Since three railways to Yunnan, Gansu and Hubei are to be built, in addition to applying to Yuan Shikai, the interim president, it is also necessary to communicate with Cai Yi, Li Yuanhong, and Zhao Weixi. After all, the actual control of Yunnan, Hubei and Gansu provinces is not in Yuan Shikai, but in the hands of the above three people.

So after getting Yuan Shikai's reply, Yan Guang sent people to the above three provinces to communicate with Cai Yi and others.

And after meeting Yan Guang's envoy, Li Yuanhong and Zhao Weixi were naturally happy to see that someone funded the construction of the railway for themselves, and they couldn't see any damage to themselves from these two railways, so after just discussing it with their subordinates, the two of them replied to Yan Guang's envoy with a smile.

But...

"This... That's what we all mean..."

In the Governor's Mansion of the Yunnan Military and Political Axe in Kunming, Wang Zhan, the envoy sent by Yan Guang, said with a trembling face.

It's no wonder that Wang Zhan is so cowardly, after all, the scene he encountered is indeed a little scary, such as those officers of the Yunnan Army on the side, many of them have put their hands on their waists and look eager to try, and some officers have even taken out their pistols, just waiting for Cai Yi to give an order...

"When two armies are at war, they don't behead them, and when two armies are at war, they don't behead them..."

Wang Zhan, who went deep into the tiger's den, can only use these two sentences to comfort himself now...

Fortunately, Cai Ye really had no interest in beheading him, so after waving his hand, those officers reluctantly pushed out of the conference room.

At least in the Yunnan army, Cai Ye still has absolute authority.

After seeing those gritted teeth of the officers exit the conference room, Wang Zhan also breathed a sigh of relief.

"Tell me, what did Yan Guang mean by calling you here?" Saying that, Cai Ye glanced up at Wang Zhan. "Don't fool me with words for the sake of the country and the nation, I want to hear the truth."

Looking at Cai Yi's appearance, Wang Zhan also knew that the original set of words could not fool him, but fortunately, Yan Guang did not stop him from telling the truth, so after just thinking about it, Wang Zhan spoke.

"Copper Mine!"

China's copper mines are densely distributed, mainly in the three provinces of Tibet, Yunnan and Jiangxi, and some other provinces also have copper mines, but most of them are small-scale copper mines. The three provinces of Tibet and Yunnan account for almost half of China's copper ore reserves (47.1%, according to the statistics of reserves held at the end of 1996). The Dexing Copper Mine in Jiangxi, the Yulong Copper Mine in Tibetan Province, the Jinchuan Copper Mine in Gansu Province and the Dongchuan Copper Mine in Yunnan are the only large copper mines in China with reserves of more than 3 million tons (the reserves of the above four copper mines are 5.24 million tons, 6.25 million tons, 3.4 million tons and 5 million tons respectively...). ）。

Needless to say, the important surname of copper in the industry, that is, ordinary firearms and bullets also need to use copper to make cartridge shells, of course, in later generations, China began to use steel shell bullets, no way, after all, China is a copper-poor country. Of course, in fact, it cannot be regarded as a copper-poor country, after all, the largest open-pit copper mine in Asia is in China (Dexing Copper Mine), and the largest copper mine in Asia is also China's (Yulong Copper Mine). If you calculate it like this, in fact, our country cannot be regarded as a poor copper country, but there are more people who use copper, and naturally it will be poor...

Although later generations of China began to use steel shell painting or steel shell copper clad to reduce the demand for copper (copper is also more expensive than steel... But copper shell bullets still have a lot of advantages over steel shell bullets after all (easy processing, rust resistance, extension is better than shelling, the taper of the shell can be reduced, which is conducive to accuracy, and the arc of the magazine can be reduced to facilitate the overall arrangement), and Yan Guang does not know how to make steel shell bullets, so in this case, you need to get a good supply source of copper first. After all, in a few years of world wars, bullets and everything are consumed in hundreds of millions of dollars.

Therefore, the Jinchuan Copper Mine in Gansu and the Dongchuan Copper Mine in Yunnan are the targets that Yan Guang is aiming at, as for Dexing in Jiangxi and Yulong in Tibetan Province, the former is currently out of reach of Yan Guang, and the latter is not able to mine at all, and there is no need to go far if there are Jinchuan and Dongxing, which is why Yan Guang will fund the construction of three railways.

Perhaps in the eyes of others, Yan Guang's own money to repair the railway for others is simply stupid. But so what? In Yan Guang's view, in another year, the whole of China will be his, and now he is building a railway for Cai Ye and them, why is he not repairing it for himself? Moreover, it will take a long time for the railway to be repaired, and by the time he takes advantage of the opportunity of the second revolution to launch, a railway like Chenglan may not have been repaired in Gansu.

And when Yan Guang is in charge of the whole country, the copper mines of Gansu and Yunnan can be transported out through the Sichuan-Han Railway, along with the steel of Qijiang and the military products of Yucheng...

"Didn't you all think I'd refuse?"

After listening to the "truth" told by Wang Zhan, Cai Ye sat in his seat and sneered.

