Jagged Warlord

However, the envoys of the five countries are still perfunctory on this issue.Song Xiaolian thought for a while and said, "Okay, let's make another step. The withdrawal of the tariff power can be discussed again, but our country wants to withdraw the power of the salt tax."

Salt tax is still one of the main sources of China's national fiscal revenue in modern times. At the beginning of the 20th century, the annual income of the Qing government was about 8000 million taels of silver, while the annual centralized salt tax revenue of the central government was about 1300 million taels, accounting for 30% of the total salt tax revenue. The national salt tax revenue should be around 4300 million taels.According to the statistics of the Office of Salt Administration in the second year of Xuantong, the total annual income of official and miscellaneous tax donations, salt rates, price increases, and surplus profits from official operations was 45419000 taels. In the fiscal budget of Xuantong’s three years, the salt tax revenue was 47621920 taels, equivalent to 71432880 silver dollars. Yuan. In 1912, the representative of the bank group of six countries (UK, France, Germany, Russia, Japan, and the United States) stationed in Beijing estimated the salt tax revenue in China in the first ten years of the 20th century and believed that the total salt tax revenue of the central and local governments of the Qing government should be More than 4000 million taels.Coveting this stable fiscal revenue, foreign bank groups scrambled to provide a large amount of loans to the Chinese Qing government and the Beiyang government with the salt tax as collateral, and thereby controlled China's salt government sovereignty and manipulated China's financial market.

After the failure of the Sino-Japanese War of 1895, the Chinese government was forced to sign the Treaty of Shimonoseki with Japan in April 4.The Qing government made an indemnity of 2 million taels to Japan, which was paid in 8 installments.The first and second batches are 5000 million taels each, which should be paid within 6 months and 12 months after the terms are approved; the remaining 1 million taels will be divided into 6 batches, and will be paid annually from the second year to the seventh year pay.If the Chinese government can pay off the 3 million taels within 2 years, no interest will be calculated, otherwise, except for the first batch of 5000 million taels, the rest will be calculated at 5% annual interest.And because of Japan's occupation of the Liaodong Peninsula, China needs to pay an additional 3000 million taels of compensation.The total compensation for the two items is 2.3 million taels.Faced with such a huge burden, the Qing government was on the verge of bankruptcy. In order to solve the difficulties, the Qing government had to use the salt tax revenue as a guarantee to borrow foreign debts from 1895. By the end of the Qing Dynasty in 1911, a total of 10 foreign loans had been borrowed.

In 1913, Yuan Shikai borrowed from the bank syndicate of five countries in order to enrich his finances. For this reason, he did not hesitate to sell the sovereignty of the salt government and borrowed 2500 million pounds from the syndicate of banks with the salt tax revenue as guarantee.In order to force China to repay on time, various countries clearly stipulated in the loan contract to establish a salt audit office, with the Chinese side as the general office and foreigners as the general office (in the branch office, the Chinese were the manager and the foreigner was the assistant), but the actual power was held by the hands of foreigners.At the beginning, the Salt Audit Office was only responsible for auditing and reporting. Later, its power was expanded to issue quotations, compile reports, collect salt tax, sign and pay salt tax, and collect and release salt. It became the competent authority of China's salt administration.

The Chinese government admits that it is about to rectify and improve the Chinese salt tax collection method designated as a guarantee for this loan, and will use foreign personnel to assist it.After paying taxes on salt catties in each salt-producing area, it must be signed by the Huayang economic association of the area before the salt is allowed to be released.All collected funds should be deposited in banks (referring to the Bank of the Five Nations), or deposited in other recognized deposit places other than the second bank, and be included in the Chinese government's salt revenue account, and should be reported to the Audit Office for future reference to the Audit Office. Check the saved form.The funds in the above-mentioned salt affairs account cannot be withdrawn unless there is a proof signed by the general office.Western colonists used this institution not only to obtain a lot of benefits, but also to become an important tool for interfering in China's internal affairs.

