The Republic of Heroes

By the end of August, batch after batch of supplies arrived in Linzi from Yingkou, on a scale that no one of the leading figures in the government and business circles in Linzi County had ever seen in his life.Ten miles southeast of Linzi County, a piece of land of nearly a thousand mu was opened up. The Outer Mongolian Cavalry Battalion was stationed here, and no one was allowed to approach. Huge signs were nailed to the surrounding roads, and long iron wires were pulled up. There are eight large characters written prominently, military restricted area, entry is strictly prohibited!Some civilians who wanted to sneak in to watch the excitement were caught by the Mongolian cavalry. The cold bayonets frightened them to death, and they fled in desperation. Since then, no one has dared to approach this military restricted area easily.

A large number of workers transported through Dongying Port began to busy up and down, building the wall and constructing it. In less than a month, the towering wall and factory buildings were erected.The efficiency is far higher than that of local craftsmen in Linzi.The overall planning of these matters is all in charge of a strange old man from outside. He is neither responsible to the county government office nor has to report to the secretary-general who is in charge of the overall situation. It seems that he directly takes orders from Wu Xiaoliang.

Wu Xiaoliang specially held a briefing meeting for this purpose, stating that he would build two factories on the ground in Linzi County before the end of the year. A large number of equipment and mature technicians would enter production only after the factories were completed.

Zhu Wusheng was completely confused by the chairman of the provincial government, so he didn't understand where the chairman of the provincial government got so many soldiers and money, and building a factory was more than just Money can do it.Previously, he followed Wu Xiaoliang to inspect a construction site. There were many blond and blue-eyed Westerners among the construction workers. This discovery made him feel even more strange and weird.After much deliberation, County Magistrate Zhu finally came to a conclusion that this Chairman Wu must have a backer in the central government, and must have received the support of a certain bigwig from the central government in Nanjing. fuck.

In his opinion, Wu Xiaoliang is messing around. If he had all the money to build the factory and bought arms and recruited troops, it would not be difficult for Chairman Wu to defeat Zhang Zongchang and drive Han Fuju away, but spending a lot of money is like running water It is a waste of public funds and a connivance to the hostile forces in the province to spend ordinary money on factories that are extremely slow to benefit and produce results.

In the end, Zhu Wusheng couldn't bear his own sense of responsibility, so he tactfully tried to dissuade Wu Xiaoliang.

"There is a saying in humble office, I don't know if I should say it or not?"

Wu Xiaoliang said briskly: "County Zhu keeps saying that this is your duty and power."

Zhu Wusheng secretly lamented that this young provincial chairman was different, not only did he act without airs, but even his words were full of novelty, vigor and enthusiasm. It was a joy to work with such a chief.

"Linzi is located in a remote place, not a place to live for a long time. Now Jinan is occupied by Orientals, Jiaodong has Zhang Zongchang eyeing it, and Han Fuju is entrenched in Tai'an. We are the weakest. I suggest that we should vigorously develop the military immediately. To benefit from the east . The key points must be controlled in our hands. In this way, even if we have a firm foothold in Shandong, we have the capital and ability to compete with Zhang Han."

Before the words were finished, Li Zejun clapped his hands and praised: "County Zhu has such a sharp eye!"

Wu Xiaoliang was secretly surprised, he had underestimated him before, so he should be useful.

"County Zhu made clear the current status quo of our provincial government. It's just that the foundation of the provincial government's governance is not here. Since the first year of the Republic of China, the central government has lost its authority, warlords have controlled the local government, the local county government system is chaotic, Shen Ke is redundant, The burden on the people is getting heavier, so I decided to abolish Daocun County in Shandong, abolish the Dao level government, and let the county magistrate be directly responsible to the provincial chairman."

Zhu Wusheng's eyes brightened. It seemed that Wu Xiaoliang had made up his mind a long time ago, and it was his own worries. He said happily, "It's a good way to draw salary from the bottom of the pot. In this way, the county magistrate will be placed directly under the provincial government, and the tyrants will have less checks and balances." The power of the county magistrate and the provincial government are in their hands, so they can do it freely, but the foundation of all this must be established on the premise that the provincial government has a strong force. Therefore, I implore the chairman to expand and strengthen the army!" He appointed himself Since the county magistrate of Linzi, he has been plagued by the lack of soldiers in his hands, so his desire for the army is far beyond ordinary people.

Wu Xiaoliang did not put the expansion and strengthening of the army first, but he felt that he did not have much time. In Shandong Province, he always focused on the Japanese. The Japanese army occupying Jinan has a division and a brigade, and Qingdao is even more The traditional sphere of influence of the Japanese army occupied Weihai under the pretext of declaring war on Germany during World War I.The reason why the Japanese army is so rampant and arrogant is to build Shandong into the second Northeast. For his own benefit, Zhang Zongchang will inevitably collude with the Japanese like the other Zhang Zongchang in his previous life.Therefore, if he wanted to make a difference in Shandong, he had to cut off the tentacles of the Japanese, and even drive them out of Shandong completely.

The Japanese have always bullied the weak and feared the strong. If they were not frightened and subdued, Wu Xiaoliang would face endless restraint and restraint from them in Shandong.Therefore, he must vigorously develop military enterprises to improve the Shandong Army's sufficient equipment advantages and sufficient consumption reserves when fighting against Japan.Time waits for no one, he can only do industrial construction, expand and strengthen the army with both hands.As for the two of Han and Zhang, in his eyes, they are all like chickens and dogs.

"Well, the project of expanding and strengthening the army has to be launched. The problem we are facing now is that the quality of the soldiers is worrying. Although the fighting will of the peasant militia is unprecedentedly high, there are still many shortcomings. I plan to recruit students to join the army in Linzi and surrounding counties , and build a team of sharp knives. The specific rules for conscription still rely on the strong support of the county magistrate Zhu.” Since the collapse of the Sun family, most of the power vacuum in the county government has been filled by Zhu Wusheng and his confidants, and there are a large group of people who have seen it. The man who made the rudder threw himself into his embrace in time.In this regard, Zhu Wusheng did not refuse anyone who came, and accepted them all with a smile.

After Zhu Wusheng heard Wu Xiaoliang's plan, he was both happy and worried. The happy thing is that Wu Xiaoliang did not make money from the intoxicated business that he misunderstood before. It is so big, not to mention the problem of raising funds, it is not easy to recruit students to join the army, I wonder how much the chairman plans to recruit?"

"Graduates from high school always need a thousand. Is it difficult?"

At this time, Li Youting suddenly interjected from the side, "It's not easy for students to join the army? Qiu Baxing is despised by the world."

Wu Xiaoliang smiled indifferently, this is his specialty, "The students at this time are particularly patriotic. We expanded our army to expel the Japanese invaders and return our great country to the Chinese nation. Why don't they participate? "