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Finance and the Northern Expedition: From the Northeast Asian Perspective, 1925–1928*

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  11 February 2014

KWONG CHI MAN
KWONG CHI MAN*
Affiliation:
History Department, Hong Kong Baptist University, AAB1155, Academic and Administrative Building, Hong Kong Baptist University, Kowloon, Hong Kong Email:cmkwong@hkbu.edu.hk
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Abstract

This paper looks at the problems faced by the Chinese silver-backed currencies in Manchuria during the period of Northern Expedition (1925–1928), the Chinese attempt to overcome these problems, and the reasons for its failure. Manchuria was a peculiar territory during the interwar period (1919–1939), where several currencies, backed by silver or gold, competed against one another. The Chinese silver banknote, first introduced at the turn of the twentieth century, was challenged by gold-backed Japanese yen issued by the Bank of Korea, and by the Russian ruble. This competition was set in the context of the struggle for political control over the area between China (the Qing Dynasty and its successor, the Chinese Republic), Russia (and its successor the Soviet Union), and the Japanese Empire, as well as the war between the southern Nationalists (Kuomintang) and the militarists (warlords) who controlled the Chinese central government in Beijing and Manchuria. This paper suggests that the difficult financial situation determined the course followed by the warlords, and that their failure was the result of the complex regional context, and the failures in their military strategy rather than of their fiscal policy.

Type
Research Article
Information
Modern Asian Studies , Volume 48 , Issue 6 , November 2014 , pp. 1695 - 1739
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2014 

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Footnotes

*

The author would like to thank Professor Hans van de Ven, Professor Rana Mitter, Professor Barak Kushner, and the anonymous reviwers for their most useful comments.

References

1 The ‘northern warlords’ concerned in this paper include those opposed to the Kuomintang during the Northern Expedition who rallied round the Manchurian warlord Zhang Zuolin, formed the National Pacification Army (Anguojun, or Ankuochun as it was known in Wade-Giles) and maintained the Government until June 1928.

2 The Chinese called the area dongbei (Northeast China) or dongsansheng (Eastern Three Provinces) the word Manchuria is used here for the sake of convenience

3 van de Ven, Hans (2003). War and Nationalism in China, 1925–1945, Routledge, London, pp. 88–92Google Scholar, 125–128; Hans van de Ven's work was the only work that systematically discussed the financial dimension of the Northern Expedition.

4 McCormack, Gavan (1977). Chang Tso-lin in Northeast China, 1911–1928: China, Japan, and the Manchurian Idea, Stanford University Press, Stanford, pp. 191–204Google Scholar; Shangbin, Ma, et al. (2001), Fengxi jingji (Economy of the Fengitan Clique), Liaohai chubanshe, Shenyang, pp. 230–234Google Scholar; Naikun, Yang and Yanxiong, Cao (2005), Jindai dongbei jingji wenti yanjiu 1916–1945 (A Study on the Economy of Northeast China), Liaoning daxue chubanshe, Shenyang, p. 83Google Scholar; Shigeō, Nishimura (1984), Chūgoku kindai Tohoku chiikishi kenkyū (A Study on the Regional History of Modern Northeast China), Hōritsu Bunkasha, Kyoto, pp. 106–107Google Scholar, 153–157; Fuxiang, Wei (1986). Lun Fengpiao maofang jiqi suiluo, Social Science Front Bimonthly, 3, 117–123Google Scholar.

5 Hans van de Ven, War and Nationalism, p. 93.

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9 Bank of Korea, Economic History of Manchuria, pp. 18–19; Christopher Mills Isett, State, Peasant, and Merchant, p. 364; Yulian, Yanget al., Qing dai Dongbei shi (A History of Northeast China in the Qing Dynasty), pp. 413–415Google Scholar.

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11 Christopher Mills Isett, State, Peasant, and Merchant, p. 228.

12 Hamashita, Takeshi (2008). China East Asia and the Global Economy, Oxford University Press, Oxford, pp. 87–91Google Scholar.

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14 Xiling, Xiong (1908), Di yi ci tiaocha Ying-Wu shangwu bin, Manzhou shiyean, Youweishe, Shanghai, p. 75Google Scholar, 79–81; See also Yang Yulian et al., Qing dai Dongbei shi (A History of Northeast China in the Qing Dynasty), p. 439.

