young marshal spring and autumn

Next, Zhang Hanqing wanted to rectify the currency system to end the complicated currency situation in the early years of the Republic of China.

In the monetary history of our country, silver has gradually become a monetary metal since the Han Dynasty, and it has been monetized in the Ming Dynasty, and China has truly become a country that uses silver.But what is implemented is the silver system, which is valued by the weight of metal, which belongs to the weighing currency system, and has not entered the stage of the currency system.In the second year of Xuantong (AD 1910), the "Regulations on the Currency System" was promulgated, and the silver standard was officially adopted, with "Yuan" as the currency unit, the weight was seven cents and two cents of Kuping, and the fineness was 90%. It was named Qing silver coin.However, silver dollars and silver coins are still used together on the market.After the Revolution of 1913, the "National Currency Regulations" was promulgated in 89, which officially stipulated that the silver dollar with a weight of seven cents and two cents and a fineness of [-]% was the currency unit of our country, but silver dollars and silver coins were still used together.

China has a vast territory, and its currency system has always been complicated and chaotic, which has seriously affected the circulation and transaction of commodities, and is not conducive to the development of industrial and agricultural production and the stability of the country's finances.In order to expand their strength, the warlords of various provinces issued many bonds and banknotes in various places, which were only circulated in their own provinces.For example, the Feng family has issued "Fengtian coupons" in the Northeast for compulsory use to alleviate financial constraints; like Yan Xishan, he established bank accounts such as railways, salt industry, and reclamation, and set up physical preparation warehouses for the "four bank accounts". The "Tong Yuan Bureau" was established around 1917, using the old-style coins with a copper content of 99% as raw materials, using three-character coins to cast a copper coin that can be used as 9-character coins, and circulated throughout Shanxi Province, etc. .

The military-controlled governments owned by powerful factions in various places printed non-repayable banknotes that were eligible for legal repayment, used inflation to fill the fiscal deficit, and concentrated financial resources for their own use, leading to hyperinflation, which became an important reason for the collapse of the national economy in many war-torn provinces.It is also one of the important factors that the warlords of the Republic of China changed like a revolving lantern, but they were able to prosper repeatedly.

As long as the currency is unified and the minting power is transferred to the central government, the centralized dominance of the central government can be guaranteed.Just like Qin Shihuang unified the six countries and unified the currency.Although this principle is simple, it is difficult to implement.Originally, the "National Currency Regulations" promulgated in the second year of the Republic of China officially stipulated that the silver dollar with a weight of seven cents and two cents and a fineness of 89% was the currency unit of our country. This is how the "Yuan Datou" silver dollar was cast.However, since Yuan Shikai's demise, warlords have emerged everywhere, and the continuation of the state of war in various places has turned each region into a vassal state economically, forming a self-contained entity.Minting coins and issuing banknotes are the guarantee for the survival of warlords in various places. Of course, a weak central government cannot take back currency rights.

Only when a strong central government emerges, can the unified currency really be put on the table.However, with the improvement of the national economy, even though silver dollars and silver were still used together from the beginning of the Republic of China, the existing currencies in the market were not enough for use, and it was urgent to add a batch of new currencies.

Under the suggestion of Zhang Hanqing, the national government announced the "Regulations on Silver Standard Currency Minting":

1.The national government abolished the two yuan and changed it to the yuan, implemented the silver standard system, and unified the right to cast currency.The silver standard currency is named "Yuan", with a total weight of 26 grams, eight or eight silver and one or two copper, that is, 6971 grams of pure silver.The weight and fineness of the silver standard currency per yuan, compared with the legal weight and fineness, must not exceed 23% of the tolerance, and it is stipulated that all public and private transactions are given and accepted with the silver standard currency, and the number of uses is unlimited each time.At the beginning of the new year, the national government implemented "abolishing the two and changing the yuan" and issued a unified national silver coin.Zhang Hanqing insisted on issuing "Sun Yat-sen's head" silver coins to commemorate Sun Yat-sen's great contribution to the Chinese revolution and reflect the selfless feelings of the People's Party.With the central bank, the China Bank, and the Three Banks of Communications (later added China Agriculture, Industry and Commerce Bank, Construction Bank, and the abolition of the Central Bank) as the state-controlled issuing bank, this is the style of the famous "Sun Datou" in later generations.

2.Other banks are not allowed to continue to issue new banknotes. All payment of taxes and all public and private funds are limited to silver dollars, and cash is not allowed. Other banknotes originally approved by the Ministry of Finance are allowed to be used as usual, and are regularly issued by the Ministry of Finance. Exchange it back in fiat silver dollars.

3.Implement state-owned gold and silver, prohibit the circulation of gold and silver, and use the state-owned gold and silver as foreign exchange reserves. All banks, stores, and other public and private institutions or individuals hold gold and silver standard currency or other gold and silver coins to produce silver, etc. For silver, it should be handed over to the Issuance Preparation Management Committee or a bank designated by it to exchange for silver dollars starting from January 1.

