Chapter 95 Nishihara loan

During the "World War I", in order to prevent financial chaos and adjust the price balance, the leaders of Japan's financial circles were trying their best to encourage foreign investment in order to reduce the excessive concentration of domestic bargaining chips.The first Bank of Communications loan actually had a certain nature of investment and lending.Nishihara also once advocated that all loans to China should be negotiated first by Chinese and Japanese businessmen, and then submitted to the foreign ministries of both sides for approval. But what Nishihara and the Temple cabinet really wanted was not to do this kind of short-term small business with a pocket, but what they wanted to do was a medium-to-long-term big business, which was to support Duan Qirui and help him succeed.Nishihara told Zhang Zongxiang himself that the temple hopes that there will be a strong person in China who can take on the important task of unifying China, and this person is Duan Qirui.

It is indeed the true wish of the temple to be optimistic about and support Duan Qirui's governance.Since then, despite the ups and downs and changes in the political arena in China, and new strongmen in the military and political circles of the North and South have continued to appear, some of which have overshadowed Duan Qirui, the temple has never looked forward to anyone other than Duan until he stepped down. It can be regarded as very thorough and unwavering. For Duan Qirui's loan request, the cabinet in the temple almost never refused.From 1917 to 1918, Nishihara alone handled a total of eight loans to China, which are collectively referred to as "Nishihara Loans".Once, Nishihara lent three loans in one day, each with 20 million yen. The "Nishihara Loan" totaled 145 million yen before and after, but it still only accounted for a part of Duan Qirui's loan to Japan. According to some statistics, the total amount reached 500 million yen (some sources believe that it is close to 400 million yen) JPY).These loans were ostensibly borrowed by the Bank of Taiwan, the Bank of Korea, and the Industrial Bank of Japan, but in fact they were allocated money from the treasury reserve by the Japanese government.

In order to deceive the public, most of the loans were signed in the names of transportation, banking, railways, forestry and mining, and telecommunications. Five of the eight loans in the "Nishihara Loan" were in the name of running a transportation business, and the amount reached 90 million yen.The operation process is generally that the Chinese Ministry of Communications that handles the money first collects money, and then "lends" it to the Ministry of Finance to make up for the gap in various military and political expenditures. Ye Gongchuo, as the deputy minister of transportation, believed that the money was borrowed in the name of the Ministry of Communications, and it was the responsibility of the Ministry of Communications to repay the principal and interest. Therefore, he advocated keeping the loan in the Ministry of Communications for special purposes in order to "business development and profit increase" in the future. , and the hope of return."He went to see Duan Qirui in person and asked: "This kind of borrowing has no economic plan, and the borrowed money is used up casually. How will the principal and interest be repaid in the future?"

Duan Qirui didn't say anything about this, but said: "The Ministry of Finance should have an overall plan." The Ministry of Finance is a department that uses money, so there is no way to coordinate or make money.Ye Gongchuo asserted: "Xiyuan's loan will be lost." Duan Qirui is not a fool, he is very clear about these things.In fact, when he first planned to borrow, he had no intention of repaying it. He often told people around him: "We are using Japan for a while. Who is going to repay these loans? At that time, it will be over in a blink of an eye."

The reason why Duan Qirui dared to "gaze and die" is because all Japanese loans, including the "Nishihara Loan", have loopholes that can be exploited.Their borrowing conditions are very low. They all use wires, forests and other nominal things as collateral, which is equivalent to a blank check. The like can't be realized at all! In fact, there was only one loan that the Chinese government actually paid off later, and that was the first Bank of Communications loan in the "Nishiyuan Loan", and the rest became "bad debts."According to the loan contract, the Japanese side paid in full and did not get rebates and commissions. Later, even the principal and interest were not recovered. From this perspective, it is equivalent to that the Japanese government is using its own treasury to pay for the Chinese government’s expenditure. , China has indeed taken advantage of it.

The cabinet in the temple is willing to keep lending money to the Chinese government like this at a loss, but the most important condition is to see Duan Qirui "make a difference". To complete the unification of North and South.When negotiating a new loan, the Japanese side clearly told Cabinet Duan that the loan was a confirmation that the Beijing government still had the ability to unify. "Government" (referring to the law-protecting military government) exists, and even if the conditions are negotiated, the loan cannot be delivered. Cao Rulin, a "pro-Japanese faction" in charge of handling loans to Japan, once put forward a point of view: no one can unify China without the backing of the strength of the great powers.Duan Qirui agreed with this point of view, and he also believed that if he wanted to complete the reunification of the North and the South, he had to rely on the power of Japan for the time being.

Although the Duan Cabinet and the Temple Cabinet had very different starting points, they were able to reach an astonishing agreement on the goal of promoting the unification of China.Therefore, Duan Qirui advocated that "internal policy must follow diplomacy".He said to Ni Sichong, Governor of Anhui: "If Guangdong is in chaos, the government will have no reason to exist. Therefore, no matter how difficult it is, we must first conquer Guangdong Province, and we will survive as long as we can. This ambition will not change!" Duan Qirui ordered the provinces to call the Northern Army the "National Army" and the Southern Army the "Enemy Army." ".Xu Shuzheng, who has already returned to Beijing, also publicly stated that he will never stop unless he goes to Guangzhou this time.

On the fourth day after the formation of the cabinet, Xu Shuzheng and Duan Qirui agreed on a new plan for the use of troops. They planned to use the direct army as the main force to eliminate the southern army in eastern Hunan by taking advantage of the remaining prestige of capturing Yuezhou. , Feng Jun "aid Fujian, attack Guangdong, and enter Sichuan". In mid-April 1918, although the Northern Army had won some battles in Hunan, it suffered consecutive defeats in eastern Hunan.In order to save the passive situation brought about by the defeat in eastern Hunan, Duan Qirui resolutely decided to "tour the south".

This "Southern Tour" has great responsibilities, not only to boost the morale of the front line, but also to coordinate with Li Chun and other "three governors of the Yangtze River". So there was an accident.