In January 1937, there were two major events in Sichuan.

First, the drought is still widespread and persistent. In the counties of eastern and central Sichuan, due to Zhou Hexuan's relief of disaster relief, the living conditions of the hungry are much better than in history, although it is impossible to count, but at least one million people have been saved, and two or three million are possible. However, in northern Sichuan, northwest Sichuan and northeast Sichuan, due to the extremely difficult transportation, the disaster situation cannot be effectively alleviated.

The second is the establishment of the Liji Foundation. Seven banks, Sichuan Yan, Meifeng, Sichuan, Chongqing, Jianghai, Chuankang Colonization and Sichuan Commerce, jointly established the Liji Consortium in Chongqing, with the aim of cooperating with the Sichuan Provincial Government to implement the tobacco and soil control policy.

Due to the Nanjing government's continuous urging of Liu Xiang to ban smoking, the public opinion in Sichuan also demanded a ban on smoking, and the financial difficulties caused by the drought, Liu Xiang finally made a big move this time.

In the past, smoking bans were all levied on high tobacco taxes, and the more the ban became more and more severe, but now Liu Xiang implements the policy of tobacco and land control, which is to use administrative monopoly measures to control the opium trade in the whole of Sichuan in the hands of the provincial government. However, the Sichuan provincial government was in financial difficulties and had to rely on the help of major banks, which gave rise to the so-called Chongqing Liji Consortium.

Specifically, merchants need to obtain government subscription qualifications to buy tobacco from tobacco farmers and sell it to the tobacco collection office. The collection office then sells the tobacco to the General Administration of Tobacco Ban, which in turn distributes it to local tobacco dealers, who must also be certified by the government.

In the whole process, the tobacco trade is collected and managed, and the tobacco tax is also set a unified standard, which can increase the tax revenue of at least 30 million yuan to the Sichuan provincial government every year.

Liu Xiang was really forced to have no choice but to come up with this bad idea, which was actually to legalize and monopolize the opium trade. If he hadn't done so, he would not have been able to pay the salaries of civil servants in Sichuan this year, because the agricultural harvest would have failed and the agricultural tax would have been almost zero.

And what about Sichuan's industrial tax?

Due to the Nanjing government's unified taxation policy, Sichuan's cotton yarn, textile and other industries were directly collected by the central government, and Liu Xiang could not get a dime. That is to say, the people of Sichuan have always paid taxes to the central government, and it makes no sense for the central government to ignore the drought in Sichuan.

When the news of the official establishment of the Liji Consortium broke, Zhou Hexuan immediately prepared to build a cigarette factory, and he did it not just to make money.

We know that opium is extremely abundant in Gansu, with opium poppy cultivation accounting for three-quarters of the province's arable land, and opium poppy production accounting for more than 90 percent of the province's agricultural income.

As early as the late Qing Dynasty, Sichuan's opium production accounted for 37% of the country's total, making it the largest opium producing province in China at that time. By the mid-30s, the area under opium poppy cultivation in Sichuan had reached 20 million mu, accounting for 18.8 percent of Sichuan's cultivated area.

This is also one of the reasons for the famine in Sichuan, nearly two-fifths of the province's land is used to grow opium, how can grain production be guaranteed?

Zhou Hexuan conveniently built cigarette factories in Chongqing and Yibin, hoping to guide opium growers to switch to cigarettes.

Although they are all cigarettes, at least cigarettes are far less harmful than opium.

Under normal circumstances, opium poppy can bring huge profits, and tobacco farmers rarely choose to grow cigarettes. But now that Liu Xiang is playing opium control, the threshold for opium production has been raised, and the profits of opium production and sales will inevitably be depressed.

At the same time, Zhou Hexuan also bought 5,000 acres of ownerless wasteland and called on hungry people to help him grow food. As tenants, these hungry people were provided with seeds and cattle by Zhou Hexuan, and they had to pay 20% of their income as tenant rent in the first year, and then increase year by year, and directly give the land to the tenants after five years of planting.

