"Humble words (vice president)! This is not child's play, how can you think of not paying, not paying! ”

Tang Shaoyi and Liang Qichao are all in a hurry, they have always thought that Zhang Tinglan is calmer and good at planning and acting, but they never knew that this person still has such a fierce side, if the international debt is not compensated, it will not be compensated, will this work!

"To put it mildly, debt is related to the credit of the country, and if we can't do it, the great powers will join forces to sanction us, and then the goods will not be sold, trade will not be able to be carried out, the currency will depreciate, and the national economy will collapse, and the consequences will be unimaginable, you have to think clearly."

Zhang Tinglan took a deep breath, sat down in his position again, closed his eyes and thought about it, he had already thought about the problem of finance and debt, this was a topic that he had to face after entering Beijing, but he didn't expect that he would find it so soon.

"Mr. Shaochuan, although Fengtian has fought two big battles in a row and shaken the fundamentals, it is still possible to squeeze out three or four million per month, and if it is sent to the central government, it may be able to maintain operation, but I want to ask you, does this maintenance make sense?"

Zhang Tinglan said in an extremely calm tone: "The development of the three eastern provinces also benefits from the human and financial resources of the whole country, and it is inevitable to give back to the whole country, Zhang has no regional prejudice, and all Chinese are flesh and blood compatriots, and should develop together." But there is a premise for this, that is, this money must see the effect, and it can't be used for waste, otherwise I won't be able to explain it to the enterprises and people in the Northeast.

Tang Shaoyi and Liang Qichao also glanced at each other, and their eyes were full of embarrassment, what Zhang Tinglan said also made sense, they couldn't watch taking money to fill the bottomless pit. Do you really want to rely on all your debts as Zhang Tinglan said?

"Mr. Shaochuan, I want to ask you what is the compensation stipulated in the Xinchou Treaty?"

"Four hundred and fifty million taels."

"How much are we going to pay according to the reparations of the great powers?"

"The Great Powers demanded that we pay it off in 39 years. The annual interest rate is 4%, and the total amount of compensation is 980 million taels. However, due to the change in the price of silver and the repayment of old debts by borrowing new debts, the total amount of compensation exceeded one billion taels. However, due to the problems of the European war, the reparations between Germany and Austria-Hungary have been stopped, and after the Russian Revolution, the reparations have also stopped, and since the Feng army defeated Japan, we are also discussing to completely stop the reparations against Japan. At present, only the English are left. The United States, France, Italy, Japan and other countries have already paid more than 500 million taels of reparations. In addition, there are about 200 million in compensation! ”

Listening to the figures provided by Tang Shaoyi, Zhang Tinglan also nodded slightly. According to later statistics. During the 37 years from 1902 to 1938, the total amount of indemnities paid to Gengzi was 664 million taels, and after deducting refunds from the United States and Britain and other countries, the amount of indemnities actually paid by China to imperialism totaled more than 576 million taels.

Since the refund actions of various countries were around the twenties, they were mainly aimed at easing relations with China, but in fact before that. China has already repaid the lion's share of the reparations.

"Mr. Shaochuan, we have already taken out more than 500 million taels of 4500 million taels in compensation, isn't it enough. Do you think this debt should be repaid? And Gengzi indemnity is just a more conspicuous item, the great powers have also made some actions to return, what about other loans and indemnities, there is no at all, our debts are more and more, what is the difference between rolling with a donkey in the countryside? ”

Zhang Tinglan's remarks went straight to the core of the problem: Since the end of the Qing Dynasty, China has handed over two or three percent of its fiscal revenue every year, and in some years to forty percent, to the foreign powers. Every penny is soaked in the blood and sweat of the Chinese people, but China's indemnity and loans owed to foreign countries have not decreased in any way, but have increased and increased, and if we follow the development of history, by 49 years, this total will reach 30 trillion.

In the same period, the gross national product was only about 50 trillion yuan, and because it was an agrarian society, the government's fiscal revenue was even lower, and it was burdened with such a huge amount of arrears, and the annual compensation interest alone was enough to overwhelm the country.

It can also be seen from this that the government of the Republic of China is keen on developing light industry with quick money, and cannot invest in heavy industry that is related to the life and death of the country. But for a big country like China, without heavy industry, there is no backbone, and it can only become a piece of fat and be slaughtered by others.

Tang Shaoyi and Liang Qichao were also silent, Zhang Tinglan was right, this is usury that cannot be repaid, in fact, the great powers also have this purpose. They don't care how much China has to pay back, what they need is for China to be saddled with this debt forever and then be their ATM all the time.

The lack of financial autonomy is like a person who has no money, and the same is true for the country, without money, there is no ability to develop, and it is always what it wants. The great powers can use various means to seize China's natural resources and sell their industrial products with confidence and boldness, and the profits in this are even more astonishing, and they are ten times more than a hundred times more than the simple indemnity.

Tang Shaoyi thought about it, and gradually began to agree with Zhang Tinglan's crazy idea, since she couldn't afford to pay it back, she simply didn't pay it back. Once this thought took root, it became a lingering voice, constantly ringing in the head.

