Just when An Yi and his generals were thinking about recruiting troops, Franklin Roosevelt, who had been inaugurated as President of the United States on March 4, summoned Zhang Xi at the White House.

During this period, Roosevelt did a lot of work, ordering banks across the country to take a holiday, and then convened an emergency session of Congress to pass a series of laws to give him greater power. Today is the day to make all preparations and officially implement his New Deal measures.

The New Deal officially kicked off on this day.

Roosevelt and Zhang Xi discussed economic policies for a while, and felt a little thirsty. He asked the staff to get a cup of coffee for him and Zhang Xi, took a comfortable sip, and then said with a smile:

"Zhang, I heard that China stopped importing the grain we produce, causing the purchase price of grain products nationwide to drop sharply. Is this true?"

"Yes, due to years of civil war, Japan has launched wars in Shanghai and the Great Wall, coupled with continuous famines, China's economic situation is extremely bad and is on the verge of bankruptcy. The purchaser of the 500,000 tons of grain is the Chinese army

An Yi, the general of the Young Faction, who is also my business partner, had to reluctantly give up importing grain from our country due to a sharp drop in his income and was unable to make ends meet." Zhang Xi said with some seriousness.

Roosevelt was very pleased with Zhang Xi's outspokenness about his relationship with An Yi: "I have heard about the situation in China. I deeply regret the civil war in China and Japan's growing ambitions. Originally, I expected hundreds of thousands of Chinese troops to be able to defend the Great Wall.

The front line taught the Japanese army a lesson. Unexpectedly, the war has now spread to the Ping and Tianjin lines. However, the situation in our country is not good now. Starting last month, except for the western areas,

Except New York State and New York State, governors of other states have successively ordered all or part of the closure of banks in their states. The national financial industry has almost collapsed, which is not much better than that of China. Now I am focusing on this area. Zhang, I don’t

The extra energy should be put into industry and agriculture. Once China's agricultural product orders are lost, many farmers who are in urgent need of money will immediately go bankrupt. Do you have any good ideas for this?"

Zhang Xi's face was extremely serious: "I was a little unprepared for this. Fortunately, I contacted some consortiums in the west to build a large number of cargo yards and cold storages. I can absorb some, but no more than I can bear."

Roosevelt naturally understood the relationship between Zhang Xi and the Chinese consortium. He smiled and praised: "Zhang, I appreciate your efforts in the election and support for the New Deal. I heard that the Western Consortium has voluntarily given up on alcohol.

Business, is there such a thing?"

Zhang Xi's heart trembled, but his face remained calm: "Since knowing that the president intends to repeal the 'Prohibition Order,' my friends have decided not to get involved in this kind of business that will bring displeasure to all parties. Nowadays, various consortiums

The investment focus that is more focused is on industries such as finance, media, electronics, medicine, real estate, transportation, department stores, mining and metallurgy. Especially now that the national financial order is in chaos, my friends are determined to contribute to the president in this aspect of finance."

"This is a good thing! You also know that the economic crisis sweeping the world was triggered by a financial crisis caused by crazy speculation. What we need to do most now is to restore people's confidence in our banks. A large number of banks with capital and strength

Re-certification and protection can quickly allow people to stabilize and get into new work and life, so you ask your friends not to have any worries and to make any requests you have!" Roosevelt said with a smile.

Zhang Xi was overjoyed. The meaning of Roosevelt's words was obvious. That is, forget about the past. From now on, as long as you stay close to him, things like smuggling and smuggling by the Western Chinese consortium will be forgotten. However, in the future, you must work harder on the things he ordered.

Son.

Various thoughts flashed through Zhang Xi's mind, but he remained unmoved with a smile on his face. He soon talked about the upcoming "Emergency Banking Law". After chatting for a long time, Roosevelt suddenly asked: "Zhang, what do you mean?

Let’s see, if our chief patron, General An, were to preside over China’s military affairs, would it be better than the current Chairman Chiang Kai-shek?”

"this--"

Zhang Xi was very surprised. He was stunned for a while before shaking his head: "Logically speaking, I should support my partners, but the current situation in China is far more complicated than we imagined. According to General An's reputation, he is not in China now."

One call and hundreds of responses, at least among the veteran generals in the army, are different.

We must support him. Take the Great Wall War as an example. He could only mobilize a few divisions directly under his command. The various warlords did not take him seriously. They were not cooperative in their actions and frequently followed him behind.

Holding back. I dare say that without Chairman Chiang, China would be in chaos!"

