A Second Sunrise: Taiwan of 2020 Sent Back to 1911

[ChrisProvidence]

On Colonialism and Internationalism
By Jean Brodeur
L'Humanité, January 1912

Are all men not brothers?

It is a simple question, is it not?

We, as socialists, claim a brotherhood that does not stop at one border, for the working class does not stop at one border. The Second Internationale is living proof of that.

It is a brotherhood based on the belief that the laborers in London and Berlin have more in common with one another than their King or Kaiser, just as well as the Parisian cobbler has more in common with the Muscovite porter than their President or Tsar.

In Europe and the Americas, we present a united front that stands against militarism and speaks for the working class.

However, the working class is not limited to Europe and the Americas.

Are the laborers on the East Indies plantation not members of the working class?

Are the Indians exploited for their labor not members of the working class?

Are the Indochinese laborers, forced into slavery in all but name by their monarchs, not members of the working class?

The answer is, of course, a resounding yes! Not only do we face a common enemy in the form of capital interests and militarists, but we share in the struggle for respect and dignity.

Is that not why we organize? Is that not why we work with one another? So that we may be treated with respect and dignity?

You know full well that the answer is yes.

If that is the case, why do so many of us continue to hold on to the notion that colonialism can be a force for good? So many of us talk about concepts like "National Colonialism," "National Imperialism," or "Ethical Imperialism" one minute, while decrying exploitation the next?

If you believe this, I have two questions to ask. Do you believe that colonialism, the very system that relies on the exploitation of the working class, is a positive force for the people we claim to support? How can slavery in all but name and the exploitation of the common worker be their means of liberation?

Civilization? The White Man's Burden is the exact same excuse that the capitalists use to exploit the international working class in the first place!

The White Man's Burden is but an excuse by the upper class to turn us against our fellow workers, plain and simple. It is an irredeemable concept in practice, and we would be abandoning our mandate to the working class if we were to support it with a coat of red paint.

While I am a strong proponent of our western values and their merits, it is evident that colonialism is not necessary for the education of our brothers and sisters. One need only look towards the island of the future to see that foreign rule clearly is not necessary.

Furthermore, the very nature of colonialism itself is antithetical to democracy, given its reliance on either local monarchs or foreign overseers. The system itself relies on suppressing those at the bottom of society, an injustice that so many of us stand against in Europe.

With how much we have in common, it is imperative that the working class around the world stand together, united in solidarity.

To that end, I call on the Ninth Congress to reject colonialism in all its forms and embrace the working class across the world.

As the international voice of the working class against exploitation, we must remember that the ideals we believe in are as universal as the fight against those who would exploit us.

 

[ChrisProvidence]

So it turns out the Second Internationale had some… questionable stances on colonialism. While they were more staunchly anti-colonialist in their earlier years, the Second International had elements that were sort of paternalistic towards colonial subjects by 1912.

I like to call it, "White Man's Burden with Red Paint."

Now that the most advanced and democratic place on the planet is located in China, of all places, it kind of throws a wrench in the whole White Man's Burden argument for these socialists.

Also, the Second Internationale will have a Congress in 1912, which means that in all likelihood, there is going to be an argument over this.

I mean, there are going to be two or more socialists in the same room. There's going to be arguments no matter what they talk about.

 

[J-Sail]

Point of interest regarding the "Abandonware": One, in the US, "abandonware" has a somewhat specific meaning already - see the wikipage. This should cover most of what you are struggling with, I think. Two, another option that is relevant, is the Baen publishing model for the included-with-the-hardback CDs - it's free to distribute, but not to sell (other than a maybe cost for the media it's on).

With regards to TTRPGs, something that I can no longer find the source for, it was considered "in poor taste" for most of the major powers to do TTRPG wargaming within their military forces. This was supposedly true up until WWII.

On the issue of Steam - it's great that they had some administrators/superusers on hand, but how are they going to handle the Electronic Funds Transfers? The banks may be able to do electronic check, but Steam is looking for internal funds or flavors of Debit/Credit cards (possibly PayPal); I am not sure that any of the card processing agencies went back with Taiwan.

 

[ChrisProvidence]

On the issue of Steam - it's great that they had some administrators/superusers on hand, but how are they going to handle the Electronic Funds Transfers? The banks may be able to do electronic check, but Steam is looking for internal funds or flavors of Debit/Credit cards (possibly PayPal); I am not sure that any of the card processing agencies went back with Taiwan.

Click to shrink...

I think PayDollar is what is used in Taiwan, so I imagine that is compatible.

Going off of that, the foreigners who didn't have their money in Taiwan are probably SOL, leading to a government stipend program and new accounts created to get them onto their feet.

