Duan Qirui: Why should the money borrowed by virtue of your ability be returned to you?
In 1916, as soon as Yuan Shikai died, Duan Qirui became the most powerful of the Beiyang warlords, so he quickly left Li Yuanhong and actually took control of the Beijing government.
At that time, there was also a change of power in Japan, because of the bankruptcy of Yuan Shikai's imperial system, the Okuma cabinet that coerced Yuan Shikai with the "Twenty-One Articles" also collapsed, Terauchi Masatoshi succeeded him as prime minister and formed a new cabinet, and the cabinet headed by Terauchi Masato abandoned the Okuma cabinet's tough China policy and adopted more moderate methods and policies.
The reason why Duan Qirui was able to easily get the "Nishihara Loan" was also due to the rise of the cabinet in the temple.
When Yuan Shikai was alive, Japan supported Yuan Shikai, and now that Yuan Shikai is dead, they will naturally re-choose a person, obviously, Duan Qirui is the most suitable candidate for them to support after Yuan Shikai.
For a warlord like Duan Qirui, the best support is to give money, but will the Japanese give him money in vain? Obviously, no, to put it bluntly, they support Duan Qirui in order to get more benefits from China through Duan Qirui, so if Duan Qirui wants to get this money, he must also give the Japanese a "promise", or guarantee.
Did Duan Qirui agree? I agreed, but whether I could get it or not depended on the Japanese's own skills.
How much money did Duan Qirui take from the Japanese? Nishihara Kamezo gave Duan Qirui eight times before and after the cabinet of the temple, adding up to 145 million yen:
On January 20, 1917, the Bank of Communications borrowed 5 million yen;
On September 28, 1918, the Bank of Communications borrowed 20 million yen;
On April 30, 1918, the cable telegraph borrowed 20 million yen;
On June 18, 1918, the Jihui Railway prepared a loan of 10 million yen;
On August 2, 1918, 30 million yen was borrowed from gold mines and forests in Kyrgyzstan and Montenegro Province;
On September 28, 1918, the Manchurian-Mongolian Four Railway prepared to borrow 20 million yen;
On September 28, 1918, the Gaoxu and Jishun Railways prepared to borrow 20 million yen;
On September 28, 1918, he borrowed 20 million yen from the war.
It can also be seen from this that the focus of Japanese borrowing is first in finance, second in railways, and third in minerals, which seems to be supporting the economic construction and infrastructure construction of the Duan Qirui government, but in fact it is carrying out economic aggression.
Japan is trying to control China's economic lifeline by borrowing money from the Bank of Communications, meddling in and controlling China's financial system; railway borrowing is Japan's attempt to control China's transportation hub, if it can be realized, this will inevitably be more conducive to their aggression, after all, the transportation of materials and the army are indispensable to the railway; gold mine and forest loans are Japan's plot to plot China's rich minerals.
So, why did Japan's "Nishihara loan" end up in the water?
The reason why Japan borrowed money so fiercely was that it wanted Duan Qirui to control China as soon as possible, and as long as Duan controlled China, Japan could also indirectly control China through this huge loan, thus carrying out economic plunder, and even destroying China's financial system and causing China's economy to collapse.
The reason why Duan Qirui agreed to the Japanese conditions was that he was in the empty gloves of the white wolf, although he controlled the Beijing government and also had the intention of unifying China, but who could guarantee that he would be able to succeed?
Therefore, the Japanese lend money to Duan Qirui, and if they want to get the benefits they want, they must be based on Duan Qirui's success, and once Duan Qirui fails, whether it is this money or the guarantee conditions proposed by the Japanese, the Japanese do not know this?
No, of course they know, but they are still willing to take risks, because high risk also means high returns, as long as Duan Qirui succeeds, then this 145 million yen adventure can be exchanged for several times or even tens of times hundreds of times the return.
What's more, at that time, Duan Qirui was in charge of the Beijing government and became the leader of the Beiyang warlords, and the possibility of his success was not small, which was the reason why the Japanese decided to take risks, so it cannot be said that Japan was "deceived", but only that "one is willing to fight and one is willing to be beaten".
However, what the Japanese did not expect was that Duan Qirui actually lost so quickly, and as soon as the Duan Qirui regime collapsed, the Japanese money naturally drifted.
Duan Qirui lost the Zhiwan War of 1920 and lost control of the Beijing government, so what did Duan Qirui, who fell into distress, pay back?
After the Zhiwan War, Duan Qirui himself was difficult to protect, and could only wait for the opportunity to see if there was a chance to make a comeback again, so for "Xiyuan borrowing", his attitude was probably only four words——
No money!
Not yet!
I have to say that the one who owes money is indeed the uncle! Duan Qirui has no money to pay back, what can Japan do with him? If they really want to conspire against Duan Qirui, in Duan's capacity, it will only arouse greater hatred of Chinese against Japan, which will not be conducive to Japan's aggression against China and is not in Japan's interests.
Therefore, the Japanese can only stare at Duan Qirui, of course, they also hope that Duan can one day rise again and then pay back, but this possibility is too low. Although Duan Qirui later made a comeback, he was only a temporary government with no real power.
After the fall of Duan Qirui, when it is the turn of the direct family to come to power, will Cao Kun and Wu Peifu help Duan Qirui repay the money? Obviously, the money is taken by the old Duan, the benefits are the old Duan, Cao and Wu Cai will not be stupid enough to help Duan Qirui repay the money, and they will not admit the existence of this loan.
Cao and Wu did not admit it, and the later Zhang Zuolin would not admit it.
Therefore, the "Nishihara loan" has become a bad debt that cannot be recovered, but Japan has also gained a lot of benefits through the "Nishihara loan", and in fact, it has not lost much.