If someone had told Yuan Shikai that, without resorting to predatory taxation, he could bring in an additional two million silver dollars annually for Beiyang, he would generally have been quite pleased. However, this time, facing the chiefs of the Police Bureau and the Bank of Communications—two departments staffed by his confidants—Yuan carefully studied the assessment report they had jointly submitted and asked coldly, "Why does this look like a People's Party manifesto?"

The expressions of the Police Chief and the Bank of Communications officer turned awkward. Although the vocabulary in the two assessment reports provided by the People's Party was novel, the logic was clear, easy to understand, and straightforward. They had tried to polish it, but even slight modifications made the assessment obscure and greatly diminished its eloquent persuasiveness. Out of necessity, they had presented it to Yuan Shikai with a "wait-and-see" attitude, only for him to see through it at a glance.

Seeing his subordinates' embarrassment, Yuan Shikai did not press the matter further. "How much can the People's Party make?"

The Bank of Communications officer, feeling as though he had received a divine pardon, hurriedly replied, "At least five million."

"I am asking about net profit," Yuan Shikai countered coldly.

"President, if it's net profit, they'll have at least two million. They won't have less than us," the officer replied.

Yuan Shikai frowned and pondered for a while before saying, "Then let's proceed with this for now. However, regarding the Police Bureau issuing licenses, I will have the Ministry of Finance discuss the matter with you."

The Police Chief and the Bank of Communications officer knew that Yuan Shikai had recently been engaged in an arduous struggle with the National Assembly and might have been expected to delay the matter. They never imagined he would approve it so easily. Although deeply puzzled, they were truly delighted. Especially the Police Chief—usually, the Police Bureau could only obtain funds through extortion and racketeering. As the police system was Yuan Shikai's "face," he governed it strictly, making the Bureau a poor yamen. This licensing business falling into the hands of the police was a massive source of revenue. Even if the Ministry of Finance came to fight the police for this money, the Police Chief was determined not to let go.

As for the Bank of Communications officer, he was equally pleased. There were simply too many ways to manipulate the lending process, and large-scale lending to a promising business like a transport company offered even richer profits.

The two consulted and decided to meet Xu Erba the next day to discuss a more detailed cooperation plan. However, the person sent to notify Xu Erba returned with a report that Xu would be entering the city the next day and would personally visit them in the evening.

Xu Erba did indeed enter the city. Beijing had first endured the horse bandit chaos, and then Yuan Shikai had dealt with a group of imperial clansmen. The Banner people were all in a state of self-preservation, and those who could flee had already done so. Many houses and plots of land in Beijing had become vacant. Xu Erba had selected over thirty plots of land in the capital and spent these days purchasing them one by one. Meeting that evening, he did not hide the fact and mentioned his large-scale real estate acquisitions.

The officer and the Police Chief were baffled. While it was a good time for Xu Erba to acquire property, buying over thirty plots at once seemed excessive. The officer asked, "Brother Xu, what's the secret here?"

"I'm not doing this to flip real estate. This is the overall layout for the industry," Xu Erba said. Daily necessities like honeycomb coal did not handle jolts well; the shorter the transport distance, the better. Furthermore, the transport business wasn't just about renting and selling carts; it also involved providing parking and maintenance. This required a comprehensive layout around the capital.

With this explanation, the officer and the Police Chief suddenly understood. The officer asked, "But with you doing this on such a large scale, aren't you afraid of losing money?"

"These are businesses tied to the people's livelihood. It's only a matter of how much profit is made; how could there be any reason to lose money?" Xu Erba laughed.

The three discussed while eating over maps. After a while, the Police Chief noticed something interesting: the locations of several plots were quite peculiar. They were very close to the parking lots and honeycomb coal factories. He asked, "Brother Xu, what are these for?"

"These are for building lodging. Not only for the brothers in the transport company to live in, but they can also be rented out. It's a good business." Xu Erba had drunk quite a bit, and his voice was much louder as he spoke.

"How much housing can you build on such small plots? It's just over thirty courtyards; at most, they could house four or five hundred people. That might not even be enough for your own people, and you want to rent them out?" The Police Chief was skeptical.

"You'll see when the time comes," Xu Erba said smugly. However, no matter how much the other two asked, Xu Erba refused to reveal any more, leaving them itching with curiosity.