However, I would imagine that it would take at least a month to get everything back in order on the tech side, with some stopgap measures like pre-paid cards being used while the IT types get everything back together.

 

[Random832]

Point of interest regarding the "Abandonware": One, in the US, "abandonware" has a somewhat specific meaning already - see the wikipage. This should cover most of what you are struggling with, I think.

Click to shrink...

Yeah but it's not an actual legal status, I don't really see how this addresses anything.

Two, another option that is relevant, is the Baen publishing model for the included-with-the-hardback CDs - it's free to distribute, but not to sell (other than a maybe cost for the media it's on).

Click to shrink...

That doesn't cover cases of mixed derivative works that I discussed, nor cases where converting something to be viable on a different medium [software on a different platform is the most obvious case, but making a viable format for synchronized audio and video suitable for downtime markets is going to be something that also requires a significant amount of work] And even putting that aside, "cost for the media" is much less definable for things like books, film, and records than it is for the commodity rewritable media, being copied in small quantities by one person, that that policy was designed for. It assumes labor costs are trivial (and for good reason - they don't really *want* the kind of mass distribution that would involve nontrivial labor costs, something where you have multiple people working in manufacturing and distribution as full time jobs instead of just a handful of people in their spare time would cut into their market. The Baen policy intentionally discourages the kind of mass distribution that should be allowed for the kind of works being discussed.)

Ultimately I'm working from the premise that mass distribution of books, movies, records, and (eventually, when possible) software from the 100 years of missing history to not only everyone on Taiwan itself but also to the rest of the world (which aren't going to have high speed internet connections any time soon) is desirable and that doing so will require a significant amount of work that nobody is going to do for free, and regulations that attempt to prevent people from profiting from doing so will just have the result that that work doesn't get done at all.

To e.g. distribute books to the rest of the world you have to *print* books. Which means you have to pay people to run the printers. And you need to make enough money from the ones that people do buy to pay for those costs on the ones that they don't.

Those works would be better off in legal limbo [where someone could just take the risk and hope that there's no-one in existence who has standing to sue them] than with a specially created status where the government's going to proactively stop you from selling it for a profit.

[I also don't understand the argument for them not being in the public domain anyway. The argument for this special status - that the idea of someone somehow 'getting away with' making money from something they didn't create feels bad - applies equally well to the actual public domain, and any rules meant to remedy this perceived problem have no reason not to also be applied to public domain stuff]

 

[ChrisProvidence]

Those works would be better off in legal limbo [where someone could just take the risk and hope that there's no-one in existence who has standing to sue them] than with a specially created status where the government's going to proactively stop you from selling it for a profit.

Click to shrink...

Which is why I rewrote that section to be effectively public domain.

That, and there just isn't enough manpower and resources to be enforcing copyright law right now. Anyone who would have been tasked with that was probably tasked with streamlining supply chains or something more important.

Much easier to just say "Speak now or forever hold this work in the Public Domain."

 

[Random832]

Which is why I rewrote that section to be effectively public domain.

That, and there just isn't enough manpower and resources to be enforcing copyright law right now. Anyone who would have been tasked with that was probably tasked with streamlining supply chains or something more important.

Much easier to just say "Speak now or forever hold this work in the Public Domain."

Click to shrink...

Fair enough, I hadn't seen that rewrite, I was just replying to the post suggesting a "media cost only" policy [which sounds good in theory until you realize that it's really only viable for hobbyists with CD-R's, Floppy Disks, or tapes, distributing to people capable of reading those things]

(Honestly, 'required disclosure of substantial public domain components' would probably be a decent reform to copyright law in general, but even it runs into issues of who has standing and how enforcement works)

Mass distribution is gonna be chaotic enough as it is with no way for anyone to guarantee that someone who's spent money on producing a print run of books [or e.g. equivalent for movies / music] won't be undercut by someone else doing the same thing with the same titles at the same time, which will probably serve to naturally hold back any 'price gouging' anyway. It's probably realistically mostly gonna be a mix of people trying to get works they consider 'important' or 'significant' out there and trying to defray the costs involved in doing so, and small-batch (and therefore more expensive) prepaid print-on-demand production of stuff that downtimers hear of the existence of and will pay in advance to get copies of, rather than anyone making significant profits anyway.

