The Qing government implemented a series of political, economic, cultural, and military measures in the ten years after the Boxer Rebellion. It was customary at the time to call it the "New Deal." Its historical background is: after the Boxer Rebellion, the imperialist powers adopted the strategy of supporting the Qing government and "administering China with China", demanding that the Qing government change its incompetent state; the Qing government also attempted to gain support from the great powers in this way. The Qing government felt that it was facing a crisis of governance and needed to strengthen its governance capabilities. After the signing of the Treaty of Xinchou, people across the country became increasingly dissatisfied and resisted the Qing government, and the Qing government needed to take countermeasures. Among the ruling groups of the Qing Dynasty, the die-hards lost power after the Boxer Rebellion, and the Westernizers gained the upper hand.

On January 29, 1901 (the tenth day of December in the twenty-sixth year of the reign of Emperor Guangxu), the Qing government issued an edict, ordering the governors of all provinces and government officials to discuss the report, "In terms of the state affairs, the administration of officials, and the management of people's livelihood, Schools, imperial examinations, military system, and finance should be promoted, reformed, and provinces should be merged. How will the country begin to prosper, how will the talents begin to prosper, how will the expenditure begin to be prosperous, and how will the military preparations begin to improve." In the notes, newspapers, and journals of the time. In the memorials, this move by the Qing court was usually called the "New Deal." On April 21 of the same year, the Supervisory Government Affairs Office was established as a specialized agency for the central government of the Qing Dynasty to promote the "New Deal". After that, various charters and orders were promulgated one after another to implement the "New Deal" until the Qing government fell.

Compiling and training the "New Army" The New Army is relative to the old army of the Qing Dynasty. It is organized according to the Western battalion system, trained with foreign drills, and uses foreign guns and cannons. It requires soldiers to have a certain degree of culture, and its officers are graduates of modern military schools at home and abroad.

In the winter of 1894, the Qing government ordered Hu Fen to organize and train the "Dingwu Army" in Machang, Zhili (now Hebei). The following year, he was transferred to Xiaozhan for training. Then Yuan Shikai took over and it was renamed the "New Army" with about 7,000 people. At the same time, there was the "Self-Strengthening Army" organized and trained by Zhang Zhidong in Hubei. After 1901, "military training" became the main content of the "New Deal" in the late Qing Dynasty. At that time, an order was issued to stop the martial arts examination. Order each province to prepare for the establishment of armament schools, eliminate old armies, and train "standing armies." In 1903, the central government of the Qing Dynasty set up a military training office. Prince Ren Qing and Prime Minister Yi Kuang were responsible for military training affairs. Yuan Shikai was the Minister of Military Training, and Tie Liangxiang also handled the military training affairs. Each province set up a training office to train the leaders of the "New Army" for the central and local governments. mechanism. In 1904, Yuan Shikai, Minister of Beiyang and Governor-General of Zhili Province, formed the three towns of the "Beiyang Standing Army", which became the basis for future Beiyang warlords. In June 1905, the Qing government renamed the "Standing Army" to the "Army", unified the national designation, and the "Beiyang Army" was trained into six towns. In November 1906, the Qing government changed the Ministry of War into the Ministry of War, merged the Army Training Department, and commanded the country "New Army" and transferred the command of four of the six towns in Beiyang to the Army Ministry. In August 1907, the Ministry of War approved the "Measures for the National Army's Thirty-six Towns to be Allocation and Time Limitation According to Provincial Distribution" and ordered each province to speed up the formation and training. By the fall of the Qing Dynasty, there were actually 14 towns, 18 mixed associations, 4 standard towns, and one town of the Imperial Guard, with an army of about 160,000 people.

Raising wages After the "Xinchou Treaty", the Qing government's fiscal revenue and expenditure became increasingly serious. Therefore, "raising wages" and "training troops" were both core tasks of the "New Deal". Content includes: increasing taxes, such as stamp duty, housing tax, shop tax, etc. They can be added arbitrarily in various places with many names. Increase tax rates, such as increasing the price of salt, adding 30% to the price of tea, sugar, cigarettes, and wine, etc. Officials at all levels also increased their incomes at will. The inventory and "bad regulations" in various places were returned to the central government of the Qing Dynasty. Allow local officials to raise their own taxes.