15 Kantō totokufu minseibu shomuka, Monmō keizai jijō (Economic Issues of Manchuria and Mongolia, published by the Civil Affairs Department, Kanto Government) (1917), No. 6, 20/2/1917, Naikaku bunko (NB), Japan Center for Asian Historical Records (JACAR), Ref: A06033518200, slide 46; Nishimura Shigeō, Chūgoku kindai Tohoku chiikishi kenkyū, p. 143; Kaneko Fumio, p. 4; Herbert P. Bix (1972). Japanese Imperialism and the Manchurian Economy, 1900–31, The China Quarterly, 51, 428; Tsukase Susumu (2005). Chūgoku tōhoku chiiki ni okeru daizu torihiki no dōkō Mitsui bussan (Mitsui Company's Bean Trade in the Region of Northeast China)_, in Yoshiki Enatsu. Kindai Chūgoku Tōhoku chiikishi kenkyū no shinshikaku (New Perspectives of the Study on the Regional History of Modern Northeast China, Yamakawa Shuppansha, Tokyo, p. 70.

16 Hu Yuhai, et al., Fengxi jingji (Economy of the Fengitan Clique), pp. 242–243.

17 Ayumu, Yasutomi (1997). Manshūkoku no kinyū (Finance of Manchukuo), Shobunsha, Tokyo, p. 5Google Scholar.

18 Huiyuan, Yao (2002). Fengxi junfa tongzhi shiqi de Liaoning zhibi faxing (Banknote Issuing of the Fengtian Warlords in Liaoning), Zhongguo qianbi, 79, 13Google Scholar.

19 Yasutomi Ayumu, Manshūkoku no kinyū, p. 16; Yao Huiyuan, Fengxi junfa tongzhi shiqi de Liaoning zhibi faxing (Banknote Issuing of the Fengtian Warlords in Liaoning), p. 13.

20 Kantōchō zaimubu (Treasury of the Government of the Kwantung Leased Territory) (1929). Tosanshō kangingō ron (A Study of the State Bank of the Eastern Three Provinces), JACAR, A06033520200, slides 167–169.

21 Yao Huiyuan, Fengxi junfa tongzhi shiqi de Liaoning zhibi faxing (Banknote Issuing of the Fengtian Warlords in Liaoning), p. 14.

22 Kantōchō zaimubu, Tosanshō kangingō ron, slide 170.

23 Kaneko Fumio, Kindai Nippon niokeru tai manshū tōshi no kenkyū (A Study of the Japanese Investment on Manchuria), p. 205.

24 Jieping, Xu (1985). Dongsansheng jindai huobi jinrong (Modern Currencies and Finance in the Eastern Three Provinces), in Liaoning wenshi ziliao, Vol. 12, Liaoning wrenmin chubanshe, Shenyang, p. 102Google Scholar.

25 Yasutomi Ayumu, Manshūkoku no kinyū, pp. 33–34.

26 Ibid., pp. 34, 37.

27 Metzler, Mark (2006). Lever of Empire: the International Gold Standard and the Crisis of Liberalism in Prewar Japan, University of California Press, Berkeley, pp. 132–137CrossRefGoogle Scholar; Metzler points out that the cost of the Kanto Earthquake was ‘one-quarter of the damage caused to all of Japan during World War II’. See Mark Metzler, Lever of Empire, p. 146.

28 Gavan McCormack, Chang Tso-lin in Northeast China, p. 193.

29 Yang Naikun and Cao Yanxiong, Jindai dongbei jingji (A Study on the Economy of Northeast China), p. 83.

30 Gavan McCormack, p. 192. Although McCormack points out the importance of external events on the exchange rate of the fengpiao, he does not look at the fluctuation of the fengpiao after January 1926.

31 Yoshida sōryōji (Consul General Yoshida) (1926). Manshu dōran no Hōtenhyō, tokusanmotsu ni kyū boseru eikyō to Hōtenhyō no shōrai nikansuru ken (Report on the financial status of Fengtian Province after Guo Songling's rebellion), 12/1/1926, No. 598, in Gaimushō (ed.) (1988). Nihon gaiko bunsho (as NGB below), Showa-ki, (Documents on Japanese foreign policy, Showa era), 1926, 2:1, Gaimushō, Tokyo, p. 564.

32 Yasutomi Ayumu, Manshūkoku no kinyū (Finance of Manchukuo), pp. 35–36.

33 Yoshida sōryōji (1927). Hōtenhyō no torihiki jōkyō nikansuru ken (Report on the exchange rate of the fengpiao), 28/5/1927, NGB, 1926, 2:1, p. 575.

