Song Biao's meeting with Lieutenant Colonel Conns and Senior General Yoshimasa Oshima was not long, but it achieved a lot, and he also reached an arms deal with the Yue Jun again, exchanging supplies with the 30-year-old Golden Hook rifle and 6.5mm caliber ammunition that he did not need, and what he wanted was nothing more than some 75mm caliber howitzers from the Yue Army's stockpile, as well as Murata 22-year rifle cartridges.

The reason why Song Biao did not want the Golden Hook rifle, but wanted to leave the more old-fashioned Murata 22 rifle, is nothing more than because the Murata 22 rifle is more reliable, has a large inventory, and is more suitable for use in armed militia and police forces.

As for Yin Chang and Tang Shaoyi, Yin Chang was soon anxious to return to Beijing to report the news, lest the Beijing division misjudge Song Biao's strength, while Tang Shaoyi continued to stay in Dalian to negotiate with both sides, hoping that both Russian and Russian armies could withdraw as soon as possible without affecting the northeast sovereignty of the Qing Empire.

In the special environment of all this, there is almost no need for Russia to forcibly persecute, Song Biao has become the governor of the three eastern provinces has become very obvious, the Manchu court is really powerless to refuse, with the strength of Song Biao's hands, it is imperative to recruit An, and at least a Jilin governor.

In this situation, rashly giving Song Biao the official title of Jilin Admiral may really make Song Biao rebel, after all, the strength of others is not as simple as a Admiral.

Song Biao dragged on and on in Dalian, and after staying for more than half a month, the situation finally became clear, in Yuan Shikai's reply, basically after the official armistice between Russia and Russia, Song Biao should become the new governor of the three eastern provinces, and now the court is only debating whether to revoke General Shengjing.

At this point, Song Biao even took half a reassuring pill, and he officially returned to Shenyang.

At this time, Zhao Tingzhu, Zhang Yahu, Yang Tiesheng, and Xue Changqing were ready to continue to wipe out bandit troops from all over Liaozhong County, and three infantry regiments, an artillery regiment, and a cavalry regiment arrived in Liaozhong County one after another.

Before returning to Shenyang by train, Song Biao took the time to go to Liaozhong County, and after holding two operational meetings, he did not ask much about things, and deliberately let Zhao Tingzhu and others command the troops to fight on their own.

After dealing with the situation in Liaozhong County, Song Biao continued to take the train back to Shenyang City.

That's twenty-three days.

Because his subordinates were concentrated in Liaozhong County, when Song Biao arrived at the Tanglingwei Railway Station, only Jiang Fangzhen and Lieutenant Colonel Kornilov came to pick up the car.

Two kilometres from the railway station is the new site vacated for the Arsenal, where the Changling Arsenal has been relocated, where most of the equipment has already been installed and is currently being reassembled and put into secondary production.

The arsenal is too important to Song Biao, he got off the train and went directly to the arsenal to check the production status, compared with the situation seen in the Changling Arsenal half a year ago, the current scale of the new arsenal has been greatly expanded, just from Germany and France and other countries imported mechanical lathes increased to more than 60 units.

Lieutenant Colonel Kornilov has always been in charge of the work here, and when he entered the factory, he reported to Song Biao: "Your Excellency, we have already shipped some new equipment from Russia, which has the ability to produce 7.62 mm nagant shells, which are now being commissioned, in addition to this, we can also produce grenades and mines, including 76 mm mortar shells. Now the problem is that all materials need to be imported from Russia and France, which is expensive and not cheaper than importing directly from France and Germany. ”

Song Biao didn't care about the cost, he nodded and went to the artillery shell workshop to inspect, where the main production is mortars, polishing the shell of the shell through the grinder, before the birth of modern stamping technology, the production of each shell is very cumbersome, the use of die-casting production and then fine grinding, milling machine processing, and finally to ensure the accuracy of the size, which makes the price of each shell in the First World War and before it is staggeringly expensive.

By the time of World War II, with the maturity of stamping machine tools and technology, the price of artillery shells began to plummet, and throughout World War II, the two sides also fired each other like strafing machine guns.

At present, stamping technology can only be applied to the production of rifle and pistol cartridge cases, which look relatively rough and have a non-smooth surface, which needs to be finely processed on a special grinding machine.

During the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression, many domestic military factories produced ammunition before use, soldiers need to test the ammunition one by one, because the size of many bullets does not meet the standard, which is easy to cause rifles and machine guns to jam, or because the diameter of the bullet is smaller than the diameter of the tube, resulting in a decrease in range and accuracy, as well as affecting the accuracy and life of the barrel of rifles and machine guns.

