On August 10, Congress, after being questioned about the president on foreign policy, voted by an overwhelming majority to approve the neutrality plan submitted by Long Qian. The members of the two chambers who have tasted the sweetness of peaceful development do not want China to be involved in the European war, Europe is too far away, and even if China has good diplomatic relations with Germany, the parliamentarians are not willing to "recklessly" throw themselves into the camp of the allies.

But there are still parliamentarians who are willing to fight alongside Germany. Previously, some members of the Senate were deeply interested in Germany's offer. To this end, on the evening of August 9, Premier Fang Shengyuan made a secret report to the members of the Senate National Defense Committee on the strength of the warring parties. Fang Shengyuan submitted a set of top-secret numbers to the committee members.

1. Population:

Russia: 175 million. United States: 97 million. Germany: 67 million. United Kingdom: 46 million. Austria-Hungary: 52 million. France: 39 million. Italy: 35 million. China: 460 million.

2. The per capita industrialization level is compared with 100 in Britain in 1900.

United States: 126. United Kingdom: 115. Germany: 85. France: 59. Austria-Hungary: 32. Russia: 20. Italy: 26. Japan: 20. China: 13.

3. Steel output

United States: 32 million tons. United Kingdom: 7.7 million tonnes. Germany: 17.6 million tonnes. Russia: 4.8 million tons. France: 4.6 million tonnes. Austria-Hungary: 2.6 million tons. Italy: 930,000 tons. Japan: 250,000 tons. China: 550,000 tons.

4. The total number of land and navy personnel of various countries at the outbreak of war

Russia: 1,352,000. Germany: 891,000. United Kingdom: 532,000. France: 910,000. Austria-Hungary: 444,000. Italy: 345,000. Japan: 306,000. United States: 164,000. China: 900,000.

5. Naval tonnage

United Kingdom: 2.714 million tons. United States: 985,000 tons. Germany: 1.305 million tons. Japan: 650,000 tons. Russia: 679,000 tons. Italy: 498,000 tons. Austria-Hungary: 372,000 tons. 45,000 tons in China.

National income (US$)

United States: 13.7 billion. Germany: 12 billion. UK 11 billion. Russia: 7 billion. France: 6 billion. Italy: 4 billion. Austria-Hungary: 3 billion. Japan: 2 billion. China: 4.2 billion.

The deadline for the number jù was the end of 1913.

Members of the two houses who entered the two houses after the midterm elections have become accustomed to using the number jù for analysis, but the set of numbers jù provided by Premier Fang has aroused great interest among the members of the Senate National Defense Committee. They asked two questions, first, where did the number jù come from? Second, why is it included in the United States, and hasn't the United States already declared neutrality? Is it true that the United States has a clearer attitude?

It is clear that the United States is a key force in shaping the situation. If the United States stays out of the way, the opposing sides will have a fight in strength, but if the United States joins one of the sides, the scales will immediately tilt.

Fang Shengyuan asked President Long Qian, who attended the meeting, to answer.

Long Qian said that the source of the numbers is more complicated. Most of them come from publicly available publications. A small number come from the intelligence agencies and need to be kept strictly secret. But the numbers are real and there is no need to doubt them. Regarding the movements of the United States, the United States is now neutral. But this does not mean that the United States will also be neutral in the future. Which side will the United States join in the future. Whichever side wins.

The numbers speak for themselves. The committee members felt the gap between China and the great powers after making a comparison, and they had learned to calculate per capita, so. Expressing full support for the President's subsequent proposal to choose neutrality.

Long Qian briefed the committee members on the war situation in Western Europe and said with certainty that it would be difficult for either side to achieve a quick victory. As you can see soon, the war will tend to be protracted. The facts will ruthlessly shatter the hopes of a quick victory. Then he said to the commissioners that our neutrality is to take advantage of the opportunity to develop ourselves. Neutrality is not the same as not preparing for war, it is not the same as inaction. The European war is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for China, and if it is not taken, it will be blamed. In my opinion, the chances of a quick win for one side are zero. In this way, we have gained an opportunity for development, whether it is arms or other materials, which are urgently needed by both sides, and it is simply unreasonable not to seize such an opportunity to make a fortune. Moreover, it is necessary to strengthen national defense building, which is not only a prerequisite for us to extract corn from the fire, but also a guarantee for achieving neutrality.

