Everyone in the world knows Cai Yi's exploits in defending the country and fighting Yuan, but many people ignore that Tang Jiyao was the actual commander of the Yunnan army at that time and the real leader of the Protectorate War. However, after Tang Jiyao, there was nothing remarkable about it, and he was completely involved in the warlord melee, confronting Beiyang and fighting with the Sichuan warlords.

The southwest, especially Sichuan, suffered from the war, and this person could not escape the blame, especially Tang Jiyao's strategy of destroying Sichuan and making up for Yunnan, which aroused the resentment of the Sichuan people. However, Tang Jiyao didn't notice it at all, he was still ambitious, and he would not give up any opportunity to expand his strength.

The entry of the national defense forces into Sichuan this time made Tang Jiyao feel a strong threat, as the so-called rabbit died and the fox was sad, the three southwestern provinces were originally one, once Sichuan was taken away by the central government, Yunnan and Guizhou provinces would lose the capital of separation, and sooner or later it would be over.

This is absolutely intolerable for Tang Jiyao, who claims to be the king of Yunnan and even the king of the southwest, so he wants to fish in troubled waters and take advantage of the chaos to occupy the land in southern Sichuan, so that he also has the capital to advance and retreat.

The area of Fushun in southern Sichuan is a famous well salt producing area, and every year from the salt tax alone, you can get millions, tens of millions of funds, with this money, you can't do anything!

Tang Jiyao is thinking of this wishful thinking, others are afraid of Zhang Tinglan, he may not be afraid, Yuan Shikai's Beiyang was also so powerful back then, but Tang Jiyao still won the war to protect the country with a province. Tang Jiyao never forgot this glorious history, and he wanted to copy it.

However, he obviously miscalculated, the people of Sichuan suffered greatly from the Yunnan army, after the Yunnan army entered Sichuan, it immediately aroused the strong dissatisfaction of the Sichuan people, and representatives from all walks of life came forward one after another, calling for the expulsion of the Yunnan army. Some people even cried blood and begged, hoping that the central government could stop Tang Jiyao's actions.

This request was naturally sent to Zhang Tinglan. Zhang Tinglan also immediately convened a military and political conference overnight to discuss countermeasures. Sun Anhu spoke first: "Vice President, this is a God-given opportunity, just take advantage of the situation to kill Tang Jiyao, so that Yunnan and Guizhou provinces will also fall under our control, and the problem in the southwest will be completely solved." ”

Zhang Tinglan smiled: "It is true that Tang Jiyao must be solved, but I don't know if you have any good ideas?" ”

Sun Anhu immediately said: "Although the Dian army is brave, it is poorly equipped and has weak financial resources, so it is not our opponent at all. As long as two divisions are transferred to the southwest, it is guaranteed that the southwest can be swept away. ”

"No." Yang Yuting immediately waved his hand and said: "If we only rely on military strength, we would have been able to solve the southwest a long time ago, and this kind of thing still has to be calculated as an economic account and a social account." With the minimum cost, it is the right thing to pacify the southwest. And Shu Road is difficult. Yungui is even higher than the emperor. If only by the army. How long we have to fight, how much wealth we have to consume, whether we do it well or not, will affect our development, which has gone against our original intention. ”

Jiang Baili also said: "Attacking the city is the bottom, attacking the heart is the top, and it is easy to solve the warlords." It is difficult to get rid of the people's hearts, and if we can't do it, it will be difficult to bring the southwest capital under the control of the state. ”

Speaking of this, Jiang Baili looked at Premier Tang Shaoyi. said with a smile: "Prime Minister, if you want to clean up the hearts of the people, to put it bluntly, it is a matter of real money, I don't know how much money the cabinet can come up with?" ”

When Tang Shaoyi heard this, he smiled bitterly and said: "Chief of Staff, the financial funds have basically been invested in construction, but there is also a batch of national defense bonds recently, a total of 30 million yuan, maybe it can be temporarily misappropriated." As for the defense side, there are many Chinese businessmen in Nanyang who have come back to invest, and there is a large amount of foreign capital injection, and they may be able to issue more currency. ”

Zhang Tinglan hurriedly waved his hand: "No need, the financial sector has just been unified, and this year's currency has been over-issued, and according to estimates, the inflation rate will even reach 12 percent, and no more money can be issued." ”

Tang Shaoyi also looked miserable: "Humble words, if you don't send money, the finances are really a bit difficult at the moment." ”

You can't play anything without money, no matter how big your family business is, when you don't have enough money, everyone here is a little dumbfounded. At this time, Yang Yuting said: "Vice President, unifying the country is the trend of the times, no matter how much money is spent, it is worth it, I see if I can issue a unified bond and borrow some money." ”

"Neighbor, don't be so troublesome, if you can't make money, it will be too much of a failure." Zhang Tinglan thought about it for a long time, and finally had a plan.

