The Fourth Outstanding Person of Huangpu Military Academy

The initial velocity of ZB-30 is 764 m/s, and that of Shadao is 740 m/s.

The ZB-30 is a long-stroke gas-operated automatic rifle. The Shadao and Fedorov automatic rifles have short-recoil barrels.

The ZB-30 has a theoretical rate of fire of 550-650 rounds per minute, while the Shadao's is 650 rounds per minute. The maximum range is 1500 meters, with an effective range of 600 meters, as published by the General Assembly, and both guns achieve this. However, based on the accuracy demonstrated by the ZB-30 in the first test, it can effectively engage human-sized targets at 700 or even 800 meters.

The performance requirements released by the General Assembly also included the ability to quickly change barrels. The ZB-30 certainly has this capability; its predecessor, the ZB-26, was renowned for its quick barrel changes. However, the Shadao Arsenal faced a more difficult challenge, as the prototype they used as a reference, the Fedorov automatic rifle, lacked this capability. They had to design their own quick-change mechanism. While the prototype now has this feature, its effectiveness will likely depend on testing.

"I have to say, both of these guns are excellent. Compared to the Madsen and Madsen-Kai used by the Revolutionary Army, they are much better than those of the Taisho 11th year."

Nie Rongzhen found it difficult to choose between the two guns.

Chen Tianheng: "The job of the general assembly is to select the best from the best. If both guns are good, that's a good thing. The worry is that if one of the light machine guns is a completely perfunctory product, that would be bad, as it would mean that the other competing model would not perform well. The most critical step is when the guns are sent to the troops for trial use, and the trial report carries a lot of weight."

Nie Rongzhen: "After the light machine gun has its shape, the next step is the heavy machine gun. How should we plan the heavy machine gun?"

Chen Tianheng: "The Maxim MGO8/15 is now being produced very skillfully by the First and Second Arsenals. Major components are gradually being domestically produced. The barrels are made in-house, and this year, we also began refining our own barrel steel. The troops have been very positive in their use, with quality improving with each production batch, and the latest batches have reached or even surpassed the level of original German production. As for the future..."

Nie Rongzhen: "In the future, we will definitely have to develop a more powerful heavy machine gun." Chen Tianheng: "That's natural. My ideal heavy machine gun should be a general-purpose dual-purpose machine gun. With a tripod, it can be a heavy machine gun, but without the tripod, it can be used on a bipod, and it has similar maneuverability to a light machine gun."

"It should weigh around 12 kilograms in bipod position, so it shouldn't be water-cooled or have heavy brass heat sinks. Instead, it should have a quick-change barrel for sustained fire, like these two light machine guns. Oh, and it should be belt-fed. It should be a bullet-spraying machine on the battlefield, just like the Maxim."

Nie Rongzhen: "It sounds like it completely overturns the structure of heavy machine guns like the Maxim and Hotchkiss. Also, it seems to be somewhat similar to the ZB30 or the 79-caliber version of the B-26?"

Chen Tianheng: "After the light machine gun is finalized and put into production, we can think about this matter."

Compared with the Northeast Arsenal that produces 100 or even 150 mm howitzers, the Guangdong ordnance industry is now producing light and small equipment.

However, Guangdong's strength lies in its domestic production rate. All parts for the rifle and cavalry are now domestically produced, and the soon-to-be-finalized light machine gun, regardless of model, will also be entirely domestically produced. The Northeast Arsenal, however, still imports Type 38 rifle barrels from Japan. Chiang Kai-shek's arsenals in the interior, such as those in Shanghai, Hanyang, and Gongxian, are largely similar.

"The K-75 mountain gun certainly can't meet the current battlefield needs. We want to imitate the Type 41 mountain gun, but it's different from the Type 38 rifle. If we don't have the original factory drawings, we can't build the Type 41 mountain gun ourselves."

