: Encourage the people's strength

The luncheon was indeed very lively. The entire military government's back garden was filled with tables. In addition to the officials of the staff headquarters, generals and officials from various military forces and local gentry officials from Chengdu were present to entertain the fun. There were hundreds of guests in total.

Wu Shaoting did not talk about official business at the banquet, but just accepted the warm hospitality from everyone casually. He drank until 2 o'clock in the afternoon, and then he left one after another. When he retreated to the living room to use tea, the gentry and celebrities came forward to say hello to Wu Shaoting. First, he said a lot of flattery and praise, and then carefully tested the southern policies. Wu Shaoting responded to them perfunctorily.

That night, Liu Xianyu also set up a banquet at his temporary headquarters and invited Wu Shaoting and others to continue the wine. Wu Shaoting didn't want to break the ball like this anymore. Noon could be considered as receiving dust, and there was no need to be at night. However, thinking that some things had not been explained at noon, he also sold a favor to Liu Xianyu, so he went there.

There were much fewer guests at night than at noon, and all those irrelevant people were invited. Most of the people who could sit down were important figures in the military and political circles of Chengdu.

Wu Shaoting took advantage of this scene and made an announcement when the banquet was about to end, and decided to hold two conferences within the next ten days, one was a consultation meeting for civilian political forces, and the other was a military service meeting of commanders of various armies. The specific meeting location will be notified separately. I hope all military and political officials will be prepared.

Liu Xianyu was a little unhappy. He was a rough man, and he wrote down what he thought about on his face. He held a banquet to serve Wu Shaoting with kindness. This guy was busy interfering in the Chengdu issue as soon as he arrived on the first day. It can be seen that he had no good intentions from beginning to end.

The atmosphere of the banquet suddenly weakened a little. The Yunnan Army, Guizhou Army and Sichuan Army each had their own thoughts, and the local powerful figures were also planning to make the banquet of music and music, and this sentence made the news.

Two days later, Wu Shaoting held a political consultation meeting in the Chengdu Chamber of Commerce Building. In addition to sending invitations to well-known politicians in Chengdu, the previous invitation also made two consecutive announcements in the newspaper. So there were a lot of participants present on that day. In addition to business wealthy people, landlords and rich peasants, warlords and sergeants, wise men and women, and even some irrelevant figures wearing decent suits came to join in the fun.

It seems that as long as I can show my side at this political consultation meeting, I will be a "famous political activist" in the future.

Wu Shaoting didn't care much about who was present at the conference. The focus of this consultation meeting was not on "negotiation". He just hoped to take this opportunity to say hello to Sichuan Province in advance. As for the policies implemented by the Southern Government in Sichuan Province in the future, what should be done? So no matter who comes, he just took the words out today.

Wu Shaoting was not present in the first half of the meeting, and was handed over to Xiong Kewu and bureaucrats at all levels of the Sichuan military government to deliver speeches. They explained their support for the Southern Government and the establishment of the new Sichuan military government, and also mentioned the new policies to be promulgated in the future.

Then there were symbolic representative speeches. The representatives who came to the stage were all arranged in advance, and they had a considerable reputation in Chengdu and even Sichuan Province. The speeches and questions of these people were almost inconsequential, and they were all remarks supporting the new Sichuan military government and the Southern Government.

When the representatives finished speaking, the meeting had a short rest, and Wu Shaoting came to the stage to give a speech.

Wu Shaoting only gave instructions in two aspects. One is about the reconstruction of the Sichuan Provincial Government Advisory Council and the Local Advisory Council. The Advisory Council retains its original name and exercises the functions of the local Senate. After the reconstruction, the Advisory Council must undergo reforms to popularize the social rights and interests of democracy and suffrage. The second is the preparations for Sichuan United Bank, hoping that Chengdu and the rich people of money shops in various parts of the province can actively cooperate to avoid unnecessary conflicts and strive to create a win-win financial system.

The speeches on these two points caused quite a controversy throughout the audience. Many people know that the Advisory Council and Sichuan United Bank are profitable, but these are all capitalist people. The richer they have, the more they can gain more benefits from it. On the contrary, the less money they are, the more useless they are.

Politics can never be a balanced game, and the only one who benefits can ultimately be a few people.

Before the evening arrived, the grand meeting ended completely. Many of the people present had not even figured out what was going on, let alone had room for negotiation.

Wu Shaoting sat on the second floor of the Chamber of Commerce Building for a while, and Xiong Kewu introduced several rich men from Chengdu.

These people were not interested in the Advisory Council, but were all focused on the preparations of the United Bank and the next military operations of the Southern Government. These two things seemed to be inconsistent, but they had a very close influence on each other. At this political consultation meeting, almost everyone present was more concerned about the second issue.

Only by confirming that there will be no more war in Sichuan can the reliability of the newly born Sichuan military government be determined. With a reliable and stable military government, joint banks, railways, commerce, and taxation, we can follow the steps.

Wu Shaoting said with a confident smile: "Everyone, the first battle between the north and the south in Sichuan is about to end. This battle is a complete victory in the south and morale is high. However, I have said to my subordinates many times before that war is not the goal, it is just a means for us to fight for republic and democracy. Yuan Shikai of Beiyang is unkind, sooner or later we will let him taste the consequences. The victory of the Sichuan War is just the beginning. I believe that no matter whether it is me, the military president or the elected president of the government in the future, we will unswervingly continue to advance the front north until republic and democracy is truly realized."

"Master President, as you say, this battle will continue to be fought?"

"Don't worry, Sichuan will be pacified today, and Governor Xiong and the Southern Government will definitely make every effort to restore the order in Sichuan. Before, outsiders said that Sichuan is the most chaotic. I believe that starting from heaven, this situation will completely change. Sichuan will definitely complete the real unification as soon as possible. In the future, our country of Heaven will only be the logistics base on the front line, and will never be the front line anymore." Wu Shaoting made a promise to everyone as a politician.

Everyone breathed a sigh of relief. As long as there was no war in Sichuan, it was fine. As for the Sichuan army to go out to Sichuan to fight, although war would consume a lot of manpower and material resources, and there were countless levies and taxes. But war was also an investment. As long as the front line won the battle, the rich men, such as them, could plunder more assets. The most obvious example is the joint banks of various provinces.

Guangdong United Bank was first established, and these initial shareholders have now developed their power to Guangxi, Fujian and Sichuan provinces. This seemingly ordinary behavior is actually capital invasion. The establishment of a province's joint bank must annex and control local assets, break the old financial order, and establish a new order that is more inclined to the south to enforce the government. This means that local capital compromises with centralized capital, and also means that local assets are weak in the face of centralized capital.

In addition, the political benefits obtained by supporting the Southern Government will also be rewarded. To put it simply, you can get to know more military and political figures and get more political guarantees; to put it more prone to the higher the value of cooperation between merchants and soldiers, and your own status will also increase accordingly.
Chapter completed!