The sun never sets

Lin Yongchang knows that he is just an average person, at most above average. He seems smarter than people of this era because he stands at the downstream of history, sees the direction of historical development, and has read the experiences and lessons summarized by countless people. Therefore, he can always maintain a humble attitude, but he is also tough at times.

In the eyes of Yang Du and others, President Lin was determined and skilled, and he was tough when necessary and soft when necessary. After finishing the polishing of the article "Seeking Truth from Facts", Yang Du handed the manuscript to Lin Yongchang, "President, please see if there is anything else that needs to be corrected."

Lin Yongchang looked at it and asked, "Is Lu Zhengxiang still promoting Protestantism everywhere?"

Yang Du was shocked and did not answer immediately. He thought for a moment before saying, "It was not publicized everywhere. However, Minister Lu is very close to the American ambassador, Mr. Conger. It is said that the two often have afternoon tea together."

"Lu Zhengxiang is the foreign minister. The United States is our largest trading partner now. It is normal for them to interact more. However, he should not bring up the issue of Christianity in his work."

Lu Zhengxiang was a rare diplomatic talent who was also proficient in various legal provisions. The only bad thing about him was that he was a devout Protestant. In Lin Yongchang's view, whether it was Islam or Christianity, the religions created by Semites were all cults and were harmful to the government's management, at least for China.

China has never been a theocratic society. The native Taoism became obedient after the Taiping Dao and Five Pecks of Rice Rebellions. The foreign Buddhism also became localized after experiencing repeated anti-Hu campaigns. However, Catholicism, Christianity and ISIS have never suffered an iron fist attack.

The Boxer Rebellion was a spontaneous counterattack against foreign religions by the people. It was originally going to be suppressed by the foreign devils. Now Marshal Lin appeared and turned the situation around. Christianity could no longer develop in northern China. Conger proposed several times that the church should be rebuilt and the people's freedom of belief should be guaranteed, but Lin Yongchang pushed back.

Unable to open a gap with President Lin, Kang Ge set his sights on people like Foreign Minister Lu Zhengxiang, hoping to open a gap from within the People's Government and achieve the goal of peaceful evolution.

Lin Yongchang had long been dissatisfied with this, but because he had just sent Lu Zheng

Since Lu Zhengxiang was called back from abroad, he couldn't just fire him right away, and he didn't have anyone to replace Lu Zhengxiang, so he could only accept it temporarily and wait until there was an opportunity to replace Lu Zhengxiang in the future.

Chapter 173 Checking the Accounts

After staying at the chemical plant for a few more days and solving some practical production problems, Lin Yongchang returned to Taiyuan with Yang Du and others. Taiyuan was formerly known as Jinyang, Bingzhou, and Longcheng. As early as 500 BC, it was an important stronghold of the Jin State. In the following thousands of years, Taiyuan has always been a marginal corner. It has been the base camp of heroes such as Li Keyong and Gao Huan, but it has never been the capital of a unified dynasty until now.

In peacetime, Taiyuan was not qualified as a capital city. The traffic environment here could not support a city with a large population and consumption. After a large number of soldiers and government workers came to Taiyuan, it seemed a bit unaffordable in just one year. Those workers and soldiers alone consumed a lot of food and fuel every day.

Shanxi is a major coal-producing province. It has plenty of fuel, but not much food. In order to feed these unemployed people, a large amount of food needs to be transported from Hebei, Henan, Shaanxi and other places. There are rivers near Taiyuan, but shipping is not very convenient, and the railway has not been built yet. If it is transported by horse-drawn carriage, the price is very expensive and the transportation volume is limited.

The people of Taiyuan were certainly happy that the capital was located in their area, and they also gained substantial benefits from it. However, for the entire people's government, placing the capital in Taiyuan was an unnecessary economic cost. While paying the economic cost, they also gained national security.

Placing the capital in Taiyuan was a way of telling all external enemies that the People's Government was ready for war and would never accept blackmail from any force. Seeing the poor and arrogant appearance of the People's Government, even the world hegemon, the British Empire, had no choice but to allow the North China government to default on a large amount of debts and compensation. Other countries were also unable to get President Lin to pay a penny of compensation.