第一兵工厂仍在小批量生产克虏伯75毫米山炮，一个月1到2门，主要是把一些缺编的炮兵营(全营只有8门9门炮的)补到12门。

Zhou Wentong, chief engineer of the artillery factory, expressed optimism about the Type 41 mountain gun.

"The Type 41 mountain gun is certainly superior to the K-75, but the troops do have their objections. They want the Type 41 to be converted to an open-frame design. Furthermore, it would be best if the weight didn't increase," Chen Tianheng thought for a moment and added, "If the range can be increased by two kilometers without increasing the weight, it would be perfect."

Zhou Wentong: "It depends on whether there are designs that meet these requirements internationally. But I think it would be very difficult to achieve this level."

Chen Tianheng thought that there might not be such a thing in the world now, but there would be one in four years.

The Japanese actually possessed the most infantry artillery weapons suitable for the Chinese battlefield. For example, the Type 94, a mountain gun with a caliber of approximately 75mm, was the best. Chen Tianheng suggested to the Arsenal's Artillery Branch whether they could design a fully enhanced version of the Type 41 mountain gun. This immediately stumped Old Zhou, who needed to find a foreign model for reference.

The army now felt that offensive operations required artillery with a caliber of 100mm or greater, something Japan also possessed, the Type 99 mountain howitzer. While other countries' 105mm howitzers weighed more than one ton, approaching two tons, the Type 99 weighed less than 800kg, roughly the same weight as the Bofors 75mm mountain howitzer, a weapon with unmatched range introduced by the Kuomintang in the early 1th century. It could also be disassembled and transported by packhorse.

Chen Tianheng thought for a moment and added, "It's imperative to introduce mature models internationally. Speaking of which, the Artillery Branch hasn't come across any original artillery designs, except for the K-75 blueprints brought over from the Shanghai Arsenal. It's time for our Ministry of Military Industry to organize a European inspection team."

Zhou Wentong: "General, can the delegation go to the United States again? I think the American 75mm light howitzer is actually quite good."

London.

It is still too early for the Ministry of Military Industry to go to Europe for inspection. They need to give advance notice and change their name - they cannot simply call it a military inspection delegation or an arms procurement delegation.

Now appearing in London is a delegation led by Foreign Minister Chen Youren, who is negotiating trade and tariff exemptions with the UK.

"Mr. Chen Youren, may I ask why Guangzhou is conducting MFN negotiations with the UK?"

At the hotel where they were staying, reporters stopped the delegation to ask questions.

Chen Youren: "The MFN negotiations, the most-favored-nation negotiations, are something China and the UK discussed six months ago. My visit to London this time demonstrates that we have reached an agreement in principle and only need to discuss the details."

Reporter: "How much significance do you think it would have for the UK to negotiate with the UK, given the economic size of the region surrounding Guangzhou, China?"

"For countries and economies of all sizes, trade with the UK is meaningful," said Chen Youren. "Currently, most of our exports go to the UK and the US, while the UK also exports a significant amount of manufacturing to China. China and the UK have considerable trade complementarity, and we shouldn't be viewed as competitors, but rather as partners."

The first stop of Chen Youren's visit was the United Kingdom and the second stop was the United States.

The main purpose was to switch Guangzhou's trade with Britain and the United States to a "conditional" most-favored-nation treatment model.

The aftereffects of last October's financial crisis are gradually being felt. In the US Congress, protectionist advocates Smoot and Hawley are pushing their Smoot-Hawley Tariff Act, which could pass at any moment.

China's current exports are mainly agricultural products (silk and tung oil) and industrial raw materials, and its imports are industrial products. Guangzhou is particularly fond of importing complex heavy equipment.

Britain and the United States do not produce silk or tung oil, and China will not have any large-scale manufacturing exports to impact the US market in the near future. On the contrary, it will import more machinery and equipment.

