Shanghai, after more than ten years of painstaking management by Li Weiguo, now has a population of more than 5 million, becoming the world's first super metropolis in the mid-19th century.

More than ten years ago, Shanghai was a small county with a population of no more than 30,000 and a radius of five kilometers. The Taiping War created a miracle that the population of this small county exceeded the 5 million mark, making it the only metropolis in the world with a population of more than 5 million.

Of course, if it is just that small county town with a radius of five kilometers, it will definitely not be able to accommodate a population of five million. Today, Shanghai County has been upgraded to Shanghai Prefecture, which is the seat of the Governor of Jiangnan, the Governor of Liangjiang, and the Minister of Nanyang, as well as the political, economic and military center of the ten southern provinces.

It is precisely because of this particularity that Shanghai has undergone three major expansions in a row, the original Shanghai county is only five kilometers in circumference, and now the radius has reached 50 kilometers, including the original British, French and American concessions, but also across the Huangpu River, Pudong, Chuansha has also become an urban area.

Except for the inner city, there are no bungalow buildings in the outer city, and all of them have been replaced by high-rise buildings to alleviate the huge population pressure.

From a military point of view, a metropolis with a population of five million is not advisable, because once a war breaks out, the population density is too large, and it is easy to cause greater civilian casualties, especially the rapid development of hot weapons, which are much more lethal than cold weapons.

As far as Shanghai is concerned, it is located in the East China Plain, surrounded by the sea on two sides, facing the Yangtze River on the other, and the flat river on the other, so there is no danger to defend, and it has become a densely populated area, which is equivalent to increasing the huge military burden.

But where there are pros and cons, at first Li Weiguo was still skeptical about the construction of Shanghai, but soon he wanted to open it, now it is not the old China, and it is impossible for Shanghai to repeat the mistake of being destroyed by the Japanese army, Li Weiguo himself should have the confidence to protect Shanghai, if he can't even keep Shanghai, then don't talk about Wang Tu's hegemony.

Li Weiguo has no knots. let Fu Xuexian and others build Shanghai.

Of course, there were military disadvantages in dispatching, but Li Weiguo received huge political and economic rewards.

Politically, after the implementation of the Greater Shanghai Plan, a large number of refugees from the south of the Yangtze River were accepted, so that the common people could live and work in peace and contentment and avoid the devastation of war. Millions of ordinary people from all over the country moved into Shanghai because they heard that Li Weiguo was benevolent and righteous, and that he was stable and prosperous under his rule. If Li Weiguo does not expand Shanghai, then he will not be able to resettle millions of refugees, and Li Weiguo's reputation for benevolence and righteousness will be ruined. As a result, the Greater Shanghai Project was ultimately successful, and millions of refugees were properly resettled, creating a world record of 5 million people in Greater Shanghai, and at the same time, Li Weiguo's reputation for benevolence and righteousness was supported by the people. Prestige is skyrocketing.

Economically, after the implementation of the Greater Shanghai Plan, an average of 500,000 or 600,000 people poured into Shanghai every year at the beginning, and food, clothing, housing, and transportation were in full crisis. Faced with this situation, Fu Xuexian, who is in charge of implementing the Greater Shanghai Project, was almost scared to death, because the cost of helping refugees alone was millions of yuan.

Fortunately, Li Weiguo's coffers have sufficient funds, and he can make huge profits of tens of millions of yuan from overseas just by printing illegal banknotes every year. The AIIB monopolizes the country's finance, and the Jiangwan Industrial Zone is booming, and the annual profits are also very considerable. Sufficient funds are available for the resettlement of refugees so that refugee mutinies are not caused.

This is the people's livelihood strategy formulated by Li Weiguo when he was the county magistrate in Chongming, which can not only concentrate labor force to carry out various constructions, but also solve the people's living problems, stabilize social order, and improve people's popularity. Millions of refugees have provided cheap labor for the construction of the Greater Shanghai Project, and after the six major expansions of the Jiangwan Industrial Zone, the production capacity is huge, the overcapacity of bulk industrial products such as steel, cement, textiles, etc., and the fierce competition in the overseas market can just expand domestic demand and stimulate Shanghai's economic growth.

As a result, there were three large-scale urban expansions, the construction of new outer city walls, the construction of wide roads, flood control and drainage underpasses in the urban area, tens of thousands of buildings for millions of refugees, urban subways and other urban infrastructure construction, which not only consumed the excess capacity of the industrial zone, but also completed the large-scale expansion of the city and successfully resettled millions of people.

It can be said that the investment in the early stage is huge, with a total of 120 million yuan spent in more than 10 years, but in recent years, the investment has become less and less, and in turn, millions of Shanghai citizens have begun to feed back to Shanghai's finances, so that Shanghai's fiscal deficit has disappeared, and the annual tax collection alone is as high as 20 million yuan, and within five years, the huge amount of money invested by Li Weiguo will be fully recovered.

