Qin Zheng sighed and said: "This figure is really not an exaggeration, in the old time and space, in order to win the Russo-Japanese War, Japan spent a total of 1.86 billion yen, which is converted into British pounds, which is about 191 million pounds, so we have formulated a war budget of 100 million pounds, which is very reasonable." ”

Wang Yunpeng spread his hands and said, "Whether it is reasonable or not, but where does this money come from? Even if it is an additional currency, it is impossible to issue 800 million silver dollars, which will only cause serious inflation." ”

Xu Jichao said: "How much is Japan's annual fiscal revenue now, and how can they afford to pay such a huge sum?"

Qin Zheng said: "I don't have the data on Japan's annual fiscal revenue now, but at the time of the First Sino-Japanese War, Japan's annual fiscal revenue was about 8,000 yen, and considering that Japan's national strength is on the rise, it is now calculated, that is, 160 million yen should be about the same, which is converted into British pounds, that is, 16.5 million British pounds." ”

Xu Jichao said: "Japan's financial situation is not better than ours, so where did Japan's 1.86 billion yen for the war come from?"

In order to win the Russo-Japanese War, Japan raised a total of 680 million yen in domestic debt, and 927 million yen in foreign debt. ”

Xu Jichao made a silent calculation and said: "The total amount of debt exceeds 1.6 billion yen, good guy, it turns out that the Russo-Japanese War was fought with borrowed money, so we can only rely on borrowing to raise funds for the war." ”

Qin Zheng also smiled bitterly and said, "I can't think of any other way besides this method." ”

Xia Bohai said: "If there is a way, but who will Guan Jian lend us money? ”

Qin Zheng said: "Mainly Britain, in addition, Germany and the United States have also lent money to Japan, in fact, it is not accurate to say that borrowing money, because most of Japan's foreign debt is raised in the form of issuing war bonds, and only a small part of the money actually borrowed from banks." And if we want to raise funds for the war, issuing war bonds should be a good way, but it is also risky, and basically we can only find these few countries. ”

Xu Jichao pondered for a moment and said: "Germany currently has a good relationship with us, and it also needs us to provide military technology, so the issue of bonds in Germany is basically not a big problem, and on the issue of Java, we and Britain have a lot of contradictions, I think unless Japan is not good in the early stage of the war, otherwise Britain will not let us issue bonds, and now Guan Jian is the United States, if we can issue bonds in the United States and Germany, and raise part of it in the country, it should be enough to raise 800 million silver dollars." ”

Wang Yunpeng said: "I still have a problem, even if we can raise funds for the war through the issuance of bonds, but in the final analysis, this money has to be repaid, and it has to include interest, 100 million pounds, even if it is 5% interest, it will be 5 million pounds in one year, about 42 million silver dollars, which is half of our current fiscal revenue, and we have to return this money, mainly relying on war reparations." ”

Xiao Jianjun nodded and said, "Yes, we must use the war reparations to repay the debts, of course, the war reparations we ask for must be far more than the debts." ”

Wang Yunpeng said: "But in the old time and space, although Japan won the Russo-Japanese War, but did not ask for a penny of reparations, of course, I do not deny that Japan's gains after the Russo-Japanese War are very huge, but in the war reparations, it is indeed a big loss, so it is not ruled out that we will eventually face such a situation, if so, what should we do?"

Xiao Jianjun said: "This question should not be answered by our soldiers, the duty of soldiers is to win on the battlefield, but to obtain greater benefits at the negotiation table, it is the task of politicians, what soldiers can do is to fully cooperate with politicians in negotiations, isn't it." ”

At this time, Xia Bohai said: "Let's discuss this issue next, we can't discuss a result today." In short, the army only needs to fight and win the war, and the government is responsible for other matters. ”

Qin Zheng said: "I think it is generally feasible, but some details still need to be considered, and further improvement, from it is in the plan, the more the better, of course, any plan is not a one-time success, it needs to be revised many times, so I think this plan can be taken to the executive meeting to discuss, some requirements can also be determined, after all, we have little time left to prepare." ”

Wang Yunpeng said: "As long as the problem of raising funds can be solved, I also think it is feasible." ”

Xu Jichao also said: "I think so too. ”

Xia Bohai said: "Then it's decided, Lao Xiao, give you two days to sort out the plan again, and then discuss it at the executive meeting, and Lao Qin will also participate." ”

Two days later, the East China Government convened an executive meeting to discuss the war plan made by the Central Military Commission. On the whole, the members did not have many objections to the plan, but only put forward some opinions on some details, and in the Executive Council, a number of requirements in the plan were also determined.

