Republic of China: I am a great warlord, many children, many blessings

It’s still pretty good. The other rewards are all “063” which is not too rare.

Now Shen Hao has the largest military factory. He has no shortage of weapons, only mineral resources. The system reward for this is still acceptable.

Time flies, and three days have passed.

During these three days, Feng Guozhang visited various places in Guangdong and gained an accurate understanding of Shen Hao's governance capabilities. He was truly impressed and full of respect.

Feng Guozhang was a rough man with no experience in management and governance.

He is good at fighting in wars and being a soldier, but if you ask him to govern a city, that would definitely not work.

During the three days, he also wanted to visit Qingyuan City, the core of Shen Hao's military factory, but Shen Hao did not let him go.

Just said it was still under construction.

Feng Guozhang also knew that this was Shen Hao’s core secret, so he didn’t say much.

Today, former Foreign Minister Sun Baoqi and former Secretary of State Xu Shichang have arrived in Guangdong by cruise ship.

Feng Guozhang went to the port to greet him in person.

Sun Baoqi, Feng Guozhang and Xu Shichang, three old friends, met again and were all very happy.

Sitting in the car, Sun Baoqi and Xu Shichang were shocked by the prosperous scene of Guangzhou.

"This Guangzhou city is much more prosperous than the capital," Sun Baoqi exclaimed;

"Yeah, if I don't go out and take a walk, I really don't know how fast the world is developing and changing. I'm really a frog in a well," said Xu Shichang.

"The key point is that the people here are full of energy and have a cheerful look on their faces, unlike those in the capital who are lifeless, numb and cautious. This is really puzzling," said Sun Baoqi.

Feng Guozhang smiled and said, "I have also observed this over the past two days. It is mainly because the management is good. You can't see any hooligans here.

The authorities will not charge fees arbitrarily, everything is done in accordance with the law, which is very fair."

Xu Shichang nodded and said: "The people can only live in peace and contentment if they rest and recuperate. I never thought that General Shen is such a capable minister who can govern the country."

"As long as the government does not suppress and exploit people wantonly, the people can live a good life," said Sun Baoqi.

"Um"

The car drove through the busy streets, the pedestrians were orderly, and the streets were neat and clean, which really opened their eyes.

Soon, we arrived at the foot of Guanyin Mountain.

After going through layers of inspections, Feng Guozhang, Xu Shichang and Sun Baoqi took the elevator to the top of Guanyin Mountain.

Sitting in the elevator, Sun Baoqi exclaimed: "I didn't expect that this mansion also has an elevator installed. It is as advanced as those in the UK and the US. Only high-rise buildings over there have such elevators."

Xu Shichang said: "This Shen Mansion is very expensive."

Feng Guozhang chuckled and stroked his beard, but did not explain. He looked like he was enjoying the show.

The last time he came here, he was also shocked by this huge inspection palace, so let these two people be shocked as well.

"Yes, this is too luxurious," Sun Baoqi exclaimed repeatedly;

What kind of family is this, so luxurious.

This made Sun Baoqi, Xu Shichang and others' first impression of Shen Hao was that he was rich.

I also had some doubts in my mind. Could it be that Shen Hao's money was plundered?

After all, in this era, there was only one way for warlords to make money: increasing taxes.

As if seeing the doubts of the two people, Feng Guozhang explained:

"Don't get me wrong, Brother Shen is different from other warlords.

I recently looked around and found that Brother Shen has never collected any personal income tax or miscellaneous taxes.

There is only one kind of tax in rural areas, that is agricultural tax, and it is only 20%.

There is no tax on livestock or firewood like other warlords do."

"Twenty percent, incredible. Not only did they build such a luxurious inspection palace, but they also maintained an army of 200,000. Incredible," said Xu Shichang.

Hearing this, Sun Baoqi nodded, which made the two even more curious...

Feng Guozhang smiled and said, "Although Brother Shen did not collect taxes, he also opened a number of factories and made a lot of profit. Xueli soap, Xueli cigarettes and the like are all very popular."

"I didn't know that Xueli soap only belonged to General Shen," Sun Baoqi was surprised.

"Haha, it seems that Brother Shen is richer than your in-laws," Feng Guozhang said;

Sheng Enyi, the son of Sheng Xuanhuai, the richest man in the late Qing Dynasty, married Sun Yonghui, the eldest daughter of Sun Baoqi.

Sun Baoqi looked a little unhappy, even though his relative was the richest man Sheng Xuanhuai.

But that son-in-law was a good-for-nothing. Not only did he smoke opium and gamble, he also often stayed out all night. He was a playboy.

What Sun Baoqi regretted most was marrying his eldest daughter Sun Yonghui to Sheng Enyi.

Sun Baoqi was a typical honest man and did not like officials like Sheng Xuanhuai who had a bad reputation.

His daughter Sun Yonghui is four years older than Sheng Enyi.

He also knew several languages ​​and was Cixi's translator.

An absolute top beauty.

He originally refused the marriage on the grounds that he could not afford the dowry, but who would have thought that Sheng Xuanhuai would directly send the money to his family and pay the bride price himself.

In the end, I could only hold my nose and bear it.

Fortunately, the Sheng family is wealthy and powerful. Although Sheng Enyi is a good-for-nothing and a playboy, he is still a spendthrift enough to ruin the family for several lifetimes.

1.2

Sun Baoqi shook his head and said, "Although the Sheng family is known to be rich enough to rival a country, I think they are still a little behind General Shen. Forget about the two battleships, Yuedong and Qingyuan, which the Sheng family can't even handle."

After hearing this, Feng Guozhang nodded in approval.

