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Text Chapter 550 The Year of Foundation Laying

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    On a hot summer day, cicadas are chirping incessantly.

    In the Affiliated Hospital of Hubei National Defense University in Wuchang, Xi'er directed Lei Meng and a dozen guards to drive away these noisy little guys with bamboo poles, for fear of disturbing the second wife in the delivery room.  It is said that women have changed at the age of 18. The little girl Lu Rongting sent to win over Yang Qiu to become a wife is now very beautiful, so the guards kept winking while picking out cicadas, but as Lei Da hob  Rou coughed twice, and one or two of them stopped. There was no wayWho let Major Lei get on first?

    The little girl had crescent eyebrows and smiled so hard that she almost fell off the tree. Then she covered her mouth and ran all the way back to the delivery room to wait for her. On the way, she almost bumped into Yang Qiu, who was waiting anxiously.

    The painful screams in the delivery room made Yang Qiu's heart twitch, and he quickly grabbed Xi'er: "Go and see, why is it taking so long?"

    Xi'er nodded and rushed into the delivery room to wait on her. Upon seeing this, Miao Luo also walked in.  Because Ruiyao was older, the whole family was very anxious. Even Lu Bicheng sent a telegram from Shanghai asking for news.  Doctors and nurses were coming and going, and everyone was so busy that Yang Qiu couldn't be bothered and could only pace back and forth to relieve his anxiety.

    "Don't worry too much, Vice President, the doctor said it's nothing serious."

    Jiang Fangzhen chatted with the doctor for a while. Complex geopolitical struggles and internal issues were not what he was good at, so he concentrated on staying at the National Defense University to teach after the European War. This time, Yang Qiu suddenly asked Ruiyao to return to Wuchang to wait for childbirth.  He expected.  He had also heard about the silver crisis, and published an article in a military newspaper to condemn the British and American business groups. However, he did not know the details. He took this opportunity to indirectly ask: "Why did the Vice President return to Wuchang? Nanjing Army General Hospital  The level is higher than here.¡±

    "This is Yao'er's hometown. All my relatives and friends are here, so I hope to come back to wait for the birth." Yang Qiu looked at him, avoided the main topic and continued: "Baili, there is something I want to tell you in advance. Starting next year  Domestic military academies will add 500 foreign military students every year. Don¡¯t ask where these people come from, just pay attention to me.¡±

    "500 military students?" Jiang Fangzhen was a little surprised.  As the National Defense Force emerged from the mystery, it was studied by various countries.  Britain, the United States, France and even Germany all made requests in the hope of exchanging military cadets, but Yang Qiu had been reluctant to agree to this matter. Why did he suddenly change his mind?  And 500 per year is not a small amount!  Is it an addition to the silver crisis negotiations?

    "We now have Wuchang, Baoding, Yunnan and other military academies, and 500 students is not a lot. Butwill the secrets be leaked?" Jiang Fangzhen was still a little worried.  But Yang Qiu did not answer directly: "We must keep a close eye on what is at the bottom of the box. At the same time, we ourselves also need to make progress. Their coming in is actually a promotion."

    Seeing that Yang Qiu was unwilling to answer directly, Jiang Fangzhen, who couldn't hold back his words, originally wanted to ask clearly, but a series of rapid footsteps came from the distance.  He turned around and saw Xiao Anguo and Fan Liangshan walking in with some people dressed as businessmen. The leader was Rui Yao's confidant Chang Si.

    Since Ruiyao married Yang Qiu, Chang Si has retired from the world and taken over the Yangtze River Transportation Company.  The reorganized Yangtze River Transportation Company not only took the opportunity of the European War to squeeze out many foreign companies, but also acquired all their ships. Today, they specialize in inland waterway transportation and have more than 170 ships of various types.  In addition to the Yangtze River Freight Company, the heads of two shipping companies, Sihai and Wuzhou, also came. Not long ago, even Yang Qiu was shocked when he accidentally asked about the scale. He did not expect that a joke he made back then would actually come true.

    Ruiyao, who usually keeps quiet, has already accumulated a strong family fortune.  The three listed shipping companies own a total of 61 10,000-ton ships of various types and 102 offshore ships.  170 inland river shipswith hundreds of shareholders and tens of thousands of employees, basically controlling the Yangtze River waterway, Nanyang and offshore shipping business.  The total assets have reached hundreds of millions of yuan.  But this is also the peak, because Yang Qiu has decided to sell some non-main industries under his name and take the lead in breaking the monopoly himself. Therefore, except for Wuzhou Shipping Company, which controls ocean routes, the rest of the three companies will be split and then sold.

