"Thank you. Actually, you don't have to be so precise. In order to ensure that China could continue to survive the war between China and Japan, the US Navy pushed for the loan that the Chinese government had always hoped to obtain. Now I can reveal a piece of news that no one in China knows except the US envoy to China. This news is not even known by Mr. Jiang in Chongqing. The US Bank of America has agreed to the loan of 20 million US dollars from the Chinese government next month, that is, in April 1941. In seven or eight months, the bank would agree to borrow another 25 million dollars from the Chinese government.”Looking at the shocked faces of the few people, Li Yan continued to add.
"The loan in April was secured by China's Huaxi. The collateral this time is worth at least 25 million US dollars, but Citicorp only promised to borrow 20 million US dollars. There's no other way. In fact, the amount of money that Citybank borrowed was not that small. The real figure was 22 million US dollars. Then the question was, where was the 2 million US dollars?”Looking at the people who were already frightened by the news, Li Yan was still a little proud. Perhaps he had learned this bad habit from his unreliable mother.
"Don't tell me you have the two million dollars?”This time, Secretary Zhu reacted first. Commander Zhao and the others also became excited.
If Li Yan really had 2 million US dollars, the entire Shandong base would benefit too much this time. It should be known that Secretary Zhu had originally planned to squeeze out 5,000 grams of gold from the daily use funds of the Shandong base, plus the Yan 'an side agreed to retain about 20 kilograms, and 20 kilograms was about 714 ounces.
The international gold price had not changed for many years. One ounce was 35 USD, which meant that the Shandong base could provide about 25000 USD. Now, Li Yan told him that he could provide 2 million USD. This required the Shandong base to save up for six and a half years without eating or drinking.
Moreover, the current gold price in China was much cheaper than the international market. Once the war broke out, every family would take out the gold they had saved up for several lifetimes and exchange it for US dollars, British pounds, and so on. It could be said that although 20 kilograms of gold was worth more than 20,000 US dollars, in places like Shanghai, Chongqing, and Nanjing, the chances of 20 kilograms of gold being exchanged for 20,000 US dollars were very few. Most of them were only around 17,18,000.
"What are you thinking? How is that possible? If this two million yuan was really in my hands, would I still be here? Wouldn't it be better to just find a place to spend the rest of his life?”
Li Yan mercilessly interrupted Secretary Zhu's fantasy. Secretary Zhu and the others also recovered. Everyone asked themselves if they could really hold on if they were given 2 million USD. They didn't know the answer, and they didn't want to know. After all, the answer was too scary. While everyone was having their own thoughts, Li Yan continued to speak.
"When Minister Jensen and Colonel Connor told me that they hoped that I could come to China, I personally opposed it at the beginning. After all, I am not a soldier or a diplomat. I really have no obligation to go to a war zone that is thousands of miles away. In the end, they told me about the loan and expressed their concerns. After all, although the loan was pushed by the US Navy, the US Navy was not the one who accepted the loan.”
"The Chinese government is the one who accepted this loan. The US Navy needs to know the answer to this question. Therefore, the United States Navy mobilized Minister Johnson to return to China to accept an exclusive interview with Time magazine. Although he was nominally returning to China for Christmas, he did not return to China many times during the years when Verne Johnson was stationed in China. Therefore, in the eyes of others and even the Chinese government, although Minister Johnson returned to China for Christmas, it was more important to accept an exclusive interview with Time magazine.”
Li Yan had the same opinion as the others regarding Minister Jensen. He was a political animal through and through.
"Although the interview can also be conducted in China, for the sake of a better magazine cover, it is very normal for Minister Jensen to return to China as a political animal. However, in the view of the U.S. Navy, the main task of Minister Jensen's return to China was to accept inquiries from Congress and the U.S. Navy, that was, whether the Chinese government could use the loan reasonably. After all, the loan was related to the U.S.'s Asian layout within two years.”Li Yan paused for a while and took a sip of water before continuing the topic.
"The answer is yes. In Minister Jensen's eyes, the Chinese government is not even a modern government. It is impossible for him to use 50% of the 22 million USD loan to fight against Japan. It was more likely that Mr. Jiang and Ms. Song from Chongqing would first take 20% and put it in their own pockets, the Ministry of Finance of Chongqing would take another 20%, and the generals under Chongqing would take another 30%. In other words, the officers and soldiers at the grass-roots level would only see about 30%, and half of this 30% would be used to bribe their superiors. In other words, in the end, only a little more than 10% would be used to fight against Japan.”
