Volume 2 King of the Northwest Chapter 52: Poaching
Dai Jiliang couldn't find out who Wang Chongyou was for a while, but Guo Bingchang quickly got Zhang Xiji's information.
Although Zhang, the then director of the Pucheng County Finance Bureau, was also one of the backbones of the Kuomintang, it seemed that the Shaanxi Kuomintang began to participate in the existing system to a limited extent after the failure of the armed struggle. Maybe this was also a kind of peace? Dai Jiliang looked at Wang Shifeng, the director of the Finance Department, thoughtfully, with his mind full of thoughts.
"Marshal, Marshal."
Wang Shifeng called softly.
"Do you think we should allocate some money to the Ministry of Finance this year? Otherwise, firstly, it will be embarrassing, and secondly, I am afraid that the central government will strangle us in other areas."
"You and Secretary Wang should make the decision on this."
Dai Jiliang woke up.
He frowned and thought about it. He thought that the Army Department might have intended to let Shaanxi pay the overdue taxes to the central government as soon as possible by throwing the 14th Division to Shaanxi.
Although the current political situation is turbulent and the central government's authority is almost non-existent, the Shaanxi Army still has many requests to the central government and should make some appropriate returns, at least to save face.
"uncle."
Dai Jiliang called Wang Shifeng after his concubine's generation.
"Have you worked out the outline for Shaanxi's industrial development? Have you come up with a policy on rewards for factory owners who use machines?"
"Shaanxi's industrial development strategy is still being worked on. We don't have many talents in economics in Shaanxi, so such a big move will take some time. As for the incentive policy for factory owners who use machine production, the draft has been prepared. Please take a look, Marshal."
Although Dai Jiliang called him affectionately, Wang Shifeng felt that he was not as close a relative as Wang Danping, so he still respectfully addressed Dai Jiliang as "Marshal".
"Uncle, you're too polite. You can just call me Zhixiang from now on."
Dai Jiliang spoke enthusiastically while flipping through the things Wang Shifeng handed over.
"Isn't it too little to reduce the monthly tax by 10 yuan for 50 horsepower and 20 workers? Isn't it too little to reduce the monthly tax by 10 yuan for 200 horsepower and 50 workers?"
Dai Jiliang took a few glances at it and then threw the thing back on the table.
"Uncle, I'm not saying anything bad about you, but you can't make this thing behind closed doors. There are so many new factories opening in Shaanxi now, you should send people to visit them one by one, take a look, and ask questions."
Dai Jiliang criticized.
"Well, I'll send you someone, the director of the Pucheng County Finance Bureau, Zhang Xiji, whom you should be very familiar with. Let him take charge of this matter."
"The Marshal is right. I will pass on the matter when Xiji arrives."
Wang Shifeng was naturally unwilling to accept the fact that he had worked hard for several months but was suddenly rejected.
But Dai Jiliang had already spoken, so there was nothing we could do but listen.
"By the way, Marshal, how do we arrange for Zhang Xiji to be in the hall ?"
"I plan to merge the Negotiation Bureau and the Lijin Bureau into the Shaanxi Taxation Bureau. I think I'll let him do this as the deputy director first, and then decide how to assign him after seeing his performance."
Dai Jiliang obviously had a plan long ago.
"It turns out that the directors of these two bureaus all started as deputy directors first, and whoever has the best performance will be promoted."
Dai Jiliang is introducing a competition mechanism.
"In addition, I plan to set up a provincial banknote bureau to issue Shaanxi provincial banknotes. From now on, except for provincial banknotes, all other silver taels, silver ingots, gold bars, Japanese yen, and rubles will not be allowed to circulate in the entire Shaanxi province."
"Issuing provincial banknotes?"
Wang Shifeng was shocked.
"Where's the capital? Where's the circulation? The Marshal is acting too hastily!"
Wang Shifeng was right. Insufficient capital coupled with excessive issuance was a precursor to government credit bankruptcy. Although Shaanxi lacked money, as a finance minister with some integrity, Wang Shifeng did not want to see Dai Jiliang take this dangerous step.
