The Anti-Japanese War Begins with the Northeast Army

After he said these words, the person who was most unhappy must be Wu Taixun.

Damn it, you, Jiang, have been coming up with a series of shitty policies... Are you targeting me?

Wu Taixun knew very well... He had occupied Harbin for the past two years and made a lot of money by relying on this railway that ran from east to west.

Among these, opium and its derivative businesses undoubtedly have the largest trade volume and profits.

Back then, for the sake of its interests in the Far East and the purpose of encroaching on China, Russia built the Trans-Siberian Railway - it ran almost along the outer edge of Heilongjiang Province in the northeast, all the way to Vladivostok.

Later, the Siberian Railway built a so-called "branch line" in the northeast:
From Manzhouli, along the border between Heilongjiang and Jilin provinces, it runs through cities such as Harbin, and connects to Vladivostok from Suifenhe.

This is why Jiang Cheng sent his brother Chao Liu to Harbin to control the overall situation before taking over Vladivostok.

There is another road connecting Harbin to Lushun, which is the "South Manchuria Railway" currently controlled by the Japanese General Staff.

Once Harbin is stable, the cargo unloaded from Vladivostok will be able to be transported smoothly to Harbin and then transferred to Changchun, the second largest transportation hub of the South Manchuria Railway.

Jiang Cheng and Yan Ziwen calculated that taking the land transport train could save at least 30% of the cost. Adding the time saved and safety, it was imperative to take Harbin back.

As the governor of Jilin, Jiang Cheng had almost driven away the invaders in the area and began to draw up a blueprint and a specific action program for the development of the territory.

But how could Wu Taixun be happy?
Ever since he and his son joined forces with the Jilin Army to drive out the old Bao family, Wu Taixun has been sending reinforcements to Harbin one after another. He has become accustomed to the benefits here and the profits from railway freight. How can he be asked to spit them out?

"Super Six, what are you doing?"

Sitting at the head of the long table, Wu Taixun immediately spoke, "You have to know that Harbin's most important income comes from land freight, and the other is tobacco tax--"

"If you ban cigarettes, how are people going to make money? Besides, you can check. At the beginning of this year, there was a drought and the entire Northeast was short of food. The price of grain in Harbin has also remained high. "

“If farmers don’t grow tobacco, how will they eat?”

If he had said this in modern times, he would have been shot... But in the late Qing Dynasty, this kind of speech and policy of using tobacco to support the finances was the mainstream among officials.

After the Opium War, people realized that it was impossible to ban smoking, so they simply adopted a "relaxed ban" attitude, that is, allowing their own people to produce and sell it, and then collecting high tobacco taxes.

On the one hand, it can support the finances, and on the other hand, if people smoke local tobacco from the mainland, it can also reduce the outflow of money to foreign countries.

From then until the Republic of China, warlords everywhere were salivating over the value created by opium... Not to mention the years of opium disasters, the expansion of the drought in 1919 alone was closely related to this.

"Youquan, since you are in Jilin... the entire army should accept Jilin's orders."

Jiang Dengxuan leaned forward slightly, put his hands on the table and said, "The entire Jilin area prohibits any form of opium-related activities such as planting, manufacturing, trafficking, selling, and smoking, and this has not been enforced for just one or two days."

"I don't agree with you that it affects farmers' income. For those who are willing to switch to growing food and cash crops, the capital will send experts to guide them and help them build water conservancy projects... There will be people responsible for purchasing the food produced."

"Also, my third brother-in-law will take over all the freight transportation within Harbin at the end of the month."

Wu Taixun straightened up suddenly.

He finally understood everything... Whether it was Feilan, Chaoliu, or even Zhang Zuoxiang, they were all serious about playing with him. In addition to the autonomy of the soldiers he brought, all other official affairs, military power, agriculture, business, etc. related to Harbin must be taken back!

Upon hearing that this was inevitable, Wu Taixun's first reaction was extreme resistance, and he wanted to make a few opposing remarks on the spot.

But he knew very well in his heart that he could not afford to offend Jiang Dengxuan.

The other party is currently the highest commander of the 30th Division of the Jilin Army... In addition, Zhang Xuecheng's mechanized heavy brigade is also advancing. He saw it when Jiangqiao broke through -

If things really get out of hand...not to mention myself, even my dad may not be able to beat me!

Thinking of this, Wu Taixun, who was originally angry and dissatisfied, actually suppressed his temper: "There has to be... a limit, right?"

"After all, the Spring Festival has just passed. As the old saying goes, a year's plan begins in spring. We must ensure that the brothers have some income at the beginning of the year, and,"

It was obvious that he had carefully considered what he said, and he spoke in an extremely restrained and artistic way... He knew very well that all the right to speak must be based on strength.

Unexpectedly, Jiang Dengxuan immediately rejected his delaying tactic and told him on the spot:
The decree has been issued, and it will spread throughout Harbin within three days... Their troops are here to deal with the riots;

No matter who it is, if anyone dares to cause trouble at this time, he will definitely be dragged out and shot.

You are so good, Jiang Dengxuan. You are saying this to tell me that you dare to shoot me, right?
With their true intentions so clearly revealed, what else could he say... He pushed his chair aside and stood up, called out to a few of his subordinates who were present at the meeting, excused himself, and left the meeting directly.

"Chao Liu, I think the matter of You Quan must be reported to Master Jiang."

When they left the meeting angrily, Jin Yanxi was the first to express his opinion, "This is just the first decree announced, and they have taken over Harbin, and they are right to do so?"

Looking at his angry expression, Jiang Dengxuan leaned back and lowered his eyes expressionlessly.

"Isn't this kind of thing normal?"

Zhang Xuecheng did not attend today's meeting. His adjutant Pan Sheng took full charge. "They are used to taking easy money. Who would be willing to give up this idea all of a sudden?"

Jiang Dengxuan glanced at the other person sideways -

What he said is true, but Zhang Xuecheng didn’t attend today...isn’t it because he wanted to “avoid suspicion” in front of his good brother?

The heavy armored combined brigade is just outside the city, so Wu Taixun doesn't dare to make any trouble. But if the troops from Jilin and Heilongjiang provinces start fighting in Harbin, it would be embarrassing.

"Okay, let's stop saying these meaningless things in the future."

As the highest official, Jiang Dengxuan ended the topic easily, "Brothers... follow the old rules, just like Jilin Prefecture and Changchun before, post notices from tomorrow morning and announce the ban throughout the city!"

"In Harbin Daoli, two opium recycling areas will be set up - those who are willing to voluntarily hand them in will be rewarded according to the previous rules."

"Three days later, the entire process will be searched!"

After saying this, all of Jiang Dengxuan's men stood up at attention at the same time, and the whole mountain echoed in agreement. (End of this chapter)