The committee members let out a hearty laugh. When a member of the committee suggested that neutral countries could not supply arms to belligerents, it was countered that if those international laws were really enforced, there would be no war in the world.

The meeting was held in an extremely relaxed atmosphere, and the members of the Senate National Defense Committee had more or less military backgrounds, and when Long Qian finally put forward a hypothesis, the members were immediately outraged!

"Japan will never be allowed to come here! He dares to shoot the first shot, and we will accompany him to the end! Li Liejun, who was born in the Kuomintang system, shouted loudly.

"Thank you, Commissioner Li, for your patriotism. Although the country is big, it is dangerous to forget the war! "We must prepare for the worst and strive for the best." To this end, the Ministry of Defense will submit a secret bill to Congress to increase the military budget for 1914. I ask all members of the committee to support it from the perspective of national security. The reason why it is necessary to keep it secret is clear to everyone. ”

From 1912 onwards, government budgets were required to be submitted to the National Assembly for approval. However, the government's budget at the beginning of the year is not perfect, let alone the occurrence of special circumstances. Therefore, it is inevitable to increase the budget. According to the relevant law, the supplementary budget does not need to be approved by all members of the Diet, but only by special committees of the Senate and the House of Representatives. Therefore, at a secret meeting on the evening of August 9, Long Qian took the opportunity to throw out a request for additional military spending of 60 million Chinese dollars, and after explaining the direction of use in principle, the Senate National Defense Committee efficiently passed the bill.

Now kick the ball back to the Treasury.

On August 11, Finance Minister Duan Qirui came directly to Haiyan Hall to ask to see Long Qian. It just so happened that Long Qian had time, and Duan Qirui effortlessly entered Long Qian's reception room and directly opposed the increase in military spending, "It is not advisable to break the balance of payments based on one assumption. The fiscal surplus is not easy to achieve, and the pressure to repay the national debt is increasing. I don't agree with that. ”

"Brother Zhiquan, don't worry," Long Qian put away the text that he was reviewing at hand, "Why don't we talk about a game?" ”

Duan Qirui readily agreed. He loves Go and doesn't have any other hobbies. At that time, many people were not optimistic about Duan Qirui as Minister of Finance, including Yuan Shikai. Who knew that Duan Qirui became one of the most "long-lived" cabinet members in the first cabinet, and the more he worked, the more energetic he became. Last year, there was the case of Ni Sichong, vice governor of Anhui Province, which was a case personally arrested by "King Cao Yan", which involved several Anhui bigwigs, but Duan Qirui was unscathed, and the big men at the core of the power of the republic knew that Duan Qirui had become the real henchman of someone Long.

Truly. With Duan Qirui, he surpasses the incorruptibility of ordinary people. "Admitting death" personality, especially suitable for financial work. Duan Qirui, who was born in the military, made the outstanding results of Duan Qirui, who was going to watch the joke, shatter his glasses.

Soon after the establishment of the new government, after learning from Chen Chao that Long Qian's chess skills were superb, Duan Qirui took the liberty of asking for a game. The two have since become chess friends. Leisure time or short visits. Or Long Qian went to Shijia Hutong and talked about a game with his hands, and he was happy. Playing chess brought the two closer. Despite the great difference in origin, mutual understanding and friendship have increased.

After 30 pieces were quickly placed on the chessboard, the two sides entered the middle game to fight. When Long Qian looked down and thought about a local change, Duan Qirui said, "I don't like deficits!" ”

Long Qian didn't say anything and continued to take the test. Duan Qirui's chess strength is much higher than Chen Chao's, but there is still a big gap compared to his heyday, at least he can take the lead. But how can I have time to play chess all these years? The calculation power was very retired, and one was accidentally stumped by Duan Qirui's simple tesuji.

