Nanyang 1931: From piglets to giants

Chapter 135: Guangdong and Guangxi rise in rebellion, will Penang follow suit?
By the end of May 1936, the atmosphere both internationally and domestically had become extremely tense. Even many political gurus who paid a little attention to the news could explain the idea of ​​Japan, Germany, and Italy rewriting the world order through war.

In Europe, the trauma of World War I forced Britain, France and other countries to adopt a certain degree of appeasement policy. Their own weakness made them dare not take strong action against the Axis powers' crossing of the line, and they could only express an attitude of "I don't care because I don't want to care" in a bluffing manner.

In the United States, the upper class elites are the most calculating of their own, and they may not even want the world order to change.

Objectively speaking, Japan and Germany both relied heavily on the United States during their early rise.

After all, the United States is already the world's number one industrial power. Whether in terms of national strength, population, industrial strength, or internal national organization, it is far superior to that of the United Kingdom. Its hard power crushes the United Kingdom.

However, as a two-hundred-year-old hegemon and the empire on which the sun never sets, Britain remains unyielding even after its death. Although its hard power is far inferior to that of the United States, its soft power is far stronger than that of the United States, and its influence in the international community even surpasses that of the United States.

The British pound is still a more widely circulated world currency than the US dollar.

Of course, the two countries have been competing and cooperating with each other for a long time because of their close cooperation in various fields, and even a kind of relationship where you are in me and I am in you. They dare not directly tear each other apart and start fighting.
But among themselves, among the people and in public opinion, Americans hate the British the most, and the British, in the same way, hate Americans the most.

The competition between the world's number one and number two has become extremely fierce.

If it weren't for World War II, which inexplicably destroyed the world hegemon Britain, it would be hard to say whether military friction would occur between Britain and the United States.

This is also the only change of hegemony in the history of the world that transcended the Thucydides Trap. When the second-in-command rose to become the boss, it did not fight with the old boss, but the old boss inexplicably fought with others.

The two bosses joined forces to attack Japan and Germany.

As for the domestic situation, it is now extremely tense and the situation has become extremely tense.

Two things happened in a few months. First, the Japanese Army Corps in North China was renamed the Japanese Garrison in China.

The second was the North China Corps, no, it should be called the China Corps now, which conducted large-scale military exercises, the content of which was to capture Beijing and Tianjin.

His wolfish ambitions are clearly evident.

Throughout China's public opinion field, all intellectuals, big and small, were calling for an immediate end to the civil war and a united resistance against Japan.

If the civil war continues like this, the Japanese will really benefit for nothing.

In contrast, the troops that raised the banner of marching north to fight against Japan naturally also gained unanimous favor from various domestic forces and public opinion.

Although Nanjing was still acting on its own, the warlords had tacitly stopped and each took their own actions.

As for the Northeast Army, it had already disobeyed orders as early as April and refused to fight no matter what. Hundreds of thousands of officers and soldiers jointly demanded to reject civil war and prepare to resist Japan.

Even the southern warlords who seemed to have nothing to do with the other party were no longer honest at this moment. They all had their own little ideas. A demonic wind blew from the bottom up, not only to all parts of China, but also to Southeast Asia.

Penang City Hall.

Everyone came early to get ready, and they all carefully adjusted their discipline buttons, looking serious and solemn, waiting for their leader Zheng Yi to come for the meeting.

Power in Penang is distributed according to financial resources. Ever since Zheng Yi returned from a business trip to Saudi Arabia, he has undoubtedly been the richest man in Penang, and his prestige has reached an unprecedented level.

It is for this reason that he has not come to City Hall for meetings since Tan Kah Kee became the mayor of Penang two years ago.

Zheng Yi no longer personally handled all the government affairs in Penang.

Therefore, everyone knew that Zheng Yi had actually called everyone to a meeting today for the first time, and what he was planning must be something huge.

