Chapter 112 The First Reveal

The income of Fuyuan Machinery Factory will not be very large. Why? Because the output of Fuyuan Machinery Factory is not too high, and because it is responsible for the supply of arms throughout Northern China, rifles, bullets or shells are almost in short supply.

In order to expand production, Fuyuan Machinery Factory has expanded its equity capital increase three times in less than two years. At the same time, it has jointly borrowed more than 1 million taels of silver from seven or eight domestic bank numbers and ticket numbers for expansion.

It can be said that from the day it was established, Fuyuan Machinery Factory has embarked on the road of borrowing and borrowing and re-expansion, resulting in the current Fuyuan Machinery Factory being in debt of nearly 1.5 million taels of silver. However, those national capitalists in China are not fools. Naturally, the reason why they generously provide a large number of loans to Fuyuan Machinery Factory It is to take a fancy to the benefits of Fuyuan Machinery Factory.

And the orders of Fuyuan Machinery Factory that can almost be produced until the next year are the guarantee of profits!

Rao has accepted the workers and machinery and equipment of the Beiyang Machinery Manufacturing Bureau, and has also purchased and expanded the machinery again and again. However, due to the short establishment time, the output of Fuyuan Machinery Factory is still not too high in a short period of time. Not to mention, the monthly output of this shell is only more than 15,000 rounds today. This output is actually far from enough to supply many troops in northern China.

However, this is a time of peace, and shells are consumable materials. As long as the Beiyang New Army does not fight, the consumption of shells will not be too much. The reason for the large-scale purchase of shells is mainly for reserve.

According to contemporary practice, a gun will generally reserve about 300 to 500 shells for backup, while most of the artillery used by the Beiyang New Army are imported from Japan and Germany in the past two years, and the corresponding shells will be ordered when these guns are imported.

That is to say, today's Beiyang New Army, including Zhao Dongyun's third town, has a large number of imported shells, and there is no urgent need to store shells on a large scale.

Under such circumstances, Zhao Dongyun was able to remove a small part of the shell production of Fuyuan Machinery Factory to sell to the Russians.

Apart from the factor of Zhao Dongyun, then for Fuyuan Machinery Factory itself, selling artillery shells to the Russians will not bring them too much additional benefits, because their shells are already in short supply.

However, for Zhao Dongyun, a second-way dealer, the income is big!

Although he sold ammunition to the Russians for most of the political purposes, making money is also a secondary purpose. If the cannonball he ordered from Fuyuan Machine Factory costs 30 taels of silver, he will sell it to the Russians for 50 taels of silver, of which the profit is almost 50%.

However, Zhao Dongyun also took many risks, especially political risks!

Although the Russians paid a relatively expensive price, after they paid, Zhao Dongyun delivered the goods to their door. Those shells would be transported directly from Tangshan to Jinzhou by train, and then secretly transferred by Zhao Dongyun to Fengtian.

How to put it, you get what you pay for! It only takes 30 taels of silver to buy the same shell in Europe, but who has the ability to transport it all the way to the northeast during the war?

Except for Japan and Russia itself, the only material channel is the railway inside and outside the customs, and Jinzhou, an important hub of this railway, is located in Zhao Dongyun. As long as Zhao Dongyun is willing, he can even prevent a bullet from flowing into the northeast war zone. Similarly, as long as he wants, he can The arms were transported to Fengtian!

Zhao Dongyun has advantages that others don't have, and also takes risks that others don't want to take!

This is the reason why he has reaped huge benefits in this arms smuggling trade.

Zhao Dongyun took advantage of the Fuyuan Machine Factory to sit in the western part of the Liaohe River. At the same time, under the cover of tens of thousands of troops, he successfully delivered a large amount of materials and ammunition to the Russians. Under such a situation, the Russo-Japanese War is also continuing.

Since the declaration of war on February 10, the two sides have been very calm for the following period, except that the Japanese navy made a despicable attack on the Lushun military port without declaring war, causing the loss of several warships of the Russian navy.

Because at this time, both sides are mobilized supplies and soldiers, brewing a subsequent large-scale war operation!

At this time, it looks extremely calm!

However, everyone knows that this is only calm before the storm. Not to mention the situation between Japan and Russia, China is full of courage. Many people want to fight against Russia. Chinese students in Japan even proposed to form a volunteer army to the northeast to join the Japanese army.

With the outbreak of the Russo-Japanese War, Zhao Dongyun's name was once again widely mentioned as the commander of the only new army stationed in Northeast China, unlike Zhao Dongyun of not taking the initiative to fight against the Russian army at the end of last year. This time, after the imperial court officially announced 'external neutrality', the object of everyone's complaint has been After moving from Zhao Dongyun, a front-line general, to the princes of the imperial court.

