Demarcation of boundary sites and land circle purchase of Changchun Commercial Port (Part 1)

In July of the thirty-third year of Guangxu (1907), the commercial port companies in the three major cities of Changchun, Jilin and Harbin in Jilin Province "died of poor planning and ineffective quitting". This defeat proves that opening a port in the form of an official, supervisor, and commercial office is not feasible, and can only be run by the government. At this time, because the northeast had just been changed to a provincial system, a large number of new institutions had been set up, officials at all levels were constantly changing, and everything was in the exploratory stage, so the opening of ports in various places was temporarily stopped. Although Xu Shichang, the governor of the three eastern provinces, ordered the abolition of the commercial port company, he considered the importance of safeguarding the country's interests and rights and resisting the expansion of Japanese and Russian forces, and his determination to open ports and trade was still very firm. Both he and his successor, Xi Liang, regarded Changchun as the central point of the three provinces and the dividing point between the forces of Japan and Russia, where "negotiations are becoming more and more frequent, and outsiders compete with each other with financial, power, and commercial power, and Xian Ji regards the port", which can be described as "the general trend of the three provinces, that is, in Changchun". Therefore, although the initial exploration of opening a commercial port in Changchun failed, the follow-up efforts did not stop.

one

Daotai undertakes the heavy responsibility of opening the port, and the inspector establishes the circle purchase policy

From July of the 33rd year of Guangxu, the Manchurian Railway Annexation carried out infrastructure construction with great fanfare, and by the first year of Xuan reunification (1909), some streets and buildings had been completed, and the annex had taken shape. According to the Japanese, after the completion of the Manchurian Railway Annex, Changchun City "rarely benefited from the railway, and its former prosperity has been replaced by the annex and is deteriorating day by day." The overseers soberly realized that "in the Kuancheng area, now that external troubles have become a problem, we cannot but try to govern it." Chen Zhaochang, the governor of Jilin Province, even believed that in Jilin and Changchun, the way to compete with Japan and limit Japan's power was to build a good commercial port within 3 years. However, how to build a commercial port in Changchun? Who is responsible? There is no answer yet.

With the expansion of Japanese and Russian influence in the northeast region, diplomatic disputes have increased. Changchun, on the other hand, is located in a key area, where Chinese and foreign personnel gather, and the number of negotiation incidents has increased significantly, and Changchun Province has also set up a negotiation sub-bureau for this purpose. Xu Shichang and other high-level officials in the northeast believe that in a place like Changchun, where negotiations are frequent and the geographical location is so important, the prefect is already heavily administrative, and if negotiations are taken into account, it will not be able to withstand so many functions. At that time, after the abolition of the commercial port company in Harbin and Jilin, the port opening matters had long been handed over to officials at the level of Daoists to undertake, so the Jilin West Road Road was also in charge of Changchun's tariffs and port opening matters, which just solved the problem of who would handle the affairs of Changchun commercial port.

Regarding the selection of Daoists, Xu Shichang first considered Du Xueying, a Daoist of BinjiangGuan. Du Xueying had worked as a county magistrate in Nong'an, was familiar with the situation in Changchun, and had long-term dealings with the Russians in Harbin, with rich diplomatic experience, especially the preparation of the Harbin Commercial Port Company, and he also had quite an opinion on the opening of the port. However, since Du Xuesheng's successor, Shi Zhaoji, could not go to Harbin to take over at that time, he himself had some affairs that had not been completed, and he could not take office in Changchun for the time being. In the absence of anyone else, Xu Shichang went to the Qing court, "There is a shortage of military reserves in the western part of Jilin province to be stationed in Changchun, the government affairs are complicated, and the negotiations are increasing day by day, and it is urgent to send personnel to temporarily sign the office to deter people", and recommended Chen Xixian, the general office of the Niuzhuang Weitang Reclamation Bureau, as the temporary acting director. On August 24, 333, Chen Xixian took office, and the Jilin West Road Patrol Road was officially established in Changchun.

Chen Xixian is extremely talented, and was evaluated by his superiors as "an enlightened person, both civil and military, and a rare talent in recent times." Less than a month after he took office, the inspector of Jilin was replaced by Zhu Jiabao to Chen Zhaochang. Chen Zhaochang attached great importance to the matter of the commercial port, and when he arrived at his post, he repeatedly discussed this matter with Xu Shichang, and the consensus of the two was that "the matter of opening the port cannot be left without funds, and then follow the rules, but the division of negotiations and the West Road Road are planned separately." Since then, Chen Xixian has officially taken over the opening of changchun ports.

