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Volume 2 Beijing Story Chapter 150 Surprisingly Smooth

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    Update time: 2012-08-09

    The beginning of May 1917 was a very troubled month for the Allied Powers. Following the disgraceful failure of France's absolutely far-fetched Nivelles Offensive in April, the French army thought it would use forty-four French divisions to launch an attack against nine German divisions.  The commander-in-chief of the army, Robert Nivelle, a sixty-year-old artilleryman, kicked the German army's iron plate on the Western Front.

    Taking advantage of the fall of the Tsar on the Eastern Front and the chaos within Russia, the Germans increased the number of nine divisions in the direction of the French offensive on the Western Front to forty-six. The French offensive was launched on April 16,  Rumors spread in Paris cafes a week ago that the French commander-in-chief, who so brazenly ignored intelligence and confidentiality, had brought the French army into a tragic situation.

    After the blindly confident French army suffered almost 200,000 casualties and made no progress, the shameful Nivelles Offensive came to an abrupt end. Of course, the French Army Headquarters claimed that casualties were only around 80,000 people, while their opponents,  Then he shyly admitted that the German casualties were 160,000!  It looked as if the French army had won the battle, but the French soldiers, who knew that the battle was a disastrous defeat, could no longer endure it.

    So when China's acting president Feng Guozhang led two army divisions, the 15th and 16th divisions, to Beijing to take office, the French army on the western front at the junction of Germany and France in Europe was in a state of turmoil. The soldiers no longer obeyed orders. In fact, the entire Western Front  There were only two French divisions on the French position on the front line that were in a normal state of holding their positions, and the German army on the opposite side knew nothing about the commotion of the French army.

    Even the rioting French soldiers who were captured by the Germans did not say a word to the enemy. What they resisted was the random command of the commander-in-chief at the top of the French army, not treason!  Hateful and respectable French!

    Also in early May, the Russian Provisional Government, which was also in the Allied Powers camp, also experienced a serious riot. Miliukov, the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Provisional Government, sent a note to the governments of the Allied Powers, claiming that Russia abided by various treaties signed by the Tsarist government and would  The world war proceeds to its "victorious end."

    This caused the Russian bonds in the U.S. market to rebound by 20%, and the market value of the Russian bonds with a market value of nearly 40 million US dollars held by Wang Geng's Manhattan Industrial Bank increased by 8 million US dollars!

    On May 3rd and 4th, at the call of the Bolsheviks, Petrograd workers and soldiers held demonstrations to protest against the imperialist policies of the provisional government.  The provisional government was forced to remove Miliukov and Guchkov from their posts.

    When the British army struggled to maintain its presence on the Western Front, the French government replaced Nivere as commander-in-chief of the army with P¨¦tain. After taking office, P¨¦tain visited more than ninety French divisions. The first plan he formulated was to ensure that the troops  The soldier's sacred right to leave!  Although the French army did not regain its combat effectiveness so quickly, the riot finally slowly subsided.

    In the United States, recruitment is proceeding at a rate of 10,000 people per day. Logistics support and material supplies cannot keep up at all. Recruits in recruit camps across the US military have not even touched a gun for a month after joining the army.  Practice basic training. In fact, Pershing's first American advance detachment had to wait until June 27, 1917, to land in France, and it was not until 1918 that the main force of the US military appeared on the European battlefield.

    The number of new recruits at Wang Geng's war camp in Nanyuan is still increasing at a rate of 1,000 people every day. Fortunately, he has been preparing since the beginning of April, and there is enough space in the Nanyuan barracks for his engineer battalion to borrow old buildings.  New barracks were built, and the new recruits participating in the Model Army did not live in tents.

    Therefore, when the first batch of U.S. aid munitions arrived at Tianjin Port at the end of May and were transported directly to Fengtai Station by train, nearly 60,000 recruits in the Nanyuan Barracks of the participating army were screaming with suppressed screams. The recruits had been trained for nearly two months.  And the training of water conservancy projects on both sides of the Yongding River, plus the combination of meat and vegetables for three meals a day and the "Three Major - Nine Points of Attention to Discipline" military song that must be sung every day, and of course the ubiquitous pressure of the Military Police Regiment, the military discipline of the participating armies  And morale remains at a fairly strong stage.

    The branch line connecting Fengtai Station to Nanyuan has long been repaired, and the arms train arrived directly at the Nanyuan warehouse area to unload. This day was also the second time that the Prime Minister led the new and old cabinet ministers to Nanyuan for a school review. The last time was for the establishment and awarding of the model army for the war.  flag day.

