Whether Cai Yuanpei should be killed or not, and whether he must be killed, has aroused great controversy in the liberated areas of the People's Party. The newspapers were full of these discussions, some supported Cai Yuanpei, some scolded the Western Zhejiang Massacre, but no one paid attention to the major events that really related to the fate of the country.

In terms of industry, the total steel output of the People's Party exceeded 5 million tons for the first time, and the steel output exceeded 1.2 million tons. The People's Party proposed that by 1920, six new railways should be built, including the Beijing-Hankou Railway, the Beijing-Harbin Railway, and the Luohai Railway.

The four 10,000-ton ships ordered by the United States on Jiangnan Shipbuilding have also begun to enter the preliminary construction work, and the United States has ordered 12 1,000-ton offshore transport ships from the Wuhan Shipbuilding Group for coconut collection and transportation work. The Wuhan Shipbuilding Group immediately began to invest a lot of money in the construction of a new dock.

In terms of education, the number of students enrolled in junior high schools exceeded 8 million for the first time, and the People's Party issued a nationwide circular emphasizing that normal schools are free of charge and that if a targeted agreement is signed with a normal school, all tuition fees can be waived from junior high school. The state will also give a certain subsidy.

Another thing is that the government has vigorously publicized the "mandatory clause" in the "Compulsory Education Law", which stipulates that anyone who has a household registration in the liberated areas of the People's Party has the obligation to receive education.

In agriculture, 20 million mu of new irrigated land has been added to the People's Party's liberated areas, and grain output has continued to increase.

The old upper strata had no interest in the development of the BJP's industry and agriculture, let alone in "singing the praises" of the BJP, and the people could not understand what these macroeconomic data really meant. On the contrary, Britain and France were very interested in the data released by the People's Party. Both countries are also concerned about the People's Party's trial of Zhexi, and in the eyes of Britain and France, Cai Yuanpei is already a dead dog, and there is no need to save it. The only thing that the two countries feel sorry for is that they didn't notice Cai Yuanpei earlier. Compared with Beiyang, Cai Yuanpei showed greater determination and action. If Cai Yuanpei had been thoroughly supported earlier, I was afraid that the two countries would have more cards to play when negotiating with the People's Party.

It's just that Cai Yuanpei is finished at the moment, and Britain and France have no other choice than to cooperate with the People's Party during the war in Europe.

France is not too short of industrial goods, what they lack is labor. The first batch of 50,000 Chinese workers of the People's Party has boarded the ship for France, and the French minister to China has received great praise from the country. The British demand was a bit more complicated, with the British side demanding that the BJP expand exports to Japan "at preferential prices".

The Anglo-Japanese alliance was the cornerstone of British strategy in the Far East, and the British knew it very well. The British, who are good at balancing their strategy, will never do the foolish thing of giving up the initiative. Britain is an industrial power, and the British minister, of course, will not believe the data released by the People's Party. In the experience of the British, the rapid development of industry has come at the cost of the fact that the BJP-controlled areas have long been in full bloom.

Although it was believed that the People's Party was bragging, it was believed that the People's Party was trying to demonstrate its industrial power and raise the price it asked for the Entente. Britain is also a little worried. The British side believes that the data released by the People's Party and its future plans are only more than doubled, and that the actual production capacity is half of the published data, which means that the industrial output of the People's Party is close to one-sixth of that of Russia. The Chinese population is four times that of Russia, and the level of agriculture is much higher than that of Russia. In other words, the People's Party is likely to be able to maintain more than two million troops for several years after the war in Europe, and Britain does not want such a great power to rise in the Far East at all.

If we want to balance China, we must suppress the expansion of China's naval power, and the most readily available way is to support Japan. Japan, which suffered heavy losses because of the war in northeastern China, was in contact with Britain under the guidance of Takahashi Shikiyo. Britain certainly felt good as a creditor of Japan, but it was a better choice for Britain in the European war to desperately squeeze out Japan's labor force and get Japan to pay it back.

The biggest problem facing Japan is the shortage of raw materials, especially primary industrial products and heavy chemical products. Not to mention the fact that these products have been imported from Europe to Japan, the cost and loss of transportation are enough to double the price of the products. Europe is still importing a large number of heavy chemical products from China, and there is no surplus for Japan. Britain must get China to expand the production of industrial goods, at least to ensure the supply of goods to Japan.