At that time, the envoy of Jilin was Deng Bangshu, and after he received the order, he took action in the provincial capital of Jilin in October, selecting sites, surveying and mapping, and purchasing land; at the beginning of the first year of Xuanun reunification, he decided to set up a port opening bureau, which "built roads, built building buildings, trained patrol police, and other matters, with the port opening bureau as the organ to undertake", and also put forward the idea of setting up three sections of general affairs, construction, and police affairs within the port opening bureau. These measures also gave a directional demonstration to the later opening of changchun ports. In Changchun, Chen Xixian also "spared no effort in handling various government affairs", and repeatedly went to the provincial capital to discuss important matters such as the opening of changchun ports with the inspectors.

At that time in Changchun, Japanese merchants had begun to pour in, and in addition to staying in the Manchurian iron annex, many people moved to the old city of Changchun and beyond. Chen Xixian once planned to set up a commercial port area to "confine foreigners to the commercial area", which was criticized by the Japanese as "seriously xenophobic". In fact, the concentration of foreign merchants in commercial ports for trade and commerce has always been the guiding principle of Changchun's port opening work, not Chen Xixian's exclusion. After that, Chen Xixian also proposed a plan to build a road in Changchun City, but "due to the lack of funds, all the matters that should be done have not been effective." In the case of nothing to achieve, Chen Xixian also retreated because his identity was a "temporary office" (that is, temporarily responsible for the work of the West Road). It happened that in March of the first year of Xuan reunification, he was promoted by Xu Shichang to an official for "opening up the wasteland of Reed Pond in Yingkou Niuzhuang and making great achievements", and was "introduced to Jinjing". According to the custom of the Qing Dynasty, when the introducing officials had to resign, Xu Shichang and Chen Zhaochang immediately asked Yan Shiqing to act as the agent of Jilin West Road Road by the Jichang Railway Bureau, and on the fifth day of March, he took over the matter. Since then, Yan Shiqing began to shine in the political arena of Changchun.

At that time, the post of Jilin West Road was very important, and Xi Liang once said that the post was a heavy task and that "non-inland roads are lacking comparable", such as "roads should be built, taxes and customs should be opened, and commercial ports should be prepared for land purchase", etc., "all of which are serious problems". When Yan Shiqing took office, Xu Shichang had told him that in Changchun, "all those who rely on to save their interests are in the commercial port," asking him to "try to raise and maintain" and "ensure that the power of the landlord is exercised by himself, and the manager's responsibility is not left to others."

Yan Shiqing was only 35 years old when he took office, and the Japanese commented that he was "flesh and blood, young and promising." Judging from the archival documents, Yan Shiqing has a strong sense of vigilance against the Japanese. From the perspective of the Qing Dynasty's official system, he was only an "agent", and his service time may only be a few months, and Du Xueying, who has already left office, is likely to take over at any time, but Yan Shiqing did not get by, but scrupulously fulfilled his duties and forged ahead. Regarding the rapid growth of the Mantetsu dependency, he "no longer acquiesced, and therefore resolved to open up commercial ports, develop industry and commerce, and compete with the dependent lands." Only ten days after he took office, he went to Fengtian to meet with the governor of the three eastern provinces, borrowed 400,000 taels of silver, as a starting cost for operating a commercial port, building houses, and building roads, and promised to repay it with the income of the commercial port. He went to the provincial capital of Jilin again and explained his plan to inspector Chen Zhaochang about his plan to open the port. After these things were handled properly, he began to circle the boundary site of the Changchun commercial port to prepare for the purchase of land.

For the 16 commercial ports opened in the northeast at that time, officials at all levels vigorously emphasized "self-opening". Therefore, "there are mixed residences without boundaries, and all the management rights are China's own", that is, there is no need to demarcate the commercial port area. However, because Changchun is "enshrined in the charter", its nature is "not less different" from that of the completely active self-opening commercial port, so Yan Shiqing believes that it is still necessary to "draw the boundaries of the port", and the merchants of various countries can only "rent land in the port to build houses and stacks, and live and trade with Chinese businessmen, while all the lots outside the boundary site of the commercial port belong to the interior and are still handled according to the rules." In other words, all outside the commercial port are regarded as the "inland", and the land, taxation and other policies enjoyed by the two are different, and the foreign merchants are concentrated in the commercial port land, and it is convenient to collect taxes through tax customs.