" The US Navy was stunned when they found out the answer. After learning about the details of the war, the commander-in-chief of the US Navy, Four-Star Admiral Harold R. Stark, immediately said that the Chinese soldiers were definitely the best soldiers in the world. After all, they were armed with simple rifles and fought against the modern armies of the industrial countries with the support of simple and non-existent artillery and tanks.”
" While fighting, they had to endure the command of a group of fools and corrupt criminals above their heads. Under the same circumstances, not to mention the American soldiers, even the British soldiers with the thin red line, the German soldiers with the world's model army, and even the Soviet soldiers with the gray animal would mutiny. However, the Chinese soldiers were still fearlessly sacrificing their lives.”
After General Harold R. Stark's evaluation of the Chinese soldiers, Li Yan looked at Secretary Zhu and the others with a faint smile.
After all, this sentence sounded like a compliment, but the sarcasm in it was something that even the deaf and blind could hear.
"Commissioner Li, I hope you can rest assured about this. I can assure you that there is absolutely no corruption in our army. I even have a roster of everyone in the 105th Division and the Shandong Brigade. Whether it is the monthly allowance or food expenses, it can be accurate to everyone.”
Secretary Zhu explained to Li Yan excitedly. This was not only related to the 2 million USD that he had never seen before, but also because of Li Yan's impression of the Shandong Military and Political Committee. Director Guo had complained this morning and he had planned to talk to Commander Zhao.
In Li Yan's eyes, it was definitely a slander to say that the Shandong Military and Political Committee was the same as the people in Chongqing. Secretary Zhu swore on his own party spirit that if someone really embezzled the food expenses or pocket money of the soldiers, the gun in his hand would not be for show, regardless of whether the person was Chief of Staff He or Commander Zhao.
"I can also guarantee this. The party building work in our army is excellent. Our party cannot tolerate the various bad habits of the old-fashioned army. Once this phenomenon occurs, we will definitely deal with it seriously and not show any mercy. If a soldier encountered a situation where they were asked for food or benefits, they would immediately report it to the party members of each squad. The party members would directly report it to the party branch established in the company, and the party branch would handle this matter. If the party member helped the grassroots to hide it, the party would record a major demerit punishment waiting for him.”
This was what Director Guo said. After all, Director Guo was in charge of the party building work, and the party building work in the Shandong base was very perfect and excellent. Without such perfect party building work, the troops in the Shandong base would not have such strong combat effectiveness.
In fact, it was impossible for him, who had come down from the position of Secretary of Yan 'an Shandong Branch, not to have any opinions, but this did not mean that he did not know the importance of party building.
Although Shandong had already fallen, there was still a part of the Chongqing army in Shandong. He had also seen the days of the ordinary soldiers in the Chongqing army.
In fact, whether it was the 105th Division, the Shandong Brigade, or the various travel teams, the reason why the soldiers at the grassroots level lived like humans was because of the party building work. Therefore, after receiving the task of being responsible for the party building work, he could say that he had done his best to do it.
"I know, I know." Seeing that Commander Zhao and Governor Li were about to speak, Li Yan stopped them. "In fact, I already knew after eating the half of the food that Secretary Zhu left for me. I might be a little straightforward, but I'm not stupid. I knew it when I saw that half of it.”
There were some things that didn't need to be said. Just like how Commander Zhao looked at Secretary Zhu worriedly when he saw half a cornbread, but he wasn't surprised at all. This meant that everyone here had eaten cornbread in the morning.
After all, if everyone present had special dishes, then they should not be worried but surprised. They should be surprised that Secretary Zhu ate cornbread, and the words of worry meant that Secretary Zhu had obviously left a portion of his breakfast for himself. Combining these points, Li Yan could be said to have trusted the few people in front of him.
"By the way, I used too much lamp oil yesterday, so I'm sorry, Director Guo.”Since it was so difficult to eat, it could be imagined that the lamp oil should also be limited. He seemed to have used a lot yesterday, and it was obvious that he had exceeded the limit.
"It's fine, it's fine. Our base doesn't have anything else, but we do have a little lamp oil.”
Although he complained for a while during breakfast, to be honest, if Li Yan really apologized, Director Guo would feel embarrassed. After all, the telegram from Yan 'an clearly stated that the Shandong base should do their best to support Li Yan's work. Even if Li Yan did not say anything, he would still do what he wanted. Director Guo had no other choice but to complain. The lamp oil still had to be filled every day.
After hearing Director Guo's words, Secretary Zhu, Commander Zhao, and Governor Li all laughed. Director Guo was a ready-made person who had changed from arrogance to deference.
This book comes from：m.funovel.com。