1905: Beer Hall Speaker

Page 37

Even national treasures can be sold. After all, what the Germans have, others also have, and some are even more advanced. If you don't sell, you can only watch others count their money.

After hearing Zhao Yan's grand industrial blueprint, Schulz abandoned all diplomatic restraint and confidently promised that when it comes to industry, choosing German manufacturing is the right choice, with direct sales from the factory to eliminate middlemen, ensuring affordable prices and superior quality!

But Schultz was still somewhat wary, after all, Zhao Yan's reputation for being a sharp-tongued man had spread throughout the global diplomatic arena. Everyone knew the name "Zhao the Cannon," and he had gotten to where he was today with just his words.

Schultz was still somewhat skeptical of what the other party said, and insisted that they provide concrete evidence.

Zhao Yan was aware of his reputation, and immediately put forward an order worth 70 million taels of silver, which included the development plans for three major industrial zones.

Zhao Yan plans to establish three major industrial zones in Wuhan, Nanjing, and Guangdong, encompassing Central China, Jiangnan, and South China. Wuhan will be based on the Hanyang Arsenal and Hanyang Iron and Steel Plant to build the Central China National Defense Heavy Industrial Zone, mainly to solve the problem of self-production of army equipment, with the main focus on the chemical, military, and steel industries.

The main body of the Jiangnan Industrial Zone in Nanjing was the Jinling Arsenal and the Jiangnan Manufacturing Bureau. Based on this, it was expanded and developed into an industrial zone to support the reconstruction of the navy in the future, mainly focusing on military industry, shipbuilding, and gun manufacturing.

Meanwhile, the South China Industrial Zone in Guangdong mainly relied on the Fujian Mawei Shipyard and the existing Western-style industrial base in the Guangdong and Guangxi regions, while vigorously developing the shipping and energy and chemical industries, primarily in the civilian sector.

This order included various production equipment and technology import costs. Schultz stared intently at it. The main technologies and equipment were all based on current international mainstream standards. This purchase order was also drafted by Zhao Yan after consulting with a large number of local professionals and foreign technical engineers, and it took him half a month to complete.

Schultz felt that this order was very pragmatic, starting from basic industries, without any unrealistic ambitions, and with a down-to-earth, step-by-step approach.

Compared to the Self-Strengthening Movement of the Qing Dynasty, it was far superior. The Qing Dynasty spent far more than 70 million taels of silver on the Self-Strengthening Movement, but in the end, it only resulted in a complete mess!

In name, we can produce our own guns, cannons, and even warships and torpedoes, but in reality, it's just old wine in new bottles. We can produce our own guns, but we still need to import steel, shells, fuses, and explosives. As for warships and torpedoes, we can only do the work of assembling imported parts.

Through this order, Schultz confirmed that Zhao Yan wasn't just talking big this time, but was serious. As for whether Zhao Yan could come up with so much money, Schultz had no doubt. After all, everyone had witnessed the Northern Expeditionary Army plundering all the wealthy Manchus in the city recently.

The foreigners were all amazed, saying that compared to robbing, they weren't even apprentices of the Northern Expeditionary Army; the other side was the real expert!

Zhao Yan showed his sincerity, and now it was Schulz's turn. Zhao Yan's request was simple: Germany would provide free aid to two or three military academies and four or five universities, and help train a thousand or so international students every year. Schulz was shocked by this request, as it was not cheap!

In the end, Schulz bargained and agreed to build a comprehensive military academy for free, while charging for the establishment of another military academy. The number of free international students was capped at 300, but the number of paid international students could be increased to 2,300 per year, all of whom would be placed in top German universities. He would not deceive anyone.

Zhao Yan was still not satisfied and demanded that the Germans send a batch of military aid. The quantity didn't need to be too large; a few hundred thousand rifles, a few thousand light and heavy machine guns, and a few hundred million rounds of ammunition would suffice. It was very generous; they didn't even ask for artillery or shells!

But Schulz refused, his face flushed, saying that it would be better to have the German army come directly to the Far East to help fight the war!

Schulz only agreed to provide a batch of obsolete equipment, and he couldn't guarantee the quantity, but it would be enough to form at least two or three infantry divisions. Note that Schulz specifically emphasized that they were standard German infantry divisions, not the outrageous divisions of the Revolutionary Army!

Zhao Yan smacked his lips, still not satisfied. He demanded that the Germans help him manufacture a batch of torpedo boats and submarines at cost price. There were a lot of torpedo boats, thirty in total, and only five submarines were needed. However, Zhao Yan only offered cost price and also required the Germans to deliver the goods within ten months, while he himself could pay in installments over five years.

