Republic of China game

Page 275

Luo Yaoguo sat on the sofa, holding a cup of tea in his hand, just smiling.His face was hidden in the steam rising from the tea, making it difficult to see clearly: "Mr. Jie, Mr. Ziwen. Our current situation is that we can only advance but not retreat. If China belongs to our Kuomintang family, like Mr. Ziwen The best way is not to cause major problems, at most it is a recession, and the common people have to suffer for a few years. After all, with the heavy industry we have developed now, expansion is not enough, and self-protection is still sure. But... two Don’t forget, there is still a Communist Party central government in the north!”

"...they have now turned the economies of Zhili, Chahar, Suiyuan, northern Shaanxi, and northern Shandong into a planned economy. In fact, a planned economy is similar to placing the entire social economy under the leadership of a centralized government. Under the wartime economic system. Such an economic system can concentrate the wealth and resources of the entire society for the construction of heavy industry! According to the information we have, they are now formulating a three-year plan, which will focus on the development of heavy industry and military industry."

Song Ziwen sneered: "With their little land, how much wealth can be unearthed for heavy industry? No matter how it develops, we can eat them with the foundation of these heavy industries in our hands."

Chiang Kai-shek also nodded with a smile.Picking up the teacup, he took a sip and said, "I totally agree with what Ziwen said. In the 18th year of the Republic of China, our steel output was almost 150 million tons, which is basically the same as that of Japan. I think it is enough."

"Really?" Luo Yaoguo said coldly:

"The CCP's system is different from ours. They can unearth the wealth potential of the entire society through rural land reform and urban socialist transformation! The Beijing, Tianjin and Zhili provinces have been under the feet of the emperor for hundreds of years. China At least half of the essence is there, right? Right now they can easily raise $2000 million in hard currency through expropriation of the urban bourgeoisie and land reform. And this money is used to buy second-hand American industrial companies that have collapsed during the Great Depression Equipment, at least equivalent to 5000 million to 150 million US dollars in the economic boom period. And they don't need to consider the needs of the civilian industry, they can invest all the funds in military-related projects. You know our 10,000 million tons The amount of steel that is actually used for military industry must not exceed [-]+ tons! In addition, they don’t need to develop the navy, they can devote themselves to the construction of the army, and the effectiveness can be doubled compared with ours. Therefore, the current economic depression is very important for the CCP and the Soviet Union Not only is it not a problem, but it is also an opportunity.”

"...There are two other points that you must pay attention to. If the economy in the south becomes depressed, those unemployed workers, bankrupt farmers, and students who have no future after graduation are all targets of the Communist Party's incitement. If we cannot create If there are no job opportunities, our society will definitely be turned upside down by the labor movement, peasant movement, and student movement. Maybe... some people in our National Revolutionary Army will sympathize with them, and then it will really be internal and external troubles.”

Chiang Kai-shek was slightly taken aback when he heard the words. He has always been extremely hostile to the CCP.If Luo Yaoguo used other reasons to lobby him, it might not be effective, but as soon as he brought up the "communist threat theory", Lao Jiang's brows gradually wrinkled: "Brother Fu Wen is right, if we don't spend money to maintain The economy is stable. Those unemployed workers and students who have no jobs after graduation will be bewitched by the Communist Party and come against us, right? Instead of spending money to suppress it, it is better to spend money now to stimulate demand and make them work Do it, don't bother us."

Luo Yaoguo stood up and said with a smile: "Yes, Jie Gong, this is spending money to buy stability. With this money, we can not only get heavy industry and infrastructure, but also get a stable southern China. So we have to spend this money , if it is not spent, the society will be in chaos, and the national government will still have no way to maintain financial balance.”

Song Ziwen shook his head slightly: "But when we owe a huge amount of domestic and foreign debts and we can't pay them out, how will we solve them? Are we really going to start a war to pass on the crisis?"

Luo Yaoguo snorted coldly, seeing Chiang Kai-shek and Song Ziwen's eyes cast over.He just smiled and said, "I'm afraid we won't have to start a war, but a war... I've come to the door."

……

A few days later, before the war came, Zhang Naiqi went to the General Staff Headquarters to have a secret talk with Luo Yaoguo.Moreover, Luo Yaoguo also brought two "gifts".One is that the Soviet Union is willing to transfer two "Karl Marx" class battleships under construction to the National Government at a cost of 2000 million US dollars.One is that the Soviet Union wants to sell oil to the Nationalist Government at a price of [-] cents per barrel, which is enough to fill the entire oil reserve base of the Nationalist Government's Armament Department.

