Although the war in Shandong has only lasted for less than half a month, and it is still only in a state of coming and going, Yanjing, Nanjing and other cities have already fallen into a frenzy of celebration.

For ordinary people who have been bullied by foreign powers, even a tie is already a victory.

What's more, it is still a great power of Russia, the victorious country in the Russo-Russian War―――――― although there is a lot of moisture in the Russo-Russian War.

No matter how much water there is in the Russo-Russian War, the final winner is the one who is the one (although seriously, both the Russian and the Russians are the losers, and only Britain is the winner), and now the war in Shandong has been going on for almost half a month, but the Wehrmacht in Shandong can still make a draw with the Expeditionary Force...

At least in the eyes of ordinary people, this is already a victory.

Many former Qing gentry even thought that if they fought to this point, it didn't matter if they lost in the end, after all, China had already shown its strength, and even if it lost in the end, it would never let China lose too much...

Only those enthusiastic students were not satisfied, and every march in front of the municipal axe was a call for the Wehrmacht to drive the Yue army out of Shandong, so as to teach these invading troops a profound lesson. After reading the article about the army's mistreatment of the residents of Huang County, these young students were even more indignant.

Of course, if it was just righteous indignation, it would be fine, but many enthusiastic students whose heads had been completely heated up even asked the Wehrmacht to recover Liaodong (Yan Guang: Has the Northeast been lost?). ), the recovery of North Korea, and even the recovery of Taiwan ...

It has to be said that there is no shortage of unrealistic people in any era.

The only realistic point in this is probably the expulsion of the garrison in the northeast, as for North Korea and Taiwan...

Of course, Yan Guang would not pay attention to these requests, but Yan Guang was not idle.

Or at this time, Yan Guang is the busiest person...

"President, the five million yuan in military salaries requested by General Songpa have been allocated, but the funds requested by the arsenal and other parties, with the existing funds of the Ministry of Finance, are really a little tight..."

Saying this, Song Dinghan had already looked at Yan Guang with expectant eyes.

After the establishment of the New Deal, almost all of Yan Guang's original Sichuan family were in high positions, such as Wang Yaowu, who was the Minister of National Defense. However, in order to win over the original Beiyang First Department, the military and political officials of the Beiyang First Department also occupied a large position in the New Deal Axe.

For example, the position of prime minister was held by Xu Shichang.

And Song Dinghan, who was actually no different from the prime minister when he was in Sichuan, continued to serve as the Minister of Finance. Of course, as the Minister of Finance, the scope of his jurisdiction has expanded from the original province to the whole country...

In fact, Yan Guang is also very helpless, because in terms of closeness, Xu Shichang is definitely not as good as Song Dinghan. Even, in the whole of China, there are only a few people like Song Dinghan, such as Wang Yaowu.

However, Yan Guang needed to win over and appease the people of the Beiyang family, so the post of prime minister must be handed over to Xu Shichang, the nominal head of the Beiyang family after Yuan Shikai died and Wang Shizhen, Feng Guozhang, Duan Qirui and others retired.

If you want to rule a country, it is absolutely not enough to rely on one province alone, not to mention that in the whole of North China, almost all the officials are inextricably linked to the Beiyang system―――――― of course, these local officials in Beiyang may have a deeper relationship with the former Qing Dynasty, after all, many local officials were originally the magistrates of the former Qing Dynasty or something.

You know, the North is not like the South.

During the Xinhai Revolution in the south, most of the local officials were almost wiped out by the revolutionary party, and only a small number of them were almost buried in life, or their immediate superiors were originally former Qing officials.

And the north? After the Xinhai Revolution, the north has been controlled by Beiyang, purging or something...

Seriously, Beiyang itself can be regarded as a legacy of the former Qing Dynasty, so it is impossible to clean himself by himself, right?

And in addition to these problems, Yan Guanghui's appointment of Xu Shichang as prime minister is also related to the issue of ability.

Although Song Dinghan has followed Yan Guang for many years and has grown a lot in ability, he was only a manager of a private enterprise in the past. There may be some way to do it financially, but if it's to run the whole country...

You know, the prime minister is not only in charge of finances, but also in many major affairs of the country.

In this regard, Song Dinghan is inferior to Xu Shichang, or in other words, even Sun Yat-sen, Huang Xing or Song Jiaoren, who has been dead for a long time, is inferior to Xu Shichang in this regard. Because a country's prime minister needs competence, but also needs to be pragmatic. If you are just a simple idealist, it can easily lead to disaster.

However, although the position of prime minister was given to Xu Shichang, Yan Guang did not treat Song Dinghan badly.

The Minister of Finance...

Regardless of the country, the Minister of Finance is definitely a pivotal position.

What's more, in a country like China, Song Dinghan himself is Yan Guang's confidant and cronies, and in the New Deal Axe, most of the people who occupy high positions are people from the original Xichuan family. When he was in Sichuan, Song Dinghan was similar to Yan Guang's housekeeper.

And now...

Although Song Dinghan is still only a finance minister as in the past, Song Dinghan's words are definitely more effective than Xu Shichang, the prime minister.