Schultz knows a lot about torpedo boats, but he doesn't quite understand submarines. Zhao Yan said he would send professionals to liaise with them.

Zhao Yan certainly wouldn't design the ships, but he was very clear about the relevant performance requirements and combat needs. He just needed to state the requirements, and the Germans could build them accordingly.

Chapter 68 Military Preparations

Inside the Ministry of National Defense, newly appointed Deputy Chief of Staff Colonel Dai Mingde was compiling the latest organizational chart. This was a document that Minister Wang Chongshan, the top official in the Ministry of National Defense, had specifically requested. Old Wang was eager to take the document to Zhao Yan to curry favor.

After taking control of Beijing, Zhao Yan abolished the temporary headquarters of the Revolutionary Army and the Northern Expeditionary Army, reorganized the Ministry of National Defense, reformed the army into the National Defense Army, and ordered a reorganization of its structure.

The first Minister of National Defense was none other than Major General Wang Chongshan, who had followed him all the way. Although Old Wang was promoted, he was not promoted in rank and still served as the acting Minister of National Defense with one star on his shoulder.

The Minister of War, a position of great stature, only had one star. This was quite disheartening for Old Wang. But without any real military achievements, he couldn't be promoted.

The decisive battle in the Central Plains was presided over by Zhao Yan. After that, there were no major battles, and Wang Chongshan could only pitifully hold the position of Minister of National Defense with only one star.

"Commander Dai, the minister is urging us again. Are you done yet?"

"What's the rush? Do you think it's just a matter of changing the number? It's not until tomorrow!"

Dai Mingde waved away the officer who came to press for answers, and then continued to bury himself in the documents.

The reform of the National Defense Forces is now the most important task for the military. Although it is not a combat mission, if this reform is not completed, the subsequent combat missions cannot begin.

The current registered number of personnel in the National Defense Forces, after integrating military academies from various regions and the old military system, and eliminating a large number of the old, weak, sick, disabled and those receiving salaries without working, is thirteen divisions. The former temporary brigades have all been upgraded to permanent divisions, namely the 1st to the 13th Divisions.

The navy incorporated the North and South Ocean Fleets, the Guangzhou Navy, the Yangtze River Inland Fleet, and other units, which together consisted of about four old cruisers, eleven gunboats, and seven torpedo boats, with a total tonnage of 18 million tons and a personnel of about 11,000.

The total number of personnel in the army and navy is 330,000. Including military academies and military schools in various places, the total number of personnel in the national defense forces is approximately 354,400.

The Ministry of National Defense's restructuring eliminated the original North and South Ocean Army and Navy organization and all old military systems. The Army was unified into a division-regiment-battalion-company-platoon-squad structure, with the highest level being the division-level combat unit. A full-strength division has between 1.8 and 2.2 personnel.

In the navy, the group led by Sa Zhenbing was very sensible. They would side with whoever had money. The navy has always had a low level of participation in regime change, but they were very obedient after the outcome was decided. After all, without central government funding, they would starve to death in no time.

Therefore, the Beiyang Fleet dared not voice any objection to the new regime's reorganization and reform measures.

After the reform, the Chinese Navy no longer has the name "Naval Force" but only "Navy". The Ministry of National Defense has a Naval Department under its jurisdiction, which in turn has the Northern Fleet and the Yangtze River Inland Fleet.

All the ships originally belonging to the Nanyang Fleet were transferred north to guard the capital. The new Northern Fleet includes five cruisers: Haiqi, Hairong, Haichou, and Haishen. As for the two cruisers, Guangjia and Guangyi, which have a displacement of less than 1,000 tons, the Ministry of National Defense was too embarrassed to transfer them and simply left them where they were.

Besides the four cruisers, the Northern Fleet consisted of gunboats and torpedo boats with a displacement of several hundred tons, as well as four steam-powered transport ships with wooden hulls and iron ribs.

The fleet's home port is in Yantai, and it is commanded by Sa Zhenbing. With such limited strength, Zhao Yan was too embarrassed to deploy them. He simply ordered Sa Zhenbing to keep an eye on them and train them diligently. He didn't expect them to excel in combat, as long as their morale didn't waver.

The core focus of the Ministry of National Defense's restructuring and reorganization is still the thirteen divisions of the Army. Currently, nine divisions gathered in Beijing are undergoing a thorough restructuring and reorganization.

Only the Fourth and Fifth Divisions stationed in the southwest (Yunnan, Guizhou, and Sichuan), the Sixth Division stationed in the Guangdong and Guangxi regions, and the Second Division stationed in the Jiangnan region were reorganized remotely.

