Sheng Youde was stunned, and then he realized that Zhang Jingjiang came to Shanghai on the entrustment of Chairman Chiang Kai-shek and carried his orders, hoping to avoid the outbreak of war as much as possible.
The country is indeed poor and cannot afford to fight a war, but isn't that why the Japanese come to bully you?
Zhang Jingjiang saw that Sheng Youde remained silent and sighed: "The essence of war is to burn money. When the cannon goes off, thousands of taels of gold are fired, and all that is fired is money."
"The 87th Division and the 88th Division are all like this? It shouldn't be. I have raised a lot of military expenses in the past two years." Sheng Youde said in surprise.
"Part of the money you raised was used for military pay, and part was kept in Xiao Song's hands." Zhang Jingjiang said.
"Then what does Minister Song mean? No matter what disputes he has with Jiang, he shouldn't make fun of national affairs, right?" Sheng Youde said angrily.
"It's hard for me to tell you about his affairs. The first reason I'm here is to discuss it with Xiao Wu, and the other is to ask you to raise another 10 million in military expenses. It's very urgent. Can you do it?"
Zhang Jingjiang stared at Sheng Youde and asked.
"With the annual economic output of several Jiangnan provinces as collateral, we should be able to raise the money. I also think the troop formation plan mentioned by the Chairman is feasible. We will strive to form 100 modern divisions within ten years, with ten divisions added every year.
Sheng Youde said calmly.
"This is the government's attitude. It endures humiliation and hardship, and endures hardships in order to ensure that China's military strength will be enough to defend the country in ten years, at least to prevent the Japanese from launching a war of aggression at will." Zhang Jingjiang clenched her fists and said.
Sheng Youde nodded. Indeed, the Republic of China government's ten-year military development plan sounded exciting.
One hundred modern divisions will all purchase advanced German weapons to realize modernized army equipment.
If this plan can really be realized, at least there will be no need to make any compromises with Japan.
The arms sale between China and Germany is led by Sheng Youde, with an international consortium serving as the guarantor. The two governments have initially reached an agreement.
The plan of the Republic of China government was that with these 100 modern army divisions, even if the Japanese occupied Northeast China, they would not dare to launch an aggressive war into the pass.
This will most likely force them to turn to Siberia to fight the Soviet Union. In other words, these one hundred divisions will be a steel Great Wall blocking the Japanese invaders.
According to the calculations of the Nanjing Government Military Commission, these 100 modern divisions have approximately one million men, and their combat effectiveness is comparable to that of Japan's forty divisions. Even if all this wealth is exhausted, Japan will lose forty divisions.
This is an absolutely unbearable loss for Japan.
From Zeng Guofan training the Hunan warriors, Li Hongzhang training the Huai army, to Yuan Shikai training at the small station, the Chinese army is also making difficult strides towards modernization.
The Hunan Army and the Huai Army destroyed the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, and the Beiyang warlords used the Alliance to force the Qing emperor to abdicate, ending China's two thousand years of imperialism. These achievements left a glorious page in Chinese history.
The government of the Republic of China also wanted to go further on this road, first let the army develop, and then build an air force that was not too weak, so that it could deter local forces internally and adopt some tough policies externally.
After spending ten years and exhausting all its financial resources, the Republic of China government could basically establish a low-standard modern national defense force.
Of course, the main target of the Republic of China government's war is still the armed forces of the Communist Party.
Their plan is that the first step is to eliminate the Communist armed forces, the second step is to gradually weaken and finally eliminate the local separatist forces, and the third step is to comprehensively resist Japanese aggression.
These so-called three steps are the ten-year development plan of the Republic of China government. Of course, even within the Kuomintang, this is a national secret that only a few people know.
Sheng Youde not only knew about this plan, but was also one of the planners. However, although he did not agree with the Kuomintang's taking the Communist Party's armed forces as its primary combat target, he also knew that his opposition was ineffective.
In order to avoid suspicion, Zhang Jingjiang did not go directly to the Shanghai Municipal Government to meet Mayor Wu. Instead, he invited him to meet at Sheng Youde's Liuyuan Garden and had a long talk.