"What if there were a significant amount of newly public domain works that only physically exist in one part of the world, how would the rest of the world get ahold of copies" is actually a pretty interesting scenario to speculate about on its own for *any* pre-internet era - though the fact that synchronized audio and film is not a fully developed technology in this era makes that aspect particularly interesting. I almost suspect there's gonna be an era when most uptime film and tv available in the downtime world is distributed on film as silent (with subtitles) but in color [since you can run color film in any projector, but sound needs new technology]

 

[ChrisProvidence]

Fair enough, I hadn't seen that rewrite, I was just replying to the post suggesting a "media cost only" policy [which sounds good in theory until you realize that it's really only viable for hobbyists with CD-R's, Floppy Disks, or tapes, distributing to people capable of reading those things]

(Honestly, 'required disclosure of substantial public domain components' would probably be a decent reform to copyright law in general, but even it runs into issues of who has standing and how enforcement works)

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All good. Think we're on the same page.

Actually, the bit that was rewritten was directly i fluenced by your feedback.

That said, yeah, it probably is more of a hassle to try to enforce any kind of Baen style copyright reforms than it's worth.

Now that I think about it, "It's not worth the hassle" is going to be a pretty big kind of mindset when the Chinese bureaucracy is not only growing, but also getting all the downtimers up to speed.

Maybe they'll be able to come up with a more effective policy, say, 5-10 years down the road in-story. By that time, things should hopefully quiet down.

Anyways, time to see how the New China will deal with patent law.

 

[Random832]

Anyways, time to see how the New China will deal with patent law.

Click to shrink...

Patent law has the dubious advantage that since the term is only twenty years, everything between 1911 and 2000 is already in the public domain. So it'll be quite some time before the rest of the world is developed enough to even think about infringing anything that's still patented.

But of course, the other elephant in the room with any kind of intellectual property [and this is gonna bite harder for copyright than patent, but it is going to affect all forms of IP] is - international enforcement of *any* of this, requires treaties. Treaties which, even when downtime China was a party to one at all, may have been effectively abrogated by the fact that all works created before 1911 are in the public domain. Extraordinary circumstances, yeah, but that also means a blank slate for negotiation before anything created in China has any copyright protection in the rest of the world, and I suspect most world powers are going to balk at accepting modern copyright rules with their extreme term lengths even without adding that there's zero protection for any existing works of their own citizens.

I'm not entirely sure the ultimate effect of this kind of time warp, once all the dust is settled, wouldn't be to permanently break the concept of intellectual property.

 

[ChrisProvidence]

Patent law has the dubious advantage that since the term is only twenty years, everything between 1911 and 2000 is already in the public domain. So it'll be quite some time before the rest of the world is developed enough to even think about infringing anything that's still patented.

Click to shrink...

Oh thank God.

I can focus on much lighter topics.

Like how mechanization could lead to tens of millions losing their jobs once the combine harvester is introduced to Mainland China.

 

[Jimmy040]

Oh thank God.

I can focus on much lighter topics.

Click to shrink...

Yes...
The ray of sunlight on this dark day is actually from the solar-pumped orbital death laser , but it is still 'sunlight'.

 

[Fellow Human]

Reactions and uplifting FTW!
Though I don't think we're done with war. There will be war that doesn't involve China, other than support maybe, but also someone is bound to get foolish enough to test China. Not next year, maybe in a decade or three.

btw this story can turn into sci-fi much later on, coz UFO on the North American coast are oficially acknowledged. That's if you're up to making anything out of them. Plot twist, Taiwan isn't actually the most advanced XD

 

[Introverted]

Like how mechanization could lead to tens of millions losing their jobs once the combine harvester is introduced to Mainland China.

Click to shrink...

Thats pretty light in comparison with how mainland and future china functions politically.

 

[ChrisProvidence]

Ishigaki Island, Taiwan, Republic of China, 30 January 1912

"Huh," Aki said aloud. "Michael, do you have a second?"

"Sure. What's up?"

"What exactly is this?" she asked him, pointing to the large piece of machinery in the article. "It's bigger than anything I have ever seen."

"That?" He took a good look at what looked to be farming equipment. "That's a Cotton Harvester, mounted to a tractor. Apparently it's one of those designs they're planning on using to speed up harvesting on the mainland."

"Right. So, how does it work?"

"No idea, Aki. Agriculture machinery's not really my specialty, but I think it goes through the field and sucks up the cotton, bales it all together, and another vehicle picks it up."

"Interesting… And this article says that it should speed up efficiency a hundred times?"

"Probably. Turns out these kinds of machines let one person do the job of a hundred, or even a thousand, people in the same amount of time."

"I see…" Now, she was no economist, but she could appreciate the efficiency at least. "And what happens to the other nine hundred ninety-nine workers who don't have any more work to do?"

"Huh? What about them?"

