Let's turn our attention to China. It was already the end of October when Zhou Hexuan returned to Tianjin, and it was November in the blink of an eye.
Winter has arrived, and the weather is freezing.
The number of victims outside Tianjin did not continue to increase, not because the disaster was under control, but because one by one chose to go to the Northeast to "break through Guandong".
The battle between Feng Jun and Feng Yuxiang and Yan Xishan continued. Zhang Zuolin, who was showing off his power, was very powerful. He ordered the direct line of Feng Jun to launch a general offensive and killed Yan Xishan.
They retreated to Niangzi Pass, Yanmen Pass and other passes, and held on to the dangers to prevent the Feng army from deepening, and the two armies entered a stage of stalemate.
However, the Zhilu Allied Forces led by Zhang Zongchang and Chu Yupu were defeated in front of Feng Yuxiang.
In the early days of the war, because Feng Yuxiang's elite troops were contained and fought with miscellaneous troops, they suffered many defeats. Zhang Zongchang and Chu Yupu's Zhilu Allied Forces won successive victories, and the forwards reached the border of Kaifeng. However, in late October, Feng Yuxiang redeployed his troops and began to counterattack.
After two days and nights of fierce fighting, the entire 200-mile-long Zhili-Shandong coalition front collapsed.
In this battle alone, Feng Yuxiang captured more than 30,000 Zhili-Shandong coalition troops, seized more than 20,000 guns, five armored vehicles, more than 40 cannons, countless bullets, artillery shells and logistical supplies. Then, in mid-November,
At that time, Feng Yuxiang won another great victory, capturing more than 20,000 enemy troops and more than 10,000 guns.
Chu Yupu is going crazy. He is a new warlord who has only emerged in the past two years, and his foundation is very weak. From the beginning of the year to the end of the year, Chu Yupu's defeats in Jiangsu, Anwei, and Henan battlefields almost destroyed his family fortune.
Light.
Although Chu Yupu still had troops, he was extremely short of guns and ammunition. In order to regroup, he immediately ordered his brother Chu Yufeng to issue 10 million public bonds in the Zhili area and forcibly distributed them to merchants and civilians.
In fact, Chu Yupu issued 6 million public bonds in Zhili last year and repeatedly withheld salt taxes from the Changlu Saltworks.
Because the Beiyang government owed a lot of foreign debt, part of the Changlu salt tax (more than 13 million yuan per year) was used to repay the debt, and the remaining part was an important financial source for the Beiyang government.
Chu Yupu's move to withhold the salt tax aroused strong dissatisfaction among the great powers. Creditor countries such as Britain, France, and Japan protested many times and almost triggered formal international negotiations. At the same time, it also worsened the financial situation of the Beiyang government. The finance minister directly resigned, and Peking University could not afford to pay.
The main culprit of wages is Chu Yupu.
But Chu Yupu didn't care about this at all. He was already crazy. In order to maintain his military strength, he was not afraid even if he offended the King of Heaven.
Although "Ta Kung Pao" was opened in the concession, and the major shareholder behind the scenes was Zhang Xueliang, Chu Yupu also forcibly allocated 3,000 silver dollars in public bonds. It would be impossible not to buy his public bonds, otherwise your newspaper would not be able to sell in Zhili. There is no reason to do so.
speak.
"This Chu Yupu is indeed Zhang Zongchang's old subordinate." Hu Zhengzhi said angrily and sarcastically.
Zhou Hexuan smiled and said: "It's still better than the devil incarnate. Chu Yupu issued public bonds and cut salt taxes, all of which were aimed at wealthy households and public funds. Zhang Zongchang, on the other hand, didn't care about the life and death of the people at all. He imposed sixty or seventy kinds of exorbitant taxes and miscellaneous taxes, which could simply drive the people to their knees.
die."
"Alas, forget about these bastard warlords," Hu Zhengzhi said, "the daily sales volume of Ta Kung Pao in the north has exceeded 50,000, and it will be difficult to grow if it continues. So I discussed with Chi Zhang (Zhang Jiluan) and planned to let him
What do you think about opening a branch in Shanghai?"