It wasn't just officialdom that was itching with curiosity; Fourth Master Chang, who had previously cooperated with the People's Party, was also restless. He had relied on cooperation with the People's Party to accumulate his first bit of capital and later seized an opportunity to buy a rickshaw. On a good month, a rickshaw puller could earn fifty or sixty silver dollars. Especially in winter—if one could get someone to book the rickshaw for the entire season, the income was even higher.

As an expert in the transport trade, Fourth Master Chang knew the moment he laid hands on them just how good the wheels Xu Erba brought this time were. Given Fourth Master Chang's current stamina, using the new wheels would allow him to cover at least twice the distance daily. That meant doubling his income or more. A set of wheels for a standard rickshaw cost fifty silver dollars; he could earn that back in a single month. This sum was far from unacceptable.

the only problem was that the People's Party had involved the authorities this time. Once things involved officials, they became very difficult to manage. They talked about paying tax only once a year after obtaining some kind of license, but official matters were never clear-cut. Yet, without involving the authorities, many things would be even harder to accomplish.

After weighing his options, Fourth Master Chang decided to take a risk. Since he had profited from cooperating with the People's Party last time, as long as he acted early this time, he could probably still make a killing. Having made up his mind, Fourth Master Chang sought out several friends from the Banners. These men were not the type of Banner people who only knew how to frequent teahouses and walk their birds; they were usually quite capable and knew how to drive carts. These brothers had been in increasing contact lately and trusted each other. They also wanted to pull rickshaws but lacked the opportunity to get good carts.

When they met, Fourth Master Chang shared his thoughts with the brothers. Hearing this rather bold plan, several of them frowned. "Fourth Master Chang, we brothers aren't afraid of hard work, and we have a bit of money. If you're planning to shoulder all the risk yourself, you're looking down on us."

"That's right, Fourth Master. We all respect your character. But it won't do for you to carry the risk alone. Whatever the case, we brothers must put up some money. Even if it isn't much, we can contribute what we can."

Seeing how sincere everyone was, Fourth Master Chang nodded. "Then each of the five of us will put up twenty percent. We'll buy the wagon and the mule."

"And how will the money be split?" one brother asked.

Fourth Master Chang replied readily, "The money earned each day will be split into two halves. One half is for feeding the animal and repairing the cart. If there's anything left over, it will be divided among us. The other half goes to whoever takes the wagon out. What do you all think?"

No one had any objections. They agreed to go to the Fengtai Barracks the next day to pick out a wagon suitable for their needs.

The next morning, the brothers rose early and hurried to the Fengtai Barracks. When they arrived, Fourth Master Chang was fine, but the other brothers were stunned by the rows of wagons. There was nothing particularly special about the vehicles themselves, but the wheels were truly unlike anything they had ever seen—they were all a uniform, deep black. Though the surface wasn't smooth, they were completely different from wooden wheels; there wasn't a single rivet or joint—they were a single piece. The rims were extremely thin, and the spokes were incredibly fine. These parts were painted.

The men walked up and touched the wheels one by one, finding the surface somewhat rough and grippy, far from the feel of high-quality lacquered wooden wheels. Pressing on the wheel, it felt firm yet possessed a degree of elasticity—it was a gadget the likes of which they had never seen.

"Fourth Master Chang, is... is this going to work?" one brother asked.

Fourth Master Chang had brought his own rickshaw. He didn't explain much but first selected a set of wheels of appropriate width. Once chosen, he had the brothers pull the rickshaw for a few rounds. The brothers were all accustomed to pulling carts; although they didn't know what mystery Fourth Master was up to, they didn't waste words. Once they finished their trials, Fourth Master swapped on the new wheels and had them pull it again. This time, everyone felt the difference immediately. Once these wheels were on, the pull felt incredibly light; compared to before, it was as if they couldn't feel the weight of the cart at all. Furthermore, while there was a slight swaying motion when running, there were no hard, jarring jolts. The brothers couldn't help but repeatedly look back at the rickshaw behind them. They had an illusion—was it possible they were only holding the handles and the body of the cart had disappeared?

"Good stuff, truly good stuff. Fourth Master, are we just buying these wheels?" the brothers were already full of praise.

Fourth Master Chang led them over to the wagons, pointing at a large wheel nearly half a person tall and over half a foot wide. "What I want to buy is this!"

A set of rickshaw wheels cost ten silver dollars; a full wagon with these wheels was sold directly for fifty silver dollars. However, Fourth Master was an acquaintance and the first to buy an entire wagon. Xu Erba also sold Fourth Master several pairs of rubber-soled "Liberation Shoes" produced in the base area at the honest price of one silver dollar per pair. These shoes, mimicking a future design, had a "strange" appearance but provided excellent grip.