The northern half of the commercial port area originally designated in Changchun was occupied by the Japanese, leaving changchun with only a depth area of about 1,000 meters north of the old city, and even the governor of the three eastern provinces, Xi Liang, thought that it was "difficult to handle", but he and Chen Zhaochang, the governor of Jilin And Yan Shiqing, decided to set up the commercial port here. Chen Zhaochang was even more ambitious, and when Yan Shiqing went to office, he instructed: "Before the Japanese people have purchased the land and acres, they will not be invaded again, and those who can try to buy it within the circle will bargain for recovery." "Circle purchase" means to purchase all the land around the Mantetsu annex and make it official land. If mantetsu wants to buy land again, it must go through the Changchun official to prevent the Japanese side from trading privately with the peasants as before. In this way, its arbitrary expansion will be contained. Since then, the term "circle purchase" has often appeared in relevant official documents, and has also become the guiding principle for the delimitation of Changchun commercial port areas and land purchase. One more inch of land means one more inch of sovereignty. Yan Shiqing implemented the circle purchase policy very thoroughly, and he surveyed it together with the prefect of Changchun and drew a "Map of the Boundary Site of the Commercial Port" and reported it. After the demarcation, the Changchun commercial port area is "about 25 square miles strong, with a total land of more than 13,500 mu". Among them, the main part is between Changchun Beiguan and "Mantie", "counting the length of the eastern boundary of 1,230 zhang, the length of the southern boundary of 900 zhang, the length of the western boundary of 960 zhang, and the length of the northern boundary of 1,950 zhang", and the main part of the "due north, northwest and northeast are connected with the Japanese boundary everywhere". In addition, in order to prevent the arbitrary expansion of the Manchurian iron dependencies, the civilian lands near it were also "circled into the port boundary". In this way, the southern boundary of the Changchun commercial port is the northern wall of the old city of Changchun, the northern boundary is Erdaogou, the eastern boundary is Yitong River, and the western boundary extends from the northwest gate to the northwest, and the southern tributary of the toudaogou on the outside of the western boundary of the Manchurian Railway annex is included until the Middle East Railway annex. Except for the part bordering the Russian station, the Manchurian railway annex is surrounded by commercial ports. Judging from the map of Changchun at the end of the Qing Dynasty, the Changchun commercial port at that time was like a giant stretching out his arms and locking the mantetsu subordinate land tightly. Judging from the actual effect, the circle purchase policy has indeed played a role, effectively limiting the wanton expansion of Japanese forces.

two

Around the matter of commercial ports, there was a dispute over the prefectural roads

According to the regulations, the matter of commercial ports is the responsibility of Jilin West Road. After delineating the commercial port area, Yan Shiqing formulated article 8 of the "Changchun Commercial Port Land Purchase Charter", requested the approval of the superiors, and planned to use 1 million hanging official posts to acquire land, and Fengtian also sent Wang Wenguang, a member of the land purchase committee, to assist in the relevant work. However, at this time, Xi Liang, the governor of the three eastern provinces, issued an official document to Meng Xianyi, the prefect of Changchun, proposing that "with Changchun as the approximate port, we should quickly purchase the lot and demarcate the boundary site for the construction of shopping malls." All matters shall be entrusted to the prudential preparations.".

Meng Xianyi was 46 years old at the time, rich and powerful, and wanted to do something. After receiving the official document, he personally went to the north of Changchun City to investigate the field, and also set up a land purchase bureau in the palace, and then reported to Yan Shiqing, asking him to send a surveying and mapping committee to circle the boundary site of the Changchun commercial port together, that is, "from the east river of the Dragon King Temple outside the East Gate, the northeast, due north, and northwest are all connected to the demarcation of the 'Mantetsu' and the Japanese consulate, and the west to the Qianyou gate is the end, and the south is close to the city wall." A notice of land purchase was also posted, requiring that the land within the boundary site of the commercial port should not be leased and cashed out privately, and that "after the survey is determined by the government, it will be paid preferentially according to the current land price, so as to build a shopping mall." Meng Xianyi also personally led his subordinates to survey and map each family's land section by section, starting from the "critical land" near the side of the Manchurian iron annex, and erecting wooden stakes as boundary markers.