This is the advantage brought by the huge population, because the city where five million people live, clothing, food, housing and transportation need to be consumed, and the oil, salt, rice, flour, furniture, etc. for daily life need to be purchased, which promotes the development of urban commerce, and the government can levy a large amount of commercial income tax, and tap water, gas, gas lamps, subways and other infrastructure are put into use, and the people are inseparable, and they have to pay money to the government.

Don't look at tap water for a dime a ton, gas for three cents a cubic meter, and a subway ticket for only five cents of coins, these are all small coins, but if you multiply it by five million people, it is a lot of money, and if you multiply it by three hundred and sixty-five days a year, it is a huge amount of money.

And these are the advantages of the huge population, which can feed back the investment in urban construction, so that the continuous cycle continues, and the development of the city will become a snowball, which will become bigger and bigger, and finally become the take-off of Shanghai's economy.

Nowadays, Shanghai's landmark building is no longer the AIIB headquarters building, the eight-story bank building is not unusual, in the most prosperous commercial area, there are already 30-storey buildings, becoming a new landmark in Shanghai, in comparison, the United States of New York, the most prosperous Fifth Avenue tallest building is only 18 floors of Rockefeller Center, compared with Shanghai, it is simply weak.

Standing at the highest point of Sheshan Mountain, Li Weiguo looked at the big Shanghai at his feet, and his heart was full of emotion.

This is the Greater Shanghai he created single-handedly, and the feeling is more enjoyable, proud, and fulfilling, than playing SimCity.

However, the more prosperous Shanghai became, the more worried Li Weiguo became, and once a war broke out, he was afraid that it would be destroyed by the enemy.

The richer the person, the more he picks the door, and the more successful the career, the more afraid he is of losing.

"Lord Wang, I just received news that the British and French parliaments have passed a declaration of war."

Cheng Kun, deputy director of the intelligence department of S.H.I.E.L.D., came to report to Li Weiguo, and now Li Weiguo, the overseas intelligence of S.H.I.E.L.D., has been handed over to Cheng Kun, as for the domestic intelligence work. It is still under the care of Li Jing.

On the surface, it seems that there is only a different division of labor, but in fact, Li Weiguo has already begun to separate the power departments of the China S.H.I.E.L.D. Bureau, one internally and the other externally, which is a trade-off technique.

"The news came so fast! It's only been a few days? The British and French parliaments made a decision! It's not like their style! ”

It was Li Hongzao who spoke, who had been transferred from the governor of Liangguang to the governor of Liangjiang and returned to Shanghai.

This was Li Weiguo's arrangement, because war was about to break out, and Shanghai and Liangjiang needed a capable governor to preside over government affairs, and Li Hongzao was undoubtedly the most qualified.

on this. Li Hongzao was also very happy, because in Li Weiguo's circle, the Governor of Liangjiang was the largest and highest-ranking governor, just like Governor Zhili was the highest-ranking governor of the Great Qing Dynasty.

"Lord Li doesn't know that the British have already laid telegraph lines to Singapore, so the news will be transmitted so quickly!" Cheng Kun immediately explained.

Li Hongzao suddenly realized that he was not surprised, because in the year and a half that he took care of the two Guangzhous, the construction of railways and the laying of telegraph lines were the most important matters. The speed of telegraph communication is still very clear.

"The age of telecommunications has come!"

Li Weiguo smiled and said: "The last time Britain and France chose to ink on us for a full year, now with the means of telegraph communication, they have responded in just three days. It seems that this time, Britain and France are prepared! ”

"Come prepared, I think it's almost as good as being ready to be beaten!"

Zhang Xiaoliu pouted and said, with a look of disdain. If Zhang Xiaoliu was still afraid of foreigners ten years ago, then now Zhang Xiaoliu has used foreigners as a punching bag, and he can abuse them as much as he wants.

Zhang Xiaoliu was the commander of the First Front Army of the Nanyang Army. Naturally confident. Similarly, since the Battle of Songhu broke out against the British and French forces, the officers and soldiers of the entire Nanyang Army are no longer afraid of foreigners, and even the common people have straightened their waists and no longer nodded to foreigners.

This is a change of mood and represents great strength and self-confidence.

However, Li Weiguo wants to talk about Zhang Xiaoliu, it is okay to be proud, but you can't be arrogant and despise the enemy.

He said: "We must despise the enemy strategically, but we must attach importance to the enemy tactically, otherwise we will be defeated." ”

"Yes!" Zhang Xiaoliu immediately responded, he has been studying most of the time, and he just got a diploma and bachelor's degree from Danfu University last year, which is a great creation for Zhang Xiaoliu, a small person born as a slave in the Li Mansion, and his whole temperament has also undergone great changes, from an ordinary person to officially enter the elite ranks.

Regarding Zhang Xiaoliu's humble attitude, Li Weiguo is still very satisfied.

"Where do you think the Anglo-French forces will attack this time?"

Zhang Xiaoliu thought for a moment and replied: "In the early days of the war, it is possible for the southeastern coastal provinces to attack Shanghai as the war progresses. ”

"Oh, how so?" Li Weiguo asked with a smile.