Local governments are also very serious about the interception of salt tax. Local governments have a long history of using salt tax.The collection of salt tax by the Qing government was "directly undertaken by the provinces, and the department in charge of the salt tax in the Du branch only performed auditing and accounting duties." It was difficult for the central government to grasp the specific situation of local salt tax collection.Local governments only report about 30% of the salt tax revenue to the central government each year, and keep the remaining 70% for their own use.The most important point is that during the period of the Beijing government, the central government was not strong, and its control over the localities was also weak.Many local warlords took the salt tax in their jurisdiction as their own under the banner of "not recognizing the central government", "independence", and "autonomy".In addition, the local government of the Beijing government conveniently withholds central taxes to offset central appropriations.During the time when the warlords' finances were always tight, some local expenditures were often delayed, and during the period of land separatism, withholding salt tax almost became the practice of the provinces.

The envoys of the five countries faltered again. Tariffs and salt taxes are the two fats of Western powers’ economic aggression against China. If you ask them to spit out any piece, it will make them feel distressed to the bone.

Seeing the attitude of the ministers of various countries, Song Xiaolian knew the result.However, in the internal materials of the General Staff that he saw, it was revealed that the newly appointed Prime Minister Li Mohan had decided to forcibly withdraw the power of customs duties and salt tax regardless of the attitude of the big powers.Branches and great powers, just go through a process.Song Xiaolian felt that the consequences of doing so were very serious, but privately felt that the young prime minister had a lot of backbone.

Song Xiaolian has already seen the new "Salt Industry Management Measures" from internal reference materials.

Quantitative verification means that the salt tax is levied according to the quantity and quota, and the differential tax amount is determined in units of tons for different production areas, salt types and uses; on-the-spot collection, the implementation of source tax collection, generally in the sale of salt (factory) link Or collected in the distribution and sales link of the salt production area, distribution and sales of the public collection unit to ensure the implementation of the differential tax amount in the salt tax area; the tax is not re-levied, and the salt is from production to consumption, no matter how many processing and circulation links it goes through, it is only in the specified link A tax is levied, and the one-time levy system is strictly implemented. Taxpayers will no longer pay salt tax for salt that is processed and refined with taxed raw salt.At the same time, the "Measures for the Administration of the Salt Industry" also stipulates that the salt used in the acid-base industry, leather industry, soap industry, feed industry, and fishery can be reduced or exempted from tax.

Song Xiaolian didn't give the ministers of the five countries much time to think. He stood up, put away the documents in front of him, and said lightly: "It seems that the ministers and gentlemen will not be able to reach an agreement with our country in a short time. Then we can only hope that the Czarist Russia The soldiers can become more and more courageous and defeat both the Germans and the Red Russia. There is a saying in China that if you want the horse to run, you have to feed the horse. Tariff or salt tax, we have to take back the same, otherwise we It’s hard to explain to the people why they went all the way to Europe to fight. Well, gentlemen, I’m sorry.” After speaking, Song Xiaolian walked out of the office with his head held high, leaving the envoys of the five countries in the reception room.

The envoys of the five countries looked at each other, but no one spoke, and the room fell silent.Japanese Minister Lin Quanzhu led Kuppensky to discuss in a low voice for a long time in the corner. Finally, both Lin Quanzhu and Kubensky stated that China could suspend the payment of the boxer indemnity, but there was nothing to do with tariffs and salt taxes. discuss.

Fundamentally speaking, the attitudes of Zhu Erdian and Kandi on tariffs and salt taxes are consistent with those of Lin Quanzhu and Kupensky.However, they had secretly contacted Li Mohan before, and Li Mohan said that if the Chinese side did not benefit from this issue, then he would do everything possible to thwart the plan of Britain and France to recruit Chinese workers in China.Compared with Russia, which has a large population base, the labor force of Britain and France is even more scarce.Therefore, at this time, Zhu Erdian and Kandi were a little wary. Although Lin Quanzhu and Kuponsky kept urging them to express their views, they still did not clearly express their attitudes.

In the end, only American Minister Rui Enshi was left, and he was not very entangled.Because Li Mohan is a partner with the American Bethlehem Iron and Steel Company, and this Chinese premier who combines the identities of a warlord and a businessman has a close relationship with the Rockefeller Foundation, and the Rockefeller Foundation has considerable influence on the US Congress.This young politician, who is hated by the Japanese, is a nationalist, but at the same time he is also a pro-American faction. The advantages of Americans' cooperation with him will definitely outweigh the disadvantages.