As with land expropriation today, the expropriation site requires a compensation agreement with the owner. To this end, the official usually issues a land purchase charter as a guide to the action of the land purchase work, including the scope of the land purchase, the price, the land acquisition procedure, etc. Meng Xianyi also drew up a set of land purchase plans, namely the "Changchun Province Commercial Port Land Purchase Guidelines", a total of 11 articles. Regarding the purchase price of land, officials at all levels believe that the price of the Mantetsu annex should be referred to and divided into 3 grades, namely 1000 hanging, 500 hanging and 300 hanging. However, Meng Xianyi believes that the land purchased by "Mantetsu" was all barren land far from the city, and the Japanese side had increased the land price to 2,000 hangings when it purchased the land for the consulate. Most of the land in the Changchun commercial port circle is close to Changchun City, and it is not appropriate to refer to the purchase price of "Mantetsu", otherwise it will arouse public resentment. Meng Xianyi divided the purchase price of land into 6 grades. At that time, the western part of Changchun City, about between Pingzhi Street and Xisi Road, about the west of today's Main Road, was already lined with streets and alleys, with many houses, the famous lively street, the fortress behind the city, as well as the middle school, the persuasion institute, the Tongshan Hall and other government institutions, all in this area. East of the main road, there are also villages such as Laotingtun and Tielingtun and institutions such as the British Women's Hospital. This near-city block is planned to be issued 2,000 cranes per embankment, 1,500 cranes per area near the old city and the South Manchuria Railway, 1,000 cranes in depressions, 500 cranes in remote areas, and 300 cranes in remote and low-lying areas. Grave relocation fees are paid according to the standard of "full iron", and each seat is paid 15 hangings. In addition, the Dragon King Temple, Middle School Hall, Tongshan Hall, Persuasion Institute, Li Gong Ancestral Hall, Women's School, Women's Hospital, Men's Hospital, etc., are all religious sites, public property or public welfare institutions, so they are reserved and not purchased. The building of the house is divided into earthen bricks, the well spring is divided into depth and shallow, and the trees are divided into sizes and are compensated. At that time, it was already the end of the fourth month of the lunar calendar, and a lot of land had been cultivated, and Meng Xianyi made a special stipulation for this that the land that had been sown, if it was not used in a hurry, even if the land price had been paid, farmers were still allowed to harvest it when the crops were ripe in the autumn. If it is not used for more than one year, the farmer is still allowed to rent out the land in the second year, so that the land is not deserted.

After Meng Xianyi issued the notice of land purchase, he and Zhou Yuren, an official of the West Road Bureau, "gathered the land households, the eyes were the same as the rope, the registration number, and the sketches", and the whole process was personally and extremely busy. The finishing process took only about 10 days, and the speed is not fast, involving 73 landlords and 1111.95 acres of land purchased. Because the given price is relatively fair, from the best to the sympathetic to the villagers, but also "to the great righteousness", so the whole process did not encounter any obstacles.

On the fifth day of the first month of May in the first year of Xuan reunification, Meng Xianyi reported the land purchase process, as well as the land purchase regulations, the names and acres of land purchase households, and the expenditure of the land purchase bureau, respectively, to the governor of the three eastern provinces and the governor of Jilin province, and copied it to Yan Shiqing.

Compared with Song Chunting, the governor of Changchun in the era of the commercial port company, who did nothing for half a year, Meng Xianyi completed the demarcation of the commercial port and the measurement of land in less than a month, and his execution ability can be described as quite strong, and the superiors should have given commendations, but in terms of division of labor, Yan Shiqing was the main person in charge of the port opening work, which made Chen Zhaochang, the governor of Jilin who was ignorant of this, extremely angry, and he immediately gave instructions in Meng Xianyi's submission: Yan Shiqing has drawn up a land purchase charter, "very compromised, and now it should be re-established from scratch, and many of them have not been verified." ”; And "self-purchase of private land, the price of aiding outsiders, the obvious intention to buy well, regardless of public funds", requiring land to be divided into three grades, and the land price will be greatly increased or reduced; The establishment of a bureau to buy land will cause unnecessary expenses and so on. In the end, Chen Zhaochang explicitly rejected Meng Xianyi's statutes, asking him to consult with Yan Shiqing in case of trouble, and not to allow any extravagance and waste.

