Yuan Shikai ended sadly. One month later, Yuan Shikai died. The first legitimate ruler in the history of the Republic of China died, and the symbolic unity of the Republic of China was shattered.
With the support of all parties, Li Yuanhong became the president, and Duan Qirui was appointed as the prime minister. The history of the Republic of China opened a new page. A war to protect the country ended, and China's officialdom faced unprecedented challenges.
After reshuffling the cards, only three Democratic Party governors were captured during the Second Revolution. Now the six provinces of Guangdong, Guangxi, Hunan and Hunan, Shaanxi, and Guizhou have to be replaced by new governors. The changes are beyond imagination.
Qiao Yu's biggest profit this time was that he changed from Sichuan patrol envoy to southwest patrol envoy. The three provinces of Yunnan, Guizhou, Sichuan and the Sichuan border special zone were all under his control. In addition, Tianshui in Gansu, Hanzhong in Shaanxi, and Yichang in Hubei
These three strategic locations also fell under the control of the Sichuan Army and became the outposts of the Sichuan Army.
After the expansion of the territory, the Sichuan Army's strategic detour space became even greater. The Sichuan warlords finally officially entered the stage of history. After Qiao Yu was appointed as the southwest patrol envoy, he immediately summoned all the civil and military officials under his command. The Sichuan Warlords
The territory under control suddenly more than doubled, and personnel arrangements became the top priority at the moment.
"Commander, Yunnan and Guizhou are now under control. The Sichuan Army is making unprecedented progress. It is really gratifying!" Shi Dingzhong was the first to congratulate Qiao Yu.
"Mr. Shi, as well as everyone here, although I became the southwest patrol envoy, there are still governors in Yunnan and Guizhou provinces, and Cai E got the title of commander of the southwest border defense. It is obviously Duan Qirui's order to check and balance
A method used by Sichuan. It is too early to say that we have taken the southwest. We must not relax at all. Moreover, the economy of Yunnan and Guizhou provinces is very backward. What we have in our hands is not wealth for the time being, but a burden.
, Sichuan needs to spend a lot of money to help the development of Yunnan and Guizhou provinces, open up the railway transportation of the three provinces, and connect it with the Qinzhou seaport. Only in this way can we truly control the southwest. You have a long way to go!"
Qiao Yu has long thought that China is now completely lagging behind the world. If he wants to get rid of the country from suffering, the only two problems that need to be solved are being beaten and starved. According to the experience of later generations, he should concentrate his efforts to solve the problem first.
Let’s solve the problem of being beaten and then solve the problem of starvation.
This is a very good idea, but Qiao Yu knows that his abilities are limited, and it is really difficult to call on so many people with lofty ideals to follow him. Moreover, Qiao Yu does not have the courage to burn the boat. The most important thing is that China has not yet completely reached a point of no return.
, there is still plenty of time left for Qiao Yu.
Therefore, Qiao Yu decided on his own strategy, which was to solve the problem of starvation together. First, enhance the economic strength of a place through the development of industry, and then rely on its strength to take back some power from the great powers, step by step, and fight steadily.
Ultimately changing the fate of the entire country.
The most critical thing to realize this plan is industrialization, which relies on industrialization to provide advanced weapons and then arm a powerful army. Through industrialization, we can realize the prosperity of the people and ensure that everyone can have enough to eat.
Sichuan is of course the most important region in Qiao Yu's industrial layout. Yunnan and Guizhou provinces also occupy an important position. The three provinces have a combined population of nearly 100 million and an astonishing amount of natural resources, which is perfect for industrial layout.
The best base, and Sichuan's current financial resources can only afford two provinces. Others such as Guangdong, Guangxi, and Hunan are regarded by Qiao Yu as peripheral provinces, responsible for providing raw materials and consumer products to the southwest. Therefore, this time Qiao Yu is in these
What the region mainly achieves are economic benefits, not political benefits.
"What the Marshal said is true. Now Cai E is still ruling Yunnan. Especially after this war to protect the country, Yunnan's political status has improved rapidly, and Cai E's teacher Liang Qichao is also actively working for him. This time Cai E
It is Liang Qichao's credit for becoming the commander of the border defense. Liang Qichao's United Party united with Cai E's Yunnan Army, which is definitely a force that cannot be ignored and the biggest obstacle to our further control of the southwest!" Wang Dongcheng also interjected.
"Well, the Yunnan Army also gained a lot of benefits in this war to protect the country, and its power expanded. However, the foundation of the Yunnan Army was not stable, and the people's lives became more difficult. After Cai E took charge of Yunnan again, he continued
Tang Jiyao's approach continued to expand the scope of opium cultivation. Now more than 30% of the land in Yunnan is planted with opium. It may be difficult for the people to eat!" In the past, Qiao Yu still had a hint of admiration for Cai E, but now he has seen more.
After that, Qiao Yu was able to look at historical figures with a normal heart.
Nowadays, opium is rampant in Yunnan, which has a lot to do with the rulers' militarism. It is these people who wantonly encourage the cultivation of opium for their own selfish interests, which has caused such disastrous consequences. Opium is rampant and has become a cancer that is difficult to cure in the Republic of China.
bqing Mayor Zhou Jun put forward this suggestion, and Qiao Yu nodded slightly.