Wang Bin, the vice minister of commerce who negotiated with the UK, almost vetoed the UK's demand, "Our current output cannot even guarantee domestic demand, and we cannot guarantee the total amount of exports to Japan, let alone any preferential prices." ”

"Isn't your country's steel production already more than five million tons?" The British Duke said in a slightly mocking tone.

"The population of our liberated areas is more than 300 million, and there are only about 3 million tons of steel used for civilian use. Do you know what per capita is? A talent has 20 catties of iron per capita, which is the amount of steel for a complete set of not very good farm tools. If you make a railroad track, it's just a little bit longer. Wang Bin said as he drew the length of the idea, which is less than a foot long, "Your country's steel output is ten times that of ours, and the population is much smaller than ours, and the per capita is dozens of times that of us." Your country's industry has gone through hundreds of years of history, and the total of these hundreds of years is much more than ours. So we really can't meet your country's requirements, because your country really looks at things from a different perspective than we do. Your country really has it, but we really don't. ”

The BJP's frank acknowledgment of the gap between the two countries made the British minister feel very happy. However, Wang Bin's unexaggerated attitude made the British side feel unhappy. There is no longer any doubt that the People's Party is going to take advantage of the war in Europe to engage in industry, and the People's Party's frank admission of the gap with Britain only shows that the People's Party has really carefully studied the gap between the two countries and is trying to narrow the gap between the two countries. Such determination is commendable, but such ambition is daunting.

At this point in the war in Europe, Britain no longer thought that it would be able to carry out a new round of conquest of the world after the war was over. As early as the end of the Boer War, Britain began to shrink globally, and that round of contraction was mainly due to fiscal problems. As the war in Europe progressed so far, Britain has not only encountered a financial crisis, but also a crisis caused by population loss.

Although there is no anti-war trend in Britain, some people are already "reflecting" whether it is a wrong choice for Britain to make great efforts to defend the "murderer". If it was the British Crown Prince who had been assassinated in Serbia, would Britain have made a different choice than Austria?

Since there was little chance of a large-scale war with the People's Party after the war, Britain had to maintain Japan's power. The British minister also did not bargain with Wang Bin on these matters, he said: "The matter of price can continue to be discussed, and I would like to discuss with your country about your country's subscription of China's bonds." ”

It is a three-year bond totalling £200 million, with no discounts and no handling fees. The price was based on the price of goods exported by the People's Party to Britain in January 1917, and the British could not pay any currency to the People's Party until the money was spent, and the two sides settled for this.

Of course, the British also know that the BJP is not a good talk, and he said with a smile: "My government has also agreed to your request to rent land in Malaysia to grow palms. We can make an agreement in the near future. ”

"Customs money must be paid in cash." Wang Bin did not object to the other provisions, but only made such a request.

The British minister's eyebrows furrowed slightly. It's the gold standard, and the price of silver has been falling. Even if China is still on the silver standard, such a demand cannot but make the British minister feel a taste of revenge. It's just that this demand can't be said to be unreasonable, the Tariff of the People's Party is only 5%, and the British minister agreed with a frown.

As soon as the agreement was reached, the British gave the BJP a long order for everything from ore, raw silk, silk, chemicals, and even food. The most nonsense thing is that it also includes opium.

Seeing opium, Wang Bin's eyebrows stood up at that time. The Opium Wars created painful memories for China, and even the Manchus knew about the ban on opium, let alone the People's Party.

The British side said as if they didn't see Wang Bin's face change: "We have read the full text of the "Narcotics Control Regulations" promulgated by your country, and this time it is official trade. We hope that your country will be able to export opium, opium tincture, morphine. ”

Listening to the words of the British minister, Wang Bin's face twitched. Throughout China, not only the People's Party, but also people of insight have a deep hatred of the opium plague. After the Tobacco War, from the end of the 1860s, domestic opium first formed a competitive advantage over imported opium in Yunnan, Guichuan and other places, and developed into a nationwide cultivation in the 1870s, and in the 1880s, it completely overwhelmed imported opium, and domestic opium won a comprehensive victory in the fierce competition in the opium market. This may be the only commercial war in which China has won in countless commercial wars in the 19th century. But such a victory is a tragedy, with too much bitterness and helplessness, because the bigger the market, the more suffering it will bring to the Chinese people, and the deeper the crisis in China.