Hearing Cai Ye say this, Wang Zhan, who had calmed down a lot, wiped the sweat on his forehead with a handkerchief, and smiled. "The governor said that you are not the kind of person who disregards the interests of the country for the sake of your own personal grudges, so if you refuse, it can only mean that the governor has seen the wrong person. And the governor heard that the financial situation of your military political axe does not seem to be very good, so if the Sichuan-Yunnan railway can be opened, it will also be of great help to the financial problems of your military political axe..."This is not nonsense, if the Sichuan-Yunnan railway can really be opened, then just by relying on the copper ore exported to Sichuan, maybe the financial income of Yunnan military and political axe can be doubled, but...

"Bad finances?"

Hearing Wang Zhan say this, Cai Yi's head seemed to show a trace of green tendons.

In fact, the finances of Yunnan's military and political axes were still good under Cai Yi's management, although it could not be said to be very good, but after the reduction of some troops and the reduction of the salaries of military and political officials, it could at least be regarded as a slight surplus.

However, since the relationship with the Sichuan army was tense, Cai Ye had to station a Xie's troops on the Sichuan-Yunnan border.

The strength of an association, a full 4,000 people, although it did not really start, but the usual expenses still brought a lot of pressure to Cai Yi, you must know that Cai Yi is not a local tyrant like Yan Guang, Yan Guang can garrison a division on the Sichuan-Yunnan border without pressure, but Cai Ye is under great pressure. Moreover, under this consumption after another, the financial affairs of Yunnan's military and political axes have also turned from a slight surplus to a full-year deficit...

I really wanted to greet Yan Guang and Wang Zhan's family, but after calming down a bit, Cai Ye still nodded. "You stay in Kunming for two more days, and I'll give you an answer in two days."

Although he was unhappy with Yan Guang, as Yan Guang thought, Cai Ye had no reason to oppose the construction of railways, which would benefit the country and the people without harming his own interests. I'll reply in two days, but I just don't want to be so happy and agree.

――――――――――

While Cai Ye and Wang Zhan were still discussing the railway, Yan Guang was also at the station of the 5th Infantry Division watching the soldiers' regular training.

"Shuoquan, you're doing a good job..."

After watching the shooting training of a battalion of the 19th Regiment of the 5th Division, Yan Guang patted Yin Changheng on the shoulder beside him.

In history, the first governor of Sichuan should be Pu Dianjun, and after Pu Dianjun was overthrown, the second governor was Yin Changheng.

Originally, Yan Guang was very wary of this Yin Changheng (Pu Dianjun's combat power was less than 5, and Yan Guang didn't pay attention to it at all), but after he took Yucheng and Guizhou, his position was more or less stable, and naturally there was no need to be wary of Yin Changheng in this case. Coupled with the lack of talents in the Kuomintang Party, Yin Changheng happened to be a relatively famous person in history, so after observing for a while and finding that he was indeed very capable, Yan Guang made him the commander of the 5th Infantry Division.

Yin Changheng's subsequent performance also made Yan Guang feel that he really didn't choose the wrong person, at least with his efforts, the combat effectiveness of the 5th Division grew rapidly, and last month when he competed with the 4th Division across provinces, he even overtook the 4th Division, and he could be compared with the 2nd Division in terms of combat effectiveness, second only to the 3rd Division with the old foundation of the new army...

You must know that nearly half of the soldiers in the 4th Division are veterans of the original patrol battalion, and the remaining half are also remnants of the Shu Army, as for the 2nd Division, the whole division is adapted from the original patrol battalion.

The only thing that makes Yan Guang regret is that Yin Changheng is not his descendant, otherwise he even has plans to make Yin Changheng the commander of the 2nd Army.

"However, even if you are not a descendant, you can cultivate it, and after you have cultivated it for a period of time and become your own descendant, it is not bad to let him be a military commander..."

Just when Yan Guang was still thinking in his mind, Yin Changheng on the side had already said with a smile.

"This is all thanks to the Governor, otherwise the combat effectiveness of our troops would not have increased so fast..."

Yin Changheng is not a sycophant, after all, not every warlord can let his troops use dozens or dozens of bullets during training. Even if they wanted to, they couldn't afford it.

So for Yin Changheng's words, Yan Guang accepted it very well.

"As long as you can improve your combat effectiveness as soon as possible, even if you spend more money, it's worth it..."

As he spoke, Yan Guang picked up the binoculars and looked at the shooting training on the shooting range.

What Yan Guang said just now is also true, because although the current Kuomintang is very strong, it can only be relegated to second place in China, and the first place is, of course, Yuan Shikai's Beiyang.

According to the latest information heard by the Military Intelligence Agency, Beiyang now has 12 infantry divisions and 19 mixed associations, and the total strength of the total number of troops exceeds 200,000, which is almost twice the strength of the National Socialist Party...

If it's just the number of people, Yan Guang won't worry, after all, the National Socialist Party has its own advantages in equipment, but the problem is that the old six towns in Beiyang are very strong, and the newly built 6 divisions and 19 mixed associations will not lack officers like themselves, and how the Soviet Union drowned Germany at the beginning, Yan Guang remembers it clearly...

But...

"Beiyang also has its own shortcomings, that is, lack of money, and whether it is the old six towns of Beiyang or the newly built ones, they need to be pulled out when they are pulled..."

And what about Yan Guang?

He is a tyrant with a little pressure if he needs to, even if he equips 100,000 troops with 1,000 rounds of silver bullets each...

(To be continued)