The sun never sets.

".....We must show a strong stance, otherwise we will lose the Philippines!"

"Mr. President, I think it might not be a bad idea to bring the boys back." Maine Senator Eugene Hale shrugged and said, "I really don't understand why those islands are so important."

Damn the isolationists! Roosevelt cursed in his heart, "If we lose the Philippines, Hawaii will be next!"

He waved his hands and said excitedly: "Are we going to watch the Japanese approach the mainland of the United States step by step? Gentlemen, the Japanese appetite will never be satisfied. They are going to take the Philippines now, Hawaii next, and then Los Angeles and California! We can't wait until the war comes to our heads before we resist! If war must break out, let it take place far away from the United States!"

The president's impassioned speech moved many people, and the congressmen whispered and exchanged opinions. After a fierce debate, President Theodore Roosevelt got what he wanted. The US Navy would be transferred to the West Coast to put pressure on Japan. This was only the first step. The next step was war.

Yes, in the eyes of the President, the war between the United States and Japan has already broken out, but they have not yet declared war on each other. The troops sent by China and Japan to the Philippines were not volunteers at all, but active army troops! Do you think you can deceive the world by calling them volunteers?

President Roosevelt's attitude towards Lin Yongchang had changed from disgust to hatred. Without China's support, would the Japanese dare to be so bold? Not to mention that there were Chinese who directly intervened in the war in the Philippines. He had already made plans to arrest all Chinese and Japanese in the United States and put them in concentration camps, and by the way, confiscate their property.

The most evil and most hated country in the world is Britain, but the Americans are no less evil than the British. As the same Anglo-Saxon ethnic group, Americans are better than their predecessors. In the past few hundred years, the only country that has been able to carry out genocide to the end is the United States of America. During the American Civil War, the Northern Army openly set fire to Atlanta and burned many residents who did not escape alive. This is the American Civil War, and the barbarity and cruelty of the Americans can be seen.

It is a small matter to arrest Chinese and Japanese and put them in concentration camps, but it does not solve the actual problem. How should the problem of the Philippines be solved? Do we really want to have a decisive battle with the Japanese Navy on a larger scale than the South China Sea War?

Theodore Roosevelt thought the problem should not be too big, because the Theory of Sea Power was proposed by Americans! The US Navy is not a weakling like the French Navy! However, before the real war, President Roosevelt decided to start with diplomacy. He turned his eyes to the East, across the Atlantic Ocean with strong winds and waves, and landed on the British Isles.

The British Empire is the world hegemon and possesses unparalleled naval power. As long as the Japanese Navy can get help from Britain, it will never be its opponent.

Chapter 441 Sincerity

"Chairman, the Yangtze River Bridge construction site is coming soon."

secretary

The head of the department reminded him, and Lin Yongchang quickly signed the document and said, "Forward it to the Prime Minister's Office." Then he turned his head and looked out the window. The Yangtze River Bridge lay across the Yangtze River, and from a distance it looked like a long dragon. This long dragon has not yet been completed, and it will take about a year before it is put into use.

Because of the wide waters and turbulent currents of the Yangtze River, no bridges were built in the past. However, there must be a bridge on the Yangtze River. Without a bridge, people on both sides of the Yangtze River cannot travel conveniently, and the area south of the Yangtze River cannot be integrated with the economy of the north. Before Wuhan was liberated, the People's Government began to prepare to build the Yangtze River Bridge. It took more than four months just to select the site and demonstrate. This was only when Lin Yongchang took out the relevant technical and geographical data, and Lin Yongchang kept following up, that the preliminary preparations were completed so quickly.

Many people in the central government suggested building a bridge on the river near Nanjing first, but after discussion, they chose to build a bridge in Wuhan. Although many comrades in the party raised objections, Lin Yongchang still insisted on the original plan. The Wuhan Yangtze River Bridge project was a key project of the first five-year plan, and it was also the same in another time and space. It was not that Lin Yongchang wanted to copy homework, but there was indeed an urgency to build a Yangtze River Bridge.