Roosevelt frowned slightly and seemed very puzzled: "I have read the newspapers in the past few days. Doesn't it mean that the Chinese people admire General An very much, from north to south, and praise him? According to the reporters stationed in my country by major newspapers in our country, In a recent spot check, General An’s approval rating was as high as 100%

If it is over 90, there should be no problems... You know, I also relied on the support of the people to ascend to the position of president. Why can't it be the case when it is General An's turn? Is it because he is too young and lacks some necessary skills?

Qualifications, or other such things..."

Zhang Xi smiled bitterly: "Since the rule of the Qing Dynasty, China's people have been ignorant and backward for a long time. Less than 5% of the total population is truly thoughtful, educated and enlightened. It is estimated that the urban population surveyed by European and American institutions is not

To one-tenth of this group of people. Many people start from birth

Since the beginning of time, they have never left the countryside where they live. Hundreds of millions of people have never seen a car or a train. Therefore, they just take whatever the warlords and officials above them say, and they even go to great lengths for some one-sided propaganda. Therefore,

The so-called support rate in newspapers cannot represent China

The vast majority of people are completely ignorant of the will of the people, and may even be tempted by some thoughtful people at any time to stand against General An in order to survive and for their families. Now Chairman Chiang occupies the moral position

From the commanding heights, those local warlords and forces dare not act rashly

If one day Chairman Chiang Kai-shek suddenly disappears, some people will definitely jump out to fight for the dominance of the country, and then it will turn into a great melee sweeping the Far East. By then, China's disaster will be far worse than it is now. If Japan takes the opportunity to invade, a country

It is not impossible for a nation to perish and become extinct!”

Roosevelt was silent for a while and shrugged: "Zhang, you are right. It seems that things in China are much more complicated than we imagined. Many things that seem obvious at a glance actually cannot withstand scrutiny. But you can

Can you tell me whether it is possible for General An to reach the top?"

Zhang Xi thought for a long time and finally shook his head: "If General An ignores the interests of the country and the nation and stays in his territory in the southwest to preserve his strength and develop for ten years, there may be hope. Analyzing the history and current situation between China and Japan, the relationship between China and Japan

There must be a decisive battle, once the Sino-Japanese war breaks out

, the powerful Japanese army will surely sweep through large areas of the Central Plains and Jiangnan, but it will also fall into a stalemate due to the lengthening of the front line. After all, China's land is too big for the Japanese to swallow in one bite. By then, if General An's soldiers, who have accumulated a lot of experience for many years, have endured

Going out of the southwest, adopt a step-by-step approach.

Using various means to unite and gradually erode the forces of all parties, and finally fight the Japanese army, it is possible to reach the top. But based on my understanding of him, this possibility is almost impossible. However, General An Yi is a patriot.

It can even be said that he is a tough nationalist, for the sake of the entire country

In the interests of the nation, he will never choose to retreat because of the gap in strength. He will surely lose his strength in wars of attrition again and again. This was the case in the 128th War in Shanghai last year, and the same is true in the ongoing Great Wall War of Resistance.

Therefore, at best he can only be the hero of one party!"

Roosevelt thought thoughtfully: "So, Chairman Chiang is the only suitable candidate to lead China?"

"At present, it seems that it is indeed the case!"

Zhang Xi nodded, and then said with emotion: "This is the difference between politicians and patriots. Politicians can sacrifice everything for their goals, but patriots cannot bear to harm the interests of the country and nation and can only stand up...

But then again, if General An was not such a person, how could he be respected and loved by so many people?"

Roosevelt sighed: "We originally hoped that the impoverished China could quickly end the civil strife and embark on construction, which would partially boost our economy. Now it seems that it will be good to maintain the status quo. By the way, China's southwest region continues to purchase

Our industrial products and bringing in unemployed workers?”

"Yes, since 2029, China has gradually become our indispensable trading partner. In terms of product procurement and import, it has become our second largest trading partner after Russia in recent years... I heard

It is said that in the first year after the economic crisis, the number of technical assistance agreements signed between Russia and our country’s experts reached 70

Multiple projects involving metallurgy, industrial machinery, metal processing, fuel power, petrochemical industry, transportation, agricultural machinery, agricultural irrigation engineering, automobile, ship and aircraft manufacturing and other important economic sectors. As of the end of last year, Russia had received technical assistance

The number of projects increased to 124, with a total value of more than 40 million US dollars

.They established a large number of modern key enterprises during the first five-year plan, especially in new industrial sectors such as steel, machinery, fuel power, chemicals, automobiles, tractors, aircraft, and shipbuilding. Many of them made use of our advanced equipment and technology.

It was even established with the direct help of our experts. I heard that Stalin had

Said, 'In Russia, about two-thirds of large enterprises were established with help or technical assistance from the United States...The rest were mostly established with technical assistance from Germany, the United Kingdom, France, Italy and other countries.

