A visit to Liaoning, China's most modern industrial province, yielded very limited results, and the results of the U.S. delegation's mental repertoire were bizarre, but the subconscious of the U.S. was all about American superiority. As a result, the visit to Shanxi was cancelled, and Ma Junwu, a waiter of the Ministry of Works, who accompanied the delegation, reported the results of the visit to Song Jiaoren on the afternoon of the day the Americans returned to Beijing.

"Prime Minister, our industry is at least twenty-five years behind the United States!" In the Wenhua Hall of the Forbidden City, Ma Junwu, who was dressed in a second-grade official robe, reported bitterly to Premier Song Jiaoren, who stopped the meeting, but his grief was not because he was 25 years behind, "The saddest thing is that those factory directors are always satisfied with their old achievements, thinking that they can eat for a lifetime with a diesel engine, and they have no willingness to learn from the Americans, and they are even unwilling to allow Americans to visit the workshop and point out problems!" ”

Ma Junwu is a waiter in the Ministry of Industry, and Shangshu in the Ministry of Industry is Zhang Jian, who has recovered from a serious illness the year before, but although he has recovered from a serious illness, Zhang Jian's health is still too poor, and the actual affairs of the ministry are presided over by the left and right waiters, and Song Jiaoren also trusts Ma Junwu, even if there was a 'stick of hatred' in his Tokyo apartment in his early years.

The situation is so bad, but after all, they have gotten along, Ma Junwu's impatient nature Song Jiaoren still knows, he waited for Ma Junwu to finish speaking, and then asked kindly: "Is this the statement of the American delegation, or the statement of the general office of the Liaodong factory?" ”

"Of course, this is what the Americans say, those people in Liaodong are above the top, and they don't take Mr. Ford, Mr. Heskell and others in their eyes at all, and they are even disrespectful to the prime minister, thinking that Liaodong can be lawless if it is not directly under the government." Ma Junwu scolded the bearded factory general office in the northeast, and his face was full of righteous indignation, "Prime Minister." In this economic crisis, I think the best way is to go to the United States to buy factories and introduce advanced American technology......"

"No!" Hearing that Ma Junwu wanted to buy a factory in the United States, Chen Jintao, the secretary of the household department who was here to meet with Song Jiaoren, hurriedly vetoed it, "The abolition of agricultural taxes, industrial and commercial taxes, and personal income taxes have all been greatly reduced, and military spending and education expenses have also had to be reduced. The purpose is to let the people recuperate. Now that the country's finances are already tight, how can there be money to buy factories in the United States? ”

"Not necessarily." As soon as Chen Jintao's voice fell, Ma Yinchu, the head of the household department, opened his mouth to pick thorns -- just like the Nanjing Provisional Cabinet in history, the Song Cabinet was also named after the Shangshu and the waiter was taken from the truth, but this made the first and second leaders contradict each other. The Ministry of Industry is better, after all, Zhang Jian's health is not good, but the Ministry of Household has become twisted, and the contradictions between Shangshu and Shilang continue one after another. Seeing that Ma Yinchu spoke out against him again, Chen Jintao, who was almost sixty years old, could only smile bitterly. He just wanted to hear what Ma Yinchu would say.

"The magnitude of this economic crisis is unprecedented. Foreign trade exports and prices are both cut in half, and it is only the first wave of shocks, and if time goes on, when the chain reaction caused by the first wave of shocks and the second wave of shocks overlap, it will be too late to do anything. At present, all countries in the world are trying to find a way to resolve this crisis, and judging from the actual situation of each country, the only solution is to control the economy. Specifically. It is necessary for the government to control the economy and at the same time carry out some large-scale projects. In order to eliminate the unemployed, stimulate economic growth.

Although the Eurasian Canal is also a major project, the canal is built on Russian territory, employing Russian workers instead of our workers, and the benefits brought by it are nothing more than stimulating the construction of cement and steel in the Northwest Governorate, and then stimulating the production of construction machinery and trucks in the Northeast. It does not contribute much to the national economy. Therefore, it is very necessary to build some major projects in the Kannai and at the same time purchase factories in the United States to narrow the gap between us and the American industry. Otherwise, what is today in Germany may well be our tomorrow. ”

As a result of the economic crisis, German President Hindenburg has dissolved the government and parliament. preparation for re-election; Once this is the case in China, there will definitely be a big question mark over whether the current cabinet will exist after the election of the Inspectorate. Thinking of this, everyone present looked solemn, if it were not for the fact that the Revival Association had warned against the economic crisis before coming to power, I was afraid that everyone would think that this was a pit and wait for the Kuomintang to jump. Even if the revival will be so frank, there are still people in the party who think that this is a conspiracy of Yang Rui and others.

