1928: The rise of giant merchants

January 5, the 18th year of the Republic of China (1929).

Jinling, Great Hall of the People.

Nearly twenty warlord leaders who benefited from the Second Northern Expedition, including the principal, Yan Xishan, Feng Yuxiang, Li Zongren, Li Jishen, Zhang Hanqing, etc. gathered together to formally hold a special military aftermath meeting, at which the specific measures for demobilization and reduction of the army were agreed upon. As well as issues such as military structure, military quota, and military expenditure after military and political unification, the results of the meeting are reported to the National Government for announcement and are implemented by the Military Commission.

Discussions on this matter began in July last year, and it was agreed that the first phase would be self-sufficient and self-organized, which began in July 1928. By mid-December 1928, all four group armies claimed to have basically completed their tasks.

After reorganization, each group army has the following infantry numbers: the First Group Army has two brigades of 12 divisions, the Second Group Army has 20 divisions mixed brigades, and the Third Group Army and the Fourth Group Army have about 12 divisions.

From a numerical point of view, the First Group Army has made greater efforts in organizing and dispatching, but in fact, it is mainly due to the reduction of the establishment, and the number of reductions is actually limited.

After this round of self-disposal and self-organization was over, the principal and others understood their respective attitudes, and the principal also understood that if he wanted to really get others to cooperate with him, he must convene a national reorganization meeting.

Therefore, on January 1, 1929, after half a year of deliberation and preparation, the National Recruitment Conference officially opened. Today, the conference was held for the first time. The conference adopted the "no partiality, no pretense, no pretense, no pretense, no pretense" drafted by Wu Zhihui. "Drop out" declaration is a creed that the recruitment committee must abide by.

On December 31, the Japanese textile goods that Fan transported from Shanghai to Suzhou City were robbed by Taihu water bandits. Originally, this batch of smoke was going to be mixed into Jiang Keting's Zhentai Gauze Factory for sale, but now the goods are gone. , Song Ziwen suddenly lost a lot of wealth.

The most troublesome thing for him was the ensuing reorganization meeting. This was a method used by the principal to "cut down the vassal". In the future, a large amount of silver dollars would have to be requisitioned to supplement military expenses. This money naturally fell on Song Ziwen and Kong Xiangxi.

Kong Xiangxi managed to collect 20 million yuan by relying on the cargo from the Jiangan ship, and he was now able to sit back and relax.

Song Ziwen was in dire straits. Of course, the cash he had in his hand could not be given to the principal for military expenses, but if he didn't give it, where would he get 20 million?

Follow the flow of people and walk into the Great Hall.

Song Ziwen looked extremely ugly. Seeing his expression, several people who wanted to come over to get close to him also consciously left without asking for trouble.

Tang Fu followed beside him, frowning.

"How is the problem of Taihu water bandits being handled?" Song Ziwen asked in a low voice.

Tang Fulu knew that he was actually asking about the whereabouts of 2,000 boxes of cigarettes, and quickly replied: "Commander Dai Ji from the Shanghai Beach Security Command has sent an arrest team into the mountain, and Deputy Ma from the Songhu Police Department has also responded. A few days ago According to the telegram, the water bandits are stubbornly resisting and are still fighting."

"Damn it. Who gave them the guts to even steal my goods?" Song Ziwen growled coldly.

Tang Fulu has already investigated this clearly: "The most fierce Taihu water bandits are Wei Laosan and others, and they are backed by Chen Zhongfu and Chen Zemin."

"Chen Zhongfu? Isn't he working as the finance minister of Anhui Province and doing all sorts of things in Suzhou City?"

Song Ziwen's teeth were itching with anger.

As for the other Chen Zemin, he had never heard of him.

"Wait a minute, was Verdi kidnapped in Taihu Lake before?" Song Ziwen suddenly remembered this incident.

Tang Fuhe nodded: "Yes, not long before the robbery, the water bandit who kidnapped the couple was named Wu Shikui, and he was also a force on Taihu Lake. In the end, it was Ye Luo who came forward to settle the matter."

"Have you asked those people about the details? Is it revenge?" Song Ziwen became more and more upset.

