After the news of joining the Entente spread, it soon caused a great storm in the country. Many newspapers even claimed that it was because the heroic performance of the Wehrmacht in the Shandong Campaign was recognized by the British and French powers that it was invited by the coalition forces to join the Entente―――――― in fact, Yan Guang took the initiative to apply.

However, some commentators believe that in the face of fierce fighting in Europe, although China joined the Allied organization as a non-troop country, it is not a wise move to choose a side when the war is unclear―――――― at least it should wait until there are some signs of war in Europe before choosing which side to join.

After all, the relationship between China and Germany is quite good, and the German Army is notoriously strong. At present, on the Eastern and Western Fronts, the war between the Central Powers and the Entente Powers is also stalemate, and they do not mean to fall into the inferior position at all, and it is really not a wise thing to choose to join the Entente at this time.

If one day in the future, it is the Allies and not the Entente that will win, then China will not be able to account for Germany...

All of a sudden, the government and the opposition were arguing endlessly, even in some schools, teahouses and green buildings, there were often voices of disputes.

However, the following disputes did not affect Yan Guang.

After signing the agreement to join the Entente countries, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs has begun to discuss with Britain and France and other countries on matters such as changing the unequal treaties signed in the past.

This time, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs opened its mouth and directly took out all the things about the concessions, unequal treaties, indemnities and tariffs―――――― anyway, it was a sky-high asking price, and the money was repaid on the ground.

According to the estimates of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, in the end, the only things that the Great Powers could agree to were some trivial treaties and indemnities.

However, even if it is only possible to avoid the indemnity, it is a great benefit.

After all, in the former Qing Dynasty, the Manchu political axe had to pay more than 50 million taels of silver almost every year, which is equivalent to almost 90 million silver dollars. Although Germany and Ben are now missing, they still have to pay more than 50 million yuan a year to compensate the British and French powers

More than 50 million yuan is naturally not eye-catching for Britain, France and other countries for this small amount of money, but for China, it is one-fourteenth of the annual fiscal revenue―――――― calculated according to 700 million silver dollars per year.

More than 50 million...

The super dreadnoughts that Britain sold to Chile were only 25 million, which was enough to buy two dreadnoughts for the navy...

"Two dreadnoughts, if the negotiation is really completed, even if only one is purchased for the navy every year, the navy can be greatly improved..."

In the living room of the presidential palace, Yan Guang smiled at Sa Zhenbing, who was sitting on the side.

After entering December, although Yanjing is already covered with snow, the weather has become cold. However, the presidential palace is equipped not only with air conditioners for summer, but also for winter, so it is very warm indoors.

After listening to Yan Guang's words, Sa Zhenbing also put aside the Longjing tea in his hand and laughed softly.

"That's right," said Sa Zhenbing with a sigh again. Speaking of which, the president now has to allocate more than 100 million yuan to our navy every year, but it is a pity that the war is now raging in Europe, and the United States is only busy with the arms business in Europe, otherwise I would really want to buy a dreadnought and come back to the navy to make a flagship..."

"It's also said that Europe and the United States are very busy, and now they have the money to buy something, but they don't have the money......... However, now that the Harbour Administration has started construction of the Chaofeng ship, I believe that it will not be too far from the dreadnought ship that we built ourselves..."

"This is still thanks to the president's support for the Navy..."

"Where, in the end, we have suffered too much in the navy, and it is impossible to pay more attention to the navy..."

At present, half of the more than 700 million yuan of fiscal revenue in the current year is used by Yan Guang for military spending, and this half, after allocating more than 100 million yuan to the navy, the remaining more than 200 million yuan is allocated to the army and the air force. And the big head of the more than 200 million is the army, and the small head is the air force. After all, the current Air Force aircraft doesn't cost much, and a plane is more than 10,000 yuan, which is about the same, and the most expensive thing is the engine, as for other fuselages or something, it doesn't cost much...

Therefore, even if the military expenditure allocated to the Air Force is very small, it is enough to purchase a few hundred planes in a year.

However, after the military expenditure was drawn, only a little more than 200 million fell into the hands of the army. Fortunately, the current size of the army, including the miscellaneous armies in those places, only stays at the figure of more than 600,000, otherwise the military expenditure of more than 200 million a year is really not enough.

"By the way, how is the progress of the Chaofeng Ship, did Director Chen and Elder Wei say when it will be completed?"

This sentence was not said to Sa Zhenbing, but to Yue Chang who was standing on the side.

And when Yue Chang blurted out Yan Guang's words, he had already understood that this sentence was said to himself, so he hurriedly stood up and said.