For these two "Karl Marx" grades, the price quoted by Germania to the Soviet Union was 7000 million U.S. dollars, and they have already paid 5000 million U.S. dollars.The Soviets actually sold at a reserve price of 2000 million U.S. dollars this time, and lost 3000 million U.S. dollars once they entered and exited!The national government only needs to pay 2000 million plus a final payment of 2000 million, a total of 4000 million US dollars to win these two battleships, so that the national government navy had four ships with an empty displacement of more than 20 in [-]. British-ton super battleship!If the four "Polish Legion" class armored ships under construction are included, the tonnage of the "capital ship" of the National Government Navy will be as high as [-] British tons.In one fell swoop, it surpassed France and Italy to become the fourth naval power in the world after Japan!Moreover, it has the capital ship with the shortest age, the latest equipment, the largest tonnage, and the strongest protection.If we really want to fight, the fighting power may still be higher than that of Japan!

And the [-] cents a barrel of oil is also a bargain.At present, no large-scale integrated oil fields have been found in the jurisdiction of South China, only some small low-permeability oil fields that are too expensive to exploit and seem to be of little value at present.The cost of mining them is even higher than developing Maoming's oil shale.Compared with the [-] cents a barrel of oil, it is even more expensive!In fact, Luo Yaoguo had long planned to take advantage of the low international oil price to stockpile a large amount of oil, and the oil storage base that could store [-] million barrels of oil had also started construction early in the morning together with the Maoming oil shale project.The first phase of the project is almost completed, and it will be completed before [-].

"Auxiliary commander, these two transactions are not harmful to your national government at all, and can also ease the bad relationship between the Kuomintang, the CCP, and the Soviet Union. It can be said to serve multiple purposes." Zhang Naiqi saw that Luo Yaoguo was just holding a He drank lightly from the coffee cup and did not express his opinion.Busily throwing out another "good news", he smiled and said:

"Actually, this time the leftists of the Kuomintang went north to establish the Kuomintang Revolutionary Committee, which was not supported by the CCP. Your party has misunderstood them. Now the CCP is persuading Deng Zesheng, Li Renchao, and Mrs. Sun to abandon the Revolutionary Committee and return to the Kuomintang. Moreover, the CCP intends to use a considerable number of positions in the central government to place these leftist comrades, even including the vice president..."

Luo Yaoguo remained calm and sat there quietly.Hearing Zhang Naiqi's words, he just smiled lightly: "I didn't expect that our party and the CCP have negotiated with the CCP for more than half a year without any results. This time, Stalin will solve it with a single instruction. It seems that he is really an international communist. What a great leader."

Zhang Naiqi was a little embarrassed when he heard the words, but he calmed down again in a blink of an eye: "Auxiliary Commander, what you should care about now is not the relationship between Stalin and the CCP. It is whether the deal with the Soviet Union is worth it this time, and whether it is good for us in China. .”

Luo Yaoguo nodded lightly: "Mr. Zhang is right. This deal with the Soviet Union is indeed not a loss-making deal. I will bring it up at the presidium meeting. But... there is no need to dissolve the Kuomintang Revolutionary Committee. I think we are doing this now. That's right, the two sides will develop independently behind closed doors, and we will see in three to five years to see which system is more reasonable and efficient. Mr. Zhang, do you think so?"

Zhang Naiqi never thought that the other party would be so easy to talk to, so he agreed immediately, and he didn't ask the CCP to ban the Kuomintang Revolutionary Committee... It seems that he listened to the other party's tone and didn't want the CCP to really ban the leftist center of the Kuomintang.I just don't know what kind of attempt is hidden behind it?

……

In the last few days of [-], there was also a heavy snowfall in the three towns of Wuhan.The climate of this era is much colder than that of later generations. When the heavy snow falls, it cannot melt for a while, and the whole city is covered in white.On New Year's Day in [-], the national government also had a day off.Luo Yaoguo's uncle and nephew didn't go to work in the yamen either, but in Beilu's study, while admiring the snowy scenery outside the window, they pondered over a so-called "five-year plan".

This plan is actually just a draft, which was hastily drawn up by the Executive Yuan, the Ministry of Finance, the Ministry of Armaments, the Central Bank, the Ministry of Industry, the Ministry of Communications and other important departments related to the economy after the sudden onset of the Great Depression.The idea is to use the government's financial resources to expand infrastructure and heavy industry investment to stimulate the economy, stimulate employment, and maintain economic growth in South China.

After this period of time, Luo Yaoguo kept lobbying Hu Hanmin, Chiang Kai-shek, Xu Chongzhi and other "big bosses".Now the big guys are almost convinced and agree to support this five-year spending plan to "spend money to buy stability".