"What kind of work is there in the pass?" Song Jiaoren asked, "Can't you dig the Yellow River and the Yangtze River?" ”

Hearing that Song Jiaoren was distressed that there was no project, Ma Junwu, who was on the side, immediately said: "The canal is a big project, and the large automobile factory is also a big project, Jiangsu and Zhejiang are the most active places in China's economy, and there is a Ma'anshan steel mill there, and it is extremely necessary to introduce Ford's advanced technology and build a large factory with an annual output of 300,000 cars near Nanjing......

"But where does the money come from?" Chen Jintao said in a sullen voice, subconsciously he also thought that the American factories were advanced, especially the world's leading Ford Motor Company, but the financial revenue was there, and he thought that this year should be black, and he didn't want to be in deficit at the beginning of this year.

"If the tax increase does not work, then issue stocks or bonds, the Northwest Eurasian Canal, the Northeast Three Rivers and the Sea, aren't they all ready to solve the problem of funds in this way?" Ma Yinchu smiled confidently. "It is not enough to have an automobile factory, the canal outside the Guan, the Xianggui Canal, the Guangdong-Jiangxi Canal, and the Jianghuai Canal, which have been discussed for a long time in the Guan, can also be dug at this time, and at the same time, the railway construction can also keep up, and even these projects will be gathered together at that time to make a big plan of 4 billion yuan, which can increase the ......."

"Four billion?!" As soon as Ma Yin opened his mouth, it was four billion, which startled everyone present. Chen Jintao immediately interrupted, "Why don't you say four trillion?!" Where is the government looking for four billion now? Tax increases? The Eurasian Canal has already made a lot of noise, and it is said that the money inside the customs is used outside the customs and abroad, and who will pay this money if they have a family and a job? Now it's not the same as before, now all provinces and provinces have audit courts, it's not that we say that tax can be levied if we increase taxes, not to mention that the representatives of the audit courts will definitely not agree to this move! ”

Chen Jintao didn't care about opposing Ma Yinchu, he just cared about Song Jiaoren's opinion, looking at Song Jiaoren who looked more and more solemn, Ma Yinchu said again: "Prime Minister, four billion is just an imaginary number, it doesn't mean that it must be four billion, it may only be three billion or two billion." Exaggerating the numbers is just adding confidence to the market; In addition, it is not necessary to raise funds through tax increases, stocks, bonds, and additional currency issuance are all solutions......"

"Even if we increase the issuance of currency, those people in the National Bank may not listen to us." When Song Jiaoren heard that he was using the issuance of additional currency as a means of raising funds, he immediately rejected it -- the proposal for the reorganization of the State Bank was submitted by the Kuomintang, and he fully understood the consequences of the reorganization of the State Bank.

"Prime Minister, the economic crisis is fundamentally a hazard caused by Wall Street bankers. If the government fails to monitor the national bank, it will only lead to bad results. Although the National Bank has just been reorganized, it cannot relax its control over them, and at least the attention of public opinion is needed. Ma Yin Chu said, "At the time of this economic crisis, if the National Bank does not issue additional currency to stimulate the economy. Then they, including their subordinate provincial banks, will have to eat some of the bonds issued by the government to raise funds for the project to save the people and the city, and they will always have to choose one of these two results. ”

"What if neither of them choose?" Song Jiaoren suddenly felt that subscribing to bonds was indeed a good way to raise money, and the bankers would pay for it, so there was no need to tear up with the audit institutes at all levels, and the feasibility of the plan was extremely high.

"Then use the example of Wall Street in the United States to show the public how bankers can create and profit from the economic crisis." Ma Yinchu, who graduated from Columbia University's Department of Economics, is familiar with the Wall Street conspiracy in the United States, and he believes that when similar articles spread, the people in China will tremble. Perhaps some deputies will put forward a bill to nationalize the State Bank and re-place it under the Ministry of Household Affairs and become the government's purse.

