In October 1925, as the Chinese Restoration Party continued to win a great victory in the parliamentary elections, Ouyang Geng was once again elected by Congress as the empire's fourth central cabinet prime minister, which made the empire extremely stable politically.

In December, the Imperial Congress passed the new Second Constitution of the Chinese Empire. The rights and status of the Prime Minister as the head of state were greatly strengthened, and in special circumstances, it passed the vote of the Congress and the approval of the emperor. The Imperial Central Committee

The Prime Minister of the Cabinet can receive a third term to maintain the stability of the country during critical periods.

When political stability was reached, as France withdraws from the Pan-Pacific region, the scope of naval conflict between China and Japan expanded, and the trend of naval competition between the two countries became increasingly fierce.

Under the restrictions of the Treaty of Washington, the Sino-Japanese naval competition is limited to cruisers with very little deterrence, but the construction of both sides is actually pocket war patrols, and military expenditure is not small. In the construction of submarines, destroyers and aircraft carriers, they are actually under construction.

In the field, the two sides are also starting a new round of competition.

In this secret competition, the Empire secretly built a new aircraft carrier in Qingdao Shipyard in 1927. This class of aircraft carriers had a beveled deck for the first time worldwide, and the standard displacement also reached the Treaty of Washington

The upper limit of 270,000 British tons was built at Luoyuanwan Naval Base and Guangzhou Shipyard. The Empire secretly built a new generation of B013-class large diesel-electric submarine. Its displacement tonnage reached 1,550 British tons, which was also the first generation of the Empire's official installation.

large submarine.

The Imperial Air Force also developed rapidly during this period. The FD12 transport aircraft of Folk Douglas, the K8 fighter of Shanghai Aircraft Company and the S5 heavy bomber of Shenyang Aircraft Company have been put into service one after another. While maintaining its technological advantages over the Japanese Air Force, the output is still

Increased rapidly.

The prototype of the fd12 transport aircraft is the fd2 passenger aircraft. This is a world's largest passenger aircraft and transport aircraft jointly developed by the Empire Folk Aircraft Company after the merger with Douglas Aircraft Company in the United States. It has 30 seats and a rated 12 tons.

The load capacity, because Folk's main order comes from the military, this type of passenger aircraft has designed military transport aircraft simultaneously from the beginning, and the most 60 orders are indeed from the Imperial Air Force.

In order to meet this standard, Fudao Company adopted a propeller engine produced by Far East Motor Company, which is the result of one of the 201 projects.

Based on this type of aircraft, the Imperial Air Force requested that a large patrol aircraft be improved to track enemy ships and ships in offshore areas, especially focusing on anti-submarine.

Early anti-submarines mainly rely on personnel inspection, which requires great patience and cruise space to ensure enough patrol personnel. FD12 is the best choice, which can effectively reconnaise those small and medium-sized submarines.

Almost all enemy submarines can be found as long as they are sailing on the sea.

In order to confront China, Japan is also taking full advantage of investing in research aircraft, and directly making up for the gap between China and Japan by introducing technology from the UK. However, in terms of overall performance, quantity and production capacity, China and Japan are the first to make up for the gap between China and Japan.

The gap in the air force field is difficult to catch up.

From 1925 to 1927, Sino-Japanese military confrontation became increasingly tense. In this competition, the Chinese Empire has always had a clear advantage. With its increasingly powerful financial advantages and hidden military expenditures, the empire can easily maintain the Japanese military expenditures.

The military expenditure in the central government's finances remained at around 18, and there was no obvious sign of tax increase within the empire. Japan completely shifted its focus to military expenditures, and it was unable to go to China in the three fields of sea, land and air at the same time.

In competition, Japan can only continue to concentrate all expenditures to maintain the existing advantages of the navy, while the empire used the air force to assist the navy and the Japanese army in the competition by building airports and preparing airports along the coast.

This result is indeed not the situation that Song Biao hopes to see. Although the empire is stronger, he does not want to drag down the empire's pace of development because of Japan, especially when the world financial storm is about to come.

It's really unprofitable to die by holding it with Japan.

After the Spring Festival in 1928, Song Biao took a special train to Shanghai for inspection, and made arrangements consciously in advance, inviting Japanese Foreign Minister Morike. This person is actually the promoter of the increasingly fierce military confrontation between China and Japan, increasing naval spending and shipbuilding in China.

After speed, with the support of the Japanese military headquarters, Morike claimed everywhere that the day of the decisive battle between the Chinese and Japanese naval forces was approaching, and it was necessary to increase naval spending to ensure the national destiny of the Great Japanese Empire.