According to this plan, 20 billion U.S. dollars of the nearly 15 billion U.S. dollars in gold foreign exchange reserves owned by the national government will be spent in the next five years!It will mainly be used to undertake heavy industrial projects after the withdrawal of foreign capital, import machinery and equipment, technology, introduce talents from the United States, and use the opportunity of the Great Depression to reserve various strategic resources that are scarce in China, including oil, copper, chromium, nickel, etc. .

To this end, the Executive Yuan and the Military Commission will jointly establish two companies.A company called Zhonghua Investment Company is specially used to acquire shares of heavy industry enterprises that foreign capital is eager to withdraw at a low price, and provides funds and "foreign exchange quota" for their further operations, and is responsible for managing operations.However, after the economy returns to normal in the future, the shares of heavy industrial enterprises controlled by China Investment Corporation will be gradually sold, and operations will be terminated thereafter.Another company, China Reserve Corporation, is responsible for reserving oil, copper, chromium, nickel and other strategic resources purchased from foreign exchange reserves. It even includes buying a large amount of grain reserves when the international grain price is low, to meet the needs of time and time again. needs.Unlike CIC, the operation of CIC will be long-term.

Another focus of the National Government's five-year plan is the construction of large-scale infrastructure and basic heavy industries.The national government will use fiscal funds and issue public bonds to raise funds, and invest more than 40 billion to 50 billion French currency in the next five years in infrastructure and basic heavy industries such as railways, highways, electric power, ports, coal mines, and steel.Strive to build a railway network and road network that can basically cover the entire area ruled by the national government within five years, strive to generate 250 billion kilowatt-hours of electricity, 500 million tons of coal, and [-] million tons of steel... If this If the five-year plan can really be realized, by [-], the heavy industry level of most of China ruled by the national government can basically support the consumption needed for China to participate in a world war!

With a snap, Luo Yaoguo closed the folder and rubbed his eyes.He smiled at his uncle Luo Yiqun who was sitting across from him: "Uncle, if this plan is really completed, our China will really rise. In the next World War II, everything should be very rewarding Maybe, the fate of the entire Chinese nation for the next 1000 years will be changed in your hands."

Speaking of this, Luo Yaoguo suddenly remembered the Austrian corporal who was about to become the head of Germany in this crisis.In this time and space, due to the secret cooperation with China, Germany's war preparations are many times stronger than in history.Maybe this lunatic and demon can also win a thousand-year empire for the German nation?

Chapter 0476

Early January [-] AD.

The drought has lasted for two years, and there has been no snow for many days this winter, only a few snowflakes fell at the end of last year.The cadres and soldiers of the Suiyuan Production and Construction Corps looked at the sky with sad faces.Originally their mission was to provide enough food for the fast-growing Baotou Special Economic Zone, but a severe drought last year caused the Corps' [-] soldiers to eat relief food shipped from Zhili Province.If it's still the same this year, how can the big guys meet people!Now the boys of the Production and Construction Corps, when they see the working class in the Baotou Special Economic Zone, all walk around with their heads down.Even Deng Xixian, the political commissar of the Bingtuan who went to Beijing for a meeting, looked a bit disheartened during the two-day Central Economic Work Conference of the Communist Party of China, unable to hold his head up.

In Zhongnanhai, in the West Flower Hall, members and alternate members of the Politburo gathered together.An important meeting has lasted for several hours.

"Comrade Xixian, your Baotou Special Zone is the protagonist of this three-year plan." Zhou Enlai's brisk voice sounded in Deng Xixian's ears:

"Over the past year or so, the construction of your Baotou Special Economic Zone has achieved world-renowned achievements! A modern industrial city is being built day by day in the hands of you Baotou people. All of this is seen by the central government and the people of the whole country. in the eyes."

Deng Xixian was slightly taken aback when he heard the words. Although he knew that Zhou Enlai was boosting the morale of himself and Baotou, he still gave Big Brother a grateful look.

"However... in the past period of time, our economic work is not without shortcomings." Zhou Enlai's speech continued, but his tone was slightly dignified:

"Although our party's goal is to establish a basic heavy industry and military industry in the north in a relatively short period of time to ensure national security and national unity. But this does not mean that we Communists should ignore agriculture and rural work, and ignore Food production and food security are related to the livelihood of hundreds of millions of people! In the past [-], the cause of our party has made unprecedented achievements, has become the leading force of the Chinese revolution, and seized the central government. But in agriculture and In terms of rural work, we have not delivered a good answer. Grain production has declined, and the export plan has not been completed. What is more serious is that there are varying degrees of food shortages in northern Shaanxi, eastern Longdong, northwestern Shanxi, and Suiyuan. Famine and peasants abandoning their land to flee famine!"

