The Restoration Revolution is an excellent revolution.

It not only awakened the modern national and modern national spirit of the Chinese, but also overthrew the Qing Dynasty at a very small cost, ended the Manchu rule over China, ended the Manchus' suppression of the Han people and the castration of cultural thoughts.

A new nationalist movement to revive the Chinese nation was launched in China, which greatly boosted the morale and self-esteem of the Chinese people.

The scale of the civil war of the Restoration Revolution was much smaller than that of the late Yuan Dynasty and early Ming Dynasty, and the late Ming Dynasty and early Qing Dynasty. The civil war had a very small impact on the domestic economy and people's livelihood. The great victory in the Sino-Japanese War of 1911 sanctions pacified the Outer Mongolia Rebellion, which led to the new empire.

The authority of the central government was quickly rebuilt and the territory and political heritage of the Qing Empire were inherited.

In the world imperialism, colonialism, nationalism oppression and the rise of the new national movement, the entire country and nation were united unprecedentedly, allowing the new empire to retain a large number of officials from previous dynasties and maintain a smooth transition of regime and state governance.

The constitutional system adopted by the new empire is a party-debugging politics that is more in line with the current national conditions of China. In the distribution of powers of the cabinet government and local governments in various provinces, the imperial parties in the Northeast control the core powers such as military, finance, taxation, police, and patrol.

The remaining administrative power was scattered among the reformists, the revolutionaries in Japan and the local constitutionalists. At the same time, a large number of economic specialties were retained, and the New Dealers, who were from studying in the Jinshi period, were former officials from the New Deals.

In this way, the emperor united various domestic political forces to maintain the order of the new empire, making the country increasingly stable, and continued to reform and progress in this stable environment.

The cabinet government established a new tax-sharing, power-sharing and financial system through reforms of the political system and administrative system. While abolishing the national tax tyrants and weakening the real power of local officials in various provinces, it restabilized the national economic and administrative order, ending the end of the late Qing Dynasty.

Ten years of social chaos.

The country is becoming increasingly stable, the central government's fiscal revenue growth, and the concentration of military and political power. On these important basis, Emperor Song Biao has the conditions to further develop the Central Army and Navy of the Imperial Army. This time, the Central Military Department attended the meeting.

Determine a long-term ten-year plan, while making more adjustments in the near future to deal with European military competitions.

...

After Cheng Biguang and the other two entered Yihua Hall, Song Biao signaled them to sit down first.

After Song Biao finished reading the test materials about the new artillery in his hand, he formally raised his eyes and looked at the three people in front of him, and asked Cheng Biguang first: "I heard that the Haitian has been sent to Japan Yokohama Shipyard for maintenance.

Now?"

Cheng Biguang said: "Report to the Emperor. The cruiser Haitian was shelved by the beach for six years and was seriously damaged. It was finally dragged to Qingdao Port. The German Navy has a military dock in Qingdao Port. The equipment is relatively simple, but it has also been done.

Some repairs have restored momentum. Previously, the Japanese Navy sank two small ships outside the Ningbo port and asked them to compensate. After discussion, they decided to invest in the repair of the Haitian cruiser. The Zhenyuan ship also built a ship in Yokohama, Japan.

The factory is overhauled, and the two ships are expected to return together at the end of the year. The Admiralty originally wanted to send the Haitian to the United States for modification and repair, but the price was negotiated. Since Japan invested in the repair, it would be considered a savings for us."

Song Biao thought for a while and said, "Japan will not be kind, but we don't plan to expect the Haitian cruiser and Zhenyuan to do anything after returning to China. Let's just follow the little Japanese. It is also a good thing to save money.

”

Cheng Biguang agreed: "The emperor is wise and the ministers think the same way."

Song Biao looked at Duan Qirui and Shu Fangde again and said, "This time I asked the three of you to come here in advance. I plan to talk to you for a while before the meeting. A few days ago, I talked with the Minister of Finance Zhang Kangren.