From this perspective, building the capital in Taiyuan was not a loss in economic terms. It was just that the prices of housing and other materials in Taiyuan were rising rapidly, and there was often a shortage of supplies. Sometimes you couldn't buy anything even if you had money.

In order to solve the problem of food and clothing for nearly 100,000 workers and soldiers in the Taiyuan Basin, Premier Wang took the lead in launching the "vegetable basket" project and increased investment in Zhangjiakou and Guihuacheng to produce more wool yarn. This was not enough, and a lot of cotton was collected from all over the country to make cotton clothes and trousers. Even so, the problem of food and clothing was not completely solved.

In the final analysis, China not only has low productivity, but also poor transportation capacity. Many things are piled up in the place of origin and cannot be transported out, and cannot participate in the economic cycle. If they are transported out by mules, horses or manpower, the price will increase by two or three times, or even more.

Therefore, it is necessary to build railways, roads, and dredge rivers. "If you want to be rich, build roads first." Whether it is land and water, roads, or railways, they can effectively promote economic development. But before that, you have to spend money first. After building many factories, Lin Yongchang suddenly found that there was no less money in the Ministry of Finance's account.

"How could there be no money?"

Compared with China in another time and space, the Central People's Republic Government not only received more than 4.5 million taels of silver, but also did not have to pay a war reparation of up to million taels of silver. The financial situation should be said to be good. However, no matter how good the finances are, they cannot withstand President Lin's spending. Just to introduce those chemical plants in the United States, it cost million US dollars. Other health systems, supply and marketing cooperative systems, armed police systems, etc., all cost money.

Even after issuing the RMB, it still failed to fill various fiscal holes. The great powers still do not recognize the credit of the RMB. To buy things from them, you either have to use real gold and silver or use the currencies of other countries. They will not accept the RMB. Even the Nationalist Government and the Military Government in the South do not trust the RMB. The trick of using paper money to raise money is not new. The imperial court has almost used it to death. The current military governments and the Nanjing Nationalist Government have also over-issued a lot of paper money to buy supplies on the market.

Lin Yongchang then planned to issue bonds to continue raising funds. When the people in the Ministry of Finance saw that there was no money in the account, they felt that the sky was about to fall, but President Lin did not think it was a big deal. No money, so what? Issue bonds! Isn't that what a bank is for? Well, not exactly.

With a bank, it is very convenient to raise funds by various means. In the [The Sun Never Sets in the Celestial Empire] system, you can borrow many Martian loans from the "Bank of Heaven and Earth". Now that you have a bank, you can issue bonds and loans. The interest is much cheaper than borrowing money from the French. France has now entered the stage of financial capital. Those Jewish bankers and French bankers are all vampires. Not only are the interest rates scary, but they also play tricks such as nine out of thirteen returns, beheading loans, and beheading loans. Lin Yongchang really doesn't dare to borrow money from them.

Those guys are just as black-hearted as those who play P2P in later generations. They are also protected by law and have the French government's hundreds of thousands of troops backing them up. Before you learn how to quit gambling and ask yourself "how can I pay back the money I borrowed with my own ability", you have to imagine whether you can really bear the consequences of not paying back the borrowed money.

With the system plug-in, it is better to go to your own bank for a loan. Although there will be inflation and a large amount of interest expenses, it is better than borrowing money from the French and the British.

Borrowing money from the Americans is also a good option. The United States now has excess capital, while China has insufficient capital. Wouldn't it be great if we could learn from each other's strengths to make up for each other's weaknesses? However, the American ambassador, Conger, wanted to link the loan to politics and religion, so we could only talk about it slowly.

After returning to Taiyuan, he first discussed the bond issuance with the Ministry of Finance and the Central Bank, and said that according to the usual practice, a new round of rectification would be carried out in the bank and the Ministry of Finance. The Ministry of Finance and the bank are among the departments most prone to corruption. Seeing so much money passing through their hands, there will always be people who can't resist.

Hearing that the bank was going to conduct a rectification and investigation, Yan Shutang couldn't help but break out in a cold sweat. Lin Yongchang asked the others to leave first, and then said to Yan Shutang: "President Yan, don't worry. I know you didn't make money in the bank. It is illegal to make money in the market by taking advantage of information asymmetry, but there are no relevant laws yet, so the government will not pursue it. Just be careful in the future."

