Chapter 1481
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Chapter 1481 Support
The day after Lin Hao submitted the proposal, the President summoned him to his official residence.
It wasn't in the main conference room, but in a small study, with just the two of them.
After listening to Lin Hao's idea, the President walked to the window with his hands behind his back and remained silent for a moment.
During that silence, his thoughts seemed to drift back to more than a decade ago.
"Do you know how I was paid when I was training troops at Xiaozhan?"
"I know!" How could Lin Hao not know something so famous?
"The rations will be distributed monthly by the clerks; the soldiers are not allowed to handle them!" The President turned around, his eyes filled with a nostalgic light, and said:
“I often go there in person and call out names one by one to distribute the pay, so that the soldiers know that I am the one who pays them. If the officers don’t handle it, they can’t embezzle it. If the soldiers recognize me, they won’t dare to do anything reckless.”
He walked back to the table and said earnestly:
"But times have changed. In such a large country, with more than a dozen divisions and 650,000 people, how could I possibly manage to run around?"
The Beiyang Army's salary system, nominally "directly issued by the central government," was in reality a system of multiple layers of transfers, forming a massive network of vested interests.
Even the president dared not easily make changes, not because he did not take action to change things, but because every attempt ended in failure.
The president grew angrier as he spoke, and finally sighed and said:
"Over the years, how many mutinies and rebellions have occurred? Isn't the root of it all here? When soldiers don't get paid, they don't care if you're from the Beiyang government or not; they'll rebel first!"
He sat down again, picked up his teacup, took a big gulp, and then continued:
"Do you know what difficulties you will face when you implement this personal soldier account system?"
"I know, but some things have to be done by someone!" When Lin Hao said this, the President felt that Lin Hao was shining.
"How thoughtful! Lin Hao truly is his benefactor!" At this moment, the President was extremely satisfied with Lin Hao.
Lin Hao not only brought his own food and 200 tons of gold to support him and help him solve his financial problems, but also risked his life to fight against the military leaders.
"So I've decided to start with the easy parts and move on to the difficult ones!" Lin Hao took out a detailed operating procedure from his briefcase, handed it over with both hands, and continued:
"They are your core group, and even the 1st to 6th Divisions are your core members. It shouldn't be difficult to implement this!"
The president nodded. He directly controlled both armies, personally paid the soldiers their salaries, and they were loyal only to him.
At this time, the president had not yet lost the support of his people after declaring himself emperor, and he basically maintained control over most of the country's loyal troops.
As for local forces, although they always outwardly comply but inwardly defy, they have not posed a substantial challenge to the central government.
Two major factions and a group of smaller ones emerged internally, but none dared to openly threaten the President, thus maintaining strong control over the entire Beiyang government.
"President, please see that the Imperial Guard and the Imperial Guard will be the first to open personal accounts for soldiers at the Beiyang Bank, with the Ministry of Finance as the unified entity."
"Each soldier's pay is deposited into their account monthly, and the soldier can withdraw it from the bank by presenting their identification."
"Officers are not allowed to handle, collect, or intercept funds. Central government appropriations are transferred to accounts with only one intermediary: the bank!"
"The officers aren't getting involved?"
"Yes, because they can't interfere."
"What happens between the funds being transferred to the account and the soldiers actually receiving them?"
"Soldiers could withdraw funds at the temporary counters set up by Beiyang Bank within the premises by presenting their passbooks and fingerprints."
“Every withdrawal is recorded and can be checked by the Ministry of Finance at any time. Who withdrew how much money, when they withdrew it, and where they withdrew it, it’s all clear, one by one.”
The president opened the document and read it carefully; this was not a new idea.
He had thought about it for many years and many times, and he wanted to establish a special fund for military pay and have staff from the grain and pay bureau go to the camps to distribute pay on the day of pay. These were the systems he had always insisted on since he was a small station.
The problem is that the system goes awry at the lower levels. Officers at all levels use "transportation losses" as an excuse to embezzle funds at each level. He feeds the soldiers, but the officers become increasingly dissatisfied.
If this direct bank payment system can really work!
"Good! Good! Good!" The president was a little excited. He said "good" three times in a row, his voice filled with a kind of joy that had been suppressed for too long.
"Xiao Lin, do you know how long I've been waiting for this? From Xiaozhan to the Republic of China, it's been almost twenty years."
"I've thought about this my whole life, longed for it my whole life, and worked on it my whole life, but I just couldn't make it happen. I never expected you to make it happen for me!"