The 76mm mortars used in the late stage of the Russian War should be called 77mm mortars, and the overall processing accuracy is relatively low, with the end of the war, Song Biao decided to reprocess all mortars, and the caliber accuracy of the gun barrel was determined to be 77mm, and the inner wall was required to be strictly polished.

Mortars belonging to breech guns are different from conventional breech guns and rifles, and the diameter of their shells is slightly smaller than the diameter of the barrel.

The production workers in the arsenal are mainly Russians, and the new workers recruited from the local area basically work here.

Song Biao found a few reproduced 77mm mortar barrels in the workshop, and after a careful inspection, he felt that it was indeed more refined than the original model, and he was still very happy considering that this arsenal could reach this level at present.

Lieutenant Colonel Kornilov and Song Biao asked: "Is it time to reconsider the production of 60mm diameter mortars?" It should be lighter and more suitable for squad and platoon-level units, right? The Russian military is currently considering this, and has arranged for the Moscow Arsenal to start the design, of course, their design plan is basically copied from our previous design. ”

Song Biao shook his head and said, "Let's wait for them to come up with a design, on our side, each company will add a separate mortar platoon, and each platoon will have two to three 77mm mortars." In terms of the team, let's consider some new ideas. The 60mm mortar is a little less powerful and has a lower range, and it is not necessarily much less than the weight of the 77mm. The 60 mm mortar is actually too large for the proper firepower required by the squad, and we should consider a small howitzer that can be carried lightly by the squad, with a range of less than three hundred meters, 45 mm...... Even 35 mm is enough. Let's wait on this issue, the main thing recently is to catch up on the production progress of rifle cartridges. In addition to the 7.62 mm Nagant round, the production of 8 mm old Mauser rounds was still being considered, and the hundreds of thousands of Murata rifles could not be met by importing bullets from Sakatomo and other countries alone. ”

Lieutenant Colonel Kornilov nodded slightly, wondering how many troops Song Biao would arm, but what Song Biao said was also a mock answer, he himself did not give up the pursuit of 60mm mortars, but this requires a new progress in technology, such as adding a buffer design, and he is not willing to share this technological progress with Russia for the time being.

After inspecting his new arsenal, Song Biao returned to the Tanglin Wei camp, after a month, the camp facilities are much more complete than before, the four boilers purchased from Russia have been shipped, and are being installed in the camp, and after the six boilers arrive one after another, the camp will be able to take a hot bath this winter.

It's just that the troops are basically in Liaozhong County, and the camp at this time seems quiet.

Back in his office, Jiang Fangzhen handed in the report on the preparation of the art troupe and reported: "Military seat, we have started the recruitment of art workers in Shenyang and Fushun in advance, there are no restrictions on men and women, and there are not many applicants. The war is over, there is calm everywhere, and the recruitment process is not as smooth as before. ”

Song Biao read Jiang Fangzhen's report, and then said to Jiang Fangzhen: "Don't worry, this kind of thing has set a precedent, and it is more difficult for everyone to accept it." You can first find some well-known drama troupes in various places and talk directly with their class owners. The big Yangge and the small Yangge in the Northeast are relatively distinctive, and Peking Opera and Allegro Commentary can recruit a little, and even run a drama company. The life of our soldiers is very boring, and the days in the barracks are even more so, and we can regularly rehearse some patriotic plays with surnames to enrich the professional life of the soldiers, but also play an educational and propaganda role, and sometimes even boost morale. Don't be afraid of difficulties, do this thing well, and think of more ways. ”

Jiang Fangzhen nodded slightly, and suddenly asked, "Junzuo, do you know Chen Tianhua?" ”

Song Biao asked, "Who is it?" ”

Jiang Fangzhen said: "When I used to study abroad in Yueben, this person was very famous in the international student world, and wrote a book called "Alarm Bell", I have read it, and there is another one by my side, in fact, the number of words is not much, that is, more than 20,000 words. ”

Song Biao roughly heard the title of the book, so he asked Jiang Fangzhen to turn the book out and show it to him, and after reading it roughly, he said to Jiang Fangzhen: "This writing is very good, but some things are still too extreme and obscure." Recently, I have considered donating someone else to run a newspaper, hoping that it can play a role in propagating the idea of a modern state and modern nationalism, and if you can contact him, if he is willing to return to China to run a newspaper, I can give him about 300,000 foreign yen a year. ”