4.In order to stabilize the exchange rate between silver dollar and foreign exchange, it is stipulated that the six banks of the central government, China, transportation, agriculture, construction, and industry and commerce shall buy and sell foreign exchange without restrictions; the value of silver dollar shall be represented by foreign exchange rate; $1, remaining at a fixed rate.

The reason why the US dollar was used as the standard instead of the British pound commonly used at the time was that Zhang Hanqing clearly knew that the United States had irreversibly replaced Britain's number one position in the capitalist world.In the official history, the implementation of China’s silver standard system and the formation of a fixed exchange rate with the British Pound caused competition in the United States. Finally, at the end of 1935, the United States changed its method of purchasing silver, forcing the world’s silver price to plummet and affecting the stability of China’s foreign exchange fund.This is the "Sino-US Silver Agreement" that the National Government was forced to conclude with the United States in May 1936. As a result, the French currency that replaced the silver dollar with the Republic of China finally became a vassal of the British pound and the US dollar.Now that China is taking the initiative to follow its invisible big brother, the United States, there is a natural opportunity for the United States to reciprocate. After all, there will be many places where the United States will be used in the future.

The unification of the currency system is the progress of China's currency system. After the implementation, it has played a certain positive role in the development of the social economy, and it has also completely lost the ability of all parties to compete with the central government.

The military expenditures of Feng Yuxiang and Sun Yue were all controlled by the General Administration of Finance under the Finance and Economics Committee of the People's Party as the main body.They approached Zhang Zuolin's important assistant, Pan Fu, chairman of the Financial and Economic Committee, and demanded the same treatment as the People's Army.Pan Fu has been instructed by the young commander that the country is being vigorously built and the funds are tight. At this time, it is appropriate to unify the military order and reduce the number of the National Revolutionary Army.The National Defense Commission has already cut off the supply of equipment to the National Revolutionary Army, making the two of them rootless.

At the beginning of the year, the National Revolutionary Army mutinied due to payment arrears, and Zhang Zuolin, in power, ordered Feng and Sun to restrain the army and prevent troubles on the grounds that "the revolutionary army disregarded the overall situation of peaceful reunification and intended to destroy the hard-won stability."As a last resort, Sun Yue proposed that the country should be demobilized due to the established state, and asked for severance pay.It was only then that Pan Fu "squeezed out" 200 million yuan, and under the supervision of the General Staff Headquarters, more than 2 people from the Second Army of the National Revolutionary Army were dismissed. Political "recluse" life.

With Sun Yue as an example, Feng Yuxiang also felt bad.In the name of negotiating the garrison of Jin and Zhi border guards (Feng Yuxiang transferred the main force to Baoding after Zhang Zuolin took over Beijing, and the station bordered Yan Xishan's Jin army) he went to Jin to talk with Yan Xishan.

Although Yan Xishan was in the era of warlord segregation, he was able to deal with both sides and tried to protect himself, but with the disintegration of the direct line and the loss of power of the National Revolutionary Army, it is inevitable that his lips will die and his teeth will be cold.Under the pressure of Zhang Hanqing's "unified military order and government order", he hesitated again and again, weighed the gains and losses, and felt that the People's Army seemed to be trying to break through, so he planned to join forces with Feng Yuxiang, Li Zongren from Guangxi, the four giants of the Sichuan Army, and the warlords from Yunnan and Guizhou. Central confrontation.Feng Yuxiang's arrival here was exactly what he wanted.

Worthy of being a wealthy Shanxi military governor, Yan Xishan sent 20 silver dollars as military pay, which was enough to keep Feng's army running for several months.However, the cunning Yan Xishan also kept a hand. He then cleverly used economic means to strangle Feng Yuxiang's neck, and bought some of his senior officers. , Han Fuqu and others.

The approach of Yan and Feng made Zhang Hanqing suddenly vigilant.In history, these two people, together with Li Zongren of Guangxi, jointly initiated the large-scale "Central Plains War", which pushed China's great unification situation brought about by the "Northeast Change of Banner" to splitting, and the country's vitality was greatly damaged, thus making Japan in vain. Picking a big deal, I was able to boldly carry out the "Nine & #8226; Eighth".

Although the People's Army had many soldiers, they did not dare to push him too far. They pushed them into the arms of their opponents and had to restore their military expenditures.Although the country is united in name and the armies of all parties are restrained by the "Military Committee", if Zhang Hanqing wants to join Feng Yuxiang's team, it will be even more difficult.He has always called for the unification of military power, but in this troubled world where every gun is king, which warlord is willing to hand over his greatest protection to others?

No matter what, how can you allow others to sleep soundly next to the couch?There are Feng and Yan Huanwei on the inside, and there are local power factions in Guizhou, Guizhou, Sichuan, and Yunnan outside, and we must be prepared for the KMT to make a stir.During this period of time, it is not an exaggeration to describe Zhang Hanqing's feelings as trembling and walking on thin ice.

When the situation at home and abroad is turning in a direction that is extremely favorable to Zhang Hanqing, Zhang Hanqing's determination to seek a way to unify by force from the local warlords will never change.But the southwestern provinces are remote and vast, and they are destined to be a protracted war.Before using troops against it, the problems in the rear must be resolved.