"Premier Xu, this won't work." Zhang Jian, minister of industry and commerce and civil affairs, was the first to rise up and make trouble.

Since Xu Shichang wants to create his own political achievements, he must have merit. In Xu Shichang's view, extending the original Beijing-Zhangjiakou Railway to Baotou is an important political achievement. Beiyang has China's first-class railway engineering team, and after the success of the chief designer Zhan Tianyou in building the Beijing-Zhangjiakou line, he has always lobbied the Beiyang government to build a line from Zhangjiakou to Baotou, and even prepared to build a railway line from Baotou to Suiyuan.

It is a good thing to build a railway, and the so-called train rings, and it is ten thousand taels of gold. It's just that before you earn 10,000 taels of gold, you have to invest 10,000 taels of gold in advance. The source of funds for the railway planned by Xu Shichang made many members of the Beiyang cabinet very dissatisfied. Yuan Shikai allowed the People's Party to set up a wool purchasing enterprise in Zhangjiakou, and the results were good. Since the completion of the railway, Zhangjiakou has been a destination for the herdsmen on the grassland to sell their goods, and the poor herdsmen do not want money, they lack industrial products. Relying on the Jinghan line, the People's Party transported a large amount of tea and cloth to Zhangjiakou and traded directly with the herdsmen. All kinds of trade combined, Beiyang collected 700,000 taels of tax silver a year.

Xu Shichang wants to invest this money in the construction of the railway, which is the cheese that has moved many people. Zhang Jian is in charge of the Ministry of Industry and Commerce, and commercial taxation is his political achievement. Zhang Jian is an "airborne cadre", Yan Fu is just disgusted by the cabinet, but Yan Fu is still from the Beiyang Group. Zhang Jian was born in the former Qing Dynasty, although his reputation is loud, his foundation is in Jiangsu, and he is even more alone in the Beiyang cabinet.

Other taxes in the Beiyang territory have long been controlled by various forces, and the newly opened taxes are completely dependent on the business opened by the People's Party, Xu Shichang does not use other people's money, and directly wants to take the benefits that Zhang Jian has managed to cage in his hands, so he naturally refuses to give in.

However, Xu Shichang is not Yan Fu, the Beiyang Cabinet can force Yan to return to the country, but Xu Shichang can't move.

"Zhang Gong, Mr. Zhan Tianyou talked about the railway from Zhangjiakou to Baotou, which can be completed in about three years. As soon as the railway is opened, commerce and trade will be more prosperous, so why bother with the present? ”

Zhang Jian said, "At present, the central government is very financially difficult, and the investment in building railways is very large. Even if you take the taxes of many newly established enterprises, I am afraid that it will not be enough. At that time, the tax revenue from commerce and trade was not confiscated, but the treasury was emptied first. What's the use of just guarding the railroad at that time? Why don't you issue railroad bonds? ”

How could Xu Shichang be willing to let Zhang Jian block his way, he immediately replied: "It will take at least half a year from the issuance of railway bonds to the sale." Now, as long as it is tightened first, the railway can start immediately. Moreover, once the construction of the railway starts, trains can also pass on the section of the road that has been repaired first, and the wool business can be made bigger, and the tax revenue can also come up more. Sometimes you can think about it in the long run, and sometimes you have to do it immediately. ”

The dispute lasted until noon, and during the meal, Xu Shichang found Yuan Shikai, "President, I don't think the construction of the railway can be delayed any longer." ”

Yuan Shikai supported Xu Shichang, and the construction of the railway from Zhangjiakou to Baotou meant that Beiyang's ability to control the local area was greatly improved. Zhan Tianyou was personally responsible for the construction of the Beijing-Zhangjiakou line, which was originally planned to be opened to traffic in six years, and the Beijing-Zhangjiakou line, which cost 7 million taels of silver, took only four years and spent 5 million taels of silver. Yuan Shikai has great confidence in Zhan Tianyou.

"I'll talk to Zhang Jian about it." Yuan Shikai replied.

Xu Shichang was very satisfied, and Yan Fu was finally forced to visit abroad because he did not have Yuan Shikai's support. When the cabinet ministers do it to you, the prime minister of the cabinet has a hard time. This is not something that will solve the problem by removing the confrontational cabinet members. Behind every cabinet member is the interests of a considerable number of people, and cabinet ministers who jump out of nominal names are the best to deal with. But if you can't reach an agreement with those forces, everything will be hindered by layers of obstacles from the shadows. Yuan Shikai's prestige showed an advantage at this time, as long as Yuan Shikai supported it clearly. Anyway, no one would dare to object too much.

However, Xu Shichang was not happy for too long, and Yuan Shikai continued: "Juren, what Zhang Jian said about the emptiness of the treasury is not unreasonable. If the bonds are issued, the railways can save a lot of money temporarily. ”

As Yuan Shikai's hardcore and confidant, Xu Shichang dared to tell the truth, "President, the issuance of bonds is to solve urgent needs. At the current interest rate on bonds, that's usury. I didn't dare to go this way. ”

When it came to interest rates, Yuan Shikai was silent. The moneylender is like a wolf, and Yuan Shikai really doesn't want to get into trouble anymore.

Zhang Jian's view of bonds is completely different from Yuan Shikai's, when Yuan Shikai talked to Zhang Jian about this matter, the former Qing Enke champion said aggressively: "President, the issuance of bonds is a good thing for the country and the people. Private funds are available, and the state can also engage in construction. ”

"What should you say about paying off debts?" Yuan Shikai asked.