Wuhan has various factories and enterprises left by Zhang Zhidong. Building a bridge here will be more conducive to China's industrial development. The Wuhan Yangtze River Bridge is located between Sheshan River in Wuchang and Guishan Mountain in Hanyang. If the bridge is built, it will be much more convenient to transport industrial products and raw materials. In industrial layout, transportation is a very important part.

The Wuhan Yangtze River Bridge is designed to run from northwest to southeast. It starts from the south slope of Guishan Mountain in Hanyang in the northwest and ends at the top of Sheshan Mountain in Wuchang where it enters the river in the southeast. It is a dual-use bridge for highway and railway with a total length of 1670 meters. The upper level is a highway bridge with a width of 18 meters and 6 lanes. It is designed to accommodate at least 100-ton vehicles, and there are 2.25-meter-wide sidewalks on both sides. A pair of lamp posts stand every 32 meters on the highway bridge deck.

The lower level is a double-track railway bridge. There are 2.25-meter-wide sidewalks on both sides. The main bridge has 8 piers and 9 spans, consisting of three continuous structural beams with nine spans and a span of 128 meters each, with a total length of 1156 meters. At the highest flood level, the clear height under the bridge is 18 meters, which can meet the navigation of large ships.

The approach bridge is a reinforced concrete portal arch bridge, with the Hanyang side approach bridge being 303 meters long and the Wuchang side approach bridge being 128 meters long. The abutments connecting the main bridge and the approach bridge are two 35-story bridgeheads about 8 meters high.

This design left a lot of redundancy, and many party comrades thought it was unnecessary to build it according to such a high standard. If it was built according to the standard given by Chairman Lin, the cost of construction would be as high as 150 million yuan, which was too expensive. This amount of money was enough to build three or four dreadnoughts!

Well, China doesn't have the strength to build battleships yet, but it can buy them from Germany or Britain. The British are happy to sell their latest dreadnoughts, and as long as the money is in place, everything will be fine. The money from selling one dreadnought is enough for the British to build two new ones, and the more such business the better. If the German government is willing to buy battleships from Britain, they are also willing to sell them. But the Germans are not stupid. If they build them themselves, the price will be half the price, and it will also bring thousands of jobs to the country. Only a fool would spend money to buy British ships.

While Germany's power was growing rapidly, the relationship between Germany and Britain was deteriorating. Now, most Germans hated Britain. If anyone dared to propose to buy British ships, they would be criticized by all walks of life in the country. After the Moroccan crisis broke out, Kaiser Wilhelm II said in an interview with the British media that "most Germans are against the British." At this time, it seemed that he was not just talking nonsense but was a little conservative. Britain no longer regarded Germany as just an imaginary enemy, but a real enemy to be dealt with seriously.

The situation in Europe is becoming increasingly tense, while China is actively building its country. The Wuhan Yangtze River Bridge is the first bridge built on the Yangtze River and the first double-track railway and highway bridge in China. After its completion, it will not only connect the three towns of Wuhan, but also connect North China, Central China and South China by rail, forming a north-south railway artery that runs through China. Wuhan, the "crossroads of nine provinces", will become an important railway hub in the country.

Regarding the Wuhan Yangtze River Railway Bridge, the central government issued instructions: "The Yangtze River Bridge should be an outstanding building. It should not only solve the country's huge economic problems with modern technology, but also mark China's new era with its magnificent appearance in terms of architectural technology."

Therefore, the construction of the Wuhan Yangtze River Bridge can be said to be a national effort. The People's Government summoned the best experts in the country and mobilized the most advanced equipment in the country. Lin Yongchang attached great importance to this project. He appointed Zhan Tianyou as the chief engineer and hired many engineers from Germany. He also mobilized a large number of troops, cadres and the masses to participate in it. In the past two years, more than 50,000 people have been mobilized to participate in voluntary labor. If it were not for the selfless dedication of so many people and troops, the cost of the Wuhan Yangtze River Bridge would at least double.

The bridge is a little over two-thirds complete. According to calculations by Zhan Tianyou and other engineers, when the entire project is completed, the consumption of concrete and reinforced concrete will reach 13 cubic meters; 25000 tons of steel beams will be installed; more than 3000 reinforced concrete piles will be driven in, with a total length of 62.5 kilometers; more than 1.55 reinforced concrete columns with a diameter of 230 meters and a total length of 3

More than 800 meters.

