Beiyang reactionaries

"At present, it is still very sufficient. They have searched a large amount of gold, silver, and jewelry in the Nanyang area, including a large number of precious antique calligraphy and paintings. The original banks of countries such as Britain, France, and the Netherlands in the Nanyang area, and many temples, have different There is less gold and silver, all of which were looted by Japan. We don’t know the exact amount, but there should be no problem with hundreds of tons, and it may even be more. Last year, the Japanese army has been paying with gold and silver. Looking at the situation of the Japanese army, the Japanese army is the most At least for now, there is no shortage of things like gold, silver, and jewelry.”

"It's good to have money."

Industrial products are always more expensive than raw materials and make more money than raw materials.

The Japanese army equipped the navy on such a large scale, and Duan Xun didn't care who he would fight with in the future.Of course, it is also possible that it is a backlash, raising the wolf cub in Japan, which in turn bites China.But for now, Japan really does not have a direct conflict of interest with China.

The goal of the Japanese army is very clear.

Drive out the power of Britain and the United States in Asia, and then bring these under their own rule.If Japan wants to fight China, it has to deal with these forces before fighting.Therefore, Duan Xun is very relieved to build warships for Japan at this stage.

"Shuyong (Ren Hongjun), Fangchen (Han Linchun), after the battle in the north, there will be a surplus in military spending. This part of the funds will flow into the shipbuilding industry in large quantities and expand the scale of our shipyard. Japan only needs to give money, what do they want? , and make them something."

"Yes."

In the past, a large amount of China's military expenditure was provided to the north.

Confronting the Soviet Union and fighting the Soviet Union cost a large part of the military expenditure.The current temporary truce between China and the Soviet Union can save a lot of military expenses.Since Japan has a high demand for warships, Duan Xun built more warships for the Japanese army.

Let Japan's own shipyards build more aircraft carriers, battleships, and heavy cruisers, so that they can fight well with the United States in the future.And to build these warships for Japan, China's shipbuilding technology will continue to improve.

"Go on."

"Then there is the British and Indian army. Since the war between Britain and Japan, the Japanese army has attacked Burma several times. The British and Indian troops have blocked several Japanese attacks by relying on their familiarity with the terrain. But as the Japanese army got used to the climate and terrain of Myanmar, the Japanese army began to train. The pressure on the British army is increasing day by day for the troops fighting in the mountains. Not to mention that Japan will soon take over French Indochina, and the situation of Britain will be even more dangerous at that time. Therefore, Britain has already carried out large-scale military expansion in India. The demand is getting higher and higher. Just at the end of last year (1939), the representative of the Governor General of India asked us to provide them with munitions for 12 divisions within half a year."

"Can it be done?"

"There is no problem with the arms. Not to mention providing equipment for 12 divisions within half a year, our military factory can also provide equipment for 120 divisions. There is only one biggest problem for the British and Indian troops, and that is the transportation problem. Whether it is in the Yunnan-Myanmar area or in Tibet, the traffic is very inconvenient. Although we have built the Yunnan-Myanmar Highway, the transportation capacity of a road is really limited.”

Li Ji paused for a moment, then continued: "That's why the British proposed to use the railway connecting Yunnan and Burma to transport these munitions by railway."

"Is there any difficulty?"

"There is not much difficulty. As early as the end of the Qing Dynasty, the British proposed the idea of ​​the Qingming-Myanmar Railway, and the British and the Qing government conducted surveys at that time. Later, when the Republic of China was established, the Yunnan military government also conducted surveys. The second five years During the planning period, the Ministry of Railways conducted a new survey on this basis. During the third five-year plan period, Yunnan, as a frontier province, carried out large-scale transportation construction. In order to strengthen the connection with Myanmar, we have two railways in Yunnan. It reached the China-Myanmar border. One of them was repaired to Mengding, which can completely connect with the British railway in Myanmar. Of course, there are no problems at all. The biggest problem is that the width of the railway tracks between China and the UK is different. Even if it is connected, the train needs to be connected. You can stop at the border to change trains."

"This is good."

Duan Xun looked at the map and nodded.

The geographical location of Myanmar is very good.Don't say that China needs Myanmar to do business now. Even after the war, Myanmar is very important to China.Once Myanmar is under control, China will then have direct access to the Indian Ocean.

Therefore, it is very necessary to open up traffic with Myanmar now, whether it is now or in the long run.

"Immediately discuss with the UK the possibility of opening the Burma Railway. I believe they are more anxious than we are. Let's also see if it is possible to lay a second Burma Railway besides the current Burma Railway. After all, eggs cannot be placed in one basket."

"Yes, we will discuss it with the British side."

"What about the funds of the British and Indian Army? What do they use to pay?"

"It's mainly gold and silver. The British and Indian armies raised gold from within India. Although the gold raised by the private sector was not pure enough, it was quite a lot. Besides gold, there was also a lot of silver."

"it is good."

As long as it's gold.

