Although the war in Europe is becoming more and more intense, the new capitalists in China are laughing from ear to ear. Because of Europe's demand for various materials, the products they produce have begun to be in short supply. And it has greatly stimulated the development of domestic industry and commerce, according to the Ministry of Industry, the growth rate of domestic industrial output this year may not be much worse if it cannot be doubled.

Naturally, it is not only businessmen who have benefited, with the sharp increase in the export of various materials in the country, although the national government has set the export tax of the customs and other taxes at a low position, but still made a lot of money.

In addition to those private capital, state-owned enterprises have also made a lot of money by taking advantage of this east wind.

Unlike the non-governmental capitalists, Yan Shao, who had already guessed the war, had long been asking the local government to speed up the progress of the project by not stopping work 24 hours a day when promoting the 'Seventh Five-Year Plan'.

Therefore, although it has only been more than half a year, a considerable number of these 75 projects have already been completed, except for some projects that require a lot of time to complete.

Perhaps the fastest completion of the project is the development of coal and other mineral resources.

In addition to this relatively primitive export of resources, there are also some relatively primary exports of industrial products, and on the whole, the Nationalist government can be said to have made a great profit.

According to Liang Shiyi of the Ministry of Finance, if the war had not taken place at the end of July, but had happened earlier. This year's fiscal revenue is expected to reach 600 million yuan. Not just the current speculation of more than 500 million yuan―――――― in fact, Liang Shiyi is still wrong in speculation, because after the Ministry of Finance conducted statistics in the coming year, it was found that the fiscal revenue of the national government still reached more than 600 million yuan this year.

That's why. It is because Liang Shiyi forgot about the current boom of the European war and the stimulation of domestic capital. A large amount of private capital is not mentioned for the time being, it is already September, no matter how quickly they are launched, they will not be able to complete the project until next year.

However, in the original '300 million yuan loan plan', those projects that had not yet been completed were stimulated by the European war, but the progress of the project was greatly accelerated. It only took a month or two to complete the construction and then start construction.

It is precisely because of these private enterprises that the financial revenue of the government in 1914 actually reached more than 600 million yuan, which is a great achievement. After all, at this time, the national government had just recovered the local finances.

But then again. If this war had really taken place at the beginning of 1914, perhaps the government would have been able to reach a higher level of revenue, 800 million yuan, or 700 million.

At the same time, due to the increase in fiscal revenue. The burden on the national government has also been greatly reduced.

Although the war in Shandong consumed a lot of materials. As a result, some people in the Congress and the government are reluctant to continue fighting―――――― the outbreak of the war in Shandong has interfered with the progress of some projects in Shandong, as well as the development of some private enterprises.

Whether it is for the sake of the whole or the persuasion of those from the capitalists in Shandong, there are indeed many people who hold this position. (It would be strange to say that the merchants in other regions were making a lot of money because of the European war, but they had to stop the project because of the war, and it would be strange to say that they would be happy, after all, their money was borrowed from the bank.) It's to pay interest, not to mention that this delay does make them a lot less money)

But. As a result of the war, the Communist government was no longer required to pay some of the past reparations to Germany and the rest of the Allied Powers...

In addition, the war in Shandong has only lasted for more than a month so far, and even if more materials are consumed, it will not be much. Generally speaking, the current national government is still very relaxed.

And while there were many people in the government who wanted to stop the war, there were also those who were not. Because there are also many businessmen who benefited from this war in China, after all, the Wehrmacht fought against the Japanese in Shandong, and it also needed a lot of supplies...

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Although the war in Shandong is now going well, and the Nationalist government is also going smoothly because of the war in Europe, when the British, French, and even Russian governments jointly issued a statement to the Kuomintang, France, and even the Russian government that they hoped to mediate the Sino-Japanese 'conflict', the Kuomintang-Commune government still chose to accept it.

According to Yan Shao, if you can get what you want in a peaceful way, there is naturally no need to use knives and guns.

As long as the Japanese are willing to accept their own conditions, Yan Shaozhi is also willing to let them live.

However, although he accepted the mediation of Britain, France, and Russia, Yan Shao refused the request for a ceasefire in Shandong.

“……… Now Japan is willing to talk to us, and the Entente are willing to stand up and mediate, not because they hope for peace in the Far East, but because we are about to win, and if it is we who fall to the bottom in Shandong this time, I dare to guarantee that what you will see from the faces of the Entente and even the Japanese is definitely a different face..."

"And if we stop now, the Japanese still have a certain amount of strength in Shandong after all, which is also a bargaining chip for the Japanese, which means that at least they haven't lost yet, and there is room for bargaining, but if we can annihilate them all, and then get 30,000, 40,000, 40,000 or 50,000 prisoners out, can the Japanese have any other way out except to accept our conditions? It is best to capture all the more than 70,000 Japanese troops in Shandong, so that we can use this as a bargaining chip to ask the Japanese for a sky-high price, and for the Japanese, unless they are willing to die cleanly, they may accept our conditions very much, and the more lively we fight in Shandong, the more anxious they will be, and the greater the possibility of agreeing..."