Such a huge project can almost be called a "spectacle" in this era.

"Ugh——!"

The train whistled for a long time, and stopped near the construction site. Lin Yongchang got off the train and inspected the construction site of the Wuhan Yangtze River Bridge with guards and staff. As long as it is a key project in the "Five-Year Plan", the person in charge can directly call the Presidential Palace and the Prime Minister's Office to report the work situation at any time. Zhan Tianyou is a member of the Central Standing Committee and can communicate directly with the central government. But this is not enough. It is impossible to completely eliminate things like taking bribes at the local level. Lin Yongchang must stand up from time to time to show how much he values this project, so that some people will not make small moves.

Well, here we are referring to people like Wu Zhihui, Cai Yuanpei, and Zhang Jingjiang.

The Wuhan Yangtze River Bridge project was very expensive. Wu Zhihui and others wrote in the newspapers that it was a waste of people's money. They also mentioned some old stories about Emperor Yang of Sui's vanity and alluded to Chairman Lin. As a result, the angry workers and farmers smashed the glass in their homes. If the police had not arrived in time, Wu Zhihui would have been beaten up. Zhang Jingjiang advocated in the newspapers that the country should not build so many factories in the central and western regions, and should give priority to the development of coastal areas, especially the southeastern coastal areas.

If we consider it purely from an economic perspective, it would be more beneficial to invest in Nanjing, Hangzhou, Guangzhou and other places. The coastal economy is export-oriented, and exporting goods to the United States across the Pacific Ocean can bring a lot of profits to merchants in the southeast. However, the relationship between the United States and China is deteriorating. If the United States cuts off trade with China, who will it sell the products to? The colonial system of Britain and France will not accept outsiders to join. Even the United States was blocked from the colonies of Britain and France, not to mention China.

Zhang Jingjiang has his own opinion on this: "We just need to change our previous wrong stance and let the Americans feel our sincerity!"

Chapter 442 Education

Change our previous wrong stance? Let the US feel our sincerity?

I have to say, this is a good idea. As long as China is willing to be a vassal of the United States, Americans will definitely praise China in the newspapers every day. But as long as you are a normal Chinese, you will never accept this kind of thing. The military's reaction was particularly fierce. The Chinese people fought bloody battles, endured so much hardship, and sacrificed so many people, not to be dogs for the United States!

If Chairman Lin had not said "We should fight with words, not with fists", some people would have gone to punish the traitors. Well, the people who use the term "punish the traitors" are obviously Japanese. The person involved said confidently: "We are Japanese-Chinese who support Chairman Lin!"

However, Chairman Lin said on the radio and in newspapers that we should allow others to voice different opinions, "listen to both sides and you will be enlightened, listen to only one side and you will be confused", let a hundred flowers bloom and not let one person have the final say. "The more you debate, the clearer the truth becomes", if there are different opinions, you can have an open debate in the newspapers. Let everyone speak freely, and at the same time, we can popularize more knowledge to the people.

Lin Yongchang said this, but after he finished speaking, he was a little worried. Would this result in the emergence of many "experts" and "public intellectuals" who like to make nonsense statements? This is not a question of possibility, but an almost certain thing.

After a period of consideration, Lin Yongchang decided to do it. "Public intellectuals" are "public intellectuals". This is probably a stage that society must go through and cannot be skipped. Without comparison, superiority cannot be shown. We must believe in the people. Even if they are deceived for a while, they will eventually wake up. We must believe that the people have sharp eyes.

Lin Yongchang inspected the construction site of the Wuhan Yangtze River Bridge for two days, and Chief Engineer Zhan Tianyou reported the progress of the project in person. However, Zhan Tianyou only talked about the good aspects and did not mention the difficulties and problems at all.

"Comrade Zhan Tianyou, you only report good news, not bad news!"

Lin Yongchang, wearing a steel helmet and a yellow vest, said to Zhan Tianyou: "I heard that there was a shortage of 300 tons of steel last month. Is this true?"