"Well, if they aren't needed, wouldn't they lose their jobs? Of course, the single person would be making a good living, but the rest of them would lose their only source of income."

"Yeah, when you put it like that…" From the looks of him, Michael didn't really have a good answer for that. "I guess they could find new work? I hear the construction industry is hiring a lot of people. Like, everywhere."

"I guess that works. What happens when they run out of things to build?"

"Honestly, Aki, I don't think they're going to be running out of things to build anytime soon. Plus, the harvesters are still being tested, right?"

"Right. This one in the picture is the first one they built, and they are testing it in the field."

"Well, at least they have that going for them. Besides, there's probably one thing holding them back right now, Aki."

"What's that?"

"It's going to take a while until they reach widespread adoption."

"Really? I thought they were promising the first batch this year."

"China's a big place, Aki. Plus, they're still building the new factories on the mainland. That stuff takes time, even if all the factories over here are working overtime."

"So… the machines in the factories on Taiwan are making the machines that will be used in the factories on the mainland?" It sounded about as weird as it did in her head. "Did I get that right?"

"I think?" Michael just shrugged. "Well, the machinery is probably downgraded to deal with supply chain issues, but basically."

"I see… Will the factories also end up replacing people?"

"Probably not. Hell, we will probably end up with millions working in the textile industry."

Shandong Province, Republic of China, 4 February 1912

Huang Wei was happy to be home. Fighting for the Tongmenghui was something he'd never regret, but he just couldn't see himself staying in the military now that the war was over.

Of course, there was always the political path, but he wasn't that interested in being a politician. Being an active member of society was important, but that didn't mean he needed to be the one running it.

Instead, he'd looked for some odd jobs, ever since he'd come back.

Originally, he had planned on working the fields. Sure, it was a step down for him, but it was honest work. He'd even thought that with Sun's land reforms, he could get himself a nice plot of land.

But one look at that… What was it called? Cotton harvester?

One look at that cotton harvester was all he needed to know that he would soon be out of the job. And if the crowd of men before him was anything to go by, they had gotten the same message.

Sure, they were hard workers and everything, but no amount of hard work was going to compete with a massive machine like that.

Thankfully, some of the local KMT leaders had pointed them in the direction of the construction office.

"There will be a lot to be built," one of his old comrades told him, "And we could use a leader like you who can train people."

Which was how he ended up here, instructing a group of men from his village.

"This," he began, holding up his colored helmet, "is a hard hat. It protects your head from getting pierced, cut, or smashed by any stray tools or objects. You will wear it at all times while you are working. Fail to do so, and you will be warned. Fail to listen to the warning, and you will be sent home."

From the looks of them, they seemed to get the message well enough.

"Good. Now," he continued, pointing to the various tools. "These are the tools you are going to be working with while you are on duty here. Remember that these power tools are faster than your old basic tools. Now, could I get a volunteer?"

One of the men raised his hand. Huang motioned him over and gave him a hammer.

"You know how to hammer nails?" The man nodded, so Huang picked up a nailgun. "Good. You are going to hammer in as many nails into a piece of wood as you can in a minute. Think you can do that?"

"Of course."

Sure enough, the two men spent the next minute competing, with Huang outrunning him by a couple dozen nails.

"As you can see, these are very powerful tools. Treat them with respect, and they will get the job done in a fraction of the time. Fail to do so, and anything that breaks will be coming out of your paycheck."

Haishenwai, Haishenwai Province, Republic of China, 8 February 1912

All things considered, Yurii was having a decent time under Chinese rule.

Sure, these new Chinese were very insistent on their passports and papers, but the increased bureaucracy was a small price to pay for the small improvements that came with them.

After all, it was not as if the Russians were the most benevolent overlord. Russification tended to follow wherever his rule went, even if he and the rest of the Ukrainians here mostly wanted to be left alone.

And then there were the jackets. It may be minor, but these were better jackets than anything he had ever worn before. Despite their light weight, they kept him as warm as any heavy coat he had ever worn.

But what truly stuck out to him was the medicine they had brought with them on the first cargo ship in. It was, quite literally, a life saver.

Artyom who worked at the docks had been battling tuberculosis for weeks, coughing his lungs out while he fought to keep on living.

Then here come the Chinese, promising a medical cure for what had once been a death sentence. Of course he took them up on the offer; any chance at survival was better than no chance.

The process would be slow. There was no such thing as an instant cure, and the doctor had said as such. Still, Artyom was on the road to recovery, and at least he wouldn't be coughing up his lungs anymore.

Come October (assuming he continued to receive treatment), the old cossack would probably be as good as new. Which, given that the man was slowly dying only a few months ago, was a marked improvement.