34 Kantōchō zaimubu, Tosanshō kangingō ron, slides 237–239.

35 Kantō chōkan Kodama Hideo (Governor of the Kwantung Leased Territory Kodama) (1926). Kantō chōkan no tai Hōtenhyō seiri iken (Opinion on the reorganization of the fengpiao), 2/9/1926, No. 653, NGB, 1926, 2:1, pp. 663–664.

36 Yokohama shōkin ginkō tōdoriseki tōyōka jichō Watanabe Rei (Watanabe Rei, Deputy Head of the Eastern Asian Bureau, Head Office of the Yokohama Specie Bank), ‘sho dai 10 gō (Letter no. 10)’, NGB, 1926, Vol. 2, No. 1, p. 601. It should be noted that during this period there was no large scale arms import to Manchuria.

37 Kaneko Fumio, Kindai Nippon niokeru tai manshū toushi no kenkyū (A Study of the Japanese Investment on Manchuria), p. 314; Yokohama shōkin ginkō tōdoriseki tōyōka jichō Watanabe Rei, ‘sho dai 10 gō’, NGB, 1926, Vol. 2, No. 1, p. 601.

38 Nishimura Shigeō, Chūgoku kindai Tohoku chiikishi kenkyū (A Study on the Regional History of Modern Northeast China), p. 156.

39 Shijie Ribao (as SR below), 4/8/1926.

40 Kaneko Fumio, p. 315.

41 Yoshida sōryōji, ‘Hōhyō sōba nikansuru ken (Message about the Price of Fengitan Notes)’, 5/8/1927, Gaimushō kiroku (GK), JACAR, B08060893700, slide 167.

42 Yoshida sōryōji, ‘Hōhyō sōba nikansuru ken (Message about the Price of Fengitan Notes)’, 6/9/1927, GK, B08060893700, slide 176.

43 Yoshida sōryōji, ‘Hōhyō bōraku toki eikyō hei ni Shinasoku taisaku (A report on the fall of the fengpiao, its effects, and reaction on the Chinese side)’, 29/3/1927, GK, B08060893700, slides 116–118.

44 Sai Hōten sōryōji dairi Hachiya Terō, ‘Hōhyō bōraku toki eikyō hei Shinasoku no taisaku nikansuru ken (A report on the fall of the fengpiao, its effects, and reaction on the Chinese side)’, 18/2/1928, GK, B08060893900, slide 346.

45 Kaneko Fumio, Kindai Nippon niokeru tai manshū tōshi no kenkyū (A Study of the Japanese Investment on Manchuria), pp. 315, 317.

46 Captain Malcolm Duncan Kennedy, The Diaries of Captain Malcolm Duncan Kennedy, 1917–1946, 20/4/1927, 84. University of Sheffield Library http://librarysupport.shef.ac.uk/kennedy_diaries.pdf [accessed 18 September 2013].

47 ‘Sir M. Lampson to Air Austen Chamberlain’, 24/8/1927, F 8095/144/10, FOCP, Vol. 33, p. 219.

48 ‘Report on the General Conditions in Manchuria’, November 1927, Kesaris, Paul (ed.), U.S. Military Intelligence Reports: China, 1911–1941 (USMI), (Frederick, Maryland: University Publications of America, 1983)Google Scholar, Vol. 4, slide 399.

49 Sai Kairyū bunkan shunin Banni (Branch Officer of Hailong Bannai) (1928). Hōhyō bōraku ni tomofu eikyō nikansuru ken (A report on the effect of the fall of the fengpiao), 20/1/1928, GK, JACAR, B08060893800, slides 243–244; Sai Tsūka bunkan shunin Abe (Branch Officer of Tonghua Abe) (1928). Hōhyō bōraku to Tsūka sōjō no eikyō nikansuru ken (A report on the fall of the fengpiao and the effects of disturbance in Tunghua), 3/2/1928, GK, JACAR, B08060893800, slide 273.

50 Sai Gyūsō ryōji Kishida (Consul Kishida of Niuzhuang) (1928). Hōtenhyō bōraku nikansuru ken (A report on the fall of the fengpiao),” 28/1/1928, GK, JACAR, B08060893800, slide 249.

51 Sai Tetsurei ryōji Tanaka (Consul Tanaka of Tieling) (1928). ‘Hōtenhyō sanraku eikyō nikansuru ken (A report on the effect of the fall of the fengpiao)’, 3/2/1928, GK, JACAR, B08060893800, slide 281.

