THE ARMY 30 THE ARMY 31 tung,the powerful viceroy of Hupei and Hunan-saw no other reorganized and expanded maritime customs service,which pro- answer to China's problems than to intensify the efforts at self- vided more than one-third of the government's annual revenues. strengthening.They continued to regard China's traditional social Now these revenues were pledged against foreign loans raised to and political systems as nearly perfect but admitted her military pay the war indemnity.Without them,the new fighting force and technological weakness.All that she needed,they felt,was a could not be larger than the old one.Further,modernization had modern,efficient army and a developed industrial economy to to be confined to the army.China could not afford to revive her support it.Eventually,their policy led to the establishiment of the dream of becoming a maritime power,which France and Japan Newly Created Army(Hsin-chien Lu-chun). had shattered in the wars of 1884 and 1895.In fact,she could not Outside government circles,however,the self-strengthening pol- really afford to maintain her existing ground forces-the surviving icy now became an object of ridicule.There were many critics- units of the Hwai Army,plus a traditional army of some 800,000 and they did not mince words.Li had become "a laughingstock archers and lancers equipped with a few outmoded Mausers- among all barbarian peoples,"wrote one.Another was less harsh, while training new troops.But the situation at the time demanded just that. but still outspoken: The remnants of the Hwai Army included General Nieh Shih- Have we not seen Li Hung-chang's navy,foreign-style army,and military ch'eng's Tenacious Army and General Sung Ch'ing's Resolute _and medical schools?Have we not seen Chang Chih-tung's colleges,found- Army.Along with General Tung Fu-hsiang's Kansu Army,which ries,and Self-Strengthening Army?Those were the results of Li's efforts was little more than a band of brigands,these forces were respon- for 30 years and Chang's for 15.If we allow other Li's and Chang's to pur- sue the same policy for another 5o years,to proceed at the same snail's sible for the defense of the imperial capital and northern China. pace,...in the end,we shall have another crop of schools and foreign- Although the soldiers showed a certain bloodthirsty bravery,they style troops,who in another emergency will turn and run for their lives numbered only 7o,000,lacked training and discipline,and were as their predecessors did in 1895.2 ill-equipped with guns of various makes and calibers.The des- Far more radical than the official leaders,the partisans of this perate need for a new army was obvious. school of thought advocated the adoption of a constitution and a Late in 1894,at a crucial stage of the war,the German adviser thorough reform of the government.They refused to trust the cor- von Hanneken had submitted a modernization plan to both the rupt,archaic administrative machine with any modernization pro- Grand Council and the Tsungli Yamen.He proposed training gram.To them,the survival of the country was far more impor- 100,000 troops,with Sir Robert Hart in control of the funds.Weng tant than the preservation of Confucian values and imperial pre. T'ung-ho,the grand secretary and imperial tutor,favored the idea, rogatives.Their efforts culminated in the reform of 18g8. considering it "China's only way to survive."Weng's initiative .Yuan Shih-k'ai had a role in both the army modernization and here,as later in the reform movement,was a move to fill the power the reform movement,and he soon realized their incompatibility. vacuum created by Li Hung-chang's downfall.The British Min- As an important military instructor,Yuan's principal duty was to ister O'Conor put forward a similar suggestion on army train- defend the dynasty;as a sympathizer of reform,his principal duty ing;moreover,he thought that Hart was the person best suited was to protect the interests of the nation.From 1895 on,especially to take full control.Under Weng's instructions,with the Grand after 1goo,the interests of the dynasty and those of the nation Council's and Jung-lu's approval,Hu Yu-fen worked out a de- grew further and further apart.Yuan's personal fortune was caught tailed program for army modernization.His plan emphasized uni- up in this larger historical process,and he had to make choices at form equipment,established ranks,and training by foreign in- several critical points in a turbulent era.Let us look at the army structors.Northern China was to be responsible for training 50,000 first. soldiers,southern China for go,o00,and Hupei and Hunan for 20,000-at an estimated total cost of 14 million taels of silver. In the 1860's,self-strengthening had been financed by the newly