As he spoke, he stood up, paced back and forth in the study, his expression shifting several times, before finally saying with a worried look:
"Do you even realize how many difficulties there are in this?"
“Those military leaders outside call me President on the surface, but I know better than anyone what they’re really thinking. Do you think they’ll be happy if you cut off their funding channels?”
“If you open an account for the Gongwei Army today, they’ll be calling my desk tomorrow.”
"I could guess what they were going to say!" he then said with a hint of helplessness.
"The affairs of the Beiyang government were never about money; in essence, they were about people!"
"Take Governor Wang of Hubei, for example. You know that name, right?"
Governor Wang was a celebrity, but his reputation wasn't exactly good.
"I know!" Lin Hao nodded and said, "One of the 'Three Governors of the Yangtze River,' he's considered one of your trusted subordinates."
"At the beginning of the year, I allocated him a sum of military funds!" The president's tone calmed, but his eyes were full of coldness:
"But after he got the money, he not only used hundreds of thousands to buy land in his hometown, but also deposited most of the rest into foreign banks in Shanghai and Dalian to earn interest."
"If I hadn't warned him, he wouldn't even have wanted to pay his military pay and would have just been living like a rich man."
Good heavens! Lin Hao thought this kind of thing wouldn't happen until 1920, but he didn't expect that there were already signs of the embezzlement of military funds!
It is said that in 1920 and 1921, after receiving the money, they spent it on buying land and depositing it in the bank. For a full seven months, they did not pay a single penny of military pay.
Finally, there were mutinies, first in Yichang, then in Wuchang.
Arson, looting, and murder ensued; half of Changwu City was burned down, and the provincial government, the official money bureau, and the mint were all looted.
Countless merchants and civilians were killed or injured, a large number of houses were burned down, and buildings such as the rear building of the official money bureau and Lianghu Academy were reduced to ashes.
This guy took the money from the central government and put it in his own pocket, keeping the troops around without contributing anything. While the central government was fighting on the front lines, he was living the life of a rich man in the rear.
Upon discovering the mutiny, he shifted the blame upwards, and ordered his machine gun squad to mow down the mutineers, killing thousands!
"Then he took out 100,000 silver dollars to pay salaries and appease the people, and then put the accounts on the central government's head, telling the people below that the central government owed salaries, and there was nothing he could do about it."
Then they managed to gloss over the matter and swallowed the money.
The president clenched his fist unconsciously and said indignantly, "There have been too many such incidents in the Beiyang government. Wang Dujun is not the first, nor will he be the last."
"If your bank account can plug this loophole, I will fully support you in starting the Imperial Guard and the Imperial Bodyguard."
"But you must also understand one thing!" The president's gaze sharpened. "The military leaders of the other units will not stand idly by."
They have their methods. If you cut off their source of income today, they can cut off yours tomorrow. What makes you so confident that you can get them to cooperate with you?
"Mr. President, I'll handle this small matter!" Lin Hao said confidently.
"If I can persuade those provincial inspectors, I don't believe these military governors can be any smarter. I'm sure they'll listen to my advice!"
The president stared at him for three seconds.
"If you can accomplish this, the position of Vice President of Beiyang will be vacant."
······
That afternoon, the President's order was delivered to the Ministry of Military Affairs.
The wording was brief, demanding that the Imperial Guard and the Imperial Household Army fully cooperate with the Ministry of Finance in implementing the system of direct bank payments for military salaries. Anyone who obstructed, disobeyed orders, or outwardly complied but inwardly defied them would be punished for disobeying military orders.
After receiving the order, Lin Hao did not rush to issue it, but went directly to the guard garrison.
The Imperial Guard was stationed in the western suburbs of Beiping. The barracks were newly built brick buildings, neat and uniform, with two armed guards standing at the entrance.
Upon seeing Lin Hao's car, the guards stopped it and questioned him.
"Minister of Finance Lin, on the orders of the President, has come to pay a visit to Commander Li!"
The guard ran in to report, and soon after, Commander Li of the Imperial Guard came out to greet him personally.
Commander Li was in his forties, burly, with a full beard, and walked with a brisk pace.
He was a long-time subordinate of the President, having followed him since the time of Xiaozhan. He was utterly loyal to the President, provided that the President did not declare himself Emperor.
"Chief of Staff Lin, the President has already given his instructions," General Li said, clasping his hands in a military salute.
"Please give me any instructions, and the entire Imperial Guard will cooperate fully."
"Thank you for your support, General Li!" Lin Hao nodded and followed him into the headquarters.
The officers of the Imperial Guard arrived quickly, about twenty men of regimental rank and above, and sat in the reception room in complete silence.
