Beiyang reactionaries

Because this contract is made public, there will definitely be some criticism.Wang Chonghui is a scholar, so he doesn't dare to accept this kind of criticism.So I pushed the matter to Duan Xun.

Duan Xun did not refuse at all.

A leader has to take responsibility.If you are afraid of being criticized by others and dare not take responsibility, then how can you develop.Even if the contract is criticized, or even criticized, Duan Xun has to bear it.So Duan Xun said directly: "I see. The negotiations with President Yan have come to an end. In this case, I will also participate in the final negotiations and sign the contract. President Yan, when the contract is finally signed, ask me to go with you. "

"Yes."

"Everyone continue."

322 Cabinet meeting 7

"Everyone continue."

"Prime Minister, Premier Duan, I would like to ask about the purchase of equipment for the navy. Our navy has not added new warships for many years. Now that the European War is over, Britain and France have many surplus warships, as well as captured German warships. These The warships are very cheap, a fraction of the original price. I wonder if we can buy these warships and strengthen the navy."

Chief of the Navy Sa Zhenbing spoke.

For a long time, every time a cabinet meeting was held, Sa Zhenbing would come and go through the motions.Among the various departments of the cabinet, which department has the least strength and which department has the least right to speak, it must be the Ministry of the Navy.

The Admiralty can't control anything but the navy.The problem is that the navy is basically useless and can't decide any issues at all.When fighting a war, it is just helping out, without any decisive ability.

Therefore, in China's political map, the power of the navy is very poor.

Sa Zhenbing also knew this.

So when he was in the meeting, he kept silent.Anyway, as the chief of the navy, he is just a decoration, and no one will listen to his words, which is useless at all.It is not the Navy's turn to speak that really decides the cabinet's major affairs.So he is very self-aware.

But today he really couldn't bear it.The development of the army is in full swing, and the reorganization work has been completed very well.However, the situation in the navy is getting worse and worse. I thought that Duan Xun's entry into Beijing would change a little.Because after Duan Xun took over Beijing, the financial situation of the Beijing government has improved a lot.The annual fiscal revenue is [-] million silver dollars.

But Sa Zhenbing was wrong.

No.

Of course, it is much better than before, that is, the navy funds are not in arrears, and there is no arrears of wages.Duan Xun has indeed done a lot better than when he was in arrears with the navy at every turn in the past.But that's all. The warships used by the navy are all warships from many years ago.

No new warships have been purchased for so many years.Instead of purchasing new warships, the Navy purchased the Yangtze River Fleet, that is, the Jiang Defense Fleet when Duan Xun was the border defense supervisor, and now it is renamed the Yangtze River Fleet.Instead, the Yangtze River Fleet added several new gunboats.Some of those gunboats were purchased from Japan, and some were built in Wuchang Shipyard.

The Navy is a complete stepmother.Not even an inland fleet like the Yangtze River Fleet can compare.

So Sa Zhenbing couldn't help asking them.

"Mr. Sa, I really can't agree to your request. It's not that I don't want to develop the navy. On the contrary, the navy is a century-old dream for us. The shame of our country comes from the sea, and the navy is what we must develop. But the navy It’s too expensive. We need millions of silver dollars to buy a destroyer with a small tonnage. If it is a warship of the cruiser or battleship level, it will cost tens of millions of silver dollars. Where is our finance now? It can afford such a large cost. And even if the Navy orders such a few warships, what changes can be made and how much combat effectiveness can be improved. In my opinion, it is completely useless."

Duan Xun didn't promise Sa Zhenbing nothingness.

Tell Sa Zhenbing very directly that under the current situation, China has no ability to develop a navy at all.Not to mention those new warships, a cruiser costs several million pounds, tens of millions of silver dollars, twenty to thirty million silver dollars.

Where can China afford it.

Even for those old ships, China needs several million silver dollars to buy them.It is useless to buy one or two such warships, and it does not improve the strength of the navy at all.Not to mention one or two ships, even if you buy one or two battleships, it will be useless in the face of a maritime power like Japan.But these warships are so expensive and cost so much money, how can the Beijing government afford them.

Just look at New China.

Half a century after its establishment, the navy can achieve great development only after the finances have money.Before China's finances were limited, it was impossible to develop the navy.Because the navy is a money-eating industry.

