Garrisons and tariffs aside, Zhu Erdian was really interested in the matter of Li Jin, and —————— China was originally within the scope of the British's power, especially the Yangtze River Valley, where China was the most economically developed, and in order to be able to safeguard British interests in China, it was necessary to have a ruler who was both strong and very friendly to Britain.

As mentioned earlier, Yuan Shikai was the ideal candidate for the British, for he was in awe of the power of the British Empire, as many former Qing bureaucrats were.

It's a pity that now that this benevolent brother has stepped down, he is replaced by a younger ruler, a more powerful ruler.

If that were all there was, it would have seemed a good thing for the English, but the problem was that the young ruler was not only very powerful, but also very close to the French, which was very troublesome...

You must know that China is the scope of British power, what does it mean that Yan Shao and the French are so close now? However, the British could not turn against the French on this issue, because they still needed the French to deal with the Germans, and China's problems were nothing compared to the Germans.

If Yan Shao has nothing to do with the French, maybe the British can put pressure on Yan Shao from various angles, but he has a good relationship with the French, and if you want to put pressure on Yan Shao, you have to consider the attitude of the French.

And support other warlords in China to overthrow Yan Shao? Yan Shao is now the strongest in China, especially after Yuan Shikai was defeated. Even if all the other warlords are combined, they may not be Yan Shao's opponents, and they really can't find anyone to support.

Moreover, helping Yuan Shikai to deal with Yan Shao had already consumed a lot of British resources, and the British were even more reluctant to continue to spend resources in China, a place that was not very good for Britain for the time being, as the situation in Europe became more and more severe...

All this has forced Britain to consider the possibility of damage to British interests in China. And considering the relationship between the French and Yan Shao...

Even if the British wanted to do something, they would wait until the war against the Germans was over...

According to Zhu Erdian's own idea, it is to wait until the Germans are collecting this account and calculating it with the French with interest—————— anyway Britain's established national policy is to make the European continent never complete the integration, and it is the same now and the future, otherwise Britain would not have gotten the nickname of a European-stirring stick.

So as soon as the Germans are cleaned up, the next step will definitely be to clean up the French ...

Who would have thought that he would take the initiative to find Zhu Erdian now. Want to show kindness...

Of course, this goodwill is mutual...

(Then again, if it weren't for the events that happened in the middle of World War I.) The original Tsarist Russia suddenly became Soviet Russia, which gave both the British and the French new goals, and I am afraid that the British may really be able to attack at the least, even if they do not use force, they will take other measures. After all, the emergence of a strong and unified power in Europe was never something the British were happy to see. This can be seen from the role of the British in the European Union... ）

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After leaving Yan Shao's manor, Zhu Erdian returned to the legation, still thinking about this matter in his heart.

At least in his opinion, Yan Shao's request did not touch the core interests of the great powers, such as the concession area, etc., and he was willing to pay the price of cents, and the whole thing was not impossible...

And in the following days, Yan Shao kept meeting with members of Beiyang and other factions. He also met with the envoys of Germany, Russia, the United States, France, Japan, Italy, the Netherlands, and other countries to discuss the stationing of troops and tariffs.

Unsurprisingly. The Japanese held a clear opposition to this matter, and believed that the abolition of the pennies was the right thing for the new government to do, and there was no reason to demand 'goodwill' from the Great Powers...

However, compared with the Japanese, the attitude of the other powers is more ambiguous.

The French don't have much interest in China in the first place, plus the relationship is relatively good, and there is thunder? Coppa and Bertrand were in the middle, so the French quickly promised to support Yan Shao in this matter as long as the other powers, especially the British—————— were willing to reduce their presence in China to a symbolic figure, even if they did not succeed in the end.

In addition to the French, the Americans were also willing to support Yan Shao in this regard.

At this time, it was Woodrow who served as the president of the United States? Wilson, who later became the most famous proposer of Wilson's Fourteen. It is almost impossible for Yan Shao to forget this person, so when he was running for president in the United States, the branch of Yushi Group in the United States gave him great support.

It is also because of this origin that the two sides have a certain friendship.

In fact, because the Yushi Group did not bet on the wrong treasure every time he campaigned, the Yushi Group was still very mixed up in the White House, compared to the opponents of the Yushi Group, it was not so lucky—————— and it was not surprising that although Yan Shao did not remember the name of each president, he still had some impressions in general, such as Theodore in front? Roosevelt, this one is definitely impressive, Taft in the back also has some impressions, and this Wilson is equally impressive...

By the way, the latter two are not very impressive, such as Warren? Gammariel? Harding and Calvin? Coolidge, after all, Yan Shao is not interested in remembering the names of all the presidents of the United States, so these two are basically not impressed, but then Hoover and Roosevelt and Eisenhower, these belong to the kind that will not be forgotten...

Politics is very dangerous, it is possible that the one in front of you supports the right one, and the one behind you supports the wrong one...

