Years of the Republic of China 1913

() The European war was fought more intensely and lasted longer under Fang Zida's wings than in the original history, but this war will eventually end when the Allies and Allies have reached the point of exhaustion. China Europe The expeditionary force has undertaken part of the defense tasks in France. Although there are no amazing results in combat, they are also quite satisfactory. After the armistice with Russia, the pressure on the Allied forces after Germany mobilized troops to attack the Western Front has been greatly reduced. Judging from the current situation , Germany is at the end of its strength, and after several years of war, the quality of the German army, known for its elite, has also begun to decline significantly. Closer, although the Germans have launched several attacks in a row recently, they have never been able to break through the Allied defense line, and the most successful one was only a place nearly [-] kilometers away from Paris.

According to the analysis of the situation, the Yankees will definitely jump out in the second half of this year. At that time, with the United States participating in the war, coupled with the assistance of the Chinese expeditionary force in Europe, the failure of the Allies is obvious.Perhaps this time will be next year. After this world war is over, all countries will enter a stage of recuperation. At the same time, China's industry and commerce, which have rapidly developed by taking advantage of the European war, will also enter a stage of stagnation. . .

Without the massive consumption of war, the products produced would lose their original market.After the war is over, whether it is a victorious country or a defeated country, it is certain to concentrate on running the country and revive the economy.At that time, Chinese products will lose their market, and without the European market, the domestic industry and commerce will be greatly affected, and it will even cause a chain reaction, leading to the deterioration of the national economy.

This is the case in history. Shortly after the end of the First World War, an extremely serious economic crisis broke out in the whole world.Under the economic crisis, the United States, which reaped the most benefits from the war, bears the brunt.A large number of factories and enterprises closed down overnight, the number of unemployed reached a terrifying number, and countless wealth was evaporated. It was not until the beginning of Roosevelt's New Deal that the US economy slowly improved.

The economic crisis sweeping the world not only caused heavy losses to the US agency, but also Asian countries. Japan is the first great power in Asia.It also suffered heavy losses in this economic crisis in history. This was also the trigger for the Japanese government to take the risk of annexing Northeast China in the original history. Without the support of its vast territory, resources and markets, Japan would definitely be destroyed All the achievements since the Meiji Restoration will cease to exist.

Compared with Japan, China's situation is slightly better.After all, China has a vast territory and the largest population in the world. Without the external market, China still has a domestic market to support, but Fang Zida's plan to revitalize the industry and commerce will suffer a great blow.It is certain that China's fragile emerging industries and businesses will close down and close a large number. If they want to slow down again, it will not be possible in less than ten years.

Therefore, as early as a few months ago, Fang Zida was thinking about how to solve this problem. Although investing capital in national construction can solve part of it, it is still far from enough.Just at this time, the huge amount of gold in Kolchak's hands fell into Fang Zida's eyes.With the support of this batch of gold, it would be easy for the Chinese government to survive the coming economic crisis.

500 tons of gold.Jewelry, antiques that cannot be estimated are not included.These golds alone are worth 45 billion U.S. dollars, equivalent to nearly 225 billion yuan in silver dollars. This huge figure is only the value of these golds, excluding the wealth derived from its circulation, which is as high as 1000 billion or more according to preliminary estimates. .

With these golds, China's industry and commerce will take a step forward in a very short period of time.And take advantage of the opportunity of the financial crisis sweeping the world to catch up with Western countries.

Because of this, it is very important for Kolchak and his gold to reach the Far East as soon as possible, but it is still difficult to complete this task with Zhang Zongchang's subordinates alone. After careful consideration, Fang Zida decided to use Feng Yuxiang.One of the reasons for discussing with Wu Peifu today is this matter.

"Feng Huanzhang is a strong general, and his current station can enter Russia to the north, and the distance is much shorter than starting from the Far East. It's just...Feng Department is in the National Defense Force sequence. If Feng Huanzhang is mobilized to send troops to the north, will it be okay? Causing diplomatic disputes?"

Wu Peifu felt that Fang Zida's proposal was feasible from a military point of view, but his worries were not unreasonable. Although the Chinese government recognized the orthodox government of the Russian Empire, in the war between the Soviet regime and the orthodox government of the Russian Empire, This is a civil war in Russia, and if the squadron sends troops at this time, it will cause a strong reaction from the Soviet.

What's more, the orthodox government of the Russian Empire is actually just a temporary political nature. Although Kolchak accepted the appointment of the empress in name, in fact the empress could not command Kolchak at all. The real subordinates, the downfall of Tsar Nicholas Kolchak accounted for more than half of the responsibilities. It turns out that Kolchak in the temporary government of Russia is a role under one person and above ten thousand people. A person like this People, even if the Queen asks for help from the Chinese government through the Far East and takes the moral initiative, but with such a large sum of gold in hand, will Kolchak easily accept this kind of "help"?

