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Text Chapter 190 Finance and Submarines

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    When Yang Qiu and the others were worried about Japan, the lights in Wuchang were also not extinguished.

    The former Hubei Consultative Bureau has been occupied by the Southwest United Council, so a new government building is already under construction. Currently, Tang Shaoyi has to move the Government Affairs Department to the former Huguang Governor's Palace. As for the Inspector's Office, it is temporarily placed in Zhang Biao's former governor's office.  Yamen, the General Staff Headquarters returned to the original 42nd Biao Camp in Hanyang to work.

    At night, the guards at the entrance to the government affairs department change their posts every two hours. When the soldiers change their posts, they never glance at the small conference room with the lights on. They secretly wonder why the lights always go out until early in the morning these days. Could something big happen again?  ?

    Tang Shaoyi looked a little tired in the conference room. He was 50 years old after all. Besides Zhang Taiyan, there were Shen Shukai, Zhang Wenjing and others next to him. Although Zhang Wenjing was wearing a military uniform and was nominally the chief of logistics of the National Defense Force, everyone had guessed that he might not be here soon.  Even he himself is well prepared to leave the army and become the Minister of Finance. He not only supplements his knowledge in this area, but also looks for talents who have studied economics abroad to form a special team. Recently, he has even dug out talents from Austro-Hungarian and Russian prisons.  There are more than a dozen economic talents who are said to be well-known in Europe, and several of them are Jewish economic consultants who are best at managing finances and making money.

    Tang Shaoyi lit a cigarette to refresh himself and asked, "Wen Jing, how is the war going?"

    After all, Zhang Wenjing is still in the army, so he knows better than those present. He introduced: "There is no serious problem in the southwest. After Lu Rongting and Cai E fully cooperated, all the armies in the southwest have been integrated by us, except for the Yunnan bandit suppression operation.  Outside the country. The security and post-work guard corps of Guizhou and Guangxi provinces are competent. The current military operations in the southwest are all funded by collected funds and materials. It will not affect our financial operations for the time being. Wait until March  That would roughly integrate finance into our current system.

    The confrontation continues in the direction of Wushengguan.  After Xin County was occupied by us, Beiyang temporarily suspended military operations, and the commander did not give us an order to continue the attack.  However, recent intelligence shows that the Beiyang Army in Henan is mobilizing very frequently and is likely to make a comeback. Moreover, Shaanxi seems to be frequently taking action in the past few days.  The 7th Division recruited by Yuan Shikai has been trained. Song Ziqing is worried that they will cross the Qinling Mountains and attack Sichuan directly. Therefore, the 4th Division will conduct a major exercise in a few days and take the opportunity of the exercise to make preventive deployments.  "

    Zhang Taiyan heard that Beiyang was making a comeback.  Worry asked: "How many new troops are being formed?"

    Zhang Wenjing opened the notepad, took a look at it and said: "Xiangpu (Cai Jimin's courtesy name) is in charge of the formation of six brigades. I heard from him that veterans from Yunnan and Guangxi have formed three brigades, but two of the Yunnan Army brigades are not satisfied.  The required soldiers and the soldiers of the remaining three brigades are being recruited from three places. It is expected that they will all be in place before the end of next month and sent to Changsha for training. The money can be raised from the money collected and auctioned during the [Anmin] operation. Two guard division stations  The needed veterans are also coming to Hanyang. I have already placed an order for equipment purchase. However, these two divisions are quite expensive. It is estimated that it will cost 6 million to complete the formation. Calculating the remaining money in the [Anmin] operation, we will need  Use them all to form an army."

    Zhang Taiyan is still a little worried.  He asked: "When will these troops be put to use? I heard that the size of Yuan Shikai's troops is almost 200,000."

    "The Guard Division should be very fast. Half of them are veterans. The remaining half of the recruits are also retrained in the reserves. All training will be completed by the end of March at the latest. It depends on the equipment now. Other problems are not big, mainly machine guns  Liu Qingen said that he can only make 100 per month if he can survive. This time, two divisions will need 700. Even if the inventory is taken out, it will not be completed until at least the end of June. So I guess it will have to wait until it can be fully drawn out.  It's the beginning of July." After Zhang Wenjing finished speaking, he remembered something again. He opened his notepad and flipped through a few pages before saying, "The flight team sent a telegram this morning. The first aircraft we copied has been successfully tested a few days ago. We will wait for Germany next month.  Construction can start as soon as the engines arrive. A total of about 50 will be built this time."

