The Government, on Mr. Sheng's advice, acted with firm-
ness and with no intention of changing its plan in the im-
pending crisis. Agitation was then directed against the
manner in which the policy of nationalizing the railways was
carried into effect by Mr. Sheng Hsuan-huai.
To make matters worse, Mr. Tuan Feng (who was later
murdered by the Szechuan people) and Mr. Tsen Chen-
hsuan had brought troops with them upon their mission.
This startled the already angered populace in Szechuan
and elsewhere. The people of Szechuan then demanded
an explanation of such an action. The reply was unsatis-
factory. Therefore, they suspected that the real reason of
the Government's wish to secure control of the railways was
to use them for mihtary purposes in keeping the people in
subjection. The Province of Szechuan passed from agita-
tion to revolt. The avowed revolutionists and constitution-
alists lost no time in taking the long and eagerly looked-
for opportunity of carrying on a hot campaign against the

1 U. S. Daily Consular and Trade Reports, Sept. 9, 1911, no. 2ig.
I20 RAILWAY PROBLEMS IN CHINA [348

Manchu Throne. From city to city, from province to pro-
vince, the fire continued to spread. On October 10, 191 1,
the explosion of a bomb in the city of Wuchang, capital of
Hupeh, signaled the downfall of the Manchu dynasty; and
the world was astounded by the most remarkable revolution
of modern times.
Subsequent events showed, however, that not all the peo-
ple opposed the nationalization policy as such. Most of
them opposed it because of the manner and method by which
the policy was carried out. To say that the revolution was
caused entirely by Mr. Sheng's policy or by the conclusion
of the Hukuang Loan Agreement is to misread history.