By signing a tariff exemption agreement, the US would give China a break when it significantly increases import and export tariffs on other countries. China would also tilt tariffs towards the US, for example, imposing a 15% tariff on machinery imported from countries like Japan and Italy, while charging only 5% or even less for the US. This is something that can be negotiated.

Chapter 68: How to squeeze Chiang Kai-shek dry

【凭票即付】92.5%纯度白银26克“找您的钱，1块2毛2。”

Chen Tianheng took the money and carefully examined the 1-yuan note in his hand. After hearing what the boss said, Chen Tianheng replied, "I thought you would give me a silver dollar."

"I make one or two thousand a day selling goods," the boss said, acting like a successful businessman. "I carry the silver dollars in sacks. The bank won't run away, and Chiang Kai-shek can't come to me."

Chen Tianheng put the change into his wallet, put the Parker pen he had just bought into his pocket, and continued shopping. "It seems that after six months of issuing the Guoyuan, the public has basically accepted this kind of paper money."

Mao Runmin: "When the banknotes were first issued in February, within a week, there were queues outside the banks as people came to the counters to exchange their Guoyuan for Dayang. At that time, our statistics showed that 60% of the banknotes were returned within a week. By June, the return rate was less than 30%. After all, paper money is much more convenient to carry and use than Dayang, and the change of paper money is especially convenient than copper coins."

Chen Tianheng: "It's this pay-on-present policy. Hmm, it looks weird."

"The US dollar and the British pound are all like this. The difference is that they pay 'half an ounce of gold on presentation' or 'three grams of gold on presentation'. We are on a silver standard, not a gold standard, so we pay silver on presentation."

Chen Tianheng: "When we decouple from silver in the future, will we have to issue a new version of banknotes..."

"Yes, regardless of whether or not we decouple, we will have to issue a new version of banknotes in a few years," Mao Runmin said confidently. "And by the way, we can move the entire process of design, plate making, and coinage back to China."

In accordance with the gold standard, all first-edition Guoyuan banknotes were printed with the words "Payable on Presentment." One Guoyuan dollar contained 925 grams of silver.

—枚袁大头重26.6到27克之间，但袁大头的白银纯度不是92.5%而是89-90%。(这给21世纪的网店仿冒袁大头带来了巨大的困难)

In short, after conversion, one yuan of national yuan is equivalent to one Yuan Datou. This is also the way banks exchanged national yuan in large quantities at the beginning of the year.

By the way, now on the streets of Guangzhou, the common name for the newly emerged banknotes is neither "Guo Yuan" nor "Zhong Yuan", but -

Silver paper.

"It's time to start working! How can we earn money if we don't start working?"

"Brother, give me two silver pieces of paper so I can go out and buy a chicken." "Two silver pieces of paper for a chicken? What kind of chicken are you buying?!"

The use of paper money is also expanding. In Guangzhou, paper money has become completely popular, and Chaoshan and Shaoguan also see considerable usage. Ganzhou, Hengyang, and Changsha are just beginning to see paper money. Last month, Changsha began using paper money to pay salaries to military personnel, civil servants, and teachers. Citizens rushed to banks to exchange their banknotes for silver dollars, but this month's payouts saw significantly fewer people exchanged for silver dollars than the previous month.

Until 1930, China's currency was primarily made of natural metals, evolving from copper to a silver-copper composite and finally to silver. Furthermore, natural silver, rather than silver coins, was long popular in China, and transactions relied on small scales. It wasn't until the early years of the Republic of China that the liang (two-yuan) system was abolished and the yuan (yuan) system was adopted.

Therefore, the issuance of the national yuan, despite its various shortcomings and hidden dangers, is indeed a major progress worth noting in the history of Chinese currency.

"The United Central Bank currently has approximately 1 million silver dollars stored in its various vaults and in reserve," Mao Runmin said. "We estimate that there are 2 to 2.5 million silver dollars still in circulation within the United Government's jurisdiction. As the national dollar continues to be rolled out and public confidence in it is maintained, the central bank will gradually withdraw silver dollars from circulation. The more silver dollars we have in reserve, the higher the upper limit on the currency we are allowed to issue."