52 Sai Hōten sōryōji dairi Hachiya (1928), dai 105 gō, 10/2/1928, GK, JACAR, B08060893900, slide 310; Mitter, Rana (2000). The Manchuria Myth: Nationalism, Resistance, and Collaboration in Modern China, University of California Press, Berkeley, p. 36Google Scholar.

53 Hōten kōshochō Kamata (Head of Mukden Branch Office of the South Manchuria Railway Kamata) (1928), Kyūsei zengo ni otekuru Hōhyō bōraku no eikyō (The effect of the fall of the fengpiao since last year), GK, JACAR, B08060893900, slide 320.

54 Sai Hōten sōryōji dairi Hachiya (1928), dai 43 gō, 18/1/1928, GK, JACAR, B08060893800, slide 241; Hu Yuhai, Li Rong (2005). Fengxijunfa dashiji, Liaoning minzu chubanshe, Shenyang, pp. 463–467. Rural poverty allowed the Chinese Communist Party to seize the chance to stir up disturbances. After several punitive expeditions against the Small Sword Society, on 1 May the Party instructed the communists in Manchuria to abandon the attempt to use the Small Sword Society to seize power in Manchuria. See Hu Yuhai, Li Rong, p. 472.

55 Sai Hōten sōryōji dairi Hachiya (1928). Hōhyō bōraku toki eikyō hei Shinasoku no taisaku nikansuru ken (The Fall of Fengtian Notes, its Impact, and the Response on the Chinese Side), 18/2/1928, GK, JACAR, B08060893900, slide 349.

56 For a discussion of the tension between Wang Yongjiang and Zhang Zuolin, see Ronald Suleski (2002). Civil Government in Warlord China: Tradition, Modernization and Manchuria, Peter Lang, New York.

57 Kantōchō zaimubu (Financial Section, Kwantung Leased Territory) (1927). Hōtenshō zaisei no genjō (The Current State of Fengtian Province's Finance), 3/1927, GK, JACAR, B02031788000, slide 10.

58 Kantōchō zaimubu, Hōtenshō zaisei no genjō (The Current State of Fengtian Province's Finance), slides 12–32.

59 The number of yinyuan was calculated according to the official rate of 0.8:1 between the fengpiao and yinyuan in 1926 and 0.16:1 in 1927. Although the State Bank did not keep precise figures for expenditure, the researcher of the Financial Section of the Kwantung Government suggested that since all expenditure and drafts went through the State Bank, the actual expenditure must lie between the end of year total draft and total processed draft. See Kantōchō zaimubu, Tōsanshō kangingō ron (A Discussion on the Finance of the Eastern Three Provinces), p. 337.

60 Ibid., pp. 355, 366.

61 Kaneko Fumio, Kindai Nippon niokeru tai manshū tōshi no kenkyū (A Study of the Japanese Investment on Manchuria), p. 502. See Hōten kōshochō Kamata (1928). Hōhyō zanraku toki gen'in – tokumu kikan jōhō (The cause of the fall of the fengpiao – from the intelligence service), 14/1/1928, GK, JACAR, B08060893800, slide 226.

62 According to Sun, he received 800,000 yuan per month for this army. See SR, 20/7/1927.

63 Nishimura Shigeō, Chūgoku kindai Tohoku chiikishi kenkyū (A Study on the Regional History of Modern Northeast China), p. 154.

64 Shimizu ryōji (1927). Kokuryūkōshō minkoku jūgo nendo kokuka saishutsu yosanhyō tatsunoken (The report on submitting the National Budget of the Heilongjiang Province in the 15th Year of the Republic), 22/3/1927; Consul Shimizu (1931). Minkoku jūhachi, kyū nendo kitsurinshō saishutsu yosangaku (Estimates of the expenditure of the Jilin Province in the 18th and 19th Year of the Republic), 10/4/1931, GK, JACAR, B02031787900, slides 7, 40–41.

65 Sai Sainan (Jinan) sōryōji Fujita (1927). Santōshō zaisei jōkyō hōkoku no ken (The financial situation of Shandong Province), 10/6/1927, GK, JACAR, B02031840700, slides 138–139.

66 Hans van de Ven, War and Nationalism in China, p. 91.

67 Tomoko, Shiroyama (2008). China during the Great Depression: Market, State, and the World Economy, 1929–1937, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, p. 33Google Scholar.