The other brothers were dumbstruck by Fourth Master's grand gesture, but the wagon was also light and fast beyond anything they had seen. Two people could easily pull it. As they walked down the street, they immediately became the focus of attention. Fourth Master and his group went to the Mule and Horse Market in the south of the city and bought a large mule. These brothers were all skilled drivers, and after one trial, they knew just how powerful this wagon was.

They all had their connections, and the wagon was immediately put to work in the coal transport trade. While other carts carried seven or eight hundred catties per trip, this wagon hauled fifteen or sixteen hundred. It also moved much faster than other carts. While others made two trips, Fourth Master's wagon could make three. After two days, each person was able to split three silver dollars.

For these two days, everyone had exerted themselves greatly. On the third day, although they wanted to continue their business, they were physically exhausted. At Fourth Master's suggestion, they decided to rest for the morning and go to the Yutai Teahouse at noon for a meal of "ragged meat noodles."

Wang Lifa, the owner of the Yutai Teahouse, still wore his queue and maintained his usual polite smile, carefully attending to his customers. Seeing Fourth Master Chang, Wang Lifa smiled. "Fourth Master Chang, I heard you bought a large wagon. You're surely going to strike it rich."

Just as they were talking, a newsboy selling papers suddenly shouted, "Paper! Extra! Banner people revolt in Jiangning!"

In these times, "Banner people" was a sensitive term, especially when linked with the word "revolt." The expressions of Fourth Master and his friends changed. Even the smile vanished from Wang Lifa's face.

The fact that the news had made it onto the newspapers meant the event was already entirely over.

May 15, 1911. Nanjing.

Yu Chen looked with a cold face at the deathly silent Banner residential district. The New Army had completely cordoned off the area. Civilians wearing cotton masks were dragging corpses out of the houses one by one. The faces and bodies of these corpses were hideously contorted, and the blood that had flowed from their noses and mouths was dried on their faces. The sight was terrifying.

This was not the result of a military massacre; the New Army had only dealt with the Banner troops. These Banner family members had all committed suicide by poison. Wu Yida, the commander of the New Army, no longer had his smug appearance. He casually glanced at the piling corpses and simply said, "Bury them all." Then he turned and led a group of officers away from this place of death.

Once the high-ranking officials had left, a dozen or so young officers gathered around. "Sike, what should we do?"

"Where are we going to find enough places to bury them? Drag them to the mountainside and cremate them." Yu Chen's voice sounded quite bitter. "How many are left alive?"

The bitter voices of the young officers were no better than Yu Chen's. Although everyone had shouted slogans about exterminating all the Manchus in the world, no one felt happy when truly faced with such a tragedy. One officer said, as if defending himself, "A few hundred, perhaps. These Manchus had prepared for quite some time; they bought up all the poison available for sale in the city."

Yu Chen knew this; it had even been fully utilized in the plan. He had sent people to privately hire beggars to pick fights outside the Banner district. The Manchus, unable even to look after themselves, naturally wouldn't give alms to beggars. At any reason or excuse, the beggars would shout, "You won't live much longer! As soon as the Manchu Qing is finished, you'd better hurry up and drink your own poison and die!"

"On the sixth of June, the dragon raises its head; the heads of the Manchus in the city will not be left." Such nursery rhymes were also being sung throughout Nanjing.

Alongside these psychological preparations, the military legal department led by Yu Chen himself had been conducting rectifications across various units under the pretext of settling military debts. With the military legal office taking the lead, the merchants became much bolder. Furthermore, the Nanjing New Army had the foundation of its predecessors and maintained decent discipline; the Han units had easily paid off their debts.

Over the past year or so, the Banner people had been pulled from various units and reorganized into a single regiment. The more they were isolated, the more the Banner people banded together. And the more they banded together, the more they felt despair. There were over thirty thousand Banner people in Nanjing. Usually, they relied on serving as officials or soldiers; the Nanjing Banner people shared all the bad habits of those in Beijing. Borrowing money and buying on credit were common occurrences. As the Manchu Qing dynasty reached its end, the Banner people were even more desperate to borrow. Adopting a mindset of having a today but no tomorrow, they borrowed even more heavily, spending tomorrow's money today.