"Yes, the President is right! The younger generations in my family are really useless and are unwilling to do business..."

"Let's not talk about this anymore," Lin Yongchang waved his hand, interrupting Yan Shutang's explanation, and said, "Minister Yan will send a working group to the Central Bank to check the accounts. You are responsible for the handover and cannot make any mistakes."

"Yes!" Yan Shutang quickly stated, "I will definitely cooperate with the comrades from the Ministry of Internal Affairs!"

Chapter 174: Strength and Weakness

After finalizing the bank and the Ministry of Finance, Lin Yongchang met with Wu Tingfang, the special envoy of the Guangdong Military Government. Wu Tingfang wore a melon-shaped hat and a long gown, and dressed like a local rich man in Shanxi, but he looked very good, which was very different from a local rich man.

"Mr. Wu, I invited you several times, but you refused to come. Now I finally get to see you in person."

Lin Yongchang smiled and said: "When you come to Shanxi, you must try hot pot. Hot pot is a specialty of Shanxi and you must try it."

"........"

Like everyone else who met Lin Yongchang for the first time, Wu Tingfang was also surprised by President Lin's youth, and that he seemed to have some mental problems. "Is hot pot a specialty of Shanxi?" Hot pot is obviously a specialty of Sichuan, right? Wu Tingfang was stunned for a moment and decided not to dwell on whether the other party was mentally ill.

"General Lin, I am entrusted by the interim president, Mr. Sun Yat-sen, to ask your army to lend a helping hand."

He called Lin Yongchang a general and Sun Yat-sen the provisional president. This matter involved legality and orthodoxy, and there could be no ambiguity.

"Okay, okay." Lin Yongchang was thinking about keeping the other party. Although Wu Tingfang also grew up in a Westernized environment and did not believe in Christianity, would it be a good choice to use him to replace Lu Zhengxiang? "Is Mr. Sun Yat-sen in good health?"

Wu Tingfang felt a little uncomfortable, as if he had punched cotton, soft and weak. He calmed down and said, "Mr. Sun is in good health, General Lin..."

"As long as you are healthy, Mr. Sun is a PhD student in the United States... Well, Kang Youwei said he is not a PhD but a doctor. Is that true? In English, PhD and doctor are the same word, right?"

"............." Wu Tingfang felt even more uncomfortable. He argued, "Mr. Sun only said he was a Doctor, which means a doctor. He never said he was a doctor. Kang Youwei and Liang Qichao, those villains, have been holding on to this point and spreading rumors in society. It is really hateful!"

"Kang Youwei just likes to spread rumors. Liang Qichao is a little better." Lin Yongchang said with a smile: "Mr. Sun is broad-minded and did not get rid of Kang Youwei."

Wu Tingfang had nothing to say. Even within the Guangdong Military Government, he was very dissatisfied with Chen Qimei's assassination plot. Zhang Taiyan had originally respected Sun Yat-sen and had once sent all his money to Kang Youwei to start a newspaper. Now Zhang Taiyan denounced Kang Youwei for bringing disaster to the country and the people, while denouncing the Guangdong Military Government for its practices that were no different from robbery.

After Tao Chengzhang was assassinated, Qiu Jin and many others were very dissatisfied with Chen Qimei, and extended their dissatisfaction to Sun Yat-sen and the Guangdong Military Government. They were very disrespectful to Sun Yat-sen and others in their words, and did not take into account the efforts made by Mr. Sun for more than ten years to overthrow the corrupt government of the previous dynasty.

But Wu Tingfang really had nothing to say. He was an elite, not the same kind as Chen Qimei, a bad boy. He was also dissatisfied with Chen Qimei's lifestyle and behavior, but what could he do? Without soldiers and money, wouldn't he be marginalized in the military government? Sun Yat-sen respected him, but that was just respect.

In Guangdong, Wu Tingfang could do very little. He could only make some laws, but he couldn't implement them. After coming to Taiyuan, he saw a completely different atmosphere from that in Guangdong. There were also many loud people here, but there were more people who did practical things. The most important thing was that the military and political orders in Taiyuan were unified, unlike Guangdong, Guangxi, Hunan, Yunnan and other places where each was independent. This alone was many times stronger.