And then came the machinery. Sure, Yurii knew what an automobile was, even if Russia had been hopelessly under-mechanized. But to see the machinery up close was something else.

A great vehicle with a mechanical claw, this equipment could clear a week's worth of forest in a day. Coupled with the new single-man saws the Chinese had introduced, and productivity had nearly exploded through the roof.

More importantly, none of the new machinery put them out of work. Sure, the machines could outpace any single man, but there were only a couple of them and a vast swathe of forest.

If anything, the loggers that machine did replace found new work supporting it. After all, somebody had to drive the trucks back to Vladivostok. Who better than the men who knew the industry the best?

The funniest thing, however, was that despite the mechanization of the logging industry, the new machines had actually created more jobs than they rendered obsolete. After all, somebody had to fix the new machinery.

Which is how he ended up here, in this garage, with a machine that was as good as new.

"Is it ready?" the old cossack asked him.

"Da, Tyoma. The clutch should be fixed now."

MIB Headquarters, Taipei, Taiwan, Republic of China, 14 February 1912

"You have got to be kidding me," Rachel sighed as she read the report. "They actually agreed to this?"

"Hey, Nanjing wanted solutions to the opium epidemic," Li told her, once again. "This is a solution."

"They are proposing that we help get people off of their opium addictions-"

"Yup."

"…With Cannabis."

"Okay, when you put it like that, Fong, it does sound crazy."

"Which it is."

"It's no silver bullet, but there are some studies from the US back in our time that are pretty promising."

"And what is being proposed is, at the most, a study." Rachel sighed again. "This is one of those things that is crazy enough to work, isn't it?"

"Yup. Plus, it's not like we're going to run out of opium addicts on the Mainland. Maybe this can do some good."

"And if it doesn't?"

"Then we use methadone and rehab."

"You do realize the cannabis is illegal in Taiwan, right? As in, if word got out that we were running medical tests on the drug…"

"I think people would understand what a pilot program is. Besides, everything is above board. We have accredited doctors and everything."

"Which brings me to my next question: Why exactly is MIB getting involved with this? We don't deal drugs to fund our operations. That's the CIA."

"Mostly because this operation is technically illegal in Taiwan. As opposed to the Mainland, where they don't have any legislation on cannabis in the first place."

"That sounds like a grey area, Li."

The man shrugged. "Probably. But what we are doing is technically legal. The best kind of- Oh God, that came out wrong."

That at least got a laugh out of her.

"Somebody has to work on their Phrasing."

"Yeah, alright, Archer. So, do you think it could work?"

"Honestly, Li? A little over year ago, I would say that this is too ridiculous to work."

"A little over a year ago, we weren't sent back in time to right before the Xinhai Revolution."

"Exactly. At this point, precedence has gone out the window."

"Yeah. Throw all your priors to the wind at this point."

"Fair enough."

At this point, Rachel could swear that she had almost been conditioned to deal with the ridiculousness that was known as her job, circumstances, and objective reality.

It was either that, or her mind would have devolved to constant internal screaming at the sheer insanity of it all.

"So," she continued. "We aren't going to be the ones tasked with this op, right?"

If nothing else, it would be a waste of talent for either of us. And a waste of valuable manpower on more serious things.

Like CK2.

"Us? Hell no, Rachel. We have seniority now. Probably even moreso when MIB is finally expanded and reorganized. This'll go to some new guy."

"Alright. And us?"

"New mission."

"Oh?"

"Yup. Hey, have you ever been to Bangkok?"

 

[ChrisProvidence]

Truth be told, I think the mechanization of agriculture and industry on the Mainland, coupled with modern production methods, would probably be a bigger game changer than military technology.

It might also accidentally flood the global market with a stupidly large supply of cheap cotton and other resources, assuming New China is able to open its ports to free trade.

I can see it now:

Europe and America: "I wish China would open up to free trade."

*Monkey's paw curls*

*Global prices of cotton and textiles plummet due to China flooding the market.*

 

[SouvikKundu]

Will china ask for artifacts looted from summer palace? British museum really need to give those back.

 

[ChrisProvidence]

Will china ask for artifacts looted from summer palace? British museum really need to give those back.

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Would be nice, but not the biggest priority.

Getting rid of extraterritoriality and trying to find a way to get back the treaty ports is their top priority.

 

[ChrisProvidence]

It is no secret that we want to take the Concessions. It's Chinese territory, after all.

To that end, we have multiple options to do so:

1. Invasion
Perhaps the most straightforward, we could probably take over the concessions in a week by sheer overwhelming force. That said, we would also be declaring war on at least four European powers. While we would be able to win, we would damage relations with a third of the world.

