Trouble is brewing in dear old Szechuan again. Dissatisfaction with the present Governor is the reason. The Generals say he will not divide up the money received, for the use of his assistant officials, with the result that they are left to shift financially for themselves. Not so long ago, General Liu I-chin, in command at Chengtu, sent a memorial to Governor Liu Hsiang asking for a share in the Salt Revenue collections. This was ignored and Liu was compelled to "carry on" in the usual way, getting finances as best he could, but all the time becoming more and more dissatisfied with things in general. Any solution of the financial difficulty would be welcome to Liu.
Tue Batance or Power.
A Governor's position in West China is safe and sure as long as he can hold' the balance of power against the remaining commanders in the province. It is not necessary that he be opposed by any one man nearly as powerful as himself, but if there happen to be several of these dissatisfied individuals, more is the trouble for the man in the seat. As long as the Governor can keep the Generals satisfied, he may be left alone to govern as he pleases. Unfortunately Liu has been letting things get out of hand.
He sent Tan Mong-hsin down river, with a hope that some of that general's troops might be decimated which was the case, but Tan saw to it that there were as many of Liu's men lost as his own, and the result was that Liu lost more in power than did Tan. A further and more significant result was the antagonizing of General Tan, a powerful enemy, or friend as Tan chose.
Liu, so Tan claims, fails to send him sufficient finances to run the expeditionary force, and he is compelled to resort to his own wits to supply the where-with-all. This he does by adding a tax on each cargo of salt which passes Kueifu, on its way into Hupeh. Now the Hupeh-ites are compelled to add_ this additional tax to the price of the salt. One does not need to stretch the imagination much to' think that Tan would welcome a change and especially if it bettered his position at all,
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.