36 THE ARMY THE ARMY 37 admiral Lord Charles Beresford visited Hsiaochan in October had convinced him that a rigid adherence to tradition was re- 1896.The admiral was deeply impressed by the sturdy Shantung sponsible for the decline of China and Korea.He believed that men under Yuan's command."By Western standards,"he com- the need for reform extended beyond the military.In fact,the mented,"Yuan Shih-k'ai's troops wcre the only completely demand for thoroughgoing reforms had been growing since 1895. equipped force in the empire." In that year,K'ang Yu-wei,a commoner and a candidate in the On December 10,1896,a year after his appointment,Yuan re- metropolitan examination,had joined more than a thousand oth- ported to the throne the formation of a full-scale division,con- ers in petitioning the throne for immediate reform.K'ang and his sisting of eight infantry battalions (8,000 men),two artillery bat- comrades,including Liang Ch'i-ch'ao and T'an Ssu-t'ung,also or- talions (2,o00 men),two cavalry battalions (1,o00 men),and one ganized societies all over the country to promote their cause.To engineering battalion (1,o0o men).The force was further divided show his support,Yuan joined one of them. into two wings,or brigades.For his achievements,Yuan was pro- By June 1898,K'ang and the other reformers had presented seven moted to the rank of provincial judge of Chihli in July 1897. "letters"to Emperor Kuang-hsu,as well as essays on Peter the Great, His reputation was growing.Wu Ju-lun,a great scholar,had writ- the Meiji Restoration,and the tragedies of Poland and Turkey. ten him in January 1896:"I have heard that your troops have When this material was delivered to the Southern Study of the adopted Western military techniques.This is undoubtedly the palace,Weng T'ung-ho read it with interest and admiration. most urgent task of our time."Above all,both Jung-lu and Shortly after the 1895 treaty,the aging tutor discussed reform with Weng T'ung-ho continued to admire and trust Yuan.Their favor the young monarch.News of this leaked out to the dowager em- was especially important:Jung-lu was a firm supporter of the Dow- press,who subsequently denied Weng access to the Southern Study. ager Empress Tz'u-hsi,and Weng was the emperor's tutor. This reproof cut short the first attempt at reform;but it was pri- The Newly.Created Army continued to grow.Meanwhile, marily through Weng's advocacy that the emperor eventually de- Chang Chih-tung's Self-Strengthening Army was taking shape in cided to adopt the drastic measures K'ang proposed. Hankow and Wuchang,and General Nieh Shih-ch'eng was reor- Meanwhile,the battle of concessions was being raged ruthlessly. ganizing his Tenacious Army.Although Nieh's troops numbered In 18g8,Germany acquired a lease on the land around Kiaochow nearly 10,000,only slightly fewer than Yuan's,they were inferior Bay.As compensation,Russia seized Port Arthur and Dairen, in training and equipment.From these separate efforts,the de. which were subsequently leased to her.Similarly,Britain and fense of the empire was gradually consolidated.At the beginning France encroached on China's sovereignty in the southwest.A fear of 1898;there were five armies stationed around the capital:Gen- of dismemberment,of being"cut up like a melon or handed out eral Nieh at the entrance to Tientsin,General Sung Ch'ing at the like beans,"suddenly seized the country,giving impetus to the northeast pass to Peking,Jung-lu on the outskirts of Peking,Gen- reform movement.K'ang Yu-wei hurried to Peking to make an- eral Tung Fu-hsiang near Chichow,and Yuan himself at Hsiao- other urgent plea for reform.Weng T'ung-ho,calling K'ang a chan.Although untested in battle,the Hsiaochan troops were re- hundred times more competent than himself,suggested to the puted to be the strongest.Being a shrewd man,Yuan was fully emperor that the reformer be placed in charge of China's affairs. aware of their importance to the dynasty and to his own personal The ultimate aims of the reformers-national power and wealth career.The Newly Created Army was Yuan's power base,just as -did not differ radically from those of the self-strengtheners;nor the Hwai Army had been Li Hung-chang's.And as everyone did the economic programs of the two schools differ greatly.In one clearly understood,it was no coincidence that the loss of the major respect,however,the reformers disagreed with their prede- Hwai Army led to Li's eclipse. cessors.They believed that the West's success in the worldwide Yuan was not exclusively concerned with military matters dur- competition among nations for wealth and power was due to ing this period.His experiences in Korea,especially the 1895 war, her superior institutions and administrative methods.China must