Jiang Fangzhen was slightly startled and said, "Is so much money donated to the newspaper?" ”

Song Biao snorted and said: "Not much, if there are really more young people who can awaken, can join our army, apply for the Far Eastern Non-commissioned Officer School, and join the New Deal and New Army movement, it will be to spend a little money to do big things, I think this investment is too little." If he can do it well, it will not be a problem for me to give him 500,000 foreign yen a year. ”

Jiang Fangzhen said: "Okay, I'll write him a letter, I've seen him before, he should still remember me." Actually, I originally wanted to say another thing, Chen Tianhua is quite influential among the international students in Yueben, and now there are many girls studying in Yueben, if you ask him to help, maybe you can find a few cadres of the female art troupe. ”

Song Biao said: "Yes, you can write to him together." ”

Jiang Fangzhen nodded and said, "Since the military seat agrees, then the subordinates will handle it immediately." ”

Song Biao still had some interest in this "Alarm Bell", so he asked Jiang Fangzhen to go down to do things first, re-read it by himself, and on a whim, he wrote another chapter "On Saving China" on the manuscript paper with a pencil.

Song Biao's writing is very short, concise and to the point, no more than 10,000 words, advocating that the salvation of the country should start with strengthening oneself, young people should study hard, establish modernist thinking, transform China with modern spirit, arm China with modernism, to establish a modern China, first of all, to establish the four modernizations of modern political system, modern education, modern industry, and modern military; To build a new China, we must first develop a new nation, new ideas, and a new economy.

After writing the full text, Song Biao changed the title to "On New China" and changed his pen name to Song Zhizhong.

It happened that Shu Fangde sorted out a batch of new materials and a list of new equipment purchases in the arsenal and sent them over, Song Biao asked Shu Fangde to sit down and read the full text.

After reading the full text carefully, Shu Fangde seemed to have an epiphany and praised: "Junzuo, your "New China Theory" is so well written, it really points out the direction of China's progress. It's just that you didn't mention revolution or reform, it seems that neither faction nor both? ”

Song Biao thought for a while and replied: "I didn't support the ideas of the two factions in the first place, at least in my opinion, the ideas on both sides have many shortcomings. After the revolution, China abolished the imperial system, how to deal with the problems of Tibet, Xinjiang, and Outer Mongolia, and how to re-establish China's original relations with Korea, Vietnam, and Laos. It is impossible to say that if we abolish the imperial system, we will demand that Tibet Province abolish the living Buddha system and ask Outer Mongolia to abolish the vassal system. I thought that China needed an imperial system, but it should be a constitutional monarchy with the Han nationality as the main body, following the example of Britain and Germany. As for the reformists, there is little significance on their side, the Manchus and the Han are not the same nation after all, and they have no intention of caring about the life or death of our Han people. Let's put our hearts into our hearts, you are the emperor, do you care about the life and death of the Manchurians? The Manchus are only in charge of themselves, they generally live very well, why do they have to work hard for revolution and reform, give us power, implement a Ming Cook constitution, and limit themselves? People who think this way are stupid, and if they are Han Chinese, they are even more stupid. ”

Shu Fangde nodded cautiously and agreed: "What the military seat said is very true, but I don't know what the military seat has planned?" ”

Song Biao said: "No, I really can't manage so much now, if I am the governor of the three eastern provinces, serving as an official for one term, and benefiting one party, then benefiting the three provinces, and ensuring the stability of the three provinces first." If not, I will take care of our army first, whether it is 40,000 or 50,000 people, 30,000 or 40,000 people, there must always be a suitable way to live. ”

Shu Fangde said: "The military seat has always been far-sighted, but also shrewd and pragmatic. I thought that this article of the military seat was extremely sensitive, but it still failed to deeply shake the hearts of the people, and I wonder if I can make a slight revision on this basis, and then publish it in the newspaper under the pseudonym of 'Song Zhizhong'. If there is no newspaper to print it, we will find one to print it in the factory and distribute it throughout the army first. ”

Song Biao said: "Don't worry, it just so happens that Jiang Fangzhen wants to contact Chen Tianhua, a foreign student in Yue, I want to secretly fund him to run a newspaper, and by the way, I will send this article to this journal for printing, and show it to the international students in Yue first." ”

Shu Fangde said: "Jiang Fangzhen and they just graduated, and they have a lot of contact with Yueben, so it's better to let him go to Yueben." As a matter of fact, the idea of the military seat is more brilliant and pragmatic than that of the revolutionaries and reformists, and I fully approve of it, so it is better for us to build a club to secretly spread the ideas of our generation and work for the long term. ”

