Beiyang reactionaries

"What do you think?"

280 Standoff 2

"What do you think?"

"Teacher, both of them seem to be losing their composure. According to the information we have received, Lu Yongxiang is in Zhejiang. Not counting Xia Chao's garrison team of more than 1 people, he has trained eight infantry divisions, of which three The number of the Central Army Division, the last No.30 Seventh Division of the Central Army (Division Commander He Fenglin) is a designation made by Lu Yongxiang himself. The other five divisions are all the designations of the Zhejiang Army. Plus the Shanghai Fleet, and some local garrison teams And the Hangzhou garrison, Lu Yongxiang's strength is already very strong, with more than 9 troops. Lu Rongting is also preparing for the war, and has reorganized his troops, with five divisions and four mixed brigades, nearly [-] troops."

Duan Xun nodded.

Lu Yongxiang and Lu Rongting's strength expanded rapidly.

But it is.

The three people who benefited the most from the division of Guan Yu this time are Duan Xun, Lu Yongxiang, and Lu Rongting.Duan Xun is because he controls many territories and various customs.And because Lu Yongxiang controls Shanghai, and Lu Rongting controls Guangzhou, both can get a large amount of customs surplus.

And their strength can be so inflated, it is inseparable from Duan Xun's support.Duan Xun sold at least seven mixed brigade weapons to Lu Yongxiang.If it weren't for Duan Xun's support, how could Lu Yongxiang have the ability to form so many troops.Originally, Lu Yongxiang's troops consisted of four divisions and three mixed brigades, but with the support of Duan Xun, eight infantry divisions have been created.

And Lu Rongting too.

Duan Xun sold Lu Rongting the weapons of the three mixed brigades, as well as a large amount of ammunition.Otherwise, Lu Rongting consumed so much ammunition and lost so many troops in the previous war, how could he have nearly [-] troops again.

More than half a year.

After more than half a year, the recruits of Lu Yongxiang and Lu Rongting have completed the initial training.Although it can't be compared with veterans, it can still be used, and it can also go to war.Just looking at the strength on paper is already very strong.

As Lu Yongxiang and Lu Rongting grew in strength, of course they were aggressive at first.

Lu Rongting's goal was to expel the Cantonese army and reoccupy Guangdong.And Lu Yongxiang's ambition is even greater, to defeat Li Chun, the governor of Jiangsu, and take Jiangsu.After controlling Jiangsu, Zhejiang and Shanghai, it became a big force.A powerful force that can stand against Cao Kun, Zhang Zuolin, and Duan Xun.

Lu Yongxiang and Lu Rongting's strength soared, so of course Li Chun and Chen Jiongming couldn't sit still.

I can't care about anything.

Just want a weapon.Send people to Duan Xun to buy weapons at twice the market price, and to expand the army and prepare for war.

"Teacher, the current situation, judging from the strength on paper, Li Chun is far from Lu Yongxiang's opponent. Although Li Chun currently claims to have five divisions and six mixed brigades, the total is only about 5 people."

"How come there are so few? Didn't we already sell a batch of weapons to him at the beginning of the year, why are there only about 5 people?"

Duan Xun was taken aback.

Duan Xun clearly remembered that before the Zhiwan War broke out, at the beginning of last year, Duan Xun sold Li Chun 5 rifles.At that time, Li Chun had five divisions and six mixed brigades, and the troops claimed to be more than [-] people.

According to Li Chun's establishment, [-] rifles can form two infantry divisions.

How come there are still five divisions and six mixed brigades?During the Zhiwan War, Li Chun's Jiangsu had never fought a war and did not consume any troops.Normally, Li Chun currently has at least 6 troops, or even close to 7 troops.

Incredible.

"Teacher, it's an old tradition for troops to be paid empty-handed. There are several troops in the Beiyang Army who are not paid empty-handed. The generals of the Beiyang Army are all rich, and the richest is the three governors of the Yangtze River. The three of them claim to own half of the real estate in Tianjin." Among them, Li Chun, the governor of Jiangsu, has more than 8000 houses in Tianjin, Chen Guangyuan, the governor of Jiangxi, has more than 6000 houses in Tianjin, and Wang Zhanyuan, the former governor of Hubei, also has more than 3000 houses in Tianjin. So the three of them are the largest property owners in Tianjin Wei .”

"so much?"

"Yes."

Xu Yongchang nodded.

Then he said: "Teacher, no one can say for sure how much money these three people have. However, a reporter once made a preliminary statistics on their property. The assets of each of these three people are at least 3000 million or more. The three of them not only own properties in Tianjin, but also properties in Beijing, Dalian, Qingdao, and Shanghai. They also own a lot of stocks in coal mines, banks, spinning mills, and flour companies. Even after Li Chun issued a large amount of public bonds in Jiangsu, Put all the money you got into your own pocket. General, think about it, where did they get so much money?"

"The moth of the country is really the moth of the country."