Chen Ke and the People's Party are staunch opponents of the drug trade and have shown no mercy in the fight against drugs and the execution of drug dealers. However, the BJP adheres to a scientific attitude and does not take measures to overturn all narcotics. Therefore, in the base areas, in addition to special laws such as the "Anti-Narcotics Law", there are also some drug-related contents in the criminal law. At the same time, the BJP's judicial system also has a practical application of the Narcotics Control Regulations.

The medicinal value of opium itself is not low, and the range of applications is even quite wide, the key is not to use opium as a drug. The level of the People's Party's farming is not ordinarily high, but quite high. The problem is that when it comes to opium cultivation, the BJP has tried several unsuccessful attempts to grow opium, as if it had been condemned by God. Inexperience is one thing, but no one is willing to bother to do this work well.

But the war and the ever-expanding public health system have created a demand for opium, if not a small one. As a simple example, in this era when clean drinking water is not widely available, acute diarrhoea is a very common problem for the time being, and the mortality rate is not low. At a time when there is no major breakthrough in pharmacology and medical science, oral micro-opium cream has excellent therapeutic effect and no addictive side effects. For this alone, there is a huge demand every year.

Imports were too expensive, and the People's Party completely banned opium in the grain-producing areas, until the People's Party liberated Yunnan and Guizhou, and there were many kinds of opium in Yunnan and Guizhou. Due to the complex situation in Yunnan and Guizhou, it is impossible for a simple land reform to completely change the local situation. In the end, while killing private opium dealers, the People's Party banned smoking in Yunnan and Guizhou, and signed an opium contract agreement with farmers in Yunnan and Guizhou.

Such an incompetent way of handling the case has made many comrades in the People's Party feel extremely ashamed, but they did not expect that the British opium dealers would actually buy opium from China with a shy face. even stabbed Wang Bin's shame greatly.

After calming down his emotions, Wang Bin asked, "As the world's largest opium producer and seller, how can your country lack opium?" ”

"The war needs too much!" The British minister replied. From his tone, Wang Bin found the helplessness of the British minister. You descendants of opium dealers are here today! Now Wang Bin was very happy. After looking at the content of opium again, Wang Bin said: "If it is a doping drug during the war, we also have research. Of course, you know that our Narcotics Control Regulations are extremely strict, and if you are interested in them and willing to try them, we can make a secret agreement. ”

The British minister's eyes lit up. In Europe, there is a "rumor" about the great changes that have changed the world in the Chinese. The content is that the chemist Chen Ke has developed a drug for war that can make timid and cowardly Chinese soldiers become fearless to death.

In Europe and the United States today, with 606 and 914 gradually curbing the spread of willow disease, it is difficult to determine whether Chen Ke's greatest fame is the leader of the People's Party or a medicinal chemist. Until now, the idea of drugs that would change the will of soldiers to fight was only a "rumor", although most of the Europeans who heard it believed it. But without evidence, foreign governments cannot speak publicly about the BJP. Not to mention that the war itself is already a living hell, and the use of drugs in hell to relieve the terrible pressure on military personnel is also a tradition of European armies.

Using a very technical term, the British public asks: "What about addiction?" ”

"It's much smaller than heroin, and even morphine is a little lighter." Wang Bin's answer made the British minister believe the "rumors" even more. After he agreed with Wang Bin to send some "samples" to the British minister for "trial" as soon as possible, the focus of the discussion again turned back to the discussion of the huge list.

The drug provided by Wang Bin is methamphetamine, which can improve people's mood when used in small doses, and has the ability to increase the feeling of arousal, showing that they are energetic, sober, alert, talkative, interested, active thinking, high mood, concentration, and work ability to improve, and work or study for a long time without fatigue and hunger. So even in the 70s, meth was a legal stimulant in many industries. In World War II, it was used by European and American countries, and Japan even abused it in the air force.

After the British minister got the "sample" provided by Wang Bin, he immediately asked someone to try it out. Unlike the opium series of drugs, the trial felt relaxed and showed great improvement in all aspects of the person's ability.

After only three or four days of observation, the British minister relayed this "great discovery" back to Britain.

Since the British were not too cautious when testing the drug, the French also found out about it. After asking Wang Bin for a "sample" and also conducting experiments on living people, the French minister's telegram to this immediately flew back to France.