Mao Zedong also nodded slightly, and scanned the meeting room with piercing eyes, the atmosphere was a little gloomy.Zhou Enlai went on to say: "Of course, this phenomenon is not all our responsibility. It is mainly due to the continuous drought in the northwest, and Shandong and Zhili have also suffered disasters to varying degrees. However, our work in the year of the catastrophe is indeed not enough. In place, even ignoring rural issues and natural disasters! It was not until serious difficulties appeared that I hurriedly thought of organizing disaster relief. But I didn’t prepare enough food in advance, so that... (uh, omitted this time dozens of words)”

Liu Shaoqi nodded slightly. The CCP encountered too many things last year, and ignored the rural areas and drought... It seems to be excusable.However, the disaster situation in the northwest has indeed reached the point of no delay.During this period of time, he also went to various places in the Northwest to do intensive research, and what he saw and heard was really heartbreaking.

"However, when the disaster victims in the Northwest were starved of food, in Beijing, Tianjin, Baoding and other big cities, the food management was very loose, or... there was no management at all!" Zhou Enlai's tone was relatively slow, and his eyes were on the meeting. Wandering around in the room, looking at the expressions of the committee members, his tone has already softened: "The people depend on food! Similarly, our industrial construction also depends on food. At present, China is still a poor and backward agricultural country, and the agricultural country needs to develop. The only way for industry, especially heavy industry with large investments and slow results, is to export agricultural products in exchange for foreign exchange, and then purchase machinery and equipment from advanced industrial countries. Therefore, agriculture is the foundation of industry. Only when agriculture and food are well managed can our heavy industry construction be able to Success!"

Having said that, Zhou Enlai picked up his teacup and took a sip of water, moistened his throat, and continued: "Last month, the Bianye Bank founded by Zhang Xueliang began to issue 'Ocean Bonds', and the 'Silver Dollar Notes' of the central government can no longer be issued by our party." Therefore, if we want to 'import' industrial equipment in the future, we can only rely on real gold and silver, or exchange with agricultural products. And the precious metals and foreign exchange we have in our hands are very limited, mainly the preparation of silver dollar certificates Gold and the gold and silver obtained from the land reform in Zhili. Moreover, the price of silver has plummeted in the international market during this period, and the purchasing power of silver in our hands has also declined. Therefore, it is imperative to implement strict planning and management of food supply. I suggest The Ministry of Grain was established by the central government. In the future, the unified purchase and sales of grain will be implemented, private grain trading will be banned, and speculation will be strictly prohibited. The grain supply of urban residents will be distributed according to household registration, and food stamps, meat stamps, and oil stamps will be issued at the same time... We must strictly eliminate waste , It is strictly forbidden to hoard. In the future, food work will become the top priority of our party's work just like heavy industry construction!"

The members attending the meeting couldn't help being a little surprised. From Zhou Enlai's speech, they had clearly felt that the central government was planning to use grain exports to raise foreign exchange for importing machinery and equipment.However, the areas currently under the direct control of the CCP are not traditional grain-producing areas.And there are also two "big households" in grain consumption, Beijing and Tianjin.Historically, since the Ming Dynasty, Beijing's grain had to be mobilized from the south of the Yangtze River by water transport, and it was impossible to rely on the Zhili Plain for supply.

"We not only need to supply food according to the plan, but we also need to strictly manage other daily necessities. We may have a hard time in the next three years!" Zhou Enlai smiled indifferently: "But this is necessary. Only by overcoming the ordeals we have to go through can our revolutionary cause go to glory. Only then will the Chinese people be able to stand upright and speak out in the world!"

"...However, our management of food must be scientific, and we must absolutely guarantee the supply necessary for people's lives. And we Communists must take the lead in enduring hardships, and we must not engage in specialization! Starting with Comrade Runzhi and me, our supply We must be the same as ordinary people. I eat as much as ordinary people eat! I believe that as long as our party members and League members take the lead in enduring hardship and saving money, the people will definitely understand us and support us!"

Zhou Enlai stood up, waved his hands vigorously, his face became tense, and his speaking became more vigorous: "The next three years will be a critical moment for the development of the Chinese revolution and the world revolution! It is very likely that this is the most favorable time for us to develop heavy industry and build a socialist motherland. After these three years, the imperialist countries that have fallen into the quagmire of economic crisis and cannot extricate themselves are very likely to take risks and launch a war of aggression! At that time, both our northern China and the Soviet Union will It may become the target of imperialist expansion. If we can’t grit our teeth and work hard for three years to develop heavy industry. At that time, it will be man’s knife and me for fish.”

