Chapter 441: Small factions in Guangdong

Wu Shaoting didn't know what the strategic significance of Germany's doing so, but if the stalemate in Qingdao battlefield was not over, it would inevitably have a great impact on the Far East pattern. He knew that the Allies were responsible for attacking the German army in Qingdao. Although some British troops were mixed, it was completely negligible. In history, in just eight days before and after the Qingdao War, Germany built five large bunkers in Qingdao, with all kinds of heavy weapons, but failed in a hurry.

During this attack, Japan dispatched a division of 50,000 troops, while the British army had only less than 2,000 troops, while Germany was said to have had 45,000 troops before the war. Later, several main battleships broke through Jiaozhou Bay at night to evacuate. In the end, when Japan and Germany fought on land, there were only less than 5,000 soldiers defending the fortress.

Before the war, Germany had already planned to give up Qingdao and formally proposed diplomatic negotiations to return Qingdao to China. Therefore, German soldiers were unwilling to fight from the beginning and were even more worried until the main ship broke through. In addition, there was insufficient ammunition before the war, so they failed to hold on for too long.

If Germany is determined to fight a fierce battle in Qingdao now, the result will definitely be very different. Even if it fails in the end, it will at least make Japan and Britain suffer.

Wu Shaoting is not sure that this is profitable yet. After all, the war takes place on Chinese territory, and the main premise is that it is bad. But the world war is about to change. If he can seize this opportunity well, he may really gain something from a big effort. He will never give up such a good opportunity.

"General Wu, I advise you not to worry about these things that have nothing to do with you. Otherwise, it will be of no benefit to everyone!" Sir Andre said coldly, with a full sense of threat in his tone.

"Sir Andre, if you can give me some hints, I promise that this cooperation will be very pleasant. You should rest assured about me. I am a person who is responsible for things. The German Empire is my partner and interest alliance. I will naturally stand on your side to consider the issue. If you still insist on being outspoken to me, although I can understand it, there will inevitably be differences in the details of the cooperation, which is something you and I don't want to see." Wu Shaoting was not nervous at all, and said slowly with a smile that prevailed.

Sir Andre hesitated for a moment. He knew that since Wu Shaoting had guessed the probabilities, it would be useless to hide them. If he could not do it well, this guy would publicize and reveal it everywhere, which would have a great impact on the military arrangements of the German Empire. He took a breath slowly and said calmly:

"I can only tell you that you have guessed it right. The weapons and ammunition produced by the Guangdong Arsenal will not be sent to our country. As for other matters, I sincerely advise you not to get involved. The German Empire will only choose smart people to cooperate. I hope General Wu will not let me down."

"Don't worry, only you and I learned about the conversation just now. I have the responsibility to keep it confidential."

"This is the best."

At this time, the door rang, and Deng Keng brought in two bowls of iced sour plum soup very appropriately.

After the cooperation with the Germans was negotiated, Wu Shaoting knew that Andrei would agree to the conditions he proposed. After all, he already knew a lot of things, and the business had reached the point where he had to do it even if he didn't do it. In the next few days, Wu Shaoting handed over the remaining negotiation work to Deng Keng, while he was busy with the plan to rebuild northern Guangdong.

Cen Chunxuan has been very busy recently, or the old celebrity has not rested since he came to Guangzhou. On the one hand, he discussed the detailed plan of the military camp movement with the Ministry of Civil Affairs and the Ministry of Military Affairs, and on the other hand, he had to take care of the newly established trading company in Vietnam. In addition, the military law proposed by Wu Shaoting cannot be put aside.

In the past ten days in mid-July, Wu Shaoting had to talk to Cen Chunxuan for an hour or two almost every day, clarifying the terms and conditions of the official duties that will be implemented in the near future. He originally planned to let Cen Chunxuan go to Guangxi and Zhejiang to move around, to attract some other provinces to invest in the province, and use this investment to restore the vitality of northern Guangdong as soon as possible. However, seeing that Cen Chunxuan's hair is getting more and more white and working hard every day, he knew that he could not add any more burdens, so he had to send Li Yutang and Zhang Zhi to take charge of this matter.

Although these two are both veterans, their fame and prestige are far inferior to Cen Chunxuan. But they can only do it step by step. It is better to be slower than not.

The first thing that started to be implemented after the war was Shaoguan. Construction began in late May. Chen Guangbi, the old slippery mayor, was quite capable, and actually sent someone to Beijing to persuade the State Council to allocate a sum of funds. Although it was not much, it was better than nothing. By July, the center of Shaoguan City had improved significantly, a batch of new buildings rose up, and the newly landed mayor's residence and city hall were even more magnificent. However, the surrounding suburbs are still rubble and ruins, and subsequent projects are urgently needed to make funding.

The Guangzhou military government has just ended the war, and the two batches of public debts have not yet been paid back. In addition, the military has just expanded, and the financial cash is really a bit short of money. However, it doesn’t matter if the cash is not. Fortunately, peace has become the main theme after the truce. Merchants, landlords, and bourgeoisie all hope to restore the market as soon as possible, and have joined forces to organize civil forces to assist the military government in post-war reconstruction. Not only that, after the true seal of the Guangdong War, many foreign forces have also seen Wu Shaoting’s potential, and private chaebols and major overseas banks have opened and secretly extended a "helping hand."