――――――――――

Although this year's fiscal revenue is likely to reach 700 million yuan, it is still only the end of August, and there is still a long way to go before the end of the year.

As for the original in the treasury?

When Yuan Shikai was in power, he was a famous poor bastard, and the big loan for the aftermath was stopped by Yan Guang after Yuan Shikai's death. Now, if you really want to count on the national treasury, it is better to count on the Bank of Sichuan or Yan Guang's own private warehouse.

At least as far as Song Dinghan knows, Yan Guang's small private treasury is definitely much more than the annual expenditure of the state treasury. If you count the accumulated savings, Yan Guang's money on hand may be more than last year's central fiscal revenue... (In the past, you still need to prevent others from harming yourself, but now you don't need to worry, so there is no need to hide how many people Yan Guang has.) ）

Of course, Song Dinghan can also choose to borrow, anyway, as the Minister of Finance, Song Dinghan has the responsibility to suggest Yan Guang to borrow from the great powers when the treasury has no silver―――――― even if the great powers have already broken their heads in Europe and borrowed or something...

The five million pounds borrowed from Deutsche Hua Bank last year are now gone.

Borrowing money, borrowing money, always has to be repaid in the end, and interest has to be calculated.

Since it is to be repaid, and it is also to be interested, why didn't Song Dinghan ask Yan Guang directly?

Now the whole country is Yan Guang, even if someone calls Yan Guang "Emperor", there will be no problems. And today's war also has a lot to do with Yan Guang, to this point, it's not too much to let Yan Guang have some blood, right?

This is just like in ancient times, when the court had money, the emperor also had to put money into the inner treasury, and when the court had no money, the emperor would take money from the inner treasury to support the imperial court.

Although Yan Guang's money is all earned by himself, isn't the new deal axe also Yan Guang's?

At this time, it's not too much to let Yan Guang pay some money, right?

And if Yan Guang is asked to pay the money, the interest will definitely be negotiable, maybe...

will also be like when he was in Sichuan, no matter how much money the Sichuan military and political axe costs, you can go to Yan Guang to get it, and Yan Guang will never ask for money back afterwards...

In fact, Yan Guang does regard the current China as his private property―――――― although he resolutely refuses to be the emperor, even if someone has advised him, but Yan Guang is not so great, he has laid down such a country, and he is a public servant wholeheartedly...

So after listening to Song Dinghan's words, Yan Guang spoke.

"How much is missing?"

Hearing Yan Guang say this, Song Dinghan, who knew that he was ready to take the money himself, was overjoyed.

"The upfront funds need at least 30 million, and the follow-up ......... It depends on how long this war will be fought, and if it is fought for a long time, I am afraid that it will need to be added. The only thing that makes it difficult for a humble position at the moment is the post-war pension..."

Although there has never been any wartime allowance in the Wehrmacht (although expeditions abroad may not be), the 100,000-strong army in Shandong needs 1 million per month for military salaries alone. And a war like Shandong's can't end in a month or two, right?

If it's not good, it's not impossible to beat him for a year and a half.

Therefore, Cai Yi applied to the Ministry of Finance for five months' military salary at one time, and then issued it to all the soldiers of the army at one time.

Five months' military salary, that is, 50 oceans per person.

This amount of money is not a small amount in this era.

Similarly, with such a sum of money, the soldiers in Shandong will be able to fight with peace of mind and without any worries.

However, there are other places where money is needed besides military pay, or it should be said that military pay is only the least expensive one, and there are many places that cost more money than military pay.

For example...

"Weapons, ammunition, everything..."

Not to mention anything else, just the shells used in the artillery group, even if they are only small-caliber, will cost at least a few dozen dollars for any one, and those, such as the shells used in the 280mm heavy howitzer ...

Those generals on the front line, the arrival of the Beiyang Army, it is good to say, they have been used to poverty in the past. Suddenly, with such good equipment, how can I save some use. But those generals of the Wehrmacht, save it?

The word saving, I'm afraid, has never crossed their minds.

After arriving on the battlefield, the cannonballs or something are as if they don't need money, even if there is nothing to do, those infantry generals will let the artillery group go to refresh, and the army on the opposite side will be miserable―――――― although the central political axe of the city is higher than China in terms of fiscal revenue, but the family has a big business, and it is also a debtor country, so it is naturally impossible to be as chic as the group of people under Cai Yi.

Those generals in Shandong are chic, but logistics or something...

Those generals of the infantry army, the speed of artillery is not known to be many times higher than the speed of making cannonballs, if it is not for the fact that Yan Guang has hoarded enough shells in Shandong earlier, otherwise even if the Sichuan Arsenal and Hanyang Arsenal are added, I am afraid that the supply will be in short supply...

And...

Every shell is money, and with the cost of equipment such as light and heavy machine guns, grenades, grenade launchers, etc., ――――――the Wehrmacht can hold down the Wehrmacht and fight with these equipment.

Nowadays, on the Laiyang battlefield in Shandong, almost every day the national defense forces have to consume tens to a million dollars. That's almost 30 million a month...

If this war is going on for a year and a half, I'm afraid Yan Guang will have to stick his old book as well...