The new reorganization of the National Defense Forces has clearly defined the division as a strategic unit of the army. The new army division will consist of three infantry regiments and one artillery battalion as its main combat unit, and will be equipped with a large number of mules and horses.

The core firepower of a squad is a light machine gun, the core firepower of a platoon is a heavy machine gun, the company level is equipped with mortars (domestic 60mm mortars, the shells are mainly loaded with black powder, the power is questionable), and the firepower of a battalion or regiment level mainly relies on the division artillery battalion.

The most crucial firepower pillar of the army is the artillery battalion of each division, which is currently mainly equipped with German and Japanese 75mm mountain guns and domestically produced 57mm rapid-fire guns.

Fortunately, the surrender of the Beiyang Army brought with them a large number of artillery pieces from foreign powers and the Beiyang Army's original artillery. The total number was not large, only about 500 pieces. These artillery pieces were uniformly distributed to the artillery battalions of each division, with each division receiving more than 50 pieces.

All the original non-standard artillery has been phased out, and the existing equipment consists entirely of imported artillery. It looks impressive that a division has more than fifty artillery pieces, but in reality, they are all small and medium caliber artillery pieces, and the amount of shells is pitifully small.

In the field of infantry divisions' main battle weapons, rifles, are also a mix of different countries' products. They include British, French, German, and Japanese rifles, but the most common type is not the Hanyang rifle, but the German rifle.

Each division should use only one type of rifle to minimize logistical complexity. If they use Hanyang rifles, they should all use Hanyang rifles; if they use Mauser rifles, they should all use Mauser rifles.

Of the ten National Defense Army divisions that underwent reorganization and restructuring, the Third Division, excluding the core First Division which was stationed in Beijing, was ordered to advance beyond the Great Wall and march into Northeast China.

The 7th Division marched north to the grasslands and advanced into the Kulun area of ​​Outer Mongolia; the 8th Division advanced into the Guanzhong area; and the 9th Division was stationed in Jiayuguan, ready to advance into the Western Regions at any time.

The 10th, 11th, 12th and 13th Divisions are left in the Central Plains region as the last remaining asset of the army. These four divisions are the current general reserve of the National Defense Force, and will be deployed wherever needed in the future.

Late at night, Colonel Dai Mingde finally finished organizing the documents, checked them one last time to make sure there were no mistakes, and handed them over to Wang Chongshan that very night. Wang Chongshan didn't keep them to himself, and took Dai Mingde with him to the Imperial Study to report to Zhao Yan.

It was already 11:30, but Zhao Yan still hadn't rested. He met with Wang Chongshan and Dai Mingde, carefully reviewed the compilation table, and then nodded in approval of the achievement.

"Old Wang, with such a small force, your Ministry of National Defense has transferred out four divisions at once. This is putting me in a difficult position!" Zhao Yan offered his opinion.

Wang Chongshan immediately offered his reasoning: "Your Majesty, it is absolutely unacceptable for local governments to have only government orders without a large army to support them. Outer Mongolia, the Northeast, Guanzhong, and the Western Regions must have large armies stationed in these places!"

"To be honest, with this amount of troops, a division would only have 20,000 men, which would be enough to suppress bandits and local rebellions at best. It would be far from enough to do anything else."

"If you hadn't personally ordered that four divisions of the general reserve force be left in the Central Plains, I was prepared to send them all out!"

"Although these provinces have nominally submitted to the central government, we have no idea what they are actually planning. Without three to five years of suppressing bandits and suppressing bandits, it is simply unrealistic to expect the provinces to genuinely submit to the central government."

Governing a country solely through the decrees of the civil servants in the Prime Minister's Office is utterly ineffective. Without real military force, central government decrees are nothing more than empty words on paper!

Zhao Yan nodded, then asked, "How about building five more divisions? Thirteen doesn't sound good, eighteen is better!"

"Eighteen standing divisions, plus one local garrison brigade, with one garrison brigade assigned to each province. Ideally, the standing divisions should be concentrated in the Central Plains region for war preparation."

"The standing divisions in the northwest and Mongolia will remain unchanged, but it would be best to transfer the four divisions from the southwest, Jiangnan, and Guangdong and Guangxi regions back!"

"The five newly established divisions are responsible for the Central and Southern China regions. Together with the garrison brigades, they should be enough to suppress the local forces. Next, we must have at least eight divisions in reserve, otherwise we won't be able to sleep soundly at night!"

Dai Mingde muttered to himself as he did the math. A garrison brigade had at least five or six thousand men, and each province had one garrison brigade. Twenty-two provincial garrison brigades would amount to about 120,000 men. Five newly established divisions would bring that to another 100,000 men.

