The plan to quickly recover the state and move troops into Zhejiang was unanimously approved by the military conference, and the specific action plan was not discussed at the meeting, and the military enlargement meeting was an important strategic meeting that Xiao Yimin had routinely held since he became an army, and usually did not involve tactical issues such as specific operational command.

The participating generals soon returned to their respective residences, and Wang Lingji, who was seated in Nanchang, continued to command the First and Fourth Armies to suppress the border areas of Guangdong and Jiangxi and Zhejiang.

Sun Baoqi, Zhang Jian, Gu Weijun and others went to Yanjing, Zhejiang, Shanghai and other places to continue to implement Xiao Yimin's internal and external introduction plan.

In the spacious conference room, only Xiao Yimin and Yang Du remained, and Yang Du, who still had reservations in the daytime meeting, stood in front of the large map, discussing each plan and every step with Xiao Yimin one by one, and weighing it repeatedly.

"If we look at the overall situation, I still think that it is more advantageous to solve the Guangdong problem first, and Guangdong is the source of great trouble and turmoil! Although under the onslaught of Lu Rongting and Mo Rongxin's Gui army, the various factions in Guangdong that had been divided put aside their contradictions in order to survive and united with the outside world, with the radicalism and arrogance of Sun Wen and others, it was difficult to once again control the generals of the Guangdong army who had deviated from morality and tried to stand on their own.

"I dare to say that even Chen Jiongming, a powerful warlord in Guangdong who started by relying on the revolution, is no longer willing to submit to Sun Wen, who can only talk about empty words, let alone the traditional wealthy families in Guangdong...... So, this is a very rare opportunity! ”

Yang Du's strategic focus was always on Guangdong, perhaps because of the profound lessons he learned during his years of assisting Yuan Shikai, who always believed that Sun Yat-sen's party was far more harmful than any other power in China.

Xiao Yimin, who has a clear understanding of this, agrees with Yang Du's analysis from the bottom of his heart, but he is really unwilling to intervene in Guangdong before the victory or defeat of Guangdong and Gui is undecided, not only is there a secret agreement between him and Lu Rongting and Tan Yanmin, but the more important reason is that Xiao Yimin very much hopes that the two armies of Guangdong and Guizhou will continue to fight, and it is better to lose both sides and exhaust their troops.

Yang Du glanced at Xiao Yimin, who was silent in thought: "The handsome man has the heart of sitting on the mountain and watching the tiger and the fisherman to benefit?" ”

Xiao Yimin smiled, admired it very much in his heart, and said in his mouth: "Mr. is really amazing!" I could see through this little bit of my mind at a glance. ”

Yang Du shook his head: "It's normal for the big marshal to think like this, there's nothing wrong with it, but the big marshal has thought about it, in case the Gui family really unifies the two Guangzhous, even if the vitality is temporarily damaged, but with the wealth of Guangdong, it will soon recover, and if we clean up the Gui family again, it will be tantamount to leaving the people of the world with a handle that is not trustworthy, who will dare to conclude an alliance with the big marshal in the future?" If you let the Gui family cultivate and recuperate, it will be an end of raising tigers, think about it, or make a quick decision is the best policy! ”

Xiao Yimin humbly accepted Yang Du's admonition, but put forward a completely different idea, this idea Xiao Yimin thought about it in his stomach for two years, and he still has no certainty:

"There is an idea that I have never talked about with other people, and even I have not thought it through myself, so I will take it out today and let Mr. refer to it to see if there is such a possibility: What does Mr. think of Xu Chongzhi?"

"Xu Chongzhi?"

Yang Du was stunned when he heard this, but soon let out a low chuckle: "I understand!" Dashuai wants to pull Xu Chongzhi over, right? ”

Xiao Yimin nodded: "Xu Chongzhi's military command talent should not be underestimated!" Looking at the previous wars launched by the Guangdong Army and the Revolutionary Army, only Xu Chongzhi's performance is remarkable, this person is only 32 years old, not much older than my second brother, but he has made great achievements in many years of warfare, and has reached today's high position step by step.