At two o'clock in the afternoon, Zheng Yi and Li Lili strode into the meeting room and sat down directly in the chair at the head. Without any nonsense, he got straight to the point and said, "Everyone, something happened in China."

"Xiaowei, did you know in advance that Guangdong and Guangxi were about to rise in rebellion?"

Li Xiaowei, who had been pretending to be in the back, was suddenly stunned when his name was called. After a while, he said in confusion, "Huh? I... I don't know. Guangdong and Guangxi are going to rise up in rebellion? What's going on?"

Zheng Yi: "Yesterday, Mr. Tao came to me and asked for two things. First, he wanted to know if the officers and troops they had sent to Penang could be transferred back. Second, he wanted to know if we could provide them with some support."

"Generals Li and Chen have officially decided to rename their troops the Anti-Japanese National Salvation Army. They have also formed a joint military committee and have decided to march north to fight the Japanese. This is imminent. What are your thoughts?"

"Penang has always had good relations with the Guangdong and Guangxi armies, and has always supported the national anti-Japanese war. For many years, we overseas people have indeed been urging Nanjing to resist Japan.

Now, Nanjing still doesn't seem to have any intention of resisting Japan, but it is Guangdong and Guangxi that have taken the lead in carrying the banner of anti-Japanese resistance."

Zheng Yi crossed his legs and asked, "Tell me, will Penang support the Guangdong and Guangxi uprising? If so, to what extent?"

This news was truly too shocking and a matter of great importance. For a moment, no one dared to speak out.

After all, the people present are all businessmen. When they suddenly encounter an event of this magnitude, their first reaction is panic, and their second reaction is naturally to try hard to extricate themselves.

But when I thought about picking it out, I realized that Penang had a close relationship with Guangdong and Guangxi, and it was really hard to pick it out.

Besides, they had already begun to have some feelings of falling out with Nanjing, so even if they picked it now, they might not be able to pick it cleanly.

Besides, Penang is not under the jurisdiction of Nanjing, so there is really no need to be afraid of them.

For a moment, everyone was in a state of confusion and didn't know what to do. Most of them could only light up their cigarettes one after another and start smoking.

Qian Qiwen knew that for such a major matter, a tone had to be set before everyone could discuss it. At this point, no one knew Zheng Yi's attitude towards the matter, and it was probably impossible to discuss it, so she took the initiative to ask:

"We're all just a bunch of small businessmen dealing with something this big. Since Ayi has called us together for a meeting, I wonder what his thoughts are?"

Zheng Yi smiled bitterly and shook his head, saying, "If I had really thought it through, I wouldn't have called you to a meeting."

However, he also knew that this matter needed a tone before it could be discussed, so he simply said:

"This matter should be discussed from two perspectives. The first is the righteousness of the nation. As the saying goes, every citizen is responsible for the rise and fall of a country. Although we are all overseas citizens, we are still descendants of the Yellow Emperor and have Chinese nationality."

"There is no doubt that if something truly unspeakable were to happen in China, we overseas Chinese would become rootless duckweed, unable to hold our heads up again and would be looked down upon."

When everyone heard this, they all nodded in agreement. What Zheng Yi said was the truth and what everyone really thought.

During this period, overseas Chinese had complicated feelings towards their homeland because they all had Chinese nationality.

Especially when they were in the colonies, they were oppressed by Europeans, Americans and indigenous peoples for many years, and sometimes they actually acted as lackeys for the British to plunder the natural resources of this place, so they were looked down upon.

Almost all Chinese people will unconsciously comfort themselves with an Ah Q spirit: I am Chinese too, and I come here simply to make money.

Over time, as such psychological cues become more frequent, people may sometimes appear to care more about the so-called greater good, be more patriotic, and care more about the so-called grand narrative than ordinary people in their country.

Furthermore, since the Xinhai Revolution, all overseas Chinese have unconsciously begun to have their own souls.

In fact, the Chinese in Southeast Asia started building schools, ancestral halls, celebrating every Chinese festival, and even wearing Chinese clothes and taking pride in Chinese culture after the Xinhai Revolution.