Chen Tianheng: "Runmin, don't just look at these 2 to 2.5 million silver dollars. There are nearly 10 billion silver dollars in circulation in the areas controlled by Chiang Kai-shek. Now, on average, how many silver dollars flow into the areas controlled by the coalition government every month?"

Mao Runmin: "Well, the net inflow is more than 4 million coins per month, or 50 million coins per year."

Chen Tianheng: "Not enough. My plan is to squeeze Chiang Kai-shek dry within a few years and take all the silver dollars in the area he controls."

Mao Runmin: "It will gradually increase, but it will take time. Pingxiang's coal mines are being expanded and upgraded, and small industrial products from various companies in Guangzhou are already being shipped to Shanghai and Tianjin for sale. But as you said last time, the production of small industrial products is still low."

Chen Tianheng: "Because places like Shanghai and Tianjin also have foreign goods coming ashore, Guangzhou's small industrial products have to compete with foreign goods. Now some small commodities can compete, but most still can't. Our breakthrough point is still land transportation. Once the Yuehan Railway is opened, Guangzhou goods will go north and directly enter Hubei, Sichuan, and Jiangxi. Foreign goods from Shanghai to these places will have to go through countless customs and collect lijin. Guangzhou goods will immediately have a better price-performance ratio."

Mao Runmin: "So I check the calendar every day. November 1st of this year is the date when the Guangdong-Hankou Railway will be fully opened to traffic, and there are still 4 months and 22 days left."

Chen Tianheng: "This should be no problem. The Ministry of Transportation and the Commander of the Engineering Corps, Chen Yi, have both given us a guarantee. They said if the road isn't open by November 1st, we'll be beheaded."

Since Guangzhou's currency will be based on the silver standard in the next two to three years, the bank's main task now is to deal in silver.

The more silver there is, the more national currency can be issued.

In addition, the more active the commodity trading in the region, the higher the maximum ratio of national yuan to silver that can be issued. But this is another way to stimulate the economy.

The first method to get silver: There are large silver mines in South America, so you can directly buy silver ingots by the hundreds or thousands of tons. This needs to be paid in US dollars or British pounds. Since the US dollar and the British pound are now gold-standard currencies, buying silver ingots is basically exchanging gold for silver.

The second method: do business with the place next door that still uses silver as natural metal currency to earn silver dollars.

The third method: Go to Pengshan, Sichuan, and the mouth of the Minjiang River to salvage Zhang Xianzhong's sunken silver... Therefore, the best method is still the second one. Purchasing silver from South America requires exporting to the West, obtaining US dollars or British pounds. Currently, the variety and quantity of goods exported to the West are relatively limited. For example, the only non-agricultural mineral export is sulfanilamide.

But if it was to export to the areas controlled by Chiang Kai-shek, it would be much more convenient. From small things like matches, paper, and canned goods to large things like bicycles, Guangzhou could, or had the potential to, export to the areas controlled by Chiang Kai-shek.

Yes, there is a bicycle factory in Guangzhou now, but the ball bearings for bicycles still have to be imported.

"Chen Tianheng, it seems like you've become interested in economics and finance again recently," Mao Runmin said, "just like you were seven or eight years ago."

Mao Runmin had worked with Chen Tianheng in Anyuan in 1922, and later in Shanghai, so Mao Runmin knew more than the average person. At that time, Chen Tianheng had not yet recognized his cousin as a relative. He suggested that Mao Runmin turn the small business into a trading company and suggested that the Party Central Committee establish an industry to earn funds.

Chen Tianheng: "No, the General Staff has a lot of things to do, but fortunately, the various departments of the General Staff are now running on track, so I don't have to kick their butts anymore. I've recently felt that the victory in the revolutionary war is still based on the economic and financial struggles. Without these two factors, it would be difficult for us to win."

