When the brothers parted ways, Han Haitao simply urged his cousin to be careful on the road. He also handed over some anti-inflammatory drugs produced in the Northeast to his cousin, instructing, "These drugs have an expiration date. If they aren't used within a few years, they can no longer be taken. You must remember this."

After thanking him, the cousin prepared to board the train, but in the end, he couldn't help but turn his head and say, "Brother Haitao, I really don't dare to believe what you said about the tax revenue."

Han Haitao slapped his cousin on the shoulder. "Believe it or not, I didn't lie anyway. Hurry up and get on the train, don't delay."

Watching the train his cousin was on slowly start moving, Han Haitao felt a sense of relief and turned to leave. However, his cousin's doubts lingered in his mind. In 1919, the Northeast had a population of roughly 30 million and a GDP reaching 900 million silver dollars. Based on the current tax rates in the Northeast, the annual revenue amounted to as much as 300 million silver dollars.

Since the Beiyang government did not control the entire country, national tax revenue could not be accurately calculated. It could only be compared using the Reorganization Loan.

After the Xinhai Revolution in 1911, the Beiyang government of the Republic of China borrowed a huge long-term loan from an international banking consortium under the guise of handling reorganization reforms.

Between February and June 1912, the international banking consortium provided five advances to actively support the Beiyang government. In order to fully control China's finances and exclude the interference of other financial groups, the five-nation banking consortium of Britain, France, Germany, Russia, and Japan signed the Reorganization Loan Agreement, consisting of 21 articles and 6 annexes, with representatives of the Beiyang government in Beijing on April 26, 1913. The total loan amount was 25 million pounds, with an annual interest rate of 5%, issued at 84% of face value, to be repaid in 47 years. The total principal and interest amounted to 67,893,597 pounds, secured by the salt tax and customs duties. According to the contract, the loan amount had to deduct the principal and interest of various foreign debts and indemnities of the central and provincial governments that were due for repayment as listed in the annexes. These deductions exceeded half of the loan amount.

In March 1912, in order to rectify the ruling institutions in Beijing, strengthen political and military ruling power, repay accumulated foreign debts and indemnities, and fulfill the conditions for favorable treatment of the abdicated Qing imperial family, Yuan Shikai sent his trusted aide Zhou Ziqi to visit the American, British, German, and French banking consortiums in China. Under the pretext of handling the debt reorganization matters of the Qing government, he planned to convert the contract signed by the Qing government in the third year of Xuantong with the American capital group, British HSBC, German Deutsch-Asiatische Bank, and French Banque de l'Indochine for a loan of 10 million pounds for currency reform and industrial revitalization (the Qing government collapsed after receiving only 100,000 pounds of funds) into the "Reorganization Loan" of the Republic of China's Beiyang government. The Beiyang government promised to use the salt tax as collateral and listed the Four-Power Banking Consortium as countries with priority rights for the Beiyang government's loans.

The nominal interest rate was 5%, but since it was issued at 84% of face value, the actual rate was close to 6%. Before the issuance and payment period, payments were made in the form of advances with an annual interest of 7% or 6%. Thus, the banking consortium obtained double interest and also seized the exchange rate difference profit when handing over and receiving funds by utilizing the fluctuations in gold and silver exchange rates. For the issuance of bonds, Britain and France each raised 7,416,680 pounds, Germany 6 million pounds, Russia 2,777,780 pounds, and Belgium 1,388,880 pounds. The bank issue price was 90%, and the banking consortium netted a pure profit of 6%. From February 1912 to October 1915, the actual amount received by the Beiyang government was only 105,578,046 silver dollars (equivalent to 9,982,512 pounds), accounting for only 37% of the total loan amount. Within this actual received amount, except for 8,632,314 dollars allocated to the Nanjing Provisional Government and the Resident Office, the majority of the Beiyang government's military and administrative expenses relied on this loan for support, reaching 73,449,231 dollars, accounting for 69.56%.

Yuan Shikai (1859–1916) used this loan to bribe the navy in Shanghai and Hankou, and sent supervisors to reorganize the armies of various provinces. Together with the customs commissioners of various ports, they allocated 23,496,500 dollars in military pay, eliminating dissident armies. The customs and salt taxes used as collateral were completely controlled by the banking consortium; the revenue and expenditure of the salt tax were managed by foreign advisors and accountants hired by the banking consortium, who established the Salt Administration Inspectorate to audit and supervise collection and remittance. The rates of customs and salt taxes were continuously raised, the scope of taxation increasingly expanded, and tax deposits were also moved from domestic banks and money houses to the five-nation banking consortium. From 1915 to early 1939, the principal and interest of this loan repaid from customs and salt tax revenues totaled 383,203,981 silver dollars, which was 3.63 times the actual received silver amount.