"Willing to save and buy well, regardless of public funds" means that Meng Xianyi gave too much price and disregarded the interests of the state in order to buy people's hearts, which is a very serious problem. If you compare the purchase price of "Mantetsu", the price of 2000 cranes seems to be twice as high, but it is more reasonable. Because the time of the "Mantie" land purchase was In April of the 33rd year of Guangxu, at that time, Every two silver in Changchun was equivalent to 3 hanging 940 yuan. In May of the first year of Xuantong, it has risen to 5 hangings and 280 texts, and the inflation rate has reached about 76%. Moreover, the lots given for 2,000 hangings are all near the city, and have long formed a bustling street market, which is completely different from the "wilderness wilderness" purchased by "Mantetsu" a few kilometers away from the city, and the land price is definitely higher. Even in the private sector, the land near the city has "no price, and the asking price is more bizarre". Moreover, in the thirty-fourth year of Guangxu (1908), Japan had already given a price of 2,000 hangings when purchasing consular land in the same area. Meng Xianyi also deliberately explained in his submission: "I think it is too much, and in the local households, I think it is also a loss."

Chen Zhaochang drafted the reply on Meng Xianyi's submission on May 13, and he sent a telegram of about 300 words to Yan Shiqing as early as the ninth day of the first month of May, that is, the day after receiving the submission. The cable said that Meng Xianyi did not follow the land purchase guidelines drawn up by Yan Shiqing and drafted another charter without authorization, "how important is the stake in this matter", especially the sudden doubling of the land price, which has no place to raise under the condition of financial constraints. He also clearly characterized Meng Xianyi's behavior: "But it is better to know than to see the merchants, not to imagine the overall situation." At the same time, he unceremoniously criticized Yan Shiqing, who usually claimed to be smart and sensitive, so why did he not even know about such a serious incident this time?" If you do not ask for instructions early, you will inevitably be appointed negatively." He also asked Yan Shiqing to turn around and Meng Xianyi not to make other branches and start another stove, so as not to affect the overall situation.

At that time, Yan Shi qingfeng was in full swing, and Xi Liang and Chen Zhaochang were playing a request to change it from "agent" West Road road to "trial office", that is, preparing to enter the probation period, and the great future had just begun. Chen Zhao's criticism that "if you don't ask for instructions early, you will inevitably have a negative appointment" may make the trial office a disaster. Therefore, on May 13, Yan Shiqing gave Xi Liang and Chen Zhao a courtesy letter to defend their innocence and accuse Meng Xianyi of acting without a superior. After saying that after his land purchase charter was unscripted, local officials and other relevant personnel, including Meng Xianyi, "read it together, and said that it was thorough and had no need to change", and then the charter was submitted to the Inspector of Jilin and the Governor of the Three Eastern Provinces, and received evaluations such as "extremely thorough" and "appropriate". And Meng Xianyi did not say it to his face, and changed it without authorization behind his back, which made him very embarrassed as a boss. He believed that Meng Xianyi dared to "wipe out" the statutes that had been "appraised" by the governor and the governor, and that he "had no office and could have imagined it." Finally, Yan Shiqing also explained that he had never heard of this matter before Meng Xianyi submitted the charter, so according to the inability to report it, it was his duty to open the port. He also asserted that under the circumstances of the Japanese side's eye, Meng Xianyi "acted without authorization, and everything is not debatable", which will definitely lead to the failure of the port opening cause.

The core meaning of Yan Shiqing's text is that Meng Xianyi not only despised him, but also did not put the governor and the inspector in his eyes, which was very lethal. In the Qing Dynasty, there was a popular "official recipe" in the official circles: "Offend the small people, offend the imperial court, and do not offend the superiors and squires." Yan Shiqing was a Daoist of the West Road, and although he was not Meng Xianyi's direct superior, he controlled Changchun Province, and the Provincial Government worked with the city, and still had a say in Meng Xianyi's promotion. Yan Shiqing's attitude showed that he could no longer tolerate Meng Xianyi, and Meng Xianyi was reprimanded by Chen Zhao's frequent telegram, discouraged and lazy, and was also ready to "ask for resignation." At this point, the contradictions between Yan and Mengmeng could not be reconciled. The dispute over changchun fu road triggered by the opening of the port once became news and was repeatedly followed and reported by the media at the time.

