Yang Shukan thought for a while and said, "I promised you that the Tongmenghui will withdraw from Dongchuan, but I also hope that you can keep your word and not go back on your word!"

"You can rest assured that you have never finished speaking." Yang Shukan, Zhang Peijue, Zhu Zhihong and other Tongmenghui generals sent out of Chongqing. Now the power of Dongchuan has fallen into the hands of Qiao Yu and the Chongqing Chamber of Commerce. Now the patrol police are making every effort to restore order on the market. Qiao Yu generously paid compensation to the people who were damaged yesterday. In addition, they also arrested some scumbags who took advantage of the chaos to rob yesterday, killing those who should be killed and closing the barriers, busy in chaos, and also dealing with the soldiers of the patrol battalion who participated in the rebellion.

These people became extremely obedient after taking the ocean. Qiao Yu sent someone to investigate carefully and found that most of the members of the Communist Party had escaped from the army. Without their intervention, it seemed much easier to control the army.

Accompanied by Han Yong, Qiao Yu first patrol the mental outlook of these soldiers in the patrol battalion. After a while, Qiao Yu shook his head very much. The old, weak, sick and disabled were mixed with the army. The army was not in a state of dissatisfaction. It would be strange if this kind of army could have combat effectiveness. Just as he was watching, a soldier suddenly ran to Qiao Yu, pounced on his knees, and his nose and tears remained: "Master Qiao, please give me some opium cigarettes, I kowtow to you! Please, I'm going to die!" While speaking, the soldier kept holding his chest with his hands, and he was bleeding and he didn't know at all. Han Yong whispered: "Young Master, there are a considerable number of big smoke ghosts in the patrol battalion. I have taken away a few of them. These people are poisoned to the bone marrow, and it's not worth pity!"

Qiao Yu felt a little sad when he saw it. It was not that he felt sorry for the big smoker in front of him, but that he felt a little sad about China. From the Celestial Empire to the sick man in East Asia, this small opium has harmed China for many years! He waved his hand and asked someone to drag the big smoker away. After looking at the other soldiers carefully, many people couldn't stop being angry and shed tears. It seemed that the addiction to smoking was also going to be abusive. He was so sad that he was angry that he was not fighting. He was afraid that this was the situation. Qiao Yu quickly came to Taishang and cleared his throat.

"Everyone is a son of Bashu. I will never treat you badly. You can rest assured in the future. You will inevitably be popular and spicy. However, there is one premise that you must listen to my orders. If you don't obey the orders, you must know the consequences! There are still more than 1,500 soldiers in the patrol battalion, most of whom are addicted to smoking. Just like this one, do you think this kind of person still has combat effectiveness? Do you still look like a soldier? In addition, there are many elderly and weak people who have no combat effectiveness. Such an army must rectify, eliminate the elderly and weak people, and retain their strength. But don't worry, although it will not make you hungry after being eliminated. Instead, you must be trained to become local patrol police and be responsible for local public security. Your income will never be reduced. But one thing you should remember is that you must not get involved in opium. Now those who are addicted to smoking should quit as soon as possible. Don't have big smokers in my team!"

Opium is indeed something that is very disgusting. Since the late Qing Dynasty, the scale of drug cultivation in the three southwestern provinces has been very large, and Sichuan is also a severely affected area. In 1908, Sichuan's opium output value reached 35 million taels of silver, and 23 million taels were consumed in the province, which can be compared with the central income of the Qing Dynasty. Opium smoking accounts for an astonishing number. In cities, about half of men smoke opium, and people with a little money and a little status smoke opium. They completely treat this drug as the enjoyment of the best. More than 20% of women smoke opium, and the proportion in rural areas is also quite high, men account for about one-quarter, and more people smoke in some remote mountainous areas.

The reason why it reached such an amazing scale is that the people did not realize the harm of opium at all. The more important problem lies with the Qing government. Due to problems such as Boxer Indemnity, the Qing court urgently needed to deprive the people of the people to fill the fiscal gap. There were many tyrants and miscellaneous taxes. In addition, the food prices were too low, so the people often couldn't fill their stomachs in a year. Opium, a "cash crop", can bring rich profits. One tael of opium can buy a silver dollar, and one acre of land can produce thirty or fifty taels of opium. Even if various taxes are deducted, the profit is several times, or even dozens of times, so opium planting becomes a trend...