Therefore, Rui Enshi ambiguously stated that this issue can be discussed, and then hurriedly went to the US embassy and sent a telegram to the country.

At the same time, the Outer Mongolia Expeditionary Army sent by Li Mohan had assembled in Zhangjiakou. The name of the expeditionary army was the First Infantry Division of the Anmeng Army, and the division commander was Xiao Wenlong, the division commander with the richest combat experience and the youngest under Li Mohan.

The scenery of the grassland in autumn is so beautiful that the heart is almost intoxicated. The sweet majesty is like a lover's hand gently enters from the nostrils and then gently soothes the internal organs before drifting away.The unnamed wild flowers are like girls in the prairie. Although they are not stunning enough, they are more frank and show their vigorous vitality on the prairie wantonly.

After passing Ude, the troops of the Anmeng Army will officially enter Outer Mongolia.The Anmeng army began to encounter scattered Mongolian herdsmen one after another. The people on the grassland were not only simple, but also isolated. They didn't know what so-called independence, politics, and self-government were.They only know that Zasak and the princes will make them pay endless taxes all day long, or they will arrest you under the name of Tonghan, and when you will be released depends entirely on personal luck.

So when the scattered herdsmen first saw the Han troops, they were so frightened that they hid.In this regard, Xiao Wenlong sent Mongolian soldiers to communicate with them repeatedly, emphasizing again and again that the Han army had no other intention, but came to deal with the princes who oppressed the herdsmen, and the Anmeng army came to make decisions for the poor on the grassland.As long as the herdsmen follow along, there is still a chance to share the property of those princes.

After all, these herdsmen felt a little relieved, and even the brave ones started doing business with the troops.The Russian ruble in the hands of the Mongolian people is naturally not common, and only the former Qing silver dollar and Yuan Datou can be used.In the eyes of these herdsmen, the Huashang notes of Huashang Bank are just a piece of paper with beautiful patterns printed on them, and the herdsmen do not regard them as money at all.

Cattle, horses, and sheep on the grassland are extremely cheap. In order to attract more herdsmen to do business with them, the Anmeng Army deliberately set the prices higher.Those simple herdsmen hurriedly returned, fearing that they would get the reputation of being greedy for cheap. The two sides pushed each other, and they went back and forth several times.After the herdsmen reluctantly accepted it, they immediately began to preach among their companions. Although the nobles had always exaggerated the horror of the Han people, the reputation of the Han army for being kind and fair in business immediately overwhelmed the previous slanderous words after their publicity.

At the same time, a large number of trainers who accompanied the army in charge of political and ideological work also went deep into the herdsmen's yurts to carry out the campaign of "pouring bitter water and digging at the root".The trainers asked the herdsmen, why are the herdsmen still so poor despite being so busy all year round?The princes and lords enjoy the blessings all day long and don't work, but they can live in luxury?

Where did the herdsmen think about this, and they all shook their heads to express their ignorance.

The trainers told the herdsmen that the government of Outer Mongolia is not the government of the common people, and the princes and nobles do not make decisions for the common people.They were all a bunch of traitors. They gave all the things they robbed from the herdsmen to the Russians, then bought knives and guns from the Russians, and continued to rob the herdsmen.Therefore, if the herdsmen want to live a good life, they must overthrow these princes and drive away those Russians.

The herdsmen thought about it, yes.Whenever there is a dispute between the herdsmen and the Russians, those gentlemen are all one-sided to support the Russians. When did they speak for the Mongolian herdsmen?

The trainers took the opportunity to persuade them, if you want your children and grandchildren to continue to live in such a poor life, then you should honestly herd the sheep.If you want your children and grandchildren to have a good life, then mount your horse, shoulder your gun, and head towards Coulomb with us.

The herdsmen were quickly mobilized, and they spontaneously formed a cavalry unit to help the Anmeng army guard and explore the way around. By the time the Anmeng army arrived at Zhaomodo, the number of Mongolian militia members had reached 2000.