"It's easy to solve diplomatically. As for whether Kolchak is willing to accept it, hehe, he has to accept it, and he has to accept it if he doesn't accept it. Today, he is no longer the interim minister of the navy and army who holds great power. , What other conditions can be discussed for the lost dog? Moreover, Kolchak is not a person without brains who can achieve such a high position. Who will keep his life in the future and who can really rely on it. I think such a smart person should be able to I can tell."

Fang Zida gently knocked off the soot in the smoke post, and said confidently, but he was still very worried about Feng Yuxiang. Feng Yuxiang's ability to conquer and fight must be the key to this person's character. With the existence of such a large amount of gold, it would be troublesome to fiddle with it.

Wu Peifu and Feng Yuxiang didn't have much contact with each other, and they only met a few times, but he still has a good sense of Feng Yuxiang, and he feels that this person is honest and honest, leads troops solidly, and is also brave in battle After hearing the reason for Fang Zida's hesitation, Wu Peifu couldn't help but shook his head with a smile, even saying it was impossible.

Looking at Wu Peifu's smiling face, Fang Zida sighed softly. It seems that Feng Yuxiang's honest and honest appearance really makes it hard to believe that this person is a rebellious person?No wonder Cao Kun and Wu Peifu in history both failed because they trusted Feng Yuxiang too much, which brought the Beiyang Zheng Fu, which had the most hope to unify China, to a complete end.

"This matter is very important, just to be careful, we should choose another person. Brother Ziyu, can anyone recommend?"

"This...." Seeing that Fang Zida still didn't want to use Feng Yuxiang, Wu Peifu thought for a while, and his eyes suddenly lit up: "What do you think of Shang Qiyu, Zhang Ming?"

"Shang Zhen?!" Fang Zida didn't expect Wu Peifu to mention him. After graduating from the senior officer class of Zhongyang Military Academy, Shang Zhen went to Europe as a military observer. After returning to China, he was promoted to major general and served in Shaanxi. He was transferred to Hubei last year. Because of the establishment of the European Expeditionary Force, he was transferred to the Ministry of National Defense as the Director of the Army Training Department. He was commended for his outstanding achievements and was promoted to the rank of lieutenant general.

Speaking of Shang Zhen, like Feng Yuxiang, he is an old subordinate of Lu Jianzhang, and this man is capable of writing and martial arts. He is a rare figure in the army who has a few brushes in military, political, and diplomatic aspects.He has been to Russia as a member of a military observation group, and is far more familiar with Russia's terrain, character habits, etc. than ordinary people. If it is him, he is really a suitable candidate.

Fang Zida thought about it for a while and felt that Shang Zhen was indeed more suitable than Feng Yuxiang, and Feng Yuxiang would be able to handle Shang Zhen more easily. After all, Shang Zhen was Feng Yuxiang's superior in the early years. If it weren't for Lu Jianzhang's relationship, Feng Yuxiang would not have come from behind. He works in the Ministry of Defense, and he has done a good job. Would he be willing to let him go to Russia to blow the cold wind?

"Hehe, this inconvenience is too much to be honest. To be honest, I happened to meet Shang Qiyu when I went to the Ministry of National Defense the other day. As you know, Shang Ming, Shang Qiyu dealt with me a lot when he was in the military observation group. The two sides are very familiar, so When I invited him, I went to his office for a brief meeting. Although Shang Qiyu didn’t say anything, he could tell from his words that he was not satisfied with his current job in the Ministry of Defense, and he wanted to entrust me with activities.”

Hearing what Wu Peifu said, Fang Zida was overjoyed and decided to use Shang Zhen to do this.However, it is inconvenient to discuss this matter directly with Shang Zhen for the time being. Fang Zida entrusted Wu Peifu to meet with Shang Zhen again first, to reveal his tone. If Shang Zhen has no objection, then make specific arrangements.

Two days later, Wu Peifu brought good news to Fang Zida, and Shang Zhen agreed.

Then, Fang Zida and Shang Zhen had a private conversation behind closed doors, and told him the purpose of this operation.Of course, Fang Zida didn't say anything about the gold, but just mentioned that Kolchak and his party carried Tsarist Russia's treasures.When talking about this matter, Shang Zhen showed a surprised and dazed expression, but there was no expression of greed in it, which made Fang Zida very satisfied, and immediately finalized the matter with him.

In the next few days, Fang Zida used his connections to quickly transfer Shang Zhen from the Ministry of National Defense, and arranged to be the commander of the reorganization division next to Feng Yuxiang's department.Shortly afterwards, the official diplomatic letter from the Empress of the Russian Empire asking for help from the Chinese government was sent to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Cao Rulin, who had already passed it, passed the humanitarian paramilitary operation of "rescuing the Russian people" at the suggestion of the cabinet, and handed over this task to the Shang Zhen has taken over the troops.

After receiving the order, Shang Zhen left 2 regiments in the station, and the rest of the troops set off northward, entered Russia and quickly advanced to Kolchak's position.At the same time, the support troops sent by Zhang Zongchang are also on the way, and they will meet in the predetermined area of ​​​​Central Siberia. (To be continued.)