Republic of China: My great warlord, many children, many blessings.

After all, Yunnan is too far away from you, it's inconvenient.

But Guizhou is very close to Guangdong.

Upon hearing this, Shen Hao nodded. He had to admit that Duan Zhigui was quite politically astute.

Transferring Tang Jiyao and sending Cai E to the capital was clearly one of the steps to further weaken local power.

You could say Yuan Shikai was blinded by power, but his political skills were definitely very strong.

Three days later, the train arrived in Hankou.

Shen Hao stayed for a day, after all, he had to pick up Qingqing, Yao Yuying, Yao Yulan, and Wang Keqin to take them back to Guangdong.

The next day, after having lunch, Shen Hao and the women left by car.

·· ·Requesting flowers·· ·

As soon as Duan Zhigui returned to the Governor's Mansion, the head steward of the household rushed over and whispered, "Governor, the Da Han Daily published an article about Bai Lang's attack on Laohekou in Hubei a couple of days ago."

They even created a special column, "The Theory of the Wolf's Calamity in the Central Plains," to report on this matter.

Duan Zhigui said unhappily, "Stop beating around the bush and get to the point."

"Yes, Governor."

The Da Han Daily openly reported these news items.

It is obvious that they were colluding with Bai Lang, and the newspaper is suspected of being in league with the bandits.

Last time they offended the Governor-General in the newspaper, didn't they? We can retaliate in kind, using the sixteen-character charge of "leaking military secrets, inciting rebellion, disrupting public order, and misleading the people" to shut down the *Da Han Bao* newspaper and arrest those responsible.

Upon hearing this, Duan Zhigui's eyes lit up. He patted his bald head and laughed, "You son of a bitch are so smart. Let's do it this way. Damn it, they dare to spread rumors that I'm a pimp. Lock them all up and see who dares to say another word."

"Yes, just you wait and see."

In the afternoon, Duan Zhigui sent men to arrest Hu Shian, the manager of the Da Han Bao newspaper, as well as more than ten other people, including editors, directors, distributors, and reporters, and imprison them.

Instead of sending the police, they handed the case over to the Army Tribunal for questioning, intending to put Hu Shi'an and others to death.

The charges were "leaking military secrets, inciting rebellion, disrupting public order, and misleading the public."

Everyone knew that Duan Zhigui was taking advantage of the situation to vent his personal grievances and slander the Da Han Bao newspaper, but they couldn't refute this excuse.

However, this move also met with pressure from various sectors of Hubei society.

Duan Zhigui had no choice but to give up on killing them and was sentenced to three years in prison.

The escape of Xiong Kewu from Sichuan also signaled the failure of the entire Second Revolution.

Due to inadequate preparation and other reasons, the "Second Revolution" quickly ended in failure.

Sun, Huang Xing, Li Liejun, Bai Wenwei, Hu Ningmin and others were forced to flee overseas.

In this revolution, which lasted only a few months, Shen Hao benefited the most.

He rose from brigade commander to division commander, then to governor, and concurrently served as governor of Guizhou—a meteoric rise.

Upon returning to Guangdong, he placed the arms factory, a reward from the system, in his base of operations in Qing City.

Construction took one month and could produce fifty Mauser rifles per day.

Meanwhile, the power plants and light bulb factories that were rewarded by the system also began construction.

The garment factory that the system rewarded is also under construction.

Currently, Shen Hao has monopolized the sand, gravel, and cement business in the entire Guangdong province.

Even so, maintaining a large army is very difficult.

Shen Hao's troops now number only 40,000, which is clearly insufficient.

To completely control the two provinces, we need to increase the army to 100,000, and we also need to have 30,000 troops on standby.

These military expenditures are a huge expense.

After thinking for a while, Shen Hao wrote down a long list of profitable industries on a piece of paper.

In the end, many unrealistic options were eliminated, leaving only a large number of profitable industries such as tobacco bureaus, power bureaus, banks, lotteries, horse racing, etc.

211. Taking the initiative to throw oneself into someone's arms

Of these industries, horse racing is currently the fastest to implement it.

The power bureau also needs to start this immediately. Monopolizing requires a large initial investment, but the later revenue is very considerable.