    Tang Shaoyi understood what Zhang Taiyan was worried about and laughed: "Don't worry too much, Binglin. I think it will be difficult to fight within a year."

    "Why? His surname is Yuan Shikai, and his surname is not Tang." Zhang Taiyan was still as crazy as ever, and said without restraint: "Chief, you have been kicked out, so what you say doesn't count."

    "Hey!" When it comes to crazy talk, ten Tang Shaoyi are not as good as one Zhang Luoyi, so he choked and laughed even himself: "He really doesn't believe Tang, and based on my understanding of him  , this time he is determined to fight, buthe has no money!"

    "We don't have any money either." As soon as Tang Shaoyi finished speaking, Shen Shukai also frowned. The Southwest Bank under his supervision had to go through this link to circulate taxes from various places in order to allow the government to better monitor it. In fact, it has become the future central bank.  Therefore, it is inevitable that this bank will be taken back to the Ministry of Finance, but this matter will have to wait until YangThe decision can't be made until Qiu returns, so he is still responsible for supervision.  However, because he is currently responsible for all major business affairs of the Southwest Government, the outside world believes that he is likely to become the Minister of Commerce after resigning as governor.

    He is the second-largest financial figure in Southwest China after Zhang Wenjing. He also supervises banks, so he has a strong say. He said: "Since the beginning of the uprising, I have been ordered to strengthen hard currency reserves. We have already provided loans from Germany."  The international market has been replaced by U.S. dollar reserves. Your Excellency, you also have 12 million U.S. dollars in our hands. In total, our current reserves total about 53 million U.S. dollars, as well as 30 tons of gold. We have used all of these to issue RMB banknotes.  .

    There are currently about 90 million RMB banknotes in circulation in the market. Through the withdrawal of banknotes and the checks and seizures we made during Operation Anmin, the silver reserves have exceeded 30 million taels, equivalent to about 1,500 tons. This rate is smaller than the 3,000 tons we made before.  It is expected that this is mainly because many people in the country still like to use silver, especially in rural areas. In order to cooperate with the market, we also issued 20 million silver dollars.  The total amount of floating wealth collected during the [Anmin] operation is about 40 million and is gradually being liquidated.  In addition, the taxes paid by various regions are growing rapidly in salt, mining, commercial and customs duties, and agricultural taxes. The overall downward trend is obvious.  Not all statistics for the fourth quarter have been completed.  But judging from the two quarters after the tax reform, it is certain that 60 million will be paid today, and this does not include taxes from the three southwestern provinces.  According to this momentum, it is very possible to exceed 100 million yuan by the end of next year at the latest.  "

    "But" After saying the good news, Shen Shukai frowned and glanced at Zhang Wenjing. Everyone knew that the two of them were going to pay, so they all pricked up their ears.  The latter is also frowning: "This year we have spent nearly 40 million on railways and 30 million on education, not counting that the three southwestern provinces will also start free education next year. The army is in the period of refitting. In the early stage, we built factories and opened mines.  Foreign procurement of equipment is too concentrated, plus domestic military industry and government orders, military support, etc., actual expenditures of 70 million, 25 million for agricultural and water conservancy construction, and 27 million loans to promote industry, commerce and special zone construction have been issued. In addition to government expenses and other expenses,  In fact, we have already spent up to 220 million this year!¡±

    Zhang Wenjing smiled bitterly: "In addition to using up all the loans we obtained, actually we have already poured in 10 million yuan, and we have also spent all your personal money. This time I guess he  I have to find someone to borrow money for the wedding.¡±

    After everyone was silent for a moment, they burst out laughing with schadenfreude. After laughing, Shen Shukai held back his laughter and said: "Actually, it's not that pessimistic. We still have money to calculate, which is government-led trade income."

    As we all know, after the Wushengguan Defense War began, we were worried that the war would spread to the three provinces, and the Sichuan Road Protection Movement started a prairie fire.  As a result, the price of tung oil and other products dropped by nearly 30%, and businessmen were eager to cash in. At that time, Yang Qiu and Shen Shukai planned to hoard a lot. Later, after he reached a deal with Germany and got the money, he even hoarded crazily. This batch of goods later  They were all brought back to Europe for sale by a steady stream of freighters from Germany and the United States. The profit alone reached 15 million. Excluding half of the profit paid to Yang Qiu, the actual government revenue was 8 million.  And Yang Qiu never touched the money.  In addition, because the yen continued to depreciate against silver, Shen Shukai, who was familiar with the Japanese market, used the hard currency in the hands of Southwest Bank to buy high and sell low several times to earn a price difference of nearly 20 million.