“So I need you to do a good job of investigating.”
If most of Guo Sinan's men were not composed of thugs who were illiterate and didn't even know the difference between horsepower and horses, it would actually be much quicker to let his men handle the matter.
"We need to first estimate Shaanxi's total fiscal volume and current circulation situation before gradually launching provincial banknotes.
Uncle, don't worry, I know how much to give.
The first limit is 30 million, which will be released gradually over five years. The rest will be revised based on the results of your investigation."
Wang Shifeng's heart twitched when he first heard the number 30 million.
But later I realized that only 5 million would be given out in the first phase, and I finally felt relieved.
"Five million is acceptable. When the two taxes come in this year, we will use provincial banknotes to issue it, which will avoid the problem of capital."
"Uncle is right. Actually, I didn't plan to use the provincial banknote bureau model at first. Unfortunately, we don't have any financial talents here, and my second brother is estranged and refuses to come to help me. Otherwise, we could just build a bank, which would be more profitable."
Dai Jiliang sighed.
"Oh, uncle, don't spread this matter yet. Find someone to make a sample of the banknotes. Remember! Make sure it's hard for others to copy."
Dai Jiliang also understood that paper money was a double-edged sword. He could use it to earn a large amount of interest, but once it was counterfeited, Shaanxi’s financial bankruptcy would be imminent.
"Well, you will take the lead on this matter. I will assign Deputy Director Guo and Section Chief Song to you. One of you has all kinds of talents under him, and the other one knows how to encrypt secret messages. Let them help you with this."
At the beginning of 1918, a horrific incident occurred in Guangzhou, the headquarters of the victorious Southern Protection Government.
Sun Yat-sen, the Grand Marshal of the regime's army and navy, actually commanded the navy to bombard the Guangdong Governor's Office of his ally, the Guangxi Clique.
Of course, the cause of this incident was that Mo Rongxin, the governor of Guangdong of the Guangxi clique, was domineering. He detained a number of staff members of the Grand Marshal's Office and probably killed or injured several of them. So our Sun Dapao directly ordered the navy's Tong'an and Yuzhang ships to fire at the governor's office.
The two captains hesitated to fire, so Sun Yat-sen personally took action, fired the cannon himself, and then directed the bombardment.
Although Mo Rongxin later sent people to Zhongshan to apologize and promised to provide 20,000 yuan in monthly salary to the guards of the Marshal's Office, the seeds of the split of the Protection of the Constitution Military Government had already been sown.
On January 15, the Southwestern Provinces Joint Conference for the Protection of the Constitution was established in Guangzhou, with Cen Chunxuan as the peace negotiation representative, Wu Tingfang as the chief diplomatic representative, Tang Shaoyi as the chief financial representative, and Tang Jiyao, Cheng Biguang, and Lu Rongting as the chief military representatives.
On the 20th, Mo Rongxin and 13 others jointly issued a telegram to announce the "Regulations of the Joint Conference of Provinces for the Protection of the Law of the Republic of China", which contained a total of seven articles of procedure. This was actually the second National Assembly, and there was a hidden tendency to confront the military government.
"Marshal, look, the situation is really chaotic now!"
E Tao was hiding in his office reading a newspaper. He was stunned to find Dai Jiliang sitting opposite him. He immediately thought of a solution and pointed to the newspaper in his hand and said.
"Both the north and the south have started to quarrel. In the south, Sun Yat-sen was forced to agree to reorganize the Grand Marshal's Office. In the north, President Feng was also entangled with Prime Minister Duan. The ceasefire order was issued again and again, but it was ineffective."
“It’s really a mess.”
Dai Jiliang glanced at E Tao's desk and spoke with a double entendre.
"The fighting in Huguang is not enough. Sichuan has also been fighting since April last year. Until now, Liu Cunhou, the Sichuan governor, has only been able to manage a few counties."
After saying this, Dai Jiliang sighed.