As for Yan Shao, he didn't miss every term, which is naturally incredible in the eyes of others, and it is precisely because of this that every time Yan Shao's competitors want to be unfavorable to the Yushi Group, they will eventually fail, even if their reasons are very good, because they have more or less bet on people...

Of course, it's not just because of the White House's support. The Yushi Group also has many supporters in the United States, such as the factories that supply parts to the Yushi Group, but Yan Shao's Yushi Group feeds many American workers. This is different from industries such as oil, so whoever wants to move the Rainstone Group will consider it...

In addition, Wilson himself is also a supporter of free trade, and the abolition of centigold is also a very good thing for the United States, so Americans naturally have no reason to refuse...

With the support of the French and the Americans, the British were immediately shaken, after all, the former was a hardcore ally against Germany, and the latter was the object of great gratitude. Moreover, Yan Shao is not just talking nonsense, directly asking them to withdraw the garrison and let China become independent in tariffs, but gradually. It also made the British much less resistant...

What's more, from the perspective of London, if you can properly show goodwill to Yan Shao, maybe you can win him over from the French, at least not to the detriment of the interests of the British for the sake of the French...

Britain, France, and the United States. France and the United States are supportive. Naturally, Britain's attitude has softened considerably. As for the Germans, the attitude of the Germans was very ambiguous, but when Yan Shao talked with the German minister for an afternoon, and at the same time talked about the new government's military expansion and the need to buy enough ordnance, the attitude of the Germans was also clear...

It is not surprising that, in fact, at that time, the goods exported by Germany to China were basically arms, although it cannot be said that there were no ordinary goods. But there are actually very few of them.

This can be seen from the share of trade with China at that time, and Britain could be said to have the largest share of trade at that time. For example, between 1909 and 1911, Hong Kong accounted for 33.9% of the total, and Britain itself accounted for 16.5%, considering that Hong Kong was a British colony at the time, the two combined reached a staggering 50.4%, more than all other countries combined.

It is followed by Japan with 15.5%, the United States with 7.1%, Germany and Russia with 4.2%, Russia with 3.5%, France with 0.6, and all other countries with 18.7%

It is not surprising that France has a supportive attitude, after all, he has no interests at all, and his relationship with Yan Shao is good, so why not support it? And most of what the Germans export is munitions, which do not need to be taxed, naturally there is no problem, the share of the Russians is smaller than that of the Germans, and the attitude is naturally more casual ...

So the most important thing is actually the attitude of Britain, Japan and the United States, and when Britain and the United States support it, and the rest of Germany and France and other countries either support it or don't care, the attitude of the Japanese seems to be a little indifferent...

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The more people involved in some things, the more difficult it was to keep them secret, so it didn't take long for news that Yan Shao was discussing with the great powers about garrison rights and tariffs, and other issues spread throughout China.

Naturally, many people paid attention to these two things, and in just a few days, people from all over the country began to talk about it. Naturally, ordinary people were not very concerned about the garrison and the recovery of customs duties, but many gentry and officials were extremely concerned about this matter...

I didn't have much doubt that the news was leaked out of the powers, after all, there were many people involved, and it was strange not to leak it, but under the pressure of public opinion from the outside world, the negotiations on the garrison and tariffs had to start early...

According to the consultation between Yan Shao and Zhu Erdian and others, the entire negotiation will be carried out after Yan Shao officially takes over Yuan Shikai's position, and Yan Shao naturally has no objection to this, after all, there are indeed some problems in the negotiation before the new government is established.

But for Zhu Erdian's proposal to merge the two things together, Yan Shao expressed his opposition, thinking that the two things should be separated...

Yan Shao is not stupid, I know how difficult these two things are, and the problem of garrisons is over, reducing the garrisons of the great powers to a symbolic number, except for the Japanese, I am afraid that few countries will care, but tariffs...

Even if it's the French kind, other countries are still very concerned, and it's almost impossible to talk about the result without some time, so it's best to talk about it separately...

In order to make the negotiation smooth, Yan Shao also promised that as long as he took over, he would announce the cancellation of the centigold, and use half a year to completely reduce the issue of centijin. Kopa and the others expressed their satisfaction, and even the Japanese minister, who had always been against it, couldn't say anything...

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Although a decision had already been made to formally negotiate with the powers only after Yan Shao took over. But at Yan Shao's behest, Liang Shiyi and a number of other future officials of the new government have begun to discuss tariffs...

The result they negotiated was similar to the historical one, which was a 5 percent surcharge on top of the existing tariffs, with a maximum tax rate of 30 percent for luxury goods. At the same time, it is revised every three years, blah blah blah bla

Just like what Yan Shao proposed to the great powers, step by step...

However, at this time, Yan Shao was talking about the whole army, so he made a shake of his hand and handed over all the things to Liang Shiyi and them, and pulled Fu Xiuming, Li Liang and Feng Guozhang, who had just arrived in Beijing, to talk about the whole army in Beijing...

