Seven months after the formation of the Guangzhou Military Government, under the dazzling combination of blows, it not only successfully occupied half of the rivers and mountains south of the Yangtze River, but also smoothly consolidated the occupied areas. Under Deng Zixuan's command, military means and political means were used simultaneously. In accordance with his plan, Prime Minister Jang Zhi-dong handled the affairs of the occupied areas, appointed officials from the former dynasty, and promoted new officials. At that time, many students of Tongren College were promoted to important positions and began to play a role.

At present, Li Tong is officially serving as the governor of Guangxi, and Kuang Jiazhi is transferred to Huguang to serve as the governor. The governor of Yunnan was served by Lin Xu, the governor of Guizhou was served by Sa Zhengde, the governor of Jiangxi was served by XX, and the governor of Zhejiang Province was served by XX, and Zhang Zhidong, the governor of Guangdong Province, promoted one of his subordinates. The mayors of major cities also chose students from the former Tongren Academy to serve as students, and the county magistrates basically retained a large number of former officials. The rationalization of the administration has led to a sustained and rapid recovery of the economy. By the end of the year, commercial and trade activities in the occupied territories had largely returned to pre-war levels.

Considering diligence and thrift, Deng Zixuan proposed that there should be no activities in the New Year, but that all the dignitaries sit together and hold a special tea party. On the morning of New Year's Day, a huge living room of the military government was full of ministers of the military government. It is not difficult to see from the faces of the guests that their mental outlook has swept away the stale and indominating atmosphere of the previous dynasty, and has been replaced by a full and confident mental state.

Prime Minister Jang Zhi-dong first delivered a New Year's greeting, affirming the achievements made by the military government since its establishment seven months ago. At the same time, he gave a detailed account of the functioning of the executive branch of the junta and announced that the new government had begun to function effectively in the occupied territories. Then Sheng Huaixuan, Minister of Industry, Hu Xueyan, Minister of Finance, Qin Fan, Minister of Commerce, and Shen Baozhen, Minister of Shipping, gave detailed introductions on the development of their respective fields. Zuihou Zhang Zhidong invited Deng Zixuan to speak.

The audience burst into warm applause, which was a heartfelt support, without the slightest moisture of applause. Deng Zixuan stood up and pressed with his hands: "Colleagues, first of all, I would like to thank you for your selfless efforts, which have brought about a gratifying situation in the military government in just seven months. But this is just the beginning of a good business, and our great business has just begun. As the saying goes, it is easy to fight the country, and it is difficult to sit on the country, so please be prepared for danger in times of peace. ”

Deng Zixuan continued: "At present, our coastal exports are all blocked by foreigners, the external environment has become very bad, and a difficult situation has begun to appear. Now we are faced with a double difficulty, one is to meet the needs of the military, and the other is to develop the economy to meet the people's livelihood. It is inconvenient to say much about military secrets in the military field here today. That's why I'm going to focus on initiatives in the economic area, which is the next step for us to face. ”

Deng Zixuan took a sip of tea and continued: "At present, the iron ore hoarded by the Dongguan Iron and Steel Plant can last for a year according to the current production capacity. In a year's time, our iron ore source will be blown up. Therefore, it is imperative to find new sources of minerals. There are no abundant iron ore resources in the south, and the next step is to look for iron ore resources that can be used in Guangdong, Fujian, Guangxi, Yunnan, Hunan and Jiangxi. There are a lot of poor ores that are not easy to mine, and according to our newly planned beneficiation jishu capacity, there are no problems. In the next step, Dongguan Iron and Steel Plant will expand its scale, so it must meet the iron ore needs of the steel plant. ”

"After we take over the Wuhan Iron and Steel Plant, we will build a new blast furnace and continue to expand our production capacity. Wuhan Iron and Steel Plant must not only meet the needs of steel in the military field, but also meet the needs of industry. In the next step, we had to fight against the Manchu court and foreigners, and at the same time overcome difficulties and lay railways with great fanfare. At the end of next year, I will demand that the entire railway line from Guangzhou to Wuhan be completed, and that the railway from Shanghai to Nanjing be the first to be opened to traffic by the end of this year. At the same time, this year we will launch the railways from Guangzhou to Nanning, Nanning to Kunming, and Nanning to Guiyang via Guilin. No matter how difficult it may be, we will spare no effort to lay the railway. Railways are essential for the military sector and economic development. ”

Deng Zixuan sorted out his thoughts and continued: "Coal is the blood of industrial development, and the demand for coal in all walks of life is growing day by day. Therefore, in order to expand the scale of the coal mine in Pingxiang, Jiangxi Province, and to prepare for the construction of a new coke plant, it is first necessary to ensure the needs of the steelmaking plant. In addition, with the development of railways, the demand for coal is increasing. Guizhou is a province rich in coal reserves, the next step is to effectively manage private coal kilns, the military government should provide funds to private coal mine owners, encourage them to expand production, the government should not only provide funds, but also provide free help in jishu, and form a pattern of rapid development of coal. ”