    28 million yuan.  This is equivalent to about 5.6 million U.S. dollars, which is enough for a larger battle.  But if this money is spentwhen the finances of the three provinces of Yunnan, Guizhou and Guangxi are merged next year, the fiscal budget will face a huge deficit that may exceed 50 million!  And even if centralized industrial procurement slows down, based on this year¡¯s fiscal growth of 15%, it will take five years to smooth out the deficit revenue!

    Although Yang Qiu previously predicted that after the huge investment in the early stage, there will be a big industrial and commercial tax explosion within three years, but everyone is a little worried. If the outbreak does not occur, or if it occurs, it is far less than expected, then when the territory expands again, the deficit will  The scale will grow exponentially!  Unless only the three fat areas of Jiangsu, Zhejiang and Guangdong are taken, and the tariffs controlled by foreigners can be set independently, there may be no hope of wiping out the deficit within ten years.

    So this number, let alone Madman Zhang, even the seasoned Tang Shaoyi took a breath!  He held his forehead and asked, "Isn't there something I can do?"

    Zhang Wenjing glanced at Shen Shukai and said: "There is no way. Mr. Dai De, the U.S. minister and representative of the U.S. banking group in China, has handed us a letter from the "American Asia Association." Wall Street said that tariffs can be used as collateral, as long as the  If 50% of the tariffs we control are handed over to the United States every year, they can provide us with a loan of 50 million US dollars. However, your Excellency has rejected the tariff pledge because he insists that there will be a big explosion in fiscal revenue in three years, with a loss of 50 million US dollars.  Gaining tariff control would cause huge losses, so he insisted on using fiscal revenue as collateral, so that tariff revenue would not be affected. We informed the US of the conditions last month, but we have yet to receive a reply."

    To Yang QiujianTang Shaoyi and everyone were always a little skeptical when it was said that there would be a big explosion in fiscal revenue in three years. After all, they didn't know that the war in Europe would start in two years, but everyone was not very willing to use the remaining tariff shares as collateral. After all, even if  If there is no major outbreak, there will always be small outbreaks. The growth rate of tariffs is also the fastest and most stable fiscal revenue at present. It is not cost-effective to give 50% to the United States in vain.

    So after thinking about it, he also said: "The tariffs cannot be moved. If the United States does not agree, then find a way to reduce the loan amount. Anyway, after getting the loan, we can issue banknotes at twice the rate and tide over the current difficulties."

    Everybody nodded.  Just as he was about to discuss where he could dig out some money for an emergency, Gu Weijun knocked on the door and walked in.  He just came back from the United States last month. Tang Shaoyi immediately asked him to be her secretary after learning about it.  In addition, he had been in love with Tang Baoyue, the daughter of Tang Shaoyi, for many years, so he decisively abandoned the Beiyang government he originally wanted to serve and came to Wuchang.  In fact, half of Yang Qiu's reason for poaching Tang Shaoyi was to get him, so after his arrival, Yang Qiu personally held a grand welcome reception for him and a dozen young people studying in the United States who came back at the same time, and also used the reception to host him and Tang Baoyue  engagement ceremony.

    "Commander. Ministers, this is the telegram just sent from Beijing." Gu Weijun didn't speak very fast, but he had a sense of rhythm. After a pause, he placed the telegram in front of Tang Shaoyi.  Copies of other transcripts were also distributed to everyone. From this small thought alone, it can be seen that this young man is very organized in his work.  After distributing the telegram, he continued: "The Presidential Palace has sent Yang Du, Yuan Keding and Wang Jingwei to Wuchang, and hopes to invite the inspector and Mr. Song Duchu to Tianjin to participate in the tripartite talks."

    Tang Shaoyi's face changed slightly after reading the telegram seriously. She took off her glasses and put them aside to look around everyone. She said in a low voice: "I have been with him for decades. This time I'm afraid he is determined to start a fight.  That¡¯s why we tried to stabilize the situation for a while through talks.¡±

    Zhang Taiyan also smelled the peculiar smell in the telegram.  Sighing: "He is not good at operating the political party. After you and Lu Zhengxiang left, there was no one to operate the political party. He brought it upon himself, and now he is forced to take action Sigh. I don't know how wide the implications are this time."

