Beiyang 1917

Another safeguard for the smooth issuance of the new Zhongyuan is that Zhongyuan appears as a new currency rather than silver dollar certificates. Zhongyuan uses U.S. dollars as its issuance and exchange reserve instead of silver dollars. Therefore, Zhongyuan is listed in Bank of China and transportation All outlets of the bank cannot be exchanged for silver dollars, which prevents the occurrence of such trivial things as Zhongyuan going around the common people and then exchanging silver dollars from the hands of the two banks.

Of course, silver dollars and silver taels can be converted into Chinese dollars according to the market price, but not vice versa. Such a monetary policy actually announces the end of the mission of silver dollars and silver taels as Chinese currency, even though the government’s announcement only says that silver taels and silver dollars will be in the circulation market within five years. of the exit.

As a full support for the Chinese government's participation in the war and the reform of the fiscal and monetary system, the American Banking Group announced that all US dollars in the Chinese market will only be exchanged into Chinese yuan instead of silver dollars or silver dollar certificates when they are converted into Chinese currency.This directly cuts off the possibility of foreign currencies taking advantage of the fluctuations in silver prices to speculate on Chinese silver dollars.Immediately afterwards, Britain, France, Japan, Russia and other countries announced the same foreign exchange exchange rules.

Foreign exchange can only be exchanged for Chinese yuan instead of silver yuan or silver dollar certificates. This trick is actually the most solid guarantee for the entire new Zhongyuan issuance, and it is also the biggest victory China has achieved in foreign negotiations. In order to tie China to the Britain, the United States, Japan, and France have invested heavily in their own chariots this time. Of course, the United States is the most vigorously promoting and most resolute, and the hegemony of the US dollar in the world currency system has also been further consolidated.

After the issuance of the new Zhongyuan, all central government budget expenditures will only be Zhongyuan, and the salaries sent to the hands of civil servants to teachers will be the new Zhongyuan and not others. Otherwise, the door will be closed and the business qualification will be banned.

The issuance of new central yuan and the establishment of foreign exchange exchange rules actually made Bank of China and Bank of Communications the center of foreign exchange exchange banks. As a result, foreign exchange in the Chinese market was gradually converted into central yuan and gathered in the hands of the two banks. The history of commercial banks issuing their own silver dollar certificates in China has gradually come to an end. In the short term, the price paid by foreign banks is not small. No harm.

Of course, Wang Geng, who has achieved great success in the diplomatic, financial and military fields, has thus become the second only to Xu Shuzheng in the Anhui Clique, the de facto right-hand man of the Prime Minister, and the Chinese political circle. A moment of brilliance and dazzling star.

The issue of the new Zhongyuan, the most displeased is the warlords who ruled the provinces, especially the warlords in the southwest who minted their own coins. As for the dozen or so provinces in the Beiyang sphere of influence, they are still stable. Second, they didn’t go that far in privately coining currency except for temporarily issuing military tickets. Third, the Ministry of the Army has already released the rumor that China’s participation in the war is a national event, and the central and provincial armies have the opportunity. Dressup and reorganization expansion.

It must be known that both sides of the European War put millions of people into the battle. China's current military establishment in the country is only about one million troops.In fact, on this day, the governors of the thirteen provinces of Beiyang and many members of Congress accompanied the Prime Minister and the cabinet to Nanyuan to review.

The arrival of the first batch of U.S. aid, as well as the smooth recovery and sorting of the old Beijing banknotes, and the smooth issuance of the new Zhongyuan have all raised the prestige of the Prime Minister and the current cabinet to the peak among the public and the news and public opinion circles. Duan Qirui looked at the mountain of brand-new Springfield-style rifles and the valiant and vigorous 22 elite tigers. Behind him were the flattering governors of the [-] provinces and representatives of the [-] provinces. For the first time in my heart, I felt the comfort that everything was under control.

On this day, the Prime Minister and Chief of the Army personally announced the letter of appointment of the Ministry of the Army. Wang Geng, the supervisor of the war, was awarded the title of Lieutenant General of the Army and the rank of General of the Army. Division commander and chief of staff Jiang Hongyu was promoted from major general to lieutenant general. Shi Jingting, commander of the first brigade of the first division, Qiu Bin, commander of the second brigade, and Liu Yufen, commander of the third brigade, were all promoted from colonel to major general.

