At this time, the embassies of various countries in China believed that Song Biao was the second largest partner in addition to Russia, and the competition for the railway was only one aspect, and assisting Song Biao to govern the entire three eastern provinces and obtain more benefits from them was the real focus, and this competition became more intense.

Italy, Sweden, and Belgium were the first to go out, saying that they thought they had hope, but in fact it was very difficult to get even a single screw contract, and the United States had no intention of directly competing with any country and continued to maintain a neutral attitude, and in the end there were only three countries, Britain, France, and Germany, and Britain, France, and Germany could not form an alliance to squeeze Song Biao, and the situation became more and more favorable to Song Biao.

However, the dispute over the railways in the three eastern provinces was just a bait for Song Biao to fight for financial dominance, and he didn't really care about who he would eventually hand over the right to buy the railways.

After reaching an agreement with France and Russia on the financial reform of the three eastern provinces, Song Biao quietly left the Liaodong Peninsula by train and returned to Fengtian City in the early morning two days later.

In the past month, the three eastern provinces have filled vacancies at an extremely rapid pace, and under Yin Chang's chairmanship, more than 60 new officials have taken up posts in Mukden and the other two provinces, the most important of which is Tang Shaoyi, the head of the Reclamation Supervision Office of the three eastern provinces, who is at the same level as the governor of the three provinces.

After the end of the dispute between Zhao and Song, Song Biao has almost taken over the power of the three provinces, Yin Chang, Zeng Yun, Cheng Dequan did not dare to compete with him, Tang Shaoyi naturally did not dare, I heard that Song Biao returned to the Fengtian military headquarters in the morning, Tang Shaoyi immediately arrived at the Tanglin military headquarters in the morning in a carriage accompanied by Yin Chang, and came to meet Song Biao.

Previously, in several negotiations with Yinchang, Song Biao and Yinchang made a re-agreement on the planning of Fengtian City, dividing Fengtian into Beiling, Heping, Shenyang, Xicheng New District, Shenyang New District, Tanglin, Sujiatun, and Shennan New District.

Tanglin and Sujiatun both belong to the camp establishment, plus Zhujiatun and Qipanshan, these are the four major garrison barracks of the Northeast New Army in Fengtianfu, which are unified under the jurisdiction of the military headquarters of the Northeast New Army, and the four major barracks are also collectively referred to as the barracks of the military headquarters.

The Qing Zheng Axe basically no longer dares to have any restraint on Song Biao, the only restriction is to "hope" Song Biao to abide by the establishment of the New Army in the three eastern provinces and four towns, and the extrajudicial Kaien is the headquarters of the Northeast New Army plus four towns, the highest calculation is five towns, and the Beiyang Army under the direct command is six towns, which makes the Qing Zheng Axe have a little psychological advantage.

Previously, when Yuan Shikai divided the six towns, the Jinzhou area that originally belonged to Fengtian Province was also included in the Beiyang Army, although he had not yet had time to send troops to garrison, but he had already made a large amount of apportionment in the Jinzhou area to raise military salaries, and now he gave Yuan Shikai an iron courage, and he did not dare to continue to do so.

Song Biao and Yuan Shikai communicated about this in the telegram, both sides were very polite, Yuan Shikai would no longer continue to pay taxes in Jinzhou, and Song Biao would station a town of troops in Jinzhou.

Among the four camps of the headquarters of the Northeast New Army, Tanglin District is not only the headquarters, but also the largest in terms of total area, from the East Second Gate of Fengtian City to the east to Huashan, the area is equivalent to the entire old Fengtian City.

It is six kilometers away from the Fengtian Governor's Yamen to the military headquarters building of the Tanglin Military Department, and it is necessary to take a carriage to travel between the two places, so Tang Shaoyi and Yinchang arrived in a carriage.

At this time, Song Biao was preparing to inspect the Far East Non-commissioned Officer School, and at noon he planned to squeeze out time to negotiate with Shu Gaoli and others of the Far East Printing Bureau, and in the afternoon he went to the camp to inspect the second phase of the training of various units, and the itinerary was very close.

Because there were too many affairs, Song Biao didn't pick them up, and sent Jiang Fangzhen and Jiang Yanxing to greet them, while he continued to deal with various official documents in the office.

Song Biao did not return to the military headquarters for a month, and the various documents to be signed were piled up, and after Tang Shaoyi and Yin Chang arrived at the office, before the two came forward to meet them, Song Biao waved his hand, signaling them to sit next to him and wait for a while, allowing him to dispose of these in his hands in advance.

What needs to be dealt with urgently is the affairs of the logistics department, the Russian army has basically evacuated during this time, and there is no need to transport a large amount of waste materials back, such as quilts and the like, when they were in Dalian, Song Biao and Xie Yenis benchmarks will discuss this, because the price is very low, Song Biao bought it with his surname at one time.

With the expansion of the new army, all kinds of supplies have to be redistributed, and now the weather is getting colder and colder, whether to buy new military uniforms again, or continue to use Russian winter clothes, this is also a question.

