For Li Shengguo's question, Xia Jun also feels quite nerve-wracking, now you can invest everywhere, basically you can make a profit, but where to invest is better, this is a troublesome problem.

In terms of various layouts, steel, textiles, and coal mining are available, and shipbuilding is directly using points to pile up production capacity, which means that in the future, the British market can be greatly eroded in these aspects, and it will be carried out after the outbreak of World War I.

There is also a need for money internally, but a lot of it is something that doesn't necessarily pay off right away. Education is the biggest area of gold, and it is now education in seven provinces, not three provinces in the past.

Three provinces and seven provinces, the gap is too great.

Investment in basic industries is almost the same, and investment in infrastructure is also relatively insufficient, but in terms of economic development, there are railways and highways.

Xia Jun thought for a long time and said to Li Shengguo: "Next, we will start stockpiling arms." ”

"Reserve arms? Isn't it too early. Li Shengguo asked, this European is not sure when they will start fighting, and now they will start stockpiling arms!

"Take your time, we store a little bit every month, and more shells or something." Xia Jun said, "The rest of the money will be allocated to the factories to expand production capacity!" ”

"It's fine." Li Shengguo nodded.

…… The U.S. presidential election began on June 25 of this year, which also meant the end of East China's autonomous political axe and the U.S. zero-tariff policy.

Because Totaugh's guy is stepping down.

However, at the beginning of the general election on June 25, 1912, Totav was strong, but soon faced strong competition.

And the other two contenders, Clark and Wilson, are also in contention.

The National Convention of the Ming Cook Party was held in Baltimore to decide the presidential candidate, and Wilson was one of the contenders. In the beginning, Chamber, who was from Missouri and was the Speaker of the House at the time? Champclark held the lead, while Wilson, who was seen as a moderate reformer, trailed him in second place in almost every round of voting.

However, since a two-thirds majority must be achieved to be nominated, Clark cannot decide the winner. At one point, Wilson decided to give up, and was almost on the verge of giving a speech admitting defeat to get the delegates who were going to vote for him to vote for someone else.

But then there was a change of theatrical surname: the powerful but [***] Tammony Society, based in New York City, decided to support Clark. This led to the three-term presidential candidate of the Benjamin Party, the liberal leader of the party, William? Jennings? Bryan turned against Clark, calling him a "Wall Street representative" and instead supported Wilson.

His change drew a chorus of delegates to follow suit, and the balance of power between Wilson and Clark began to reverse. Wilson won the 46th round of voting. Indiana Governor Thomas? Thomas R. Marshall encouraged his state delegates to vote for Wilson and was nominated as Wilson's running mate.

Since then, due to the Republican candidate Taft and the Progressive Party candidate, former Republican and President Theodore ? Roosevelt's rivalry severely distracted the votes that should have been cast for the sole Republican candidate, and Wilson won the campaign without difficulty. He won in 40 states, receiving 435 of the 531 electoral votes total.

Woodrow? After Wilson successfully ran for election and became president of the United States, the first thing he did was to cancel the zero-tariff policy with the East China Autonomous Axe.

And slammed this policy decided by former President Totav, saying: "This is a completely wrong decision!" He lost his job to a lot of Americans. And the United States for this policy, but also paid an aid loan, the last penny of profits have not been recovered, but some of our industries in the United States have been hit by Chinese goods, I really doubt that the ** official (Totav is a judge) is not a problem with his brain, I think he should go to treatment as soon as possible, maybe there is a possibility of recovery. ”

Wilson's attack was supported by many Americans, and the U.S. Congress immediately voted on a bill to cancel the zero-tariff policy.

The final vote was passed by 70% of the votes.

Some industries in the U.S. have been hit for a long time, but there are also some industries that have profited from the zero-tariff policy.

At the same time, Wilson introduced an antitrust bill in business.

