The Anti-Japanese War Begins with the Northeast Army

In this era where people almost completely depend on the weather for their livelihood, if it doesn’t rain, it means farmers have no way to make a living.

Besides, the previous bastard Shandong Governor Zheng Shiqi was a greedy and cruel warlord;

In order to make huge profits, the so-called "white land tax" was implemented in various parts of Shandong - that is, if the land was not used to grow poppies but to grow crops, more money had to be paid per acre of land.

Farming and producing grains didn’t bring much profit. Under this policy, the farmers had no choice but to grow opium raw materials on a large scale…

Zheng Shiqi collected raw materials on a large scale, and then made "local tobacco" in various parts of Shandong. He made a fortune by selling them to Zhili, Shanxi, Henan and other places.

But once a natural disaster occurs, the already tense food problem will be immediately exposed - opium cannot be eaten, and the food production in the barren land will be reduced or even eliminated, and the lower-class civilians will have no choice but to starve to death.

After leaving for Tianjin by car, Jiang Cheng whispered to Hai Pingchuan beside him: "Pingchuan, we are brothers... I have to make some things clear."

"Although Jinan has been taken, for now, both Jinan and the entire Shandong province are bound to be a mess - you have to be mentally prepared for this."

In addition to the famine, the policy implemented by that damn Zheng Shiqi in Shandong was absolutely a plundering policy.

"I know...but the grain that Master Jiang urgently requisitioned must have been able to solve Shandong's urgent needs."

Hai Pingchuan looked back and said seriously, "Actually, when you suggested that I be the garrison commander of Jinan... I had considered it carefully."

Jiang Cheng smiled with interest: "Oh? Then tell me now, how are you going to manage and operate Shandong?"

Hai Pingchuan thought for a moment and continued, "Although this batch of grain you allocated can solve Shandong's current urgent needs...but at the same time, the most important thing is to quickly restore Shandong's production."

"Qi and Lu are the main grain producing areas with good weather and good harvests. Now they are suffering from natural disasters. We need to find ways to build water conservancy projects, eradicate poppies, and then reduce taxes and exemptions to restore most of the production capacity."

"In addition, there are Japanese people along the Shandong coast, and many cities also have Japanese residents - in addition to stabilizing public security, I also plan to establish a secret police force to fight against Japanese spies and saboteurs."

Jiang Cheng smiled deliberately and asked him, "These ideas are all good...but whether it is to restore production or to carry out these construction projects, we cannot do without money."

"We really don't have much money from the Jinan government's finances. What are you going to do?"

Hai Pingchuan didn't even think about it and blurted out: "As for money, haha... since I took charge of the 29th Division, the account has also made some money. It's clean, it's earned by the brothers working in their spare time."

"Also, Xiaoying and I have been married for almost three years. She followed her elder sister to do business, speculating in stocks and securities in the United States, and she has made a lot of money. I have thought about it, and if there is not enough... it will all come from my account!"

Hearing what he said, Jiang Cheng couldn't help but burst into laughter: "Good fellow! Others travel thousands of miles to become officials for the sake of money; but you, before you even took office, have already decided to use your family's private money to go to Jinan or Shandong to make money?"

"How can this be possible? If you spread this out - what will others think? I, Jiang Cheng, asked you to work hard and fight, and in the end, I have to let you and Xiaoying spend money on it?"

"That doesn't make sense!"

Jiang Cheng patted his thigh and continued, "Don't worry, when we go back to the capital this time... In addition to asking you to garrison Jinan and even the Shandong governor, we also want money!"

"The war was so chaotic, and there was such a disaster. How could those leaders not help?"

In fact, Jiang Cheng had already thought about meeting Cao Kun, and even what the Beiyang people would say... He had even thought about what they might say, as well as their respective responses. After setting off, this was equivalent to his last "interview" to see if this brother who was about to replace him, Simu Shandong, had the ability to do so.

What he said was so reasonable and well-founded, and considering the good character he had gained over the years, Jiang Cheng felt very confident in handing over the entire Shandong Province to Hai Pingchuan for management.

After meeting Cao Kun, Jiang Cheng explained to him his thoughts and the situation in Shandong as a whole.

In fact, before they came, Cao Kun had thought about it several times -

In this battle, Zi Yu suffered a complete defeat. Shandong, which he could have taken advantage of the situation to seize, was likely to fall into the hands of the Fengtian Army.

However, not only was the leader of the Fengtian Army his son-in-law, but his son-in-law Hai Pingchuan also participated in the war this time.

If Shandong has to fall into the hands of the Fengtian Army, letting my son-in-law take charge of Shandong...is actually a good idea!

Originally, Shandong was a piece of meat in the mouth of the Anhui clique, and they would not suffer any loss no matter who took it. If they let their son-in-law take over, there might be some benefits in the future.

Besides, Xiaoying gave birth to a daughter for him, and she will most likely have another child. Shandong will never fall into the hands of outsiders.

Thinking of this, Cao Kun felt that after Jiang Cheng and his men finished fighting, he could at least have some fun.

"Hey, that's what they said!"

Hearing Jiang Cheng talking about the disaster victims again, this warlord who was born as a cloth merchant immediately showed a compassionate attitude, "We have also lived through hard times! We know exactly what the people have suffered."

"Originally, Ziyu's battle was a waste of money and manpower, and I really didn't want him to fight. Besides, everyone below me knew about it. I sent out telegrams like snowflakes, but he just wouldn't listen to them at all!"

"But now it's all good. The battle is finally over... From now on, I can let Pingchuan guard Jinan, and I feel at ease."

When Cao Kun said this, he actually made a silly smile and kept patting his chest, looking just like the "Cao the Fool" in everyone's mouth.

However, both Jiang Cheng and Hai Pingchuan understood in their hearts that he was just pretending to be stupid in order to survive in the direct lineage where many heroes coexisted... Whoever treated him as a fool was truly a fool.

"Third Master is truly a man of great principles! We, the younger generation, can only admire and look up to him."

Jiang Cheng's flattery also followed, and then he smiled and said, "Then the recommendation letter for the appointment..."

Cao Kun immediately said, "I'll write the recommendation letter! But I have one condition."

Jiang Cheng knew that the cloth merchant would definitely leave a way out for him, so he immediately rolled his eyes and said, "Third Master, you can go ahead and tell me what you want."

Cao Kun stroked his beard and said slowly: "I fully support letting Pingchuan be the garrison commander of Jinan, or even the governor of Shandong."

"But...should we also leave some of the troops in Shandong for us?" (End of this chapter)