"Thirty million..."

Thirty million silver dollars, seriously speaking, you can already buy a dreadnought-class battleship, and it is the latest one. By the way, there are still five million left after buying.

(Sorry, there is a data mistake, in the Republic of China, well, that is, in the early years of the Republic of China, the exchange ratio of pounds to silver dollars at that time should be 10:1, that is, 10 silver dollars can be exchanged for 1 pound.) Chile's Admiral La Torre-class battleships are based on the British Navy's Iron Duke-class battleships (the firepower layout is similar to the Iron Duke-class) and are equipped with 14-inch guns that surpass the British super dreadnoughts, but with less defensive armor. Construction began in 1911, was launched in 1913 and completed in 1915. The standard displacement is 28,600 tons, the full load displacement is 32,120 tons, and the cost is 2.5 million pounds, which is equivalent to 25 million silver dollars... ）

Thirty million silver dollars, a dreadnought-class battleship, plus the price of a cruiser...

But...

"Thirty million? Okay, you wait a minute, I'll get it for you later, and then you can go to the Americans and get it..."

Thirty million is indeed a lot, but for Yan Guang...

Now Yan Guang's annual income has exceeded 50 million US dollars, and even Yan Guang himself does not know how much he has in all his property. I only know that it seems that we have begun to move towards the number of one billion silver dollars.

At this point, 30 million or something, in Yan Guang's eyes, is really a small number.

And don't say 30 million, it's just that this number is more, even if Yan Guang is asked to bear all the costs of the entire war, Yan Guang can afford it...

"Well, thank you to the President..."

Hearing that Yan Guang was going to pay all the money this time, Song Dinghan was also happy in his heart. As a result, the pressure on the Ministry of Finance has also been greatly reduced.

In hindsight...

Ahem, I stated in advance that Song Dinghan had never thought about letting Yan Guang read to support this war.

However, just when Song Dinghan was blushing for some of the thoughts in his heart just now, Yan Guang on the side suddenly spoke.

"By the way, the news just came back from Songpa that he seems to be preparing to use an incendiary bomb, what do you think?"

"Molotov cocktails?"

This weapon Song Dinghan has also been famous for a long time, when he was in Sichuan, he even saw the power of this weapon with his own eyes, and he was a little frightened by this kind of weapon, even an indifferent and rigid person like Song Dinghan.

"President, do you really want to use this weapon?"

Song Dinghan was a little hesitant, not hesitating to deal with himself.

Song Dinghan is not so pedantic, for Song Dinghan, he is an enemy, and he is also an enemy of aggression against China. And when he was in Shanghai, Song Dinghan was also bullied by foreigners, and the largest share of this was Yue himself.

Therefore, if you use incendiary bombs to deal with himself, Song Dinghan has absolutely no opinion.

But...

"What if someone else learns how to make this weapon?"

The power of incendiary bombs Song Dinghan understands that it is indeed a very cool thing to use this weapon against the enemy, but what if the enemy learns this technique and then uses it against himself? Then this matter is not happy at all.

And the incendiary Phoebe is more powerful than other weapons, no matter how powerful other weapons are, they won't torture the enemy too much, but in the case of incendiary bombs, it's a bit of a special purpose to torture other people.

Let this weapon go to the battlefield, Song Dinghan is really worried that one day, he will learn how to make this weapon...

"You're right to be worried..."

Listening to Song Dinghan's words, Yan Guang also nodded.

"That's right, it's true that other countries have also learned how to make incendiary bombs, especially since the production requirements for this weapon are not very high..."

Since China can make it, there is no reason why other countries can't make it, the difference is just a little inspiration and a little knock on the door.

Originally, if it had continued to develop according to history, in a dozen or twenty years, this weapon would have come out on its own. But now with Yan Guang's intervention, this weapon has been introduced ahead of schedule...

If you really learn from other countries, it will be a disaster...

But...

"Don't worry, I've thought about it, so on some key things, I've sent someone from the Military Defense Bureau to protect it, so that the design drawings don't fall into the hands of the enemy country..."

At the Sichuan Arsenal, and later with the Hanyang Arsenal, which produced incendiary bombs, the people of the Military Defense Bureau have stationed more than 100 members of the Military Defense Bureau in each factory.

And these are only on the surface, and the members of the Military Defense Bureau who secretly infiltrated the two factories do not know how many, absolutely foolproof.

"In that case, then I also agree with the use of incendiary bombs against myself."

"Okay."

Yan Guang clapped his hands.

"Since you agree, then I will send a telegram to Songpa immediately and ask him to act immediately."

"The goal of the operation?"

"Huang County, Longkou Bay..."

Huangxian is a town with a long history, and the buildings in the towns with years in this era are generally civil structures.

Such a place...

Just like the bombing of Tokyo by the U.S. military back then, the effect of using bombs is definitely not as good as incendiary bombs...

And with incendiary bombs, with those civil structures in Huang County...

The best thing is that in Huang County, there is actually a multi-division army there...

As long as the time comes, the incendiary bombs carried by the bombers will be thrown down, then these soldiers, hehehehe...

(To be continued)