68 Kantō chōkan Kodama Hideo (1926). Kantō chōkan no tai Hōtenhyō seiri iken (A Proposal to Reorganise the Fengtian Note for the Governor to Kanto Leased Territory), 2/9/1926, No. 653, NGB, 1926, 2:1, p. 665.

69 Yoshida sōryōji (1926). Hōtenhyō geraku heibini Chūkokusaku no taisaku nikansuru ken (The fall of the fengpiao and the Chinese reaction), 12/8/1926, No. 624, NGB, 1926, 2:1, p. 632.

70 Ioridani Hōten shogikaitō (Head of the Japanese Chamber of Commerce in Fengtian Ioridani) (1927). Hōtenhyō mondai taisakuan (Plans to react to the the fengpiao problem), 13/9/1927, GK, JACAR, B08060893700, slide 181; The Association of the Japanese Residence in Manchuria also advocated the use of gold yen. See The Association of the Japanese Residence in Manchuria (1927). Sengen (Declaration), 27/8/1927, GK, JACAR, B08060893700, slide 187.

71 Yoshida sōryōji (1927). Manshu kin'yu seido heini seisaku kaizen nikanshi yōsei no ken (Financial system in Manchuria and improvement of the government's policy), 18/5/1927, NGB, Vol. 1, p. 613.

72 ‘Sir M. Lampson to Sir Austen Chamberlain’, 21/1/1928, in Kenneth Bourne and Cameron Watt (eds) (1997). British Documents on Foreign Affairs: Reports and Papers from the Foreign Office Confidential Print (as FOCP below), Part II, Series E, Vol. 34, p. 209.

73 ‘A Review of the Past and present Policy of Japan in South Manchuria’, in ‘Sir M. Lampson to Sir Austen Chamberlain’, 21/2/1928, FOCP, Vol. 34, p. 346.

74 Yasutomi Ayumu, Manshūkoku no kinyū, p. 38. According to Yasutomi, In early 1926, expecting the silver price to fall, the YSB branch in Shanghai bought large amounts of the British Pound, Yen and US Dollar, so that when the price of silver did fall, the branch profited much from it. Later in the year when the Yen's price was falling the branch again bought up a large amount of Yen using the profit from the previous speculation.

75 Mark Metzler, Lever of Empire, pp. 123–124, 164.

76 ‘Shina jikyoku to shi ka taisaku nikansuru ken (Report on responses to the situation in China)’, 26/11/1926, GK, JACAR, B02031895100, slides 233, 238–239.

77 Mark Metzler, p. 158.

78 Yasutomi Ayumu, p. 36.

79 ‘A Review of the Past and present Policy of Japan in South Manchuria’, in ‘Sir M. Lampson to Sir Austen Chamberlain’, 21/2/1928, FOCP, Vol. 34, p. 346; ‘Sir M. Lampson to Sir Austen Chamberlain’, 24/6/1927, F 6980/2/10, FOCP, Vol. 33, p. 130.

80 SR, 20/1/1927.

81 ‘Hōtenha no Hōtenhyō seiri keikaku no gaiyō (An overview of the Fengtian Clique's plan to adjust the fengpiao)’, 6/1927, The Gazette of the Chamber of Commerce in Dairen, GK, JACAR, B08060893700, slide 157.

82 Quotation from Kaneko Fumio, Kindai Nippon niokeru tai manshū tōshi no kenkyū (A Study of the Japanese Investment on Manchuria), p. 502.

83 Chōsen ginkō sōsai Suzuki Shimakichi (The Head of Bank of Korea, Suzuki Shimakichi) (1926), Hōtenhyō no torihiki jōkyō nikansuru ken (Report on the exchange rate of the fengpiao), 5/3/1926, NGB, 1926, 2:1, p. 568.

84 Kantōchō zaimubu, Tōsanshō kangingō ron (A Discussion on the Finance of the Eastern Three Provinces), slides 205–220; Nishimura Shigeō, Chūgoku kindai Tohoku chiikishi kenkyū, p. 152.

85 Kantōchō zaimubu, Tōsanshō kangingō ron (A Discussion on the Finance of the Eastern Three Provinces), slide 221–225; Nishimura Shigeō, Chūgoku kindai Tohoku chiikishi kenkyū (A Study on the Regional History of Modern Northeast China), p. 154.