The so-called reorganization of the army means that the existing Kuomintang Army and the Beiyang Army are all reorganized in accordance with the new military system, and at the same time, the troops in the hands of the warlords in various localities are also summarized. Sort out the situation where there are now armies everywhere in the country ...

It can be said that the outcome of this negotiation will determine the size of the Chinese army for some time to come...

And rightfully so. This size has to be reasonable, especially when it comes to financial considerations...

“……… The existing financial problems must be taken into account, so the size of the army must be limited, and the current judgment is 33 divisions. This is already the limit of the existing finances of the new government..."

Sit on Yan Shao's left hand side. Li Liang said with a sad face.

Since he came to Beijing, he has been with Liang Shiyi, in order to have a good understanding of Beiyang's financial situation—————— by the way, according to the original results of the discussion, Liang Shiyi will be the vice minister of finance of the new government, specially assisting Li Liang's work.

After getting to know Liang Shiyi a little, Li Liang's heart was cold...

Because at this time, Beiyang's finances could no longer be described as bad, because the money in various places at that time was in the hands of the warlords, it was impossible to hand them over to Beijing. In addition, there was no second revolution at this time, and Yuan Shikai's direct influence was only in Henan, Hebei, Shandong and other places. The monthly financial income is only two or three million yuan...

Two or three million? This amount of money is not even enough for military spending...

And Liang Shiyi also said to Li Liang that if it weren't for the loans of the great powers, Beiyang would basically not be able to hold on...

(The information I found was from 1914 to 1915, after the end of the Second Revolution, Beiyang's financial revenue was only more than 7 million per month, I don't know if Lu Dao is accurate...) ）

In fact, it was not only Li Liang, Fu Xiuming and others were also a little shocked after hearing such a little money, after all, even the annual financial income of the Anhui Military Government was more than twenty or thirty million, of course, the Yushi Group contributed a lot, but listening to Fu Xiuming's conversation, Feng Guozhang and other Beiyang generals felt that their old faces were slightly red...

Ahem, that's all for gossip, let's get down to business first...

"Thirty-three divisions, this is already the current financial limit, and it is necessary to wait for the good news from Division Commander Xiao, as long as there are fiscal and tax revenues from Fujian, Hunan and Guangdong provinces, the new government can also alleviate some of the finances..."

"Xiao Yongyan will definitely not have a problem over there, but can there be anything solved by three more provinces? Do you want to..."Fu Xiuming turned his head sideways to look at Yan Shao, who was listening carefully over there. "Why don't you just take Zhejiang and Jiangsu, anyway, as long as you take Fujian, these two places will be surrounded by us..."

If you settle the account, Fu Xiuming will also calculate it, 33 divisions, according to the latest military system, each division has 18,510 people, and each soldier is 10 yuan, and it will need more than 2.2 million yuan a year, and if you count the military salary of officers, it will be 25.6 million yuan.

If we count it at 2505, 10 divisions is 25 million, and 33 divisions is how much?

Eight two million five million...

As Li Liang said, this is already the limit, even if the three provinces of Fujian, Hunan and Guangdong are taken, counting the financial revenues of Anhui and Jiangxi, the balance of a year is only about 10 million or 20 million, barely enough for administrative use...

As for the Navy? There are not many people in the navy now, and although Li Liang and the others are not ignorant of the difficulties of the navy, they can only temporarily grieve them, after all, just a larger warship is equivalent to a division's military expenses for a year.

As for the purchase of ordnance? Forget it...

If they are really all purchased according to the standards of the National Social Army, the rifle alone will cost 1.8 million, and this is only calculated according to one shot per person, you always give some spare, right? Triple that, that's 3.6 million...

And that's not even counting light machine guns, heavy machine guns, grenades, artillery, pistols, and other weapons, and the price of ammunition is not cheap...

As long as he thought of this series of expenses, Fu Xiuming suddenly felt that he understood Li Liang a little...

"100 divisions is hopeless, I originally thought that at least 60 divisions could be formed..." Looking at Li Liang's crying face, Fu Xiuming also had a feeling of wanting to cry without tears.

Before coming to Beijing, he had already begun to consider the issue of expanding the army, and he had never thought about 100 divisions, because if he really formed 100 divisions, he would need 250 million yuan a year just to pay the soldiers, and you must know that the financial revenue of the former Qing Dynasty was only more than 400 million yuan a year...

But 100 divisions are hopeless, 60 is always fine, right?

If there are 60 divisions, it will only be 150 million, which is equivalent to half of the financial revenue of the former Qing Dynasty—————— the sky is above, and at this time, as the Minister of Defense, he has not considered the navy at all...

But...

Considering that the new military structure of the Kuomintang Socialist Army is larger than the original, even if it has 33 divisions with 610,000 people, it is only enough for national defense.

Moreover, these 33 divisions are not only in the hands of the new government, but also in the hands of warlords in various places, so financially, they can still have some money left over for economic construction... (To be continued......)