You can also get lottery tickets.

Once the plan was finalized, Shen Hao immediately began implementing it.

On September 4th, two unfamiliar departments were established in Guangzhou.

The formal establishment of the power bureau and the tobacco bureau caused quite a stir.

The tobacco bureau, in particular, caused an uproar among many people.

Because it cut off many people's livelihoods.

From now on, all tobacco in Guangdong and even other provinces must be sold through the tobacco bureau; otherwise, it will be considered a violation of regulations.

To put it bluntly, it's a monopoly.

The tobacco bureau decides which brands of cigarettes you can and cannot sell, and you must sell them to the tobacco bureau at the lowest possible price before they are sold to private individuals through the tobacco bureau.

Of course, the main reason is that Shen Hao does not own his own tobacco factory.

This is a significant blow to large distributors.

Moreover, Shen Hao also plans to establish his own cigarette brand, "793".

The cigarette packaging of this era is incredibly outdated, and it doesn't even have filters. If Shen Hao were to create one himself, wouldn't that be a game-changer?

They directly monopolized the high-end market.

This led to the tobacco bureau overshadowing the power bureau.

Many large tobacco distributors started causing trouble, but they couldn't make a ripple in front of the army. Shen Hao completely ignored them.

Upon receiving the news, Jin Ruizhi immediately sought out Shen Hao.

Using this connection, she wanted to get closer to Shen Hao and inquire about the purpose of these policies, though deep down she really wanted to meet him.

"Governor Shen, you're such a big shot, you're really busy. You finally have time to see a lowly reporter like me?" Jin Ruizhi said with a hint of resentment.

It's so difficult for her to see Shen Hao.

It took Shen Hao a whole week to finally find time to see her.

The reason he agreed to see her was because of his connection with Bai Xiuzhu.

This made Jin Ruizhi feel somewhat upset.

Shen Hao said calmly, "You only have ten minutes for the interview. Are you choosing to continue wasting everyone's time?"

Should we begin the interview?

Jin Ruizhi said aggrievedly, "We're acquaintances, aren't we? Do you hate me that much? Do you dislike me that much?"

Shen Hao shrugged and said, "First, we have no relationship whatsoever. Second, you and I have no connection whatsoever. I won't waste my time on you."

Third, I'm really busy and don't have time to waste with you. Our time is worth different things, understand?

That's true. The establishment of the power bureau and the tobacco bureau, the training of recruited personnel, and the construction of the large horse racing factory all required Shen Hao's personal signature and supervision.

Shen Hao's bank is also in the process of being established, but there are currently no suitable personnel.

Not only that, there's also a water company in the plans, and Shen Hao doesn't have time to waste on that.

Furthermore, Shen Hao has already planned to develop a new city.

They're all so busy, they don't have time to deal with Jin Ruizhi.

Jin Ruizhi isn't Shen Hao's woman, so Shen Hao has no interest in playing around with her.

Jin Ruizhi retorted, unconvinced, "Then why can Bai Xiuzhu stick to you all day long?"

Shen Hao said, "First, she's my woman; second, she's my personal secretary now, so of course she's qualified. You could say she can see me anytime without any problem."

Bai Xiuzhu, who was carrying tea and about to come in, was delighted to hear these words, and her eyes crinkled with laughter.

She pouted haughtily, suppressing her smile before pushing open the door and going inside.

"Here you go, Sister Ruizhi, quick coffee, I just brewed it."

Jin Ruizhi said, "Thank you, my wife of the governor."

Bai Xiuzhu said happily, "You're too kind."

Wearing a cream-colored cheongsam, Bai Xiuzhu's figure was perfectly accentuated, her curves exquisite, and her exposed arms were as white as lotus roots, leaving Shen Hao speechless.

Bai Xiuzhu truly lives up to her status as a young lady from a wealthy family; her standards for her image are extremely high.

She pays great attention to her clothing and appearance.

In the morning, Shen Hao wore a dress; at noon, a cheongsam; and in the evening, a Western-style long dress, always maintaining a proper and attractive demeanor.

All this was so that Shen Hao could see a different side of herself every day.