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墨書 Inktalez
In 1927, Europe was a realm full of vitality and new beginnings, and the World Capitalism market began to flourish, leading many to feel that the golden age was approaching.
After all, at this time, the countries of Western Europe were very peaceful, seemingly having completely forgotten the pain of the last war, and were focused on economic development.
Some optimists even believed that Capitalism had entered a period of permanent prosperity, such as the current President of the United States, Calvin Coolidge.
However, in distant Asia, the situation is not so optimistic. Especially in China, after a brief period of development, capitalism faced the resurgence of the great powers. At the same time, the Northern Expedition War, launched in July 1926 by the Kuomintang and the Communist Party in accordance with the will of the founding father, broke out.
With the help of the local people, the Northern Expedition Army was invincible, and successively defeated warlords Wu Peifu who occupied Hubei and Hunan, and Sun Chuanfang who occupied the five southeastern provinces. The territory of the National Revolution was advanced from the Pearl River Basin to the Yellow River Basin, and the unification of the entire country seemed to be within reach. Unfortunately, while the Northern Expedition Army was winning one victory after another, the landlord class and the big bourgeoisie launched a counterattack.
They united with the reactionary elements within the Kuomintang to launch a bloody massacre against the leftists of the Kuomintang and the Communist Party. In such an environment, the right-wing elements of the Kuomintang, led by Chiang Kai-shek and Wang Jingwei, emerged and quickly seized power, stealing the fruits of the victory of the National Revolution. It must be said that the cause of the "Three Principles of the People" of the founding father has been full of ups and downs. Every time it was on the verge of success, the victory was always stolen by others, leading to failure at the last moment.
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Nanjing
Temporary Office Building of the National Government
As a newly established government institution, the Nanjing government has a lot of things to do every day, as can be seen from the busy people coming in and out of the office building.
At the top floor of this building is the temporary president's office, where a melodious song can be heard. A man with a center-parted hairstyle is leaning on his seat. He is Chiang Kai-shek, the principal of Whampoa Military Academy, the Commander-in-Chief of the National Revolutionary Army, the Chairman of the National Government, the Premier of the Executive Yuan, the Chairman of the Military Affairs Commission of the National Government, a special grade general of the Republic of China, the leader of the Kuomintang, the head of the Three Principles of the People Youth League, the supreme commander of the China Theater during World War II, and the President of the Republic of China, whose given name is Ruiyuan and courtesy name is Jieshi. At this moment, Chiang Kai-shek is anxiously flipping through various documents.
The pleasant singing from the phonograph did not ease his mood. Since he launched the 1927 coup and established a temporary government in Nanjing, he has been condemned by all sectors. Apart from the Communist Party, in Wuhan, the Nationalist government led by Wang Jingwei does not recognize Chen Duxiu's position, and various party forces in different regions also do not recognize it, instead respecting the Wuhan government as orthodox.
Jiang Changkai, although supported by the Jiangsu and Zhejiang financial consortium, lacks sufficient weapons and ammunition to ensure the possibility of a civil war. After all, the previous Jiang Changkai appeared in front of people from all walks of life as a revolutionary, and had a closer relationship with the Soviet Union. Many of the weapons and equipment of the Kuomintang came from the Soviet Union, and Jiang Changkai has not had deeper contact with the British and Americans. After the 1924 coup, Jiang Changkai never received assistance from the Soviet Union again.
Chiang Kai-shek is currently very worried. From his perspective, the purging campaign he initiated did not receive support from the entire party; it was only backed by feudal landlords and the bourgeoisie. Furthermore, no one acknowledges Chiang's position. In the event of a conflict with the Wuhan faction, Chiang is deeply concerned about whether his troops alone can achieve victory.
"Now, he can only send someone to Sun Chuanfang's arsenal to see what's left."
"Report!"
A knocking sound came from outside the door.
"Come in,"
Chang Kaishen raised his eyelids.
The person who came in was wearing a long robe, none other than Chen Bulei, who is known as the President's literary courage. He joined Chang Kaishen's team as a secretary at the beginning of this year.