Wu Tingfang was silent for a long time, then he sighed and said, "General Lin, let's talk about the reinforcements."

Lin Yongchang smiled and said, "Okay, Mr. Wu, tell me about the battle situation in the south first."

Wu Tingfang then talked about some things that happened on the battlefield. Although he embellished them a lot, one could still hear the situation of the military government.

Not very good. Without the gold rubles, guns and instructors given by the Soviets, Sun Yat-sen's men would have fought like that. Selecting soldiers, training soldiers, selecting generals, equipment, tactics, and commanding on the battlefield are all systematic things. If you want to learn how to fight on the battlefield, you have to pay the price of blood.

Huang Xing could boost morale, but he couldn't get supplies. The Hunanese fought bravely, but the Hubeiese had more guns and ammunition. The output of the Hanyang Iron and Steel Plant was not high, but at least it could produce. Zhang Zhidong also had the Hanyang Arsenal, which could produce guns and ammunition by itself. Hanyang Arsenal represented China's strongest light weapons. The Nationalist Army could also buy foreign guns and ammunition from the British and Germans, and its combat effectiveness was much stronger than that of the military government.

The problem with the Nationalist Army was that the New Army was too small in number, with only 20,000 to 30,000 men able to fight. Although they repeatedly defeated the enemy on the battlefield, they were unable to convert their advantage into victory. When the enemy held their ground, the New Army had no other options but to wait for the artillery shells to arrive and attack one position at a time.

Facing the well-equipped Nationalist Army, the military government's troops had a very hard time. Wu Tingfang was moved and her eyes were wet. Lin Yongchang followed with a few words of emotion, but his heart was not moved at all. The war in the South was said to be extremely difficult, but in the eyes of many people in the People's Army, the battle in the South was more like playing house.

Hundreds of casualties in one battle? Isn't this just playing house?

When fighting the Eight-Nation Alliance, tens of thousands of people died and were injured every day. After a few days of fighting, the battlefield was covered with corpses and the ground was stained red with blood. A total of 30,000 people died on the side of the rebels, and more than 40,000 were injured. The people's army that emerged from the sea of blood and corpses was very angry. They looked down on their counterparts in the South and believed that if a real fight broke out, they would be defeated in a few days.

If the British fleet had not been cruising on the Yangtze River, there would definitely be more people wanting to go south and unify the whole of China.

Lin Yongchang was not like others who thought that the southern army was vulnerable. There were many reasons for whether or not they could fight. There was no saying that the southerners could not fight. Yes, China had always conquered from the north to the south, but wasn't there Zhu Yuanzhang? The strength and weakness were constantly changing, not fixed.

He would not underestimate the Southern army, nor would he exaggerate the strength of the South.

After Wu Tingfang finished speaking, Lin Yongchang calmly asked, "What does Mr. Sun want the People's Government to do? Send troops to attack Hubei directly?"

Wu Tingfang nodded heavily, "This is the best! As long as your army launches an attack, everything will be fine!"

What? This is a flag! Lin Yongchang turned to look at the other party. Wu Tingfang's expression was very serious. It seemed that he was overthinking. He thought for a while and said, "It's not impossible to send troops to attack Hubei, but it's not possible now."

Chapter 175 Two Hundred Thousand

When Wu Tingfang heard that General Lin said that reinforcements could not be sent now, he became anxious on the spot, "General Lin, why? If you have any requests, just ask!"

"It's not a matter of asking or not." Lin Yongchang shook his head and said, "It's that the central government has its own difficulties. The Russian army is about to invade Rehe and western Liaoning, and the central government can't spare troops to go south."

Wu Tingfang was horrified and blurted out: "This is terrible!"

"Yeah, it's a bit bad." Lin Yongchang said with a half-smile, "But it's not too bad."

Wu Tingfang had an embarrassed look on his face. Although he actively participated in the government, he was not a brave and fearless person by nature. He was a cultured person and an intellectual. He was often bullied when dealing with countries such as Britain, France, Russia and Germany in Guangdong. The fear of the great powers was engraved in his bones.

Now, Wu Tingfang suddenly heard that the Russian army was going to launch a large-scale attack, and he felt terrified. "The Russian army is really going to launch a large-scale attack?" Wu Tingfang still didn't believe it, and wondered if this was Lin Yongchang's excuse. Smart people like to think about things, and they will think of many possibilities, so that they often miss opportunities when they need to make decisions.

