January 1918
Xian was a different sort of noisy. He could hear the maids fussing over Augustus... on the plus side the boy wasn't old enough that he'd be able to remember being an only child... on the other it was abundantly clear the little tyrant wasn't happy. As his father's eldest son Allen had had time to be used to it, the elder Forrest had been lucky to survive childhood. Augustus would grow up used to having brothers, Allen decided.
He then turned back to the papers. Development depended on coordination. That was why the railroad had expanded into related industries. That the steel industry benefited from concrete wasn't a surprise or a shock it was a fact of life. Reinsch didn't have to like it, nor did he really need to then go trying to make it anything other than what it was. He wondered how Powell was doing, Powell would need local iron supplies to fuel the railway's growth, the conditions at market were different than they had been in 1909.
Xian needed better urban planning, the city was growing, and it needed better public utilities. Once upon a time the city had been 'larger' geographically the map showed that, for a city with thousands of years of history they were going to have to plan better. More public schools, more education, which would in theory mean more technicians and office workers, and men who spent their pay checks on industrial goods.
He tapped the pen digging the tip into the newsprint rather than the report. The paper didn't tell him anything he didn't already know from other sources, it just told him what people were reading. When the war ended there would be a shock, all those firms selling to governments would be used to it and prices being high... and European firms would want to go back to the way things had been... which meant France... and probably England too even though he hadn't said as much to Percy ... would start talking about tariffs. He'd have to plan for that, they all would. The cadre accepted that, which meant looking at trying to grow the internal market now as a future substitute, and also importing whatever developments had let the Germans keep up this long fighting the majority of the world's economic productivity either directly or indirectly.
... and of course if their was local demand for goods and burgeoning population to consume them then they wouldn't have to lay off people, that was a plus. Coal mining would need to expand. They needed coal for other industrial processes but especially for a voracious demand for electricity as the city's population got used to electric lights. This year's new year, the festival of the Horse, would have a large demand for electric lights. It was a good that they couldn't import, hadn't been able to import for really almost three years now. First because European suppliers had evaporated earlier still, then because the US's production increasing moved to answer European demand after, and with higher demand and high prices paid it became cheaper to increase production locally.
In literature the vernacular used coopted terms normally assigned to family councils in order to organize expansion. By promulgating internal regulations it created an internal logical framework that could be obeyed ... but that was internal... business law was going to have to be generalized to form a corporate law that provided a framework for other firms to work... but also in order to answer the rather loathsome question of public finance... taxation. The government side of things would need money to fund the army, the police, the courts, the schools, and hospitals.
It bore in mind though that the Qing had largely done the heavily lifting of eliminating the power and legal influence of the Juren as a social literati and elite. The privileges of the old office holders who had passed the eight legged exam had long since stopped having the pool being refilled by new graduates, even before the Xinhai revolt had broken out which had insured the closure of the Hanlin academy. While Jinshi holders were still around they were no longer critically important, and the driving pressure in the public view was to address the bandit problem not necessarily the issues of insuring that cost effective domestic goods could substitute for imports.
The papers wanted to talk about the mess in Hupeh, and the failings of yet another Beiyang advance south despite the 'war faction's' success in largely rallying the Beiyang commanders to it. A reality on that consensus meant that rather than disengaging Szechwan was in fact getting more rowdy, and the fliers were getting more aggressive.
He penned a quick continuation to his still in progress response to Reinsch's letter disputing that the purchasers of goods were harmed by the operation of vertically operating firms before dropping it in the top drawer of the desk for later was the next round of papers came in. Mortars were essential to the newly raised 2nd division, but there were increasing numbers of requests from the original three rifle regiments and their seasons troops for Lewis guns, both the original and the lighter model of 1916, as well as other rifles and accoutrements of war. There were requested changes to uniforms and boots, and belts reflective of real service requirements.
It was the sort of thing he liked to read. This was no longer academic, nor was it about equipping a few thousand volunteers. 3rd Division was now an inevitability, and there was already chatter among the ranks of a fourth and fifth divisions to address the broad mountainous frontier with 'the verminious southern bandits' a turn of phrase that was being pulled from the local papers.