However, people are still very concerned about Zhao Dongyun, especially his every move in the third town. Although there are fewer domestic accusations against Zhao Dongyun and the Beiyang system, they still remain.

In response to the huge pressure of public opinion in China, Yuan Shikai and Zhao Dongyun decided to conduct a small-scale military exercise in Jinzhou to show that although we were neutral in the Russo-Japanese War, we played armed neutrality.

Well, to put it bluntly, this exercise is not for Japan and Russia, but for the domestic people!

In order to avoid stimulating Japan and Russia, and at the same time to meet the pressure of domestic public opinion, Zhao Dongyun set up the exercise in Jinzhou, which is not large in scale. Only two battalions participated, but invited many Chinese and foreign journalists to participate. Although the exercise process is nothing new, Zhao Dong in this kind of public exercise Naturally, it is impossible for Yun to show mortars, machine gun tactics and so on to others, but it still allows outsiders to see what a new army should look like.

Foreign reporter Mosley said: "Compared with other Chinese troops, General Zhao Dongyun's third town is obviously much better. Strict military discipline and new equipment give this army the combat effectiveness of the modern army!

When the Beiyang New Army took the initiative to disclose the training of the new army on a large scale, especially the photos of the exercises of many third towns, the Chinese people saw a energetic modern army. In addition, Zhao Dongyun's many military photos were also widely published in various newspapers with this public opinion propaganda activities.

In the photo, Zhao Dongyun can't see any trace of youth and tenderness. He wears a winter dress for officers in the current Beiyang Standing Army and wears an officer command knife sideways. Although he wears a military cap on his head, he can still see that he is a bald head, and the two words on his mouth are slightly obvious. The exaggerated eight-character beard makes him look very different from ordinary soldiers.

The python beads on his shoulders and the gold plate on the cuffs make him look very young and noble. His military uniform is a new military uniform that began to be fully implemented by the Beiyang Standing Army in winter. Although this new military uniform has been used as a national military uniform after the issuance of the new military uniform regulations at the beginning of the year. The standard military uniform of the provincial new army.

Although the regular clothes of this new military uniform are fighting, the dress is mainly based on visual effects, which makes people feel the handsomeness of the new soldiers at first sight. Of course, more Chinese people will directly think that they are fake foreign devils...

Although many people have seen the appearance of the Beiyang New Army, Zhao Dongyun's military photos and many photos of his third town began to circulate in China, which attracted great discussion after they were frequently published in newspapers.

For a while, Zhao Dongyun's personal reputation rose significantly. People will think of Yuan Shikai when they talk about Beiyang, but when they talk about the Beiyang New Army, Zhao Dongyun will appear in many people's minds.

To some extent, Zhao Dongyun has become a typical image of a Beiyang officer!

In addition, he became a town control at a young age, sitting in Jinzhou in the chaotic northeast, and becoming a neutral person in charge outside China's armed forces. This alone is enough to make him an idol of countless young people and countless young students who study in other countries, especially those who study military Young students regard Zhao Dongyun as a successful model.

Zhao Dongyun's name and photos soon spread all over the world with the outbreak of the Russo-Japanese War. In the New York Times special report on the Russo-Japanese War, Zhao Dongyun's photos and Japanese General Dashanyan and Russian General Ku Robert King were on the front page!

Because the above three are the actual military leaders of China, Japan and Russia in the northeast!

Zhao Dongyun is not used to his sudden fame. His previous reputation in Beiyang is actually not small, but most of them are spread among many middle and senior officers in Beiyang. In addition, civil servants and staff of the same Beiyang system have heard or seen him, and even many middle and lower civil servants who are also of the Beiyang system have heard of him. I don't know him.

This is also a microcosm of the middle and senior officers of the contemporary Beiyang New Army. Although they have controlled China's most powerful force in this era, what people see are Yuan Shikai, and they do not pay much attention to Duan Qirui, Wang Yingkai, Feng Guozhang, Zhao Dongyun and others behind Yuan Shikai.

These powerful and famous Beiyang warlords were well known by ordinary people. After the Wuchang Uprising in 1911, Feng Guozhang, Duan Qirui and other talents frequently appeared in newspapers.

Now, in the eyes of many Chinese people, they are just one of Yuan Shikai's subordinates!

Zhao Dongyun's reputation does not have much to do with his political status, mainly because of those photos and his excessive young age!

Many older people are very worried about the young Zhao Dongyun!