"Mayor Zhou, it may be more difficult to ban smoking in Yunnan than in Sichuan. Is there anything you can do?"
"Commander, I think the reason why it is difficult to ban smoking in Yunnan is not only the problem of the people in power, but also the bigger reason is poverty. Farming cannot even guarantee basic food and clothing. Therefore, in order to survive, ordinary people have to farm to make profits.
Higher opium, and with the increase in opium cultivation, opium takes up more and more land, and the corresponding food becomes less and less, and the price becomes higher and higher. The increase in food prices prompts the people to grow opium more crazily.
This creates a vicious cycle and eventually becomes an unsolvable problem, but I think it's not too late to take action now!" Zhou Jun said this and Qiao Yu nodded slightly.
"Mayor Zhou thinks that to solve the opium problem, we should start by solving poverty?"
"Commander Mingjian, this problem can be solved only if the people do not have to live on opium. Sichuan's smoking ban is also the same idea, but the conditions in Sichuan are much better than those in Yunnan. Sichuan is richer and has more options.
, and Yunnan is in too much trouble!”
Qiao Yu gradually had his own ideas on how to break the situation. He should use money to open the way. Only by throwing a lot of money can he quickly change the backwardness of Yunnan and Guizhou and gain the support of the people quickly.
"In the final analysis, it is still a matter of enriching the people. In this case, I am planning to establish a Southwest Ministry of Transportation to uniformly plan the construction of railways and highways in the Southwest. These infrastructure constructions can not only absorb a large number of labor forces, but also strengthen connections in the Southwest and mobilize the military.
It’s also easier. I think Old Tang will be responsible for this matter. If you have any technical questions, you can ask Chao Zhan.”
It is absolutely true that if you want to get rich, you must first build roads. The backward infrastructure in Yunnan has greatly restricted the development of industry and agriculture. It also prevents the people from contacting the outside world, so they can only remain poor and backward. Therefore, building roads will transform Yunnan.
Incorporation into Sichuan's system has become an inevitable choice.
Moreover, road construction cannot be completed in three to five years. It can attract a large number of laborers and produce a work-for-relief effect. There are also huge military considerations in this. As long as the road is completed, Yunnan's geographical advantage will no longer exist.
Sichuan's army entered Yunnan more easily. At that time, even if Cai E wanted to conquer Sichuan, he could not do it. However, large-scale road construction is not an easy task.
"Commander, this investment will not be a small amount. If you want to meet Marshal's standards for absorbing Yunnan's labor force, at least several provincial capital cities should be connected to railways, and then every county should be connected to roads. This is definitely not a small amount.
, it can’t be started without hundreds of millions of funds!”
Tang Yisheng raised the issue of funds. This is indeed a very important issue. A war to protect the country has consumed most of Sichuan's accumulated wealth. Now in order to control the newly expanded areas, the cost of financial funds is even more staggering.
It is indeed not enough to bear the huge infrastructure costs.
"The money problem is not a big one. The Allied Powers have already received news!" Qiao Yu took out a draft and handed it to everyone present. "The Allied Powers finally couldn't bear it any longer and have agreed to export the goods in Sichuan."
Assets, and also agreed to use part of the Gengzi compensation to offset Sichuan’s strategic supplies, in exchange for Sichuan sending more workers to Europe. It can be said that the tight spell on Sichuan’s head has been loosened a lot!”
Hearing this good news, everyone's eyes suddenly brightened. With the development of industry, the upper class in Sichuan increasingly felt that the privileges of the great powers suppressed industrial development. They could not drive out the power of the great powers, and industry could never develop independently. Now,
Britain and France handed over their assets, which is definitely a great thing for Sichuan. This marks the beginning of the disintegration of the colonial control of the great powers in Sichuan. Moreover, selling assets at this time is a clear sale at a low price, and what can Sichuan get?
There are many benefits, and Sichuan government can also get a lot of wealth from it.
"In addition, France has begun to order our aircraft, armored vehicles and self-propelled artillery. There is no doubt that Sichuan's arms exports have reached a new level. With the victory of the National Defense War, Sichuan's government's credibility has also been greatly improved.
improvement, so I think it’s time for Sichuan to issue banknotes on a large scale and use banknotes to replace the silver ocean and other metal currencies flowing in the market!”
There is no industry in the world that is more profitable than printing banknotes. For example, the current currency currently circulating on the market only contains more than seven taels of silver, but it is used as one tael. This difference is the seigniorage, which becomes the government's
The income from issuing currency, and the seigniorage tax in the paper currency era is even more crazy. Since the paper currency itself has no value, it can be said that the seigniorage tax of the paper currency is close to 100%. Of course, the prerequisite for this is that the government's credit is strong and the currency system is stable.
, otherwise the crazy depreciation of banknotes will truly turn it into a blank piece of paper.
After a war to protect the country, Sichuan lost a lot of wealth, but there was also a huge gain, that is, Sichuan showed the country the power of the Sichuan army, and with it the prestige of the Sichuan government increased. Now Sichuan is just right
Relying on its own prestige to make up for the wealth by issuing banknotes, there will be sufficient funds to carry out infrastructure construction throughout the southwest.