"As a member of the Entente countries, China has always borne the expectations of the entire Entente countries, but what is disappointing is that China has made people feel disappointed again and again!"

Rausch? George

When the world war entered its third year, the ambitious German Empire had already fallen into an unprecedented predicament in the two-front battle and the long confrontation of trenches with no end in sight, the men were no longer as "iserWilhelmsiegesmarsch" and "preussengloria" as they were when the war first broke out, and the women with children no longer waved handkerchiefs like the soldiers, and the long war turned the king's army into a civilian army. Let the men who were once fanatical about the war begin to evade military service, and let the women who cheer for the soldiers taste the hardships of life.

This was true not only of Germany, but also of Great Britain, France, and Russia, which either fell into a state of mistaken sleep about the war or began to oppose it, and the market of luxury goods and consumer goods became more and more expensive and rare, and even fresh fruits, fine wine, coffee, sweets, silk clothes and leather shoes became less and less, and then eggs, white bread, meat products and lard became scarce commodities.

Of course, life was even more difficult for the Germans, who had lost their foreign trade, and if the British and French had to deal with high-priced goods, the Germans had to deal with the disappearance of those goods, and when the winter of 1916 came, even potatoes, flour and coal became scarce and in-demand commodities for the Germans, and millions of Germans had to start surviving on the turnips they fed.

It seems that life is so difficult for every belligerent country, but there is only one exception, and this exception is China, far to the east, China as the main belligerent country. The lives of the people were hardly affected, at best only at the beginning of the war. It has faced a period of "material shortage" due to increasing foreign exports. However, after the full liberalization of private capital and the liberalization of foreign trade controls, especially with the expansion of production, the tight material supply will be replaced by an unprecedented abundance of material supply.

And for the 11,000,000,000 Chinese city dwellers, they have tasted the benefits of the war. First of all, because of the construction of a large number of new factories. As a result, skilled workers have become "in-demand", and factories have increased wages while changing from three shifts to two shifts to pay a large amount of overtime in order to expand production. to retain skilled workers. The increase in the income of tens of millions of workers has further prospered the city's commercial market, and for the first time, workers have truly shared in the dividends of the country's development.

And in the countryside, the stable food price system, which had been tightly controlled for many years, underwent a fundamental change for the first time under the impact of this war. After the outbreak of the war, there was a surge in flour exports and high food prices on the international market. Coupled with the full liberalization of foreign trade, in order to prevent merchants from exporting a large amount of grain for profit, the imperial government had to abandon the control of grain, making grain prices like uncontrolled wild horses, soaring all the way, constantly rising, in just three years, the price of grain rose threefold, coupled with the rise in the price of meat, chickens, eggs, fish and other non-staple foods, so that the income of the peasants increased several times in three years.

In the face of the surge in farmers' incomes, the countryside, which has not changed much in the past decade, began to change dramatically, and farmers began to consume more industrial consumer goods as a large number of new houses were built. The general increase in the income of the urban class and the peasant class greatly stimulated China's economic development, and at the same time the economy achieved leapfrog development, because of the continuous construction of factories, it further stimulated China's urbanization, before the war, China's urbanization level was only 20%, even so, it was regarded as the greatest achievement of ten years of industrialization, but three years after the outbreak of the war, with the end of the imperial economic control, the unprecedented activity of private capital, but further promoted China's urbanization, Tens of thousands of peasants enter the cities every day in search of a better life, and after a large number of peasants enter the cities, there is an extreme shortage of housing and urban land, and in the past three years, almost every city in China has built a large number of roads, bridges, railways, subways, stations and canals, and many cities have changed in three years, even more than in the past ten years. …,

Almost every foreigner in China has witnessed the changes that have taken place in China, and they have been amazed to see that the war has not brought disaster to the country, but to unimaginable wealth to the country.

"At the beginning of the war, in the coffers of the Chinese Empire, However, there were only 650 million Chinese dollars of gold and silver coins, but a year after the outbreak of the war, there were 2.45 billion Chinese dollars of gold and silver coins in the treasury of the Chinese Empire, and now, when the whole of Europe is plunged into the future war, when the gold coins in the treasury of various countries are flowing out continuously, there are more than 10 billion Chinese dollars of gold and silver coins in the treasury of the Chinese Empire, and the wealth of the world is flowing into this country in a steady stream, and when there is no bread in the ovens of European housewives, the Chinese people are enjoying an unprecedented life……”

Europe, a region that led the world through the Industrial Revolution, Europe, as some had expected at the outbreak of the war, "the lights of Europe have been extinguished!" It can be said without hesitation that the flames of war, which involved almost all of Europe, sounded the clarion call for Europe's decline.

Indeed, in the face of the huge amount of gold and silver coins that Europe had accumulated over hundreds of years of war like a flowing water, and the people faced with the scarcity of materials in real life, they did have reason to express their dissatisfaction, especially when their own country was on the verge of bankruptcy in this war, and other countries had made huge fortunes through the war.