Of course, the help of local merchants, landlords and bourgeoisie is real, and at most it is only for the military government's policies to be cheap. Foreigners are definitely not so kind-hearted, and whether it is loans or joint ventures, they all need to seek greater benefits.

However, due to the need, Wu Shaoting signed a loan agreement with Citibank on July 15, mortgaged part of the equity of Guangdong United Bank and borrowed 800,000 US dollars. He invested all of the 800,000 US dollars in post-war reconstruction. After receiving the funds, he immediately ordered the First Division and the Third Division to go to northern Guangdong to work with the 12th Police Brigade to assist local governments in carrying out reconstruction work, such as cleaning up rubble, moving building materials, paving roads and bridges, etc.

The Military Government Information Department actively reported on the military's assistance in reconstruction. For a time, the people felt the government's care in detail, which was a rare move in Guangdong and even the whole country. In previous years, even if there were natural disasters, there were very few official interventions of this scale. At most, officials with some conscience organized local military and civilians or opened warehouses for relief, and those without conscience directly ignored it. Not only that, in order to ensure that the military does not disturb the civilians, the Military Department of the Military Government also specially sent a group of directly-in-chief officers to set up duty stations in various counties, supervised the work of each department and accepted reports from the people, and resolutely did their wholeheartedness to the military's participation in the reconstruction work.

There must be reports on your efforts. Wu Shaoting specifically explained that all soldiers participating in the reconstruction can receive a military merit medal based on their efforts and special deeds and are recommended by their superiors. Not only that, the soldiers of the army who participated in the reconstruction project distributed subsidies for cooling and cooling, and provided additional meals for logistics, so that these soldiers who contributed their efforts could receive preferential treatment.

For a time, the military and civilians were united and government and business worked together, and the vigorous post-war reconstruction project entered a white-hot heat.

After working for a day, the people in northern Guangdong always sit together and talk, and the recent topics of talk are inseparable from the military government and the military governor Wu. Fighting is not a good thing, it is a stubborn rule that ordinary people insist on, but after fighting, they can steadily solve the problems of the people. This is the rare thing.

"Are you aware of the 800,000 US dollars? US dollars, green bills, not to mention that they are valuable in China, they are happy to be in foreigners. A few days ago, Mr. Chen said that he went to a big restaurant in the city to eat and gave silver dollars, but they were not happy. If the reward was US dollars, it would be like a pug. Even this money would be spent on our northern Guangdong without blinking."

"Who said no? Last month, my family couldn't make a fuss, and even the villagers couldn't borrow it. Now, this month, the county government posted a recruitment inspiration, and even paid ten yuan a month for food and accommodation. If we say that we are building our own hometown, we have nothing to say. Now we can still have food, accommodation and money, which is really a blessing for eight lifetimes of cultivation."

"Look at what kind of virtue you have, what are the blessings you have cultivated in your eight lifetimes?"

"That's right, I want to say that the greatest blessing I have cultivated in these eight lives is to catch up with Governor Wu in power in our Guangdong."

"Yes, yes, I heard from the older generation that Mr. Lin did a few big things when he was in Guangdong, but unfortunately he provoked foreign devils and caused a lot of trouble in Guangdong. Although our Governor Wu also fought, he was a responsible Governor. He would take care of us ordinary people before and after the war. At the beginning, I planned to go to Guangxi to seek refuge with my father-in-law, but fortunately I didn't go in the end, otherwise it would be really embarrassing."

"No matter what, we are willing to work hard for Governor Wu in our entire life."

"Yes, I think so too."

As the post-war reconstruction entered the stage of scale, the situation in northern Guangdong became better and better day by day. The military government set up temporary resettlement areas for the people who lost their homes in the war, temporarily housing tents and wooden houses to avoid causing refugees and chaos. All those without a job can find a job on the reconstruction site, including three meals a day plus monthly salary. Even if only one person works, a family can barely support a family of three.

Wu Shaoting could not help these ordinary people restore their previous living conditions in the short term. The only thing they can do now is to solve the most basic food and clothing. At the same time, he also made a guarantee that all families who have damaged their houses due to the war can first go to the county government and township government to check their household registration. As long as they have household registration, the military government will pay someone to repair the houses for them. If the families who really cannot be repaired, they will concentrate on starting a new house and converting the old house to purchase.

Even so, the people have few complaints. Everyone has seen what the military government has done during this period. It is a blessing that everyone is not hungry and has a place to stay. In addition, the active publicity of the Ministry of Information has created a good public opinion atmosphere. The people can only praise Wu Shaoting and the military government and be grateful to them.

In this environment, Wu Shaoting officially announced the plan of the military camp movement at the end of July, ordering the entire army to be self-reliant and the soldiers actively create productivity. The Ministry of Information and many newspapers in the province set off a wave of public opinion. On the one hand, it portrays the military camp movement as a deed of great significance in the military government, and on the other hand, it combines the military camp self-reliance with the ongoing post-war reconstruction, and shapes the soldiers of the Guangdong army into soldiers who are close to the people and protect the people.
Chapter completed!