Not to mention those things, just a review palace is worth one-third of Sheng Xuanhuai's net worth.

As the elevator slowly rose, it soon reached the top of the mountain, and Shen Hao came out to greet them personally.

"Mr. Sun, Mr. Xu, it is truly an honor for us to have you here," Shen Hao said with a smile and a bow.

Xu Shichang shook his head and waved his hands, saying: "General Shen, you are too polite. I have already resigned. Now I am an idle wild man. I am absolutely unworthy of the title of Prime Minister Xu."

Sun Baoqi also said: "That's right, we are all retired mountain people, haha, we can't talk about official positions."

380. I will declare Guangdong and Guangxi independent.

Having said that, although the two people said it in a casual manner, Shen Hao could still sense a hint of unwillingness in their eyes.

Of course, Shen Hao can understand all this. Everyone wants to retire, and aren’t it the leaders who want to delay retirement?

After all, having tasted power, not everyone can let it go.

So Shen Hao didn't dwell on this topic too much, and said with a smile: "Hurry up and get in the car, let's talk about it inside."

He sat in the car at the door and drove into Shen Hao's mansion.

They were both surprised to see that they had to take a car to enter the palace.

After entering the Shen Mansion, Xu Shichang and Sun Baoqi were also surprised by the luxury of the mansion.

"I've heard for a long time that General Shen built a magnificent mansion. Today I see that it is indeed well-deserved," said Xu Shichang.

Shen Hao said: "Xu Xiang is too polite, it's just a little money, it's nothing."

"Such a large estate must cost a lot of money," Sun Baoqi asked curiously;

Hearing this, Feng Guozhang was amused. He was shocked last time, and this time he wanted to make the two of them exclaim: "That's right, the cost of this mansion is not low. Brother Shen spent 1,000 million dollars to build this mansion."

When they heard the 1,000 million dollars, Xu Shichang and Sun Baoqi were stunned and secretly astonished.

The price really shocked them a lot.

The two of them had a preliminary impression of Shen Hao's strength, which was that he was too arrogant.

What a luxury.

Soon, the car arrived at the door of the reception room.

Shen Hao sat down with a few others, and the maids brought them the best Dahongpao.

The aroma was so fragrant that Xu Shichang couldn't help but say, "No one in Zhongnanhai wants to drink this Da Hong Pao now.

I didn’t expect to get a drink when I came to General Shen’s place.”

Shen Hao smiled and said, "Prime Minister Xu is so polite."

Shen Hao didn't believe this. After all, at Xu Shichang's level, how could the tea he drank be worse than Dahongpao? There were countless fine teas such as Longjing before the Rain, Pu'er, and Biluochun that were offered as tribute.

Besides, Dahongpao is not very popular these days.

"If you want, Xu Xiang, I'll bring you a pack when I get back," Shen Hao said;

"Forget it, forget it. I still prefer green tea. I still can't get used to black tea. I won't take away someone else's preference," Xu Shichang said with a smile.

After a few pleasantries, Xu Shichang expressed his concerns.

"General Shen, if President Yuan insists on ascending the throne and becoming emperor, what is your attitude?"

Shen Hao said: "My attitude remains the same, I neither support nor oppose"

Xu Shichang nodded without any surprise. After all, this was the attitude that Shen Hao had released to the public.

So he asked again: "General Shen, what do you think of the Twenty-One Demands negotiated between President Yuan and the Japanese?

General Shen thinks that General Sun and I did not sign the contract and resigned due to illness. What do you think of this? "

Shen Hao said: "I definitely do not agree with the Twenty-One Demands proposed by Japan.

Not only do I disagree, I believe many people across the country would disagree.

I'm afraid many people don't want to see this scene.

The fact that Mr. Sun and Ms. Xu would rather resign than agree to this shows that they are patriotic in their hearts.”

Xu Shichang nodded and said, "Yes, we have held 25 negotiations with Japan in the past two months.

The Japanese side is pressing forward step by step, using threats and inducements.

President Yuan had his own selfish motives and did not want to reject the Japanese side directly.

I don’t want to agree to everything, for fear of being condemned by all parties.

Therefore, they dragged their feet, hoping to use external influence to force the Japanese cabinet to abandon the Twenty-One Demands.

It's just a bit whimsical.

The fifth article was to cede Fujian to Japan.

General Shen, I wonder what his attitude will be once Fujian is ceded to Japan."

"I don't think President Yuan would be so shameless."

Shen Hao believed that no matter how stupid Yuan Shikai was, he would never cede Fujian to Japan, and there was no such record in history.

"What if President Yuan agrees to cede Fujian to Japan? That's not impossible."

Shen Hao said without any hesitation, "How can I allow others to snore beside my bed?

If President Yuan really dares to cede Fujian to Japan under the fifth clause, I, Shen Hao, will immediately declare the independence of Guangdong and Guangxi.

At the same time, we declared war on Japan."

Hearing this, Feng Guozhang, Xu Shichang and Sun Baoqi looked at each other and could see the surprise in each other's eyes.

These words are enough to show Shen Hao's patriotism.

It is obvious that Shen Hao is not in the same boat with Yuan Datou.

It's enough to have a safety net.

Xu Shichang gave a thumbs up and said, "General Shen, don't worry. When that day comes, I will unite with other generals to support you."

"On behalf of the Zhili clique, I am the first to support Brother Shen," Feng Guozhang said;

"I will also do my best to help General Shen," Sun Baoqi stated;

Shen Hao smiled and said nothing.

If Yuan Shikai dares to cede Fujian, Shen Hao will not be polite.