"Director Chen sent a letter back a few days ago, saying that the progress of the Chaofeng ship is going well, but because the German engineers on the Harbour Bureau's side are a little passive and slacking off, and the Harbour Bureau's side has never been in contact with such a large warship, so if it is to be completed, I am afraid it will have to wait until May or June..."

"In May and June..."

Yan Guang smiled bitterly, and Sa Zhenbing on the side also smiled bitterly.

When the British built the first dreadnought, they were not familiar with it, but it only took more than four months to build the dreadnought. And now the Harbour Master's side needs to wait until May and June to build a cruiser of the first class, and it cannot be said that it is not slow. After all, the Chaofeng ship is on the side of the Harbour Bureau, and the keel has been laid since November...

But Yan Guang couldn't complain about anything, after all, the slow construction of the Chaofeng ship and the passive sabotage of the German engineers also had something to do with it. The passive sabotage of German engineers has a lot to do with ―――――― decision made by Yan Guang, the president, in the first place...

"Forget it, let's do some training for the people of the Harbour Master's Bureau, otherwise we can't always rely on the Germans for everything? If we really rely on the Germans for everything, if we really offend the Germans one day, then we can't do anything? ”

After saying these words, Yan Guang began to inquire about the expansion of Qijiang Iron Works and Hanyang Iron Works and the construction progress of Ma'anshan Iron Works, and then the Sichuan Arsenal, Hanyang Arsenal and Ma'anshan Arsenal, as well as the Fengtian Arsenal in the Northeast and so on...

These things can only be asked to Yue Chang...

It's not that the Minister of Finance and the Minister of Industry are dry food, but...

The above-mentioned iron factories, arsenals, and supporting aircraft factories and automobile factories are there. Even the Fuzhou Shipbuilding Bureau and the newly built shipyards in Guangzhou, Shanghai, and Tianjin, including the shipyard in Sichuan that only built submarines, are logically all owned by Yan Guang, and are Yan Guang's private property...

Because at the beginning of the construction of these factories, Yan Guang used his own private funds to support the construction―――――― at that time, the political axe had just been established, and all kinds of waste were waiting to be lifted, and it was a little impossible to pay for military expenses alone, so how could there be money to support industrial development?

The few railways being built across the country alone have already kept the political axe a little busy. What's more, according to Yan Guang's intentions, the political axe also exempted the gold and agricultural taxes.

So in the beginning, just like when he was in Sichuan, all the important industrial facilities were privately funded by Yan Guang.

Merely...

Yan Guang has nothing to say about private funding or something, after all, it is Yan Guang's own intention to build these things, and they are all for the country. But for the sake of the country, you can't use all your own money, right?

So in the end, these factories built with Yan Guang's private funds were finally put under Yan Guang's private name―――――― of course, Yan Guang didn't think about taking these factories underground, Yan Guang had already thought about it, and when he was about to die, he would make a will and leave the factories to the state―――――― of course, he couldn't tell others now, otherwise he was afraid that he would hang up in two years.

However, when Yan Guang was still alive, these factories were all Yan Guang's own.

Moreover, the profitability and other aspects of these factories are also under the name of Yan Guang.

It is also a means, as long as it can control the country's industry, control the country's economy. The position of Yan Guang is naturally as stable as Mount Tai.

――――――――――

In the office, Yan Guang talked about a lot of things with Sa Zhenbing and others.

But the most important thing is to participate in the European competition...

“……… Do you think there is a problem if the current Wehrmacht rushes to Europe to fight? ”

"This..."

Cai Yi, who had already returned from Shandong, and Jiang Baili, who had stayed in Yanjing, glanced at each other, and spoke after a little hesitation.

"President, although we have indeed won the battle in Shandong, the dozen or so infantry divisions in Shandong have also been tempered in actual combat. With all due respect, the current Wehrmacht still has many disadvantages in terms of training quality compared with the Yue Army, and the reason why we were able to win this time is mainly because we have an advantage in equipment, and we have unexpectedly hit the expeditionary fleet of the Yue Army and burned most of the supplies in Huang County, and the most important thing is that we are fighting on our own territory and can collect materials on the spot, while the Yue Army cannot do this, but if we go to Europe..."

Jiang Baili on the side said.

"In the local war, we do have many advantages, especially in terms of equipment, in terms of heavy firepower are stronger than the army, which also enables us to suppress the army in the battle. However, if the object of the battle is the German army, our army's superiority in heavy firepower will not only be wiped out, but I am afraid that it will fall into a state of suppression, after all, our army is still a little inferior to the first-class army in Europe in terms of quality, not to mention that if you fight in Europe, it is easy to solve the problem of rifle bullets, but the problem of other weapons is..."