Ma Yinchu thought so, Chen Jintao saw that Song Jiaoren was a little moved, and immediately said: "Don't do this!" This is simply a deliberate attempt to provoke grievances, and those who have no hatred will become enemies in the future, how will it end up then? ”

"Prime Minister, the National Bank is the only note-issuing bank. Of course, it must be controlled by the Ministry of Households, as well as the Shanghai Stock Exchange. It must also be supervised by the government in order to prevent a tragedy similar to that of the New York stock market, and the bankers must not be allowed to do whatever they want. Ma Yinchu said loudly, every time he talked about financial control, he was extremely excited.

"Whether it's the National Bank of China, the Shanghai Stock Exchange, who is behind it? Who doesn't know. The State Bank of China and the Shanghai Stock Exchange will definitely go to the end, and when the time comes, everything will be over as soon as the Inspectorate mentions the case of the cabinet collapse. "The discussion has become a matter between Chen Jintao and Ma Yinchu. Because Chen Jintao worked in the Daqing Bank and the Du branch in the former Qing Dynasty, he knew exactly what Ma Yin wanted to do at the beginning, and the dead Guangxu had already done something similar.

"Prime Minister. In any case, I will repeat: the major project of issuing additional currency seems to solve unemployment and boost the economy, but in fact it is very harmful. Just look at the copper dollars issued indiscriminately in the previous dynasty and the silver dollar coupons that were not wanted. Once we issue more currency, prices will definitely skyrocket, and once prices skyrocket, the people in major cities across the country will have to grab rice again. Chen Jintao persuaded bitterly as a person who came over.

"The snatching of rice is only caused by profiteers raising the price of rice, as long as the price of rice is not allowed to be raised, and at the same time, it is enough to mobilize grain to suppress it in a timely manner." Ma Yinchu said loudly: "Prime Minister, the government must control the economy, especially grain, a commodity related to the national economy and people's livelihood, and cannot be dominated by agricultural cooperatives and grain and oil trading companies. ”

"If we don't let the price of grain rise, farmers will not grow or grow less grain if they can't make money, and as a result, the food supply will still decrease, and in the end, the price will also rise. Can you, like in Soviet Russia, dictate how much grain the people must hand over? Chen Jintao retorted. If it were not for wartime, controlling the economy would be crooked. As soon as this kind of thing comes out, the Inspectorate will immediately veto it, they all have families and businesses, and the government interferes in everyone's business, and wants to print more paper money, you see how many of them will be willing. ”

Chen Jintao's last sentence hit Ma Yinchu's spine, the issuance of additional currency is to dilute wealth, and the government uses this diluted part to invest in the iron public foundation, although it can increase employment, but it will inevitably attract the collective opposition of the propertied people, because this is tantamount to stealing in disguise. If the previous sessions of the Inspectorate might have agreed to this approach, but now the Inspectorate is full of big landlords and big industrialists, who is willing to dilute their property to build a public foundation? Not to mention that these projects have nothing to do with their own fart after they are built, even if they do, who is willing to invest in such infrastructure projects with very low returns and long return cycles.

"They're not kind to the rich!!" Ma Yinchu was robbed by Chen Jintao, and he was so angry that he choked. "Look outside, the old man can still take an Audi and go to Bada Hutong to drink flower wine; The workers and the common people, especially the Sangnong in Jiangsu, Zhejiang, have already had a meal without a meal, and if they go down, they will go bankrupt and sell their children and daughters, so will we watch them starve to death? ”

"The matter of Sannon was said by the previous government. They themselves are not willing to cut down trees to grow grain and cotton, so what can they do? It's all fate! Chen Jintao sighed. The first wave of the economic crisis was the most affected by the mulberry farmers, especially last year, when the price of raw silk was high, and the government advertised that everyone should reduce production and cut down trees. But who knows......