……

Regarding the news that the CCP will lead tens of millions of people in the "Soviet Area" to work hard together, tighten their belts and work hard for three years, and use the money saved from their teeth to build a heavy industry base.The response from Wuhan was full of ridicule.

With a "snap", Chiang Kai-shek threw the report he had just received on the conference table.Right now, North-South relations have eased due to the ongoing warship and oil trade negotiations between the Soviet Union and the Kuomintang.The "North-South Exchange Foundation" led by Mao Renfeng and Bai Siwen has now entered Beijing. This "foundation" collected information through the leftists of the Kuomintang.Of course, these things are not confidential information, and they will be made public sooner or later.

"Hahaha... these communists can really figure it out. There is no successful precedent in the world to develop heavy industry by relying on hunger? Brother Fuwen, it seems that we are right not to go to the Northern Expedition for the time being. Wait until they mess around in Beijing After a few years, the sky has become angry and people have complained, and if we go again, it must be overwhelming."

At today's regular meeting of the Military Commission, Chiang Kai-shek, who has always been unsmiling, rarely took the CCP as a laughing stock and made a joke.

Luo Yaoguo also picked up the briefing that had just been delivered, and carefully read it over and over again.The CCP’s plan to tighten its belt and expand heavy industry is just one of the contents.In addition, there are a large number of reports on the CCP's heavy industry plan, which Mao Renfeng, Bai Siwen and others heard from the mouths of the KMT's leftist leaders.Speaking of which, these guys really don't know what to say, they dare to say anything...

It is different from the "big and empty" five-year plan of the national government.The CCP's three-year plan is very meticulous, and it is specific to the project. Several key projects inquired by the "North-South Foundation" are Baotou Red Star Iron and Steel Plant, Hongqi Arsenal, and the Communist Youth League Aircraft Factory.The CCP plans to increase the production capacity of the steel plant from the originally planned 20 tons to 152 tons.Moreover, a considerable part of the increased production capacity is special steel projects that can be used in military industry!After the completion of the construction, the Hongxing Iron and Steel Works will be able to provide the gun factory of the Hongqi Arsenal with the gun tube steel required for the production of 100MM howitzers.The arsenal will fully expand its production capacity, including the output of machine rifles, various artillery, bullets, shells, gunpowder, and explosives will increase several times compared to the original plan, and it is estimated that it will be able to meet the combat needs of 200 million to 17 million troops.Perhaps because of the experience and lessons learned from the Sino-Japanese Shandong War in the [-]th year of the Republic of China, the Communist Youth League aircraft factory was also regarded as the focus of the CCP's construction this time.A full set of aircraft manufacturing technology and related equipment will be imported from the Soviet Union.In addition, the CCP also plans to send thousands of overseas students to the Soviet Union to learn industrial technology, and the Soviet Union will also send experts to help the CCP build industrial enterprises.

"Well, it seems that the CCP is still doing things seriously, which is better than many comrades in our party." Putting down the briefing in his hand, Luo Yaoguo sincerely admired: "They are so difficult now, with land, resources, talents, and funds. , everything is lacking, but we still grit our teeth and tighten our belts to develop heavy industry. Compared with them, if we don’t make some achievements, I’m afraid we will lose face to others.”

"Hehe, in the end it must be that the CCP has no face to face people." Sun Ke, Minister of Armaments, smiled heavily, and took up the topic:

"The CCP's territory is too small, and all kinds of resources are not complete. They have steel but no rare metals, ammunition factories but no copper mines, and aircraft factories but can't produce aluminum alloys. After these heavy industrial projects are completed... really To operate normally, I am afraid that it is necessary to import a large amount of raw materials. But what can they export? Will they have to tighten their belts by then? And even if they can squeeze out money to import, will the transportation line be guaranteed? Our navy is about to rise by then, and we can easily cut off their foreign trade."

Hearing Sun Ke's analysis, Luo Yaoguo couldn't help nodding.In the current era, it has always been easier to succeed in building a complete range of industries only in large countries with vast territories and abundant labor.A territory like the CCP is at best a "small country" in the world.However, if a small country wants to develop a full range of heavy industries, it generally has to rely on foreign trade to import resources, such as Germany and China's evil neighbor Japan.I don't know how the Japanese will get through the current difficult situation?

……

Showa four years, that is, AD [-].It has been a frustrating year for the Yamato nation, which lives with volcanoes, earthquakes, and tsunamis all day long.