Zhan Tianyou also wore a steel helmet. Because he often worked on the construction site, his skin was tanned and he looked no different from the enthusiastic workers. He nodded first, then shook his head, "That's true, but the problem has been solved through allocation." He took two quick steps forward and caught up with Lin Yongchang's pace, "Last month, a blast furnace at Hanyang Iron and Steel Plant broke down, so the steel supply was a little slow, but the problem has been solved."

"No other questions?"

"Nothing."

Although there are a few flies buzzing there, which is annoying, the Wuhan Yangtze River Bridge is a key project that Chairman Lin always pays attention to. Who dares to really make trouble? There are some cases of corruption, but as long as they are exposed, they will be dealt with immediately. Besides, Zhan Tianyou is a member of the Central Standing Committee, at the top of the entire bureaucracy. In theory, the only two people higher than him are Lin Yongchang and Wang Qi. Even guys like Liu Chengxiang and Zhao Bi, who are arrogant, have a very good attitude after meeting Zhan Tianyou. Although the commander of the military region is in a high position, there are still four or five levels between him and the members of the Central Standing Committee. If there is no special situation, it will take them decades to enter the Central Political Bureau, and then it will take a long time to get the status of an alternate member of the Standing Committee. Unless they reach the position of the three chiefs, otherwise, they can only manage the military region's three acres.

Divide the land.

Zhan Tianyou not only managed the Wuhan Yangtze River Bridge project, but also actually managed the entire Ministry of Railways, including railway stations and a series of colleges and universities in various places. He managed 450,000 railway engineers and 15,000 miles of railways in an orderly manner. As such a powerful boss, with the strong support of Chairman Lin behind him, no one would have a problem with him. The problem that troubled Zhan Tianyou was not the non-cooperation of local officials, but the lack of talent. Although the People's Party has been focusing on education since its establishment and has trained a lot of talents, the country is now under construction everywhere, and engineers and talents proficient in mathematics, physics and chemistry are needed everywhere. There are still not enough talents to be allocated to Zhan Tianyou.

The Wuhan Yangtze River Bridge project is important, but is the petrochemical plant in northern Shaanxi not important? Is the reconstruction and expansion of the Dalian Shipyard not important? Or is the Benxi Steel Plant and the Taiyuan Power Plant not important? Talents are needed everywhere, but the number of college students trained each year is limited.

"I said it's impossible that there won't be difficulties, but this question really stumped me!" Lin Yongchang rubbed his hands, "I don't have three heads and six arms, and I can't conjure up so many engineers."

Zhan Tianyou was obviously well prepared. "I think we can expand the enrollment scale. Training now cannot solve the current difficulties, but it is better than not being able to solve them in three or four years."

"This is a good idea, but..." Lin Yongchang shook his head, "It's actually impossible. You know, we implement compulsory education. Primary and junior high school are free. As long as you can get into high school and university, the tuition is also free. The money spent on education each year exceeds 35% of fiscal revenue, and this does not include the policies given by local governments. The government cannot invest more funds."

The country needs high-quality talents, but it must also carry out extensive basic education with the participation of all people. "Nine-year compulsory education" is mandatory. China is so large and has such a large population that there is a shortage of teachers everywhere, especially in rural and remote areas. Higher education costs money, and basic education costs even more.

"Didn't they say that the growth of fiscal revenue exceeded 10 percent?"

Zhan Tianyou said: "We don't need much. Just one thousand more places per year for several engineering schools combined will be enough!"

"Income has increased, but there are also more places to spend money!"

If they had not cooperated with Germany and Japan to build super dreadnought battleships, they might have been able to squeeze out tens to 100 million yuan a year. However, after launching the "super dreadnought battleship project", they needed to build more power plants and corresponding supporting factories, and the expenditure became even higher. For this reason, the government had to issue national debt again to make up for the funding gap.

In fact, there is another way to get more money, that is to issue more currency and let the RMB depreciate rapidly. But the RMB is already depreciating, and the annual inflation of 4% has caused complaints in some areas, especially in big cities. Wages have not risen, but prices have risen, which has increased the living pressure of many working families. Don't underestimate the inflation of only 4%, which will weigh on ordinary people.

Lin Yongchang sighed and said, "Not only your engineering colleges need to increase the number of places, but other schools also need to increase the number of places, but the government budget is limited. How about this, during the autumn enrollment this year, give the engineering colleges in Taiyuan and Wuhan an extra 100 places. You can discuss the specific allocation with the Ministry of Education."