"Don't spread the superstition of fatalism!" The argument between the two has become white-hot, and Ma Yinchu waved his hand and first criticized the thoughts. "In any case, the government cannot afford to die without help. The best way to feed the farmers is to build canals, dams, railways, roads, and factories in the form of work. The source of funds is just like what I said, and the banks either issue more money or eat bonds, and there is no other way. The northeast and northwest can build canals, why can't they be repaired in the Guannai? ”

"If Zhang Xingjian doesn't agree. If the wind on our side is released and we can't get around, this cabinet will collapse! Chen Jintao reminded loudly, "The Northwest Canal and the Northeast Water Conservancy are both private capital, and as long as the Ministry of Land and Water Resources approves them, they are responsible for raising funds and are responsible for their own profits and losses." What are we? It's hard apportionment! At that time, if the project is not built well, who will be responsible? People? National? Still is...... Who? Billions of projects, although it has been demonstrated for more than ten years, no one dares to pack a ticket......"

"You are ......", although Chen Jintao did not name Ma Yinchu and said that he would be responsible. But Ma Yinchu still heard it, and he was so angry that he was about to point at Chen Jintao to speak. Song Jiaoren stopped him.

"Alright, Wonzen." Song Jiaoren waved his hand and said, "What you and Mr. Meng Hao said makes sense, the four billion project is not child's play, it is indeed not said that it can be built, and things really have to be considered in the long run." But. I don't know what is going on with the Northwest Canal and the Northeast Water Conservancy Project ......? I've never heard of these two things before. ”

Originally, the situation was eased by Song Jiaoren's round, of course, it was not enough, he even led the topic to the Northwest Canal and the Northeast Water Conservancy, hoping that everyone would discuss this aspect. This is actually a question that Ma Junwu is concerned about. When he heard this, he said: "The Eurasian Canal is indeed quite abrupt, but the construction of this canal has been discussed in Russia for decades, and this time Yang Zengxin, the governor of the Northwest, is holding the information of the Russians to make a plan;

The sea of three rivers in the northeast was actually the previous plan of Tsarist Russia, when Tsarist Russia wanted to connect the Heilongjiang River through the Mudanjiang River, Suifen River, Xingkai Lake, Ussuri River and the Whale Sea (Sea of Japan); As for the Songliao Canal, it is said that the former Qing Dynasty Kangxi period had conceived the Songhua River and the Liao River to connect, this project is not difficult, the watershed of the Songliao River does not exceed 160 meters, the canal can use a ready-made river, the cost is not much...... "Ma Junwu said two rivers in a row, the third river is the sea, but he forgot for a while.

“…… In short, once the water conservancy project is completed, the entire northeast will be densely covered with canals, and 60 million yuan can be saved every year by transporting grain, not including more than 20 million tons of coal per year; In addition, the entire project can generate more than 900 million kilowatt-hours of electricity every year, even if it costs a penny, it is 9 million per year. ”

"Canals can also generate electricity?" Song Jiaoren couldn't help but be moved when he heard that the benefits were so huge. The Northeast is indeed the richest place in the country, and with Yang Rui and others sealed there, it may not take ten years to surpass Jiangsu and Zhejiang.

"Yes." Ma Junwu nodded, "The Sea of Three Rivers will build three water conservancy and water diversion hubs, among which the Nenjiang Nierji Water Conservancy Hub in Nehe County is the largest, with a total storage capacity of 8.3 billion cubic meters, a normal water storage capacity of 216 meters, an installed hydropower capacity of 250 megawatts, and an average power generation of more than 600 million kWh for many years; In addition, there will also be a Hadashan water conservancy hub near Songyuan on the Songhua River, where the installed capacity is 80 megawatts, and the average annual power generation is 280 million kWh; Finally, the Wendegen Water Conservancy Hub on a tributary of the Nenjiang River has the fewest installed capacity of only 34 megawatts. Combined, the annual power generation capacity is more than 900 million kWh.

After the completion of the project, shipping, flood control, power generation, and irrigation will all benefit, but it is mainly based on shipping. However, after the project is completed, the volume of the railway, and even the layout of the railway, will be greatly changed, so as to form a transportation system with the canal as the trunk, the railway as the branch, and the highway as the leaf. If you want to manage the rivers in this way, you need to think carefully and plan carefully, after all, there is a big difference between inside and outside the gate. ”

"It's going to embarrass us at all." Ma Yinchu also listened carefully to the Three Rivers Sea Project for the first time, and after Ma Junwu finished speaking, his first reaction was like this. "When they were in power, they did whatever they wanted, and they collected more taxes than anyone else; But what about us, we are restricted in everything we do, we have no money to ask for money, we know the economic crisis, but we ......"

