Beiyang reactionaries

"General, we got Guan Yu, but we borrowed more money last year, and the various departments invested more. Guan Yu was nominally taken over by us, but most of the money in Guan Yu was paid back to Japan. The rest of the money from the bank was also purchased from Japan. The second phase of the Gongxian Armory was purchased from Japan. We didn’t see any of the money from Guan Yu, and Japan took it away. And Last year we also purchased 3000 million machines and equipment in Europe, and we invested more than 2000 million in railways and roads last year, as well as power plants in various cities, and education funds also increased fourfold. Last year A year’s troops fight wars, suppress bandits, and expand the army, and the annual military expenditure exceeds 8000 million, nearly 9000 million.”

While talking, Wang Yongjiang handed Duan Xun a list of financial expenditures.

Duan Xun could only smile wryly.

Duan Xun now controls eight provinces, and the fiscal revenue has increased a lot in an instant, to 1919 million.But looking at Duan Xun's expenditure, it is also amazing.Because there were too many wars in [-], military expenses alone accounted for half of the income.

Then build railways, build roads, buy machinery and equipment from Europe, and invest a lot in education, each of which is a big expenditure.

More importantly, Duan Xun still owes a lot of money, and the principal and interest have to be repaid tens of millions every year.Fortunately, with Guan Yu's income, but Guan Yu and Duan Xun didn't even see him, so he was already detained by Japan.

Because this money can only be used to buy things from Japan in addition to repaying the Japanese loan.This is the condition that Duan Xun agreed to Japan in order to get Japan's help.That's really the case.

The fiscal deficit is very large.

This year's fiscal deficit has exceeded 4000 million, which is simply amazing.

"General, fortunately we issued a large amount of public debt last year and raised a large amount of money by selling weapons in the arms market. Otherwise, the deficit would have been even worse. I have just seen the plans and budgets of various departments for this year. If we follow the plans and budgets of various departments Come on, our deficit will easily exceed $5000 million this year. That's not a small sum, General."

"kindness."

Although Duan Xun doesn't know much about the economy, he also knows that when the deficit reaches a certain scale, the government can only make up the deficit by issuing national debt, or choose to issue additional currency.But no matter which method is used, as long as it really continues, it will affect financial security and financial security.

But Duan Xun wasn't too nervous.After thinking for a while, he said, "Mr. Wang, two years, according to the current development, can you survive for two years? Can we borrow money from other places within two years, and plug the hole first, without affecting our normal development? .”

"can."

Wang Yongjiang nodded.

But he still said worriedly: "General, with the credit of our border inspectorate, there is no problem in borrowing money to plug the hole for two years. Regardless of whether it is a foreign bank or a domestic bank, the cooperation with us has always been very good. Because we not only have excellent collateral, but also pay interest on time, and have never defaulted on the repayment, so there is no problem with credit. But general, after two years, this hole will become bigger and bigger, and we need to repay The principal and interest will be higher and higher, maybe 7000 to [-] million or even higher in a year just to repay the principal and interest. This is not a normal figure."

Wang Yongjiang calculated carefully.

This year's fiscal deficit will definitely be more than 5000 million. If Duan Xun's intention is followed, the deficit will be even greater next year.And it will be increasingly difficult to make up the deficit in the future.

Because borrowing money from others to plug holes is a last resort.Because the current loan interest is too high, just like usury.

"Two years, two years is enough. Don't worry, Mr. Wang. Within two years, no matter what, I will increase the current customs tariff rate to more than four times the current rate. And I will definitely have a good talk with these big powers about customs duties. The problem. The big powers cannot continue to swallow the 80.00% tariff II.”

Duan Xun's idea is still tariffs.

Because in a short period of time, only tariffs can greatly increase Duan Xun's income.The current tariff rate in China is 5.00%, and the import and export tax rate for all products is 5.00%, which has not changed for decades.

Duan Xun must change this situation.

More than 20.00%, this is Duan Xun's bottom line.Duan Xun not only wants to increase the tariff rate of ordinary goods to 20.00%, but also raises the tariff rate of some important resources to more than 40.00%.Things like tung oil, bristles, tungsten ore.

At that time, Duan Xun's income will skyrocket.

Of course, it's not just a question of tax rates.The big powers now take away 80.00% of China's tariffs, leaving only 18.00% as customs surplus to the Chinese government.This situation must change.

Why take so much away.

Moreover, tariffs should not be controlled by the great powers, and Duan Xun will slowly take back China's tariffs from the great powers.It's just that this is not something Duan Xun can do in a short period of time, and needs to be done slowly.Start by reducing the share that the great powers take from tariffs.

As long as this problem is solved, what is a fiscal deficit of 5000 million yuan, even a fiscal deficit of 5.00 million yuan, Yuan Xun is not worried, because it can be plugged.At the current tariff rate of [-]%, the annual tariff of China Customs is several hundred million.

If it is increased to more than 20.00%, the income is amazing.

"General, this will offend those great powers."

"Mr. Wang, the rise of a big country will inevitably offend the big powers. But don't worry, I will not blindly turn against these big powers. You don't have to worry about this. I know that the current financial problem is very big, so it is even more necessary for Mr. Wang to control the overall situation. It seems that our income from investing in railways and roads is limited now, but when the construction of these railways and roads is completed, it will definitely bring about huge changes to the economy. So Mr. Wang, you should grit your teeth and persevere. Up to two years, two years I will definitely increase the customs duty rate in the near future. These will not be a problem by then."