Local governments also rely on opium to increase tax revenue, but this crazy cultivation will inevitably bring serious consequences. The grain output is insufficient and wealth is consumed in the mist. Since Zhao Erxun became the governor of Sichuan, he has vigorously banned smoking, persuaded the people, encouraged the planting of other crops, and strictly banned smoking. It can be said that the effect is very significant. The number of people smoking opium in Sichuan has dropped a lot, which cannot be said to be a major political achievement of Zhao Erxun.

However, as an old army, the patrol battalion has countless bad habits and still has a large number of opium. When he heard Qiao Yu's words, everyone couldn't stop thinking about it. Whether it was to continue to eat food and serve as a soldier or a patrolman, the first thing was to quit smoking. Some people who were not deeply involved would quit smoking immediately. No matter how hard they worked, they could get a job and would not have to worry about food and drink in the future. Those who had been poisoned to the bone marrow had no choice but to accept their fate.

Before the deal was completed, Wang Dongcheng, Wang Gui, Xue Shan, Xu Hua and other great merchants came to find Qiao Yu under Bai Kuan's leadership. From a distance, they heard Wang Dongcheng's laughter: "Shunqing, it's such a big deal. We have been in vain in our lives. You are so scary!"

When Qiao Yu saw that these people were coming, he had to discuss with them how to go next. Now everyone is in the same trench and share honor and disgrace.

"Boss Wang, you are polite. Everyone comes to my office and we will talk about the important matters!"

"We have been waiting for a long time!" Several big merchants burst into laughter. A rebellion occurred last night, and these people were also hung up. Although they all received Qiao Yu's advance notice, they still had a trace of doubt about whether Qiao Yu could suppress the rebellion. However, the result was much beyond their hope. Not only did they suppress the mutiny, but they also forced the court to sign the city alliance and had the power to supervise taxes.

These big merchants are all smart and cunning people. They have not seen the only 200,000 taels of silver. In other aspects, there are more and more factories in Chongqing. They need to transport a large amount of raw materials and transport a large amount of goods. They have to handle local officials in the process, otherwise they will not be able to pass smoothly. Now that they have the right to supervise, they will extend their hands to various counties. No one can think of making money from them. This alone can save millions of taels of silver in a year, and can also clear local joints and make it easier to sell goods. The benefits are immeasurable.

At the same time, these people were also truly impressed by Qiao Yu's courage and vision. After everyone sat down, Wang Gui first extended his thumb: "Brother Qiao, you are the one who is the one who is worth it. In the past, we businessmen had to send money and things to those officials to barely manage it. Now we can supervise them to collect taxes openly and no longer have to look at their eyes. It's really awesome!"

"Brother Wang is polite, but Brother Wang only knows one thing but not the other. After all, this is not in line with the laws of the court. If we want to maintain it, we must rely on the strength in our hands, otherwise the local landlords can tear us all!"

"Yes, the landlords have the advantage in the countryside, and the clan power is also very large. If we want to supervise, we must seize benefits from them and those evil officials. It is easy to be backfired. Shunqing, you have to come up with some specific regulations!"

Xue Shan, who was standing aside, also interrupted: "Yes, I only thought of the benefits, not the disadvantages. Also, although we signed an agreement with Zhu Youji and Niu Chuanshan, what should we do if these officials turn around and refuse to admit it? Aren't we wasted all the money?"

Qiao Yuweiran smiled and said, "Boss Xue is right, but the court seems to have no time to care about this. A few days ago, the news of the reincarnation of Sichuan-Han Road is growing day by day. Now the new cabinet of the court is also freshly released. I guess no matter who is in power, the new cabinet will take over the railway. Relying on this, borrowing some money from foreigners, no one can play with it without money. As for the problem of Sichuan-Han Road, everyone knows more than me how many problems are there. I am afraid that the turmoil in Sichuan is right in front of me. I am eager to extend my power to the local area, just to make us stand firmer before the turmoil, and at least we must keep the safety of the commercial road, otherwise our newly built factories will face a crisis!"

Many people present knew the problem of Sichuan-Han Road, knowing that it was a hornet's nest, but the current news in the court is indeed as Qiao Yu said. It seems that the momentum of returning to the country is very clear, and everyone is also evaluating the power of it.

..
Chapter completed!