    Chang Si had watched Rui Yao grow up, and he was anxious and asked: "Vice President, how is the gang leader?"

    Yang Qiu didn't blame him for being rude. On the contrary, it was only at this time that he could see who was sincere. He turned to look at the closed door of the delivery room, and comforted him: "Fourth uncle, don't worry too much. Baili has already asked the doctor just now,  Say it¡¯s no big deal.¡±

    "That's good, that's good."

    Chang Si and several people in charge felt much relieved when they heard that nothing happened. Thinking of another incident, they quickly said: "Vice President, the brothers have raised 10 million taels of silver and are planning to send it to you.  .You see¡­.¡±

    "Send it to Zhang Wenjing in Nanjing, and he will exchange it into yuan for you." After all, it is the shipping company that Ruiyao worked hard to build. Although Yang Qiu never paid attention to these things, he did not forget to warn: "It will be done soon.The legislation completely prohibits gold and silver trading. If you have gold and silver in your hand, exchange it for RMB as soon as possible.  Gold and silver prices will definitely fall sharply after the legislation.  "

    Jiang Fangzhen was worried that he had no chance to ask about the silver crisis. After hearing this, he laughed and said: "Vice President, you are using public affairs for personal gain."

    "Really? I heard from Songpo that someone secretly asked his wife to write a letter back to her parents' home, asking her to sell them all while the price of gold and silver was high."

    "Ha ha"

    A few jokes lightened the atmosphere and everyone laughed.  They are all well-informed people from the upper echelons. No matter how patriotic they are, they will not let go of this small opportunity to make a fortune. Moreover, selling gold and silver to the country actually helps the currency reform.

    But there are advantages and disadvantages to this kind of thing. The advantage is that they are the most well-informed group of people in the country in this era. They can use various channels to quickly help people around them to complete the transformation from agriculture and commerce to industry and commerce. The disadvantages are power-for-money transactions and the use of power for personal gain.  and other illegal activities.  In this matter, Yang Qiu also adopted the policy of turning a blind eye. After all, he knew very well that in the early days of capital, no matter which country could avoid this kind of thing, it was better to focus on legislation and crackdown on illegal activities, so he paid special attention to the Ministry of Justice.  and the operations of the Independent Commission Against Corruption.

    While everyone was chatting, a loud cry suddenly came out. Yang Qiu, whose thoughts were all in the delivery room, rushed to the door quickly. Behind him, Jiang Fangzhen and others also clasped their fists and congratulated: "Congratulations to the Vice President. Great joy, great joy."

    A moment later, Miao Luo, with messy hair, came out with a happy face and hugged her child. The little girl Xi'er was even more talkative. When she saw Yang Qiu, she shouted: "Congratulations to the Vice President, you are a daughter. The doctor said that mother and daughter are safe."  "

    Miao Luo gave birth to a son, and now Ruiyao gave birth to a daughter for him.  They all have children, so Yang Qiu's eyebrows are filled with joy, but before he can say anything, another burst of loud laughter comes from behind: "Haha Madam, what do you think I'm talking about? It's better to have called earlier."  What a coincidence."

    Lu Zhengxiang and his wife appeared at the end of the corridor.  In particular, Mrs. Peide had never been able to have a child, so she was very fond of the daughter of the Yang family wrapped in a cloth bag. When Miao Luo saw this, she simply held the child in her arms, and the three women immediately burst into laughter.  The man went to see Ruiyao, and even Yang Qiu was squeezed out.

    ????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????? out????  Xiao Anguo is careful.  After seeing his expression, he quickly changed the subject and asked, "Brother Zixin, has the Russian envoy returned?"

    Lu Zhengxiang shook his head.  The silver crisis spread across the country, but he ignored it and only focused on the negotiations with Karakhan. This time he also reported on the progress of the negotiations and briefly introduced a few sentences: "Russia's request is that it can issue a declaration to recognize the territory that our country has recovered, but  Demand to stop supporting Kolchak and Dutov, stop the encirclement and suppression of Shumyatsky and others. Withdraw from the Krasnoyarsk area east of the Yenisey River. There are still many entanglements in the Lower Tunguska River Basin  , because they believed that Krasnoyarsk and the Lower Tunguska River did not belong to the original Manchu territory, so they could not recognize it. They also demanded the signing of a peace agreement between the two countries. The troops stationed in the northwest region were reduced to 100,000, and no one should build fortresses, etc.  To stimulate the other side¡¯s behavior of war.¡±