If the desperadoes really took revenge on Verdy and robbed his goods by mistake, he would be so angry that he would vomit blood.

No matter who is behind those water bandits, as long as they see 2,000 boxes of cigarettes, no one will be jealous or excited.

"I called Ye Luo a few days ago and then conducted an investigation in various departments in Suzhou City. As he said, they are Chen Zhongfu and Chen Zemin. In addition, the principal just issued an order not long ago to let Chen Tiaoyuan Chen Zhongfu was transferred to Qingdao as the commissioner of the reception office."

Tang Fuhe added,

"This is Zhang Hanqing's proposal."

"Why is it getting more and more chaotic?" Song Ziwen frowned. He couldn't be related to Zhang Hanqing.

"I asked around, it was purely because Zhang Hanqing went to attend Ye Luo's wedding, and then took a train through the Shanghai-Nanjing Railway. He was disgusted by the Taihu water bandits, and after following the clues, he took revenge." Tang Fuhe said in a low voice.

"Okay, okay, I understand. Call Chen Zhongfu later and ask him to sort things out for me. Otherwise, forget about Qingdao and go to Qinghai to wait for death."

Song Ziwen gritted his teeth with hatred.

After this accident, he realized how uncomfortable it was to have no soldiers. He wanted to get a few divisions and go directly to Taihu Lake to snatch them back.

Now we can only rely on the Songhu Police Department and the Garrison Headquarters.

Fortunately, Wen Yingxing is one of our own.

"We should find time to build up the tax police headquarters as soon as possible." Song Ziwen thought to himself.

In his conception, the core of the Tax Police Corps is German-style weapons and equipment and militarized management, which will depend on the progress of the China-German military cooperation project.

"Oh, by the way, what did Colonel Max say?" Song Ziwen asked anxiously, "He wants to carry out a project, and the Ministry of Finance needs to provide funds. It's not too much for me to participate together."

"The current project is planned to have Colonel Max as the general manager and Ye Luo as the vice president. He said that the details must be discussed with Ye Luo before the final settlement." Tang Fu said awkwardly, "This matter is approved by the principal, and we cannot interfere. "

"Ye Luo? Oh yes, I heard that Zhang Hanqing specially gave him an arsenal at his wedding. Does he plan to do military industry? Could it be that he wants to go to the warlord? The timing is wrong."

Song Ziwen murmured to himself.

If the Second Northern Expedition hadn't started yet, it would have made sense for Ye Luo to do this. Now that we have reached the stage of the demobilization meeting, the warlords will soon be wiped out, and they are still in trouble.

"It's just purely business. I heard that they decided to build a machinery factory and an electronics factory first. Isn't this just to let Ye's Automobile and Ye's Electronics enter the market?" Tang Fuhe heard this many times from his sister Tang Ying. Young man, I have seen it a few times myself.

Apart from anything else, when it comes to business, there is probably no one among the Chinese merchants who can match him.

If his wife hadn't married Bai Xiuzhu, Tang Fulu would have told his family that his sister would marry him.

It's hard to find such a golden husband.

"What else has he been busy with recently?" Song Ziwen rolled his eyes. If the Qing Dynasty was really destroyed, he might have to rely on Ye Luo to help him set up the tax police headquarters and military expenses. His business is so big, so let's follow suit. Click, you should be able to make a lot of money.

"Said he was making a movie." Tang Fu said.

In the final analysis, he had deceived Ye Luo about the Nissin. Although he was still helping him to coordinate the matter, the Verdi couple betrayed him, and he almost got into trouble with the transportation of smoke.

The relationship between Song Ziwen and Ye Luo became very tense.

He wanted to make amends.

"You ask the people in the Propaganda Department to strongly support our domestic film shooting. In addition, you try your best to meet his requirements."

Song Ziwen hesitated for a moment, and then continued,

"When the water bandit problem is solved, let's not say that the batch of Japanese textiles is a cooperation between Ye's Investment and Zhentai Gauze Factory, let's say it is from our Ministry of Finance."

"But when the time comes, all the profits will be given to Ye Luo, and if Jiang Keting fails, he will also share most of the benefits with him."