After browsing all the various plans drawn up by the Second Staff Department, Song Biao thought about it for a while, and decided to continue to wear the military uniform of the Russian army, although there are certain political risks, saving money and keeping warm are the first considerations.

He re-annotated the alternative plan drawn up by the Second Staff Department, requiring the Logistics Department to select suitable Russian winter clothes for modification, appropriately cut part of the M1885 Cossack infantry navy blue military uniform, revise the original M1881 type conscript's gray tweed military uniform, change the collar to an ocean blue high neck, and change the cuffs to a Polish-style V-shaped double navy blue cuffs, and cut the hem 3.5 inches shorter, so that the style is the M1905 new army infantry winter coat, and the cavalry uniformly uses the M1887 cavalry jacket.

In addition to the urgent problem of standard winter clothing, the number of 75mm artillery shells in the headquarters reserve was already insufficient, and the artillery shells used by the Chinese army as the second batch of exchange materials had not yet been produced, and the existing reserves not only could not meet the needs of emergency preparation for war, but could not even meet the needs of regular training, so the artillery training plan of the headquarters was forced to be interrupted and replaced with regular combat training.

The Second General Staff Office has appointed Jiang Yanxing to urgently order the ammunition with the French side, and the French Schneider Arms Company is willing to supply the ammunition for a long time, but the asking price for the production equipment is still high.

After reading the quotation provided by the French side, Song Biao commented that "we will purchase some artillery shells in advance to ensure training and combat preparedness, and if the army is unable to supply them according to the contract, the third batch of material exchange plans will be suspended, and the supply plan for the production of seven-and-a-half-centimeter grenades and machine tools will be put on hold for the time being, and we will renegotiate them later."

Song Biao transferred the two reports back to Jiang Fangzhen after the approval and asked him to handle them immediately, and then got up and invited Yin Chang and Tang Shaoyi to sit in front of him, and said, "I'm sorry, there are too many official backlogs in the military department. ”

Tang Shaoyi hurriedly said: "What is wrong with the Governor, it is really the fault of the lower officials who rashly asked to see him, I don't know that the Governor is so busy with military affairs, and I hope that the Governor Haihan!" ”

Song Biao's face was expressionless, but he still asked them to sit down first, and when the orderlies brought tea, he first said to Yin Chang: "Regarding the matter of purchasing the Northeast Bank in the three eastern provinces, I have already negotiated with various countries, except for the Russian leased area and the leased land Lushun, all parts of the eastern three provinces are only allowed to use the northeast currency. The policy tentatively scheduled is that the Northeast Bank has the sole right to issue metal currency and the right to issue silver yuan bills and copper yuan bills, while other chartered banks issue silver yuan bills on the basis of the Northeast silver dollar, at present, except for the Northeast Bank, only the Far Eastern Bank and the Sino-Russian Daosheng Bank have the right to issue the silver dollar bills, in order to let Britain and Germany and other countries agree to this clause, we may also allow the British and German banks to issue silver yuan bills later, only the copper dollar bills and metal currency issuance rights must be firmly controlled in the hands of the Northeast Bank, This is fundamental to controlling the financial dominance of the three eastern provinces. ”

Yin Chang was overjoyed and said, "If it can really be done, then we will have enough financial support for the implementation of the new policy in the three eastern provinces, but I don't know who the governor plans to send to host the Northeast Bank?" ”

Song Biao already had a suitable candidate in his heart, but seeing that Yin Chang's demeanor seemed to have someone to recommend, he said: "I'm still thinking about it for the time being, I don't know if Lord Yin Chang has a candidate?" ”

Hearing that Song Biao was still thinking about it, Yin Chang smiled and said: "The lower officials think that the Commerce Bank is supervising, and Sheng Xuanhuai, the right attendant of the Ministry of Industry, is quite suitable, I don't know what the adults want?" Xia Guan had heard Lord Yuan, the governor of Zhili, talk about this person before, and he was quite fond of him, so he must be a suitable candidate! ”

Song Biao sighed disapprovingly, and said: "This person is at the level of a half-ass, he has the ability to do business, and he basically doesn't understand modern finance, and I have a lot more suitable candidates than him." ”

Yin Chang was a little surprised, and said: "Since the lord has another candidate, the lower officials are too worried, but Governor Yuan heard that the three provinces plan to set up a government-run bank, and he is quite interested in recommending this person." ”

Song Biao sneered and said: "The affairs of the three eastern provinces are not yet Lord Yuan's turn to worry about it, and I understand his feelings, but Sheng Xuanhuai's level is indeed not enough to handle this kind of thing." I met with Zhang Kangren in Liaodong Peninsula, who had previously graduated from Columbia University with a law degree and worked at the San Francisco branch of the Bank of Yokohama for many years, and was familiar with the financial regulations and banking business of various countries, and I have decided to invite him to serve as the general director of the Northeast Bank. In addition, I intend to ask him to serve as the general director of the Far Eastern Bank. ”

As soon as he heard this, Yin Chang no longer dared to propose another person, and immediately said: "That's just the right fit." ”

Song Biao turned to glance at Tang Shaoyi and asked, "What do you think?" ”

Tang Shaoyi replied cautiously: "Zhang Kangren is quite talented, proficient in Western law, and knows banking business, so he is indeed the best candidate. ”

This is a very shrewd and smart person, and he knows that most of the reason why he can become the minister of reclamation supervision in the three eastern provinces is due to Song Biao, and Song Biao is now vigorously using his old classmates, which seems to explain a lot of things.