    "No matter how big the involvement is, or whether there will be a fight, we must make preparations in advance." Tang Shaoyi said: "Pei Zhi (Shen Shukai characters), please make a detailed report on the financial situation just now, and wait for the Lord to come back and make a decision for him. Wen Jing  You should communicate more with the military over there. Although we are in charge of civil affairs, it will be very bad if we cannot cooperate closely once the war starts. Others must also be prepared. During this period, try to find ways to reduce expenses and try to save more money.  "

    After he finished speaking.  He returned the telegram to Gu Weijun: "Immediately send a telegram to Shanghai. This news must be told to your Excellency as soon as possible. No delay."

    When Gu Weijun hurried to the telegraph station, Yang Qiu and Zhang Xiaozhun also walked into the German Legation in Shanghai under the leadership of their attendants.  The Bavarian-style reception hall is full of German charm. If Traun is rigid enough, then the German minister in Shanghai is expressionless at all. His big beard makes him look a bit like the famous father of the German navy.  Tirpitz.

    Alfred von Krautz's name shows that he is a nobleman canonized by the Kaiser. If there is anything else that is most impressive besides his beard, it may be the brown eyes, and these eyes finally look  When the value of the drawings brought by Shen Shukai for the first time reached Yang Qiu's first pot of gold.

    Traun looked at Zhang Xiaozhun twice and then exchanged a few words. After the Indian waiter brought the coffee, Yang Qiu picked up the cup with a smile: "Perhaps it should be replaced with Bavarian dark beer, which is more suitable for now."

    Beer is still rare in China these days, and even if it does exist, it is all produced in the United States. So Yang Qiu's words suddenly brought several people closer together. Krauz was also a little surprised. According to his information, this young man  I have no experience of studying in Germany, so how do I know about Bavarian dark beer?  But he wasn't too surprised. After all, there were many people around him who had studied in Germany. He smiled and said, "Your Excellency, the Commander, must be a wine lover."

    "No, I don't drink much, but I admire Archduke William V because he finally made those damn black-hearted businessmen no longer dare to adulterate their wine with hateful brown sugar."

    Archduke Wilhelm V issued the famous purity order in 1516. So far, Bavarian beer has no other additives except water, hops and barley, making the beer quality and taste much better, establishing the reputation of Bavarian wine.  Maybe people who love wine can tell this in Europe, but in the Far East I have to say that this young man is really not simple.  So Krauz also smiled for the first time and said: "Your Excellency Commander, I am really surprised. The purity order allows us to taste real wine, and it also gives Germany the most important credibility."

    Zhang Xiaozhun listened secretly in admiration. Yang Qiu¡¯s understanding of Germany had surprised him. Krauz could quickly switch from wine to German credibility.?He is indeed a senior diplomat.

    ¡°Credibility and rigor breed the best products, so I was attracted again.¡±

    When Traun heard that he was here to purchase, he thought he was mentioning the hydraulic press thing that day, so he took a precaution and said: "Your Excellency, Commander, if you want to purchase a hydraulic press, I think there is nothing we can do about it."

    Yang Qiu had given up on the super large hydraulic press and waved his hand: "I don't need such a large hydraulic press, at least not yet. I don't have the money to build a super battleship. But our country's fleet is facing the dilemma of aging and single model, so I want to purchase it.  Several U-shaped submarines and pressure-resistant steel technology from your country.¡±

    ???????? Submarine?   Traun glanced at Krauz and smiled: "There is no problem. Pressure-resistant steel technology can also be sold. But that requires ordering a sufficient quantity."

    Yang Qiu was not surprised that he would be so happy to sell submarines and pressure-resistant steel. In fact, before the start of World War I, the whole world was at a loss about the use of submarines. Although Germany was relatively well developed, it was equally dissatisfied with its tactical use.  As for the subsequent submarine strangulation battle, it was also because the fleet was forced to use it in the bay by the British. Only then did the world's most perfect submarine tactics be explored, but it also led the German Navy into a huge misunderstanding.

    Facts have proved that any idea of ??basing naval victory on submarines is wrong. Before the advent of nuclear technology, submarines were only an auxiliary means. He wanted to purchase submarines not to defeat the Japanese navy, which was still unshakable, but in the hope that  Can have the ability to contain the Yangtze River estuary.  Try to ensure that once the historical trajectory is completely changed, the Japanese fleet will not be without countermeasures when it enters the Yangtze River. It is also to allow the navy to explore the use and tactics of submarines early.

