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Chapter seven hundred and sixtieth people's will

Everyone knows Cai E's achievements in protecting the country and defeating Yuan Dynasty, but many people ignore that Tang Jiyao was the actual commander of the Yunnan Army at that time and the real leader of the war to protect the country. However, after Tang Jiyao, there was nothing remarkable.

He was completely involved in the warlords' melee, contending with Beiyang and fighting the Sichuan warlords.

Southwest, especially Sichuan, suffered from the war, and this person was not exempt from the blame. In particular, Tang Jiyao's strategy of damaging Sichuan and replenishing Yunnan aroused the resentment of the Sichuan people. However, Tang Jiyao was not aware of it at all, and was still ambitious.

Be vigorous and never give up any opportunity to expand your strength.

This time the National Defense Forces entered Sichuan, Tang Jiyao felt a strong threat. As the saying goes, the three southwest provinces are originally one. Once Sichuan is taken away by the central government, Yunnan and Guizhou will lose the capital to separate themselves, and sooner or later they will be finished.

This was something that Tang Jiyao, who claimed to be the King of Yunnan or even the King of Southwest, could not tolerate. Therefore, he wanted to fish in troubled waters and take advantage of the chaos to occupy the land in southern Sichuan, so that he could advance and retreat.

The Fushun area in southern Sichuan is a famous well salt production area. Every year, millions or tens of millions of dollars can be made from the salt tax alone. With this money, nothing can be done!

Tang Jiyao had this wishful thinking. Others were afraid of Zhang Tinglan, but he was not necessarily afraid. Yuan Shikai's Beiyang was also so powerful back then, but Tang Jiyao still won the war to protect the country with only one province. During this glorious history, Tang Jiyao

I never forget it and want to copy it.

However, he obviously made a wrong calculation. The people of Sichuan suffered greatly at the hands of the Yunnan Army. After the Yunnan Army entered Sichuan, it immediately aroused strong dissatisfaction among the Sichuan people. Representatives from all walks of life came forward one after another to call for the expulsion of the Yunnan Army. Some even cried blood and begged, hoping that the central government

Able to stop Tang Jiyao's actions.

This request was naturally sent to Zhang Tinglan, who immediately held a military and political meeting overnight to discuss countermeasures. Sun Anhu spoke first: "Vice President, this is a God-given opportunity, just take advantage of the opportunity to kill Tang Jiyao, so that Yunnan and Guizhou provinces will also fall into the trap."

With us under control, the problem in the southwest will be completely solved."

Zhang Tinglan smiled and said: "We really need to deal with Tang Jiyao. But do you have any good ideas?"

Sun Anhu immediately said: "Although the Yunnan Army is brave, it has poor equipment and limited financial resources. It is no match for us. As long as two divisions are transferred to the southwest, we can definitely sweep the southwest."

"No." Yang Yuting immediately waved his hand and said: "If we relied solely on military power, we would have solved the Southwest a long time ago. This kind of thing also requires economic and social calculations. It is only right to pacify the Southwest with the minimum cost. And Shu

The road is difficult to travel, and Yunnan and Guizhou are as high as the sky and the emperor is far away. If we rely solely on the army, how long will it take to fight and how much wealth will be consumed, it may affect our development plan, which has violated our original intention."

Jiang Baili also said: "Attack the city first and attack the heart first. It is easy to deal with the warlords. It is difficult to win over the people. If you cannot win over the people, it will be difficult to bring the southwest under the control of the country."

Having said this, Jiang Baili looked at the Prime Minister Tang Shaoyi and said with a smile: "Prime Minister, if you want to win over the people, to put it bluntly, it's a matter of real money. I wonder how much money the Cabinet can spend?"

Upon hearing this, Tang Shaoyi smiled bitterly and said: "Chief of Staff, basically all financial funds have been invested in construction, but there is a batch of national defense bonds recently, totaling 30 million yuan, which may be temporarily diverted. As for national defense, Nanyang Chinese businessmen are back

There are a lot of investors, a lot of foreign capital is injected, maybe more currency can be issued."

Zhang Tinglan waved her hand hastily: "No, the financial system has just been unified, and this year's currency has been overissued. It is estimated that the inflation rate will even reach 12%, and no more money can be issued."

Tang Shaoyi also had a miserable look on her face: "I'd like to say that if we don't distribute money, our finances will be really difficult right now."

You can't do anything without money. No matter how big your family fortune is, there will be times when you don't have enough. Everyone here was a little dumbfounded. At this time, Yang Yuting said: "Vice President, unifying the country is the general trend, no matter how much money is spent

, it’s all worth it, I’ll see if I can issue a unified bond and borrow some more money.”

"Linge, don't go to such trouble. If you can't make money while guarding the Kingdom of Abundance, it will be a failure." Zhang Tinglan thought for a long time and finally came up with a plan.

"Everyone, Sichuan is not a poor place. It is rich in products and has many resources. If you pick any item, you can get a lot of money. Boar bristles, tung oil, well salt, raw silk, ore, these are all what we urgently need. Take them to the world

They can all be sold at a good price. I plan to use the five-year product franchise as collateral to get loans from companies and banks. I can borrow 30 to 50 million yuan, which is absolutely no problem."

When everyone heard this, their eyes lit up. This idea was indeed a good one. If they could borrow money, the trouble would be reduced a lot. But Tang Shaoyi frowned again: "I'd like to say that borrowing money is not a bad idea, but we haven't controlled Sichuan yet.