One hundred is one hundred, one more is also good. Zhan Tianyou was happy at first, but then he was worried. How should these one hundred places be distributed? Well, we'll talk about it when the time comes. This can be considered a happy worry.

Chapter 443: Conversion

After inspecting the Wuhan Yangtze River Bridge project, Lin Yongchang continued to inspect other key projects, including the mining machinery factory, ball bearing factory and copper processing factory in Luoyang. The transportation conditions between Henan and Hebei are much better than those in Shanxi. After temporarily getting rid of the danger of foreign invasion, most of the key construction projects of the "First Five-Year Plan" were located on the plains of Henan and Hebei.

Lin Yongchang stayed in Henan for a while longer. In addition to inspecting the key projects of the "First Five-Year Plan", he also visited gold mines in various parts of Henan. The "First Five-Year Plan" required the purchase of complete factories from Germany, the United States and the United Kingdom, which required a lot of money. Gold is a natural currency, a hard currency that cannot be harder. The annual gold production in the country exceeded 20 tons, but this was not enough. The "First Five-Year Plan" needed more funds.

When inspecting outside, there are still many things that need Lin Yongchang to make the final decision. The members of the Politburo Standing Committee in Taiyuan can handle some things on their own, but more important matters still need to be reported to them, with their opinions on how to deal with them. There are also some matters where the opinions of the six members of the Standing Committee are evenly divided, and only Chairman Lin can make the final decision.

In addition to the development of agriculture and industry in China, the two most important things now are Li Dayan's suppression of the rebellion in the Western Regions and the affairs of the Philippines. After Li Dayan arrived in the Western Regions, he let loose and killed people in the Western Regions together with Meng En and Ma Yu. The results can almost be described as a river of blood.

Ma Yu and Ma Anliang were both Hui people, but they had no psychological burden in killing the Green Muslims, and they even killed them with great enthusiasm. For them, faith was not a problem at all. God? Could he be more powerful than machine guns and cannons? Ma Anliang was the son of Ma Zhan'ao, and he had personally witnessed how Zuo Zongtang pacified Dashi.

He was from the north, knowing that the central government was unstoppable. After Dong Fuxiang was assassinated, he immediately realized the seriousness of the problem. When the Mongolian cavalry entered the northwest in large numbers, he simply became a guide. This made Ma Yu very unhappy. The guide job should have been his, but it was taken away by Ma Anliang, resulting in a lot less credit for him.

They used bayonets to clean up the northwest, and showed no mercy to the leaders of the rebellion. Except for a few who were forced to return home, the rest were forcibly registered as civilians by the Western Regions Protectorate. The temperature difference between day and night in the Western Regions is very large, and most places lack water. It is not very suitable to grow rice and wheat, but it is very suitable to grow cotton. The Western Regions Protectorate has expanded the cotton planting area in recent years and is in great need of manpower. The rebels will have to work for five to ten years to pay for their crimes.

If it weren't for the fact that cotton planting required a lot of manpower, I'm afraid Ma Anliang and Ma Yu would have killed more people. It was through bloody killings that the religious composition of the northwest was greatly changed in more than half a year. Many local Muslims were forced to convert to Lamaism, Taoism (this is rare), or simply forced to become atheists (this is even rarer). The remaining Muslims have become much more obedient, and the imams no longer talk about "holy war". Many onion temples have been razed to the ground, and the remaining ones have been transformed. The land has been distributed to the surrounding people, and the land in the temples has been used to raise cattle, sheep and pigs.

Pigs are untouchable in the eyes of Muslims, but bayonets are more powerful than doctrine. Imams who refuse to raise pigs are definitely not good imams, and they will be sent to see God by Ma Yu and Ma Anliang. By killing Muslims with the same faith, Ma Anliang saved most of his family's wealth and got many extra benefits. The land was nominally nationalized, but in fact it was still cultivated by his family. With the development of China's textile industry, the demand for cotton is increasing, and growing cotton is a profitable business. Ma Anliang's family opened several factories that ginned cotton and processed cotton into cotton cloth. They were rewarded by the government and received preferential tax policies, and they had a promising future. It was just that it was very laborious to transport the cotton cloth to Lanzhou. If the central government could build a railway, they could make more money.