Once, the domestic tax reform work has made rapid progress. Simply put, there are 1.4 billion mu of arable land in the country, with an average tax of 1.2 million yuan per mu, and the agricultural part of the national fiscal revenue is also close to 1.7 billion yuan, even if

According to the existing principle of 37, the central government's agricultural tax is also close to 500 million yuan. With other fiscal revenues, the central government's fiscal revenue this year can reach a scale of 700 million yuan. According to the basic plan of 17, the central government

Military expenditure can reach 100 million yuan. The problem now is the division ratio between the navy and the army. The army will reorganize on a large scale in the past two years, and the proportion of the navy will probably be indispensable. The navy will revive on a large scale and share

Not to mention. The palms and backs of hands are all flesh, so I want you three to come first and work with me to summarize the specific share ratio."

Upon hearing this, Shu Fangde, the Minister of the Army, immediately said: "Emperor, the army also has to count the expenses of the patrol troops across the country. Although this part of the expenses is more borne by each province, the central government does not.

Sorry. The problems of Outer Mongolia, Southwest, Xinjiang and ** have not been completely solved. At least in the past two years, we should take care of the army first."

Song Biao nodded slightly.

Cheng Biguang was a little difficult to speak. During the previous Sino-Japanese War, the army had made great achievements, and the navy basically had to hide in the Yangtze River channel and did not dare to meet the Japanese Navy at all.

Under such circumstances, he was not embarrassed to compete for military expenditure for the navy. Before the meeting, he and Song Wenhui discussed in advance about winning military expenditure for the navy. Both of them were very discouraged and could basically maintain a 7:3 ratio with the army.

They were overjoyed.

Fortunately, Song Wenhui was the backbone of the imperial party and had a good relationship with Jiang Fangzhen, Shu Fangde and others. He was also a classmate with cabinet Prime Minister Tang Shaoyi and Finance Minister Zhang Kangren. He spoke more effectively than his Navy Minister. Song Wenhui

He had already greeted Jiang Fangzhen and others in advance. No matter how he scored, he hoped that he could give the Navy a total military expenditure ratio of at least 25%.

Duan Qirui dared to speak. Although he was from the Army, he was too far from the Imperial Party, so he could say a conscience. He said to Song Biao: "Your Majesty, I thought of Li Hongzhang and Zuo of the previous dynasty.

Zong Tang's coastal defense and border defense disputes seem to be difficult to judge now, but one thing is certain, that is, because the pacification consumed more than 40 million taels of silver, the navy has since stagnated and was finally defeated by the Japanese Navy.

.The resulted in the defeat of the Sino-Japanese War of 1894-1895. The ministers dared to advise that no one dared to challenge the strength of our army within ten years, and the navy will continue to be bullied by foreign countries within ten years. The navy's military expenditure can be high or low, but even

The whole country borrows money, and the emperor also wants to buy four or five real giant ships for the Navy. This is not the case that our country's maritime defense power cannot be established."

Song Biao nodded slightly and said, "This is really reasonable. The military development must first look at the development of the global military and political situation. Now, it is a general trend to conclude the European-English-French alliance. Britain, France, Russia, and Germany and Austria. The confrontation was unprecedentedly fierce. The arms race between the two sides was so fierce that it was far better than my country and Japan. I talked about this with Jiang Fangzhen and Zhang Kangren some time ago. With the current financial strength of Britain, Germany, France and Russia, the arms race between the two sides has already It reached a level that both sides could not bear, and in the end there were only two outcomes. One was that Britain, France and Russia compromised and made major concessions to Germany and Austria in exchange for the peace and the cessation of the arms race between the two sides; the other was that a full-scale war was simply launched in an emergency. , repeat the European war of the scale of the anti-French war. During this period, the reason why we dared to advance with Britain, France, Germany, Russia and other countries to force them to give up their privileges in China is that our army is strong and we have the conditions to let them recognize it. Our strength, giving a fair and equal status, is also the European countries are unable to take care of themselves and fierce competition, and they cannot unite to oppress our country at all. Not only do they unite to oppress us, but they must also show goodwill to win over our country. In short, if we Join Germany and send millions of troops to attack Russia's rear, Germany can concentrate on dealing with France. The Russian-French alliance is simply too afraid of this. With my reputation and the strength of our army, do you think Russia is not afraid?"