The garrison troops are relatively cheap. Building twenty-two brigades can take care of the initial work at most six million taels of silver. The maintenance costs can be raised slowly later.

Five divisions of standing troops, totaling 100,000 men, would cost a fortune, at least ten million taels of silver to build, and it would take at least six months to achieve combat readiness.

After completing the calculations, Dai Mingde gave a rough estimate of military expenditure. He said that at least 20 million yuan would be needed to get these newly established troops in place within the year, including all related equipment, logistics, salaries, and so on.

Zhao Yan gritted his teeth and nodded: "No problem, I'll take care of the military funding issue. By the end of the year, we must see the troops truly achieve combat readiness!"

"Five divisions in the first half of the year, and another five divisions in the second half. We'll see about next year later. Don't think we've succeeded in the revolution. To be honest with you two, we're still a long way off!"

"We've only gained a time advantage. The British haven't recovered from the Boer War yet, and the Japanese and Russians just ended the Russo-Japanese War last year, both of them suffering heavy losses."

"The three countries that pose the greatest threat to us, Britain, Japan and Russia, are all breathing heavily now, but they can't just keep breathing forever. They will eventually recover!"

Japan will be the first to suffer. As part of the Anglo-Japanese alliance, they are completely subservient to the British. In a year or two at most, the Japanese will quickly recover from the shadow of the Russo-Japanese War.

"At that time, that will be our true war for establishing our nation. If we win, we can take everything back. If we lose, we will still be the sick man of East Asia, and may even be completely reduced to a colonial country!"

To outsiders, Zhao Yan seemed incredibly arrogant. He was nothing yet, but he was already showing off his power, and he didn't respect any of the major powers.

But in reality, Zhao Yan is like a blind man eating glutinous rice balls; he knows exactly what he's doing! What he's playing right now is a window of opportunity in international politics. The British are wounded by the Boer War and can't spare a large army to intervene in the Far East for the time being. At most, they can only send a fleet over. Go ahead and bomb them if you dare.

The most important coastal cities, such as Guangzhou, Shanghai, and Tianjin, were almost all major cities that had been colonized. Foreign interests outweighed the interests of the British. When the British bombarded these cities, they were essentially attacking their own interests.

Zhao Yan was very aggressive in the inland concessions, but he could only watch from the sidelines in the coastal concessions and couldn't take any action.

Zhao Yan could grit his teeth and hold on against the British armed intervention, but the most dangerous threats were Japan and Russia, which were capable of sending large armies to invade by land!

Fortunately, Japan and Russia had just ended a major war, and Russia's eastward expansion was cut off by Japan, which was backed by the great powers.

Although Japan won the war, it did not receive a single penny of reparations from Russia. Instead, it was burdened with countless debts and suffered heavy casualties in its army.

Currently, neither of these two countries can send troops to intervene in the situation in China in the short term, and the remaining countries pose only a low or no threat to Zhao Yan.

Zhao Yan estimated that the British would most likely choose to pay for the Japanese to fight this war. The Russians' choice was even clearer: if China won, they would take advantage of the situation and make a profit; if China lost, they would kick China when it was down and repeat the Treaty of Aigun.

All Zhao Yan can do is strengthen his own power as much as possible to prepare for the inevitable war that will break out in the future.

Chapter 69 Pursuing Comfort Even in Death

Inside the Hall of Central Harmony, Zhao Yan was having a heated argument with the civil officials of the Prime Minister's Office. It wasn't the kind of argument where shrewish women shout at each other, but rather a debate about differences in national policies.

"Your Excellency, this is too radical. Why was the Prime Minister's Office not informed of such an important diplomatic strategy beforehand?" Zhang Mingqi unusually adopted a very tough stance. Normally, he would do whatever Zhao Yan said, but this time he strongly disagreed with Zhao Yan's actions.

Vice Premier Lu Zhaoxuan also implicitly supported Zhang Mingqi's stance. After all, the Prime Minister's Office is considered the administrative center, and it's outrageous that they can't get any information about important national affairs.

The officials in various departments were also very dissatisfied. Dictatorship isn't done like this. Even the emperor should at least give prior notice.

Prior to this, the Prime Minister's Office had no idea about Zhao Yan's diplomatic strategy and thought that the next task was to clean up the local areas and allow them to recuperate.

Unexpectedly, Zhao Yan pulled a super move on them, actually setting his sights on the Anglo-Japanese alliance, and even unilaterally approved a five-year national development plan. This was truly disrespectful.

