Beiyang reactionaries

Duan Xun didn't know where to start.

After entering Chengdu, Duan Xun only did the following actions.The first is to reorganize the army in Sichuan, and then to control Sichuan salt.Although Duan Xun doesn't know anything else, he knows that half of Sichuan's finance is Sichuan Salt.

Duan Xun of other government departments has not been sorted out yet, but Duan Xun of Chuanyan is not allowed to get involved.

In addition to these two things, Duan Xun was the first to occupy the Sichuan Machinery Bureau, which is the Sichuan Arsenal.In China as a whole, the most famous one at present is of course the Hanyang Arsenal, followed by the Beiyang Military Arsenal and the Jiangnan Manufacturing Factory. Although the Sichuan Armory is not as good as them, it is still relatively famous among the current Chinese armories. of.

In 1913, the Ministry of War conducted a detailed investigation to the Sichuan Machinery Bureau.

Sichuan Arsenal, established in 1910, is located in Sanguantang, north of the Minjiang River, outside the east gate of Chengdu, Sichuan. Milliseconds, factories and offices account for about half.Production of rifles: 260, 150, [-] and various rifles.Bullets: Copper case, flash cap, steel bullet.Miscellaneous items; rifle body parts.

Of course, this is the case, but in fact, most of them are produced in Type [-], which is basically an imitation of German Mauser rifles, just like Hanyang.Moreover, the unified production of the six or eight types is also very good for the unity of logistics.

In addition to the Sichuan Arsenal, the following is the Sichuan Arms Factory.Established in 1878, it was the old arsenal before the construction of the new arsenal.Set up at the Gongbei Bridge in the east gate of Chengdu, Sichuan, the total area of ​​the factory is 54 mu, including the foundation of the Art Apprentice School.Production of guns: imitation Maxim machine gun, production stopped in two years, imitation of Austrian Sihuai [-] machine gun, Krupper Qisheng [-]-barreled Tuishan gun.Ammunition: Nine-ring Mauser bullets, imitation three-shot shells, and tube-repelling shells.Miscellaneous items: machine gun body parts, mountain gun body parts.

In addition to the two arsenals for the manufacture of guns, the Sichuan Machinery Bureau also has a white medicine department, which was established in 1910 and is located in the south of the Minjiang River outside the east gate of Chengdu, Sichuan, with a total area of ​​more than 150 mu.Production of pharmaceuticals, Baiyao, smokeless medicine.Miscellaneous products: alcohol, denitrification water.And several affiliated arsenals.

In addition to these, there is also the black medicine factory, which was established in 1882 and is located on the right of Caotang Temple outside the south gate of Chengdu, Sichuan, with a total area of ​​[-] acres.Production of Sigong wine and medicine.And several affiliated ordnance factories.

The scale is huge.

If only in terms of scale, Sichuan Machinery Bureau is second only to Hanyang Arsenal and Jiangnan Manufacturing Bureau.But in terms of technical strength, the Sichuan Machinery Bureau is not comparable to the Hanyang Arsenal.

不过这几年他的产量每年都在下降。1913年，陆军部统计表，四川兵工厂每年生产六八马步枪15000枝、六八枪子弹7500000粒、无烟火药45000磅、黑火药21000磅，经费2487218元。

In 1914, the Sichuan Armory produced more than 5000 rifles at a cost of 120 million. Compared with the 15000 produced in Hanyang, the cost was less than 100 million, which is simply appalling.

Of course, this has a lot to do with the turbulent situation.

After the Revolution of 1915, Sichuan has been fighting almost every year.How can the arsenal produce well.By 20, the Sichuan Arsenal manufactured 15000 [-]cm rifles and [-] bullets per day.It can also produce one Cantonese-style machine gun, that is, a light machine gun, every month.

The arsenal in Sichuan does not have a high annual production volume, but it is not low either.The current annual production volume can equip one division of the Beiyang Army.

Now that Duan Xun is in charge of Sichuan, of course the most important thing is this arsenal.

With this arsenal, it will be of great help to Duan Xun in terms of logistics.With weapons, you can expand your army however you want.If Duan Xun wants to change from an ordinary warlord to a warlord capable of chasing the world, it is necessary to master an arsenal.

The main thing has been done, but Duan Xun still can't figure out what to do next.I want to do everything, but I feel that none of them are the most important at the moment.How to open up the situation in Sichuan, Duan Xun hopes that Yang Wei will give Duan Xun a good suggestion.

"opium."

"opium?"

"It's opium. The opium problem in Sichuan is very serious. There are opium dens everywhere and opium merchants everywhere. There are even more opium smokers. I estimate that there are millions of opium smokers in Sichuan."

"Brother Xinye, you are exaggerating. There are only a few people in Sichuan. According to statistics in Guangxu 33, the entire population of Sichuan is less than 5000 million. How is it possible that millions of people smoke opium."