Duan Qirui sighed: "Half the deterrence of our army on foreign countries depends on the power of His Majesty. His Majesty is the Napoleon of Asia. As long as His Majesty is present, our army can sweep Asia, and no country can do so.

enemy."

Shu Fangde and Cheng Biguang immediately agreed, "The emperor is the power of our empire. Foreign countries now fear our country, but in fact they are fearful of our emperor."

Song Biao opened a folding fan, slapped it a few times, and smiled and said, "You all said too much. Everyone is a soldier who has fought a big battle. What should it be? We all understand in our hearts that a good commander is very important.

But the strength and ambition of all soldiers are the foundation of the army. We don’t talk about these things, we only focus on the key points to tell the truth. In the past few years, how our army will develop, and the planning for the construction of both navy and army in the next ten years will be necessary.

A basic problem is closely linked to, that is, the urgency of the European War. In my opinion, the possibility of Britain and Germany not thinking about war is too low. Now the arrival of this war is only a matter of time. Referring to the Sino-Japanese War, it is

But it was concluded that we had been preparing for so long, and the secret military expenditure was extremely large. Since the opponent was provoking, why not fight? So even Japan did not expect that we really dare to fight, and it was at this scale from the beginning, which caught them off guard.

This situation is basically the same as Germany. Unless Britain and France ceded a large number of colonies to meet the requirements of Germany, Germany would not stop, but Britain and France also spent more money to arm the army, so many golden and honeysuckles were like

How can we continue to make greater concessions when flowing water?"

Cheng Biguang said: "The emperor was wise. Although he thought the competitions in Europe were great, he didn't think that war would really break out. Now, after hearing what the emperor said, his subordinates suddenly realized it, and it was like a sudden enlightenment."

Song Biao was not in a hurry to answer. Instead, he felt that Cheng Biguang and Duan Qirui were both famous figures who were in the Qing Dynasty, and their skills in flattery were really first-class.

He just glanced at Shu Fangde lightly.

Shu Fangde is the uncle of the country and the representative of the imperial party of the real direct line. Naturally, he doesn't need to flatter him so much, and said: "The emperor is wise, the most important thing in our country is to determine whether it is biased towards Britain, France, Russia, or Germany and Austria in the general direction.

The tendency is different, and the development of military affairs is naturally different. Although if a war breaks out in Europe, our country will mostly focus on neutrality. However, the military must always prevent problems before it happens, and the development of military affairs must also be targeted."

Song Biao slapped the high five and said, "Yes, it's right. In this matter, I have more considerations than you, and only I know some special information. So I won't be careful with you.

After discussion, my decision was very simple. First, I should remain as neutral as possible, because even if our navy develops rapidly, it will not be an opponent of the Japanese navy within ten years or even twenty years.

Britain and Japan are a solid alliance, we should not cause trouble for ourselves; secondly, deepen military cooperation with Germany on the basis of neutrality, at this point. I plan to send a secret military working group to Germany to bring our country in the Xinhai War

Many of the information in it were transferred to the German army. The Sino-Japanese War of 1911 has very important significance and reference value for the development of the international and world army. Both the German and French army are very interested in this. We can transfer some important information to Germany and France.

When the country wants to encourage them to fight, the more ruthless they fight, the more profit we will have. Of course, if the price of Britain, France and Russia is very high, we can choose to stand on their side. It depends on their price.

.”

Speaking of this, Song Biao paused and continued to ponder for a moment, and added: "Actually, we have more room for cooperation with Germany. Germany fights Britain, France and Russia in Europe, and we fight Britain, France and Russia in Asia, and take the opportunity to take back Vietnam and Myanmar.

The sovereignty of the sect, and even the regaining of the territory stolen by Russia in the late Qing Dynasty, including the problems of the Tannu Ulianghai and the **, we are still arguing with Britain and Russia now, and we don’t know when it will be clear. Unfortunately, our army is still

If it is not strong enough, the navy can't even beat the little Japanese, so what else can we talk about?"