"In addition to defeating Chiang Kai-shek, we must consider more factors. Recent media reports have revealed that Japan has engaged in several malicious provocations. Japan's ambitions in Northeast China are already clear."

"What's Japan's current annual military expenditure? 7 million yen. That's about 7.1 million silver dollars. About half of that goes to the navy and half to the army, so 3.5 million yen goes to the army. Note that this is Japan's peacetime military spending. When Japan entered the European War, its annual military spending exceeded 10 billion yen. That was in 1917, when they could allocate 10 billion yen annually for military spending."

"The gap between us and Japan goes beyond these literal figures. Japan is an industrial nation, while we are still an agricultural country. We have some modern industries, but they are few and far between. For example, the bullets for the Type 38 rifle cost the Japanese army 20 cents a round when ordered from Japanese factories, while the same bullets from our arsenals cost 25 cents a round. This is only after our arsenals were renovated and new assembly line equipment was imported, which has brought the cost of bullets down to this level."

"Last year, the revolutionary army procured 20 million rounds of various ammunition, with ammunition expenses alone reaching 5.4 million yuan. Is 20 million rounds a lot? Not much. When one of our divisions goes into combat, the ammunition carried by the soldiers and the accompanying baggage transports totals approximately 1 million rounds. If a division fights several major battles in a row, it will have to call on the war zone's logistics transport teams for more ammunition."

Mao Runmin pondered.

The last world war did not resolve the conflicts between the major powers, and the Treaty of Versailles was just a "20-year truce." This has been said by many people, including Chen Duxiu, Mao Runzhi, and Chen Tianheng, and Mao Runmin also agreed with this view.

When a new world war comes, China will eventually be involved, whether it wants to or not.

"Compared to Japan," Mao Runmin said, "what we can rely on is perhaps our 4 million people and our vast territory. If our country can unite and mobilize, even if it means great sacrifice, imperialism will not be able to defeat us due to our sheer size."

Chen Tianheng: "We cannot be defeated by the invaders. Furthermore, we must defeat the invaders with our own hands. In this process, we must also minimize sacrifices and reduce the damage to our country. Therefore, we must seize these few years of construction and development. We cannot wait until the battlefield and say, 'You have a mace, I have a skull cap.'"

"Of course, if the entire country could enter construction and development like Guangdong and Hunan are now, our strength would naturally be even greater. But now we may not have enough time. Many of the industrial projects we are planning now will take three to five years to complete, and some will take even longer. Our domestic industrial foundation is too weak, and the funds we have available are too little."

"We are currently implementing the First Five-Year Plan, but I don't know if time will allow us to complete the Second Five-Year Plan. If the worst-case scenario occurs, we will have to rely on the industries already developed in Hunan, Guangdong, Jiangxi, and Guangxi provinces, and of course mobilize the entire nation's manpower, to fight the invaders."

Mao Runmin: "Hunan, Guangdong, Jiangxi, and Guangxi, well, it seems that Guangxi should also be included in this development blueprint as soon as possible."

Chen Tianheng: “Yes.”

Washington.

Waldorf Astoria Hotel.

After the Guangzhou United Government diplomatic delegation negotiated a bilateral tariff exemption agreement in the UK, it immediately set off for the United States and stayed here after arriving in Washington.

Under this tariff exemption agreement, agricultural and mineral products exported by the Guangzhou government of China to the UK will enjoy low tariffs in the coming years, with the exception of tea. British manufactured goods exported to China will also enjoy low tariffs from China.

The person who came to the Waldorf Hotel to meet with Chen Youren was U.S. Secretary of Commerce Robert Raymond.

"China and the United States now have many common interests in the economic and trade fields. Cooperation and dialogue are a win-win situation," Chen Youren said. "During my visit to the United States, I also hope to convey Premier Chen's greetings to President Hoover in person."