And this dissatisfaction is the most breakthrough for China, in the world, there are only two countries that rely on the war to make a fortune, one is the United States, the other is China, they have a relatively complete industrial system, can provide all the materials needed by the Entente countries, and this is why. After the outbreak of the war, the two countries made unimaginable wealth.

And the reason why they ended up directing their grievances at China is very simple. China as a warring country. The war not only did not affect it, but made it richer, except that at the beginning of the war, China took advantage of negotiations with Germany. On the one hand, it occupied the German colonies, and on the other hand, it used it to coerce Britain and France and other belligerent countries to purchase materials from it in a fixed proportion.

"The wealth of Europe as a whole is irresponsible in China. Flows to this country that is unwilling to take on the responsibilities of allies! ”

Since six months ago, the British and French governments have expressed strong dissatisfaction with the situation that their countries can no longer use foreign exchange to purchase weapons. There is no reason why they should not be upset. First of all, they may have purchased billions of dollars of supplies from the United States, but the United States has provided them with loans of more than $1 billion, while China has only provided a pitiful loan of less than 2 billion Chinese dollars of military supplies and commodities imported from China by the British and French officials and non-governmental organizations, and these loans are all guaranteed by the investment and overseas assets of various countries in China.

Not only that. The Chinese are reluctant to even send their land forces to Europe, or even their navy to the war. Of course, if it were not for the European market, they would not even be able to take the initiative to send a fleet to escort the merchant fleet, and it is precisely because they can provide enough merchant ships and escort ships that they can surpass the United States to become Europe's largest trading partner.

In the face of China's "irresponsibility," discontent was brewing in the political and military circles of Britain and France, and even among the people; as the most direct response, Britain, France, and Italy began to plummet in August 1916 when their orders for China's military supplies began to plummet, and after entering October, Britain issued orders to the United States as much as $500 million while directly canceling arms purchases from China.

In the government affairs building of the Nanjing Imperial Palace, cabinet members once again gathered together to set the tone for the upcoming military joint meeting of the cabinet. …,

For a meeting like this, the presiding officer is naturally Chen Moran, who is the emperor.

"Today's meeting will discuss two points, one is to sum up the progress of the war in the previous stage, and the other is to discuss China's position and military priorities in this war in the next stage. The summary of the military aspects was first made by General Director Jiang Fangzhen. ”

Chen Moran

Straight to the point, pragmatic first, this is the biggest feature of China's imperial meeting, although the meeting and discussion time of the imperial meeting has been as long as more than ten hours, but it is the characteristics of the imperial meeting without delay.

The Chief of the General Staff of the Supreme Staff, General Fang Bai, got up and greeted everyone slightly, picked up the speech in front of him, thought about it, put it on the table again, and came to the large map opposite His Majesty's seat.

"The text of the speech is prepared for the joint meeting, and it is irrelevant, so I will talk about the general meaning here."

As he spoke, he pulled out a whip from under the map and gestured leisurely.

"On the Middle East, on the northern front, after the launch of the Battle of Tikrit in December last year, the front is again deadlocked, but on the western front, at present, our army is preparing to launch the Damascus operation, and it is expected that on New Year's Day next year, by the late Spring Festival, our army will be able to reach the Mediterranean, and from this we will control the richest part of the Arab region......"

After a brief briefing on the situation in the Arab region, he pointed the whip in the direction of Persia.

"On the Persian side, we have had many frictions with the British army, and at present, the local Persian armed forces supported by our army have grown to three brigades, but in view of our current relations with the British, we do not think that the British will make specific concessions on the Persian question, so the General Staff is considering sending further troops to Persia in order to expand our influence in Persia!"

When Jiang Fangzhen was making a report, Chen Moran just listened quietly, and he had already understood all this from various reports.

"On the Russian side, the East Asian Expeditionary Force, with the Japanese army as the main body, has completed the dispatch of 42 divisions and regiments, with 935,000 Japanese troops fighting on various fronts in Russia, and nearly 10,000 people stationed in Russia at the East Asian Expeditionary Force Command stationed by China are also stationed in Russia, responsible for coordinating and commanding Japanese troops with the Russian army and ensuring the logistical supply of the East Asian Expeditionary Force. In addition, the Coast Guard is preparing to establish the 23rd Escort Fleet, which is currently negotiating with the Italian side to use Italian Somali ports as home ports for the 23rd Escort Fleet. ”

Speaking of this, Jiang Fangzhen put down the whip and spread his hands:

"The above is an overview of the war on all fronts over the past two months."

Then he added.