The Beiyang Reorganization Loan was roughly 250 million dollars, or 25 million pounds. Such a sum of income that gave the Beiyang central government a breather was not even as high as the tax revenue of the Northeast in a single year.

It did not surprise Han Haitao that his own cousin did not believe the Northeast's tax revenue could reach such a level. If he weren't an official in the Northeast Government himself, Han Haitao wouldn't have believed that such poor places as the Northeast and Inner and Outer Mongolia could achieve such revenue.

Since there was no need to forcefully allocate bond recommendations, Han Haitao felt relieved and relaxed, heading straight for his office.

However, the pressure regarding bonds had not decreased; instead, the pressure on Wu Youping had doubled. The data that even Han Haitao was clear about, Wu Youping, the Chief of Administration of the Northeast Government, knew even better. But 300 million silver dollars was still far from enough for the current construction of the Northeast, let alone preparing for the upcoming war.

Wu Youping could only consider whether bonds could indeed be promoted inside the Pass. Telegrams were sent out one by one, and the Shanghai region quickly sent a reply. The bonds issued by the Northeast Bank had aroused the interest of the Jiangsu and Zhejiang banks. However, the demands raised by the Jiangsu and Zhejiang banks made Wu Youping immediately reply, "Our bonds are not sold at a discount. Tell the local banks in Jiangsu and Zhejiang to stop having any crooked ideas. As for wanting to insert their people into the Northeast Government, don't even mention it."

After sending the reply, Wu Youping only felt anger surging in his chest, almost wanting to curse. Finally, Wu Youping could only walk to the window, looking at the late summer scenery outside, smoking a cigarette in silence.

Halfway through the cigarette, the telephone rang. Wu Youping's secretary answered the phone, asked and answered a few sentences, and the secretary's voice already became excited, "Are you sure that's correct?"

"...Good, I will tell Secretary Wu immediately."

Wu Youping turned around and saw the secretary saying joyfully, "Secretary Wu, the bonds are selling very well in Tianjin. They are already sold out. Tianjin is asking, do we still have bonds here?"

Wu Youping was startled. The relationship between Tianjin and the Northeast was indeed closer than other regions. After all, a considerable portion of the personnel in the Northeast Government came from Tianjin. However, the sales volume in Tianjin was as high as 5 million 'Fengpiao'. When things go wrong, there must be a demon; Wu Youping actually felt there was a problem inside. Facing the joyful secretary, Wu Youping asked calmly, "Who is buying them?"

Since the fall of the Qing Dynasty, Tianjin had become the largest city in the north, attracting numerous *sojourners* to live there. Zhang Xiluan, also a *sojourner*, invited a group of fellow *sojourners* and some prominent figures of Tianjin to a meal at a hotel they often frequented.

Since living the life of a *sojourner* in Tianjin, without those troublesome official duties, Zhang Xiluan seemed much more spirited. At this moment, he was wearing a silk long gown, his white hair combed neatly, truly looking somewhat like a person with the white hair of an old man but the complexion of a child.

When all the guests had arrived, Zhang Xiluan stood up and said, "Gentlemen, this old man has recently bought 500,000 dollars' worth of bonds issued by the Northeast Bank. I invited you all here this time just to chat about this matter."

Saying this, Zhang Xiluan made a gesture to his servant. The servant quickly took out the bonds and handed them to Zhao Erxun, who was sitting in the seat of honor. Zhao Erxun took them and looked; sure enough, the face value was 500,000 taels of Fengpiao. He laughed, "Big Brother Zhang is generous with his spending. I just wonder if He Rui dares to accept Big Brother Zhang's money."

After speaking, Zhao Erxun handed the bonds to Wang Shizhen sitting beside him. Wang Shizhen didn't have much money at home and had little interest in He Rui. He just glanced at it and handed it to Li Yuanhong beside him.

Although Li Yuanhong had never met He Rui, he had heard of this suddenly rising young man. Taking the bonds and looking at them for a while, Li Yuanhong laughed, "Old Brother Zhang, inviting us brothers here this time, is it He Rui's treat?"

Among the invited people, Li Yuanhong was perhaps the one with the highest status. Li Yuanhong had been the Great President of the Republic of China, and he was brooding over being driven out of office by Zhang Xun, harboring the mood to contend for the position of Great President again.

But Li Yuanhong was perhaps also the one with the most awkward status. Although he, Zhang Xiluan, Zhao Erxun, and others were all officials of the Qing Dynasty, Li Yuanhong was far removed from the Beiyang lineage of Yuan Shikai. Such a status distance really made it impossible for Li Yuanhong to put on airs among a group of old Beiyang figures.

Zhang Xiluan laughed, "He Rui is young after all and doesn't understand things yet. Hearing that this old man wanted to hold this fundraising meeting, he actually sent a telegram to dissuade me."