    After hearing this, Jiang Fangzhen immediately said: "Krasnoyarsk cannot let go. The Yenisei River is the first line of defense. After it is lost, relying solely on the East and West Sayan Mountains to support the defense line may be insufficient. Once there is a war, the Russian army can smoothly penetrate  In the north of Beihai Province, go deep from the northern end of Lake Baikal. The conditions of Shumiartsky and Kolchak are not outrageous, but I suggest that you make a decision based on the final outcome of Russia and Poland. If Moscow wins, Kolchak  Chak is worthless. As for the Lower Tunguska River"

    ¡°The Lower Tunguska River Basin must not be allowed!¡±

    Jiang Fangzhen was decisively interrupted by Yang Qiu before he could finish his words. This remote and desolate river cuts straight from Beihai Province to the depths of the northern permafrost region like a sharp sword. From a military perspective, it is not very valuable.  Because the area is full of primitive jungles and the weather is cold all year round, it is not suitable for military supplies.  The problem is that beneath the Nizhny Tunguska lies the world's largest coalfield.  The Tunguska Coalfield covers an area of ??approximately 1.045 million square kilometers, with geological reserves of 1,745 billion tons within a depth of 600 meters. The total thickness of the coal seams is up to 1,500 meters, and most of them are high-quality anthracite coal!  Although it is not as good as the Achinsk open-pit coal mine in terms of mining cost and value, the strategic value of this coal mine is too great.  Even if the coal output of the Republic of China reaches 1 billion tons, mining here can be guaranteed for 1,000 years. For China, which lacks oil resources, it is a strategic reserve mine that cannot be let go under any circumstances.

    No one knows how Yang Qiu learned about such a large coal mine below, but since it came from his mouth, he must be somewhat sure.  Several people were dumbfounded by such a large reserve of anthracite coal fields, which was definitely rare in the world. Therefore, even Jiang Fangzhen, who originally thought that he could give up in exchange for benefits from other places, immediately changed his mind and believed that a special coal-carrying railway should be built along the Lower Tunguska River.Yang Qiu wouldn¡¯t think about development for decades, because there were enough coal resources in Siberia for power generation and industrial purposes, but he couldn¡¯t let go of the Nanjing issue. He asked, ¡°Have Hangel¡¯s people come?¡±

    "So the conditions have been negotiated. The plenipotentiary will arrive in three days at the latest, and the signing should be within a few days. It's just" Lu Zhengxiang came here mainly for this matter. After finishing speaking  Later, he looked confused and hesitated: "This matter has been spread, and many people think that you are selling too much benefit. You are suspected of being traitorous. Both the Democratic Party and the Republican Party accused you of not doing so.  It¡¯s time to sign an agreement and not hand over so many major projects to British and American capitalists and ask for the contracts to be withdrawn and renegotiated.¡±

    "The President and Prime Minister are very worried, and they asked me to tell you that you must prepare in advance to avoid being stabbed in the back."

    Yang Qiu nodded, feeling very grateful to Li Yuanhong and Tang Shaoyi for their full support in this matter.  In fact, he had expected such a problem. After all, the bet this time was too big.  Moreover, successive war victories have caused many people to overestimate their own strength. For them, it is impossible for them to open up so much foreign investment at once, many of which are related to the national economy and people's livelihood projects, without opposition.  So when Miao Luo suggested returning to Wuchang for a short break, he simply retreated to avoid the troubles in Nanjing. Unexpectedly, Lu Zhengxiang still caught up with him.

    Everyone fell silent.  Yang Qiu also has mixed feelings about opening up such a large scale of foreign investment.  The good news is that foreign banks have been completely restrained, all their trading rights have been taken back, and nearly half of the country's silver reserves have been taken back. Many projects that originally had to wait until the third five-year plan can be started early.  The worry is that the opening up is too strong.  It is easy for foreign capital to penetrate and gradually control the lifeline of the country's economy. Especially since insurance and RMB settlement must be opened two years after the currency reform, it can be said that the risk is extremely high.  Jiang Fangzhen is worried that the 500 defense exchange students will leak some advanced tactics and combat ideas, making it more difficult for future opponents to deal with.

    It was in this atmosphere that the silver negotiations, with various thoughts on their minds, reached their destination.