"Yes."

Wang Yongjiang nodded.

In China today, only Duan Xun dares to borrow money like this.Of course, many other warlords have poor credit and cannot borrow so much money.The southwestern provinces were originally the poorest and most remote places in China.

However, Duan Xun has invested heavily in the improvement of transportation in the southwest in recent years, and there has been a very obvious improvement.

Of course, after a few years, this situation will become more obvious.

Wang Yongjiang can only believe in Duan Xun.After all, Duan Xun's promises over the years have been fulfilled every time.Although Wang Yongjiang could not control Guan Yu's money, at least after the money came in, there was no need to worry about the Japanese loan.That alone is enough.

"Mr. Wang, you can proceed with construction with peace of mind. I have also read the plans of various departments and provinces. Some departments and some provinces are indeed a bit big. But you can communicate with them. If it is only a matter of funds, other aspects If there is no problem, I still support them. Money is a thing, there is always a way to squeeze it.”

"Yes."

280 confrontation

"How is this plane?"

The Spring Festival in 1920 was relatively late, and the Spring Festival was only on February 2.Although there were some turmoil around the Spring Festival, there were not many major incidents.Because everyone is going to celebrate the New Year.

Cao Kun and Zhang Zuolin also reached a certain kind of tacit understanding. It should be said that the two sides reached some kind of agreement in the "Tianjin Big Five Meeting" two months ago.Both parties contributed part of the money to help the Beijing government spend the Spring Festival, and paid two months' salary to the staff of the Beijing government so that they could celebrate the New Year.At least don't make trouble during the New Year, don't embarrass everyone.All in all, the problem of going to the Beijing government is the lack of money. After Cao Kun and Zhang Zuolin support, they still barely tide over the difficulties.

Of course, just tide over the difficulties.

The problem of the Beijing government is very serious, and it cannot be solved by Cao Kun and Zhang Zuolin's support of a few million.The wages in arrears have been several months, and it is not enough to make up two months' salary.

It can only be said that it can allow the Beijing government to pass the year in peace and stability.

But not the education sector.

The arrears of education funds are very serious.A large number of teachers, including those university professors, cannot get paid, and life in Beijing is very difficult.There are also many students from poor families. They are admitted to state schools, and what they want is the government's education subsidies.

However, the government cannot afford education funds, and these students cannot afford to go to school.

And Duan Xun was happy.

Duan Xun is currently vigorously developing education in the Southwest, and what he lacks most is educational talents.From the end of the Zhiwan War, Duan Xun sent people to poach the teachers of those schools in Beijing, and even poached a lot of university professors.And the National Beijing Normal University and the National Agricultural College even dug to the southwest with teachers and students.

Although Duan Xun started his business in western Henan, he really started to rise in Sichuan after all.

Therefore, many of Duan Xun's top leaders are from the three provinces of Sichuan, Yunnan and Guizhou, or Duan Xun's direct descendants are basically from the three provinces of Sichuan, Yunnan and Guizhou, so naturally the center of construction is placed in the three provinces of Sichuan, Yunnan and Guizhou. The factors that no one can change.Among the three provinces of Sichuan, Yunnan and Guizhou, most of them are senior officials and generals from Sichuan, and Duan Xun also has a deep affection for Sichuan.Therefore, a large amount of capital poured into Sichuan, and Duan Xun's important factories and schools were established in Sichuan, which greatly promoted the development of Sichuan.Especially Chengdu, although it is not an opponent of Chongqing and Wuchang in industry, it is also inferior to them in economy.But Chengdu is a university city, an education city.The best universities under Duan Xun's command were established in Chengdu one by one.

At present, in the whole country, in terms of strength, China University of Geosciences, China Institute of Chemical Technology, Sichuan University, Sichuan Normal University, China Equipment Academy, Sichuan Police University, Sichuan Army University, Sichuan Agricultural University, Sichuan University of Political Science and Law, and Sichuan Railway Academy are all At present, China's universities are the most, and these universities are no worse than those in Beijing.Regardless of the quality of teachers, the quality of students, and education funding, they can all be compared with prestigious schools like Peking University.

This is a cluster effect.

The more developed the education in Chengdu, the more talents are attracted to Chengdu.Those talents who have returned from studying abroad, a large number of them choose the invitation of Chengdu universities.Just like Li Siguang who just returned to China this year.

Peking University, Sichuan University, and China University of Geosciences issued invitations at the same time, and even Cai Yuanpei of Peking University wrote a personal letter inviting Li Siguang to be the dean of the Geology Department of Peking University.But Li Siguang finally chose Sichuan University as the dean of the School of Geology.Because the best geological research institutions in China are in Chengdu, and the best geological experts are concentrated in Chengdu, Peking University simply cannot compete.The Geology Department of Peking University, not to mention Sichuan University and China University of Geosciences, even the Geology Department of Southwest Associated University established in Kunming is far better than Peking University.

In addition to the universities, Duan Xun has vigorously developed industries in Sichuan in the past few years, so the supporting professional colleges, that is, various technical schools are also developing very rapidly in Chengdu.It can be said that the current Chengdu is definitely the most educated city in China.

However, the Beijing government has nothing to do about this large-scale flow of talents to Sichuan.These talents exclude their professional ability, and they are actually ordinary people.They also need to live, and they also need to support their families.