Saying this, Zhang Xiluan took out a telegram and handed it to Li Yuanhong. Li Yuanhong took it skeptically and looked at it. The telegram naturally wouldn't be a handwritten letter from He Rui, but the content was indeed as Zhang Xiluan said. He Rui persuaded Zhang Xiluan not to help with fundraising, after all, this matter was not a forced donation, and He Rui didn't want people to think the Northeast was a place where exorbitant taxes and levies ran rampant.

After finishing reading the telegram, others next to him also wanted to see it. Li Yuanhong handed the telegram to the curious crowd beside him, momentarily not knowing how to view this matter.

In order to raise money, the warlords in various places of Beiyang had rampant donations and taxes. Needless to say about the 'taxes', from cigarette tax to opium tax, from gambling tax to brothel tax, they really scraped the ground to an unmatchable degree.

Donations, apart from tax revenue, were solicitations. As long as there was the slightest disturbance in the local area, the gentry would be mobilized to donate money. He Rui's bonds were issued by the Northeast Bank, which was already considered following the rules. If it were other warlords, how could they give bank bonds? They would just gather everyone and directly demand money.

There were also some warlords occupying small territories who were even more despicable. Every once in a while, it was either a birthday or marrying a concubine. Using these pretexts, they would hold banquets and openly demand money.

However, it was very rare for someone like Zhang Xiluan, who had already become a *sojourner*, to help He Rui raise funds. It was even unique.

Li Yuanhong simply stopped talking, just waiting to see what tricks this old fox Zhang Xiluan and that little fox He Rui would play.

Zhang Xiluan waited for those interested to finish reading the telegram before saying, "Brothers, the Northeast is originally a treasure land, and it has been prospering in recent years. Little Brother He Rui has always followed the rules in doing things. If everyone has some spare money in hand, why not buy some Northeast bonds? There is also interest to use for household expenses. I wonder if everyone is interested?"

In terms of age, Zhang Xiluan was the oldest among the crowd. Moreover, the people present basically came to Tianjin after losing power. Only Zhang Xiluan came to Tianjin in glory after giving up his position in the Northeast.

These *sojourners* had all once held high positions. Even those who didn't love gathering wealth were not short of money. Since Zhang Xiluan came forward personally, even if it was just to give Zhang Xiluan face, they had to shell out a bit. Thus, one thousand here, three thousand there, they soon pooled together more than a hundred thousand.

When it was Zhao Erxun's turn, Zhao Erxun laughed, "Since Big Brother Zhang bought 500,000, I, your brother, dare not compare with Big Brother Zhang, I only dare to buy 400,000."

As soon as these words came out, everyone in the room was shocked. Li Yuanhong thought Zhang Xiluan was in cahoots with He Rui, but he didn't expect Zhao Erxun to follow suit, and it was even less clear if Zhao Erxun was in cahoots with He Rui. After all, Zhao Erxun was also a Northeasterner.

At this time, Zhao Erxun turned his head to look at Li Yuanhong. "Great President, I dare not compare with Big Brother Zhang, but Big Brother Zhang dares not compare with the Great President. I wonder how much the Great President prepares to buy?"

Under the concentrated gaze of the crowd, Li Yuanhong felt he had been deceived. He thought this was just a meeting of *sojourners*, but he was targeted by Zhao Erxun.

Since it had come to this, Li Yuanhong gave a dry laugh. "Brother Zhao, don't make a joke. Even if Zhang Xun were given ten guts, he wouldn't dare to touch a single hair of Old Brother Zhang. Since Brother Zhao shows such high regard, I will buy 100,000, to make up the total with Brother Zhao to be the same as Old Brother Zhang."

Seeing Li Yuanhong speaking politely, Zhao Erxun did not press further. Seeing that Li Yuanhong had also quoted a price, others could only raise their quotes. Finally, from one thousand and three thousand, it became five thousand and ten thousand. As for the local merchants in Tianjin, they were not in a hurry to quote numbers. Their business with the Northeast was getting bigger and bigger, and the merchants had once clashed with the French. At that time, the merchants and gentry who opposed the expansion of the French concession formed a federation, and now Zhao Tianlin, the Director of the Northeast Education Department, was the vice-chairman at that time. Seeing that He Rui wanted to gather wealth, the merchants decided to go through Zhao Tianlin's channel. It would also be convenient to show goodwill directly to He Rui.

When this round of fundraising ended, Li Yuanhong felt somewhat unreconciled, so he asked, "Big Brother Zhang, I wonder where Commander He is going to use so much money?"

He thought Zhang Xiluan would give a reason, but unexpectedly Zhang Xiluan laughed, "We buy bonds just to earn interest. Where Little Brother He uses the money is not important."