This was during an internal meeting. Yan Shao said to Li Liang and Duan Qirui.

"But what if the Japanese really don't care about their lives or deaths?"

Hearing Yan Shao's words, Xu Shichang said with some hesitation.

He still knows the Japanese very well. Compared with ordinary people, the Japanese are obviously more extreme. It's not that there is no possibility of going all the way to the dark, and at that time, even if they can really get tens of thousands of prisoners, can they really kill them all?

"In that case, since they don't want to give it, can't we take it ourselves?" he got up and poured himself a glass of water. Yan Shao said with a smile. "Counting those settled at sea, the Japanese troops in Shandong have reached nearly 150,000, which is 150,000. It's not 15,000, and the loss of so many troops at once is a heavy blow even for Japan, and it will probably take a long time to recover. During this time, we can get what we want......... At present, the Ministry of Defense has stockpiled a lot of weapons, equipment and ammunition. Even if it is no longer possible to buy arms from Europe because of the war, the United States has terminated arms exports to us and Japan, and there is no problem in driving the Japanese out of Tohoku, or even ......... Taking North Korea is not very problematic either..."

But seriously, Yan Shao does not intend to take North Korea.

Because if Korea is taken, it will mean that Japan will once again completely degenerate into a maritime power. If we want to fight Japan again, we must first deal with Japan's navy, and secondly, we must carry out landing operations on the Japanese mainland―――――― with the extreme character of the Japanese. Unless Yan Shao could get the atomic bomb out a few years ago, otherwise. It is very likely that the Japanese will stick to their homeland and fight until they are armed.

Moreover, if Japan's most elite troops could not be exhausted first, as was the case in the War of Resistance in later generations, then it is conceivable how much the Wehrmacht would lose in the time of landing operations.

On the other hand, if a place is left for the Japanese, with the character of the Japanese, even if the cost is great, they will find a way to keep this place, and a considerable number of domestic elites will definitely be deployed here, then...

Throw Korea to the Japanese, and when it really comes time to completely solve Japan, I am trying to find a way to eat all the Japanese elites in Korea in one go. It is not impossible to sever the connection between Japan and North Korea on the waterway.

After the loss of a considerable number of elite troops, the defense of the Japanese mainland will inevitably be much lowered, and even if the Nationalist government has not yet developed an atomic bomb, the landing operation against Japan will be much simpler.

As for whether leaving Korea to Japan will strengthen the strength of the Japanese ...

Even if it is strengthened, how much can it be strengthened?

That's it, there's no need to tell outsiders...

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On September 25, some time after the Sino-Japanese conflict in Shandong, the Nationalist government announced that it would accept the mediation of Britain, France, Russia, and the United States―――――― the latter of which had subsequently intervened.

At this time, the Japanese government was actually very anxious, after all, there were still tens of thousands of troops in Shandong, and because of the submarine force between Japan and Shandong, the transport ships that were going to Shandong to transport supplies were frequently attacked, and up to now, at least dozens of transport ships have been sunk by the submarine forces of the National Defense Navy.

Although the Japanese knew that the submarine forces of the Wehrmacht Navy were stationed at the fortress of Qingdao, they had nothing to do because the surface fleet had suffered heavy losses and the army was at a disadvantage.

With the frequent attacks on transport ships, the Japanese troops in Shandong already have a very strict logistical supply problem, if you don't want to think about a way...

Even if tens of thousands of troops in Shandong are wiped out, it doesn't seem impossible...

For today's Japan, this is an absolutely unacceptable loss.

However, although the Nationalist Government has accepted the mediation of Britain, France, the United States, and Russia, it has only accepted the peace talks, and it is still doing the same thing in Shandong. Terauchi Masashi and Kamio Mitsutomi had already begun to complain to the country, in order to solve this matter as much as possible, Okuma Shigenobu sent Foreign Minister Kato Takaaki to make a special trip―――――― at this time the submarine force attack on Japanese ships was limited to Japan and Shandong, so he was not worried about what would happen to him at all...

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At this time, China and Japan were at war, but after all, a full-scale war had not really broken out between the two countries. Externally, it is only described as 'conflict'. Therefore, although the Kuomintang's dislike for Japan was growing day by day, when Kato Takaaki arrived in Beijing, the Kuomintang's government still gave him the courtesy he deserved...

However, Kato Takaaki did not intend to enjoy the hospitality of the national government. Because of the news from Shandong, Terauchi Masashi is about to be unable to withstand it, and it is best to reach a truce in this situation.