Abolition of imperial examinations, establishment of schools, and scholarships for study tours. On September 14, 1901, he ordered that all provincial academies be converted into middle schools, emphasizing that "the teachings should be based on the Four Books and Five Classics, the Compendium, and the Great Principles." Lord”. In 1902, the "Imperial School Charter" was promulgated, and in 1904, the "Revised School Charter" was promulgated, stipulating the charter and management system of schools at all levels. On September 2, 1905, it was ordered that all imperial examinations would be suspended starting next year, ending China's imperial examination system (see imperial examination system) that had lasted for more than a thousand years. On December 6, the academic department was established under the central government. According to official records at the time, there were 24,696 schools nationwide in 1910, with more than 1.3 million students. Initially established, including universities, middle schools, primary schools, and kindergartens, there were schools at all levels, including liberal arts, law, and science. , modern education system in various disciplines such as industry, agriculture, medicine, military and patrol police. In addition, on September 11, 1901, all provinces were ordered to select overseas students to go abroad and were allowed to study abroad at their own expense. From then on, relevant study tour and award regulations were successively promulgated. At this time, the number of students studying in Japan was the largest, reaching 8,000 in 1905.

Reforming the official system and rectifying official administration. In order to improve the administrative efficiency from the central to local governments, the Qing government made some changes, cuts and mergers to the original institutions. For example, in July 1901, the former Prime Minister's Office for Foreign Affairs was abolished and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs was reestablished as the first of the six departments of the class train. In November 1906, the Military Aircraft Department, Foreign Affairs Department, Personnel Department, and School were ordered to remain as before; the Patrol Department was changed to the Civil Affairs Department, the Household Department was changed to a branch, the War Department was changed to the Army Department (the Training Department and Taipu Temple were merged), and the Criminal Department was changed to the Legal Department. , Dali Temple was changed to Dali Yuan, the Ministry of Industry and Commerce were merged into the Ministry of Agriculture, Industry and Commerce, and the Department of Mail and Communications was established, and the Lifan Yuan was changed to the Lifan Department; Taichang Temple, Guanglu Temple, and Honglu Temple were merged into the Ministry of Rites. In April 1907, General Shengjing was changed to governor of the three eastern provinces, and governors of Fengtian, Jilin, and Heilongjiang provinces were appointed. In July (June), all provinces were ordered to change the inspection envoys to the legal envoys, add patrol roads and industry envoys, keep troops and prepare offices, and set up trial halls.

Revitalize commerce and reward industry. In 1904, the "Business Law" (part), "Company Law", and "Concise Charter of the Chamber of Commerce" were promulgated, and a chamber of commerce was first established in the capital. In 1905, the "Trial Regulations for Trademark Registration", "Revised Provisional Regulations for Mining", "Revised Regulations for Rewarding Companies", "Revised Regulations for Rewarding Chinese Businessmen", "Protocols for Trial Banks", "Concise Regulations for Farmers' Associations", etc. were promulgated. In 1907, the Bank of Communications of the Postal and Communications Department was established. In February 1908, the "Rules and Regulations of the Bank of the Qing Dynasty" were promulgated, and the original account department bank was changed to the Bank of the Qing Dynasty. Famous industrial and commercial figures were successively given titles and honors.

The "New Deal" in the late Qing Dynasty was a measure taken by the Qing government due to domestic and foreign situations to maintain its feudal rule after the Boxer Rebellion. Therefore, it cannot be a productive reform. However, under the conditions of the democratic revolution at that time, some of these measures objectively played a certain role in spreading culture and democratic revolutionary ideas and developing industry and commerce. Some measures aroused people's resistance, expanded the contradiction between the Qing government and Han bureaucrats, and objectively promoted the arrival of the Revolution of 1911.