    At the Congress, Bei Zuyi, on behalf of the Ministry of Finance, disclosed for the first time the economic contracts reached between the government and Europe and the United States.  One stone stirred up a thousand waves, and members of Congress shared the concerns of Jiang Fangzhen and others.  Wang Zhaoming lay on the table and analyzed every detail of the contract word by line.  After the Chengcheng Act.  He has become a little obsessed, and his mind is full of how to attack the National Society and Yang Qiu and realize the dreams of Huang Keqiang and other older generations of the Democratic Party.

    But what surprised him was that although the contract was full of projects to be opened to foreign investment, core national interests such as currency rights were completely invisible.  This made him suspicious. Europe and the United States were obviously here to suppress the Republic of China and undermine economic construction, so how did he protect his core interests?  What kind of deal can make Europe and the United States give up the benefits they have obtained?  You need to know how it compares to core currency rights.  This foreign investment is only scary on the surface.

    The report was still going on, and as time passed, the members of Congress who listened to the report became more and more heavy-hearted.  Even the majority of the National Socialist Council members felt that Yang Qiu was too trusting this time.  Opening up an area worth US$5 billion to foreign investment in one fell swoop is equivalent to allowing foreign investment to rebuild the current industrial scale.  This means that in five years, there will be two rival industrial capital groups on the territory of the Republic of China!  The Republic of China itself did not fully grasp the core manufacturing industry. If it opened up to such a large scale at once, if the quality and technology of other people's products surpassed its own, wouldn't its own factories be closed down?

    Wang Zhaoming is not very proficient in economics, but there are economic experts in the Democratic Party. This is the current Minister of Water Resources, Liao Zhongkai.  Wang Zhaoming felt good about this Liao Zhongkai but also had a headache.  The good thing is that after the Cheng Cheng Bill, he suddenly replaced Wu Tingfang and became the only government minister of the Democratic Party.  The troublesome thing is that Liao Zhongkai has become the leader of the young faction of the Democratic Party, and Li Liejun has become the two pillars of the military and political aspects of the Democratic Party.  Different from others like them, these young men have moderate thoughts and hope to stop confronting the National Socialist Party and instead focus on being an opposition party in supervising the government. To this end, they also actively promote the merger with the Republican Party.

    ¡°More importantly, the two men have already vaguely threatened his position in the Democratic Party.  Even Zhang Shizhao has stated several times that the two have the ability to take over as chairman of the Democratic Party.

    But I had to ask the other party for advice on this kind of economic problem. In the end, I had to lean over and quietly ask: "Zhong Kai, is this contract necessary to be signed?"

    Liao Zhongkai himself felt like he was dreaming when he jumped from the local government to the central government, so he did his best in the position of Minister of Water Resources, always hoping to do something to reverse the people's misunderstanding of the party.  Therefore, he paid special attention to the projects involving water conservancy in this contract. Hearing Wang Zhaoming ask himself, he quickly said: "If you don't sign, half of the silver will not be recovered, and several years of development will be wasted. My suggestion is to sign. Look here.  Several major water conservancy projects in China would not have been started for five years by ourselves, but we can start them now, which saves a lot of trouble."

    "But this is all related to the national economy and people's livelihood! If foreignersWhen the time comes to raise prices without authorization, it will be difficult for us to restrain them.  "Wang Zhaoming was still very worried. But Liao Zhongkai didn't think so and asked instead: "Compared with five years in advance or management difficulties, which one does Brother Ji Xin think is easier to make up for?  "

    Wang Zhaoming did not answer. He also knew that time was more important. After all, construction five years earlier and construction five years later were two different things, but he felt that it was too cheap for Yang Qiu.  What he wanted to know most now was what Yang Qiu was thinking, but the latter chose to avoid Wuchang for the time being. He pulled out the hairless Bei Zuyi and explained the contract in front of him, which made people feel like he was punching cotton and unable to exert any force.  The contract has to be signed. If you don't sign, the country's economy will be more difficult. There is no doubt about this. For the Republic of China, which will enter the next ten or even twenty years to develop and develop, it will be a waste of time.

    But what he wanted to know most was what Yang Qiu betrayed?  He didn't believe that this contract would be so simple. He clearly had the power to make a comeback, but it ended in this way!  It can only be said that that person has a backup plan.  But what is this backhand?  What is his plan?  Doesn¡¯t China¡¯s rise depend on him?  Is there really no chance for the future of yourself and the Democratic Party?

    "The foreign troubles remain unresolved, and internal reforms and adjustments are being made according to his ideas. When all these are completed, what path will he take this country to take?"  To know.  After the Cheng Cheng Act, he was only one step away from becoming a true dictator and even the throne!