At that time, Meng Xianyi had only been in Changchun for 7 months, but he had already made a prominent political reputation and was well recognized by the gentlemen. According to the folk customs of the time, the gentry of Changchun Province were ready to convene various urban and rural congresses to try to retain Meng Xianyi, but the congress had not yet been convened, and on May 16, Meng Xianyi received a telegram from the governor and the inspector, replacing Meng Xianyi with Xu Yuanzhen of the Twin Cities Department, and Meng Xianyi demoted the Shuangcheng Hall tongzhi and asked them to go to their posts quickly, without waiting for the official document of official transfer. Calculated by date, this should be the day after the Overseer receives Yan Shiqing's submission. The reason for such a rapid, according to media reports at the time, was caused by Xi Liang's anger after reading Yan Shiqing's submission.

According to the convention, Meng XianYi has been in the official arena for a long time, and it is impossible not to know the procedures and rules, and he made this low-level mistake, which can be described as full of doubts. Judging from the official documents he reported and the notices he issued, it has always been emphasized that it was the "Fengdu Xianzha Edict" that promoted this work, and did not mention Inspector Chen Zhaochang, so Meng Xianyi should have directly adhered to Xi Liang's intentions. It was impossible for Xi Liang not to know that Yan Shiqing was in charge of the opening of the port of Changchun. Moreover, at that time, he was touring the two provinces of Jihei in the north, and after arriving in Changchun on the morning of the tenth day of the first month of May, "he accompanied the west road Daoyan observation, the patrol police general tang observation, and the government zun Meng Taishou, inquired in detail about local important government and the purchase of land in the commercial port", and after lunch, accompanied by Yan, Meng and others, "went to the address of the commercial port outside the north gate to check the surroundings", of course, he knew that the executor of the port opening affairs was Meng Xianyi and not Yan Shiqing. And Yan Shiqing's statement that he did not know in advance is also a cover-up of the facts. Because from the official documents, Meng Xianyi reported to Yan Shiqing in advance, and the two sides also jointly sent personnel to complete the surveying and mapping of the commercial port. Meng Xianyi issued a notice to measure the land outside the Beiguan with great fanfare, which was reported by the newspaper many times, and everyone in Changchun City knew it, and Yan Shiqing should not be unaware of the relevant news. Meng Xianyi's submission on the land purchase situation had been copied to Yan Shiqing, and Yan Shiqing had also received Chen Zhaochang's telegram earlier, but he did not explain the matter to Xi Liang, but angrily denounced Meng Xianyi in the form of an official document on May 13, during which he should have received Chen Zhaochang's support and agreed to express his views with a fierce attitude. Therefore, Meng Xianyi made such a mistake, most likely due to the contradiction between Xi Liang and Chen Zhaochang. At that time, Xi Liang was not long after he became the governor of the three eastern provinces, he did not fully trust Chen Zhaochang, nor did he trust Chen's compatriots and cronies Yan Shiqing, and did not want to entrust all the work of opening the port of Changchun to Yan Shiqing, so he let Meng Xianyi be responsible for land purchase affairs, and Yan Shiqing was responsible for road construction and housing construction and future management affairs. Meng Xianyi's biggest mistake was to set the land price too high, and he was accused of using public funds to buy people's hearts.

Faced with Chen Zhaochang's fierce reaction, Xi Liang had no choice but to transfer Meng Xianyi away from Changchun and quell the dispute over the government and road. However, Meng Xianyi did not affect his career because of this incident, and Xi Liang's emphasis on him continued to deepen, which also corroborated the above speculation.

After Meng Xianyi surrendered to the Shuangcheng Hall, he was asked by Xi Liang to be reappointed as the prefect of Hulan Province in June, and in December he was transferred to the more important position of the prefect of Fengtian Province, which was the same city as the Governor of Xi Liang. In December of the second year of Xuan reunification (1910), around the issue of epidemic prevention, a second dispute between the provinces and roads occurred in Changchun, and the Taoist officer Li Shu'en was transferred, and Xi Liang was urgently transferred to Meng Xianyi to temporarily take the post of Southwest Road Road and lead the epidemic prevention work in Changchun. Before leaving the northeast, Xi Liang also asked Meng Xianyi to change from "temporary signature" to "trial signature", giving a high evaluation of "only when it can be carried out and is willing to do the facts". This "trial office" laid the foundation for Meng Xianyi's later promotion to the post of Inspector of Jilin Province. [The author is an associate researcher of Changchun Federation of Social Sciences (Chinese Academy of Social Sciences)]