Duan Xun smiled.

joke.

Millions of people smoke opium, what a scale.

With a serious expression, Yang Wei said, "General, what I said was definitely not a joke. You know, opium is also classified. Currently, the most valuable and expensive opium in China is imported from India. This is called Yangtu. Then the price is high in Yunnan soil. The quality of opium grown in Yunnan and Guizhou is second only to foreign soil, and the price is also second only to foreign soil. In addition to these two types, there are also some defective products in circulation in China. They are very cheap and probably It is a little more expensive than rice. Many poor families smoke this kind of opium. The rich people smoke imported ones, the rich people smoke Yunnan soil, and the poor smoke defective products. The cigarettes on the street today Although, most of them use tobacco soil from Yunnan and Guizhou. So I said that there are millions of opium smokers, not just talking casually. Many poor people earn money, and then buy the cheapest opium to smoke. Opium smokers are not only Not only men, but also many old people and women also smoke opium."

"It's so serious."

"Yes. Opium is a breakthrough. Because the government of the Republic of China banned opium trading, all opium sellers have backgrounds. Either the local garrison, the Gelaohui, or the local police station. Even if these people are not selling opium, but Those who sell opium must be supported and protected by them. Therefore, using opium as a breakthrough can sort out the situation in Sichuan in a short time. And we are aboveboard, so that those people can’t say anything.”

"kindness."

Duan Xun nodded.

Duan Xun is very dissatisfied with these elder brother associations flooding in Sichuan, and some local police stations and local garrisons are also very dissatisfied.But if there is no excuse, just to suppress them and ban them, that is not justified.

Sichuan people are xenophobic, which is very serious.So you have to find the most suitable excuse.

opium.

Best excuse ever.

Use opium as an excuse to attack these powerful factions in Sichuan.Those who can trade in opium are all powerful local people.On the surface, it is to crack down on the opium trade, but in fact it is to crack down on those powerful factions in Sichuan.

"General, and using opium as an excuse, there is a greater advantage."

72 Tuchuan 2

"And there is a greater advantage in using opium as an excuse."

"Oh?"

Duan Xun is very interested.

After being in contact with Yang Wei for a long time, Duan Xun was able to realize that people in this era are still very powerful.In other words, the elites of every era should not be underestimated.It doesn't mean that if you have a hundred years of historical memory, you can be better than these people.

Such as Yang Wei.

This is a master who takes one step and sees three steps.

Any one thing is not just for the benefit of the moment.It is about being able to connect what you are doing now with everything in the future, and not doing any one thing for one purpose.If you don't pay attention, you will be led into the ditch by him.

If anyone looks down on these strong men in history, you must be the one who dies in the end.

"The current flood of opium in the southwest and even the southeast comes from two places. One is Yunnan and the other is Guizhou. The opium in these two places accounts for 90.00% of the total opium in circulation in the south."

The opium in Yunnan and Guizhou is not a general flood.

Farmers in these two places have regarded growing opium as their main business.And there are a large number of opium merchants in these two provinces, and they have become a commercial group just like the salt merchants back then.They collected opium from farmers and sold it to the southern provinces.

There's even a very funny one.

That is, more than half of the military expenditure of the Guangxi army comes from opium.It is not that they produce opium themselves, nor are they in the opium business, but that they set up checkpoints to earn the toll taxes of those opium merchants.

Because a lot of Yunnan opium will be sold to Guangdong.

After all, Guangdong is a relatively wealthy place in China.The demand for opium there is also high, so large quantities of opium from Yunnan are sold to Guangdong.However, if Yunnan opium wants to be sold to Guangdong, it can only go through Guangxi.

So the Guangxi army set up checkpoints to make these opium merchants pay.

And this amount of money can feed more than half of the army in Guangxi.Even some people in later generations studied the alternation of the old Guangxi lineage and the new Guizhou lineage, and there is credit for opium in it.It is believed that Li Zongren's new Guangxi faction can defeat the old Gui faction, and the military expenses depend on the opium they seized.One can imagine the prosperity of opium in Yunnan.Not to be outdone, Guizhou planted a large amount of opium and sold it to the two lakes.

"General, although Yunnan and Guizhou are relatively poor provinces, they are also the rear area. Although Tang Jiyao's Great Southwest Plan seems a bit whimsical, it is actually a very good idea overall. Judging from the plan, there are still many advantages If the Great Southwest Plan can really be realized, then there is a real chance to participate in the competition in the Central Plains."

"The Great Southwest Project?"

Tang Jiyao's Great Southwest Plan.

It wants to integrate the southwestern provinces of Yunnan, Guangxi, Guizhou, Sichuan, and Hunan, and then establish a unified force.If this is really the case, then this Great Southwest is quite powerful.