Having a modern democratic country behind them is the main source of superiority for these overseas Chinese, especially the Chinese in Southeast Asia.

If the country is gone, won’t we all be the same as those natives in Southeast Asia?
Wouldn't that be very embarrassing and shameful?
Of course, this is also one of the main reasons why local indigenous people hate and even exclude Chinese people.

Especially since this is Penang.

The Chinese in Penang made great contributions to the Xinhai Revolution. Before the success of the revolution, this place was actually the actual headquarters of the revolutionary party.

Therefore, in the eyes of many Southeast Asian Chinese, they have contributed to the founding of this country.

No one cares much about the civil war, but if the Japanese occupied China, everyone would be unhappy psychologically and it would be difficult not to take this matter seriously.

"Besides, I have also made it clear that the Japanese are not only a threat to my hometown in Tangshan, I believe they are also a threat to the entire Nanyang.

We overseas Chinese now have money in our pockets, so when it comes to justice, my principle is that I don't care about ideologies or not. Domestic civil war has nothing to do with us, but whoever resists Japan, we will definitely support it firmly. "

"This is a matter of principle, but..."

Tan Kah Kee added, "Supporting the Anti-Japanese War is what we should do. I don't think it's something that needs to be discussed. Every citizen has a share of responsibility for the fate of a nation. We Chinese in Southeast Asia, those with money, those with strength, contribute money and those with strength, there's nothing to argue about." "If it's the Northwest Army, the Northeast Army, or the Hebei Army who raise this banner, then there's nothing to argue about. I'll go there myself tomorrow. If they need anything, Penang will provide it."

"But Guangdong and Guangxi are fighting the Japanese...how are they fighting? The Japanese are in the far north, and they are in the far south. Are they going to fight all the way from Guangdong and Guangxi to the Northeast? What kind of resistance are they really fighting?"

Zheng Yi nodded: "That's what I mean. If they really want to resist the Japanese, we in Penang will of course fully support them. There's nothing to say.

But if they use the banner of anti-Japanese resistance to start a civil war, and in the end they kill a lot of Japanese without even fighting a single one, there will be no benefit for us to get involved."

As he spoke, he began to ponder.

After all, from the perspective of justice, it is difficult to determine what Chen and Li are going to do.

If they really wanted to fight the Japanese, they would have to expand their territory and fight a civil war under the pretext of fighting the Japanese.

Originally in history, the troops from Guangdong and Guangxi did march into Hunan, but the problem was that they were pacified too quickly. Even Zheng Yi, as a later generation, did not know whether they planned to pass through Hunan to march north to fight against the Japanese, or whether they planned to stay in Hunan after entering in the name of fighting against the Japanese.

Zheng Yi tried desperately to recall the specific details of the Guangdong-Guangxi Incident in his previous life, but this period of history was only briefly mentioned in the textbooks, and there was too little information about it, and he knew too little about it.

All we know is that this uprising forced the Nationalist army to transfer all its main forces to the south, thus enabling our army to successfully join forces. Therefore, this incident seems to have always been regarded as the background of our army's joining forces in the introduction of modern history.

There is not much research on the incident itself.

Zheng Yi thought for a long time, and he only knew that the Guangdong faction failed because its subordinates were instigated to rebel. This was the third trick of the Nanjing faction, and it would be the only trick used in the civil war.
The Guangxi clique was relatively united and was not instigated to rebel. Judging from the ending, it seemed that Li and Bai were living a normal life with Nanjing again, and no one seemed to have stepped down because of this.

However, if it were just a guess, Zheng Yi estimated that without the support of the Guangdong clique, the Guangxi clique alone would be unable to hold on.

The biggest characteristic of the Guangxi clique is that they are good at fighting, but they have no money. The lack of financial independence is the biggest flaw of Li and Bai. But as long as the military pay is in place, at least their combat effectiveness is not inferior to that of the Central Army. The bloody Battle of Taierzhuang was also the first major victory on the front line of the War of Resistance.