Yu Chen ordered them to clear their debts, but where would the Banner people find the money to pay? Conflicts were naturally inevitable. At this time, Yu Chen showed no mercy and had no intention of smoothing things over.

The Banner General in Nanjing was the Jiangning General, whose full title was the General in Charge of the Garrisons of Jiangning and Other Places—the supreme commander of the Eight Banners garrisoned in Jiangnan during the Qing Dynasty. The current Jiangning General, Chengxun, had seen that things were wrong, but the Jiangsu Governor Wang Youhong, who could have spoken up, had already gone to Beijing.

On May 5, Yu Chen had twenty Banner soldiers who refused to pay their debts publicly flogged at the gates of the Banner camp. Chengxun, seeing that Yu Chen was "pressing too hard," had to personally intervene to stop it. As a result, Yu Chen rebuked him to his face: "Military discipline is established by those above and followed by those below. You, as the Jiangning General, cannot restrain the Banner soldiers and instead bring harm to the people. What is your crime?"

A military legal officer was only at the rank of a deputy regimental commander, seven or eight levels below the Jiangning General. Being lashed out at by Yu Chen, the 63-year-old Chengxun's first reaction was bewilderment, followed by fury. He had served as the Governor of Jiangsu and Anhui; how could he be bullied by such a junior? Chengxun's guards were about to move, but Yu Chen's subordinates were already prepared; they drew their guns and killed all of Chengxun's guards.

"Chengxun, you indulge your subordinates in revolt. What is your crime?" Yu Chen asked calmly of the former high-ranking official who once held great power.

Only then did Chengxun realize that all of this was pre-planned, and the old man immediately began to curse.

Yu Chen was not angry but simply ordered Chengxun to be dragged out of the camp. Meanwhile, other units of the New Army had already tightly surrounded the Banner camp.

"Where is that dog Wu Yida? Tell him to come see me!" old Chengxun shouted repeatedly.

Wu Yida naturally would not come to see Chengxun. The situation had reached its climax; the extermination of the Banner camp was the plan Wang Youhong had set before his departure. If Wu Yida could do it well, he would surely rise to prominence; what use was there in arguing with this old man Chengxun?

Yu Chen ordered Chengxun to be stripped until he wore only a pair of trousers, then he was bound with ropes and put in a prisoner's cart to be paraded through the streets. At the front of the procession, a dozen loud-voiced soldiers announced Chengxun's crimes: "Indulging the Banner camp subordinates in extorting merchants. When the military legal office sought to recover debts for the Nanjing merchants, Chengxun intended to harm the military legal officers."

The Banner people already had a bad reputation, and everyone knew the Manchu Qing was about to collapse. Seeing the bare-backed Manchu general paraded through the streets, the crowds were first surprised and then erupted in cheers. Some merchants who had been heavily owed by the Banner people even threw vegetable leaves and stones at Chengxun. It was truly a joyous parade.

At first, Chengxun cursed Yu Chen as a rebel, but after being pelted by the crowds, he couldn't help but curse the people below as rebels as well. For the sake of appearances, Yu Chen could refrain from replying, but the people had no such constraints. "You're the rebel!" someone shouted.

"Kill the rebel Chengxun!"

"Kill the Banner man Chengxun!"

"Exterminate the Banner people!"

The slogans grew louder and increasingly targeted!

The emotions of the people in Nanjing were all incited. After the parade, Chengxun was publicly hanged at the Wangfuyuan entrance, where the Banner people resided. As Chengxun's life ended and his waste flowed down his trousers, the onlookers grew even more excited, shouting slogans to exterminate the Banner people.

In the end, Chengxun was not left with a whole corpse. After he died, his head was cut off and hung at the Taiping Gate, with a notice nearby listing his many crimes. On May 8, after the National Assembly established the national form as a republic and the Manchu Qing was legally terminated,

Wu Yida demanded that the Banner camp soldiers, who had been surrounded for several days, lay down their weapons and surrender. However, the execution of Chengxun had left the Banner people with no way out, and the battle broke out. Wu Yida had long made arrangements; the Banner camp had almost no ammunition. The New Army first bombarded the camp with artillery and then slaughtered their way in. Everyone, high and low, was killed.

Hearing the sound of gunfire and artillery, the already despairing Nanjing Banner people believed that a Han massacre was about to fall upon them. These people took the poison they had prepared and committed suicide one after another.

According to statistics, by May 15, 1911, in the city of Nanjing, which once had nearly forty thousand Banner people, fewer than three hundred remained.