Shanghai Daotai Huangzu. com listened to Zhang Zhidong's words and did it immediately after receiving the call. On February 8, 65438, Shen Bao announced that Zhang Zhidong entrusted Ye Dazhuang to open a promotion bureau in Shanghai.

Zhangzhidong statue

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Ye Dazhuang, a native of Min County, Fujian Province, 1873, is a famous poet. He made friends with Huang Zunxian, Wang and others. At this point, he is known as a backup as Zhang Zhidong's staff. 1February, 896, Liu Kunyi returned to the Governor of Liangjiang and Zhang Zhidong returned to the Governor of Huguang from Jiangning. Before the trip, he arranged for Ye Dazhuang to be the acting coastal defense expert of Songjiang Prefecture, and let him continue to handle the task of cleaning up the beach in the promotion bureau. However, it is not easy for Ye Dazhuang to take care of difficult things for Zhang Zhidong with a small official in Shanghai.

On March 28th, Ye Dazhuang and the Shanghai Magistrate issued a notice, saying that the clean-up was ordered by Zhang Zhidong, the senior minister of Nanyang Department, with the purpose of cleaning up the newly-added beaches in Baoshan County, Shanghai, "verifying the price changes in time and collecting the required" to prevent illegal occupation and sale. Moreover, cleaning the beach specifically refers to "the official land without food for a long time", that is, there is no tax for a long time.

After Zhang Zhidong returned to Wuchang, he raised 302,000 yuan by selling salt tickets from Hunan and Hubei, and paid off some debts. On April 16, Ye Dazhuang told Zhang Zhidong that about 1000 mu of beach land had been cleared, including 300 mu in Baoshan and 700 mu in Shanghai. At that time, the beach confiscated by Baoshan was at least about 100 Liang per mu, while the land price of Mudu in Pudong, Shanghai has risen to 1250 Liang per mu. Judging from the progress at that time, it seems possible to raise the remaining 300,000 or so yarn machine debts by selling land. But it didn't last long. In August, Ye Dazhuang was dismissed by Liu Kunyi. Soon, he was removed from his post as an agent of Haiphong Tongzhi. 165438+ 10, Jiangsu Chief Secretary appointed him as a well-known agent in Pizhou.

For Ye Dazhuang's departure, the Chinese and foreign media in Shanghai speculated that it was related to the land sales account. According to the "Shen Bao" reported on August 30th, Ye Dazhuang had remitted 654.38+ 2 million yuan to Liu Kunyi, but what he got was Liu Kunyi's reply full of doubts: "It is reported that this beach was cleared about 800 mu before, and this time, according to Yin Xie's 10.2 million, is this official land sold together? ..... Shanghai's land price is expensive, from five or six hundred to four or five thousand per mu, and the value must be determined. " Visible Ye Dazhuang did not report in detail the accounts and dynamics of cleaning up the beach, which provoked Liu Kunyi to be suspicious and always felt that he was hiding something. Zhang Zhidong's person, Liu Kunyi, was uncomfortable to use and was eventually replaced.

After Ye Dazhuang left his post, the Promotion Bureau was once presided over by Cao Quansheng, a customs officer from Jianghai. Cao went to Pudong twice to inspect the beach, and it felt like he was robbing something. I also saw that a beach was handed down by the poor people along the Pujiang River, and it would be confiscated because it was not promoted. I felt sad and unreasonable, so I resigned.

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1896 65438+ In February, he was appointed by Liu Kunyi to take over the Qingzhang Bureau. Xu Shizi Xuan Lang, a native of Hangzhou, is the grandson of Jiangsu Governor Xu Naizhao. Born in imperial academy with a diploma, he entered the military camp in Xianfeng years. He was commended for taking part in the conquest of Qingpu and Shanghai by the Knife Association. 1896 At the age of 69, he was the general manager of Qingzhang Bureau and the alternate magistrate of Jiangsu.