"That's right, Madsen machine gun to the good said, However, at present, the Makqin machine gun equipped by our army is 12.7mm caliber, and both the Entente and the Central Powers are equipped with 11.43mm caliber, as well as shotguns, grenade launchers, mortars and other equipment, at present, in addition to shotguns, the European side is only equipped with a certain amount of mortars, and the rest such as grenade launchers are not yet equipped. ”

"That's right, and if our army loses its superiority in equipment, it will not be easy to gain the upper hand in a battle with the Germans. After all, many of the tactics of our army are currently based on the Germans, and we know exactly what the level of the German army is..."

Between the words, Cai Ye and Jiang Baili have already made everything clear.

In fact, the reason is very simple: The current national defense forces have superiority in artillery fire, equipment, logistics, and even troop strength when fighting against the Chinese army on the mainland.

The time, the place, and the people, all three of the national defense forces are all occupied, so when the war with the army is naturally invincible.

But when it comes to Europe, first of all, the heavy artillery of the Germans must be more powerful than that of the Wehrmacht, and by that time the Wehrmacht will have to rely on the artillery support of the Allied forces, and the surname of the Wehrmacht will definitely be lost.

Secondly, when the Wehrmacht fights, it often relies on a combination of weapons such as shotguns, grenade launchers and mortars. However, many of the weapons equipped by the Wehrmacht have never even been heard of in Europe, so the ammunition supply of these equipment may need to be transported from China itself.

China itself, Northeast Asia...

How far is the distance between Northeast Asia and Europe?

Although there is a Suez Canal, it will not make the traffic between Asia and Europe as troublesome as in the Age of Discovery, and it is necessary to bypass the Cape of Good Hope. But even so, it is very difficult to transport a shipload of munitions to Europe, not to mention the large number of German submarines on the way...

And if you build an arsenal on the European mainland to directly supply ammunition to the Wehrmacht.

Leaving aside whether people are willing to do this, according to the intelligence agency, it is very likely that France's steel production will be reduced to more than a million tons this year...

More than one million tons, and by next year, China itself will be able to reach more than one million tons.

And the output of more than one million tons of steel is probably a little difficult to supply the coalition forces themselves, so how can they allocate some of them to the Wehrmacht, which does not yet know how effective it is?

What's more, the [***] team has always had many "excellent records" in history, and the Wehrmacht is really going, and people are afraid to be suspicious...

"Wouldn't it be impossible to go to Europe?"

After listening to Cai Yi and Jiang Baili's explanation, Yan Guang asked with a frown.

You know, going to war in Europe is one of Yan Guang's many strategies. Because only by going to Europe to participate in the war and obtaining certain achievements can you continue to bargain with the British, and even "ransom" the customs back.

And if you just sit there and wait for Europe to decide.

Although China's strength will definitely grow by leaps and bounds during this period, it may not be afraid of the British, but at that time, the British may not give up. In addition, there is another one on the side, and it would be a trouble for the two to have another British alliance or something.

After all, even after the Battle of Longkou Bay, the navy had a lot of combat power.

Not to mention anything else, there were ten battleships alone, as well as one of the latest battle cruisers.

If the British and themselves are really embarrassed, it will not be easy to deal with.

After all, the navy is not like the army, and the century-old navy is by no means an empty word.

Just on the capital ships, it is unlikely that they will catch up with the Japanese before the European war. Moreover, the navy is not a branch of the armed forces that only relies on equipment, and now is not the computer age of the future, as long as the quality of the officers and men of the navy is passable, the rest depends on the automatic system on the ship.

Now is the era of manual control, and even if there is a naval gun fire control system now, the quality of naval officers and men, especially the level of the naval officers and men themselves, is still very important. And in this regard, it is precisely the most backward place of the Chinese Navy.

Since I can't even catch up with the book, I don't agree with Britain, which is still the world's largest navy even after the European War...

And after listening to Yan Guang's words, Cai Ye and Jiang Baili glanced at each other again.

"Please rest assured, although the overall level of the Wehrmacht is weaker than that of Europe, especially the armies of Britain, France, Germany and other countries, the gap between them is not so big that they cannot catch up."

"Especially the most elite infantry divisions, even compared with the first-class German infantry divisions, there is not much difference. The main problem now is that, apart from these infantry divisions, the rest of the troops, even the more elite ones, and those who have seen battles in person, are somewhat out of reach in Europe. So my opinion and that of Shoha, it is better for us not to rush into the war in Europe..."