, selling Sichuan’s resources wantonly will probably arouse the resentment of the Sichuan people!”

"How can this be considered a betrayal!" Jiang Dengxuan said hurriedly: "Bristles are strategic resources, which should be managed by the country in a unified way. Salt is also something related to people's livelihood. Hasn't the salt policy been under the control of the National Salt Corporation a long time ago? Only the southwest has not yet

Being included in it and taking back these rights is a matter of course.”

"Of course it's true, but it's hard to say whether the people will understand it, especially if the place is unstable. If someone with ulterior motives tries to instigate it, saying that the central government's entry into Sichuan is for the sake of plotting Sichuan's resources, it's hard to tell."

Tang Shaoyi also told the truth. The government has not yet controlled Sichuan and must be cautious in any move. Everyone is focusing on Zhang Tinglan. Since he proposed this method, he should probably have an idea to solve it.

Facing everyone's expectant gazes, Zhang Tinglan smiled and said: "I don't have any good ideas, but if I want to take before I give, it's just to give to the people. I plan to implement three new policies in Sichuan. The first is in view of the Sichuan warlords' advance conquest."

Regarding taxation, Sichuan will exempt all taxes within three years, and only retain business tax, industrial and commercial tax, and stamp duty to maintain government operations. The second is to comprehensively reduce the price of salt to a dime per kilogram of refined salt. The third is to establish Sichuan

The Han Railway Operation Company will attract capital from all walks of life in Sichuan to become shareholders and share the fruits of railway development."

After these three points were said, Tang Shaoyi first applauded them. The three points completely hit the mark. The warlords have been widely criticized for their excessive taxation and extortion, and the people are miserable. Tax cuts are the best way to calm people's hearts. As for the price of salt, it is also a bit pitiful.

, as the saying goes, those who are covered with silkworms are not silkworm farmers. Although Sichuan is a well salt production area, and salt merchants make huge profits from it every year, the price of salt is not at all lower than other places.

Moreover, the salt dealers' control over salt has reached a perverted level. When workers carry the brine for boiling salt, they have to be bare-chested. This is to prevent their clothes from being stained with the brine and they can take it back to cook the salt. For most people,

After working hard for a year, the little income I saved was barely enough to buy some salt.

After Zhang Tinglan entered the customs, he completely controlled the excessively high salt prices. In particular, the output of Changlu Salt Farm was getting higher and higher. High-quality and cheap sea salt flooded the market. Basically, a pound of salt only cost about 10 cents, which was basically the same as before.

About one-eighth the price of salt.

This drop is astonishing, but in fact there is still more room for lowering the price of salt. The cost of a pound of seawater sun salt is almost negligible, and the shipping fee is only one or two cents, but it can be sold for a dime.

, it is already a huge profit, which also shows the greed of salt merchants in the past.

Tax cuts and lowering salt prices are definitely the best ways to calm people's hearts. As for the operation of Sichuan-Hankou Road, it is to share benefits with Sichuan's industrial and commercial businesses and win over as many supporters as possible.

Of course, the wooing is not unconditional. Everyone wants it. Zhang Tinglan will never let go of fat cats such as salt merchants who need to be eliminated. He must take the benefits back from their hands and give them back to the people.

After some discussions, the strategy for dealing with the southwest was finally determined. First, the government issued a statement severely condemning Tang Jiyao's invasion of Sichuan and demanding that he withdraw from Sichuan immediately and concentrate on border defense.

At the same time, the government announced a set of new policies and announced a substantial tax cut. For three years in Sichuan, farmers basically did not have to pay taxes. Only industry and commerce had to pay a small amount of taxes. In addition, it announced an emergency transfer of 200,000 tons of salt into Sichuan at a low price.

Sell ​​it to relieve people's suffering.

These measures to benefit the people, after being vigorously publicized by newspapers, immediately created a trend. For the people, food, rice, oil and salt are still the most important things. Whether it is Sichuan autonomy or central management, in short, they are all Chinese. As long as

If you can live a better life, there will be no problem.

Sichuan was particularly excited that the central government could take care of people's interests in this way, and people's expectations for the government suddenly soared.

However, the common people do not know that pie will not fall in the sky. Zhang Tinglan has made huge profit concessions and must get it back from other sources. Sichuan's specialty rights have been mortgaged, and a total of 53 million loans have been obtained.

With this money, there is hope for pacifying Southwest China.

"Fucheng, this is a telegram from Chang Yinhuai."

Liu Xiang's confidant Pan Wenhua sent a telegram to Liu Xiang. Liu Xiang looked at it carefully and immediately frowned. In the telegram, Chang Yinhuai did not blame Liu Xiang for anything.

He told him that the Sichuan Army needed to be reorganized, and if he wanted, he would become the commander of the Second Division. He also said that the Yunnan Army was currently entering Sichuan and causing trouble to the people, so the Sichuan Army should go south and expel Tang Jiyao.

"What does Chang Yinhuai mean? He wants to recruit us?"

"Fucheng, it looks like you are right. I heard that both Tian Donggua and Crystal Monkey have been reorganized and have become leaders of the same division."

Liu Xiang let out a long sigh, held his head, and sat motionless on the chair. At this moment, someone suddenly ran in and delivered a leaflet to Liu Xiang.

"Commander in Chief, this is an open letter written by the famous scholar Zhang Lan to the Sichuan Army."

Liu Xiang glanced at it and saw it: "The trend of the times is overwhelming. If you follow it, you will live, if you go against it, you will die..."


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