Immediately, the military competition between the two sides spread from the navy to the entire sea, land and air. However, in 1927, due to the competition, Japan encountered a serious fiscal crisis and the pace of economic recession was obvious, so Japan was forced to maintain the navy's competition.

Sen Ke is still very powerful. He not only speaks Chinese, but also proficient in Northeastern dialect, Cantonese and Shanghai dialects. He has a special relationship with Mitsui Products. He is also a very emerging industrialist in Japan. He has a rich family and has been active during his tenure.

He was the main planner behind the implementation of a tough policy towards China, and in the Huanggutun, Manchu and Mongolia incidents.

Even in this era of the Chinese Empire, Sen Ke was the main sponsor of the Manchu Restoration Movement. He often used the channels of Mitsui Products to send spies to the country to contact the Manchu uprising army.

According to the investigation by the Central Intelligence Administration, this person said in private that China will inevitably go to war with the Soviet Union or Britain on a large scale. As long as Japan is prepared, it will definitely become a real victorious country with the Soviet Union and the United Kingdom, and as long as China is defeated,

It will surely fall into division.

Simply put, this person is sick, and there are many people in Japan who are sick like this.

Even so, Song Biao decided to arrange for the newly appointed Inner Court Chief Gu Weijun to meet Sen Ke as a special envoy at the Japanese Consulate General in Shanghai.

In mid-March 1928, Song Biao arrived in Jiangning on a special train and arrived in Shanghai by boat.

This time, Song Biao still lives in Yuyuan.

If Song Biao remembers correctly, this is only his second visit to Shanghai since he ascended the throne, and he has been to Hong Kong three times.

As a entrenched northerner, Song Biao has always been a little disgusted with Shanghai, but he still has to take a look, because with the rapid development of Jiangsu and Zhejiang industries, Shanghai is gradually replacing Zhendan and Hong Kong's status has become this.

The most important financial center and trading port of the empire.

Shanghai's development does have innate advantages, and this cannot be changed by the emperor's favorite or dislike.

With the completion of the Hunan-Shanghai Railway in 1918, Shanghai's industrial prosperity once again had more capital. The railway from Changsha, Nanchang, Quzhou, Hangzhou to Shanghai made Jiangxi, Hunan, Zhejiang, Guangdong, and eastern Guizhou.

All resources can quickly pour into Shanghai.

In order to maintain the basic strength of the Shanghai Shipbuilding General Factory, Jiangnan Consortium also built an iron and steel factory in Shanghai and actively made progress in the fields of machine tools, electrical and other fields. It gradually formed the energy-enhancing and Far East System in the early 175 items and the subsequent 125 items.

The industrial foundation of confrontation.

Today, the Northeast and Jiangnan are the two major industrial zones in China. Zhili, Luyu, Huguang, Guangdong and Guangxi are all ranked behind the two major industrial zones. If the crown of the Northeast Industrial Base is Zhendan Directly Governor,

The leader of the Jiangnan Industrial Zone, composed of Jiangsu, Zhejiang, Anhui and Jiangxi, is the Shanghai Directly-owned Government. These two major directly-owned governments are also financial centers in the regional economy.

Compared with Zhendan, Shanghai's industrial scale is even larger, because the development of the entire Northeast is relatively balanced. Zhendan County is largely the financial and trade center, and the shipbuilding industry is concentrated in Jinzhou County, metallurgy, machinery, etc.

The industry is concentrated in Liaoyang, Shenyang and other places.

After eight years, Song Biao realized this more clearly, but he still didn't like Shanghai very much. Unlike completely emerging cities like Zhendan, Shanghai's planning is very messy and lacks Zhendan.

The charm of the square city and the university city.

The city of Shanghai seems a bit too realistic.

Song Biao took a car and walked through the streets and slowly drove into Yu Garden.

Since the entrance court took over, the royal family has almost never been here again. It has always been in a semi-public state and can often receive some meetings and special guests.

It was only during this period that it was closed again to welcome the emperor's arrival.

After arriving in Yuyuan, Song Biao rested for a day and only met Zhang Kangren, who had retired from public office at Yangshantang the next morning and returned to Far East Bank as the chief director.

Old friend, old friend.

When the Far East held its annual meeting in Kyoto Prefecture last year, Song Biaogang met with Zhang Kangren and worked as the Minister of Finance for 15 years. At this time, Zhang Kangren was already a gentleman in his seventies and enjoyed the most in China.

High reputation has always been known as the Imperial God of Wealth.

