The new Gui warlords were one of the most capable warlords in the history of the Republic of China, and Li Zongren and others created a military miracle in the past few years from the battalion commander to the Central Plains, and when the military strength was strongest, it spread throughout the vast area from Zhennanguan to Shanhaiguan, and also forced President Jiang to go down three times. During the Republic of China period, the new Gui clan can be said to be intimidating and mighty, but the new Gui clan did not dare to offend the Dian army, and after the conflict between the two sides, the new Gui clan always submitted softly first, and looked like they did not dare to offend the eldest brother.
This reason is actually very realistic, the new Gui clan is willing to submit to soft because of money, because the Yunnan army side controls more than 40% of the guangxi side's fiscal revenue, and cannot afford to offend the local tycoon neighbors. As early as the beginning of the rise of the New Gui clan, it was almost acquired by the Dian Army, and in early 1925, sun Yat-sen died of illness, and Tang Jiyao was ready to take over the revolutionary government in Guangzhou, and he and the 60,000 Dian army were ready to accept the Guangxi territory by the way. Tang Jiyao's troops were several times that of Li Zongren, and he also gave a condition that most of the new Gui officers were impressed by, that is, to give the new Gui officers more than 7 million silver dollars worth of opium in one go (Tang allowed to send 4 million taels of opium smoke in Yunnan as a reward).
Except for Li Zongren and a few other people in the New Gui clan, almost everyone was impressed, and Yu Zuobai, a famous military leader of the New Gui clan, even proposed: "Even if we are not appointed by the Tang clan, can we first obtain his four million two tobacco soil..." In the end, Li Zongren had the backbone, did not accept the acquisition money, and directly with Tang Jiyao PK, seized more than 200,000 taels of opium, which gave the New Gui clan the capital to participate in the Northern Expedition. Huang Shaohong, one of the three giants of the New Gui clan, did not deny it: "This is equivalent to the final victory." This batch of smoke and soil was the final victory that determined the new Guizhou system in Guangxi and ended the Yunnan-Guizhou War. ”
After the Northern Expedition, the new Guizhou clan greatly increased its power, but it was financially dependent on the transit income of Yunnan opium, which accounted for more than 40% of its total fiscal revenue, more than twice the land tax. Yunnan opium is the top commodity of China's local smoke during the Republic of China period, the quality far exceeds the opium in Sichuan and other places, Yunnan opium is an important source of income for the Dian Army, by the Dian Army opened "Tianbaoli" and "Jishengxiang" two major companies for monopoly. The important channel for the export of opium in Yunnan is Guangxi, and there are three main passages, namely, from Fuzhou, Yunnan, through Zhenbian, Jingxi, Longzhou, and Ningminghaiyuan in Guangxi to Qinzhou and Lianzhou in Guangdong; secondly, from Guangnan Province, Yunnan Province, via Peel Pass and Liufeng, to Guangxi Baise, or from Guangnan and Huangcaoba to Baise via Xilin and Xilong, and then through Nanning to Wuzhou to Guangdong; the last road is transported from Yunnan to Nanning. In the 1930s and 1940s, 1,850 tons of opium were transported from Yunnan to Guangdong via Guangxi every year, and then Guangdong merchants shipped it to Shanghai and other places for sale.
According to Huang Shaohong's recollection, the benefits of the New Gui army directly participated in the transportation of opium in Yunnan as follows: "For every two cigarette merchants who wish to pay 3 points for protection, the tobacco gang leaders will negotiate with the army to divide 2 or more points to the army, and the rest will be the income of the tobacco gang leaders." The answer given by the new Gui's financial expenditure is that the Gui army collects 500 silver dollars for every 1,000 pairs of opium, and at the highest time collects 820 silver dollars per 1,000 pairs of opium, and the opium monopoly trade quota is as much as 20 million silver dollars. In the 23rd year of the Republic of China, the annual revenue of the Guangxi government was 27861338 yuan, and the income from opium smoking was as high as 13750622 yuan, which already accounted for half of the fiscal revenue and could meet the expenses of the entire army of the Gui clan. Because the New Gui clan was very dependent on Yunnan opium, Chiang Kai-shek instructed Long Yun in 1935 to change the route of opium, which immediately made the New Gui clan soft.
Yunnan's opium income is very powerful, so why didn't the new Gui clan seize Yunnan? They may have thought about it, but they really couldn't. Although the gui clan's combat prestige was higher than that of the Dian army, the Dian army's equipment was very strong, and it was really not something that the Gui clan could eat in one bite. As long as the imports of France, Belgium and the Czech Republic, the Yunnan Army has seventy or nine rifles and sixty light machine guns per company, and the firepower is comparable to that of the Central Army. During the Liberation War, the main force of the Yunnan Army, the 93rd Army, had 9821 rifles, 1706 submachine guns, 889 light machine guns, 177 heavy machine guns, and 60 mortars and 216 guns.
The 48th Army of the Gui clan had 6968 rifles, 200 submachine guns, 613 light machine guns, 109 heavy machine guns, and 54 60 mortars; the 46th Army of the Gui clan had 551 light machine guns, 106 heavy machine guns, and 68 60 mortars. The Gui Clan's strongest Seventh Army, with only 967 light machine guns, 247 heavy machine guns, and 92 60 mortars, was at a disadvantage in artillery, and it was difficult to eat the 93rd Army of the Dian Dynasty in one bite.
After the end of the 20s, the Dian army was "very honest", but its strength should not be underestimated, and it was not the object that the new Gui clan could kill in a second. The New Gui clan was also extremely dependent on the transit income of Yunnan opium, and was naturally very kind to the Dian army.