In the letter given to the court by Cen Chunxuan of Guangdong, he publicly expressed his concern about Zhao Dongyun: Zhao Ziyang, who is young and shallow, may not be a blessing of the court!

Zhao Dongyun looked at the copy of the memorial forwarded by Yuan Shikai in his hand, and his face was not very good: "This mad dog, it depends on who bites whom!"

Cen Chunxuan's move was actually not aimed at Zhao Dongyun, but at Yuan Shikai, trying to smear Yuan Shikai's employment strategy with Zhao Dongyun's age and qualifications.

"Don't worry about those people!" Fang Ruolian moved lightly at this time and sat down on the sofa. She didn't like Zhao Dongyun to care about business in front of her.

Zhao Dongyun put down the copy of the medal and turned his head to look at Fang Ruolian: "Jinzhou is much colder than Baoding. Are you used to it these days?"

Fang Ruolian shrank as if she felt cold, and then said, "For me, Baoding and Jinzhou are as cold as Jinzhou! If only I could go back to Xiangzhou in winter!"

Zhao Dongyun listened and said, "Didn't your father-in-law move to Shanghai? You can go to Shanghai to see them!"

Zhao Dongyun did not say that he accompanied her to Shanghai to see his father-in-law and mother-in-law, because he did not have time. In fact, it was quite hard to be an official these days. He could not run around. As a third town control, especially now that the situation in Northeast China was tense. When the war broke out between Japan and Russia broke out, Zhao Dongyun could not leave Jinzhou casually.

However, Fang Ruolian shook her head: "I don't like to take a boat, and I just went to see them in October!"

Zhao Dongyun was a little speechless. After marriage, Fang Ruolian became more like a person. Her body was still as attractive as before. She could still talk nonsense and did not hide her Catholic beliefs, and from time to time she wanted to persuade Zhao Dongyun and the people around her to join the school.

But she has become extremely lazy!

Especially in autumn and winter, she can read all day while basking in the sun by the window. Many things are unwilling to do, and even Zhao Dongyun feels that she is unwilling to think about many things.

Now it is difficult for her to connect with the nun in Zhao Dongyun's mind!

"After a few years after the opening of the Jinpu Railway, it will be much easier to go south to Shanghai to visit my father-in-law and mother-in-law!" Zhao Dongyun stretched out his hand and hugged her so that she could lean comfortably on him.

"Hmm!" Fang Ruolian didn't say much, but closed her eyes with a soft hum.

Zhao Dongyun picked up the book by the table and read it. In early spring, it was extremely rare to see the afternoon sun pass through the glass window and then shine on the two people.

The book in Zhao Dongyun's hand is not a novel or other literary book, but a German military theory book, which he entrusted someone to bring back from Germany last month.

In the past few years, he has been reading and studying a large number of Western military books. He firmly believes that if he wants to succeed, he must prepare himself in advance. To be a qualified and successful warlord, it is far from relying only on a little memory or cleverness of later generations. Zhao Dongyun does not require himself to become Napoleon. The god of war, but the most basic things still need to be mastered.

The afternoon sun did not stay in the living room for too long. After not feeling the warmth of the sun, Zhao Dongyun put down his book and looked back at his wife who had been snuggling up. She had fallen asleep. The two eyelashes on her delicate face covered her eyes, and her red lips were slightly closed and she was breathing gently. This She looked very beautiful at that time.

Gently held her body, then got up from the sofa and helped her lie down on her side, and then dragged a pillow to put it on her. The afternoon sun had gone. In order not to make her feel cold, he came from the wool blanket from the other side to cover her.

Looking at his wife who seemed to have fallen into a beautiful dream, Zhao Dongyun also smiled, and then couldn't help stretching out his hand to touch her face and felt that Fang Ruolian seemed to wake up, but she still didn't open her eyes. She could feel that the slightly rough hand was her husband's hand, and she stretched out her hand. Covering the back of Zhao Dongyun's hand, he muttered, "How long have I slept?"

Zhao Dongyun said, "Not long, it hasn't been an hour!"

Fang Ruolian turned her body to make herself more comfortable, but still didn't open her eyes: "Then I'll sleep a while!" Wait until I fall asleep!"

Zhao Dongyun hummed softly and looked at the woman who was talking in a daze and didn't even want to open her eyes. What he felt in his heart was the peace that others could not bring him.

At the other end of the sofa, he picked up the book and read it again. The sunlight outside had disappeared. The sky quickly floated many gray clouds. Through the glass window, he saw thicker and thicker clouds. Maybe the first rainstorm this spring is coming!