After a while, Tang Shaoyi smiled bitterly and said: "The clumsy words have explained the truth thoroughly, I want to think about it, and there is only one way to repay the debt!" ”

"No!" Liang Qichao hurriedly waved his hand beside him: "Shaochuan, you were quite calm just now, why are you confused now, if you repay the debt, how serious the consequences will be, don't you know?" Do you want to watch the country's economy collapse? ”

"But if you continue to lose money like this, there is no money for national construction, nothing can develop, and in the long run, it is not as simple as economic collapse, but a catastrophe of destroying the country and exterminating the species!"

Hearing Tang Shaoyi's words, Liang Qichao was also stunned, and couldn't say anything anymore, so he could only lower his head and say nothing.

Zhang Tinglan rolled her eyes, and then said with a smile: "The consequences of defaulting on debts are not so terrible, didn't our neighbor Russians just pay off all their debts?" ”

"Humble words, are you going to learn from the majority?"

Liang Qichao raised his head suddenly, and said in surprise: "This is absolutely unacceptable, after the Russians have relied on their debts so much, they are equivalent to cutting themselves off from the international market, and they have been jointly sanctioned by various countries, and I heard that the economy has been embarrassed to the extreme." ”

Zhang Tinglan smiled and waved his hand: "It's not that serious, in fact, there is nothing wrong with being self-contained behind closed doors, but the Russians have a large territory and rich resources, except for things like rubber, they can be self-sufficient, so they are engaged in jihua economy, and they also have this condition." We don't have the foundation of Russians, we have too many people, we are self-sufficient, it is difficult to develop, and we have to communicate with the shijie market, so we can't just rely on the debt like Russia, but we have to use a more flexible method. ”

After all, Tang Shaoyi used to be a young child in the United States, and he still had some knowledge, he thought about it and said: "To put it mildly, there is a common practice in the world, that is, bad debts are not repaid, such as when the Americans were in the Civil War, the northern government stated that they would not bear the debts borrowed by the south. In fact, when the Republic of China was first founded, if we had enough courage to directly announce that we refused to recognize the foreign debts of the Manchu Qing Dynasty, we would not have fallen to the point where we are today! ”

"Hey, in order to win the support of the great powers, Sun Wen announced at the first time that he would inherit all the treaties signed by the Manchu Qing Dynasty, what can he do!" Liang Qichao said with a sigh.

Zhang Tinglan's mind is also spinning incessantly, there are three countries in history that have said no to huge foreign debts, one is Russia after the October Revolution, the other is Nazi Germany, and then there is the new China of later generations.

The current situation is not so bad that it is irreversible, and there is no need to just break the net and rely on it immediately, perhaps Hitler's approach is worth learning from.

Thinking of this, Zhang Tinglan made up her mind, and said with a smile: "Mr. Shaochuan, I will first allocate you a special fee of 20 million, and you are responsible for letting the government run for three months, use this time to stabilize the situation in Beijing and Tianjin, and then let the Ministry of Finance draw up a set of plans, negotiate with the United States and Britain and other countries, and ask them to suspend repayment for three years, and wait until the domestic economy recovers, and then talk about the issue of compensation." If they agree to this condition, we can open up foreign investment and provide more convenience for Western companies. ”

"Hehe, this is a trick to delay the army, I think it's good, if I can fight for three years, the situation in the country can be much better, I will start arranging it immediately!"

"Well, but Mr. Shaochuan, when we make preparations, we must keep them strictly secret, and we must not let the powers know our true intentions."

After explaining, Tang Shaoyi and Liang Qichao left Qingwangfu, while Zhang Tinglan leaned on the sofa without saying a word.

Shen Hua, the head of the guard, thought that Zhang Tinglan was asleep, and walked over with a wolfskin mattress, and was about to cover Zhang Tinglan, only to find that he had not slept at all, and his two bloodshot eyes looked at the ceiling blankly.

"Vice President? Handsome? Master? Don't scare me! ”

"What's the name of the ghost, I'm not dead yet." Zhang Tinglan also said angrily: "Isn't it okay to be quiet for a while?" ”

"You can do anything, just don't scare the little one, Madame can give me a strict order, if I don't take care of you, my head will also move!" Shen Hua said with a smile: "There is something, it is not solved in one day, I heard that the garden behind here is quite beautiful, now is the time when the flowers and plants are luxuriant, I will accompany you over to relax!" ”

Zhang Tinglan also nodded, but just as she was about to get up, Chang Yinhuai hurriedly walked over.

"Vice President, something is wrong, a British police station in Weihaiwei was bombed, killing more than a dozen Indian policemen and three British police officers, and another British training station was also attacked, killing and injuring five or six people, or even the head of the Taikoo Steamship Company, Ge Lin, was also kidnapped, and Weihaiwei was in chaos all of a sudden."

Hearing Chang Yinhuai's report, Zhang Tinglan was not in a hurry, and a smile appeared on her face: "Let's go, let's take a look at the flowers and plants in the backyard and change our mood." (To be continued......)