"This person is upright with soldiers, but he does not lose his sensitivity and flexibility, he should advance, he should retreat, he has a plank and an eye, he is as stable as Mount Tai, almost every time he is exchanged for the greatest result at the lowest cost, which is really rare! If it weren't for the fact that he was born and had little political ambition, I am afraid that he would have already pocketed the scattered Cantonese army!

It is precisely because of this that he has a high prestige among the officers and soldiers of Guangdong and the people from all walks of life in Guangdong...... But he is too ignorant of practice, and he never knows how to take the initiative to strive for his own share of glory...... Thinking about it, I really don't know how to evaluate him, hey! ”

After speaking, An Yi frowned, obviously because he had a headache for this person.

Yang Du was very surprised: "Xu Chongzhi...... I have seen this person many times, compared with many famous generals in the north and south of the world, he gives me the feeling that his intelligence is slightly inferior, and his reputation is not good, if it were not for Sun Wen and others who repeatedly attached this person's name to the telegram, I am afraid that few people noticed his existence, I don't know how this person got such a high praise from the handsome? ”

Xiao Yimin explained: "Originally, I didn't pay much attention to him, but through the analysis and study of the previous operations of the Guangdong Army and the Revolutionary Army, as well as the analysis and summary of various intelligence collected from the Intelligence Bureau over the years, I found that Xu Chongzhi is really not simple, he is loyal and open-minded, and has the proud spirit of seeking truth from facts and never flattering, and he is indeed a rare general!" ”

Yang Du smiled: "If this is the case, I am afraid that this person will not be able to bear the praise of the handsome...... As the saying goes, Daoci is not in charge of soldiers, righteousness is not in charge of wealth, although Xu Chongzhi has many advantages and prestige, but with his humble surname everywhere, I am afraid it is difficult to control the overall situation!

"If you think about it carefully, this person's surname is somewhat similar to Liu Zicheng, the second brother of the handsome, maybe it is precisely because of this that Xu Chongzhi and Liu Zicheng can live in harmony in Chaomei and Shantou, and cherish each other and have a deep friendship, right?"

Xiao Yimin looked at Yang Du in great surprise, and after thinking about it carefully, it seemed that this was really the case, and he couldn't help but secretly dispel the idea of supporting Xu Chongzhi.

Letting go of the thoughts that had been haunting his heart for two years, Xiao Yimin suddenly felt a lot more relaxed, so he put out his other plan and discernment:

"Sir, please see, Guangdong's biggest dependence is undoubtedly import and export trade, and Guangdong's wealth also comes from import and export trade, what do you think?"

"Indeed, without import and export trade, the loss of trade routes to the inland areas, Guangdong's industries may be immediately depressed, the Marshal from the beginning of the year began to strangle Guangdong's strategy to the inland trade route, has shown great power, coupled with the huge damage caused by the civil war between the two Guangzhou, Guangdong's economy will be set back at least 20 years!"

Yang Du was moved and admired Xiao Yimin's early cutting off of Guangdong's business routes.

Xiao Yimin went on to explain: "In that case, why don't we give up armed intervention and continue to impose a strict economic blockade on Guangdong? If we go further, we only need to encroach on Guangdong's import and export trade step by step, through coercion and inducement and other countermeasures, through local warlords to block the two largest smuggling ports of Yangjiang and Zhanjiang, and then reach an understanding with Britain, the United States and other powers, and take the lead in implementing a new tariff policy in the Yangtze River valley and the coastal provinces south of it. ”

Yang Du fell into a long period of contemplation, and he finally understood why Xiao Yimin ordered Gu Weijun, Wang Chonghui, and Wang Zhengting to give up the restrictions on trade in the middle and upper reaches of the Yangtze River, and even offered the trump card of railway construction rights in exchange for tariff autonomy in the Yangtze River basin and the coastal provinces south of it, which was undoubtedly a huge political adventure.

However, once Xiao Yimin's plan is successfully implemented, the economic lifeline of the entire South China will be completely in the hands of Xiao Yimin, and the European and American countries will certainly support Xiao Yimin because of the huge interests they enjoy in South China.