"Mr. Wu, don't you believe it? I will go to inspect the progress of the railway in three days. This is announced to the outside world. In fact, I will lead troops to the Northeast. Mr. Wu can go with me and see how our People's Army fights and see how our People's Army fights differently from our comrades in the South."

Wu Tingfang thought for a while and made a decision, "Okay! I will go to the Northeast with General Lin!"

"Alas, you still won't call me President?"

Seeing Wu Tingfang's awkward expression, Lin Yongchang laughed and said, "I was just kidding. You will stay here for the next two days. To keep it secret, you cannot have any contact with the outside world. If you are bored, you can read a book. I have a lot of books here. Or talk to Yang Du. He should have a lot in common with you. Oh, by the way, can you ride a horse?"

"Ah? General Lin wants to put me under house arrest?"

"If you say it's house arrest, then it's house arrest. Sending troops to fight is one of the highest level state secrets." Lin Yongchang showed a gentle smile, "If the news leaks, many people will be sent to the military court, and it's not just against Mr. Wu. Can you ride a horse?"

"Less likely."

"Then you can learn it in the next two days. It's better to learn it."

Wu Tingfang asked in surprise: "Why?"

He is not a soldier, why should he learn to ride a horse? Is he going to fight on the front line?

The war failed?

Lin Yongchang said leisurely: "Anything can happen on the battlefield. If you practice riding skills well, you will be faster when escaping. At least you won't fall off the horse."

"........."

Wu Tingfang didn't expect to be placed under house arrest after coming here, and Captain Yang didn't think that he and Wu Tingfang had anything in common. The next morning, the two sat on a stone bench, looking at each other in silence for a long time, and it was Wu Tingfang who spoke first, "Xizi, are the Russians really going to attack us?"

Yang Du nodded and said, "It's true. The Russian army has nearly 200,000 troops in the Northeast. After occupying Tongliao, Changchun, and Shenyang, they are still continuing to attack in the direction of the Great Wall. We have fought with them more than a dozen times this year, but the scale of the battle has never been large."

Wu Tingfang was surprised and asked, "Is everything written in the newspaper true?"

The People's Daily published some news about the battle with the Russians in the Northeast. The names of Wang Zuolin, Liu Chengxiang, Cao Kun, and Wu Peifu appeared frequently in the newspaper. However, the course and results of the battle were vague. Wu Tingfang thought it was just some minor friction, just like the friction between Shanghai and Guangzhou and Britain and France, which was just a glare between the two sides or some spontaneous demonstrations by the people.

But the situation in the Northeast was different from that in the South. Both the Russians and the People's Army were more ferocious. The small-scale battles between the two sides involved only a small number of troops each time, but the battles were very bloody. Both the Russians and the Central People's Republic Government suffered heavy casualties. After more than a year of fighting, the Russians suffered more than 10,000 casualties, while the People's Army suffered fewer casualties, but still 7,000 to 8,000. If the bloodshed continued like this, it would undoubtedly be more advantageous for the Chinese.

The Central People's Republic government was much weaker than Russia in terms of strength. Its steel, chemical and military industries were just starting out and could not yet be self-sufficient, but China was not without advantages. Every soldier and bullet of the Russians had to be transported from Europe, while the Chinese had much shorter supply lines.

Moreover, China had the support of the British and Americans. The British and Americans were very wary of the expansion of the Russians in the Far East. The two imperialist powers wanted to make the People's Government make concessions at the negotiation table. After failing to do so, they proposed that the arms sold to North China must be used in the Northeast and on the battlefield against the Russians. Lin Yongchang agreed.

The British and Americans proposed to send a military observation group, and Lin Yongchang agreed.

"Two hundred thousand Russian troops," Wu Tingfang said worriedly, "Can we really win? We don't want it to be like the First Sino-Japanese War, where we lose the war and have to cede territory and pay compensation. Then China will be on the verge of collapse!"

Yang Du shook his head and said, "I don't know if we can win, because I don't know much about military affairs, but since Marshal Lin has decided to go to war with the Russians, he must be confident."

He laughed and said, "Even the Eight-Nation Alliance was defeated. Russia alone cannot cause any upheaval!"