After all, there is no need for financial funds this time, and the navy itself will pay for it, and the two Qingzhou-class protective cruisers built in China have already been launched, and the administrative department has also agreed to build two more, and Bi Jing has lost two battleships, which has saved a lot of money for the finances, and there is still money for building two more protective cruisers.

After all, the East China Government has been successfully running for two years, and the members of the East China Government have seen very clearly the pros and cons of the East China Government; although it seems that the East China Government is indeed thriving day by day, and there is a scene of prosperity, but the three structural contradictions are basically unsolvable; First, there is a shortage of funds for development, because industrialization is a huge gold-swallowing beast, and only large investment can have big returns; the previous investment was mainly supported by the East China Government's more than 9,000 silver harvested from Beijing, but by this time there was less than 30 million leftSecond, the territory is too small and the population is insufficient, with only 150,000 square kilometers and a population of more than 3,000,000 people, both in terms of geography and population, which are not enough to carry the lofty goals of the East China Government; third, resources are insufficient; although Shandong is also a province with large resources in China, it is also difficult to supply the East China Government's demand for industrial development, and at present the East China Government still needs to export some resources and obtain development funds. Therefore, if it sticks to Shandong Province, then the development space of the East China government is actually very limited.

The Russo-Japanese War is the best time to resolve these three structural contradictions, as long as we win this war and obtain the land in the northeast, the problems of geography and resources can be easily solved, and the war reparations obtained from Japan and Russia can solve the development funds, so it is natural to go all out, mobilize all available resources, and go all out to fight this war, as long as it is something that can be used, it can naturally be used, not to mention that the army only requires 30-40 vehicles, even if all of them must be used, it is also at the expense.

The Army's request for the construction of armored train guns was also approved, and the project was immediately confirmed.

The final decision is to issue war bonds and raise war funds, after all, this is the most feasible way now, and everyone is from the old time and space, and they are not excluded from this business model of borrowing money to invest and making money and then repaying. After all, the domestic acceptance of bonds is low, because bonds are mainly subscribed by someone, and if no one subscribes, it will not achieve the purpose of financing, either stop selling, or reduce the price of sale, which is the risk that the issuance of bonds needs to face, and now the East China government does not dare to take this risk, and the East China government has not been established for a long time, and the issuance of bonds in China now will inevitably attract some slander, so it is not too late to issue bonds in China on the eve of the East China government, or after the war。

The issuance of bonds abroad should be carried out in batches, after all, the East China government will not immediately enter the war, so as to reduce the risk and interest expenses, and without hesitation, it should immediately contact and negotiate with Germany and the United States, including Britain, and strive to issue bonds of 2 to 30 million pounds before 1904, so that the East China government will have enough funds to prepare for the war.

Therefore, after the end of the executive meeting, the Foreign Affairs Committee and the Commercial Committee immediately held talks with the German consulate to order another battleship in Germany, of course, like the previous warships, and to build one in Shandong, and to purchase materials and equipment from Germany, and at the same time Germany to provide technical support, but put forward an additional requirement, that is, the delivery date of this warship must be before May 1905, otherwise a huge amount of compensation is demanded.

It turned out that in the Sino-French War in 1883, the Qing court was defeated in the Battle of Mawei, and the Fujian Navy Division was annihilated, and the two warships built by the Qing court in Germany at that time, Dingyuan and Zhenyuan, were supposed to be delivered in 1884, if these two warships could return to China as scheduled, they would inevitably pose a huge threat to the French Navy, but at that time, Germany delayed the delivery of ships on the grounds of neutrality, and did not deliver the two warships to the Qing court until 1885 after the Sino-French peace.

In this war, once the East China government enters the war, Germany is likely to detain the warships built in Germany on the same grounds of neutrality, so it must take over the warships before the war, or at least leave Germany. The East China government's entry into the war was the Battle of Tsushima on May 28, 1905, and the East China government set the delivery date for the warships before May 1905.

The East China government and the German warship order had been cooperated many times, and they were very familiar with each other, and even the contract model was not used for major changes, so the two sides quickly reached an agreement and sold it for 1.2 million pounds.