At least Zheng Yi himself has always believed that if Li and Bai had money, they would probably be able to fight better than the so-called Central Bureau.

But in Penang, Zheng Yi himself may have nothing but money.

With the current financial resources of Zheng Yi and Penang, they would have enough money to cover the military expenses of the Guangxi clique.

In other words, if he really supports this matter, even if he doesn't give anything else but just money, there is still a great possibility that it will change history.

It would be fine if they really wanted to go north to fight against the Japanese, but if a civil war broke out again, who knows what kind of chain reaction would occur?

Li Xiaowei suddenly said, "I don't think so, brother-in-law. I'm not familiar with General Chen, but I've followed General Li and General Bai. They're not like that. I believe that at least General Li and General Bai are truly committed to resisting the Japanese."

"Guangxi and Guangdong are far away, and have nothing to do with the Japanese. However, our Guangdong and Guangxi have produced heroes since ancient times. Since the late Qing Dynasty, they have always been the cradle of the Chinese revolution. Resisting Japan and saving the country is in line with the people's wishes. Brother-in-law, don't forget that among the Chinese in Southeast Asia, Cantonese people account for almost half."

Zheng Yi nodded and motioned him to continue.

"Although geographically speaking, the Guangdong and Guangxi armies have no contact with the Japanese, if the Nationalist government truly wants to resist Japan, why not open up a route for the Guangdong and Guangxi armies to march north and provide them with supplies?"

"My suggestion is to support the two generals. If they really believe that the anti-Japanese war is fake and the civil war is real, and they refuse to leave other people's territory, we should immediately cut off their aid and withdraw from interfering. We can even publish a newspaper to criticize them."

"But if they are truly committed to resisting the Japanese, we should support them to show our determination as the Chinese in Southeast Asia to support the war of resistance."

"The most important thing is that no matter what, the two men's actions are tantamount to forcing Nanjing. It also shows that the words "resisting Japan" have indeed become the new righteousness in the country today. If Nanjing believes that they are rebelling, it is not anti-Japanese."

"You can just order all provinces to give up the key roads and see if they leave or not. If you really don't want the Guangdong and Guangxi troops to go north, you can just go north and fight the Japanese yourself. Otherwise, it means that you still only want civil war and don't want to resist Japan."

"No matter what, General Chen and General Li are far away in Guangdong and Guangxi, and they both understand the righteousness of the anti-Japanese war. At least they dare to raise the banner of the anti-Japanese war.
On the other hand, what was Nanjing doing as the central government of a country? They were still endlessly suppressing bandits, suppressing bandits, suppressing bandits, and fighting an endless civil war. In the face of the bandit invasion, they did nothing. It was simply shameless!
I think we in Penang should support the two generals. This is not because we in Penang have any personal connection with Guangdong and Guangxi, but to tell the world that whoever fights against the Japanese will be supported by us! Anyone who wants to gain our support in Penang, just raise the banner of anti-Japanese resistance and we will support them!

The speech was passionate and powerful. Upon hearing this, the people present couldn't help but nod their heads one after another.

Zheng Yi also nodded and said, "Let's put aside the words of righteousness for the moment and talk about this matter. For Penang, even if we don't consider Penang, what are the pros and cons? How do we weigh them?"

After a while, He Shili, who had come back specifically for this matter, spoke up: "No matter what, the instructors of the Military Academy cannot let them go back. Even if they do, they must go back in batches and in an orderly manner.

The military academy has only been established for two years and has just started to get on track. The system in my army also relies entirely on these Yunnan and Guangxi instructors for teaching and training."

"For us, these junior officers and instructors who have had actual combat experience, seen blood, and killed people are treasures.
But in fact, for Generals Li and Bai, it was just that. Moreover, as far as I know, most of the people who came to teach in Penang were Mr. Tao’s former subordinates.