Ma Anliang was rewarded, and so was Ma Yu. His family was not as rich as Ma Anliang's, but he received much more benefits than Ma Anliang and others. Ma Yu was named the Great Prophet of Muslims and the Messenger of Allah, with jurisdiction over all the imams and onion temples in the Western Regions. This prophet canonized by the central government is a lifelong system, and the next prophet is determined by the will of the current prophet, but it must be confirmed by the central government.

Being a prophet is definitely not something you can just say casually. You must get the recognition of the imams. Are there any imams who don't recognize it? Those abroad certainly don't recognize it, but as long as they are in China, they all recognize that Ma Yu is a great prophet and the messenger of God. There is no way. If you don't recognize it, you will be sent to see Allah. Other Muslims still have the opportunity to work on the farm, but the imams don't have this treatment. Either convert or recognize Ma Yu's identity as a prophet. If you don't want to choose either, it will be very difficult.

China is a secular country. Although there have been some theocracy, such as the Yellow Turban Rebellion of the Taiping Dao, the Five Pecks of Rice Rebellion led by Sun En, and the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, China is generally a secular country that values pragmatism. If the Green Church can be sinicized like Buddhism, or live its own life peacefully like Taoism, it is not a bad idea to keep it, but if it continues to engage in the Western holy war, it can only be declared a cult.

The central government's consistent policy towards cultists is to kill the leaders and exile the rest. The cultists in the Western Regions can be exiled to Qinghai-Tibet, Mobei, Siberia, or Alaska. They can be stuffed on a fishing boat, and when they arrive at the destination, they can be driven off the boat and left to fend for themselves. Alaska is American territory, and they will definitely not agree to let the Muslims go there, but as long as the Americans are not informed, it will be fine. Those pastors and others came to China to preach without permission, but they still came, right? If the Muslims can spread the glory of Allah in Alaska, it is also their ability.

The chaos in the northwest has been mostly settled, and only some finishing work remains. Li Dayan reported to the central government that he needed more weapons and equipment, as well as horses and soldiers. He was going to march directly into Central Asia to educate the barbarians there. He had a big appetite, and his appetite had always been big. He asked for 30,000 rifles, 1,000 machine guns, 400 cannons and mortars, tens of thousands of war horses and tens of millions of military expenses. Li Dayan had been the training director, and his relationship with Chairman Lin was well known. After his application report was sent to Taiyuan, Premier Wang was unable to handle it, so he had to pass it on to Chairman Lin for the decision.

Lin Yongchang’s reply was simple, “I disagree!”

If he wants to continue the war, he should show his "sincerity". The central government does not object to his continuing to fight westward. Britain and Russia are too powerful in Central Asia. Li Dayan can make them sober up by fighting there. However, the central government has no money. Li Dayan must either withdraw his troops and return home, or find a way to make money if he wants to continue the war. The central government can sell him anything he wants at a low price, but it will never be given for free.

Chapter 444: Restoring Order

The Russian Empire had just recovered from the great turmoil. Spinretto's reforms had achieved some results, but they were far from enough to revive the Russian Empire.

Come.

The actual damage to Tsarist Russia from losing the Far East was not as great as it looked on the map. On the contrary, by getting rid of the Far East, Russia was able to focus most of its energy on Europe and develop faster. If it could establish good relations with China and take this opportunity to strengthen its national strength, it would be of great benefit to both sides.

However, Russian bears are Russian bears, and they inherited the Golden Horde's fanatical greed for land. If you cut open every Russian, you will find a Mongol living inside.

Russia rejected the request to connect the Trans-Siberian Railway with China's railway network, and did not accept China's suggestion to extend the railway network to Kulun and then continue to connect to the Trans-Siberian Railway to the north. After the defeat in the Northeast, the Tsarist Russia had a strong hatred for China on the one hand, and was very afraid that the Chinese army would really move westward on the other hand. The top leaders of the Tsarist Russia also sent people to the Grand Duchy of Siberia to ask Grand Duke Olga and Regent Nicholas to set up many laws to exclude the Chinese, requiring the Grand Duchy of Siberia not to allow the Chinese to own farms, houses and other real estate locally, nor to participate in and operate various commercial activities.