"It's different, it's different!" Wu Tingfang said excitedly, "The Eight-Nation Alliance only has 50,000 troops, while the Russian army in the Northeast has 200,000! This is completely different! Xizi, General Lin shouldn't have rashly started a war like this! If we lose, the current good situation will be ruined! We should gather the strength of the entire China, and then fight the Russians!"

"It would be great if we could gather the power of the whole of China. But..."

Yang Du continued to shake his head, "It's not us who want to attack, it's the Russians who want to attack. Even if we don't recover the lost territory, we can't hand over Rehe and Liaoxi to the Russians, right? Then what's the difference between the people's government and the corrupt dynasty before?"

Wu Tingfang still said: "It's too risky!"

"I don't think so. The situation is very dangerous now, but can it be more dangerous than last year? The foreigners even captured Beijing. At that time, the Grand Marshal faced a more dangerous situation, but he still won the final victory. Now with the help of the British and Americans, I believe the Grand Marshal will definitely win again!"

"Alas, Xizi, you have never seen the true strength of Westerners."

Neither of them could convince the other, and after the argument, they felt closer to each other. No matter what, they all had a heart to serve the country, and their temperaments were similar. When Qiu Jin invited them to dinner, they were very kind to each other, but now they let down their guard.

Chapter 176 Quagmire

The "Triangle Railway" built by the Central People's Republic Government includes the "Beijing-Zhangjiakou Railway" from Zhangjiakou to Beijing, and the "Zhengtai Railway" from Shijiazhuang to Taiyuan, plus the route from Taiyuan to Datong, and then connecting Zhangjiakou and Guihuacheng, with a total mileage of more than one thousand kilometers.

More than half of the steel produced by the small steel mills in Taiyuan was used in railway construction, and the rest was distributed to the Ministry of Agriculture and military factories. Railway construction requires steel not only for rails, but also for bridges, switches, accessories, etc. It takes about 150 tons of steel to build one kilometer of railway, and this is just for a single lane.

If it is changed to a double track, it will cost about two-thirds more. Just the steel alone is a lot of money. The US economy is having some problems right now. There is an economic crisis and the price of steel has plummeted. The Central People's Republic government has imported tens of thousands of tons of rails from the US, which cost a lot of real money.

Rails were purchased from the United States, engineers were hired from the United States, and while the Triangle Railway was being built, the Tianjin to Beijing Railway was also being built.

The railway line was previously torn down by Marshal Lin and his men, and now it is being rebuilt. American Ambassador Conger once said to President Lin that if the railway was not torn down, wouldn't it be unnecessary to spend this extra money?

Lin Yongchang said that after the railway was torn down, it was directly used for the construction of Shanxi. Otherwise, how could the industrialization construction in Shanxi be so fast? So what if it was torn down? The price of American steel was $100 per ton before, but now it is only $12. What's wrong with rebuilding it?

After a long negotiation, the Americans finally gave up various political conditions and the mining rights of 30 miles along the railway and chose a pure business model. It was not because the US government was kind, but because the situation forced them to make a decision. On the other side of the Pacific, the economic crisis broke out in the United States. In order to get out of the crisis, the Americans launched military operations against Spain and China.

The attack on the Spanish gave the Americans a break from the war by acquiring the overseas colony of the Philippines. However, the Americans lost everything by participating in the Eight-Nation Alliance. Not only did they not make any money, but they also lost a large sum of money. Mr. Hoover, his fiancée, and many other Americans were redeemed by the US government. Of course, it cannot be said to be a ransom, but various other names were used.

Then the domestic production in the United States became further oversupplied. A large number of products could not be sold after being produced. Factories, companies, farms and other business groups went bankrupt one after another. The United States, which had no colonies, could only choose to digest the economic crisis internally. However, the situation soon took a turn for the better. The expansion in China failed, but the newly established people's government chose to take the path of industrialization and spent a lot of real money to buy machines, steel and various equipment from the United States, even agricultural products such as soybeans and beef.

Conger wanted to impose various political and economic conditions, but the companies and farms in the United States could not bear it. As long as the Chinese were willing to buy, they would sell everything. However, the purchasing power of the Chinese was limited. After buying nearly 10 million US dollars of products, they had no money to buy more.