Cheng Biguang was very ashamed to hear these words. He knew that the key was that the Chinese Navy was too weak. With the emperor there, the army would definitely have no problems.

Thinking of this, Cheng Biguang hurriedly apologized and knelt down and said, "Emperor, this is the fault of his ministers. His ministers are incompetent, affecting the country, and the navy is weak. He is ashamed of the emperor's trust."

Song Biao then stood up and helped Cheng Biguang up, comforting him, "It is true that the navy is weak, it is wrong to blame you. Besides, it is too late to work hard now, and it is not too late to make up for the sheep."

As he said this, Song Biao helped Cheng Biguang up, asked him to sit down again, and ordered several people: "I have already calculated the matters on the Navy very clearly. The military expenditure increased in the past three years.

A little better, but don't buy large ships. Focus on purchasing light cruisers and destroyers with larger tonnage from Britain, the United States and other countries. We must pay special attention to the prevention of submarines and torpedo ships, and also focus on the work of eliminating mines and laying mines, which should benefit

Long-term marine patrol. The army is reorganizing step by step, implementing the Military Service Law, reserving reserve forces, and increasing the proportion of lieutenants. Don’t be anxious about the rest.”

As soon as Song Biao said this, there was basically no room for maneuver. He had to listen to his arrangements. Army Minister Shu Fangde and Navy Minister Cheng Biguang naturally had nothing to say, especially Cheng Biguang, who was secretly in his heart.

Very happy.

This is how soldiers are. The hope of building a navy is strong, and the hope of building a military is strong. After all, I have devoted my life to it. Who doesn’t want to be perfect?

No matter how they feel in their hearts, since the emperor has made up his mind, the three of them can only answer "The Emperor's Holy Spirit" together.

After finalizing the general direction, Song Biao had to deal with a small matter and said to Duan Qirui: "The army needs to develop a large military region system, which must be learned from Russia, because the problems between China and Russia are the same.

, the territory is too vast. We will decide this matter this time at the meeting, roughly the seven major military regions of Zhili, Northeast China, Mongolia, Northwest China, Southwest China, Central and South China. I think you can go to the Northwest China Military Headquarters to serve as the commander

, I don't know if you want it or not, in addition, I also want you to serve as the Minister of North Korea, Governor of the Military and Political Affairs and Commerce Affairs of North Korea. The problems in these two places are very complicated and require experienced generals to take charge for a long time. I am now

To be honest, there is no more suitable candidate. You should think more about it during this period, and it is best to give me an accurate answer within this month."

Duan Qirui immediately said, "Everyone in the ministers will only be ordered by the emperor."

Song Biao said: "Then go to the Northwest Military Headquarters. No matter how big the North Korean matter is, it is easy to deal with. If something happens in the Northwest, it will be civil strife. I asked Zhang Xiaohuai to stay in North Korea as the governor, and I also sent a pretty good young diplomat to go.

As the Minister of Korea, even if you train young people."

Duan Qirui could only say: "The emperor is wise!"

Duan Qirui also wants to go to North Korea. Even if he goes to the northwest, how could he send the four infantry divisions from the Beiyang division with the emperor's skills? They are basically all cavalry divisions.

In the past, after he was dispatched, these cavalry divisions were all from the emperor's direct lineage and could not fight with Baguanzi, his surname was Duan. Even if he became the commander of the Northwest Military Department, to put it bluntly, he had a reputation and no division was involved.

The travel association really belongs to him.

If he went to North Korea, Duan Qirui knew that he might be able to stay the 14th and 15th divisions in North Korea and be assigned to him. But it is precisely because of this possibility that Duan Qirui would not actively strive to go to North Korea.

.

If the general trend is settled today, Duan Qirui just wants to have a good end at this time and avoid being treated as an alien and the obstacles to absorbing the Beiyang system. If he can achieve something in the northwest, he can leave his name in history.
To be continued...