Chapter Twenty-Five: The Situation Stabilizes

  With the support of Jiang and Yu, Guangfu quickly gained absolute administrative power in Zhejiang and rapidly squeezed out other forces.

  Zhejiang became a jointly managed situation by Guangfu Association and Huadong Chamber of Commerce, mainly still Guangfu Association, while Huadong Chamber of Commerce did not overparticipate.

  The East China Chamber of Commerce is more about absorbing elites from all walks of life and tying them together with some seemingly great but actually insignificant benefits for the chamber.

  But in terms of system construction and supervision, they all adopted the set of Jiangsu and Anhui, and naturally could not leave the guidance of the Two Huai Administrative Office.

  The Guangfu Association will be gradually infiltrated and absorbed by the East China Chamber of Commerce, which also provided greater convenience for Jiangyu to develop a shipyard in Hangzhou, and brought many business opportunities to the East China Chamber of Commerce in Zhejiang.

  Zhejiang merchants also began to join the East China Chamber of Commerce after contact.

  East China Power Company, Water Supply Company, Post and Telecommunications Bureau, Telegram Bureau, Department Stores and other companies began to enter Zhejiang in large numbers. Various industrial products of the East China Group also entered Zhejiang.

  East China Railway Company, East China Highway Company, East China Real Estate Company and East China Construction Company also began to enter Zhejiang, and soon determined a number of projects.

  The Zhejiang local government established by the Kuomintang also began to invest in water conservancy construction, and with the establishment of railways, highways, houses, and power projects, it brought a large number of job opportunities to the people of Zhejiang.

  In southern Jiangsu and Shandong provinces, the situation is similar, but in Jiangxi and Sichuan provinces, they directly operate, with higher efficiency.

  Jiangsu then shifted its machinery manufacturing industry to Shandong, while Shandong's agriculture focused on planting crops such as cotton and peanuts.

  At this time, Jiangsu's territory had already controlled Anhui, Jiangsu, Shandong and the eastern part of Henan, which was equivalent to completely controlling China's largest cotton-producing area.

  Huadong Bank began to provide low-interest loans to cotton farmers, encouraging them to adopt advanced planting techniques. Of course, land reform is still ongoing, and farm reclamation companies have also started entering Shandong, entering the cotton cultivation industry.

  Jiang Yu reached an agreement with Yuan Shikai, defeated the Nanjing Provisional Government and formed an alliance with the Zhejiang Restoration Society, further solidifying his position.

  The Nanjing provisional government had to foot the bill for that impulsive attack, a compensation of five million taels, which made Sun's heart ache and his liver and gallbladder tremble.

  The Nanjing provisional government became one of the biggest losers, while for Yuan Shikai there was not much loss. The Imperial Guards and Queue Army were military forces that could turn against him at any time, and being eliminated by the Restoration Army actually made Yuan Shikai more secure.

  Yuan Shikai certainly lost his foothold in Shandong Province, but for now it won't have any impact on his finances.

  It was the Nanjing provisional government that suffered losses in both troops and money, and lost the rich territory of Sunan. At this time, Nanjing was like an isolated island, surrounded by the Two Huai Administrative Office.

  At this time, the Qing court abdicated, and the military conflicts between the Restoration Army, the Beiyang Army, and the Nanjing Provisional Government also came to an end. The national situation began to develop in a stable direction.

  The Provisional Government in Nanjing began to urge Yuan Shikai to come south and assume the office of the first President of the Republic of China.

  Sun Dapao also had his own abacus, he was willing to give up the position of Grand President, and planned to set up a cage in Nanjing to lock up Yuan Shikai, this fierce tiger.

  However, Yuan Shikai was one step ahead and immediately claimed illness, refusing to go to Nanjing to take office. On March 15th, a military mutiny broke out in the Northern Army in the north.

  Cao Kun led the Beiyang Army in looting and smashing on the streets, opposing Yuan Shikai's southward journey to take office.

  It is clear that Cao Kun's coup was instructed by Yuan Shikai from behind.

  In order to stabilize the situation in China, foreigners naturally did not want to see China fall into chaos again, resulting in losses for their interests in China. Therefore, they forced the Nanjing Provisional Government to agree to Yuan Shikai's inauguration in Beijing, and Sun Yat-sen's plan was foiled.

  As for Sun Dapao's wishful thinking, Jiang Yu can only say that they are very foolish and naive.

  Can Yuan Da Tou be so easily fooled?

  The two Huai administrative offices, however, were not in the slightest bit interested in what the president's inauguration was like. Jiangsu and Hubei were mobilizing manpower, material resources, and financial resources to start absorbing the territories of southern Jiangsu and Shandong.

  The territory of Sunan is not too large and very rich, it's relatively easy to digest. What's difficult to digest is the Shandong territory, there are just too many bandits in Shandong.

  The Shandong bandits were the predecessors of the Northeast bandits. In Shandong, there were large gangs with two or three thousand people and small ones with three to five hundred people. They kidnapped and robbed everywhere, as numerous as the hairs on an ox.

  "General, I suggest that we launch a large-scale campaign to suppress bandits in Shandong. Not only can we eliminate the bandit threat, but it will also serve as an opportunity for our troops to gain experience." Jiang Yu suggested to Chiang Fangzhen.

  "Hmm! Indeed, we should take a heavy hand with these bandits, but the problem of banditry cannot be thoroughly solved by military means alone. We must also establish a perfect militia system in various towns and villages in Shandong, and deploy troops in areas where banditry is particularly severe, forming a network of mutual support. The reason why bandits are difficult to deal with is that they will flee when regular troops approach." Jiang Yu said.

  They won't die out even if you wait for them, and they pop up again, just like ringworm, being very troublesome.

  So the key is still to establish a large bandit elimination network.

  Jiang Yu continued to instruct the crowd: "We not only need to suppress bandits in Shandong, but also ban opium in Shandong. Anyone who sells opium will be severely punished and shown no mercy. The public security, criminal police, anti-drug team, and garrison troops must work together to fight against it, striving to make Shandong free of opium within a year."

  "Yes."

  ……

  On March 25, Yuan Shikai formally took office as the first President of the Republic of China, and Jiangsu Province sent Sun Zhendong as a representative to attend Yuan Shikai's inauguration ceremony.

  According to Sun Zhendong's reaction, Yuan Shikai was very tense when reading the draft and his tone was somewhat intermittent.

  Then, when taking a group photo, he also pulled Eston and Hua Lei, two foreigners, to his side. Afterwards, Hua Lei happily told his wife: "President Yuan is really polite, actually arranging me by his side."

  Hua Lei's wife smiled and said: "Yuan Shikai is afraid that others will throw bombs at him, you and Eston are actually his shields."

  Emotionless face!

  It can be seen that Yuan Shikai is still very nervous.

  He is a military officer from the army, and he has managed to climb to the position of president. He is naturally nervous and especially afraid that the remnants of the Qing dynasty or revolutionaries will throw bombs at him, which is why he brought two foreigners to his side as human shields.

  On the same day, Jiang Yu renamed Huaiyin as 'Huian County' and moved its administrative center to Shuizhen Suzhou, a city full of poetic charm, where water and gardens are the soul of the city, making it an ideal place for the administrative center.

  Huaiyin and Wuhu are good places to develop industry, but it's not suitable for administration. Besides, Suzhou is not far from Shanghai, which will be the financial center of China in the future.

  After nearly two years of preparation, Huaian Military School was formally established.

  On the day of the formal establishment of Huaian Military Academy, after several months of advertising in newspapers and sending people to various colleges for publicity, nearly 8,000 candidates attended the founding ceremony.