    Wang Zhaoming was unwilling to give in.

    In his unwillingness, Morgan and the plenipotentiary representatives of the Rothschild family arrived in Nanjing.  On August 3, the "Republic of China Economic Cooperation and Foreign Investment Opening Agreement" was signed with the Nanjing government in Shanghai. Later, the contract was referred to as the "Civil-Foreign Contract".  According to the contract, from the date of signing, all the silver reserves held by the two companies were sold to the Chinese government at a price of 1:18, and the Chinese government used the land rent after the foreign capital entered to repay the debt. At the same time, the Chinese government officially included Hangzhou  Dozens of large projects such as the Gulf Mega Hub Port and Harbin Petroleum Smelting were sold, and it was agreed that Britain and the United States would build heavy industrial projects in Qingdao, Guangzhou, Wuhu and other places

    According to the contract.  All foreign-invested industrial projects first started construction in early 1921. As a constraint, a clause was added to the contract at the end, that is, all projects must transfer part of their equity to the Chinese government for supervision. At the same time, if there are operating difficulties for more than one year, it will be impossible to continue.  Depending on the performance of the contract and other circumstances, the Republic of China government has the right to directly increase the shares to continue operating or redeem the entire project.

    Soon after the contract was signed, Tang Shaoyi ordered the currency to be changed!

    Congress passed the Republic of China¡¯s economic and currency reform bill as quickly as possible.  Establish RMB banknotes as the only settlement currency in the country, abolish all gold and silver currency functions, and abolish the original currency system.  Adopt the gold exchange system adopted in Europe and the United States, and forcibly fix the price ratio between the yuan and gold per gram at 1:1.  Li Yuanhong also signed a presidential decree banning private gold and silver transactions nationwide. All gold and silver transactions must be conducted through the central bank.  At the same time, the Ministry of Finance immediately took action to address the loopholes exposed in the silver crisis, decentralized all financial projects such as stocks, futures, foreign exchange, insurance, etc., established specialized institutions to manage these financial markets, and began to strengthen the fragile financial system of the Republic of China.  Add layers of risk-resistant shells.

    August 15, the same day that the first negotiation between China and Russia broke down.  The gold and silver market in the Republic of China suddenly changed dramatically.  The price of silver, which had previously maintained 1:16, instantly fell to 1:22, and the price of gold also plummeted at the same time.  The era of gold and silver as currency is finally over. After the status of the Republic of China was determined, in addition to being collected and used as jewelry, gold and silver began to flow into the market in large quantities and were recycled by the central bank. In addition, the Republic of China government once again issued 200 million yuan of gold and silver value-insured bonds to Nanyang to withdraw the money.  Gold and silver have caused the central bank's treasury reserves to surge.  In just two years, gold and silver reserves increased to 3,200 tons of gold and 35,000 tons of silver.

    This is a terrible thing that economists of later generations cannot imagine!  !

    The United States uses bonds to fix domestic gold and silver and prohibits them from being retained, and China also uses government decrees to freeze it!  The final result of the two different methods was to intensify the deflation of the world economy. Later economists said: "China and the United States are the creators of the economic crisis because they jointly seized half of the world's total gold and silver. When Britain, France and Italy  When countries emerged from the recovery period of the European War and produced huge amounts of consumer goods, they found that the market was severely shrinking due to insufficient money supply.¡±

    On the contrary, a large number of people who had previously speculated on silver and ran on silver in an attempt to make a fortune began to suffer. The plunge in silver caused many people to lose their wealth, and many factory owners who gambled on silver had to declare bankruptcy.  Factories closed down and workers lost their jobs. Unemployed workers in Guangzhou, Hangzhou, Jiangsu and other places went on strike for the first time after the founding of the Republic of China.

    Faced with this situation, Guangzhou Daily even used the title "Economic Brest-Litovsk Agreement" to question whether such a large-scale opening to foreign investment is suspected of betraying national interests!  He even criticized the government's compulsory confiscation of gold and silver bill, and all the targets were directed at Yang Qiu, who was celebrating the birth of his daughter.

    The turmoil is neither big nor small, but it is nothing to Yang QiuNo big deal, he is fully prepared, the competition for the world has just begun, more and more ferocious waves are still waiting for him.

    ?? 1920, a year filled with countless conspiracies and plots that laid the foundation for the future of China, finally came to an end in this hustle and bustle

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