"Railways don't belong to the country!" Zhang Jian answered Yuan Shikai's question loudly, "Who invests, who earns." The state does not need to do it itself, it only plans the project, and the railway has great benefits, and the businessmen know it. Therefore, a railway company is formed, and the business operates independently after investment. The state only collects taxes, does not need to take risks, and has a great source of profit, which is what it does. Premier Xu is completely in charge of the state to build the railway, and the state treasury can't afford it, not to mention, it will bear it, and the operating income is also a problem. ”

Zhang Jian has been propagating this theory, and Yuan Shikai has heard it many times. After pondering for a while, Yuan Shikai said: "If you let Ji Zhi take on a railway, are you willing?" ”

Zhang Jian's previous anger was mainly aimed at Xu Shichang, and the taxes he controlled were poached, and no one could bear this breath. Hearing Yuan Shikai's question, Zhang Jian didn't dare to reply immediately. It would be nice if a private company undertook the construction of the railway, but the water was too deep. Let Zhang Jian fight against Xu Shichang, he has the guts. Because Zhang Jian doesn't have to do anything, he just has to stop Xu Shichang from doing anything. On the other hand, if Zhang Jian wanted to accomplish something, Xu Shichang would have a stumbling block behind his back, Zhang Jian did not believe that Yuan Shikai would firmly support him.

Yuan Shikai was not too pressing, he turned to talk about the current government affairs. "Ji Zhi, you have been promoting industry, and the private sector is also very wide, and you should take on this export matter."

"President, I plan to find a few counties in Shandong to grow cotton." Zhang Jian replied immediately. He originally planted cotton in several counties in northern Jiangsu, and his business in the local area was also good. However, the People's Party seized northern Jiangsu, and Zhang Jian's family's career came to naught. As soon as he heard Yuan Shikai say, Zhang Jian immediately had momentum.

"It is very good, you should work hard." Yuan Shikai encouraged.

After quelling the dispute in the cabinet, Yuan Shikai returned to his office and sat straight on the sofa, finally showing a tired look on his face. Now the once fierce and turbulent situation seems to have subsided, and the country is also on the track of development. This would have been a good thing. However, as soon as the external pressure subsided, the internal struggle immediately became fierce.

At present, because of the lack of money in Beiyang, the conflict between Xu Shichang and Zhang Jian still revolves around how to develop the economy. This is already a very normal struggle. Even so, Xu Shichang and Zhang Jian have probably formed a personal grudge because of official conflicts. Yuan Shikai originally wanted to let Zhang Jian undertake the construction of a railway, first, to balance the situation, and secondly, to see how capable Zhang Jian was. Zhang Jian's reputation has always been "dare to do anything", but I didn't expect him to retreat from the battle, these readers are really unreliable.

Looking at the internal problems in Beiyang, Yuan Shikai couldn't help but think of the People's Party. According to intelligence, the People's Party started the construction of three railways at the same time this year, Lianyungang to Xuzhou, Zaozhuang to Xuzhou, and Lianyungang to Shanghai. Is there no such internal struggle in Beiyang within the People's Party?

Of course, the BJP has struggles, and the struggles are quite fierce. Chen Ke's original attempt to open a coconut processing base in Guangdong was opposed by the Ministry of Finance.

Every year from November to the following year is the busiest day of the Ministry of Finance, the annual summary, the second year's fiscal planning. There are more than 20 rooms in one building of the Statistics Office of the Ministry of Finance, and the sound of more than 400 people crackling and dialing abacus makes the whole building full of life.

In January 1912, many new faces appeared in the statistics section of the People's Party. These new faces are both male and female, and the only thing they have in common is that they are very young. The first batch of junior high school students who graduated from the local education system officially entered the workforce.

Since 1906, the People's Party has been implementing the compulsory education system in the Fengtai County base area. Elementary school students range in age from five to fourteen. More than five years have passed in the blink of an eye. Some students have some cultural background, and they graduate from four-year primary school in more than two years, plus three years of junior high school education, and they officially get their junior high school diploma after passing the graduation exam.

At the beginning of the year, the 14-year-old children were treated as laborers, and the base did their best to encourage everyone to finish junior high school. Since it is the People's Party that promotes it, many parents also support it. However, tens of thousands of high schools take another three years, and many parents are reluctant to let their children who are almost 20 years old continue to eat at home. They asked the children to either go home and farm or go out to work.

The People's Party is openly recruiting workers, and in the eyes of the people, this is "joining the government". In the past, if you wanted to "join the government", you had to pay money, but now when you go to school, you can "join the government" after passing the exam, and the people are naturally happy. In particular, even girls can do an errand in the government, which makes the people in the base area particularly surprised.

You know, at that time, the People's Party promised that as long as the girls could graduate from junior high school, the state would arrange jobs for them. At that time, the people felt that the People's Party was talking nonsense again. It is only today that everyone knows that the BJP is not joking.

Abacus is one of the subjects that must be studied in both elementary and junior high school, and must be mastered well. Plus more than five years of cultural education. These young graduates were brought in for employment, except that they didn't quite understand what they were calculating. It's not too difficult to get the job done.

Finance Minister Qin Wuan is very satisfied with the work of these new comrades who came from students. After carefully studying some of the figures that had already been counted, he and his comrades held a meeting to unify their views. He found Chen Ke, "Chairman Chen, our Ministry of Finance opposes the plan to open up a new base area in Guangdong. ”