Yu Garden is divided into two, and both the East and West Gardens were acquired by the inner court after three years of the Empire Shenwu. Considering that Zhang Kangren wanted to return to Shanghai to enjoy his old age, the royal family had very few opportunities to go to Shanghai. Song Biao gave the East Garden to Zhang Kangren.

The West Garden, which was left in the inner court, is usually reserved for the Shanghai Federation of Industry and Commerce for use.

Although Zhang Kangren is the general director of Far East Bank, he is actually retired. He went to work at the Shanghai headquarters of the bank in the past two years, but now he basically doesn't go there. At last year's annual meeting, he also stated that it was the last time.

join.

After being with the emperor for fifteen years, my feelings are naturally deep.

After entering the flower hall of Yangshan Hall, he saw Song Biao reading the newspaper. Zhang Kangren stepped forward and said, "I pay homage to the emperor."

Song Biao glanced at him, pointed to the seat on the bed beside him with a smile, and said, "Come and sit here. We just met a few months ago, so we don't have to be so polite. But you live far away now.

It’s not easy to see you once.”

Zhang Kangren then sighed: "My subordinates are reluctant to leave the emperor. They are old and Luoye always wants to go home. They originally wanted to go back to Guangdong, but their children are making a living in Shanghai, so they still come to live with them."

Song Biao nodded, and said nothing.

Zhang Kangren has two sons. Two brothers opened a flour mill in Northeast China in their early years. In about three years of Shenwu, they went to Shanghai to invest in an electrical company, real estate and insurance business, because of Zhang Kangren's relationship, business.

Naturally it was done very smoothly.

This is inevitable, which country is not like this?

The General Administration of Investigation has been watching, and there are no obvious places to violate the rules, but it is still uncommon for Zhang Kangren to say hello a few times, and Song Biao doesn't really ask about this.

Song Biao was still the same as before. When he was idle, he would hold a handful of raw peanuts in his hand and wait for Zhang Kangren to sit down. He pushed the plate over and signaled Zhang Kangren to eat with him and chat while eating.

Zhang Kangren waved his hand and said, "Thank you for your gift. My servants' mouths are getting worse every year, and they can't even chew these raw peanuts."

Song Biao yelled, sighing that he was so pitiful when he got old, and asked, "Then let's change the dentures?"

Zhang Kangrenze said: "I still have some teeth to eat while I'm not willing to change them. At this age of a minister, there are not many things I can use when I'm alive. The real teeth hurt a little, and it's a little softer, so I can eat them.

The thing tastes good, but it won’t work if you change the dentures.”

Song Biao didn't know much about it anymore. He said, "I don't know what I will look like when I get old."

Zhang Kangren thought for a while and said, "The emperor will never grow old."

Song Biao laughed and said, "I'm still getting older. Yuanyuan's girl has entered the preparatory course for the Emperor University. How could she stay young? If she is not careful, I will be over forty years old. People say that she is four.

I know the destiny of heaven now, and I have a deep understanding of it.”

Zhang Kangren also laughed and said, "What the emperor said is that the ministers are forty and know the destiny of heaven, but the destiny of the ministers is to serve the emperor. As long as they are loyal to the emperor, they will not live in vain in this life."

Song Biao still smiled and then put down the newspaper in his hand and said to Zhang Kangren: "Tell me some serious things. This time I came to Shanghai is nothing more than two things. One is to inspect the local economic situation in Shanghai.

Especially look at the stock market and land prices; secondly, there is an end to Japan, so try to find a way to end the current confrontation."

Zhang Kangren replied: "The emperor is wise and has the intention of governing a small Japan. However, now there are many places in the empire that urgently needs to be invested in. It is not necessary to accumulate enough energy to invest in military spending at this time. Fortunately, our fiscal revenue is

High, even if the medium tax rate and long-term industrial policy preferential treatment are maintained, Japan, which has a high tax rate, is still more than five times the gap. Our finances are spending 20% ​​on military expenditure, which is equivalent to Japan's total fiscal revenue throughout the year. It is said that Japan

Two years have been relying on borrowing money to maintain military expenditures. I really don’t know how Japan can live like this. Having said that, we are not afraid of competing on military expenditures, but we are afraid that the Japanese will be anxious and jump over the wall. If you fight this little Japan, you can’t make a profit.

What kind of money is to lose money and gain publicity. If you want to accumulate strength with the Soviet Union, you can hold on. Just making compensation can make up for the fiscal gaps by just making compensation, and continuing to cede land will make long-term profits.
To be continued...