Wilson broke with the antitrust approach of his two predecessors, Taft and Roosevelt, who litigated individual monopolistic consortia, and instead encouraged competition through the Federal Trade Commission to stop unfair trade practices. In addition, he forced Congress to pass the Claytonanti-Trust Act, which would have outlawed competitive practices such as price discrimination, agreements with retailers to prevent them from selling other companies' products, and controlling other companies through boards of directors or specific agreements. The new bill is stronger than previous antitrust bills because it holds individuals accountable when companies break the law. More importantly, the new law sets out a clear course of corporate action, which is a significant improvement over the uncertainty of the previous legal provisions. Samuel, the leader of the American trade union? Compass saw the bill as a Magna Carta for workers.

However, Wilson's antitrust bill does not seem to have much effect, because the United States in the first half of the twentieth century was a period of extreme trust prosperity.

Wilson's actions had an impact on the industries of the East China Autonomous Axe, first of all those products that could be manufactured without much technology.

The market share of these products has shrunk in the United States as the United States has re-established tariffs on exports from the East China Autonomous Government.

The Americans have re-established tariff protections for those industries, but they are like locking themselves in the door, and no one else can get in, and they can't get out.

Although it has had an impact on the industries of the East China Autonomous Provinces, the impact is not drastic because of the vast international market, and the industries in the East China Autonomous Provinces that do not require much technical skills are still operating.

The international market is relatively large, such as textiles, not all countries can produce cotton, so that their goods are imported, so that their tariffs are set high or low, the textiles of all countries are equally bearable, and the textiles of the East China Autonomous Provinces are still competitive after entering the market.

What is not affected in the United States is the things that the Yankees can't make, such as motorcycles, the motorcycles made by the East China Group are more fuel-efficient, more economical, and at the same time more powerful, and the Americans obviously can't make such motorcycles.

Another example is the tape recorder, the Americans have not yet built their own tape recorder, so the tape recorder imported from China has not been affected.

However, as far as zero tariffs are concerned, this relationship between the two sides can be regarded as a complete end. This made Xia Jun feel quite a pity, but he at least cheated a political loan from the Yankees, and he got a lot of benefits.

Then be content!

Thinking of this, Xia Jun wanted to laugh.

Of course, the United States unilaterally canceled the zero-tariff policy for goods exported from East China provinces, and Xia Jun naturally had to respond, and correspondingly, Xia Jun also canceled the zero-tariff policy for American goods.

Without the support of zero tariff, Mobil Oil's kerosene basically has no ability to compete with East China Petroleum Company's kerosene.

However, the quarrel between the two sides is not over, and the competition in the international market is still fierce.

It's just that the East China Autonomous Political Axe still has some profits at the same price, while the Mobil Oil Company is not profitable, and it can only be said that it is a hard support, and it is only a matter of time before the East China Oil Company occupies the international market.

In addition to reinstating tariffs, Xia Jun also began to establish his own tariff protection policy, and the customs of Jiangsu and Guangdong provinces, which were newly included in the jurisdiction of the two provinces, were not included in Xia Jun's hands, but because the Chinese customs did not re-mortgage, Xia Jun asked the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to issue a letter to the foreign powers, asking them to return the customs of Jiangsu and Guangdong provinces.

Britain's trade market in China is extremely shrinking, but it is obviously very unwilling, but there is nothing to do, obviously Britain has no ability to shake the East China Autonomous Axe, at least in terms of force, it is almost impossible for Britain to defeat the East China Autonomous Axe, because they are too far away, and the East China Autonomous Axe controls a formidable submarine force, so Britain has to think about this problem.

The Chinese market has basically been lost in the UK, which is a helpless thing, so it seems that it is not interesting for the customs to grasp it.

However, the reparations are still a problem, and China still needs to pay Gengzi reparations, about half of which have not been repaid.

Gengzi's indemnity is more than 400 million taels, but after adding interest, it becomes nearly one billion silver dollars, and this indemnity Beiyang Political Axe is still continuing to pay.