Song Biao bowed slightly, thought for a moment before saying: "China has not had an eternal country since ancient times, all dynasties have a beginning and an end, this dynasty continues to this day, look at this situation and the end of the Ming Dynasty, the end of the Yuan Dynasty is similar, they are all trapped inside and outside, and the world thinks about changes." If we have military power in our hands, we must be prepared to sit back and watch what happens, and no matter how it changes in the future, we people will always have to eat. ”

Shu Fangde said: "Military seat, if you really encounter this kind of thing, you can't be soft, as the so-called heroes are in charge, if you lead the army to fight, who is your opponent in China?" ”

Song Biao laughed, but asked: "When you look at the turn of dynasties, which one of the first to have the last laugh, and what happened to Chen Sheng and Wu Guang?" How about Zhang Jiao? How about the Yellow Nest? Where are Xu Shouhui and King Xiao Ming? Where are King Li Chuang and Zhang Xianzhong? As the old saying goes, build a deep wall, accumulate grain, and slowly become a king! ”

Shu Fangde lowered his voice and praised: "The military seat is smart, I have always felt that most of the revolutionary party will not be able to achieve great things, so let them toss it, let's do our big things!" ”

It's not in the past now, at least in the past six months, Shu Fangde and Jiang Fangzhen have been among Song Biao's cronies, and Song Biao's cronies and subordinates are far more than four or five people, and they have already grown to a larger scale.

Song Biao thought about it carefully, and said to Shu Fangde: "In this matter, you and Fang Zhen must have their own division of labor. Now that constitutionalism is the mainstream, and people from all walks of life have it, we must also set up a Northeast Constitutional Committee to drum up popularity, accumulate contacts, and secretly build another Xinhua Association to get in touch with the revolutionary parties. Everything must be prepared with both hands, just in case, don't come out too early, the wood is beautiful in the forest, and the wind will destroy it, which is an eternal last word. ”

Shu Fangde agreed: "The military seat is sage. Now the people are not happy, the country is weak and accumulating, the Manchurians do not want to forge ahead, only seek Gou'an, everyone thinks about change and innovation, it is the time for the military seat to seek hegemony, not to mention that we have guns and cannons in our hands, 200,000 rifles, more than 400 artillery, even if we fight now, we can break the life of the Manchu court. When Tongzhi was in place, the Manchu Qing Dynasty still had national strength, what kind of person Hong Xiuquan was, but he was a man of the wilderness, he had no skills, and he was able to lay down half of the country, how clever the military seat was, are we not as good as those mud legs? Then I will be in charge of the affairs of the Constituent Council, and let Jiang Baili be in charge of the affairs of the Xinhua Association. ”

Song Biao thought for a while, and comforted the overly passionate Shu Fangde and said: "China's affairs, don't be too radical, don't be too discouraged, and don't lose confidence and courage, my consistent idea is to talk less, do more, and wait and see what happens. Recently, there is another thing to do, this is what you have to work on, I plan to demutualize the Far East Coal and Iron Company, this company has all the coal and iron franchises that we have bought in the past year, and it will definitely make a lot of money in the future, I think about taking out half of the equity and distributing it to everyone, everyone has a share, in case of losing the army in the future, everyone will have at least a livelihood, and will not work hard for 30 years, and the result will be nothing. ”

Shu Fangde was greatly surprised and asked, "Junzao, why are you doing this?" ”

Song Biao knew that what he said was polite, no one doesn't love money, instead of letting the brothers separate and find ways to make money, it is better to make a plan now and work together to make a fortune.

He waved his hand and said, "Wait a while, your brother Shu Fangxin will come over, and you will prepare this matter well when the time comes, and make a detailed plan for me first." In addition, I also said hello to my brothers in advance, and my basic plan is that when we are all old, each of us can have a net worth of at least 10 million taels of silver, and we can retire with peace of mind, and our wives, sons, and daughters can also settle down. ”

Shu Fangde didn't say anything anymore, and he was naturally very happy in his heart.

The two talked for a while, Jiang Fangzhen prepared a letter to Chen Tianhua, came over to Song Biao to take a look, and by the way, he also took a look at Song Biao's "New China Theory" in advance here.

Song Biao knew very well in his heart that if he really became the governor of the three eastern provinces, "On New China" would be an ideal and direction for him to implement the new policy in Northeast China, promoting four modernizations and three new reforms...... Well, that sounds a bit of a propaganda style.

(To be continued)