"If we hadn't acted decisively in the fifth year of the Republic of China, Shaanxi would be in such a mess now."
Having said that, Dai Jiliang looked at E Tao and told him the reason for coming to his office.
"Can you pull Wu Lingyun and Yingshun over here?"
"Ba Ying'e? Yingshun? Forget it! Even though he is not doing well in the Northeast, I think he will be in trouble if he comes all the way to Shaanxi."
As soon as E Tao heard this, he understood that Dai Jiliang felt that there were too few cadres in his army, so he turned his attention to a few frustrated Manchurian officers.
“I can write the letter for you, but I can’t guarantee whether the person will come or not.
I think Marshal, if you really want to make an idea, you might as well release Zhang Yiqian, a graduate of the Army Academy who is in the Model Prison. If all else fails, I will write a letter to Zhiyuan, Rongkun, Yinrong, Dequan, Shouming, Shouliang and others whom I met in Beijing this time. They are all graduates of the sixth or seventh term of the Army Academy, and they are all your juniors. You will definitely be satisfied.
But again, I can’t guarantee whether you will come or not.”
"I have come here but I still have no place to stay."
Dai Jiliang laughed. If a group of Manchu officers really came, who knows what others would think. The young emperor in the Forbidden City would probably send someone to contact him. He might even think of himself as the second Zhang Xun.
"Okay, Director, stop reading the newspaper. Although the Intensive School is still recruiting students, you, as the director of education, should go down and pay attention to it. Don't just sit in the office doing nothing."
"As you command, my commander!"
E Tao folded the newspaper and tidied the table.
"I wrote a letter right away. I only get one salary and asked you to do the work of several people. I have never seen anyone as stingy as you, Marshal."
"Hey, you just take a salary, don't ask for the salary of the dean of education."
Dai Jiliang pretended to leave.
"Listen carefully, if none of these people come, you can just wait to get your salary and go back to see if your sister-in-law won't break your legs."
"Marshal, I am afraid of you."
E Tao sighed in a pretentious manner.
"Indeed, it's our fate to be miserable."
"You have a miserable life, what am I?"
Dai Jiliang stood up and laughed. What E Tao had just reminded him was that he had forgotten about Zhang Yiqian in the Model Prison. Now it was a good opportunity to release him, and there was a ready-made artillery instructor.
Just when Dai Jiliang was working hard to increase the strength of his troops, something big happened in the south again.
On January 27, the Southern Army attacked Yuezhou, and the Beiyang Army stationed in Yueyang fled north in panic after a huge fire.
Yuezhou had been controlled by the Northern Army since the Second Revolution in the second year of the Republic of China. It lasted for more than four years before it returned to the arms of the Southern Army.
After Yuezhou changed hands, the popularity of the southwestern provinces boosted greatly, and for a time, they seemed to be ready to march straight to Wuhan and clear out Hubei in one fell swoop.
The change of hands of Yuezhou greatly touched the nerves of the Zhili and Anhui factions. For a time, the dispute between pro-war and pro-peace disappeared, and the northern soldiers shared a common hatred of the enemy.
On January 30, Feng Guozhang was forced to issue an order to denounce "Tan Haoming and Cheng Qian for advancing step by step, Li Tiancai and Shi Xingchuan for advocating independence, and the provocation was started by them, so they should be regarded as public enemies." At the same time, he ordered Cao Kun and Zhang Huaizhai to advance, and sent Cao Kun as the envoy to the two Hubei provinces and Zhang Jingyao as the commander-in-chief of the front line to aid Yue. He stripped Li Tiancai and Shi Xingchuan of their official positions and medals. This order was the famous "punitive order" in the history of the Republic of China.
"Marshal, this is a telegram from the War Supervision Office."
Shen Qianxuan, head of the Telecommunications Department, handed Dai Jiliang an urgent telegram.
"Director Duan asks you to send troops to the south immediately."
"Send troops to the south?"
Dai Jiliang looked up suddenly, took the telegram and was stunned .