Li Hongzao, Fu Xuexian and Cheng Kun on the side also pricked up their ears, wanting to see how talented the most trusted person around King Wu was, after all, Zhang Xiaoliu was born as a slave of the Li Mansion, and now he is sitting in the position of the commander of the First Front Army, in charge of the most elite four armies and two hundred thousand troops in eight towns under Li Weiguo, which can be described as a military giant, and not everyone obeys him.

Zhang Xiaoliu said: "According to the king's overall plan, the imperial army represented by Yi Xin, Li Hongzhang's Yan army, and the Anglo-French coalition army, these three forces are our enemies, but Yi Xin wants Li Hongzhang and the Anglo-French alliance to fight with us first, so that he can sit and reap the benefits of the fisherman, then the Manchurian and Mongolian Eight Banners Army of the imperial court will not strike first." Li Hongzhang must know Yi Xin's abacus, but he can't send troops, in order to prevent Yi Xin from picking up cheap, Li Hongzhang will take risks, planning to fight quickly, before Yi Xin does not react, use Wu Zhiqiang's Fourth Army as an internal response, in a vain attempt to go down to Shanghai in a war. Similarly, Britain and France will not be stupid enough to be used as a gun by Yi Xin, so the British and French coalition forces will not launch a decisive battle against us at the beginning, their greatest possibility is to contain our troops, sit back and watch the Chinese civil war, and at the critical moment, the British and French coalition forces will make a move, with the purpose of destroying our China. ”

After a pause, Zhang Xiaoliu concluded: "Therefore, I think that the Anglo-French alliance will attack the southeastern coastal provinces at the beginning and give full play to the advantages of their fleet. Once the prince here has a decisive battle with Yi Xin and Li Hongzhang, no matter who wins or loses, the British and French forces will sweep in to occupy Shanghai and avenge the revenge of the past. ”

Li Weiguo smiled, but asked the others: "What do you think?" ”

Li Hongzao admired: "Commander Zhang's analysis is very reasonable, admire and admire!" ”

"The ministers seconded it!" Fu Xuexian and Cheng Kun also nodded in agreement, both of them looking surprised, they didn't expect that this slave of the Li Mansion had turned over after all these years of study.

"Not bad! Not bad! Li Weiguo nodded, and he was very happy to defeat Zhang Xiaoliu.

Fu Xuexian suddenly frowned and said, "In case of war in Shanghai, it will have a great impact on Shanghai's economy!" ”

Li Hongzao also said: "The last time Chuansha and Pudong were barren grasslands, and the decisive battle with the British and French forces there did not affect the economy. But now most of Chuansha and Pudong are also planned into the urban area of Shanghai, and then the war here will cause great damage and great economic losses. ”

Zhang Xiaoliu didn't care and said: "The three city walls in Shanghai are all very tall and strong, and the artillery of the British and French forces is still a direct-fire artillery, and it can't enter the city at all." As for the industrial zone, Pudong does not, it is on the south bank of the Huangpu River, and the loss should not be large. ”

When Li Weiguo began to build Shanghai, because of the weakness of the strength at that time, he took the defensive counterattack as the starting point, that is, the city walls of Shanghai were built tall and strong, and all of them were poured with reinforced concrete, as the first line of defense against foreign invasion. At the same time, wooden houses are no longer allowed to be built in the city, and the new houses must be reinforced concrete buildings, which is also Li Weiguo's lack of confidence at that time, thinking that once the city wall can not be held, the army retreats into the city, relying on reinforced concrete houses to carry out urban street battles, and build Shanghai into the Stalingrad of the East.

At that time, the plan was conservative, and I did not expect to easily win the Battle of Songhu. Now, if he does it again, Li Weiguo is really reluctant, after all, even if he can win the battle to defend Stalingrad, a prosperous metropolis will be destroyed. For Li Weiguo, he will be very distressed.

Li Weiguo then said: "This time, the British and French troops will not be allowed to land easily, and the battlefield will be placed near the coastline to ensure that the city will not be affected." ”

Li Hongzao worried: "However, in the battle near the coastline, the British and French navies are too strong, is our army too bad?" ”

This is a hard wound, and if there is no sea dominance, it will inevitably suffer losses if it fights near the coastline.

However, Li Weiguo is not afraid, he is confident, because the East China Sea Fleet has a big killing weapon.

"It doesn't matter, this time the East China Sea Fleet will participate in the war, and with the shore defense forces, shallow sea and coastline minefields, even if the British and French forces land successfully, they will have to pay a heavy price."

According to Li Weiguo's plan, the British and French forces will consume a large number of troops in order to land, and after the remaining troops land, they will also be surrounded by the superior forces of the Nanyang Army, so as to quickly end the war and minimize the destructiveness and impact of the war.

The more prosperous the economy, the more we can't afford to fight a war, because the losses are too great, and I feel distressed!

Therefore, Li Weiguo's strategic policy was to end the war as quickly as possible.

At this moment, the soldiers of Wu Wangfu urgently asked to see him.

"Report - Qi Qi Prince, the imperial court has arrived, and the princess asks the prince to return quickly!"

Li Weiguo suddenly smiled bitterly, this day has still arrived, and it is another headache. (To be continued.) )