Jingshi, Presidential Palace.

Secretary Xiao Gao walked into Xiao Zhenlei's office and reported: "President, General Sa of the Navy is asking to see you!" ”

"Let him in!" Xiao Zhenlei said after lifting it with the hand holding the pen.

"Yes, President!"

Soon, Sa Zhenbing walked into Xiao Zhenlei's office under the guidance of his secretary Xiao Gao, and he saluted Xiao Zhenlei and said, "President, Sa Zhenbing has military affairs to report to the president!" ”

Xiao Zhenlei waved his hand to let Xiao Gao go out and pointed to the chair in front of the desk: "General Sa, please take a seat, it's a matter of the naval fleet, they sent a telegram?" ”

Sa Zhenbing took off his military hat and sat down and said: "Yes, President, this morning Cheng Biguang sent a telegram saying that our naval fleet has seized all the Pacific islands belonging to Germany, and planted our national flag on all the islands, and the monument is a proof to declare sovereignty, and a certain number of troops have been deployed on each island, more than a regiment, less than a squad, of course, this is mainly a matter of the army, our navy only uses ships to play an auxiliary role, and now the task of the naval fleet has been completed, do you order the fleet to return?" ”

Xiao Zhenlei thought for a while and said: "In the Northern Mariana Islands, the Caroline Islands, the Micronesian Islands, New Guinea and the Bismarck Islands, one cruiser and two destroyers, two mine-strike ships, and three coastal defense patrol gunboats are left respectively to maintain the safety of these island groups, and at the same time regularly deliver necessary supplies for the garrisons on each island, especially if there is no fresh water on some islands, they must be sent over in time, and other people's garrisons will die of thirst and starvation!" ”

Sa Zhenbing promised: "Yes, President!" ”

Xiao Zhenlei pondered for a moment and then said, "Let the main force of the naval fleet sail back." Let them rest and maintain for a while, and in two months they will need them again! ”

"Yes!" Sa Zhenbing agreed. Remembering something, he said, "Great President." The two aircraft carriers with a displacement of 28,000 tons that we built at the shipyard are almost completed, and the Fuso and Yamashiro in Kure Port and Yokosuka in Japan have been towed back by our tugboats, would you like to take a look? ”

Xiao Zhenlei thought about his work arrangements for this period of time, and said: "Wait until the two aircraft carriers are completely completed, and then tell me, the work arrangements for the past one or two months are full, and I can't spare time." By the way, how did the Japanese react when they tuged the boat? ”

Sa Zhenbing shook his head and smiled: "We have always had warships on the waters of Kure Harbor and Yokosuka, and the Japanese didn't even dare to approach the shipyard, lest we open fire." When we sent a tugboat to tow it, the Japanese didn't know about it at all! Now the two battleships have been towed into the Jiangnan Shipyard for refit and final construction work, and it is expected that they will be completed and launched within two months! ”

After Sa Zhenbing got the instructions, he said goodbye and left, Xiao Zhenlei got up and lit a cigarette and smoked, thought for a long time, and when a cigarette was finished, he snuffed out the cigarette butt and picked up the phone and said: "Inform the Standing Committee of the Supreme Military Council that a military meeting will be held at the presidential palace at nine o'clock tomorrow morning!" ”

"Yes, President. Just now, the diplomatic department called and said that the British Minister Zhu Erdian wanted to meet with you! Secretary Xiao Gao said on the phone.

Xiao Zhenlei thought for a while and asked, "Do you have any free time today?" ”

Xiao Gao said on the phone: "There is an hour before leaving work in the afternoon, and there is no work schedule!" ”

"Then you can arrange for me to talk to Zhu Erdian before I get off work in the afternoon! In addition, give me a telephone call to the Chief of the General Staff of Chiang."

"Okay, President!"

While waiting to answer the phone. Xiao Zhenlei lit the cigarette again, and just took a few puffs of the phone before it was connected, and Jiang Baili's voice came from the phone: "I'm Jiang Fangzhen!" ”

Xiao Zhenlei asked, "Brother Baili." How did the negotiations on the batch of firearms and ammunition that your president negotiated with the British military last time? ”

Jiang Baili said on the phone: "In terms of price, they said there was no problem. However, they did not understand our request to pay in Huayuan, and they said that if we must ask them to pay in Huayuan. This amount will have to wait until next year to be paid to us, and we are still in further negotiations."

Xiao Zhenlei frowned when he heard this, and he asked, "Didn't you mention to them that you would allow Hua Yuan to only circulate in the pound zone?" Only in this way will they be able to raise enough Chinese dollars in the shortest possible time."

Jiang Baili said: "Our negotiators mentioned this 'construction yì' during the negotiation process, but the British military representatives obviously realized that it was inappropriate, and they suspended the negotiations at that time, and refused to mention this in the following negotiations, and asked us to extend the payment period!" ”

Xiao Zhenlei didn't speak after listening, his mind was thinking, his fingers kept tapping rhythmically on the table, until Jiang Baili waited on the other end of the phone for a long time and couldn't hear him speak, and then reminded him: "President? ”

Xiao Zhenlei came back to his senses and sneered: "The British really think that they are still the world boss now? They are all beaten by the Germans and can't find the north, and they are still trying their best to maintain the dignity and face of the world boss, they want to get our guns and ammunition, but they don't want to pay some price, okay, I have to have a meeting with the British minister this afternoon, I will solve this matter, your side will suspend contact with the British military representatives, let them cool down first, these hateful so-called gentlemen, don't get used to their stinky temper! ”

"Alright then!"