86 Nishimura Shigeō, Chūgoku kindai Tohoku chiikishi kenkyū, p. 154; Gavan McCormack, Chang Tso-lin in Northeast China, p. 195.

87 Nishimura Shigeō, Chūgoku kindai Tohoku chiikishi kenkyū, p. 148; Gavan McCormack, Chang Tso-lin in Northeast China, p. 196.

88 Gavan McCormack, Chang Tso-lin in Northeast China, p. 197.

89 Kantōchō zaimubu, Tōsanshō kangingō ron (A Discussion on the Finance of the Eastern Three Provinces), p. 156.

90 SR, 27/5/1926; 30/5/1926; 2/6/1926; 12/6/1926; 14/6/1926; 16/6/1926; 17/6/1926, 7; SR, 31/12/1926.

91 SR, 11/12/1926; 13/1/1927; 9/6/1927; 24/6/1927; 29/6/1927; 28/7/1927; 22/8/1927.

92 Quanyou, Su (2007). Zhang Zongchang quanzhuan (A Complete Biography of Zhang Zongchang), Beijing, pp. 165Google Scholar, 171.

93 SR, 1/9/1927.

94 ‘Acting Consul-General J. B. Affleck to Sir Austen Chamberlain’, 27/3/1928, F2266/22/10, FOCP, Vol. 34, p. 389.

95 Kantōchō zaimubu, Tōsanshō kangingō ron (A Discussion on the Finance of the Eastern Three Provinces), slide. 323.

96 SR, 17/1/1927; 19/1/1926; 8/3/1927.

97 Kantōchō zaimubu, Tōsanshō kangingō ron (A Discussion on the Finance of the Eastern Three Provinces), slide 325; ‘Sir M. Lampson to Sir Austen Chamberlain’, 21/1/1928, F 1085/50/10, FOCP, Vol. 34, p. 209.

98 Kantōchō zaimubu, Tōsanshō kangingō ron (A Discussion on the Finance of the Eastern Three Provinces), slide 325.

99 Yoshida sōryōji (1926). dai 247 gō, 22/8/1926, NGB, 1926, 2:1, p. 645; Yoshida sōryōji (1926). dai 257 gō, 28/8/1926, NGB, 1926, 2:1, p. 655; Kantōchō zaimubu, Tōsanshō kangingō ron (A Discussion on the Finance of the Eastern Three Provinces), slide, 231.

100 Kantōchō zaimubu, Tōsanshō kangingō ron (A Discussion on the Finance of the Eastern Three Provinces), slide 283.

101 SR, 18/3/1927; Yoshida sōryōji (1926). dai 250 gō, 26/8/1926, NGB, 1926, 2:1, p. 651; Kaneko Fumio, Kindai Nippon niokeru tai manshū tōshi no kenkyū (A Study of the Japanese Investment on Manchuria), pp. 504–505.

102 Sai Hōten sōryōji dairi Hachiya (1928). dai 98 gō, 7/2/1928, GK, JACAR, B08060893800, slide 299.

103 Hōten kōshochō Kamata (1928). Hōhyō zanraku toki gen'in – tokumu kikan jōhō, 14/1/1928, GK, JACAR, B08060893800, slide 228–230; Sai Hōten sōryōji dairi Hachiya (1928). dai 46 gō, 6/2/1928, GK, JACAR, B08060893800, slide 295.

104 See Tanaka ryōji (1928). Hōtenhyō bōraku shin'in nikanshi hōkoku no ken (A report on the real cause of the fall of the fengpiao), 3/2/1928, GK, JACAR, B08060893800, slides 278–279.

105 ‘Sir M. Lampson to Sir Austen Chamberlain’, 21/1/1928, F 1085/50/10, FOCP, Vol. 34, p. 209.