"That's it!" If he continues to talk about it, he will provoke a dispute between the two parties, Song Jiaoren interrupted Ma Yinchu again, "Let's discuss it here today." How to do the specific thing, or come up with a plan first, and then discuss whether it is feasible. However, in view of the situation in the Inspector's Yuan, some of the more drastic ones should be put aside for the first time, otherwise they will not be able to be implemented, and the current cabinet will also be overthrown. ”

After Song Jiaoren issued the order to expel the guests, Chen Jintao, Ma Yinchu and others took their leave, leaving only him and the cabinet secretary general, his fellow countryman Yang Yuru, in the lobby of the Wenhua Palace. It was almost time to get off work, and the autumn sun was hanging on the sky on the west side of the Wuying Palace, shining on the earth, and the gradually golden sunlight shone in through the glass windows on the west side of the Wenhua Palace, leaving sparse shadows on the floor tiles. Lined with the red sun and colorful glow, some birds were flying in the sky, and Song Jiaoren by the window was staring at them......

Since taking over the post of prime minister last year, he has been caught up in an endless wrangling -- a wrangle between the cabinet and the Inspectorate, between the various members of the cabinet, between the central and local governments, and that has made government affairs completely inaccessible. In the past, the Kuomintang people also ridiculed Yang Rui's seemingly efficient cabinet when he was in power, but in fact it was ineffective, because the decrees were all out of shape as soon as they arrived, and they would die as soon as they were caught, and they would be chaotic as soon as they were released; But it's my turn to govern, and I can't even seem to be efficient, which is really ironic.

Because of this, he seems to have accomplished nothing for more than a year, and the powerful central government has become essentially a boring institution for collecting provincial taxes, receiving foreign guests, and expressing some opinions on current affairs. Such a situation was vaguely expected by Song Jiaoren before, and peace with the people and a small country and widows are the state of the government today. However, since the world economic crisis has occurred, the government must do something, such as relieving unemployed workers and bankrupt farmers, and stimulating the economy to stimulate consumption. These are all things that Song Jiaoren wants to do, but in fact he doesn't have enough power and prestige to do this.

In particular, most of the state-owned companies have been divided up because of the compensation for the landlord's land price, and the profits handed over after tax in the past are basically zero; Taxes have also been reduced, and if you want to raise taxes in times of economic crisis, I am afraid that no one will agree; Finally, there is the National Bank, and the governors of the former Qing Dynasty also knew that they would issue copper dollars for profit in order to train troops and run industries, but when it came to themselves, the right to issue currency was gone.

In fact, Ma Yinchu, the head of the household department, said that the government must control finance, otherwise the people's money bags will not be safe, but in Song Jiaoren's view, this is completely a pretext. Taking the United States as an example, which they often say, the right to issue dollars is not controlled by the US government, but the Americans' money bags are basically not much risk, and this economic crisis is not that money is worthless, on the contrary, now that prices have plummeted, money is worth more than before; On the other hand, in Soviet Russia, the new ruble for the old ruble has been exchanged twice, each time it is one yuan for ten thousand, and the current new ruble really does not know when it will be changed again; Although the Deutsche Mark depreciated rapidly in previous years, there was a reason for that.

If the government really wants to take back the right to issue currency, it will really encounter an irresponsible government, and the people will really be ruined under the excessive issuance; And now under this model, whether it is for the purpose of preserving the value of shareholders' assets, or hindering public opinion, they do not dare to unscrupulously over-issue currency.

The reason is this, but if there is no tax increase, no additional currency issuance, and no state-owned assets are sold, where will the government get the money to work for relief and stimulate the economy under the economic crisis? Is it really a matter of turning a blind eye to the economic crisis? However, if we really want to manage it, we will inevitably clash with vested interests -- except for disaster relief, the rich do not want to invest their money in various projects with unpredictable returns, and if the government really wants to force banks to subscribe to state bonds, the current cabinet is very likely to collapse. (To be continued.) )