Chen Shu personally made tea for the two of them, Duan Qirui stood up respectfully, took Chen Shu's tea cup with both hands, and continued to say to Long Qian, "Basic education should be improved by 1 point." Higher education should be increased by two points, and the investment in transportation should also be increased, especially the investment in the western section of Longhai Road must be guaranteed. Since last year, the army has basically enriched all units, and 22 million have been eaten at once. Investment in the Navy is also increasing, and you keep saying that you want to reduce military spending, but in fact military spending has been increasing year by year since the year before last! It already accounts for 27% of the total plate! You don't let the tax increase! ”

Chen Shu smiled and said, "Minister Duan, you should talk to the prime minister." ”

Duan Qirui snorted, and said in his heart, if the prime minister has the final say, why would I come to Haiyan Hall?

Since the founding of the People's Republic of China, the increase in fiscal revenues has exceeded the increase in expenditure. Otherwise, there would not have been last year's unprecedented fiscal surplus. In addition to the increase in exports, the increase in revenues was mainly due to the increase in excise taxes, but also due to the postponement of reparations payments in the United States and Germany. Compared with the Manchu Qing Dynasty's excessively heavy taxes and miscellaneous taxes, the taxes of the new China were much simpler, and in fact reduced the burden on the people. Due to the rapid development of industry and commerce, this area has become the main force of tax revenue. In fact, the introduction of personal income tax the year before last did not account for much of a large proportion, but it caused a huge backlash. The individual income tax regulations stipulate that the threshold is 100 yuan per month, and the method of progressive collection is adopted. It has almost nothing to do with ordinary people, and it is aimed at high-ranking officials and eunuchs. The ordinance has sparked a huge controversy, with many people applauding it, but there are also many people who oppose it. The Senate twice rejected the regulations of the House of Representatives, and finally reluctantly passed it under Long Qian's personal explanation.

"Slap" Long Qian slapped a son on the chessboard, "If it doesn't endanger national security, I don't want to increase military spending." I still understand the principle of releasing water to raise fish. Let's play chess, let's not talk about it. ”

If you don't talk about it, it's irretrievable. Duan Qirui, who had a relatively hard temperament, was about to argue, when he suddenly saw that the president's sideburns who were thinking about it had turned white, and his heart suddenly softened. He wasn't even forty years old, and he already had gray hair.

Duan Qirui put a handful of sunspots on the catalpa chessboard and stood up.

"Huh? You have the upper hand......" Long Qian looked at the wooden-faced old Duan in surprise.

"No, no more. The person sent by Wang Mingyuan is still waiting in my office. Besides, I don't believe you can put it down in your heart. ”

Duan Qirui's Ministry of Finance is not in Xiyuan but in Dongcheng, when the car drove through Tiananmen Square, Duan Qirui looked intently at the two buildings under intense construction on both sides of the square, the National Assembly Building in the east and the National Museum in the west. The two majestic buildings have been topped out. Originally, in the overall plan for the construction of the capital, the location of the National Museum was originally the Presidential Palace, but it was rejected by Long Qian, who believed that the National Assembly, as the highest organ of national power, should be located in the core area of the capital, but the Presidential Palace should not be in this position.

Duan Qirui's gaze fell on the towering Monument to the Unknown Hero north of Zhengyangmen. Whispered to the driver and guard, "Go around in a circle." ”

The sedan circled around the square. The driver was selected by the Garrison Security Bureau, and he had been with Duan Qirui for two years, and he knew the minister's habits, so he slowed down in front of the monument. Duan Qirui rolled down the window and saw the soldiers with guns on both sides of the monument, and also saw the fireworks in front of the monument for many years. The monument was built in 1911 by Long Qiantiyì, and the front of the monument is engraved with eight large italics of Tan Yanmin's book "Sacrifice for the country, immortal" in eight large italics, and on the back is "Your name is unknown." Your deeds live forever! But it was written by Hu Hanmin, a member of the Kuomintang who returned to China in 1912.

It is a great honor for anyone to be able to leave Mobao on such a majestic building. Especially those who boast that they can still use words. For a time, who will inscribe the monument has become a topic of high-level debate. In the end, it was written by law, Tan Yanmin's regular script and Hu Hanmin's official script were both handsome for a while, although Hu Hanmin was once the opponent of the Mengshan Army. But it still won the award. The point is that the content of the inscription is almost undisputed. It has abandoned narrow political strife. stood on a higher and broader level, so Hu Hanmin happily ordered the pen to write four paintings in a row and submitted them to the National Assembly. In the end, the best font was selected and engraved on the monument for eternity.