106 The long-term causes of the financial problems of the Beijing Government during the mid 1920s were the decline of its authority since the late Qing period and the Powers’ unwillingness to lend money to it during the 1920s. For the internal and external debt problems of the Beijing Government, see Dayer, Roberta Allbert (1981). Bankers and Diplomats in China, Frank Cass, London, pp. 8–9Google Scholar, 12, 23–26; Yi, Xu (2006). Cong bainian quru dao minzhu fuxing: Beiyang waizai yu xinhai geming de chengbai (From Chaos to National Revivial: Foreign Loans of the Beiyang Government and the Successs of the Xinhai Revolution), Jingji kexue chubanshe, Beijing, pp. 96–99Google Scholar; Mark Metzler, Lever of Empire, p. 111, 122, 127; Jianlai, Mo (2004). Wanxi junfa tongzhi shigao (A History of China under the Rule of the Wanxi Warlords), Tianjin guji chubanshe, Tianjin, pp. 145–157Google Scholar; Qixiang, Zhang (2005), Beiyang zhengfu shiqi de jiuliu gongzai shuping (Assessing the 96 Bond of the Beiyang Government), Shixue yuekan, 2005:6Google Scholar.; Guoqi, Pan (2007). ‘Beiyang zhengfu shiqi guonei gongzhai zong-e ji qi zuoyong pingxi (A Study of the Total Amount of Internal Bonds Issued by the Beiyang Government and its Impact)’, in Jindaishi yanjiu, 2007:1Google Scholar, p. 78.

107 Hans van de Ven, War and Nationalism in China, p. 126.

108 ‘Report by L. A. Lyall on control of Revenue by Customs Inspectorate’, 28/5/1927, Sir Frederick Maze's Confidential Letters and Reports (SFMCLR), p. 37.

109 Ibid., p. 40. Original highlights.

110 Ibid., p. 43.

111 Siqi, Chen (2005). Zhongguo jindai haiguan shi (History of Modern Chiense Maritime Customs), Renmin chubanshe, Biejing, pp. 495–498Google Scholar.

112 SR, 1/12/1926.

113 SR, 5/12/1926; 11/12/1926.

114 ‘Edwardes’ telegraph to I.G.’, 30/7/1926, SFMCLR, p. 5; ‘Edwardes’ telegraph to I.G.’, 4/8/1926, SFMCLR, p. 6; ‘Edwardes’ telegraph to I.G.’, 24/8/1926, SFMCLR, p. 7.

115 ‘Edwardes’ telegraph to I.G.’, 1/9/1926, in SFMCLR, p. 8; ‘Edwardes’ telegraph to I.G.’, 7/9/1926, SFMCLR, pp. 9–10; ‘Edwardes’ telegraph to I.G.’, 8/9/1926, SFMCLR, pp. 10–11.

116 Koo, Wellington (1983). Gu Weijun hui yi lu (Memoir of Wellington Koo), Zhonghua shuju, Beijing, pp. 285–286Google Scholar, SR, 1/9/1926; 10/9/1926; 16/9/1926.

117 Wellington Koo, pp. 284–289. Koo wrote in his memoir that the bonds were not issued. However, the newspaper in Beijing reported that the bonds were issued but that they were not recognized. See SR, 20/9/1926.

118 ‘Hōtenha kōhoku shinshutsu to shika taisaku nikansuru ken (Reaction to the Fengtian Clique's advance into the Jiangbei area)’, 26/11/1926, GK, B02031895100, slides 232–233, 238–239.

119 ‘Sir M. Lampson to Sir Austen Chamberlain’, 1/12/1927, F 378/7/10, FOCP, Vol. 33, pp. 396–400.

120 Enhan, Li (1993). Beifa qianhou de geming waijiao (1925–1931), Academia Sinica, Taipei, pp. 91–95Google Scholar;

121 During the First World War, although Britain and America remitted the Boxer Indemnity to China, France, Italy, Belgium and Spain insisted that China should pay the Indemnity in gold rather than in their depreciated currencies. From 1922 to 1924, negotiations between China and France became bogged down, and the French government refused to ratify the Nine-Power Pact. The failure to restore tariff autonomy seriously handicapped Beijing's ability to keep its control over the provinces, particularly those in the South. See Waldron, Arthur (1995). From War to Nationalism: China's Turning Point, 1924–5, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, p. 32Google Scholar.

122 Chen Siqi, Zhongguo jindai haiguan shi (History of Modern Chiense Maritime Customs), p. 126.

123 Roberta Allbert Dayer, p. 230.

124 SR, 1/5/1926; 6/5/1926.

125 ‘Aglen to London Office’, 13/6/1926, SFMCLR, Volume 2, 1926–1929, p. 3.

126 Ibid., 28/11/1926, SFMCLR, p. 16.

127 Ibid., 2/12/1926, SFMCLR, p. 18.

128 Ibid., 1/12/1926, SFMCLR, p. 17; Ibid., 2/12/1926, SFMCLR, p. 18.

129 Chen Siqi, Zhongguo jindai haiguan shi (History of Modern Chiense Maritime Customs), p. 160.

130 ‘Aglen to London Office’, 13/11/1926, SFMCLR, p. 13.