"Prime Minister Duan, the naval warships have been in service for many years. What's more, the world's navies have developed so fast these years. If we don't buy some new warships, we will easily fall behind."

"Mr. Sa, we all know this. But there is no way. The Navy spends too much money to buy a few warships. Not only is it useless, but the money spent is astronomical. You just heard that the Jiaoji Railway It will cost 4000 million silver dollars together with the industries along the line, but we can’t afford it. How could it be possible to spend so much money for a few warships. What we lack most now is money.”

When Duan Xun said this, Sa Zhenbing did not continue to pester him.

no way.

The navy is such a tough arm.The reason why China's navy failed to become a force is because the navy has no strength at all, and everything needs land support.

Duan Xun doesn't care about this faction or that faction in the navy.The reason why Duan Xun didn't clean up the navy faction was because Duan Xun didn't take them seriously at all.

Now Duan Xun has no energy and ability to develop the navy, so he doesn't care about the navy's problems and let them develop by themselves.When Duan Xun started to take care of the navy issue, those factions, Duan Xun easily solved it.Duan Xun is really in a hurry, no matter what faction you have, all of them will be wiped out, and a naval force will be reorganized.

After vetoing Sa Zhenbing's request, Duan Xun said: "Then I will speak on behalf of the Ministry of War. I propose to reorganize the national army, expand the army by 30, and the national army will reach one million troops."

Hearing Duan Xun's words, Sa Zhenbing was furious.

You just rejected the request of the Ministry of the Navy because you have no money, but you want to expand the army by 30. 30 army troops, even if the army troops spend less money than the navy, the 30 army will need 4000 to 6000 million military expenditures a year.If you spend a little more money, you won't be able to beat [-] to [-] million, or maybe even more.

Three to forty million, five to sixty million, in the navy, that is a lot of money.

Several large ships can be purchased.

It's a pity that what Sa Zhenbing didn't know was that in Duan Xun's eyes, a few naval warships were completely incomparable with the 30 army troops. What 30 army troops can do, a few naval warships simply cannot do.

"Prime Minister Duan, now that the country has just stabilized, shouldn't more funds be invested in people's livelihood?"

Wang Chonghui disagreed.

30?

Too much.When Cao Kun controlled Beijing before, Cao Kun's troops added up to only about 20 troops.There is also Fengjun Zhang Zuolin, who had fewer than 20 troops in his heyday.

But how many troops Duan Xun has now.

Although there is no clear data, everyone guesses that there are at least 70 troops.Since the Revolution of [-], Duan Xun is the first general to have so many troops directly under him.The strength is even much stronger than Yuan Shikai and Duan Qirui back then.

But still want to expand the army?

What is this doing.And 30 troops, how much does it cost.At present, half of the national budget is already spent on military expenditures. If the military is expanded by 30 yuan, how much will the annual military expenditure be.It is estimated that the military expenditure of the army alone will exceed [-] million silver dollars.

That's two hundred million silver dollars.

Can not accept.

Wang Chonghui believes that it is hard not to fight now, and what should be done now is disarmament, not military expansion.Spend more funds on people's livelihood instead of continuing to expand the military.

"Prime Minister, everyone, in fact, it seems that a million troops is a lot, but compared to our vast land and our population size, 100 million is just the beginning."

"Prime Minister Duan, I also think one million troops is too much."

Yu Youren also objected when he opened his mouth.

Although Yu Youren came to Beijing with Duan Xun and was quite supportive of Duan Xun, he was not Duan Xun's puppet.He is the head of the Ministry of Communications, so he will not say what Duan Xun said, and he will also express his views.In his opinion, Duan Xun already had an absolute advantage after the second direct-anhui war, so why continue to expand the army.

With that money, it is better to develop China's economy.

You can mine, you can build bridges and roads, and you can invest in other places.If it doesn't work, you can invest in education, why expand the army.

"Actually, it's not considered military expansion. According to the provinces we can directly control at present, in the 140s and 70s of the Republic of China, there were roughly [-] million troops in these places. It's just that we abolished some troops, incorporated some troops into the police system, and some The army broke up during the war, so there are only [-] troops left. Compared with that time, our current army is not large."

Yu Youren still wanted to talk, but Duan Xun raised his hand to let him be quiet first.