Sichuan, as a large rear area during the war, will definitely not be able to grow opium alone, and I don't know how high the price of grain will rise in the future, so Zhou Hexuan can only do his best.

Sometimes, Zhou Hexuan feels very absurd, he is a literati and businessman, but he does what the government should consider.

Alas, sooner or later this government will be finished.

It is not the Sichuan Provincial Government, but the Nanjing National Government, which made a fortune during the Anti-Japanese War, and the four major families even took the lead in doing so.

Historically, 100 fiat dollars could buy 2 cows in 1937, 1 in 1938, 1 pig in 1941, 1 chicken in 1943, and 1 fish in 1945.

During the Anti-Japanese War, salt, sugar, matches, cigarettes, cotton and other daily necessities were all collected and sold exclusively by the state, which is understandable, after all, the war needs it. But this kind of monopoly of materials has become a means of profit-making by the collusion of officials and businessmen, and if Zhou Hexuan does not pull the powerful into shares, his factories are estimated to be squeezed out of bankruptcy.

February 4th.

Liu Xiang set out from Chengdu to Chongqing, and his main purpose was to meet with the responsible persons of the seven major banks and personally inquire about the implementation of the tobacco control policy.

Liu Xiang's Mansion is not far from Zhou's Mansion, and he brought his wife to Zhou's house that night.

Liu Xiang only married one wife in his life, the daughter of a country tailor, 3 years older than Liu Xiang. She didn't even have an official name, she was originally called Liu Zhou, and later Liu Xiang made a fortune, so she asked her husband to name her Zhou Yushu.

"Fu Gong, Fu Po, welcome to the two masters!" Zhou Hexuan smiled and hugged his fists.

Liu Xiang hurriedly grabbed Zhou Hexuan, shook his hand and said, "Thank you, Mr. Zhou, you saved Sichuan and saved me Liu!" ”

Zhou Yushu took out a gift box and said, "Thank you, Mr. Zhou!" This is a little careful, I made the red baba with my own hands, I hope Mr. Zhou will not feel shabby. ”

"Where, where to send goose feathers for thousands of miles, the courtesy is light and affectionate." Zhou Hexuan accepted it with a smile.

Zhou Yushu is a typical rural woman, she doesn't know how to dress up when she becomes the wife of the provincial chairman, she wears a cheap blue cloth shirt, and her hair is coiled in a peasant woman's unique "big baba" bun at the back of her head, and her hands are full of calluses.

Of course, no one can look down on her because of this, Zhou Yushu is not a village woman who is only a promise, she is still a powerful tigress. At a critical time, Zhou Yushu was able to take a servant and beat the unruly guys with a rolling pin in his hand, including Liu Xiang himself.

Liu Xiang also asked for flowers and willows, but he couldn't provoke the tigress at home, and gradually became a "rake ear" (strict wife), and he didn't even dare to quietly raise an outer room.

Zhou Yushu was very talkative, and his mouth was close to Zhou Hexuan: "Mr. Zhou, you can't write two Zhou characters in one stroke." Your surname is Zhou, my surname is Zhou, and we were still a family five hundred years ago. ”

Liu Xiang took the opportunity to say: "Then you guys are just sisters and brothers." ”

"I think I'm afraid that Mr. Zhou is a cultural person and looks down on me from the countryside." Zhou Yushu hurriedly spoke.

As soon as the husband and wife sang and harmonized, they blocked the words, and Zhou Hexuan had no choice but to laugh and say: "Eldest sister, don't you have to say anything, why is the countryside not rural." ”

Zhou Yushu was surprised: "The younger brother (junior brother) speaks Sichuan very well. ”

The three chatted for a long time, and Zhou Yushu took the initiative to leave and went to talk to Zhang Leyi.