2. Economic Pressure
Given the exponential projections for Chinese industry over the following years, it is likely that we will be able to out-produce and undercut European powers in multiple sectors (textile, cotton, steel, etc). This would almost certainly lead to the global economy turning to us, rather than the Europeans, for several products. Using this newfound economic pressure, we may be able to negotiate a transfer of territory.

3. Referendums
Through propaganda, coupled with our projected higher standard of living in the coming years, it is likely that any referendum held in these territories would lead to a victory for us.

4. Riots and Intervention
Another option is fomenting unrest with the MIB and arming the rioters with surplus weapons. Afterwards, we could roll in and effectively occupy the territory. It is bloodier, but we would have plausible deniability, at the bare minimum.

5. Outright Purchase/Barter
Assuming we have enough in the treasury, it is theoretically possible to purchase the concessions by buying the Europeans out of their contracts. That said, we probably don't have enough money on our own, so the incentive of modern medicine would need to be on the table as well.

Now, these are five options for liberating the Concessions. Each has its own advantages and drawbacks, and none of them are mutually-exclusive.

That said, these are simply options. They are not necessarily viable options, and must be treated as such.

But at the bare minimum, they are worth considering.

 

[Jimmy040]

It might also accidentally flood the global market with a stupidly large supply of cheap cotton and other resources, assuming New China is able to open its ports to free trade.

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Is the same agricultural mechanization being applied to food production? Old China has always had problems with food security and famine.
Agricultural updates to insure enough food for whole population China will be a incredible improvement to the average Chinese civilian's life.

 

[ChrisProvidence]

Agricultural updates to insure enough food for whole population China will be a incredible improvement to the average Chinese civilian's life.

Click to shrink...

Definitely. Actually, it's probably easier since Taiwan already invests in that kind of equipment to compensate for population issues.

So instead of the engineers at so-and-so factory rushing to jury-rig something onto a tractor, they can already export equipment they already had designed.

And while I was concerned about how farmers might react to mechanization, the greater food security is definitely going to make things easier.

 

[Vadrigos]

Is the same agricultural mechanization being applied to food production? Old China has always had problems with food security and famine.
Agricultural updates to insure enough food for whole population China will be a incredible improvement to the average Chinese civilian's life.

Click to shrink...

Consider also this is a China not swollen with a dangerous population balloon as a result of cold war policies and the one-child program debacle. They're still huge, yes, but no longer 1 billion strong.

 

[ChrisProvidence]

Consider also this is a China not swollen with a dangerous population balloon as a result of cold war policies and the one-child program debacle. They're still huge, yes, but no longer 1 billion strong.

Click to shrink...

It's about 400 million right now, and this China has the benefit of historical hindsight.

So I wouldn't be surprised if there is a baby boom due to greater food security and lower infant mortality.

Should level out after a while, of course. Especially if greater access to contraceptives and family planning become available.

 

[ChrisProvidence]

Moscow, Moscow Governorate, Russian Empire, 28 February 1912

As far as coups went, Wrangel has decided that this was one of the more successful ones. Perhaps on the level of 18 Brumaire, if he was being honest.

Once General Brusilov was brought to the city in chains, Diterikhs expedited the military tribunal. With himself presiding, of course. The generals would all be there, of course; after all, somebody had to preside over the tribunal.

But what was most convenient for the plotting officers was that the Tsar himself had come to Moscow to attend the tribunal. It wasn't according to the original plan, of course, but in hindsight it made sense to the Colonel.

After all, the Tsar had planned to place all the blame for the Eastern Campaign on General Brusilov. Why wouldn't he be present at the military tribunal he'd ordered to get his point across?

Still, they had adapted to the circumstances, and instead launched the coup with the generals and the Tsar both present.

It had been quite simple, really. He and Denikin were in charge of security that day, and they had specifically chosen men they could trust to stand guard, while other trusted men stormed the building.

It was chaos at first. No plan survived first contact with the enemy, of course. But within a few minutes, the Tsar and his loyalists were placed under arrest for incompetence, while the men outside the barricades were none the wiser.

Wrangel could remember it like it was yesterday.

"How dare you defy your Tsar!" the man had shouted at Diterikhs, and all those around him. "You all are as guilty as the general you have sided with!"

"The general you sent on a suicide mission!" Kornilov shouted back, "Him, and the hundred thousand who lay dead in China!"

That, of all things, had served as a rallying cry, with officers who were previously on the fence about taking sides. Quite literally, in this case, as the Tsar watched them walk with the mutineers.

