When he came to the cafeteria, Li Songchen was looking at the dishes provided today in the bar. At this time, someone called him: "Songchen, you are too."

Li Songchen looked back and found that it was Wang Sheng. He hurried over and said, "Lao Wang, when did you arrive? Did Lao Zeng come?"

Wang Shengdao: "I arrived yesterday. Lao Zeng came the day before yesterday. He was in the private room and had ordered all the wine and food. I haven't seen each other for another year. Let's go and have a few drinks together!"

Li Songchen nodded, but ordered two dishes, and then followed Wang Sheng to the private room. Sure enough, Zeng Dong had wine and food set up on the table in the private room. Seeing Li Songchen coming, Zeng Dong was very happy. The three of them immediately sat down to talk about their experiences over the past year.

When the East China Government was first established, the three of them worked together for a period of time and established good friendships with each other. Later, due to changes in positions, they went their separate ways. However, the friendship has not changed until the annual meeting. Every year, the three of them would gather together for a while. Unlike Li Songchen who has been firmly in the position of Shanghai mayor for 7 years, Wang Sheng has served in the three provinces respectively, now serves as mayor of Beijing, and Zeng Dong has also been transferred to two positions and is now the governor of Liaoning.

Although the three of them are middle-aged, they are still quite young for politicians. Therefore, after drinking a few glasses of wine, they start to speak more.

Wang Shengdao: "You probably heard the news. We will officially establish the country next year."

Li Songchen also nodded and said, "I have heard some news. It probably won't be fake."

Wang Sheng smiled and said: "Of course it's not fake. I guess after the Spring Festival next year, the government agencies in Qingdao will gradually move to Beijing."

Zeng Dongdao: "Is the capital still set in Beijing?"

Wang Shengdao: "Of course, in addition to Beijing, there are also suitable for capital. Qingdao is definitely not good. Shanghai is close to the seaside, and Nanjing is still in the hands of Lao Yuan. Kaifeng and Luoyang have been declining for many years. Wuhan has just been established and has not yet developed, so it can only be Beijing."

Zeng Dongdao: "So that's the case. No wonder you were transferred to Beijing as mayor. It seems that you are preparing for the capital relocation. You probably know a lot of new news."

Li Songchen felt aroused and said, "If the country is really going to be established, will there be any changes in personnel and affairs?"

Wang Shengdao: "This is so unclear. People in Qingdao should be more clear about the personnel news. I haven't heard much in Beijing. But you should rest assured that we will not have any changes. We have worked in the local area for so many years, have rich experience, and it was the same year. Of course, I was transferred to Beijing and it will not change in a short period of time. You may be transferred. Because it is Lao Li. You have been in Shanghai for more than 7 years and should have changed a position long ago, but the change is also a flat transfer. Isn't Lao Yuan surrendering? I guess you will take over a province. Lao Zeng has been in Liaoning for 3 years, and I guess he will also change."

Zeng Dongdao: "It doesn't matter if I change it there, I'm just afraid that the five giants will change. If the Executive Yuan changes, we're afraid that we can't say anything."

Wang Shengdao: "I'm not worried about this. We all work from the grassroots level. We have worked in the local area for 10 years and have achieved political achievements. No matter who comes to power, we will use it."

Zeng Dongdao: "You can't say that. Of course, we won't touch us in a short time, but it's hard to say it over time. Once the emperor and his ministers come to power, everyone will use their confidants."

Li Songchen said: "From my perspective, there may be some positions in the Executive Yuan that need to be adjusted, but the Big Five should not change."

Zeng Dongdao: "Why!"

Li Songchen said: "This year is the last year of this term, but there has been no re-election yet. It can be seen that the five giants will not change. It is estimated that they will still rule after the founding of the country."

Wang Shengdao: "Maybe it will be just postponed before the founding of the country and then re-elected."

Li Songchen smiled and said, "If it was an election after the founding of the People's Republic of China, then the previous term of office could be cleared, so that the five giants could also participate. With the achievements they have made in the past 10 years and the prestige they have established, do you think anyone can beat them, so they will actually be in power!"

Zeng Dong nodded and said, "It makes sense. As long as the Big Five continues to rule, I won't worry."

Li Songchen said: "This is not difficult to understand, because after the founding of the country, it will be unified immediately, and diplomatic relations with other countries will be established. Then the First World War began, which was all a turbulent period. After all, the Big Five have been in power for 10 years and have accumulated a lot of internal and external experience. Therefore, their continued governance will be beneficial to our overall development."