When there were only two people left in the reception room, Liu Xiang got to the point: "Brother, they all say that you are an expert on political issues, you can analyze the situation between the Kuomintang and the Communist Party." ”

Liu Xiang was extremely concerned about the Xi'an Incident, and in January alone, he sent three telegrams to the people, hoping to peacefully resolve the follow-up issues of the Xi'an Incident, and at the end of the month, he sent a telegram asking Chang Kaishen to return to Nanjing to preside over the overall situation.

Zhou Hexuan said: "The cooperation between the KMT and the CPC is the trend of the times, and it has not changed in a short period of time. ”

Liu Xiang said with a smile: "Since the cooperation between the Kuomintang and the Communist Party cannot be changed, the Sichuan Army, the Northwest Army, and the Northeast Army have all become a thorn in Jiang's side, and he always has to find someone to start." ”

"So to speak." Zhou Hexuan nodded.

Liu Xiang asked again: "How do you think I should deal with it?" ”

Zhou Hexuan said bluntly: "Sichuan's problems are not outside, but inside, the economy and people's livelihood cannot be improved, and the army should not want to develop, and it is a matter of time before it is attached to the central government." ”

When these words came to Liu Xiang's heart, he nodded and said: "Half a month ago, He Yingqin came to Chengdu once to discuss with me the reorganization of the Sichuan Army. Brother Zhou, do you think the Sichuan Army should be reorganized? ”

Zhou Hexuan said: "The Sichuan army spends more than 40 million yuan on military expenditure every year, accounting for one-ninth of the country's total military expenditure, and the common people have long been miserable. Regardless of whether the central government calls for reorganization or not, I feel that the Sichuan army should be disarmed and streamlined in its administration. Sichuan has long been reunified, who will raise so many troops to fight? Moreover, the modern army is not like ancient times, and it is not useful if there are many people. ”

"That's right." Liu Xiang nodded and said.

Zhou Hexuan said with a smile: "I know that Fu Gong has a hard time, and the issue of disarmament is too involved. But now is a good opportunity, it is better to agree to the central government's request for army reorganization, in exchange for the central government's disaster relief in Sichuan. During the reorganization of the army, those disobedient military leaders were pressed down, and no one dared to oppose it by virtue of the righteousness of the central government. In this way, it not only makes good friends with the central government, but also stabilizes the internal Sichuan army, so why not? ”

"That's a good idea, I'll think about it again." Liu Xiang smiled a little treacherously.

Promising the central government to reorganize the army means that the Sichuan army will be nationalized, and the personnel, command, and management powers will be returned to the central government. But everything can be operated, and the sooner the Sichuan army agrees to the army reorganization plan, the more Chang Kaishen will give benefits, because he can set an example for the Northwest Army and the Northeast Army.

By that time, not only would the central government strengthen its control over the Sichuan army, but Liu Xiang would also strengthen its control over the Sichuan army. For example, Fan Haer, Liu Xiang has always looked at this person as unpleasant, and when the army was reorganized, he rose and fell secretly, and directly turned Fan Haer into a light commander. Fan Ha'er shouted that he did not dare to resist, because Liu Xiang had the righteousness of the central government in his hands, and opposing the whole army was opposing the central government.

The most important point is that Liu Xiang can't hold on. The annual military expenditure of more than 40 million yuan of the Sichuan army is too huge, and if it encounters a major drought that is difficult to see in a century, if the army is not dismantled as soon as possible, it will certainly not be able to pay military salaries in the second half of the year.

It seems that God is blessing China, and although the great drought in Sichuan has brought endless suffering, it has accelerated the nationalization of the Sichuan army. In conjunction with the Xi'an Incident, the Northwest Army, the Northeast Army and the Red Army all quickly completed the central army's reorganization plan in the early stage of the Anti-Japanese War.

This was very beneficial to the War of Resistance, at least nominally and in terms of establishment, Chang Kaishen unified the Chinese army, otherwise it would be more of a headache to fight with all kinds of names.