And then? Truth be told, the rest of it was a blur of events, shouts, and threats. The latter largely by Kornilov, of course.

But by the end of it, Tsar Nikolai II had abdicated, and his brother was to be appointed as Tsar Mikhail II, Emperor and Autocrat of All Russias, with the military's blessing.

Or at least he would have, had the man actually been in Russia at the time. No, the Grand Duke was off on vacation in Europe with his mistress and son. And, to their surprise, the man had declined the throne.

Apparently it had to do with the Grand Duke's relationship with Natalia Brasova, as his newfound position would likely prevent him from marrying her.

This in turn meant that the next in line was Grand Duke Kyrill Vladimirovich, the first Grand Duke to pledge his allegiance to the coup plotters. Now, without much other options, save for the sickly Tsarevich, the mutineers had met with him and agreed to have him crowned as Tsar.

Which was how they all ended up here, watching Tsar Kyrill I's coronation. With a fair number of promotions, of course.

Kornilov would be promoted to General of the Infantry, while he and Denikin were promoted to Lieutenant General.

And Diterikhs?

For his role in helping Tsar Kyrill rise to the throne, Diterikhs was promoted the General Field Marshal of the Russian Army.

And Interim Prime Minister until elections were held once more... whenever that may be.

Bangkok, Kingdom of Siam, 17 March 1912

"I take it Bangkok has been treating you well?" Captain Leng Srichand asked his guests as they returned to their quarters. "As representatives of the Republic of China, I do hope your accommodations are suitable for you and your men."

"They are, thank you," Li told him. "We do appreciate the Army's hospitality, of course, despite the dire financial straits of the Kingdom."

"I'll be sure to pass this on to my superiors," the Captain agreed. "And you, Miss Chu? I take it that His Majesty has once again asked that you and
Mr. Young train the Wild Tiger Corps?"

"Indeed," she sighed. "As I have reiterated, the Republic of China specifically permitted us to train the Army. We would need authorization from Nanjing to permit us."

"Did His Majesty believe that?" the Captain asked her. Fong nodded as they walked to an isolated part of the armory. "Good. We wouldn't want you to be training the people we'd be fighting."

"Of course," Li agreed. "How many have agreed to this, anyways?"

"Ninety-one," the captain promised. "Myself included."

"Will that be enough?"

"I believe so. After all, this is an assassination. We need only one good rifle."

"If you say so," Li told him. "Now, as representatives of the Republic of China..."

"You will have no part in this, of course," Leng Srichand agreed, but he flashed a tired smile. "That said, were the King to be assassinated and a Republic declared, would the Republic of China acknowledge us as the legitimate government?"

"I believe so," Fong promised.

Outside Jiaozhou, Shandong Province, Republic of China, 20 March 1912

Laying track was tiring work, but Huang Wei had no doubt that it was honest work.

And with the new inventions that the Taiwanese had brought with them, they were moving rather quickly. Or as quick for his standards, anyways, and he didn't have much of a reference.

Railways were one of the first major projects of the "New China," as they had called it. And that meant building as much rail as they could, as rapidly as they could, so long as it was still in Standard Gauge.

Which meant constant communication between various teams across the country as they all built their own part of the railroad and connect them with one another. Truth be told, the sheer scope of the coordination amazed him, but Huang was happy to not have to deal with something above his pay grade.

No, his job was to make sure his men were working as efficiently as possible, and that meant making sure they were well-rested, well-motivated, and well-fed.

Huang looked over to one of the rice paddies to see a large machine planting rice seedlings by the thousand. Even from this distance, he could see the green seedlings clumped together on a rug-like mat, only for the machine to spit them out in its wake in perfect lines.

Now, he didn't know how they did it, but he knew three things for sure.

He and his men would be well-fed. If they were well-fed, then they would be well-rested. And if they were well-rested and well-fed, then they would be well-motivated.

And the railway would be built in no time, at this rate.

Presidential Palace, Nanjing, Jiangsu Province, Republic of China

"Could you say that again?" President Sun Yat-Sen couldn't believe his ears. "It sounded like you said that rice production would skyrocket this year."

"Yes, that is correct," Wang told him, only to look at the report just to make sure he wasn't seeing things. "Given the introduction of machinery, high-yield variants, as well as fertilizers and modern methods, it is likely that this year's rice crop will actually exceed expectations."

"Exactly how much are we talking, Wang? Ten percent? Twenty?"

"Truth be told, Sun, I don't know. All I have are projections, and they are almost certainly off the charts. I could have the statisticians look over their data once more, but it is likely that this year's rice crop will be enough to get us through the year."