Wang Shengdao: "That's the case, but I'm afraid that it will continue to rule forever. That's not a good thing."

Li Songchen shook his head and said, "No, if they really want to continue to rule, then they should hold elections this year. There is no requirement for re-election anyway. But they did not do so. Instead, they took advantage of the opportunity of founding the country to clear the previous term of office and get a chance to start over, which also shows that they do not want to continue to rule."

After hearing this, Wang Sheng nodded and said, "I hope this is the case."

A few days later, the governors of all provinces arrived in Qingdao, and the 1911 year-end meeting of the East China Government officially began.

According to customary terms, the first process of the annual meeting is to summarize the work of the year, and 1911 is the end of the second five-year plan. Therefore, there is not only a year-end summary, but also a comprehensive summary of the second five-year plan.

In 1911, the fiscal revenue of the East China Government reached 902 million yuan, with an annual increase of 24.3%, which was the first time that the fiscal revenue of the East China Government reached 900 million yuan. In the past five years, the average annual increase of fiscal revenue of the East China Government reached 24.7%, and the highest year was 1910, reaching 27.8%, and the lowest was 1907, at 23.6%. Without increasing the tax rate, it is quite amazing to achieve such a high increase of fiscal revenue.

In the past five years, the East China government's fiscal revenue has maintained such a high increase rate. On the one hand, the East China government has been vigorously promoting industrialization. In the past five years, a total of 169 national-level industrial projects and 272 local industrial projects have been completed, with a total investment of up to 1.32 billion yuan. At the same time, the huge war reparations obtained by the Far East War also ensured that the East China government had sufficient funds to maintain high investment, and did not cause the government's fiscal deficit and formed a virtuous cycle, that is, the government has some funds to invest a lot; the construction of a large number of industrial projects not only promoted the economic development, but also created a large amount of tax revenue, so that the government's fiscal revenue has maintained an extremely high increase rate, so that the government has sufficient funds to maintain high investment.

On the other hand, in the past five years, the East China Government successively captured and collected some areas of Gansu, Qinghai, Xinjiang, Shanxi, Hebei, Zhejiang, Hubei, Anhui, Jiangsu, and Fujian, and expanded their land by more than 2 million square kilometers. Although these areas except Zhejiang, Hubei, Anhui and Jiangsu are all economically underdeveloped areas, they will have some tax revenues. In addition, investing in the construction of this area not only expands the market, but also promotes the development of their own manufacturing industry and forms a mutually promoting effect.

Now, there is still about 1.6 billion yuan of disposable funds in the fiscal inventory of the East China government. Therefore, in the next five years, high investment can still be maintained. The ultra-high growth rate of the East China government can be maintained for at least another 5 years.

In addition, in terms of foreign trade, due to the rapid industrial development of the East China Government, the East China Government produced a large number of industrial products, which not only met its own needs, but also was able to export in large quantities. At the same time, after the Far East War, the East China Government not only obtained Borneo, but also extended its sphere of influence to Southeast Asia, established diplomatic relations with Siam, and vigorously supported the Java Chinese Autonomous Region. It also prevented Southeast Asia's British, French, American and Dutch colonies from daring to suppress the development of overseas Chinese at will and invade the interests of overseas Chinese. Therefore, the social status of overseas Chinese in Southeast Asia was greatly improved, and the ties with the East China Government were strengthened.

As a result, the East China Government not only gained a lot of political benefits in Southeast Asia, but also gained a lot of economic benefits. A large number of industrial products were imported into Southeast Asian countries, which not only further strengthened the economic relationship between the East China Government and Southeast Asia, but also greatly increased the foreign trade of the East China Government.

Britain, France, the United States and the Netherlands have no good way to curb this. They dare not suppress overseas Chinese politically to avoid interference from the East China government. After all, there is no chance of winning when the war between Southeast Asia and the East China government is at a time. Fighting for the economy, the East China government is too close to Southeast Asia, and the transportation costs alone give the East China government an advantage. Moreover, the East China government has a huge social group like Southeast Asia, so Britain, France, the United States and the Netherlands cannot compete with the East China government at all.

In addition to the economy, the East China Government has also made great progress in diplomacy, agriculture, culture, education, etc. In addition, it can be said that these five years have been the five years of rapid development of the East China Government.

In the new five years, the first thing is to do is of course the founding of the country. During the year-end meeting, the Senate formally passed the resolution to formally establish the country on September 6, 1912. This leadership group will continue to rule for one year, and at the end of 1912, the first election after the founding of the country was held. All the executives and legislative bodies will be moved to Beijing from March to August.
Chapter completed!