Duan Xun couldn't help cursing.

Duan Xun knew about the corruption of the Beiyang Army Warlord.There are a few people in this era who are not greedy for money, but to have so much family property, they have to be greedy for money.These warlords entrenched the place one by one, searching for money wantonly.Jiangsu is the only wealthy province in China that can be compared with Guangdong. At the end of the Qing Dynasty, the annual fiscal revenue exceeded 4000 million.

When Feng Guozhang was there, he relied on Jiangsu to stand up against Duan Qirui.

why?

Rich, someone, and land.

However, Li Chun has only been the governor of Jiangsu for more than two years, and he has made the Jiangsu army into this virtue in less than three years.After Duan Xun entered Hubei, he carefully liquidated Wang Zhanyuan's assets in Hubei.

If those fixed assets are counted together, Wang Zhanyuan has more than 2000 million assets in the three towns of Wuhan.This is not all of Wang Zhanyuan's assets. He took a large amount of gold, silver and jewelry with him when he fled.Moreover, he still has a large number of assets in Beijing, Tianjin, and Shanghai.Although Wang Zhanyuan claims to have assets of 4000 million yuan, in Duan Xun's opinion, Wang Zhanyuan's assets are definitely more than 6000 million to [-] million yuan, or even more.

What an amazing asset.How many rich families in Jiangsu and Zhejiang have worked hard for hundreds of years, and the accumulated wealth is not as much as the assets accumulated by these Beiyang warlords in a few years.

Where did so much money come from.

It's all about corruption.

And the best money to get is military pay.In this era when half of the fiscal revenue is military pay, withholding military expenditure is the fastest way to make money.Just like last year, Duan Xun's military expenditure was nearly 9000 million.If someone tampers with it, how much income will it be.

What did Wang Zhanyuan do in Hubei?

It was not enough to eat empty pay, and even the military pay of the remaining troops was deducted, causing even the second division of the direct line to mutiny.Li Chun doesn't look as greedy as Wang Zhanyuan.But the Jiangsu army built by Feng Guozhang back then has only 5 people.Moreover, after accepting Duan Xun's 5 rifles, there were only [-] people. How much military salary Li Chun swallowed, how much empty salary he ate.

Thinking about it makes Duan Xun angry.

Considering Jiangsu's economic strength and the foundation built by Feng Guozhang, even if Li Chun now has 8 or 5 people, it is not a big problem.But five divisions and six mixed brigades, with such a huge establishment, only about [-] people.

Feng Guozhang's three governors of the Yangtze River are really more greedy than the other. No wonder Feng Guozhang has never been able to do anything.His direct descendants are better at earning money than the other, but the troops are worse than the other.

These old warlords of the Beiyang Army really can't make a big deal.The old warlords under Duan Qirui, Fu Liangzuo, Zhang Jingyao, Wu Guangxin, Zhang Guangjian, and Li Houji were all corrupt, and none of them were worth less than ten million yuan. I never thought that Feng Guozhang's side would be even more serious.

In comparison, although Cao Kun's younger brother Cao Rui and the others are also very corrupt, they are nothing compared to these old warlords of the Beiyang Army.

So there is a comparison.

The rising stars of the Beiyang Army, Duan Xun, Wu Peifu, Feng Yuxiang, and Sun Chuanfang dare not say they are completely clean, but they will never go too far with them.These people are all ambitious, only those who increase the troops, how can there be no empty pay.

"That is to say, the total number of Li Chun's troops in the past was less than 4?"

"It should be so."

"It's really greedy, but it's a pity that I don't have big ambitions."

Duan Xun sighed.

The warlords of Feng Guozhang's direct line all only know about being greedy for money, but they don't know what is the most important thing for warlords in this era.For warlords, the most important thing is the army, which is strength.They withhold military pay at every turn, how could they have a strong army under their hands.In this day and age, if you are a warlord without an army, what else can you do.

"Teacher, Li Chun should be very worried now. After all, Lu Yongxiang has expanded his army by more than 3 people this year, and he has also received the support of the Yangtze River Fleet. In terms of strength, he has already steadily overwhelmed Li Chun."

"kindness."

"The same goes for the Guangdong Army. Although the Yunnan Army stationed in Guangdong and Lu Gongwang's Zhejiang Army turned against and supported the Guangdong Army in the previous Guangdong-Guangxi War, the Guangdong Army failed to enter Guangzhou after all. The Yunnan Army and the Zhejiang Army occupied In Meizhou, one occupies Huizhou, and gradually has the tendency to become a small warlord in Guangdong. Although the Guangdong Army is known as four armies, it is actually a force of 2 troops. In addition, the war before the first half of the year suffered a lot of losses, so not only There is a lack of weapons and ammunition, and most of the troops are recruits. Seeing Lu Rongting's continuous military expansion and preparations, how could they sit still. "

Chen Jiongming is also very uncomfortable now.