And at the request of Kato Takaaki, Yan Shao had no choice but to send Gu Weijun out...

“……… The most important thing now is a ceasefire, and only when the two sides cease fire on the spot can the premise for peace talks be reached..."Sitting at the negotiating table, Takaaki Kato, as Minister of Foreign Affairs, spoke eloquently. Very diplomat-like.

As a career diplomat, he certainly knows exactly what to do with negotiations. Although it is now they begging for peace talks, if there is an eager expression on their faces. Then the peace talks would be half the failure. So no matter how anxious he is, he has to maintain a calm posture on his face.

And his request is simple, a ceasefire ...

At present, the Japanese army in Shandong is obviously about to be unable to hold out, and only a ceasefire can give them a breather. And let the local find a way to send some supplies to Shandong. Alleviate the tension of the Japanese army's material needs in Shandong...

"Ceasefire on the spot?" Gu Weijun said with some amusement. "You must know that we did not invite your country to land in Shandong, the current situation is completely caused by your country, at present, hundreds of thousands of people in our country have been displaced in Shandong, and the national defense forces have paid great casualties in the process of defending the country, is this conflict like a child fighting for your country? Can you stop if you say stop? ”

"Responsibility......... It's on both sides..."After a deep groan, Kato Takaaki said softly.

He also knows that this topic cannot be avoided, of course, if this time it is they who have the upper hand in Shandong. Naturally, there is no need to talk about this, they will use the bayonets of the army to get the qiē they need in Shandong. But now it's different, and now it's them who are falling into disadvantage in Shandong. Not to mention that the once formidable army is now trapped in Shandong, and even the originally proud fleet has been hit hard, and its strength has been damaged...

However, he was not particularly worried about this, because before he came, the Japanese government had already received private support from Britain, France, the United States and Russia...

That's right, Britain, France, the United States, Russia ...

Britain and France aside, peace and balance in the Far East are their common interests, and Russia is incidental. To the United States...

Although the United States has always been wary of Japan in the past, it is difficult for Japan to pose any threat to the west coast of the United States after the Japanese fleet has suffered heavy losses. At this time, China, which is gradually becoming stronger, is a new threat that the United States needs to consider.

Yan Shao's personal relationship with the US government is indeed good, and several presidents have received Yan Shao's support. But racial discrimination in the United States is just as severe, let alone xenophobic. In the past, they supported China because they were wary of Japan, but now China seems to be about to become stronger than Japan―――――― even the blind can see that China's potential is obviously much stronger than Japan's, no matter from which point of view.

In the past, it was China itself that did not fight for anger, so any country could jump out and bully China. But now that China has a bit of a desire to rise, and Europe is in a state of civil war, it can't draw strength at all, and in this case, the United States has to think about it for itself, so although the dislike for Japan is still there, the U.S. government's private policy is to support Japan...

If the United States in the past needed a stronger China to contain Japan, then the United States now needs a stronger Japan to contain the United States.

Although the time is still short, and the US foreign policy has not been able to turn around in a short period of time, it has already faintly had this tendency, and this peace talks are like this...

And it is this position of Britain, France, the United States and Russia that gives Kato Takaaki a little confidence in his heart...

Gu Weijun was also very clear about this, because before this, the governments of the four countries had already sent a note to the government of the Kuomintang, and vaguely revealed that they hoped that the Far East would be as peaceful as possible.

However, Gu Weijun was not too worried, although he was a little worried, but Yan Shao had already made it clear to him before he came. If there is not enough good, this battle will certainly not stop. What if the governments of the four countries support Japan? Now that Europe is in a mess, I am afraid that it will not be able to tell the winner in a few years, what about the United States? Obviously, it is impossible to really jump out in support of Japan.

Therefore, the support of the governments of the four countries for Japan is equal to nothing...

Even if the governments of the four countries really give substantial support to Japan, with the current shape of Shandong, Japan will no longer be able to turn the tables, so there is no need to worry about it at all. Moreover, although the governments of the four countries have expressed their attitude, their stance is not firm, after all, they are not willing to force China into the camp of the allies.

So without any burden in his heart, Gu Weijun slowly put forward his own conditions. "If you want peace talks, of course, there is no problem, but first of all, it must be clear that the responsibility for this war lies entirely with your country, and likewise our country's losses must be compensated, as for the conditions......... First of all, your country's rights and interests in the Northeast will be abolished, including the concessions of various cities, Lushun and other places must be returned to our country, and the garrisons in the Northeast and other regions must also be withdrawn from our territory, in addition, your country must compensate our country for the losses in this war, as for the number, you can talk slowly..."Smiling slightly, Gu Weijun showed a smile that was very hateful in Kato's eyes. "We have time anyway, don't we..." (To be continued......)