In terms of calligraphy, Zheng Xiaoxu's fame is definitely above Hu Hanmin. However, this person never gave up his attack on the republic's form of government, and stubbornly stood on the position of the Manchu Qing Dynasty, which had completely withdrawn from the stage of history, and regarded the Manchu Qing as the right one, and the president categorically vetoed the Tiyì written by Zheng Xiaoxu, "No matter how good the handwriting is, it cannot be used, and this is a matter of principle." These are the exact words of the president. But Duan Qirui couldn't figure out why he used Hu Hanmin.

The most qualified for the inscription is, of course, the president. But Long Qian admitted that he couldn't handle his brush words at all. Duan Qirui has indeed not seen Long Qian's brush words, all his letters and official documents are written with a pen, and occasionally there will be his unique "simplified", Duan Qirui has studied Long Qian's "simplified", although "simplified" is less and less, but it is indeed a "font" rather than a mistake, the difference between a mistake and a mistake is very simple, when he always insists on a way of writing, it is difficult to say that it is a mistake, but a kind of "correction" of the existing font. Some experts from the Ministry of Education and the Academia Sinica have sparked a debate about whether Chinese characters should be reformed, and that the universalization of compulsory education has encountered obstacles, and it must be admitted that some of the Chinese characters left to us by our ancestors are indeed too complicated, and some characters have more than 20 strokes. Leaving schoolchildren and literacy class students miserable, the president's "simplified" showed its legitimacy. Broadly, the Ministry of Education advocates the innovation of Chinese characters, and the Academia Sinica resolutely opposes it, such as the "Second Chapter" (Zhang Binglin and Zhang Shizhao) resolutely opposes the simplification of Chinese characters. However, a more "ingenious" pinyin script has been adopted by the Ministry of Education, the inventor is a native of Jiangsu, which won the award of the Ministry of Education, the method of marking Chinese characters with the Latin alphabet is very ingenious, very suitable for primary school students to learn the pronunciation of Chinese characters, learn pinyin, even if they can't write, they can read the document correctly.

The inscription is the work of Long Qian. Originally, the National Assembly had already organized people to "solicit essays" for the inscription on the monument, but the office sent the president's inscription, which was immediately adopted by the Congress. Not only because of Long Qian's identity, but also because the inscription is concise and meaningful, with profound meanings, and an eternal solemnity, which is very appropriate.

Duan Qirui felt that the inscription engraved on the back of the monument was more profound, and every time he read it, he felt a solemn touch. This huge monument with white marble has indeed inspired countless people, there has never been a memorial to those unknown martyrs who died for the country, some are only the emperors and generals who left their names in the official history, this monument to commemorate the martyrs who sacrificed for the country without even leaving their names is considered to have created history, and has been greatly loved by the army, the government and the people. The army will have different forms of commemorative activities on Army Day, schools will organize student representatives to lay flowers and sacrifices, and Beijing has even issued a local rule that all newlyweds must go to the monument to lay flowers in exchange for a certificate before they can receive a marriage certificate. Therefore, flowers in front of the monument's pedestal are constant throughout the year. If it's Qingming Festival, it's almost a sea of wreaths.

Duan Qirui had led soldiers, and he knew that this monument had an irreplaceable effect on morale. When the car circled around the Capitol building, Duan Qirui's thoughts returned to Long Qian.

He succeeded in awakening a people that had been sleeping for a hundred years! Regarding the sudden tension in the diplomatic situation caused by the outbreak of the European war, Duan Qirui is actually not worried. He believed in Long Qian's decision-making power, and even more in the strength of the National Defense Force. "Increasing military spending is also a last resort. Increase it, increase it, I used to long for an army that could defend the country, but now I have it, but I am reluctant to spend money......" A wry smile appeared on Duan Qirui's face. (To be continued......)

PS: I couldn't log in to the starting point yesterday, and I was busy until 10 o'clock in the evening and didn't succeed, apologize!