"Ladies and gentlemen, Sichuan is not a poor place, rich in natural resources and resources, and any one can be exchanged for a lot of money. Pig bristles, tung oil, well salt, raw silk, ore, these are all urgently needed, and they can be sold at a good price when they are shijie, and I am ready to use the five-year commodity franchise as collateral to borrow from enterprises and banks, and there is absolutely no problem in borrowing thirty or fifty million. ”

When everyone heard this, their eyes lit up, this idea is indeed good, if they can borrow money, there will be a lot less trouble. It's just that Tang Shaoyi's brows furrowed again: "Humble words, it's okay to borrow money, but we haven't controlled Sichuan yet, so we wantonly sell Sichuan's resources, I'm afraid it will arouse the disgust of the Sichuan people!" ”

"How can this be considered a betrayal!" Jiang Dengxuan hurriedly said: "Bristle is a strategic resource, the state should be managed in a unified manner, salt is also related to the people's livelihood, isn't the salt administration under the management of the State Salt Industry Corporation for a long time, only the southwest has not been included in it, and it is a matter of course to withdraw these rights." ”

"Of course, it's true, but it's hard to say whether the people will understand, especially if the place is unstable, and some people will instigate it again, saying that the central government is entering Sichuan to seek Sichuan's resources, so it's not clear."

Tang Shaoyi also told the truth, the government has not yet controlled Sichuan, and any move must be cautious and repeated, everyone has set their eyes on Zhang Tinglan, since he proposed this method, most of them should have an idea to solve it.

Facing everyone's expectant eyes, Zhang Tinglan said with a smile: "I don't have any good way, but if I want to take the first, it's just to benefit the people." I am going to implement three new policies in Sichuan, the first is that in view of the problem of the Sichuan warlords collecting taxes in advance, all taxes will be exempted in Sichuan within three years, and only the business tax, industrial and commercial tax, and stamp duty will be retained to maintain the operation of the government. Second, reduce the price of salt in an all-round way, and pay a dime per catty of refined salt. The third is to establish the Sichuan-Han Railway Operating Company, absorb capital from all walks of life in Sichuan, and share the fruits of railway development. ”

After these three articles were said, Tang Shaoyi first applauded, the three articles completely hit the nail on the head, the warlords levied and extorted violently, which has been widely criticized, the people are miserable, and tax cuts are the most important way to clean up people's hearts. As for the price of salt, it is also a little pitiful, as the so-called people who are all over the world, not silkworm breeders. Although Sichuan is a salt producing area, salt merchants make huge profits every year, but the price of salt is not lower than that of other places.

Moreover, the salt merchant's control over salt has reached the point of perversion, and when the workers carry the brine used to boil salt, they must be shirtless, that is, to prevent their clothes from being stained with brine, and they can take it back to boil salt. For most people, a year of hard work and a little income accumulated are barely enough to buy some salt.

After Zhang Tinglan entered the customs, he thoroughly controlled the excessively high salt prices, especially the output of the Changlu salt field was getting higher and higher, and the market was flooded with high-quality and cheap sea salt, basically only about a dime a pound of salt, which was basically equivalent to about one-eighth of the original salt price.

This drop is amazing, but in fact, there is still more room for salt prices to be reduced, the cost of a pound of salt, plus the freight is only a penny or two, but it can be sold for a dime, which is already full of profiteering, and it can also be seen that the greed of salt merchants in the past.

Tax cuts and salt price reductions are definitely the best way to clean up people's hearts, and as for the operation of Sichuan-Han Road, it is to share benefits with Sichuan industrialists and businessmen and win over supporters as much as possible.

Of course, wooing is not unconditional, everyone wants it, such as salt merchants and other fat cats that need to be eliminated, Zhang Tinglan will never let go, and must snatch the benefits back from them and give them back to the people.

After some discussions, the strategy for dealing with the southwest was finally decided. First of all, the government issued a statement severely condemning Tang Jiyao's invasion of Sichuan and demanding that he immediately withdraw from Sichuan and concentrate on border defense.

At the same time, the government also announced a set of new policy plans, announcing a drastic reduction in taxes, and in the three years of Sichuan, the peasants basically did not have to pay taxes, and only industry and commerce had to pay a small amount of taxes, and also announced that 200,000 tons of salt would be urgently transferred into Sichuan and sold at low prices to relieve the suffering of the people.

For the people, firewood, rice, oil and salt are still the most important things, whether it is Sichuan autonomy or central management, in short, they are Chinese, as long as they can live better, there is no problem.

The central government can take care of the interests of the people in this way, and the whole of Sichuan is extremely excited, and the people's expectations for the government have suddenly soared.

However, the common people do not know that pie will not fall from the sky, Zhang Tinglan has made a large concession, and he will definitely get it back from other aspects, and the monopoly of Sichuan's special products has been mortgaged, in exchange for a total of 53 million loans, with this money, there is hope for pacifying the southwest.

"Fu Cheng, this is a telegram from Chang Yinhuai."

Liu Xiang's henchman sent a telegram to Liu Xiang by Pan Wenhua, Liu Xiang looked at it carefully, and immediately frowned. In the telegram, Chang Yinhuai did not reproach Liu Xiang for anything, but only told him that the Sichuan army needed to be reorganized, and if he wanted, he would become the commander of the second division. He also said that at present, the Yunnan army has entered Sichuan, causing trouble to the people, and the Sichuan army should go south and expel Tang Jiyao.

"What does Chang Yinhuai mean by this, to take us in?"

"Fu Cheng, it seems that it is right, I heard that Tian Donggua and Crystal Monkey have been reorganized and have become the head of a division."

Liu Xiang let out a long sigh, held his head, and sat motionless on the chair, when someone suddenly ran in and delivered a leaflet to Liu Xiang.

"Commander-in-chief, this is an open letter written by the famous scholar Zhang Lan to the Sichuan army."

Liu Xiang flashed his eyes and saw that it read: "The trend of the times, the vast soup, if you go with it, you will live, and if you go against it, you will die......" (to be continued......