Song Biao looked at Tang Shaoyi keenly, and said: "The reclamation of the three provinces is very important, if the number of unemployed people in Zhili, Luyu and Henan can be stably settled within three years, the northeast will be much more stable, and the people can still have taxes, and only with taxes can there be military and political affairs." As the Minister of Reclamation of the Three Eastern Provinces, you are in a heavy position, Lord Yinchang and I considered more than ten people in the position of Minister of Reclamation, and finally decided to strongly recommend you to the imperial court, and it is precisely because this matter is so important that only you are competent, but I don't know what your plans for this matter are? ”

Tang Shaoyi cautiously replied: "The lower officials should listen to the governor's dispatch in everything, as for the reclamation of wasteland, what the lower officials think is slightly the same as the governor, first set up reclamation bureaus in various prefectures, measure wasteland in various places, first set up official camps, divide them into various tun land, select the people to settle in one hundred households, and return to the people after five years of reclamation. In addition, I think that the planning must be thoughtful, every ten tun set up a town, first build a town, and then set up a tun, each town to build roads to connect to the county, each town set up a chief, the errand of the head of a town, each tun set up a tun chief, line a tun management. ”

Song Biao thought about it, the front is basically his idea, and the back is Tang Shaoyi's idea, it should be said that this idea is still good.

After thinking about it for a while, Song Biao and Tang Shaoyi discussed: "I don't worry about anything else, but I'm worried about the large number of armor guards, the good and the bad, and the corruption and bending the law." If you see whether this is feasible, first recruit and select suitable candidates for security officials in various parts of Zhili Shandong, and take knowledge and reasoning as the top, and incorporate them into the official system, which will be supervised by the local reclamation bureaus, and uniformly trained in Fengtian Province, and those who pass will be selected and those who fail to pass will be eliminated. You have a separate team to inspect the reclamation sites, and if there is any corruption, they will be strictly investigated. If you don't find out that the other party is corrupt and deducted, or rampant in the township, and I find out, I will ask you, and you will go to the reclamation bureau to ask, if the other party can carry the black pot, you are lucky, you can't carry it, I have to report to the court for a change. I hope you can understand, it is a matter of whether the three eastern provinces can still belong to our country, you and I can't bear the slightest infamy, if the three of us lose the three eastern provinces, if I have a family of children, this can only kill the children and then kill myself, and apologize for the death of the people of the world. ”

Tang Shaoyi's back chilled when he heard this, and he could only stubbornly say: "The lower officials must be strictly investigated, and they will never dare to be negligent." ”

Song Biao continued: "The matter of reclamation is also related to the suppression of bandits, the reason why the bandits in Kwantung have not been quelled for a long time, and the bandits in various places are like clouds, is precisely because the three provinces are sparsely populated, and there are many barren mountains and mountains, if there are close ties with the local tuns, I asked the police bureaus to arrange personnel to train the civil defense teams in the localities, where there are 20 people in one tun and 200 people in each town, they can effectively cooperate with the Northeast New Army to clear out bandits in various places, and return the people of the three provinces to a peaceful world." I personally sent someone to supervise and handle this matter, and you also need to cooperate closely, especially in Jilin Province, you must do your best. ”

Tang Shaoyi immediately said: "The lower official understands. ”

Song Biao nodded and said: "Then I have nothing to worry about, your ability, Lord Yinchang and I both understand it very well in our hearts, since you are invited to handle this matter, I am naturally very relieved to you." You came to serve in the three provinces, and as the governor of the three provinces, I should have taken over the dust for you immediately, but I just came back from Liaodong, and there are many things in the barracks, and there are more things to do in a hurry. In this way, I just invited Li Enfu to be my translator, you must have been classmates who studied in the United States together, I asked him to entertain you on your behalf, you talk about the old days first, and I will come again at noon to pick up the wind and wash the dust for you, save this little time, I must go to the logistics office and the military academy. ”

Tang Shaoyi was overjoyed, originally thought that it would be very good to see each other, but he didn't expect to be able to reunite with his old classmates, so he immediately thanked Song Biao, and left with Fengtian Governor Yinchang.

Song Biao got up to send the two of them out of the office, and then took people to the logistics office to check the situation of the new army's winter supplies.

Since the callback to Shenyang in July, the capital in his hands has been sufficient enough, and Song Biao has been investing money and manpower in the construction of the barracks of the Shenyang Military Headquarters and the surrounding battalion headquarters, importing boilers from Russia, Germany and other countries, setting up bathhouses, and ensuring that all barracks can use hot water.

Fortunately, there is the Fushun Coal Mine in hand, although the Fushun Coal Mine has not yet been mined on a large scale, and the amount of local coal mining is still enough for the new army.

(To be continued)