"To put it bluntly, economic development is the development of logistics, and it is necessary to encourage the private sector to make every effort to develop the transportation industry, and the military government should provide preferential policies in this regard. This year, we will carry out drastic financial reforms, temporarily implementing the silver standard, issuing silver dollars and banknotes, and transitioning to the gold standard. In the middle of this year, we will promulgate a provisional constitution of the military government and create the conditions for the formation of a complete constitution in the future. This year, we will initially form a legal system, that is, we will prepare for the establishment of courts and a system of judges. The system of judges is often under the direct jurisdiction of the military government, and it has unique judicial powers, and no government at any level is allowed to interfere in court affairs. The lowest level of the court is located in the county, that is, the lower court, the intermediate court, and the higher court. ”

Deng Zixuan's tirade made all the ministers present enthusiastic. Zuihou Hu Xueyan proposed that the mint was already in production and invited everyone to visit. The group arrived at the Mint, which was located in a large mansion in the center of the city, which had been simply converted into a workshop. The front door of the mint is heavily guarded by the military police. The roar of the steam engine inside was deafening, and the factory director welcomed the group in fear.

Walking into the minting silver dollar workshop, Deng Zixuan carefully inspected the various processes in the roar of the machine, Zuihou walked into the finished product workshop, came to the wooden box full of silver glittering silver dollars, and saw a cute silver dollar. Hu Xueyan picked up a silver dollar and handed it to Deng Zixuan and said, "Commander-in-chief, the silver dollar is highly struck by the casting process, and it must be very popular." Deng Zixuan took the silver dollar and looked at it carefully: "If the silver dollar is recognized by the people of Limin, government officials must play an exemplary role." In order to create a sensational effect, the army and factories should take the lead in using it. Ministers should let their families take the lead in redeeming it. ”

Deng Zixuan remembered something and said: "The exchange is not compulsory, and silver taels and copper coins can still be popular within a year, so that the people can have a process of adaptation." The most important thing is the credibility of the junta, which must not be sloppy. Then they visited the banknote workshop, Hu Xueyan introduced that the paper used in the coins is made of a kind of wild hemp unique to the south and is not easy to counterfeit, and this kind of banknotes is durable. Deng Zixuan picked up banknotes of different denominations and looked at them, and found that although they were engraving printing, the images were very clear and exquisite.

A few days later, notices were posted in the streets and alleys of the city announcing the military junta's move to issue silver dollars and banknotes, and explaining that the silver and copper coins would still be valid for a year. On the same day, at the location of the central bank, in the hall of the second section of the foreigner building facing the street, the curtain of exchanging silver dollars and banknotes was officially opened. First of all, Hu Xueyan's major money banks in the city were full of traffic to exchange. Then the major factories in Dongguan came to exchange.

There were a lot of onlookers around, but the vast majority of them were watching the excitement. In the afternoon of the same day, the family members of the officials enthusiastically came to exchange them, and after exchanging the glittering silver dollars and colorful banknotes, they began to show off everywhere. The curious people around couldn't resist the temptation and also exchanged a small amount of silver dollars. People are willing to join in the fun, and when they see someone exchanging, some people will naturally follow suit. In particular, the ladies were very fond of the delicate patterns of silver dollars and banknotes, and the next day, the central bank was besieged.

Originally, the foreign silver dollar circulated in small quantities in the coastal area, so people did not have much resistance to the silver dollar, but were a little worried about paper money. This problem is not big, paper money is more convenient and concise than copper coins, and I believe that the people will soon adapt to it. Three days later, a large number of convoys set out to ship silver dollars and banknotes, and the first targets were Huguang and Hangzhou, which were relatively wealthy.

The common people, especially the wealthy, began to use silver dollars and paper money on a large scale. Due to the ease of carrying of silver dollars and banknotes, the consumer market has been invisibly stimulated. The mint worked in three shifts day and night, melting the silver dollars that had been collected and leaving the factory in large quantities. The first new thing of the new year was the issuance of silver dollars and banknotes, which stirred up the enthusiasm of the people.

The second novelty in Guangzhou was the emergence of a girls' school that required girls over the age of 8 to be enrolled in the city, with a ceiling of 16 for girls. The school temporarily offers two courses, Chinese and Mathematics. In front of the girls' school, there is a couplet that reads: No one knows about the cultivation, and there is God in the heart, which is very innovative. Deng Zixuan also asked the children of officials to lead by example, and the girls' school beckoned more than 200 students of all ages on the opening day.

There is a big age difference between the girls and the fifteen or sixteen-year-old girls who are already big girls, and the 8-year-old girls who are little girls, forming a unique landscape. In consideration of the characteristics of girls, the girls' school temporarily holds a half-day class. As early as half a year ago, at the beginning of the establishment of the military government, the military government's education department began to integrate the major academies in the city, and gradually formed a pattern of five primary schools and three middle schools, which were government-run. At the beginning of this year, the military government vigorously advocated non-governmental schools, and dozens of non-governmental schools are still being built.

Teaching and educating people is an honor for scholars, so the people who run the teaching are very enthusiastic. The military junta's emphasis on education was another consolation for the literati, a showcase for their ambitions and talents. In particular, Deng Zixuan's public proclamation that Mr. Teaching is an engineer who shapes the human soul has aroused the enthusiasm of the literati even more. Therefore, a wave of most of the schools was blowing from Guangzhou City to the surrounding provinces, and it was out of control.