However, the Japanese government, which has always been shrewd, suffered a small loss on one thing, which led to being cheated out of1.400 million yen. What has made the Japanese government, which has always been shrewd, suffer a little?
This matter is Xiyuan loan, which refers to the general name of public and secret loans signed with the Japanese government during Duan's tenure as Prime Minister of Beiyang Government.
Among these loans, the most important person was Kikuzo Nishihara, a close confidant of Japanese Prime Minister Terauchi Masatake at that time, who also had certain influence in politics and business circles.
1912-1914 years, Kikuzo Nishihara visited the Northeast many times to make suggestions for Japan's expansion. 19 16, in order to consolidate diplomacy with the two countries, he began to advocate economic support between the two countries. Propose that the Japanese government lend money to China to support railways and banks in China.
Duan borrowed from the Japanese government many times during his tenure as Prime Minister of Beiyang Government, so the foreign debt of Beiyang Government is also called Xiyuan Loan.
Even with the influence of Nishihara Kikuzo, the loan amount was relatively large, and corresponding collateral was needed, so Duan mortgaged a series of sovereignty such as building railways, cutting down trees and mining in Northeast China to Japan.
Compared with other loans, the interest of Xiyuan loan is relatively loose. These collateral looks scary, but it is still difficult to operate in Japan.
Nishihara's borrowing style is different from that of Japan. Why is the Japanese government so kind?
After the Meiji Restoration, Japan's national strength has been very strong, and in World War I, Japan made a fortune in the war.
Japan has a lot of money and wants to find investment opportunities. Later, the Japanese set their sights on China at that time. When Yuan Shikai came to power, he also borrowed money from other countries, and those who lent money to Yuan Shikai also benefited a lot.
At that time, Japan also wanted to expand its interests in China and gradually control China through economic infiltration. In addition, the period was in full swing and it was extremely welcome to Japan. Japan also wanted to get corresponding benefits through the loan, so it got the Nishihara loan later.
If Duan is in power for a long time, the Japanese sovereignty mortgaged by Duan can get corresponding benefits quickly, but Duan has only been in the position of interim president for two years.
He was ousted by Feng Yuxiang and others, then retired to Tianjin, and never appeared in public again.
Duan borrowed from the Japanese government eight times before and after, and borrowed a total of10.45 billion yuan from Xiyuan, but Duan did not pay back a penny. Maybe Duan didn't intend to pay back the money at that time because he borrowed money.
After that, Duan was ousted, and the subsequent government refused to recognize the loan on the grounds that it was not used. Since then, the Japanese government's loan has turned into a bad debt, and it was not recovered until Nishihara Kamei died.
This is the story of Nishihara loan between Duan and the Japanese government. For the period at that time, it didn't take much effort to get a huge sum. Of course, he was very happy and felt that he had got a big bargain.
As far as the Japanese government is concerned, it has not suffered much, and the loss is only a little face.
Economically, however, the Japanese government's subsequent gains from the mortgaged resource sovereignty were far greater than its uncollected10.40 billion.
Although Duan got a huge sum of money, he thought he was smart and made a lot of money from the Japanese, but the money Nishihara borrowed from Japan was the resource sovereignty mortgaged to Japan or the Japanese. Comparatively speaking, the Japanese government only lost a little money and gained more benefits.