During the war years, the paper money was the least valuable, and the most valuable was gold. 1939 was a very good year in any way. China's import and export trade began to have a large surplus, which brought a large amount of gold, silver and some foreign exchange to China.

Not to mention the current arms trade.

Arms and medicines are the most profitable during the war years. In 1939, China's arms sales to Japan and the British and Indian armies exceeded $2 million.Of course, it is the most expensive to build warships for Japan, plus the tanks sold to Japan and the planes sold to the British and Indian troops are very expensive.

No wonder everyone wants to make war fortune.

This is the beginning of World War II. China's income is so high, and its gold reserves are rising in a straight line.When Germany and the Soviet Union fight, and when the United States and Japan fight, how much annual income will be at that time, I am excited to think about it.

"The various departments talk about their plans for this year."

645

"Talk about the New Year's plans for each department."

In fact, in January, the cabinet had already held a meeting to review the new year plans of various departments.Some departments even made New Year's plans at the end of last year (1939).After Duan Xun became the chairman of the Supreme Council, he appointed Dai Kan as the prime minister of the cabinet.

After that, he will not interfere with the work of the cabinet.

Duan Xun has no superpowers and limited energy, so it is impossible to take care of everything.So Duan Xun needs elite soldiers and strong generals to help him handle some important things and deal with specific things for him.As the prime minister of the cabinet, Dai Kan is optimistic about the cabinet and sorting out the work of the cabinet is the greatest support for Duan Xun.Therefore, it is impossible for Duan Xun to dictate Dai Kan's daily work, so how can Dai Kan let go of his work.

So Duan Xun wanted to listen to the New Year's plans of various departments, not to intervene in the work of Dai Kan's cabinet.It is a normal work report. After all, this is the first enlarged meeting of the Supreme Committee after the new year, and the cabinet needs to report the new year plans of various departments.

Here's the program.

Even if it is a cabinet review, it needs the approval of the Supreme Council in the end.Of course, as long as it is approved by the cabinet, unless Duan Xun has the opposite opinion, it will not be rejected.

"Chairman, the general policy of the cabinet in 1940 was still a semi-wartime economic strategy. After the signing of the 'Sino-Soviet Border Treaty', although many people hoped to end the wartime economic situation, the cabinet believed that it should not be lifted during the world war. war economy."

"Specifically? In a semi-wartime economy, what should be controlled and what should be released?"

Although Duan Xun will not intervene, he still needs to know the overall situation of Chinese society and economic operation.Dai Kan is the prime minister of the cabinet, but he reported to Duan Xun and explained to these people in the Supreme Council that it was Yan Huiqing, the deputy prime minister of the cabinet.

If Dai Kan reported in person, it would be when he made a report in Congress.However, after the establishment of the Supreme Council, the functions of the National Assembly were completely replaced by the Supreme Council.And the report at the enlarged meeting of the Supreme Council is usually the Executive Deputy Prime Minister Yan Huiqing.

"There are three main points. First, import and export must be controlled. All import and export trade must be approved by the Ministry of Foreign Trade. Of course, there are many problems, especially for small and medium-sized enterprises. The approval procedure is complicated and the approval time is long. They The trade in China is not a bulk trade, and time is very precious. Once the opportunity is lost, the business cannot be completed. Therefore, they have relatively strong opinions on the control of import and export. However, after discussing with the cabinet, they think that the current situation of control still has more advantages than disadvantages. Especially At present, in terms of my country's import and export, bulk commodities are the bulk."

"Ah."

Duan Xun nodded.

As the saying goes, absolute power brings absolute corruption.

Under such a state of control, all kinds of "eating cards and taking" phenomena are most likely to occur.Many normal import and export trades will suffer losses due to their reasons.But again, under the current circumstances, China's imports and exports are mainly bulk commodities.

Based on resources.

If the regulation is relaxed, I don't know what will happen.After all, the prices of these resources are constantly rising, and the great powers are very eager for these resources.If the control is relaxed, these things will try their best to escape.

China must firmly grasp the import and export data of these bulk commodities, grasp the whereabouts of these bulk commodities, and more importantly grasp the prices of these bulk commodities.The disorderly export of these bulk commodities must not be allowed.Therefore regulation is necessary.

"Although imports and exports need to be controlled, the main targets are those bulk commodities. There should also be protective measures for small and medium-sized enterprises, and don't curb their vitality. You need to think of ways in this regard."

Small and medium-sized enterprises export a lot.

After the war broke out, a lot of supplies were exported.Needless to say those commodities, the export of light industrial products is also developing rapidly.Exports of flour, textiles, oil pressing, canned food, leather, and cigarettes are also increasing.

Although there are large companies in these industries, most of them are small and medium-sized enterprises.

Although they are not sensitive industries, they are not strategic industries controlled by the state.But their exports can not only obtain a large amount of foreign exchange, but also feed a large population and develop these industries by the way.The vitality of SMEs is also the vitality of a country's economy.

"Yes."