Zhao Yan, a cigarette dangling from his lips, sat at the head of the long conference table, taking a deep drag: "If I told you, would you agree?"

Zhang Mingqi was speechless, and Lu Zhaoxuan was also stunned, but what they expressed was clearly their opposition.

At the same time, it was challenging both the two great powers of Britain and Japan. That was bad enough. On top of that, it was also launching a massive construction project. With internal and external factors intertwined, it was no longer a matter of risking everything, but rather that even risking everything might not guarantee success.

Zhao Yan continued, "First of all, you need to understand one thing: we are not irreplaceable!"

"Heroes are made by the times. From the revolutionary uprising to now, we have progressed too smoothly and too quickly. We have covered the ground of ten years in one year, which means that we need to face some problems nine years in advance."

Up to this point, it's not that we made history, but that history chose us. It's not that we are so great, but that our opponents were too weak.

The whole country is now watching our next move. We must keep our word. Our revolutionary program is only half complete; will we continue with the other half?

Zhang Mingqi understood some of it and said, "But we can't be in such a hurry! We haven't even established a firm foothold yet, and we're already rushing into challenging the Anglo-Japanese alliance? Forgive my bluntness, but this is a war we can't see any victory in!"

Zhao Yan slammed his fist on the table and said, "Didn't get a firm footing? You'll be fine once the fight is over! Can't see victory? Then just avoid defeat!"

Zhang Mingqi said, "Can't we talk about it? Why are we in such a hurry?"

“Talk? How can we talk! Will you go and talk or will I go and talk? Do you believe that as soon as the word of negotiation gets out, our ruling foundation will immediately be shaken? Do you really think that we are the only ones in the world who can have a revolution?” Zhao Yan voiced yet another concern deep in his heart.

When it comes to negotiations in China today, from ordinary people to officials, everyone retains the most stereotypical impression: that the government is about to cede territory and pay reparations again! This has been the case for decades, and every negotiation has resulted in humiliation.

The Revival Party has always risen to power through extreme nationalism and great power chauvinism. If you show weakness, then all sorts of messy political parties, such as the Kuomintang, the Alliance Party, and the Workers' Party, will immediately jump out to cause trouble for you.

Zhao Yan has thoroughly ignited the trends of radical nationalism and great power chauvinism within the country; at this point, taking a step back would be tantamount to falling into an abyss.

The Revival Party is neither unique nor irreplaceable. If you are not good enough, others will think they are. As for whether they are actually good enough, they don't care. They just want to take the lead.

As for negotiations, they are merely a fig leaf for war. As long as China dares to develop, the great powers will definitely intervene. This is the historical destiny and the ultimate divergence and contradiction between Eastern and Western cultures.

The British have always pursued a policy of balancing Eurasia. Even Russia, which wanted to expand eastward, had its claws cut off. If China, the traditional Asian hegemon, wanted to rise, guess what Britain would do?

"Now, during negotiations, the British are releasing some favorable information, saying that China and Britain are friendly, that Britain has no intention of war, and that it is willing to conduct peaceful negotiations and resolve the issue politically. How would you respond? How would you act?" Zhao Yan asked rhetorically.

Zhang Mingqi replied matter-of-factly, "Of course we should accept peaceful negotiations, strive to resolve the issue through peaceful political means, and reclaim our lost sovereignty!"

Zhao Yan smiled; he had expected this. He continued, "Then the Japanese also came over, proposing Sino-Japanese friendship and expressing their willingness to negotiate. So what?"

Lu Zhaoxuan spoke up: "China and Japan are separated only by a strip of water, so naturally, the priority should be friendly relations for generations to come. If we can coexist peacefully, why should we go to war?"

Zhao Yan slapped the table, laughing so hard that his cigarette fell to the ground. Finally, he asked, "So, are we still going to expand our military and prepare for war?"

Zhang Mingqi said matter-of-factly, "If we can live in peace, why should we prepare for war? We can use the tens of millions of dollars in military funds to develop people's livelihoods instead of using them to build gardens."

"Hahaha!" Zhao Yan laughed unrestrainedly. After laughing, he stared at everyone and said, "Peace, I'd rather die than not be at peace. I'd rather die than not be at peace!"

"Since the Opium War, no, it should be said that since the Ming Dynasty, how many times have we been deceived? Our powerful ships and cannons have been at our doorstep, how much land have we ceded? How much silver have we paid in reparations?"

"Do you still believe that those bandits can be peacefully coexisted with? That's why I don't want to discuss this with you!"

“You still lack even the slightest international strategic vision, just like before. Before the revolution, you longed for comfort, and after the revolution, you long for even greater comfort!”