    It has to be said that the armband of the model army with red background, white circle and black characters designed by Wang Geng is quite sharp and eye-catching. The number of troops under the reviewing stand has also increased from one teaching group to three mixed brigades in one division.  The original nearly 10,000 troops of the 16th Composite Brigade have been seamlessly expanded to two divisions and six brigades. Of course, the 30,000 recruits who enlisted in May are still waiting to supplement the establishment of the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd brigades.  Sweating like rain on the water conservancy projects on both sides of the Yongding River.

    Don¡¯t think that the Yongding River is just a small ditch. The Yongding River is 700 kilometers long and originates from Shanxi. It is the largest of the five tributaries of the Haihe River. It has always been known for its complicated water conditions and flooding all day long. It is also known as the Little Yellow River!  As long as Wang Geng is willing, the recruits of the Model Army can dig river mud for several years.Don't worry, there's nothing to do!

    The star with the fastest rise to prominence in the history of the Republic of China is none other than Wang Geng. He set foot on the motherland as a graduate of West Point at the end of March. In just two months, he not only became the national policy adviser to the Prime Minister.  , Secretary of Foreign Affairs, Military and Economic Affairs (an economic item was added in early May), and served successively as a major general counselor in the Ministry of War, commander of the 16th Mixed Brigade, war preparation supervisor, war participation supervisor, and lieutenant general commander of the first division of the participating army.

    In the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, this guy¡¯s title is Supervisor of Negotiations with the United States and Supervisor of Negotiations with Five Countries. In the Ministry of Finance, this guy¡¯s title is Supervisor of Beijing Banknote Arrangement and New Banknote Issuance!  The Minister of Foreign Affairs, Xia Yiting, is his buddy, and the Deputy Secretary of Finance, Lu Ding, who is in charge of ministry affairs, is his top brother.

    In May, under his leadership as the new supervisor of the Ministry of Finance, the Bank of China and the Bank of Communications completed share expansion and listing updates, and underwrote a new issue of 380 million from the Ministry of Finance, with the payment of the Boxer Indemnity deferred for ten years.  The two banks underwrote the mortgaged 5% War Bond for the Sixth Year of the Republic of China, and issued new banknotes, Chinese Yuan, instead of silver dollars.

    The Bank of China and the Bank of Communications provide credit guarantees for the Chinese Yuan banknotes issued by the two banks in the form of unlimited buying and selling of U.S. dollars and foreign exchange. The Chinese Yuan held by any enterprise or individual can be used at any outlet of the Bank of China and the Bank of Communications without restrictions and at any time.  Convert to US dollars.  Of course, large-amount exchanges still require an appointment, but they are guaranteed to be exchanged.

    The original silver taels and silver dollars will gradually withdraw from the circulation market within five years. The Chinese yuan will be issued in U.S. dollars as reserves, and a fixed exchange rate system will be adopted for the U.S. dollar, with 1 Chinese yuan = 0.5 U.S. dollars.

    The old Beijing banknotes waiting for sorting on the market will be withdrawn from circulation as soon as the new Chinese dollar is issued, but they can be exchanged for the new Chinese dollar at a ratio of 1:1, which gives the holders of the old Beijing banknotes almost 40% of the income, because  The market price of old Beijing banknotes was between 60% and 70% off at that time.

    In order to speed up the recycling of old Beijing banknotes, the Bank of China and the Bank of Communications stipulate that within 30 days, the old Beijing banknotes can be exchanged for new Chinese dollars at all outlets of the two banks at a ratio of 1:1. After 30 days, the old Beijing banknotes can only be exchanged for new Chinese dollars at a ratio of 1:0.9.  After 60 days, it can only be exchanged at the ratio of 1:0.8. After 90 days, the exchange will stop!

    The power of the market is huge. Although the market value of the banknotes in the hands of holders of old Beijing banknotes has increased by half overnight, for ordinary people who hold the banknotes at face value without speculation, the old Beijing banknotes have only recovered.  When the face value is reached, if they did not sell the old Beijing banknotes at a low price because they believed in the government, then the exchange rules of the government and the two banks will restore the original face value of the old banknotes they hold.

    The exchange rules of the old Beijing banknotes made the issuance of the new Chinese yuan smooth. Of course, as the first batch of exchangers of the new Chinese yuan, many people directly did two transactions at the same counter, exchanging the old Beijing banknotes for the new Chinese yuan.  yuan, and then exchange the new Chinese yuan for U.S. dollars and carry it home in your pocket.

    However, apart from being exchanged, the U.S. dollar is not used for actual commodity circulation in China. Therefore, after carrying U.S. dollars in their pockets for more than half a month, ordinary people who need money reconvert the U.S. dollars in their pockets into Chinese yuan. In fact,  With sufficient credit support, the circulation of a new currency will be accepted by the people to a greater extent and faster than the government imagined.
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