The salt tax guarantee for Gengzi's indemnity is no longer available this time, and China has abolished the salt tax, and now the customs issue will be handed back............ In order to recover the tariffs, Xia Jun began to ask Yuan Shikai to act together, Zhu Xiaocheng went to Yanjing and talked with Yuan Shikai for a long time, and Yuan Shikai agreed to come forward together to demand the recovery of the entire Chinese tariffs.

Xia Jun promised Yuan Shikai that as long as the entire Chinese tariff was recovered, the balance of the tariff would be divided equally between the two sides. Yuan Shikai was very moved when he heard this, obviously now that the East China Autonomous Political Axe occupies most of the coastal provinces, then most of the customs surplus in the tariff must be his, coupled with the rapid industrial development of the East China Autonomous Political Axe, the tariff has grown rapidly.

Therefore, the equal division of tariffs is a great benefit to the central government!

"Can we get the tariffs back?" Yuan Shikai was a little skeptical about this issue, even if the two sides worked together, what if the great powers were not allowed to return it?

"We already have enough capacity to take back the tariffs, because now China is a new China." Zhu Xiaocheng said, "We also have enough force to take back the tariffs." ”

Zhu Xiaocheng did not make it clear, that is, after the tariffs are recovered, the surplus after the equal division will be used for education, and education will be implemented by the East China Autonomous Government.

Naturally, you can't make it clear in advance, and when the tariffs are recovered, you can explain things clearly, and when the time comes, as soon as the news is announced, Yuan Shikai can only suffer a dumb loss, after all, how sacred the word education is!

Then, Yuan Shikai also sent a letter to various countries, asking China to take back control of tariffs.

The cooperation between the Beiyang political axe and the East China autonomous political axe has made many Chinese people see that the country is moving towards stability, and if the central and local governments can be harmonious, then war will naturally not break out.

The joint efforts of the East China Autonomous Political Axe and the Beiyang Political Axe are regarded by the media circles as the beginning of China's end to the internal struggle.

At the same time, the voice of the resumption of tariffs in China has suddenly become stronger, and people support the demands of Beiyang and East China.

However, the powers that control China's tariffs are not very willing to return the tariffs to China, and they have dragged on and on, without any response.

"Tariffs are China's sovereignty, and if they are not returned within a month, China will forcibly take them back." The East China Autonomous Political Axe expressed its attitude at a press conference.

After this press conference, Britain quickly stood up and expressed its willingness to return Chinese tariffs.

Now the situation in China is obvious, Yuan Shikai has reached a consensus with the East China Autonomous Axe, and China has enough force to make Britain fearful.

Once relations with China go bad, or even go to war, Britain's interests will suffer great losses, first of all, in terms of reparations, China still has indemnities not paid, and secondly, in terms of commerce, although the market share has shrunk a lot, but Britain also has a lot of overseas assets in China.

Moreover, this is only a matter of customs management, and the customs is still nominally Chinese, so China's demand for repossession is also a reasonable demand.

In addition, Britain is not willing to make relations too stiff for a rising country like the East China Autonomous Axe. After all, Britain is a long way from China, and Britain will suffer a lot in the fight.

When the news came that Britain was willing to return control of the tariffs, Yuan Shikai was shocked and muttered, "Really pay it back?" ”

This result naturally surprised him, but he quickly thought of the East China Autonomous Political Axe, and it was obvious that even Britain began to be afraid of the force of the East China Autonomous Political Axe.

"If the British agree, then they can receive customs duties, and then there will be more silver." Yuan Shikai was full of joy, and he didn't think that when he handed over the customs, the East China Autonomous Political Axe changed.

Countries do not have much opinion on the issue of returning tariffs, but they are against it, but since the navy was bombed by a Chinese submarine and forced to give in, the voice of the company has become louder and louder, and the right to speak has been lost a lot.

All countries ignored the voice, and the customs still exchanged the Chinese political axe.