Raymond: "President Hoover has devoted all his energy to the Hoover Dam, the engineering marvel of the United States. He may not be able to see you for the time being. Mr. Chen, have you been following the debate on Capitol Hill regarding the Smoot-Hawley Tariff?"

Chen Youren: “Yes, we have been paying attention.”

Raymond: "So you want to sign a bilateral tariff exemption agreement with us. But Mr. Chen, you and your government may be worrying too much. President Hoover will veto this bill."

Chen Youren: "If, I mean if, President Hoover had not vetoed this bill, then our agreement would have made sense, wouldn't it?"

Chapter 69: The world economy is really going to crash

During their visit to the UK and US, Chen Youren's delegation stayed in hotels and held talks with British and American business secretaries and ministers in hotels. They never met the British Prime Minister or the US President, nor did they enter Buckingham Palace or the White House.

Because neither Britain nor the United States recognized Guangzhou as the only legitimate government of China.

Britain maintained an ambiguous attitude, stating that most of China was ruled by Chiang Kai-shek's Nanjing government, but that whether Nanjing was the sole legitimate government was "controversial." Consequently, the British Legation (Ambassador) was in Nanjing, with only a consulate-general in Guangzhou, albeit one with a large staff and a large office building.

The United States only recognized the Nanjing government as the sole legitimate government in China, and the Guangzhou government was an independent armed local regime. The United States could develop economic, trade, investment, and financial relations with the region under the Guangzhou government, but not political or military relations.

At the same time, the United States would not sell arms to either Nanjing or Guangzhou. During the meeting, Chen Youren mentioned that China would be sending a military industrial delegation to Europe later in the month and asked if it could also visit the United States. The United States decisively refused.

Why are you pretending... Guangzhou has already arranged the itineraries for the military-industrial delegations from Italy, France, the Czech Republic, Austria, Switzerland, and Sweden, and is in talks with some other countries. It's just you, the United States, who's pretending to be so cool, right?

But no matter what, the main purpose of this delegation, the bilateral tariff exemption agreement, was finalized.

The Wall Street stock market crash at the end of October 1929 caused a surge in people flying around the city for nearly a month, but in 1930, the Dow Jones Industrial Average slowly recovered and by March, it was close to its highest point before the 1929 stock market crash.

Of course, there were also situations such as insufficient monetary liquidity, factory closures, rising unemployment, etc., but they did not develop to the point of a complete collapse.

Some economists believe this is the beginning of a great depression, but others are optimistic and believe this is a temporary difficulty that will ease within a year.

The tariff bill initiated by Senator Reed Smoot and Congressman Wells Hawley aims to "make full use of the domestic market to alleviate the depression" and implements an extremely conservative trade protectionist policy. If the bill is implemented, tariffs on more than 20000 imported goods will be raised to historical highs.

The outcome of protectionist trade policies is predictable: they will inevitably trigger similar retaliatory tariffs from major countries like the UK and France. The supposed goal of building tariff barriers to protect the domestic market, alleviate the recession, and prolong the life of American industry in the midst of an economic crisis simply won't work. If everyone embraces protectionism, the end result will be a complete failure.

In the first half of 1928, President Herbert Hoover asked Congress to lower tariffs. However, no member of Congress responded with a similar bill. This shows the attitude of Hoover and his advisors: they had a clear understanding of the consequences that tariff barriers would cause.

Secretary of Commerce Robert Raymond was a key member of the Hoover administration, and this was the inside information he received from Hoover's team. Raymond knew that the Chinese delegation came to sign the agreement because they were worried that the United States would pass a tariff bill to build tariff barriers, but he felt that China's concerns were unnecessary.

Hoover opposed a large tariff increase, and even if Congress passed the bill, Hoover would use the president's veto power to veto it.

After signing the tariff exemption agreement, Chen Youren spent two days in Washington, but there was no new breakthrough.