At the same time, according to Wang Geng's recommendation, Jiang Baili, the former adviser of Li Yuanhong's presidential palace and the former principal of Baoding Military Academy, was appointed as the head of the model teaching regiment of the participating army, and was awarded the rank of lieutenant general!Originally, a regiment commander of the participating army did not need to be awarded the title with great fanfare by the Prime Minister and Chief of the Army, but Jiang Baili was invited by Corporal Wang Genglixian to be an instructor, so the old Duan had to put on a gesture.

In order to balance the position and relationship between Xu Shuzheng and Wang Geng, the Ministry of Army appointed Xu Shuzheng as Yuanwei General the day before. The prime minister will step down as chief of the army, and the successor will naturally be Xu Shuzheng, who is the deputy minister.

What Xu Shuzheng saw from Wang Geng was his ability and vision. The guy who came back from West Point is far from the stage of cultivating cronies, eliminating dissidents and fighting against himself. As Xu Youzheng, who regards the country and the nation as more important than himself Said, Wang Geng spread everything he did in front of Duan Qirui and himself, from accepting five concubines to sworn marriage with Lu Ding, and even going shopping with Lu Mei and his secretary Duan Hongbing on weekends. All spread out in front of you.

This Wang Geng is too cunning. He said that he only engages in plots and not conspiracies within the Anhui Department. It seems that the Xia Yiting and Lu Ding he wooed belong to the Research Department or the Southern Party's sphere of influence. One acre of land, this guy doesn't move a finger at all, especially in the financing and share expansion of Bank of China and Bank of Communications, as well as the arrangement of old banknotes and the issuance of new banknotes, the Ministry of Communications and Bank of Communications are in the eyes of Wang Geng and the Ministry of Finance Bank of China treats them equally.

Not to mention the old Duan, even Xu Shuzheng himself unconsciously regards Wang Geng as a strong ally that he can rely on. The deputy chief has a special feeling in his heart, but this kind of jealousy is gradually gathered up by Xu Shuzheng and hidden in the deepest part of his heart. Whether it is for the Anhui Clan or Beiyang, it is still a time of shared adversity. stage!

The inspection and review by the Prime Minister and Chief of the Army in Nanyuan means that the first division of the model army participating in the war has officially been included in the combat establishment!This day is a new milestone for the entire participating army.

Thanks to Wang Geng's efforts, the first batch of U.S. reinforcements was short of plundering all the M1903 Springfield rifles from major arsenals in the United States. The first batch of emergency munitions included:

1. M1903 Springfield rifle: [-] pieces

2. 7.62mm30.06 rifle bullets: 5000 million rounds

3. Colt m1911.45 caliber automatic pistol: 45 .500 caliber pistol bullets, [-] million rounds

4. American-made Dodge 1-ton military trucks (wide tires and all-steel wheels): 200

5. US-made Ford 1-ton TT multi-purpose vehicle (wide tires and all-steel wheels): 200

6. American-made Ford Model T utility vehicles (wide tires and all-steel wheels): 300

The m1917bar squad machine gun, the m1917a1 water-cooled heavy machine gun, and the m1 Garand semi-automatic rifle will be available in the second batch of arms at the end of June at the earliest. As for the cannon, the Yankee has a simpler idea. After discussing with Wang Geng, the United States The aid procurement contract for the cannons in the military aid was directly subcontracted to Japan!

The legal 75mm caliber mountain cannon was replaced by the Japanese 41-style 75mm mountain cannon, and the field cannon was replaced by the Japanese 75mm caliber 72-type field cannon. Almost excellent varieties, but the production capacity of small Japan is also limited. The Japanese artillery that followed the first batch of arms from the United States, and the mountain and field artillery, each have only 1080 pieces, which are less than 10% of the total order of [-] pieces.

As for the 155mm caliber howitzers in the original order, they were replaced with Japanese-style 150mm caliber howitzers, and the number of the first batch of deliveries was even more pathetic, only 24.

In any case, when the last few days of May passed, the First Division of the Chinese Model Army for Participating in the War was almost fully staffed except for the lack of machine guns. The drivers were trained in assault, but when 4 military vehicles were unloaded from the train platform, the number of drivers that the brigades and logistics regiments of the participating troops could muster was no more than 700.

Feng Zhi'an, Wang Geng's battalion commander of the guards, had been promoted to be the commander of the seventh regiment of the third brigade of the first division of the participating army, and Zhang Zizhong also flew like a rocket to become the battalion commander of the major of the guards battalion. In the first company, more than a hundred young men with sticks were actually forced by this guy to learn to drive vehicles in less than two months. Therefore, when 700 military vehicles arrived, a small half of the baggage drivers were Wang Geng The guest starred as a soldier of the guard company.