"This is very good," Zhou Hexuan agreed. "Our "Ta Kung Pao" cannot just stay in a corner of the north. It is certain to open a branch in Shanghai, and it will expand to the whole country in the future."
Hu Zhengzhi asked: "Opening a branch requires the allocation of a large amount of funds. Do we need to seek the consent of the young commander for this matter?"
"No need," Zhou Hexuan shook his head and said, "The young marshal has long said that he will not interfere in the affairs of the newspaper. We can handle it ourselves."
"That's good." Hu Zhengzhi said happily.
After talking about opening the Shanghai branch, Zhou Hexuan returned to the editorial department of "Popular".
"The Legend of Heaven and the Dragon Slayer" has been serialized for tens of thousands of words, but the response from readers was not as enthusiastic as the previous two books. The main reason is that the new book did not get into the main topic for a long time, and devoted a lot of space to describing Guo Xiang and Zhang Sanfeng, and the "male protagonist" did not appear until the third chapter.
Well, readers regard Zhang Cuishan as the male protagonist. It is estimated that when Zhang Cuishan and Yin Susu commit suicide in a while, some readers will slap the table and curse.
Just when Zhou Hexuan was reviewing newspaper manuscripts and writing "Guns, Germs and Steel" in his spare time, Liao Yaquan, a female spy from Japan, ran into trouble.
…
Chu Mansion, Siheyuan.
Chu Yufeng was smoking a big cigarette, and there were two handsome maids beside him to help him beat his legs and massage his shoulders. His subordinates suddenly came in and reported: "Second Master, 300,000 yuan in public debt has been allocated. Do you want to send it to the commander first?"
"Only 300,000? It's too slow. The commander-in-chief has ordered arms from foreigners and is in a hurry to use money. Ask the people below to speed up the work. If anyone dares not to give, you will be forced to do it. If you don't give face, you will be arrested as a red party member."
Chu Yufeng thought for a while and said, "The 300,000 yuan should be sent to the commander first. The soldiers are clamoring for pay, so this matter cannot be delayed."
"Yes, I'll do my humble job right away." The subordinate bowed and retreated.
After Chu Yufeng finished smoking the ocean, she stretched her arms and moved her body, and said to her attendants: "Go to the Haihe construction site for a walk. Let's say that is also a project undertaken by me, the second master."
The attendant quickly flattered him: "Second Master really loves the people like a son and has done great things for the people of Tianjin."
"Hahaha," Chu Yufeng laughed proudly, "Actually, apart from my love of playing with women, I don't have any other shortcomings. I also have a good heart. I am happy that the people are living a good life."
The attendant immediately said: "Second Master, you are wrong. What's the disadvantage of liking to play with women? Who doesn't like men? If you like to play with women, it means you have a great body and you are a real man."
"Hahahaha," Chu Yufeng laughed again and praised, "You have a good speaking skills."
Chu Yufeng took a car to the construction site, but due to poor road conditions, he had to get off the car halfway and walk. After walking a few steps, he felt his feet hurt, so he asked someone to get a sedan, and leisurely sat in the sedan to inspect the construction site.
When he arrived at Qujiadian, Chu Yufeng saw several foreigners pointing and pointing at the river, and he immediately ran to join in the fun.
"Oh, oh, you foreign gentlemen, you are still blowing the cold wind by the river in the cold weather. It is really a blessing for the people of Tianjin." Chu Yufeng respected and feared foreigners, and flattered them when they met.
Those foreigners were engineers and supervisors and could not understand Chinese, so Liao Yaquan immediately helped them translate.
After the foreign engineer learned that Chu Yufeng was the Chinese person in charge of the project, he immediately said: "Mr. Chu, the river is about to freeze and the soil has become very hard. This has greatly increased the difficulty of construction, and our construction period may be extended."
"
"It's okay, it's okay, take your time, it will be fixed one day." Chu Yufeng said absently, his eyes always stayed on Liao Yaquan, his eyes glowing like a hungry wolf that had not eaten meat for several days.