"Mr. Tao is General Bai's man, and he doesn't get along very well with General Li. I don't think General Li really wants these people back, but is just using this as an excuse to negotiate terms with us."

"Just think of it as paying for help. I mean... help."

Qian Qiwen said, "Our Penang products, including gasoline, lubricants, Thai Machinery's motors, and processed rubber, are actually all exported to China, and the scale is quite large. General Chen actually buys much more from us than the national customs."

Zheng Yi: "Why? Guangdong province alone buys more than the entire country?"

Xu Shengli continued, "It's mainly because Guangdong has a certain amount of industry, and most of our trade is smuggling, so there are no tariffs. On the other hand, the so-called central region has no industry, and the tariffs are extremely high."

Hu Wenhu: "The amount of supplies we smuggle to the Yunnan Army through the Burma Road (old road) every year exceeds the normal customs transportation.

After all, Penang doesn't produce many consumer goods, and most of them are high-end products aimed at the European and American markets. As for industrial products..."

As he spoke, Hu Wenhu shook his head and smiled bitterly.

Tan Kah Kee said, "The warlords in each province basically have their own military factories and their own military needs. Although they are messing around, the Guangdong Army is powerful and can at least build airplanes. Every year, countless amounts of steel and fuel are smuggled from us."

"On the contrary, Nanjing has been working on it for many years but has not seen any results.

Apart from artillery, there is almost no other production capacity, and most of the weapons and equipment are purchased and rely on international aid."

"From a personal perspective, Nanjing's trade with us is actually not as great as the smuggling by the warlords in the provinces."

Yi Guangyan: "I have heard a rumor that the government's fiscal revenue actually relies mostly on customs duties, and industrial and commercial taxes are not collected much.

Therefore, the higher-ups are intentionally suppressing national industry and collaborating with foreign compradors to increase tariffs. I just don't know whether this is true or not."

Li Xiaoshi: "So, Penang's connection with the mainland depends heavily on Generals Li and Bai of the Guangxi clique for military talent, and sales are mostly dependent on General Chen and our smuggling.
Now that Guangdong and Guangxi are jointly in rebellion, if we don’t help them, are we going to help Nanjing? What kind of people are they over there in Nanjing? I don’t think they have the slightest intention of resisting the war.”

Zheng Yi had been watching them discuss their own issues without interrupting. Seeing that everyone agreed, he decided to put the matter on hold and said, "So, for both public and private reasons, you all agree to help?"

Li Jiqian: "We must help, of course, but if we intervene in this matter, our status in Nanjing will change. We will offend them to death. I think we should strike a balance."

Tan Kah Kee: "Yes, if they are not really resisting the Japanese, wouldn't we all become traitors too?

My suggestion is that a limited aid is enough to ensure that they will not be easily wiped out. When they really come into conflict with the Japanese army, it will not be too late to provide large-scale assistance. "

Zheng Yi nodded: "That's pretty much what I meant. Let's discuss how to help now."

"This is the second thing I want to tell you. In any case, before they actually engage in a war with the Japanese, our assistance can only be in the form of trade, not free aid. Free aid is also unsustainable."

When everyone heard this, they looked at each other in surprise.

"As for trade...what do they have?"

"Yeah, how can we trade like this?"

Guangdong and Guangxi have no money, so if they really want to spend money to buy something, there is no need to go to them.

To be honest, the things from Guangdong and Guangxi that they can appreciate in Penang are just some local specialties. How much can they be worth?
Zheng Yi: "Penang, and the entire Nanyang, are a bit short of manpower right now. What I mean is, since we have decided to help, we might as well ask them for some men. Of course, it would be even better if we could have food."

“The second thing I want to talk about is Penang’s talent introduction plan and the new city’s food industry plan. In short,

First, I need people. Let General Li and Mr. Chen find a solution for me. Second, I want to build a large food processing industry in Penang. Who among you is interested in investing and participating?"

(End of this chapter)