Xu cleaned the beach and went door to door. As long as the owner can't provide the exercise list, or the measured area exceeds the list, whether it is taking beach or grain, it will be confiscated. For example, according to "Shen Bao1September 6, 897", it was reported that when the house was cleared on the 25th and 50th maps, it was investigated whether all the land on the map held the square list, a map was drawn, and all the land without the square list was marked in red and confiscated. There are many cases of Shanghai residents losing or mortgaging their bills. Xu Shi directly confiscated their land beyond his authority, which was very fierce. For another example, there are 169 poor families living densely on the 36-mu beach in Yangjiadu, Pudong. Because of this disaster, Liu Yi, the former Shanghai magistrate, exempted them from money and food, and confiscated their land and sold it to Japanese businessmen, leaving hundreds of people homeless. According to the Records of Shanghai County in the Republic of China, there are at least 3,000 mu of land in Bao Xu's book circle.

When cleaning up the land of Yuyuan Cotton Mill, in order to force the factory to pay the land price difference, it is allowed to apply for the use of government power to detain the salt tickets of the shareholders of Yuyuan Cotton Mill. I didn't expect Li Hongzhang to support Yuyuan Garden Factory. He wrote to Liu Kunyi in May 1898:

According to the introduction of Shanghai Yuyuan Yarn Factory, the foundation of the factory is 79 mu and 4 cents. According to the calculation of Xu Shoubao of the Promotion Bureau, there are 8 1 mu with 20 cents, and only one mu is zero, which means there are as many as 22 mu. You have to pay 752 yuan more per mu, totaling 1 10,000 yuan. Please apply to the shareholder Zhu Ruiyuan Huai 'an Salt Ticket for operation, and hurry to tie up the factory. ..... When Chinese businessmen are tired and foreign businessmen are vying for profits, it seems that they are helping others out and hindering the overall business situation. Xu Shouren is clever, but his calculation is too mean. My brother also knows that he has been looking for a promotion bureau for several years and has a very bad reputation. According to the detailed information of the factory, my brother is the person who initiated the treatment and should represent him truthfully.

Li Hongzhang not only accused Xu of fabricating the data of clearing Zhang and extorting money, but also accused him of undermining the Westernization Movement aimed at "saving rights" from a political perspective. Li Hongzhang's accusation certainly carries weight. 1At the beginning of October,1898 10, the Chief Secretary of Jiangsu announced that he would act as the agent of Huai 'an magistrate.

Xu worked hard to clear Zhang's land, obviously not only to repay Zhang Zhidong, but also to repay his land wealth. Xu's actions need the support of many parties, and his income also benefits many parties. Not only bureaucrats from Liu Kunyi to Xu, but also officials, magistrates, brokers and other roles attended this feast.

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The search for Shanghai's land wealth by the Qingzhang Bureau has aroused protests from local people in Shanghai. The voice of protest first came from the newspapers in Shanghai. News 1898 September18' s editorial "On the Terror of Confiscation at Rising Beach" reveals the way to make a profit by selling confiscated land, that is, selling the confiscated land to one's own people at a low price first, and then selling it by the latter at a higher price. In fact, Xu's younger brother Xu was a famous land seller in Shanghai at that time.

The local gentry in Shanghai have been afraid to express their opinions on the beach cleaning operation, and Xu's departure made them feel that their support behind them began to loosen. In order to prevent the successors from further searching, on July 26th, 1899, 15, Yang De and other local gentlemen in Shanghai jointly wrote to the Shanghai Daotai, Songjiang Magistrate, Shanghai County Magistrate and other dignitaries, demanding that "anyone who has finished the grain industry and has a stamp string as evidence shall be exempted from confiscation". Such a request is very humble. However, Shanghai Daotai said in his reply that the promotion bureau was decided by the governor of Liangjiang and he had no right to decide for him.