131 Ibid., 16/11/1926, SFMCLR, p. 14; Ibid., 28/11/1926, SFMCLR, p. 16.

132 Ibid., 5/12/1926, SFMCLR, p. 19.

133 Ibid., 13/12/1926, SFMCLR, p. 20.

134 Ibid., 29/12/1926, SFMCLR, p. 21.

135 Wellington Koo, Gu Weijun hui yi lu (Memoir of Wellington Koo), p. 305.

136 ‘Mr. Lampson to Sir Austen Chamberlain’, 3/1/1927, F 1934/2/10, FOCP, Vol. 32, p. 96.

137 Chen Siqi, Zhongguo jindai haiguan shi, p. 166.

138 Wellington Koo, Gu Weijun hui yi lu (Memoir of Wellington Koo), p. 309.

139 SR, 8/2/1927; Dagongbao (DGB), 15/2/1927.

140 Wellington Koo, Gu Weijun hui yi lu (Memoir of Wellington Koo), pp. 309–312.

141 SR, 9/2/1927.

142 ‘Sir Austen Chamberlain to Sir J. Tilley’, 24/1/1927, F 706/2/10, FOCP, Vol. 32, p. 43.

143 SR, 13/2/1927.

144 Chen Siqi, Zhongguo jindai haiguan shi (History of Modern Chiense Maritime Customs), pp. 157–159; SR, 31/3/1927.

145 ‘An overview of the Fengtian Clique's plan to adjust fengpiao’, 6/1927, The Gazette of the Chamber of Commerce in Dairen, GK, B08060893700, slide 157.

146 Yoshizawa kōji (1928), dai 50 gō, 17/1/1928, GK, JACAR, B02030035900, slides 352–253.

147 Tianshi, Yang (2002). Cong dizhi zouxiang gonghe: xinhai qianhou shishi fawei (From Empire to Republic: Historical Issues Before and After the Xinhai Revolution), Shehui kexue wenxian chubanshe, Beijing, p. 272Google Scholar.

148 SR, 23/9/1927; 4/10/1927; 12/1/1928.

149 DGB, 29/1/1927; Atkins, Martyn (1985). Informal Empire in Crisis: British Diplomacy and the Chinese Customs Succession, 1927–1929, Cornell University Press, New York, p. 68Google Scholar.

150 DGB, 29/1/1927.

151 Martyn Atkins, p. 69.

152 ‘Sir Miles to Sir Austen Chamberlain’, 11/1/1928, F222/46/10, FOCP, Vol. 34, p. 9.

153 ‘The Chargé in China (Mayer) to the Secretary of State’, 20/2/1928, 893.00 P. R./3, No. 1403, Papers Relating to the Foreign Relations of the United States (PRUS), CC 1928 Vol. II, p. 121.

154 ‘Sir Miles to Sir Austen Chamberlain’, 19/1/1928, F 311/46/10, FOCP, Vol. 34, p. 21

155 ‘The Chargé in China (Mayer) to the Secretary of State’, 1/3/1928, 893.00/9851, No. 1410, PRUS, CC 1928 Vol. II, p. 125.

156 ‘Sir Miles to Sir Austen Chamberlain’, 31/1/1928, F 500/7/10, FOCP, Vol. 34, p. 60.

157 ‘Minute of Interview between His Majesty's Minister and Mr. Liang Shiyi’, in ‘Sir M. Lampson to Austen Chamberlain’, 1/2/1928, F 1398/7/10, FOCP, Vol. 34, p. 271.

158 ‘Sir Miles to Austen Chamberlain’, 22/2/1928, F 731/5/10, FOCP, Vol. 34, p. 128.

159 SR, 20/1/1928.

160 DGB, 26/2/1928.

161 SR, 4/2/1928.

162 SR, 22/2/1928.

163 SR, 12/1/1928.

164 ‘Sir Miles to Sir Austen Chamberlain’, 20/3/1928, F 1339/5/10, FOCP, Vol. 34, p. 252.

165 ‘(no title) A joint petition of the Japanese Chamber of Commerce in Fengtian and the Japanese Association in Fengtian to the Minister of Foreign Affairs Shidehara Keijiro’, 4/9/1927, GK, B08060893700, 184.

166 ‘Sir J. Tilley to Sir Austen Chamberlain’, 26/1/1928, F 1121/7/10, FOCP, Vol. 34, p. 218.