"That's right," Cai nodded. President, Baili's opinion and I is that it is better to wait until the European side, when the blood between the Entente and the Central Powers is almost over, and we are joining in. In this way, first, our important surnames will be greatly improved, and it will be no problem to make some demands to Britain and France, and second, and most importantly, the first point is that there will be more blood on the European side, and the overall level of the army will naturally fall, and when we go again, the losses will be much smaller, and it is not impossible to even fight a few more proud records..."

"That—" Yan Guang hesitated. When do you think the blood of Europeans will be shed and they will come to us on their own initiative? ”

"This ......... Baili and I have already read the information sent by the Military Intelligence Agency, and according to the intelligence of the Military Intelligence Agency, the Entente and the Central Powers have reached a stalemate on both the eastern and western fronts. In the stalemate stage, although it seems to be no win or loss, this kind of battle is also the fastest consumption, so if there is a year or two, I believe it will be about the same. ”

"A year or two? Not next year? ”

A year or two? Wouldn't that be until 1916 at the earliest? In Yan Guang's memory, the United States entered the war in 1917. If it had been 1916 or even 1917 to enter the war, the blood of the Europeans would have been shed cleanly, but there would not be many important surnames in China...

After all, there is no way to compare China with such a behemoth as the United States.

At that time, it was difficult to say whether the British and French would look down on China.

Yan Guang's thoughts couldn't be told to Cai Jie, after all, he couldn't tell Cai Yi them the exact time when the United States would enter the war.

However, after listening to Yan Guang's words, Cai Ye and Jiang Baili just shook their heads.

If you go to war or something, you can naturally go at any time. If you really want to, it's no problem to go now. It's not enough that Europe and China are different, not only is there a big difference in climate, but the most important thing is that the opponents are also heavyweights.

Although they have also beaten Yue himself recently, it is obviously not of the same magnitude as the Germans.

If the Wehrmacht is really pushed to the battlefield at this time, and if it participates in the war without the advantage of heavy firepower, I am afraid that it will really have to be filled with human lives, and these are what Cai Ye and Jiang Baili do not want to see.

After all, the war that is now taking place in Europe is the business of the Europeans, and has nothing to do with them Chinese.

If it was just a tailwind, it would be a war that would have been won without much loss, but now in this war―――――― they don't have to fill in the lives of the Europeans for the war...

Yan Guang also knows a little about military affairs, but it is only a war of the level of tens of thousands and 100,000, and a war like the current one of hundreds of thousands or even hundreds of thousands, Yan Guang doesn't know anything. And Cai Yi and Jiang Baili are the only two army generals under Yan Guang who have some famous generals, and the rest are either incapable or inexperienced, in this case, Yan Guang is naturally extremely convinced of the judgment of the two people.

It is precisely because of this that Yan Guang is extremely distressed.

In fact, Yan Guang also knew what Cai Ye and Jiang Baili were worried about, just because they were afraid that the casualties of the troops would be too large.

Recently, Yan Guang has also read the war report on the European side, and the combined eastern and western battlefields kill tens of thousands of people almost every day. Such a loss is uncomfortable for Yan Guang, an outsider, not to mention the British and French.

If Yan Guang really sent the troops up, wouldn't the British and the French send the Wehrmacht to the meat grinder? At that time, if he really lost hundreds of thousands of people, but did not make any achievements, even if Yan Guang did do a lot of good things in China, the position of president may not be stable.

But if he didn't participate in the European war, Yan Guang didn't seem to have an excuse to divide up the interests after the war.

Not to mention anything else, after the founding of the Soviet Union, so many of Russia's territories were not cut off with a knife, and they were sorry for the "cordial care" of the Russians for China in the past.

And without the support of Britain, France, the United States and other countries, Yan Guang would have really used a knife to cut off the meat, and he might not be able to eat it in his mouth―――――― not to mention that there is an annoying book next to him...

"It's annoying, it's annoying..."

Saying this, Yan Guang's mouth kept chattering...

When he turned to the large world map hanging on the wall, Yan Guang stopped his steps and stared at the map, Yan Guang stood a lot...

After a long time, Yan Guang suddenly turned around and said to Cai Yi and Jiang Baili.

"You say, if I find you a weaker opponent, will you be able to settle the opponent in the absence of logistics?!"

"This..."Cai Ye and Jiang Baili looked at each other again and said in unison. It depends on how weak the opponent is..."

"How weak," Yan Guang laughed twice. The weakest! ”

(To be continued)