"Yanji, how's the situation?"
Chang Kaishen asked urgently as he stood up.
"Not good."
The secretary-general of the Kuomintang Central Secretariat, with a rich literary atmosphere, looked serious. "Sun Chuanfang took away all the weapons and ammunition before leaving, even destroying the heavy weapons that were not easy to move. It can be said that he didn't leave anything for us." "It seems that we have to buy guns from the foreign powers."
Chang Kaishen looked worried. He now had nothing in his hands except money. He never thought he would have the day when he had money but couldn't spend it. "The problem is, who do I buy weapons from?" Chen Bulei analyzed.
"The Soviet Union is definitely out of the question, as we have purged the Communist Party and expelled the members of the Comintern.
Japan is also not an option; given the Japanese people's predatory ambitions, if we approach them now, we will surely be met with exorbitant demands and asked to sign some unequal treaties.
Currently, the Northern Expedition has not yet fully succeeded. If we were to sign these treaties, we would be at a disadvantage in public opinion, not only failing to gain recognition within the party but also facing condemnation from the entire nation, just like Yuan Shikai."
"You are absolutely right. I have been worrying about this issue for the past few days," Chang Kai said, fiercely pulling a handful of his own hair. Whenever he encountered a troubling matter, he liked to grab his hair. I wonder if his later baldness is related to this habit. "Report!"
A soldier outside the door knocks.
"Come in."
"Reporting to the acting president, there is a German man outside who claims to be the ambassador of the German Ministry of Foreign Affairs. It seems his name is something like Ribintlof."
The soldier's report surprised the two of them greatly.
"A German person? What is he doing here?"
Chang Kaishen and Chen Bulei looked at each other in surprise.
"Perhaps he is the savior who has come to help us?" Chen Bulei was somewhat uncertain.
"Please let him in."
Chiang Kai-shek decided to meet with Ribbentrop first, after all, he could not afford to offend foreigners, even if they were Germans who had just lost a world war.
Soon, a man in a suit entered the room, followed by a translator. It was Ribbentrop, who had recently joined the Labour Party and was then assigned by Strasser to serve at the German Embassy in China.
As soon as he entered, Ribbentrop greeted Chiang Kai-shek with a strong foreign accent.
"Dear Minister of Health, I am very pleased to meet you."
This was a greeting that Ribbentrop had specifically asked the translator to prepare before his arrival, and the standard pronunciation made Chen Bulei laugh out loud.
Chiang Kai-shek also wanted to laugh but managed to hold it in. He asked,
"I also warmly welcome your arrival, Mr. Ribentrop. However, I would like to know the purpose of your visit today."
"We, Germany, are a peace-loving country. Besides doing business, we have no other affairs on this distant continent. So, of course, I am here today for business."
Rybentrof said, and the person next to him quickly translated his words into Chinese. "Are you saying that you want us to do arms business with you?" Chang Kaishen was somewhat surprised. This was like falling asleep and finding a pillow. He had just been worrying about weapons and equipment, and now he didn't have to worry about this issue anymore.
"That's right, we in Germany have recently developed a batch of new weaponry. The quality of the weapons is very reliable, but due to the Treaty of Versailles, we cannot equip them to the military and can only let them gather dust in the warehouse.
In line with the principle of not wasting resources, we plan to sell these weapons to those who need them. I wonder if Mr. Chiang Kai-shek has any interest?"
Ribbentrop inquired, while Strasser instructed him to sell half of the equipment in the British people's warehouse to the Nanjing government in China, advising him to make as much profit as possible, ideally squeezing every last bit out of it, as long as the delivery is completed before July this year.
After the 705 coup, Chang Kaishen's urgent need for weapons diminished. "We still trust Germany's weapons, especially the newly developed ones from your side. Of course, we want them. We just don't know how much you can sell to us," he said without hesitation. As long as he could get the weapons, it didn't matter. After all, he had just received a donation from the Jiangsu and Zhejiang Consortium, and he had plenty of money.
"We will give you as much as you want," laughed Ribentrof, as he saw a fat sheep appear before his eyes.
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