Under pressure from all parties, Mayor Wu had to give in. He made a formal reply on January 27: he accepted all Japan's demands.
When the news came out, the whole world was in uproar.
Lu Ming was in the office when he heard the news. He could hardly believe his ears. He found a newspaper and saw the statement of the Shanghai Municipal Government published in black and white.
He immediately called Sheng Youde: "What happened? Why did the Shanghai Municipal Government give such a reply?"
Sheng Youde was silent for a while, and then said: "This matter is very complicated, it is difficult to explain clearly, and I can't tell you. In short, the government still wants to make a final effort to avoid the outbreak of war, and more importantly
To avoid escalating the situation and triggering a full-scale war."
"What's there to be afraid of! Japan simply can't fight a full-scale war, unless they want to repeat the mistakes of Tsarist Russia. Doesn't the Chairman agree with this view?" Lu Ming also ignored basic etiquette and shouted loudly.
.
"Calm down, Japan can't afford to fight, and we can't afford to fight." Sheng Youde explained the extremely bad economic situation of the Nationalist Government.
"This is not a reason to avoid war. The worst that can happen is that Japan will be dragged to the end, and the fish will die and the net will be broken, and then we will rebuild the country! We can't be so humiliating!" Lu Ming roared.
"Children know, if that happens, the Republic of China government will collapse, and the last person to establish political power in this land must be the Communist Party." Sheng Youde said seriously.
"I don't think so. Now is a great time for the government to rally people's hearts. As long as the government shows firm resistance and uncompromising policies, it will inspire people's hearts and make people believe that the government has the ability to protect the country and its citizens. Now it actually agrees to Japan,
By canceling all anti-Japanese groups and organizations, wouldn’t this suppress the anti-Japanese enthusiasm of the people?
"The government is also a temporary measure. We need to understand. If even we don't understand, this country is really in danger." Sheng Youde said weakly.
"It is not easy to inspire people's hearts, but once the suppression continues and people's hearts become cold, they will lose their most basic trust in the government." Lu Ming said he could not understand.
"If the government does not agree to Japan's four conditions, Japan will go to war, and the people of Li will suffer." Sheng Youde's defense made even him feel pale.
"If they agree to Japan's conditions, they will still go to war. In this way, the people will be completely disappointed with the government, and they will turn around and look for another force they can trust, that is, the Communists. This is to drive fish out of the abyss, and the government can only do this
Exactly the stupidest one." Lu Ming sneered.
"What you said makes sense, but it is a long-term impact. What the government must solve now is a practical problem," Sheng Youde said.
In fact, Sheng Youde was equally disappointed with the Shanghai Municipal Government's reply statement, but he also knew that the Shanghai Municipal Government was, after all, led by the Republic of China government and had limited autonomy. It had to yield under the pressure of various factions within the Republic of China government. He could not accept this.
Lu Ming said, so as not to affect Lu Ming's impression of the government.
Lu Ming suddenly thought of something and asked hurriedly: "The government will not adopt a policy of appeasement and give up sovereignty over Northeast China in exchange for peace in Shanghai, right?"
"The government is not stupid enough. The government will never give in on the Northeast issue. Even if they establish a puppet regime, we will never recognize its legitimacy." Sheng Youde said sternly.
"That's okay. If someone in the government proposes to use Northeast China in exchange for concessions from Japan, that's not stupid, but a traitor." Lu Ming let out a long sigh of relief.
"Your words are more like those of the chief writer of Ta Kung Pao. Although you have the status of a reporter, you are also a member of the government now. You should be more careful when speaking in the future." Sheng Youde reminded.
"I don't care about this. The worst I can do is quit. I don't think the Blue Clothes Club has much future," Lu Ming said angrily.
"Nonsense, you think that a detective agency like yours can close its doors if it wants. If you don't call today, I will talk to you. Let me tell you this, in this incident, we exposed a major problem
, it means the intelligence system failed." Sheng Youde said with emotion.
"Old man, what exactly do you mean by this? This should be my job." Lu Ming said eagerly.
"If our intelligence system is really sound and we can find conclusive evidence that Japan compiled and directed it, we can make a powerful counterattack against Japan." Sheng Youde's words gave Lu Ming some comfort.