With the frigid winter of northern China prohibiting any further advance, Chiang used the months following his reappointment to consolidate his control and restore the integrity of the Nanjing administration. On 18 February, Chiang was granted the title "Commander-in-Chief of the Northern Expeditionary Forces", whilst He Yingqin was made NRA chief-of-staff. The NRA was reorganised into four "collective armies". The First Collective Army was made up largely of the original NRA forces from Guangzhou, now based in the Nanjing–Shanghai area. The Second Collective Army consisted of Feng's "Guominjun", the Third of Yan's Shanxi forces, and the Fourth of Li Zongren's Guangxi clique army. By this point, the NRA was made up of one million soldiers, most of them part of ex-warlord armies. Preparing for a resumption of the expedition in March, Chiang ordered his foreign ministry to negotiate with the Japanese, in order to try to prevent their further intervention in Shandong.