15 Shanghai gentlemen used to be stubborn. On September 14, they submitted an application again, asking Shanghai County to reissue the practice certificate for the fields with grain (with tax records) but no practice certificate to avoid confiscation. On September 23, Shanghai Daotai instructed that the Governor of Liangjiang had been consulted. "Every acre along the Yangtze River has its own owner and ownership to accommodate public opinion." Although this instruction made a concession to Mr. Shanghai's request, it avoided the words with clear meanings such as "grain without food" and "single without bill" and replaced them with "ownerless property" with unclear meanings, thus leaving room for the next rent-seeking.

Xun and other 65,438+05 joint sponsors are all gentlemen who have a certain position in the bureaucratic system and have left their homes. For example, Xun and Li Zengke are both Jinshi and county magistrate, Yao and Ge are both juren, and Zhang Huanlun is a tribute student and candidate. The rank of gentlemen in these places is relatively low. In Shanghai, where there are many high-ranking officials, the influence is limited and the beach cleaning operation cannot be stopped in time. As the representatives of public opinion in Shanghai, their opinions got timely feedback, but the result can only be said to be unsatisfactory.

In addition to newspaper comments and gentlemen's petitions, there is a third channel for protests in Shanghai, that is, impeachment of censors. On October 8th, 65438/kloc-0, Shen Bao published an imperial edict accusing Xu of "confiscating farmland" by clearing beaches, and the whereabouts of the proceeds were unknown. Yu Ming Song Chengyao was born in Huating, Songjiang. One of his friends was writing in Shenbao, and Shenbao got the manuscript.

After receiving the memorial, the imperial court asked Liu Kunyi, governor of Liangjiang, and others to find out the documents. 190065438+1October 16, Liu Kunyi repeated that the arrears of the yarn machine finally increased to nearly 882,000 yuan, and the income from beach price changes was less than 252,000 yuan. Zhang Zhidong provided about 352,000 yuan, and the insufficient part was made up by him from other channels. Obviously, cleaning the beach is to clean up the mess for Zhang Zhidong. As for Xu, Liu Kunyi only claimed a small mistake on his behalf, saying that there was a piece of land belonging to "two owners each holding a string", that is, the practicing license and the tax payment certificate were held by two owners respectively, and the clerk sent by Xu mistakenly confiscated the land, which may be the negligence of the person in charge. This matter involves two important ministers, Zhang Zhidong and Liu Kunyi. The Qing court didn't want to delve into it, and finally gave Xu the lightest punishment "to the Ministry for trial".

Liu Kunyi tried to defend Xu. On the surface, he didn't make any concessions, but in fact, he was restrained. Because of Song Chengyao's performance, the clearing operation came to a standstill, and the follow-up work of the clearing bureau mainly continued to sell the confiscated land until 1908 was merged into the bureau. However, after this war, the road to promotion in Shanghai Beach was completely blocked.

Zhang Zhidong bought more than 40,700 ingots at 1893, and spent a lot of money because of poor planning and lack of financial resources. Fortunately, these yarn machines were later priced at 500,000 official documents, which were claimed by Zhang Jian's Sheng Da yarn factory in batches, and finally made the best use of them, making contributions to the development of modern national enterprises.

The new policy of tidal flat land indicates that the state has begun to intervene in the development, utilization and sale of urban land in a more direct way, and actively draw financial resources from the wealth accumulation of urban land. This beach clearing movement objectively accelerated the urbanization of Shanghai land and promoted the collapse of the beach promotion system in the agricultural era. At the same time, the climax of Shanghai Dodge's application for World Heritage has appeared, which is not unrelated to this.

This beach cleaning movement promoted the awakening of Shanghai's local autonomy consciousness. Shanghainese have been worried that Shanghai's land wealth will be plundered, and Yao's "Continued Records of Shanghai County in the Republic of China" is deeply dissatisfied with this. In the Shanghai autonomy movement in the late Qing Dynasty, the principals have been trying to convert the beach income into urban autonomy funds.

Proofreading: Xu Yijia