The Ministry of Administration is very satisfied with the preparations for the Navy and Army, but preparations are not only at the military level, but also at the economic level. After all, to a certain extent, war is about burning money.

In 1903, the fiscal revenue of the East China government reached 121.5 million silver dollars, an increase of more than 40%, which was converted into silver of about 85 million taels. In 1903, the fiscal revenue of the Qing court was only 93 million taels. With the efforts of a province, the fiscal revenue of the East China government was almost the same as that of the Qing court.

The East China government's fiscal revenue in 1903 was mainly due to three reasons. First, it was given by the Russo-Japanese War. Since Japan ordered a large amount of materials from the East China government, they all had to pay with real money. This not only directly increased the revenue of the East China government, but also stimulated the manufacturing development of the East China government, and indirectly further promoted the manufacturing development of the East China government. After all, the materials that Japan wants to purchase were first purchased internally by the East China government. Only when the East China government could not supply them, they would purchase them externally; second, Nanyang China

Investment and entrepreneurship of overseas Chinese. In 1904, the investment of overseas Chinese in Nanyang in Shandong formed a large-scale development. At that time, more than 500 overseas Chinese in Nanyang invested in the construction of factories, opened enterprises, shops, etc. in Shandong, with a total assets of more than 30 million silver dollars. This not only greatly promoted the economic development of the East China government, but also provided a large number of employment opportunities and added more than 50,000 new jobs, further expanding the number of workers in the East China government. This is of great significance to promoting the industrial generation development of the East China government.

Finally, the preparations for the East China government are required to purchase a large amount of materials, which can also stimulate the development of the manufacturing industry; at the same time, it also requires production and construction of a large number of warships, guns and other weapons, which can promote the development of heavy industry.

Stimulated by these three factors, the economic development of the East China government was able to increase significantly in 1904, which naturally led to the increase in government fiscal revenue.

Of course, the cost of the war is far from enough to rely solely on the fiscal revenue of the East China government. Until now, Japan has paid about 1.5 billion yen, or about 170 million pounds for the war, while the war expenses of Russia have been as high as nearly 4 billion rubles, or 450 million pounds. Therefore, the fiscal revenue of the East China government is not enough at all.

In this regard, after the East China government was almost the same as Japan, most of the expenses for preparing for war came from bond income. In early 1904, the East China government issued bonds worth about 15 million pounds in Germany and the United States. At this time, Germany had bought more than 13 million pounds, and the United States also bought about 10 million pounds. Overall, the sales of bonds were good, and nearly 80% of the bonds had been bought. However, since some of the bonds were sold at prices below the face value, the actual amount of funds raised was close to 22 million pounds.

The sales of bonds are good, mainly because Japan has been winning the war. Although the East China government’s statement at the beginning of the war was targeted by both Japan and Russia, the East China government was closer to Japan before the war. After the war, the East China government generally favored Japan, because it intercepted the discrete warships of the Russian army. In the eyes of foreign countries, it obviously helped Japan, although only Japan did not think so. Now only Japan beat Russia almost all over the ground. If the East China government participates in the war again, Russia basically has no hope of turning the tables and can only compromise with Japan. The East China government will inevitably give up a lot of benefits. Therefore, both Japan and the East China government’s debt volume are worth pursuing.

However, the East China government has not participated in the war yet, so the sales of bonds are still not as good as that of Japan. Because it is in the United States, although the United States is now the second largest trading partner of the East China government, the trade level is relatively low. The trade between the two sides is mainly about the East China government importing products and technology from the United States, while the United States imports mainly resources, minerals, etc. Therefore, in the United States, there is not much knowledge of the East China government. Moreover, Japan has issued more than 30 million pounds of bonds in the United States, which also squeezed the East China government's bond sales.

Most of the bonds issued by the East China government in the United States were purchased by Jewish consortiums. At this time, Russia was the country with the most severe anti-Jewish sentiment. From August 27 to September 7, 1903, the St. Petersburg Flag Newspaper serialized a series of articles titled "The Plan for the Jews to Control the World". The newspaper said that the original title of this document was "Minutes of the World Alliance Conference of the Masonic and Presbyterian Presbyterians", which was later famous "Minutes of the Presbyterian Presbyterians", which was the content of a group of so-called secret conferences of the so-called Jewish elders conspired to seize world power and control all mankind. It became the most important document in the anti-Semitism movement in later generations, as well as all the ancestor documents on the theory of Masonic conspiracy.