At noon, Xiao Zhenlei was busy with his work in the morning, and according to his own arrangement, he had to meet with Zhu Erdian, the British minister to China, before getting off work in the afternoon, and it was Zhu Erdian who wanted to see him in the diplomatic department, and what the purpose of Zhu Erdian's interview with him this time was, he did not know for the time being, but he set himself a goal today, which was to force the British to agree to allow the Chinese dollar to circulate freely in the pound zone, and to force Britain to allow the Chinese dollar to be freely exchanged with the British pound.

The so-called pound zone, that is, there are British forces where they belong to the pound zone, this period of the pound can be circulated almost all over the world, if the British can allow the Chinese dollar to circulate freely in the pound area, then the Chinese dollar is not very far away from becoming the world's currency.

Since the advent of Huayuan, it has not been pegged to gold because it does not use gold reserves as reserves. Therefore, although it has a good reputation in the country, the people are very buying. But internationally, only the United States, an ally, recognizes its value and allows it to exchange at a free exchange rate with the dollar. And in other countries, it is not too recognized for its purchasing power in the country.

If Hua Yuan cannot be freely exchanged for the currencies of other countries in the world, it will have a great hindrance to China's exports and a very great impact on China's international trade.

Until now, China has exported goods to other countries in exchange for the currencies of many countries, but China can only pay silver and gold for imports from other countries, and the Chinese dollar has no purchasing power in other countries. In addition, when other countries export goods to China, they only accept silver and gold, and they do not want Chinese dollars, which makes Xiao Zhenlei extremely angry.

Obviously, as the war prolonged, the purchasing power of the currencies of the participating countries would decline more and more, and if China continued to collect the currencies of other belligerent countries, China would suffer more and more, and a pound could buy a bag of flour. Because of the currency depreciation factor, only two-thirds of the bags of flour can be bought in pounds sterling so far, and Huaguo has a large amount of pounds in his hands. If you can't go on like this, you have to find a way to pass on these losses!

Two o'clock in the afternoon. After going to the regular meeting of the staff group, Xiao Zhenlei squeezed out a little time and called Chen Huizu, governor of the State Bank, and Song Shijie, premier of the cabinet. Meeting with Song Shijie was a pre-arranged job.

At 2:40 p.m., Song Shijie and Chen Huizu came to Xiao Zhenlei's office together. After the three of them sat down, Xiao Zhenlei asked, "Guangpu." What is the exchange rate of Chinese Dollar to British Pound Sterling today? ”

Chen Huizu said: "4.93:1"

Xiao Zhenlei frowned and said: "The depreciation of the pound is getting worse and worse, this is all due to the decline of the Entente countries in the battlefield everywhere, the French franc has become a piece of waste paper, used to wipe the butt feels diaphragm, now we have a large amount of pounds and some other neutral currencies in our hands, the dollar does not matter, the dollar has not depreciated, but appreciated, this is not a way, we must find a way to reverse this situation, Shijie, I called you today, the main thing is to discuss how to solve this matter, If we don't solve this problem, we will only suffer more and more, and the consequences of the depreciation of the pound will make those countries who have the pound in their hands pay for it, and pay for the British? Lao Tzu is still so stupid, Guangpu, do you two have a good way? ”

Song Shijie said: "In terms of economic matters, Guangpu is an expert, Guangpu, you tell me your opinion."

Chen Huizu's eyes lit up after thinking for a few minutes, and he hurriedly said: "President, Prime Minister, now the monetary systems of various countries are basically the gold standard, that is, the national currency is equivalent to a certain weight of gold, and in the banks of each country, paper money can be freely exchanged for huàn equivalent gold. For example, the British coinage regulations stipulate that an ounce of gold is 3 pounds 17 shillings and 10.5 pence, and we can now take advantage of the fact that countries have not promulgated regulations prohibiting the free circulation of gold, and all the banknotes of other countries in our hands can be exchanged for huàn gold, or use the pound to buy raw materials in those areas where the pound has not depreciated locally, for example, in Canada and Australia, the purchasing power of the pound has not depreciated much, and I have not yet figured out what is going on, I guess it should be that the market reaction in Canada and Australia is a little slower, if we don't want to lose, we must act nowAfter the exchange, the government should immediately order that the goods should be exported to foreign countries, and only the gold will be used to settle the settlement, and no other banknotes will be accepted! ”

Xiao Zhenlei looked at Song Shijie and asked, "Old Song, what do you think?" ”

Song Shijie nodded and said: "Guangpu can't say it, we must hurry up and act immediately, otherwise, we are likely to pay for the depreciation of the British pound!" ”

Xiao Zhenlei made a decision on the spot: "Okay, just do it!" Kwangpo immediately sent someone to carry paper money abroad and exchange all the paper money back for gold, and after the exchange was completed, the cabinet government announced that it would no longer accept paper money from other countries during the war, and that all other countries would use gold to settle their purchases of goods from our country! ”

"Understood!" (To be continued......)