General Li sat in the head seat, and Lin Hao stood in the main seat. After everyone had arrived, he got straight to the point:
"The President has ordered that, starting this month, the salaries of all officers and soldiers of the Guard Army will be directly paid by the Ministry of Finance through the Beiyang Bank."
"Each soldier will have a personal account. Their pay will be deposited monthly, and soldiers can withdraw it using their passbook and fingerprint. No officer may handle the funds, collect them on their behalf, or withhold them..."
After explaining the policy, Lin Hao added, "At the same time, all officers' salaries will be increased based on their past performance!"
A buzz arose from the audience. Several regimental commanders whispered among themselves.
"It's just a paycheck, isn't it always paid by the higher-ups?" someone whispered to their colleague next to them.
"Listen carefully, it doesn't go through us, it goes directly from the central government to the bank, and the bank distributes it directly to the soldiers in the name of the president. We don't handle the money."
"Wouldn't that just leave us hanging?"
“Leaving us hanging is a minor issue; the real problem is that they've taken away our military power!”
"What military power? Hasn't the money always been distributed by the President? This direct payment from an account is no different from the President distributing money before!"
"Fortunately, all of us officers got a raise? That's not bad!"
Lin Hao heard it, and the effect was much better than he had imagined.
After all, the Imperial Guard was the President's "Presidential Army," and its officers and soldiers had all undergone rigorous screening, demonstrating extremely high loyalty to him personally. Therefore, the resistance to its implementation was negligible.
But Lin Hao understood that it wouldn't be so easy when it was extended to other military units.
Lin Hao then went to the Imperial Guard and quickly put the soldiers' personal accounts into practice using the same method.
The Imperial Guard and the Royal Guard are similar; both are the President's direct subordinates, and everyone is used to the soldiers being loyal to the President.
To expedite the process, Lin Hao obtained the roster and recruited a large number of staff to work on-site and process personal accounts.
The bank spent three whole days working on just these two armies, and Lin Hao also supervised them for three whole days.
Fortunately, everything went smoothly. The president's two armies had all completed the process of setting up individual accounts for their soldiers. From now on, all military pay and salaries would be paid directly without going through officers, thus suppressing the practice of exploiting soldiers.
While Lin Hao was making a big fuss about it, other people couldn't sit still after hearing that the soldiers' personal accounts had been implemented.
······
"Lin Hao is trying to sever our roots!" Governor Zhu of Zhili slammed his fist on the table during the meeting.
“What fiscal reform? It’s clearly a reduction of power! A reduction of our power!” Ni Sichong, the military governor of Hui’an, chimed in.
"What does a bookworm who returned from studying abroad know about leading troops? If the military pay is directly sent to the division, how are we, the military governors, supposed to manage it?" Li Chun, the military governor of Xijiang, sneered.
"We thought he was just joking, but we didn't expect him to actually do it!"
Several warlords jointly sent a telegram to the President, with rather strong wording, saying that if the Central Government insisted on going its own way, the provinces might not be able to resist, almost as if they were writing the word "rebellion" in the telegram.
The President handed the telegram to Lin Hao and asked, "Little Lin, take a look!"
Lin Hao glanced at the telegram, smiled nonchalantly, and said...
"Mr. President, these warlords are all bark and no bite, but they're actually quite weak inside. I just need to make a trip there, and they'll definitely be understanding!"
The President opened his mouth, but finally patted Lin Hao on the shoulder and said, "If needed, I authorize you to mobilize the Imperial Guard!"
As he spoke, he even wrote a warrant for Lin Hao, but Lin Hao stopped him, saying:
"Mr. President, there is no need for this. If I were not confident in persuading them, why would I risk my life?"
After saying that, Lin Hao stood up and said, "Next, let me personally go and meet them!"
······
Lin Hao then proceeded to Zhili to exchange views with Governor Zhu, following the previous procedure.
At first, Governor Zhu was very resistant and even refused to see Lin Hao, but this did not deter Lin Hao.
He barged directly into Governor Zhu's office, too lazy to waste words with him, and used the Illusionary Truth Technique to alter the other party's memories and cognition.
Lin Hao then instructed Commander Zhu to summon all the officers from Zhili to a meeting to understand the directives from higher authorities.
As for what kind of spirit it is, it is naturally the spirit of loyalty to the emperor and love for the country.
Soon, the officers who were nearby quickly arrived at the conference room. Lin Hao did not wait for everyone to arrive, but began to explain the policy when there were more than thirty people.