Not to mention anything else, just bringing huge benefits from tariff autonomy every year is enough to bring hundreds of millions of disposable wealth to Xiao Yiming, not to mention that because China joined the Allies to declare war on Germany last year, the European and American powers unanimously decided to give China a preferential policy of suspending the payment of Gengzi indemnity for five years, if Xiao Yimin can reach an agreement with the European and American powers and obtain tariff autonomy, I am afraid that in less than three years, Duan Qirui's political axe will be left far behind by Xiao Yimin's group, and in the end there is only the only ending of dismal surrender.

Xiao Yimin saw Yang Du's face change, and couldn't help but sigh faintly: "So far, we have not made much breakthrough in the great powers, the only thing that has made substantial progress is the multi-field cooperation with the United States, in addition to the three major steel plants of Qijiang, Yucheng and Ma'anshan, which are joint ventures between China and the United States, I also reluctantly handed over the railway construction project from Neijiang to Syria to the Americans, and it did have a greater stimulating effect on the British, French and other national consortia. That's why I ordered Wang Zhengting and Gu Weijun to throw out four railways, including the Xuzhou to Haizhou section of the Longhai Railway. ”

Yang Du said suddenly: "The key is to say this, don't ignore the huge destructive effect of this book, but also take into account the alliance between Britain and China, no matter what, the British must always consider their own feelings, and will not go too far!" ”

Xiao Yimin nodded: "That's right, it is precisely because of this that I choose to strengthen the relationship of interests with the United States, no matter what, at least the Yankees do not have any territorial claims to China at present, and it seems that they will not achieve the purpose of extortion and plunder by occupying Chinese territory." ”

"This is a fact, and it is precisely because of the goodwill expressed by the Americans in recent years that the goodwill of the Chinese people towards the United States has increased, and at least the number of people studying in the United States has increased year by year." Yang Du is also fully aware of this.

Xiao Yimin pointed to the top of the map: "In fact, there is another important factor that seriously affects the interests between Britain and China, and that is the newly established Soviet Russia...... Recently, the frequent exchanges between Russia and Russia have aroused strong dissatisfaction among the British, and European and American countries generally regard Soviet Russia, which believes in violent revolution and [***], as the greatest enemy, so as long as we do well and can firmly grasp every opportunity, we will be able to obtain a relatively relaxed external development environment, and we will be able to do our best to resist the immortal spirit of self-destruction. ”

Yang Du said worriedly: "In the previous paragraph, the most noisy thing was the Daye Iron and Steel Plant and Daye Iron Mine, which were destroyed by the war, and Duan Zhiquan Zhengaxe was so broken under the strong pressure of Yue that he would acquiesce to the exploration of iron ore in the northern provinces. ”

Xiao Yimin was in a particularly happy mood: "It is precisely because Daye Iron Mine was destroyed by the war that I am so exhausted and anxious, but it is impossible to resume the mining of Daye Iron Mine in less than half a year, and it is useless to exert pressure on myself."

"What I'm worried about now is not that I want to explore mineral deposits in the northern provinces, but that Zhang Zuolin, a bearded man, will let me enter the mineral-rich Northeast by selling the right to build railways for his own interests."

Yang Du thought deeply: "With our current strength and status, I'm afraid it will be difficult to stop it...... Hey, we still have a long way to go, and we can't afford to take a wrong step. ”

"Yes! Mr. reminded you right, if you want to hurry, you can't reach it! ”

Xiao Yimin turned to Yang Du and said very firmly: "That's why I adopted the strategy of Zhejiang first and then Guangdong, only by completely bringing Zhejiang under our rule, can we use our abundant cheap labor force to seize the textile market through open investment and the introduction of advanced technology and equipment, and break the thigh of the textile industry that supports its national economy in one fell swoop, and then vigorously develop the steel industry and machinery manufacturing industry through joint investment with Britain and the United States." By ordering scrap steel in advance, increasing manufacturing equipment such as machine tools and introducing technology, etc., we can seize this rare opportunity in a century and rapidly develop our light and heavy industrial system, so as to break the other leg of the strong capital! Sir, there are many places where Yimin depends on you! ”

Yang Du was deeply moved: "Don't worry, Dashuai, no matter whether there is a sword mountain or a sea of fire in front of you, no matter how long it will be passed down through the ages or for thousands of years, Yang Du will go with Dashuai!" ”

(To be continued)