Li Yuanhong felt unhappy in his heart. The reason he shelled out 100,000 was to show goodwill to He Rui. Li Yuanhong still wanted to become the Great President again, but Li Yuanhong had no soldiers or guns in hand. If he couldn't have some dealings with the current power factions, in case the opportunity came, Li Yuanhong would have no one to borrow from. But since Zhang Xiluan spoke like this, it made Li Yuanhong unable to say anything.

However, Zhang Xiluan acted righteously. Although it was a fundraising, everyone just reported their numbers voluntarily. After the fundraising meeting ended, Li Yuanhong thought Zhang Xiluan would send someone to ask for money immediately, but unexpectedly Zhang Xiluan just gave the participants an address, which was the location of the Northeast Bank's branch in Tianjin. This address was right next to the Tianjin station of the *Northeast Daily*. It seemed Zhang Xiluan wanted everyone to go buy bonds themselves.

Doing it this way, in a sense, was also letting everyone decide for themselves how much to buy. Li Yuanhong felt that Zhang Xiluan's way of doing things was interesting. He simply didn't go to buy. This made Li Yuanhong feel much happier, even feeling that Zhang Xiluan was so arrogant that he deserved no one listening to him.

But waking up the next day, Li Yuanhong lay in bed not wanting to get up. After thinking it over and over, Li Yuanhong began to feel somewhat uneasy.

Although Zhang Xiluan didn't force everyone to pay immediately, for those who proposed to donate, Zhang Xiluan could write a letter to He Rui and give the list of those who promised to donate to He Rui. If they didn't donate, they would offend He Rui.

Thinking left and right, the more he thought, the more he felt it was inappropriate. If Li Yuanhong had completely given up on making a comeback, he could indeed do so. But Li Yuanhong really wanted to become the Great President again. Finally, Li Yuanhong got up and asked his family to prepare the money.

At this time, there were many money houses and banks in Beijing and Tianjin, many of which were foreign-owned. Li Yuanhong arrived at the Northeast Bank. He saw a Western-style building, four stories high, occupying a large area. At a sudden glance, one would feel this building was square and upright, like a fortress.

Walking inside, the feeling was even stronger. Those bank windows were welded with large iron bars. An ordinary person's arm could reach in, but it was completely impossible for an adult to pass through the iron bars. It looked rather like the bank counter staff were sitting in a prison.

The bank manager, dressed in a Western suit, politely received the people coming to the bank for business. Li Yuanhong's servant went up to talk a few sentences with the manager, and the manager immediately welcomed them, "Great President's presence brings light to my humble house. Quick, please come inside."

In the private room, Li Yuanhong thought the manager would engage in all kinds of flattery, but unexpectedly, the manager seriously introduced the types of Northeast bonds. Originally, Li Yuanhong was absent-minded, but unexpectedly, as he listened, he started to take it in.

"...Great President Li, the bonds I just mentioned are all issued by the Northeast Bank, and the Northeast Bank will exchange them for the currency at the time of your purchase when the bonds mature. The bond interest is relatively low, with 4% annual interest. If Great President Li feels the interest is low, there are also corporate bonds issued by the Northeast here. There are steel, coal mines, and also agricultural grain. The repayment method is even more convenient; you can ask for money, or you can ask for the produced steel, coal, and grain as payment. There is no worry about selling these. Great President Li can consider it."

Li Yuanhong was not an eloquent person. Listening to the narration of the Northeast Bank branch manager, Li Yuanhong felt that this manager must have explained these to many people.

Li Yuanhong laughed, "Can these coal and grain be transported inside the Pass?"

The manager replied solemnly, "They definitely can. If they can't be transported out of the Northeast, wouldn't that be deceiving everyone who bought the bonds? We only need to cheat once, and who would dare to believe us in the future? Great President Li, for the sake of our Northeast, we can't let people down."

These words surprised Li Yuanhong somewhat. A bank manager was roughly like a money house steward, and Li Yuanhong had only seen shopkeepers who cared so much about credit in Shanxi draft banks. But compared to Shanxi draft banks, the Northeast Bank seemed like Southerners when recommending bonds. Southern money houses were like this Northeast Bank, striving to introduce profitable businesses to people.

Finally, Li Yuanhong casually pointed to a business regarding coal. "Can you explain this more clearly?"

The manager smiled slightly. "This is the mine in Hegang, Northeast. The coal inside is anthracite; the coal burned has no smell. Now Hegang can produce 500,000 tons of coal a year, and prepares to increase the output by 500,000 tons within a year. The Northeast invests its own money to produce 300,000 tons of coal, and the rest uses bonds to raise money. This money is borrowed for three years, with an interest of 15%. The repayment method is to repay interest once a year. This interest can be paid in money or coal. The principal will be repaid after three years. Also, if Great President Li needs money urgently, you can also sell it directly in the bond trading market in the Northeast. It can be guaranteed to be sold at the break-even price of the bond. If Great President Li trades it yourself, it's not impossible. But whether you can break even or not, our side is not responsible."