"To sum up, I would like to briefly mention a few points: First, the Guards Army has deployed 414 army divisions, with a total strength of 10 million troops that has reached an unprecedented 10 million, and in terms of the size of the army alone, the Guards Army has become the second largest army armed force after the Russian army. Second. Now the Guards Army has been trained for a long time, and its quality is far from being comparable to that of short-term training soldiers in other countries. And judging by the armament of the divisions. All infantry divisions of the Guards Army have reached the standard of standing divisions established three years ago, and all divisions are fully manned. It already has the ability to launch large-scale campaigns, and for the first time, the number of combat vehicles in the army's armored units exceeds 3,000. According to the results of the exercises, it is proven that if used in conjunction with the air power of the Army Air Corps. It can play a key role in surprising and defeating the enemy with one blow on the battlefield. ”

Now, after three years of expansion and training, because the army has never suffered any losses, Jiang Fangzhen has great confidence in the combat effectiveness of the army. This trust comes more from strength.

In the last three years. In fact, in the first year, China often refurbished weapons from the army's active equipment for export, while most of the new weapons produced by the arsenal were delivered directly to the army. …,

After three years of mass production. The Chinese Army has not only been expanded several times in size, but has far surpassed its European counterparts in terms of weaponry. Whether it is in the firepower of divisions or group armies, it can form an overwhelming advantage over its European counterparts.

Jiang Fangzhen paused here, strode back to his seat, pressed the back of the seat with his hand, and said slowly:

"Actually, I want to say that the advantages that our army now has can only be used on the battlefield to gain advantages, and the General Staff believes that after being put into the battlefield, our army can gain all-round superiority, and this should be the main purpose of today's meeting."

War!

Real Fight! Now this is the most important issue facing the country and the army.

"That's a good point."

As soon as he shouted, Chen Moran took the lead in clapping his face, and the not spacious conference room suddenly burst into applause.

After the applause subsided a little, Chen Moran nodded and motioned for Jiang Fangzhen to take a seat, looked around at the cabinet members, and finally landed on Foreign Minister Gu Weijun, and then he took the initiative to speak.

"Actually, everyone understands the purpose of today's meeting, and everyone understands why this meeting is being held—"

After a pause in his voice, Chen Moran sighed in his heart, sometimes war money is not easy to make!

"As a belligerent country, with a strong military force, and not into the battlefield, it is inevitable that some people will think that we have ill intentions, will think that we do not do our best, no, recently, the British, French, Italians, have expressed dissatisfaction, so ......"

After a moment of silence, Chen Moran said.

"I recently received a Rausch? Prime Minister George's letter urgent letter. In the letter, the prime minister revealed that Britain's financial resources are about to be exhausted. "The time is coming when we can no longer pay for freight and other supplies with cash," he claimed. "Under the terms of other legislation of our country, belligerents are obliged to purchase weapons in cash, and the funds of Great Britain for cash purchase and self-transport have reached the point of exhaustion. The Prime Minister did not ask for a solution to the fiscal problem, which is why they issued an order to the United States, because the United States Congress agreed to issue a $5 billion credit guarantee to Britain six months ago...... Of course. ”

Chen Moran raised his voice slightly, and then said.

"I think this is just an excuse for the British, but whether it is an excuse or a reason, the fact is that in the second half of this year, what we have lost, and will lose, the military orders of up to 2 billion Chinese dollars from Britain are the most realistic losses! And at the cost of this, our military-industrial complex will suffer unprecedented losses! Considering the decrease in orders and various losses in other countries, we will lose more than 10 billion Chinese dollars in the coming year! ”

Speaking of this, Chen Moran suddenly stopped talking, just looked at everyone, as if asking them, what should we do.

"Your Majesty, the Cabinet believes that China can provide a loan of no more than 9 billion yuan to the Entente countries, and at the same time provide a credit guarantee of 3 billion yuan, so as to ensure that the orders of the Entente countries will not be lost!"

After Guan Mingtang answered like this, Chen Moran turned his gaze to Jiang Fangzhen again, and then asked him directly.

"Baili, if the Guards Army devotes a hundred divisions to the Western Front and invests all the tank and armored forces, how long will it take to end the war?"

"Back to Your Majesty, you can force Germany to take the initiative to negotiate peace within about a year!"

Jiang Fangzhen replied with great confidence that in the war games of the General Staff Headquarters, they had carried out many deductions, although because they were not very confident, they made "appropriate" adjustments to the results of the deductions, and at the same time increased their own losses, but all the results still proved that putting a hundred divisions of the Guards Army into Europe was fully capable of ending the war within a year, and of course Germany could stop the war with dignity.

"Oh, if that......"

Smiling slightly, Chen Moran said after thinking for a while.

"It is obviously irrational to continue to expand munitions production, and in the face of competition from the United States, it is also appropriate for us to adjust our industrial production capacity, 12 billion ...... It's too much, a two-thirds reduction should be appropriate,"

"But, Your Majesty, we must take into account the present grievances of England and France, and ......"

Interrupting Guan Mingtang's words, Chen Moran said.

"Tell the British, and the French, that we will make a really constructive decision after they agree to our terms!"

As he spoke, the corners of his lips lifted, and a figure appeared in his mind, she was coming back!