    Originally, his idea was that in the event of a war with Japan, he would just imitate the Ottomans and block the Yangtze River waterway with hundreds of mines and trap himself to death.  But later I felt that it was too whimsical. I guess Britain and the United States would have to fight against me, so I had to choose a submarine in the end.

    "If you are willing to purchase 20 ships, I can get the pressure-resistant steel technology for you."

    Zhang Xiaozhun almost spit out his coffee after hearing this!  When he was studying in Germany, he saw submarines and inquired about the cost. Currently, each ship costs about US$200,000, 20 of them He glanced at Yang Qiu and thought that maybe Wuchang would go bankrupt first.

    Of course Yang Qiu would not be stupid enough to buy 20 ships.  Even if there is more money, it will not be so boring. He flipped his wrist and said: "Six ships. As trade compensation, I will purchase 50 more crawler tractors and 300 trucks from your country."

    How much does a tractor and truck cost?  Selling a production line is only about 300,000 US dollars. Of course, the rigid Krauz is unwilling and shakes his head: "I know that the commander has registered a multi-national patent for your new mortar, and even our country has not let it go. So, you  Purchase 10 shipsand provide this patent to our country for free."

    Damn, your eyes are so poisonous!  Yang Qiu secretly cursed: "Six ships, the pressure-resistant steel technology, tractors and trucks remain unchanged, plus 50 training torpedoes and 200 450mm blackhead torpedoes. This is my greatest capability. As for the mortar patent  You know, a lot of countries are interested."

    Zhang Xiaozhun, who had never experienced foreign-related business negotiations, pricked up his ears. It was the first time he saw Yang Qiu entangled with Germany like a scoundrel. Similarly, Krauz and Traun had also learned a lot and blackmailed Yang Qiu's skills little by little.  After hours of hard bargaining, Yang Qiu finally allowed Germany to use its mortar patents free of charge in exchange for pressure-resistant steel technology, 50 crawler tractors and 300 trucks. He also secured a second tractor production line and agreed to help train naval submarines.  soldiers.

    As for the submarines and torpedoes that were finally sold at a price of US$270,000 each, Yang Qiu also put forward some of his own requirements, such as using the snorkel provided by himself, increasing the number of torpedo tubes to four in the front and one in the back, and also needing to be able to carry five spares.  Lei, according to his own calculations, the displacement will reach about 500 tons. He also required that the submarine and all transactions must be completed before August.

    For Germany, which can build several submarines a month, building six submarines of several hundred tons will have almost no impact on its naval plans. However, Traun kindly reminded the sailors of the problem and suggested that he send sailors to the German factory.  We will supervise the construction while conducting training and exploration, so that it can be initially put into use by the beginning of 2014 at the latest.

    ¡°It¡¯s hard to say who loses or gains from this transaction. Germany has obtained modern light mortar technology, and can finally get rid of the iron knots currently used. With the addition of Miss 70 technology, the German Army is stronger.  And Yang Qiu obtained pressure-resistant steel technology and a second tractor production line. Although submarines are more expensive, at least the diversification of the navy can start slowly. At least once there is a change, the situation of Japanese warships entering and exiting the Yangtze River unscrupulously can be slightly eased.  contain.

    Of course, he felt uncomfortable spending so much money, so he did not forget to ask Germany to send a dozen diesel engines as spare parts, intending to take them back to the factory for imitation and research. Although he had a better model in his data machine, the drawings  replaceWithout the physical objects, low-level imitation can cultivate the design and improvement capabilities of the technical department.

    After leaving the German concession, before he could solve the headaches of oil and sailors, the news that Yuan Shikai wanted to negotiate for peace had already arrived.

    ****

    ps: America-Asia Association: A financial organization dominated by Wall Street in Asia. It is a very interesting organization. It was the first organization to demand recognition of the status of the Republic of China. Unfortunately, the voice of the United States was too weak at the time.  He also led the subsequent withdrawal of the United States from the Four-Nation Banking Group, and planned the famous "Lansing Ishii Agreement" and the US government's jump in the arms embargo against China in 1917. Because the Chinese arms market was almost unified by Japan after the European war, the United States did not gain anything.  interests, so he simply played dirty, causing the Japanese government to lose more than 100 million yen

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