Speaking of domestic reporting there was government business. The civilian side. It might have been noticed before now, but it was only now being pushed up as medical care in Xian proper that birth registries started recording names. Xian meant Western Peace... which admittedly Allen found rather amusing. Of course Jun was pretty quick to point out this change in the city's name had been merely an attempt by the self aggrandizing Ming to give Face to their new capital 'in the north'. Leaving that aside Shensi also referred to the west.
Xian the other Xian meant immortal, which Jun found amusing.
He paged through another page as the door closed. The new year meant they were approaching talks with the British about steel production, which dredged up discussions previously buried. "I don't think Reinsch believes us."
"If we made what he thought we made we'd already have inked that deal with Ford." Dawes snapped impatiently, though they were rapidly approaching where that was on the books. Instead of turning to look at a new steel mill the capital that had been considered for that institution would be the site of Xian's Ford plant. The first of its kind in China, and the beginning of mass production assembly line production of trucks. "But whether or not he believes it ...."
No it could be a problem.
Part of it was Reinsch wasn't career state department. He had little experience with the war department either... and fundamentally Reinsch was an idealist, not a realist. So on top of questions about whether or not would the British renew, and if so would they renew for another year in April or just for six months, there were the questions of if they cut back on demand due to access to Pittsburgh that Japan would purchase what they could... which would annoy John Jordan who was already grouchy over Nishihara's presence... especially given part of the reason Japan was interested in expanding their purchases was because the steel they produced passed British standards of inspection, so it would meet the industrial needs of that Japan used which were themselves based on British standards.
Still couldn't do anything for them about armor plate, but there was no helping that. Japan would have a bottleneck there... it couldn't be helped. He knew there was a public fundraising for a new BattleShip called the Nagato, she'd been lain down a few months earlier, and her sister ship Mutsu was due to start this summer. The Japanese Navy attache at New Years had talked longingly about expanding their aid to their British allies in the Mediterranean, but he doubted Nagato would ever see a ship of the Kaiser's fleet...
"We'll have a problem if some muckraking peckerwood actually thinks we make a million for each haul of iron," Bill grunted, he wrapped the desk to ward it off, "Did you see that cable of him sticking off to the station chief in Columbia?"
He had actually. A courier from civil affairs had actually sent him a copy before their own people had transmitted it over. "I saw it," And a million dollars was a lot of money. He hadn't actually pulled the Latin America Division's broadsheet, he could have asked for it from State, but he had no reason to doubt Reinsch that a million dollars was one seventh of annual investment in the country... "I saw the response to it."
Dawes snorted, "Yeah, well its about time someone told the professor to mind his own business, the undersecretary might get some hell from Washington, Reinsch being friends with the president." It was past time though, Reinsch had been having these sorts of 'moral lectures' to his state department colleagues for a few years now... he'd lectured the previous US ambassador to Japan about his ties to Pittsburgh's wealthy ... and from the sound of it didn't like the associations of the man's replacement much either... and well... that was going to be something to think about too, "Him sticking his nose about what goes on in Latin America is a problem, he can't do anything about it, but the Virginian, and that Yankee from New York."
"Phillip is going to have to learn to deal with it." He had wanted to jump in the water, if it was cold he shouldn't be surprised... but, "I wouldn't worry about it though."
--
Homophones, what different words sounded alike and could have different meanings played a varied role. Poetry came to mind, but there were other applications. It was more than simply conveying a message though.
People needed to be able to read sure, but they really needed stuff written to them the way they talked. The newspapers that they published, or provided direct support to did not publish their columns in the high and inflated stylized memorandums of the old dynasty's court language, but a simplified language of how people actually talked day to day
Though it hadn't happened until after Yuan Shikai had passed away the text books both for children and also like the infantry primers had followed this trend. Now it moved to popular literature with books being published in vernacular, or at least vernacular northern, Chinese and focused on stories of imminently human people. Rather than the cardboard figures of virtuous paragons and bloodsucking fiends the emphasis were on every men living in relatable flawed, and changing societies. That wasn't to say that stereotypes were absent, that stock characters didn't make appearances.
