Chapter 22

Gao Yang is now lacking everything: gold, energy points, and reputation. Historically, after the Zhili-Fengtian War, although Marshal Yu fled in defeat, he returned to Luoyang and rallied a large number of his former troops. Even though he no longer had his previous strength, he still controlled the provinces of Henan and Hubei. In comparison, Gao Yang's reputation is just a small sprout showing its tip. Although he has invited Mr. Zhou Xuexi, known as the "Southern Zhang and Northern Zhou," to come out of retirement, Zhou is doing it for the sake of his hometown, not to join Gao Yang.

Gao Yang is extremely thirsty for gold, from buying various items to maliciously squeezing out the Orpheus company, he needs a large amount of gold. He has a large amount of sulfanilamide, which the Americans would be very interested in. At this time, the Federal Reserve has at least 6,000 tons of gold, and there is also a lot in the hands of the public. The U.S. government has not yet issued a ban on the private ownership of precious metals. The Gold Rush in the West has left a large amount of gold in the hands of the American people.

Gao Yang needs to find a way to get gold using various industrial products; it's just too tempting. In the original timeline, the entire country's gold reserves in the central bank's vault were only 600 tons of gold! This is also why Gao Yang was personally received by the head of the Gold and Silver Bureau.

Gao Feng from Shanghai sent a telegram saying that the Americans want a face-to-face meeting. The first batch of sulfanilamide has given the Americans a taste of the profits, and they sold it at double the price in just a few days. The best scientists say that even with the physical samples, it will take at least a year of experiments to synthesize sulfanilamide on an industrial scale.

This is why Gao Yang did not register a patent for sulfanilamide in various countries. In the face of such enormous profits, how could an inventor from a semi-colonial country possibly protect his invention! Registering a patent would require disclosing the molecular formula and synthesis ratio, and with the industrial capabilities of Europe and America, they would produce sulfanilamide on an industrial scale in the shortest time possible.

It's better to seize the time before countries can produce it on a large scale and sell the finished sulfanilamide to get a large amount of gold. He is dealing with the Americans because they have a global commercial network and can sell sulfanilamide to the entire world in the shortest time!

In Shanghai, in the International Settlement, the sign in front of the SC Trading Company still has several bullet holes that have not been repaired. Since the SC company opened in the International Settlement, Japanese people have come to fight every few days. Although various countries have issued warnings to Japan, the Japanese, who have suffered heavy losses and are now red-eyed, cannot swallow their anger!

"Mr. Gao, your invention of sulfanilamide has amazed the world! It has saved countless lives, and you must be an angel sent by God to save those poor patients." The flattering words of Mr. Hart, the commercial counselor of the U.S. consulate, made the secretary Lucas blush.

"Alright, Mr. Hart, even if you give me a pair of white wings, I won't lower the price by even one cent." Gao Yang completely ignored Hart's flattery.

"Mr. Gao, on behalf of my government, I would like to order 3 million doses of sulfanilamide from SC Trading Company." Hart had a serious expression, as if he had not just been flattering.

Lucas, standing to the side, was stimulated. "Is this the difference between why Mr. Hart is a counselor and I am just a secretary? My face is not thick enough, I am too pure."

Gao Yang quickly calculated in his mind, "60 million dollars, the current gold price is 20.67 dollars per ounce, one ounce is 31 grams, so..." "A total of 89.98 tons." The voice of Origin echoed in his mind.

"Ah, I was just about to figure it out!" Gao Yang shouted angrily.

Seeing the expressionless Hart and the surprised Lucas, Gao Yang pursed his lips and picked up his coffee to cover up.

"Cough" Putting down the coffee cup, Gao Yang coughed and said, "I only accept gold." Although he could buy specially made counterfeit money from the counterfeit money group, this behavior would bring huge risks in any timeline. In the original timeline, it would attract the attention of intelligence agencies and the counterfeit money group, and Gao Yang, who had just escaped the CIA, did not want to go through it again.

In this timeline, a large amount of counterfeit money entering the market would certainly be discovered. At that time, even if the countries did not take action themselves, they would fully support the surrounding warlords, and with Gao Yang's current strength, he could not withstand it. Before he had the power to ignore everything, Gao Yang decided to abandon the counterfeit money plan. When he had the power to sweep everything away, he would not need counterfeit money.

"The gold is ready and can be delivered to the place you specify at any time," Hart said.

"Deliver it here," Gao Yang said with a smile, looking at Hart.

That night, the International Settlement experienced the most intense firefight since its establishment! It ended with a huge explosion, just like the last time in Zhabei District.

The Americans were unwilling to simply hand over the gold to Gao Yang, so after the transaction, they notified the Japanese and agreed to split the profits. The red-eyed Japanese charged into the SC Trading Company building, while the Americans contacted the governments of various countries to send troops to blockade the surrounding area. The plan was perfect, but they encountered Gao Yang, who had a cheating device.

First, there was a fierce exchange of fire between Governor and over a hundred armed men, of course, it was a one-sided slaughter by Governor. Then there was a bloody battle between Governor and dozens of masked men armed with cold weapons, with blood and flesh flying everywhere. One punch would either break or shatter anything it hit.