"That is good to hear." Despite his demeanor, Wang could tell that Sun was practically overjoyed by the news. These knew methods and implements have been a Godsend. Perhaps quite literally."

"Of course," Wang agreed. After all, this should, in theory, be enough to prevent a famine, at the bare minimum. "There is one caveat, of course."

Sun nodded, motioning for Wang to continue.

"It is the issue of supply. Despite their best efforts, the Islanders will only be able to have a fraction of the necessary equipment in the field by the time the harvest comes around."

"I see..." Sun shook his head. "With that in mind, Wang, what are the projections, given this shortage of equipment?"

"Without the equipment?" Sun nodded, doing his best to maintain a facade of calm. "Sun, these are the projections without the equipment."

"Do you mean to tell me that despite having only a fraction of the equipment we need for the entire country, we will be able to avert a famine?"

"Yes."

"I see... Now, on to the next crop report. I believe you had some interesting projections about the cotton harvest this year?"

"Yes, I believe so," Wang agreed, and flipped the page. "Factoring in the use of Islander machinery to plant and harvest a fraction of this year's crop, we can expect a harvest of roughly five million bales of cotton. Of course, this number is likely to rise sharply in the coming year as more equipment is produced and production lines are streamlined."

"I see... Exactly how many bales would we be produced by then?"

"Twenty-five million withing five years, though it is likely that we should be able to reach fifteen million with the amount of machinery available by planting season next year."

Sun simply looked at him in stunned silence. Wang just stood quietly until Sun motioned for him to continue.

"For reference, HISTINT has confirmed the United States of America produces approximately ten million bales of cotton at this time..."

Bangkok, Kingdom of Siam, 1 April 1912

Rachel looked through the scope of her Mk. 14, and she looked at the crowd below them.

"Merit-making ceremony."

"A what?" Li turned to her and put down his binoculars. "Never heard of it."

"Buddhist ceremony. Followers give offerings to the monks in exchange for good karma. Or something like that, anyways."

"Oh, right. Like the ones back on Taiwan, right?"

"More or less, Li. Now, do you see the signal?"

"I see it," he told her. "There's two lanterns in the window, as promised. Their shooter is in place."

"Good. And do they know where we are?"

"No. As far as they are concerned, we are still at the hotel. That's what the Hu brothers are going to say if anyone asks."

"Good." Much as she wanted this mission to succeed, she couldn't help but feel a sense of paranoia, just in case it failed. "The less they know, the better."

After all, we aren't supposed to be here, right now. Let alone observing an assassination, of all things.

"So, when do you think they will be- Wait, are those the Wild Tiger Corps? What are they doing there?"

Rachel turned her rifle to see the king's personal unit investigating the window. The men kicked down the door and rushed in, guns at the ready.

"King's still doing his speech," Li observed. "Wild Tigers?"

"Going up the stairs. They should be at the window in three... two... one..."

Sure enough, the Wild Tigers were in the window, investigating the lanterns and the single rifle that was left there.

And then a shot rang out in the distance.

"Target's hit, Fong," Li told her. "You're clear to open fire on the Wild Tigers."

Rachel did her best to calm herself, given the circumstances. Controlled breathing was what she needed right now.

In her sights, she could see the Wild Tigers run out the doorway, right into her field of fire.

"Firing."

The first one fell to the ground, bleeding out of his throat.

"Hit."

"Firing."

The next suppressed round went through one Wild Tiger's heart, killing him instantly, and followed through into a third Wild Tiger's leg.

"Hit. Hold up, friendlies are moving in. Hold fire."

Sure enough, Leng had arrived with several of his soldiers, their weapons aimed at the surviving Wild TIgers.

Then they fired, finishing what Rachel had started.

"Looks like a framing," she told Li. "Window had line of sight to the King when he went down. Wild Tigers show up, King dies, and Captain Leng swoops in to gun down the last 'assassin.'"

"Huh. Think they'll buy it?"

"Probably. Should be enough evidence to convince the public that the Wild Tiger Corps killed the king."

Favored personal unit or not, it would be hard to dispute four dead bodies running with the "murder weapon" out of a building with perfect line-of-sight to the king.

Truth be told, neither she nor Li had expected the rebels to have that foresight. Not when they had picked the shooter by lottery, only for him to get cold feet in their timeline.

"Well, that's one way to start a revolution," Li muttered. "Let's get back to the hotel."

 

[ChrisProvidence]

Rejected Titles for Chapter 37:

"Worst. Bangkok Vacation. Ever."

"Committing Regicide for Dummies"

 

[SouvikKundu]

What is situation in Laos, Cambodia and Vietnam?