Regent Nicholas Romanov explicitly rejected St. Petersburg's unreasonable demands. After all, the Grand Duchy of Siberia is now a vassal of China, not Tsarist Russia. China has hundreds of thousands of production corps in the northeast, who can fight as long as they pick up guns, and there are thousands of garrisons in Vladivostok. If St. Petersburg were to listen, even Shuangchengzi would become a free city.

After the Siberian Railway was completed, St. Petersburg's control over Siberia increased significantly. The Russian Empire can now easily transfer troops and supplies to Siberia. St. Petersburg has already voiced its desire to recover lost territory. However, this voice is not loud and has not become mainstream. The Russian Empire has just suppressed the revolution in the country and has no money to fight another war with the Chinese with a 500,000-man army.

Tsarist Russia had no money and no ability to start a war with China, but it had the ability to make some small moves in Central Asia. Similarly, the British were unwilling to fight with the People's Army in places like Hebei and Guangdong, but were very keen to cause trouble for China in border areas. After two failed attacks on Qinghai and Tibet, they bribed many tribes in Central Asia to harass the Western Regions Protectorate. Behind the great rebellion of the Muslims in the Western Regions, there were British figures.

As the saying goes, if you give without reciprocating, it is impolite. Since the British and Russians are making small moves in Central Asia, it means that they do not have the strength to fight a real war with China. For such a powerful but weak opponent, there is no need to be polite to them. Doesn't Li Dayan like to fight? Let him go to Central Asia to fight with this or that Stan. They are all nomadic peoples, so just deal with them according to the method of nomadic hegemony.

As long as the war does not spread to the territory of the Western Regions Protectorate, the central government will not invest more resources there. What Lin Yongchang needs to pay more attention to now is the problem of the Philippines.

The US ambassador protested again and warned China that if the US continued to embarrass China on the issue of the Philippines, it would lead to very serious consequences. This time, the US ambassador also brought up the 16 battleships that had been assembled and threatened China. The US Navy is indeed very powerful, and the number of 16 battleships is scary. However, those battleships are the product of the pre-dreadnought era. Their dreadnoughts are still on the slipway, just like Japan's. The US's technological level is very poor. In this era, American products replaced German products and became synonymous with shoddy products. Europeans claim that Americans only know how to plagiarize, and no matter what they have, they are all copied from Europe.

It's not that the old battleships can't be defeated. The Japanese Navy's dreadnoughts haven't been completed anyway. If the Americans put all their money into it, they might be able to wipe out the Japanese Navy in one wave. Of course, it's also possible that the American Navy might be wiped out in one wave.

President Theodore Roosevelt hoped that the US Navy could take away the Japanese warships in one go, but was afraid that the US fleet would be taken away, so he launched diplomatic activities in Asia and Europe. He first threatened China, and when he found that intimidation was useless, he used "inducement". US Ambassador Rockhill played the emotional card and talked to Vice Foreign Minister Tang Shaoyi about American university life and music songs. After building a relationship, he said that the US government was willing to provide China with a low-interest loan of up to 100 million US dollars, with an annual interest rate of only 3.5%, on the premise that China would no longer support Japan's troubles in the Philippines.

Rockefeller also implicitly expressed his hope to form an alliance with China and together push Japan back to the Stone Age. Tang Shaoyi was one of the third batch of Chinese students to study in the United States (the previous dynasty did some practical things). He studied at Columbia University and fought against the Japanese in Korea after returning to China. At that time, Yuan Shikai was still the emperor of Korea. Tang Shaoyi was brave and resourceful, both civil and military, with a lot of knowledge, courage and courage, but he had a naive liking for Americans and believed that as long as he learned the American system, he could solve all the problems China encountered.

Tang Shaoyi was also keen on spreading American culture, probably because he thought American culture was more advanced than Chinese culture. In fact, this is not surprising. Many of the manuals and books related to railways and engineering written by Zhan Tianyou also came from the United States. It is normal for these young students in the United States to have a good impression of the United States.