', It seems that this economic crisis has created an opportunity for the rise of Russia as a great power." Zhang Xi shook his head.

Roosevelt smiled lightly: "It's not just about technology. Russia also imports a large amount of our country's machinery, attaches great importance to the introduction of talents, attracts our country's loans, etc. I don't think that in a few years, the huge Russia will become the second largest economic power after the United States.

But now that the global economy is hard to recover from, we have to bite the bullet and swallow it even though we know it is poison. It is a pity that China is not an independent and unified country, otherwise its achievements may not be much worse than Russia's. It is difficult to achieve success in the southwest alone.

What substantial changes?"

At this time, Zhang Xi did not know that this conversation between Roosevelt and him would affect the U.S. policy toward China for more than ten years. He was still secretly happy for his achievements in the past few years:

In fact, thanks to the smuggling of anti-inflammatory drugs such as alcohol, heroin, methamphetamine and aspirin, the machine products shipped to Chinese companies in China, Southeast Asia, Australia and other places are not much worse than those of Russia. In the past four years, the machines exported by the United States have

One-third of the equipment is sold to the Chinese. The year before last, one-tenth of the world's total machine exports were sold to Chinese companies. By last year, this number had risen to 20%, just in southern Sichuan.

import

In total, the import of machinery and equipment accounted for one-thirtieth of the world's total in 2029, and last year it was as high as one-fifteenth. In other words, the development potential of southwest China is definitely not as simple as Roosevelt saw.

, because many export businesses are completed through companies registered in Australia, Liechtenstein, Andorra, Monaco, as well as the Cayman Islands, Bermuda, Bahamas, Netherlands Antilles and other places, only you can understand the flow of these things.

In terms of talent introduction, the southern Sichuan region has more advantages than Russia. Not to mention the suitable temperature and beautiful living environment, but only the cultural and social circle composed of European and American people, as well as freedom of religious belief, it is not what Russia was like in this period.

Comparably, coupled with the negative publicity against the Red Empire that he has been receiving, almost most technical talents who are willing to go abroad choose to work in China. If An Yi can calm down and develop, his future achievements will be limitless.

But the problem is that An Yi is indeed short of money, but this lack of money is different from the central government borrowing money from everywhere to live.

After taking control of southern Sichuan in 1931, An Yi's development focus fell on Xufu and Luzhou. Xufu is known as the first city along the Yangtze River, covering an area of ​​approximately 15,000 square kilometers. With the continuous immigration in the past two years,

influx,population

About six million, it has abundant hydropower and mineral resources, including 5.3 billion tons of coal reserves, 1.5 billion tons of pyrite reserves, and 10 billion tons of rock salt. Luzhou, also known as Jiucheng, is located in Sichuan, Chongqing and Guizhou

Yunnan Province

, located in the transition zone between the southern edge of the Sichuan Basin and the Yunnan-Guizhou Plateau, with an area of ​​13,000 square kilometers and a population of more than 4 million. It is the most important agricultural production area in the upper reaches of the Yangtze River and is extremely rich in biological resources, mineral resources and energy resources. Coal

The reserves are 4.3 billion tons and 3.2 billion tons of pyrite. The combined population of these two places is close to 10 million. With dozens of mining sites springing up across the two places, seven large and medium-sized steel plants have also sprung up.

Rise up from the ground.

The foundation of modern industry is the steel manufacturing industry. Think about it, high-quality steel is needed to make machine tools and machinery, steel is needed to make weapons, vehicles, and ships, steel is needed to build railways, and steel is needed to run factories and engage in construction. There is no steel industry to do this.

Without paving the way, nothing else can develop, so from the very beginning, the development of southern Sichuan has centered around the steel industry.

Xufu and Luzhou are rich in natural resources, but the mining volume of coal and iron ore has been relatively small for a long time. Now, although the mining intensity has been increased and capital from Jiangsu and Zhejiang has been introduced for development, due to the ore being buried too deep, mining has become difficult.

Due to many reasons such as backward technology, the steel industry cannot fundamentally satisfy the needs of the steel industry.

In order to meet the needs of development, An Yi has focused on the layout of the entire southwest region from the beginning. In addition to the junction of Sichuan and Yunnan in southern Sichuan under the jurisdiction of Liu Wenhui, and the confluence of the Jinsha River and the Yalong River, Huili and Dechang sent exploration teams to inspect mineral deposits.

In addition to resources, it is also developing coal and iron ore resources throughout the southwest region.

Qijiang Iron Mine, located in the south of Chongqing, is an old mine with a mining history of more than a thousand years. It was first mined in the Song Dynasty. Two years ago, a smelter in Dongxi established Qianyu Iron Ore Company and leased mining from Liu Xiang, who is based in Chongqing.
To be continued...