A novelization for young men apart of the local boy scouts, and the tradition of scouting lionized Charles Gordon. It simultaneously portrayed the Taiping rebels as rapacious southern bandits stripping the country side like locusts... and perhaps he might have been reading a bit too much into it, but Allen suspected that the writer....
... who despite the pseudonym used, was probably an officer of the RPF or 1st Regiment during the the White Wolf rebellion and had intentionally adapted the conflict against Bai Lang as the basis for his novelization of events. It certainly emphasized scouting skills and values, but there were anachronisms in the book itself.
It was a very popular novel all the same competing with the much more realistic portrayal of middle of the road everymen with real flaws who struggled on a daily basis.
These were the sorts of things that made into the day's briefing, though they weren't daily updates... but with first of the year increasingly behind them and 1918 underway there were more things to contend with. There would probably be some complaints ... from both rigorous Confucians and the missionaries about moral ambiguities and lack of heroic solutions... but at least he had some forewarning about that potential problem.
Cullen snorted trying to contain his laughter as he and and several other black uniformed officers of the gendarmes laughed at a recently published political satirical comic that lampooned everyone involved in the first opium war. It was a thinly veiled anti-war comic that portrayed both sides and all major figures as high handed arrogant buffoons...
Its layout strongly suggested the comic had probably been written or illustrated or both by a western educated southerner. It portrayed Palmerston, Lin, and the Elliots as all equally embarrassing, with the Minister Elliot being slapped in the face for trying to tell the Admiral of the Nelson he should only use 'old ammunition'. Presumably a diatribe attacking both politicians who wanted to meddle in military affairs for their own reasons, and also militarists who wanted to rush into a conflict just so they could test new weapons (in the case of the comic the lethal iron steamer nemesis when she'd been state of the art).
In short it made fun of everyone, and very likely was meant to to criticize the Beiyang government and the British and probably the 'southern government' since Lin's rivals in the comic looked suspiciously like a spectacled farmers tan doctor rather than a more realistically suave clear skinned mandarin. Someone was clearly unhappy.
"One of the university students?" Cole questioned waving one sheet up.
He thought of the list of people who had publicly swore not to be politic in publishing, "You don't think its one of the professors?"
"I suppose it could be, but its more anti war, and I'm surprised they were radical enough to pick something so recent."
Radical, and recent when they were talking about a dust up that had happened eight decades earlier almost... but maybe that was because they hadn't had any better options, had did you put the war in Europe in historical context. Whatever the case this was another example of modern literary styles using previous historical events, historical events to make commentary on current ones.
There was a sly look he didn't like creep over his childhood friend's expression, "So about the fly boys, we getting near to standing them up or not?"
"Don't look at me like I've got the juice for that Cullen. Not with so much else going on."
"That's funny coming from you brother John. We ought to get it done."
He suspect that if truth be told Cole had already probably started asking around his brigade about men with mechanical aptitude, men who'd be willing to learn to fly if only they could get the planes. The truth was that wasn't a terrible idea, but there had been push back in finances about advancing the filibusters the money so unilaterally, "We don't have the planes, and we're going to need men who want to learn to fly, and who can then teach other men to fly. Just need time for it, lets wait until the spring is here."
"I hold you on that." Cullen raised the mug of tea he was drinking. "As for the votes, tell Dawes we put radios in them they'll be more dangerous than any amount of guns we could put on them at this stage with the engines we have."
They didn't need to tell Dawes that. A plane with a radio to relay for his heavy bastards... Dawes knew that well enough. "Do not bring it up at the next cadre," The needed to wait until spring came.
"I won't say anything," Unless someone else brought it up, but that went unsaid.
--
Notes: So in particular this is going up, because June is almost here. We will not be through this arc before fall, but we are approaching the end of the arc in July 1918 which will have epilogue 1 and epilogue 2 will take place as a transition into the prologue of the next arc in 1919 establishing the end of world war 1 from a de facto western perspective. There are some things in the next few months that I need to expand on, there are some books I need to read, and reread regarding the early Russian civil war but that is the direction we are heading into.
Its funny that destroyermen's cliche villians got brought up, this section on literature, loosely touching on chinese literature was actually written months ago.