After taking over the post of Chinese ambassador, Rockefeller often kept in touch with Tang Shaoyi and other Chinese students in the United States, and also went to Tsinghua University and other schools many times to promote American liberal thought.

He wanted to subtly improve the Chinese people's favorable impression of the United States. His efforts played a role. For various reasons, some people clearly agreed to strengthen cooperation with the United States instead of spending a lot of effort to support Japan.

Their reasons are very good. China can get funds, technology and markets from the United States, but what does Japan have? Instead, it needs subsidies from China! There are also many Japanese who come to China to work, taking away Chinese jobs!

After the Taisho Restoration, the living standards of Japanese farmers and workers improved a little, but compared with China, they were still far behind, let alone the United States. So many Japanese went to the United States to work, and more came to China. The Japanese government was happy to send workers to China to work, so that they could earn more RMB to buy materials such as steel, coal and fertilizer.

The People's Government welcomed the Japanese to work in China, especially engineers and senior technicians, who were treated very well. But for some people, it was not so happy. Wu Zhihui ridiculed the cooperation between the People's Government and Japan in the financial industry as an old trick of Empress Dowager Cixi, "It is better to work with friendly countries than with domestic slaves." The People's Government did not allow its own people to build private banks, but allowed Japanese banks to exist in Shanghai and Tianjin. It seemed that there was no difference between the new China and the old China.

After the founding of New China, the money houses of the Jiangsu and Zhejiang consortiums were banned, their land was confiscated, and they were no longer allowed to lend money at high interest rates. Many people were very dissatisfied. Taking this opportunity, those people created a lot of public opinion in the newspapers, advocating the opening of the financial industry and allowing capable people in the private sector to participate in economic activities.

These people have different fundamental interests from those who advocate the husband-and-wife theory of Sino-US relations. Their common feature is that they are dissatisfied with the government's existing policies and want to set things right.

Chapter 445: Guardian of Faith

"Minister, Ambassador Rockhill said he is willing to provide our country with a loan of $100 million!"

Tang Shaoyi said excitedly: "That's 100 million US dollars!"

In 1906, the purchasing power of $550 million was very strong. As the world's largest industrial country, the United States of America's fiscal revenue last year was close to $ billion... Huh? With this calculation, $ million doesn't seem to be a lot. But for China, it is definitely a lot of money. In order to raise funds, the government has even started to cut the benefits of civil servants and is preparing to issue national bonds again. The whole country is tightening its belt to carry out construction. If it can get a low-interest loan from the United States, it will definitely be a great thing for the country.

If only American loans had no political strings attached.

But this is impossible. The US government is not a philanthropist. They are a country that can crush petitioning veterans with tanks and use its own people for nuclear weapons testing. The biggest advantage of the United States of America is not "liberalism" but "low human rights". The US government just wants to use loans as bait to break up the alliance between China and Japan. The most cunning thing is that the Americans said that the money must be transferred after China makes substantial actions, that is, China must kick Japan out first, and then the US government will transfer the money. In Lin Yongchang's view, the Americans want to get something for free.

But Tang Shaoyi didn't think so. He felt that the Americans were sincere. How could a gentleman like Rockefeller lie? President Theodore Roosevelt was a progressive and would definitely keep his word.

Lu Zhengxiang sat in a chair and listened to Tang Shaoyi finish his words, then said calmly: "Have you ever thought about what the consequences would be if the US Congress refused to issue the loan?"

Tang Shaoyi studied in the United States and was educated in foreign languages, but he did not believe in the mainstream American faith, Protestantism. Lu Zhengxiang did not go to the United States to study because of his parents, so he converted to Protestantism, but he was not as naive as Tang Shaoyi. Because of their common beliefs, Rockhill once regarded Lu Zhengxiang as the hope for China to believe in Christianity, but Lu Zhengxiang's beliefs were only his personal affairs and could not affect the policies of the People's Party. The People's Party adheres to "atheism" and has never wavered in this regard.

Lu Zhengxiang also intended to expand the influence of Protestantism in China, but he still put China's interests first. So he asked Tang Shaoyi, "Even if what Rockefeller said is true, if the US Congress refuses to issue the loan, how does President Roosevelt plan to compensate China?"