However, on the issue of how to exchange customs, there were differences between the countries, Britain believed that the customs should be handed over to Yuan Shikai's Beiyang political axe, but the United States, France, Germany, and Russia all believed that the customs should be handed over to the East China Autonomous Political Axe, thinking that with the [***] degree of the Beiyang political axe, it may not be able to manage and return the Chinese Customs, and the East China Autonomous Political Axe has proved that they have the ability to manage the Chinese Customs, and the customs of the three provinces that were returned to them before were managed very well, and the tariff revenue has skyrocketed a lot. Only by handing over the customs to the management of the East China Autonomous Political Axe can the Gengzi compensation be guaranteed.

However, the United States does not think so, the United States has refunded the Gengzi indemnity in the form of education, Tsinghua University was established in the context of the refund, China sends at least 100 people to study in the United States every year, if 400 people are sent to the United States to study in the same year, then the minimum number of students sent to the United States in the second year can be reduced to 50.

In this way, the United States returned the Gengzi reparations. The United States is not strong in terms of reparations, they just think that the autonomous political axe of East China is more capable of representing China's political axe.

Although the new president Wilson has criticized the zero-tariff policy, it does not mean that they are biased against the East China Autonomous Political Axe, but rather supports the achievements of the Eastern China Autonomous Political Axe in education and industry.

At the same time, other countries have put the East China Autonomous Political Axe in front, also because they do not have a Beiyang political axe that is optimistic about Yuan Shikai.

The East China Autonomous Axe is better than the Beiyang Axe both militarily and economically, and all countries know that the East China Autonomous Axe is much more incorruptible administratively than the Beiyang Axe, not to mention that the East China Autonomous Axe vigorously develops education, and even the free education that many countries do not have has been carried out in the jurisdiction of the East China Autonomous Axe.

No matter how you look at it, in the future, the East China Autonomous Political Axe will be a force that can unify China, and the consuls of various countries have made reports to the Political Axe, so only by establishing a good relationship with the East China Autonomous Political Axe can we better seek more benefits in China.

As for the Beiyang political axe, for a government that is about to pass out, except for the United Kingdom, which is willing to support it, other countries are too lazy to spend too much effort on them.

In the face of opposition from various countries, Britain had no choice but to agree to hand over the customs to the East China Autonomous Government.

As a result, the representative sent by the Beiyang political axe to receive the customs touched a nose of dust, and the customs was handed over to the East China Autonomous Political Axe.

The East China Autonomous Government urgently dispatched personnel to the provincial customs, and at the same time, each provincial customs was equipped with two battalions to inspect smuggling and drug trafficking.

Yuan Shikai felt helpless that the customs was handed over to the East China Autonomous Political Axe, but it was nothing, just ask for that half.

It's just that the axe of East China's autonomous government has suddenly changed.

When Tang Shaoyi was discussing the customs division with Zhu Xiaocheng, Zhu Xiaocheng made it clear that the so-called sharing was half used for the education funds of the five autonomous provinces of East China plus Shanxi and Guangdong, and the other half was used for the education funds of the provinces under the jurisdiction of the central government, and at the same time, these education funds will be used by the Ministry of Education of the East China Autonomous Government, but the central government can supervise it, and this money is absolutely indispensable to the education of the provinces under the jurisdiction of the central government.

"Mistakes, mistakes." When Yuan Shikai learned about it, he shouted that he had made a mistake and said: "That Xia boy's methods are really powerful, and he accidentally fell into his way." ”

On the other hand, Yuan Keding wondered: "How did you get into his way?" ”

"Until we return to customs, we can at least get the balance of customs. Now that the customs have taken it back, all the money has to be invested in education, isn't there even a surplus of customs? Yuan Shikai said, not looking angry at all.

This made Yuan Keding very strange and asked, "Then what should we do?" Let him do this nonsense? ”

"The so-called wood is already in the boat, what else can be done now, just be careful in the future." Yuan Shikai shook his head and said, he was already feeling more and more powerless.

But fortunately, the East China Autonomous Political Axe remains politically neutral and basically does not interfere in the affairs of the central government, at least it can share the world equally with Naxia Boy at present!

(To be continued)