In this terrifying one-sided slaughter, the Japanese showed astonishing courage, charging forward one after another, completely ignoring the gruesome scene and shouting "Banzai" as they rushed to their deaths! This made Gao Yang, who was hiding behind the wall and originally watching with excitement, feel very bad. Looking at these little devils, and thinking about the battle to seize Anhui Province a while ago, where not only the enemy collapsed at the first touch, but even Gao Yang's own troops had deserters who were scared to death and wet their pants! They cannot be compared.

With a烦躁的心情，Gao Yang set the timer on the explosives, walked to the front hall, and put the Governor into the storage space, then returned to the original timeline's Africa.

A few days later, when Gao Yang brought 70 tons of gold to the People's Bank again, even the bank president was surprised! Although he was out of town, he specially called and assigned a vice president to receive Gao Yang. There was no choice; they needed hard currency.

Origin had already spent over a dozen tons of gold on the internet to arrange the malicious acquisition of the Orpheus company, and Gao Yang just needed to wait for the results. This time, Gao Yang mainly came to the capital to purchase basic supplies.

Only by seeing it with his own eyes would he know how miserable the lives of the Chinese people were in 1924! Gao Yang, who had always lived in a modern society with abundant resources, witnessed the hardships of the people in 1924 while fighting with the army. They were truly lacking everything.

The salt that costs 1.5 yuan per bag in the supermarket in Gao Yang's memory would require almost a month's income for a family! And the quality was terrible; Gao Yang had tasted it, and it was not something for human consumption.

Lacking everything, having nothing! There were no decent roads, and the car Gao Yang bought had become an off-road vehicle. Rice, flour, frozen pork, salt, cooking oil, cement, gravel crushers, sand excavators, and a large amount of medicine, etc. All were packed without labels, and the quantities were large, with the explanation that they were for road construction at the mine.

After contacting the shipping company to send the goods, Gao Yang flew to Africa and then traveled to 1924.

In the northeast, General Zhang was preparing to enter the pass to take a stroll in Central China. General Feng, who had occupied the territory of Zhili with great difficulty, could not hand it over to General Zhang, and his subordinates were unwilling. The two sides began to stand off, and small-scale conflicts continued.

In terms of strength, General Feng was far behind, so he sought balance politically, sending a telegram inviting Mr. Sun to travel north to the capital to form a government. General Zhang was not to be outdone, inviting General Duan to come out of retirement to form a government.

Mr. Sun, accompanied by his wife Song Qingling and others, left Guangzhou on November 13, 1924, and traveled through Hong Kong, Shanghai, and Kobe, Japan, arriving in Tianjin on December 4. His liver disease flared up in Tianjin. Despite his illness, he met with General Duan in Tianjin and then traveled to the capital together, arriving on December 31, where his condition worsened and he was hospitalized for emergency treatment.

After Mr. Sun was hospitalized, the only person with enough prestige to form a government was General Duan. After negotiations, General Duan was elected as the provisional president of the Republic of China. The first thing he did after taking office was to issue personnel orders, appointing Gao Yang as the military governor of Anhui Province and Zhou Xuexi as the acting governor of Anhui Province. Gao Yang was part of the Anhui clique! Unlike the historical situation where the Anhui clique was completely defeated when General Duan came out of retirement, in this timeline, Zhejiang was still in the hands of Lu Yongxiang. Gao Yang in Anhui Province had risen again, giving General Duan a great deal of confidence.

The second thing he did was to issue an order to punish Qi Xieyuan and Sun Chuanfang.

Qi Xieyuan and Sun Chuanfang, who originally thought they could take advantage, were now in trouble. After Marshal Yu's defeat, he was still at sea, and the Zhili clique was in turmoil, with enemies everywhere. Sun Chuanfang acted the fastest; as soon as the news of Marshal Yu's defeat spread, he quickly fled back to the Xianxia Mountains, relying on the high mountains and deep valleys to block Lu Yongxiang. Lu Yongxiang did not react until two days later, when he discovered that the Fujian-Guangdong allied forces had all fled.

Qi Xieyuan was helpless; the entire province of Jiangsu, with its prosperous and wealthy areas along the Yangtze River, could not be easily abandoned. However, he lacked troops and was surrounded on all sides, and with the entire country united in condemning the Zhili clique, there was no support, and his troops were demoralized and unable to fight.

Gao Yang was waiting for this opportunity. The Jiangnan and Zhejiang regions are the most economically developed areas in the country, with a large population. More importantly, there is Shanghai, a large industrial port city, which is crucial for Gao Yang's future plans.

The officer training program and the officer training class immediately graduated, and everyone returned to their units. The First Army of Anhui Province began to gather troops and supplies in Pukou.

Qi Xieyuan did not deploy many troops in Nanjing, partly because the pressure from Zhejiang increased after Sun Chuanfang fled, and partly because the Yangtze River provided a natural barrier. He also looked down on Gao Yang's security forces and did not take Gao Yang seriously, calling him "a lucky dog."

Gao Yang was quite relaxed about this, "I hope every opponent evaluates me this way." Gao Yang had already prepared a big gift for Qi Xieyuan, and the show was about to begin.

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