Russia also used this as an excuse to harshly oppress the Russian Jews, but at this time the Jewish consortium dominated the economic circles of the United Kingdom and the United States, so it urgently hoped that a country could stand up to suppress Russia and prompt changes in Russia to improve the status of Russian Jews.

After Japan and Russia had a ferocious divorce, they received strong support from Jewish consortiums such as Rothschild, Kassel and Shaffer, and also provided certain support to the East China government. After all, it is always a good thing to have an additional government that resists Russia, and millions of British pounds are nothing to the Jewish consortium, not to mention the high probability of profit.

However, the sales of bonds are significantly better in Germany. Germany is not Japan's main fundraising country. In recent years, the East China government has had deep cooperation with Germany in military technology, and has ordered five warships in Germany. In addition, the warship materials and accessories built in China are basically imported from Germany. Therefore, it has established relatively good relations with many German manufacturers, and has a considerable reputation in the German industry and business circles. This time, the bonds issued, several shipyards, and Knuber Company have subscribed to a lot.

It is precisely because of the good bond issuance that the East China government has sufficient funds for preparations for war. The two arsenals in Qingdao and Jinan have also opened up full power for production. Now the People's Army has more than 4,000 artillery pieces and more than 8,000 mortars. More than 300,000 various shells have been produced, and about 50,000 cannon shells can be produced every month.

In addition to weapons, the East China government has also prepared more than 60,000 horses, donkeys, mules and other animals, more than 12,000 horse-drawn carriages, and more than 25,000 trolleys; it has reserved 5 million tons of various grains, 700,000 tons of feed, 300,000 tons of salt, and 500,000 tons of medicines; more than 80,000 tents, more than 600,000 cotton coats, more than 1.2 million pairs of gloves, more than 800,000 pairs of leather shoes, and 1 million sets of marching and laying. It can be said that the preparation of materials is quite sufficient.

In terms of transportation capacity, the entire line of the railway in Shandong will be completed, and the total tonnage of the cargo ship reaches 220,000 tons. Both the sea and land lines can greatly accelerate the flow of materials.

Of course, the preparations for the war also included intelligence work. When the Japanese army besieged Lushun, they lost contact with the outside of the intelligence base in Lushun and could only contact Qingdao directly. After the Japanese army occupied Lushun, the contact was restored again. Moreover, the two shops located in Lushun City of East China government started business again, and the Japanese army also returned part of the requisitioned materials to the shops.

Now the East China government has set up a shop in Shenyang City, which can use radio stations to contact Qingdao. In addition, there are 7 strongholds and 3 material preparation points in the villages between Lushun and Shenyang. The main preparations are grain, forage and a small amount of medicine. Although the cloth is not large, after the East China government joins the war, it can still use it for 10 days and 8 days.

The Executive Yuan was very satisfied with the preparations in all aspects. This year was indeed not wasted. Xia Bohai said again: "How is the situation between Japan and Russia now?"

Shang Qisong said: "Japan is still like that. It either celebrates or builds temples in China, and welcomes the army returning to China. However, after the Japanese conquered Lushun, it was indeed a huge agitation for the country and a shot of a heart-warranting shot for the people, which further boosted the spirit of support for the war in Japan. Although the economic situation in Japan is now very deteriorating and the living standards of the people have also declined a lot, there will be no serious anti-war sentiment in a short period of time. Unless it is a major setback on the battlefield. In the situation in Russia, we have obtained news from Germany. According to German news, the loss of Lushun has certainly not had any impact on Russia. Most public opinion is still convinced that Russia can achieve the final victory and is still optimistic about the future of the war. Moreover, as usual, the capital St. Petersburg is still full of banquets and theaters."

Xia Bohai nodded and said, "This is normal. We cannot expect the situation in Japan to affect the war. The upper class in Russia is still drunk and dreaming. However, Japan returned all the materials that were recruited in Lushun. It was a bit interesting. If you give courtesy to others, you will have to ask for help, and I am afraid there will be something else."

Wang Yunpeng said: "What can I do? Do you want us to send troops?"

Qin Zheng said: "This is definitely impossible. Now that Japan has just captured Lushun and annihilated the Pacific Fleet. The situation is very good. How can we invite us to send troops at this time?"

Xia Bohai said: "I think it's probably because Japan wants to go back on its word now. At this time, Japan may think it can win the battle independently, so I hope to persuade us to cancel our plan to join the war."

Xiao Jianjun said: "So what should we do? Will we have a complete fall in love with Japan now?"
Chapter completed!