Hello everyone, I’m the acting manager for local affairs in and around Tianjin. I have an announcement to make. Our office primarily manages areas within the city walls of Tianjin, but now includes areas south of the Xinhe River in both Tianjin County and Ninghe County, and we must protect the people there. Everyone must follow the rules set by our office when conducting business.
We have divided the areas under our jurisdiction into five sections. The first section is the city of Tianjin and the areas within the city walls, as well as the areas three to four li outside the walls, including these villages:
- Xichang;
- Dongyuzhuang;
- Xinzhuang;
- Baimia;
- Xiaoyuzhuang;
- Dazhi;
- Gutianzhuang;
- Xiaosunzhuang;
- Sijiaosi;
- Ditou;
- Dahongqiao;
- Xiganzhuang;
- Xigu;
- Xinzhuang;
- Dajuean;
- Yangzhuang;
- Xiaoyuan;
- Dayuan;
- Donglou;
- Xiaowangzhuang;
- Xilou;
- Tongjialou;
- Sanyizhuang;
- Hejiakou;
- Xiaoliuzhuang.
The second section covers the northern part of the city, while the third section encompasses the southern part, from Yangjiazhuang all the way to Laomidian. These two sections are separated by the river.
Alright, let's translate this official document into plain language.
This passage states that we have divided the defense area outside Tianjin city into five sections: the fourth section is known as the Military Grain City section, starting from Yangjiazhuang and ending at Gegu; the fifth section is called the Tanggu section, starting from Gegu and ending at the seaside. Each of these five sections has a designated foreign officer in charge of management. The second section is called the North City section, and a certain person has been dispatched there; the third section is called the South City section, with Jialier assigned there, both residing in Tianjin. For the fourth section, the Military Grain City section, Degete has been assigned and resides in Military Grain City; for the fifth section, the Tanggu section, Wole Hanfen has been assigned and resides in Tanggu. Each section's affairs are managed by their respective foreign officers. If anyone has a dispute, they should first go to the foreign officer’s office to file a complaint. If they're still not satisfied, they can appeal to our office.
Before the seventh day of the first month next year, each village must elect three gentlemen to serve as village leaders and report their names and positions to the foreign authorities for record-keeping. Before the tenth day of the first month, the foreign officials must personally visit each village to discuss with the village leaders how many local officers each village should arrange, as well as their uniforms, which must match those from Tianjin. As for everyone’s land and property, the taxes from the twenty-seventh year of Guangxu will be waived, and other taxes will be collected by the foreign officials, who will issue receipts. We, along with the four foreign offices and their staff, are prohibited from accepting gifts from the locals; anyone caught will face serious consequences! Locals should also avoid slipping gifts. I've shared this with everyone, so consider this a heads-up!
