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Text Chapter 125 The idea of ??a bonded zone

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    Shanghai in December attracted the attention of the whole of China. Conspiracies, disputes, and transactions were going on every day. At this time, Yang Qiu's sudden arrival poured a barrel of oil on this restlessness.

    Especially when Yang Du, the representative from the north, took a car back to his temporary residence with him. After the photo of his smiling face when he got off the car was captured by reporters, many people began to speculate whether the two companies had reached an agreement.  You must know that when the Beiyang Army withdrew to Hubei, the National Defense Forces did not fire a single bullet!  At this moment when Nanjing was embarking on the Northern Expedition and Sun Wen was about to return, every move of the National Defense Forces of the three provinces indeed affected many people.  Because everyone knew that if Yang Qiu did not participate in the Northern Expedition, it would be empty talk to overthrow the Manchu Qing Dynasty by force.

    So early the next morning, Wu Tingfang, the chief representative of the South, took Cai Yuanpei and went straight to the mansion where Yang Qiu was staying temporarily.  He was a senior diplomat, and he was well aware of the huge changes that would be caused by the sudden appearance of a big figure before the peace talks were reached. He was still very worried while sitting in the car, and asked Cai Yuanpei next to him: "He Qing, what do you think of Yang Qiu's fight?"  What's your idea? Come to Shanghai at this time."

    Cai Yuanpei had been in Europe before. After he hurried back, he was invited to serve as a representative. These geniuses sorted out what happened from Shouyi Night in Wuchang to now. He worriedly said: "Keqiang gave me a telegram. He thinks that Yang Qiu is probably  He's here to run for office! Now he holds the military power of three provinces, but in fact the civil rights are in the hands of people like Tang Hualong, so taking back the power must be his most urgent priority."

    "What do Keqiang and the others mean?" Wu Tingfang asked.

    Cai Yuanpei scratched his eyebrows and said with a worried look: "Keqiang means that he cannot be given civil rights and must be restricted to the army. But you know the situation. If you can't satisfy him, I guess Tang Shaoyi and  Yang Du can return to Beijing early."

    Wu Tingfang was also very worried and sighed: "Yes! This is also what I am most worried about. If you give it, he will definitely control the three provinces completely. If you don't give it, he will become more passive on Yuan Shikai and us. Xuzhou has been occupied by Beiyang, and Shandong is  Bian Sun Baoqi has also changed his mind, and more than 20,000 Beiyang troops were dragged to Wusheng Pass and Xinyang. If they reach an agreement, the Beiyang troops can turn around and go south to Hefei and Nanjing within three days!"

    "Keqiang may have some conflicts this time. In any case, Yang Qiu and his National Defense Force are still a revolutionary force. If it weren't for him, Hubei would still be in trouble." Cai Yuanpei thought for a while and said: "Sun  Mr. Hu and Hu Hanmin have already set off from Hong Kong. It can take up to five days to get to Shanghai. Let¡¯s go to find out what he has to say today. It really doesn¡¯t work. A patrol envoy from the three provinces will eventually come up with it.¡±

    Wu Tingfang knew that this was probably the best way, so he shut his mouth and stopped talking.

    The mansion where Yang Qiu lived temporarily was just across the road from the public concession. Everyone originally suggested that he move directly into the concession, but because the concession did not allow soldiers to enter even in military uniforms, he refused to enter the concession. In the end, Zhang Wenjing had to find  Renzu stayed in this ** mansion so that if something happened, he could quickly escape into the concession.

    After the car drove into the mansion, the two of them discovered that there were three steps, one post, five steps and one sentry. Before they could ridicule Yang Qiu for being timid, they suddenly noticed a car with an American flag parked in front of them. They quickly asked Wang Zhengting who came to greet him: "  Confucianism and Tang Dynasty, this is"

    Wang Zhengting and Cai Yuanpei knew each other, and Wu Tingfang was also an old alliance member. He said, "Two gentlemen, please wait. The commander is currently receiving the American minister."

    "American Minister?" Wu Tingfang and Cai Yuanpei looked at each other and saw each other's fright.  First they came on a German warship, and now the American minister took the initiative to come. Who is this Yang Qiu?  Didn't it mean that both his parents were dead and only one uncle was engaged in the kerosene business in Shanghai?  How could it be so deeply involved?  !  Wang Zhengting smiled and did not continue talking. He rambled on and avoided the topic. It was difficult for the two of them to continue asking questions, so they could only sit down and wait patiently.

    Henry Murphy is the U.S. Minister in Shanghai. Unlike the British and French ministers, who are all aristocrats, he comes from an ordinary British immigrant family in Wisconsin. Under his simple American suit, he has a typical American optimistic face, but only by talking to him.  Those who have had close contact with him know that he is a great American and actively supports the United States' open door policy.

    "Dear Commander, don't you need to entertain your comrades first?" Henry glanced at Wu Tingfang and Wang Zhengting who were chatting in the garden, and made insinuations. In fact, no matter who it was at this moment, they wanted to find out what Yang Qiu's final plan was.  position.

    Yang Qiu said with a smile: "The revolution is for the pursuit of democracy and freedom, but in addition to these, we also need enough bread, and we need to make the people prosperous - just like the United States." His English is not bad, so it is useless  Any translator took out a purchase list that had been prepared: "Mr. Minister, my representative should have discussed this matter with you before, and I hope to implement it today."

    The purpose of Henry¡¯s visit today is this big business.

    U.S. Politics in the Far EastThe position is very embarrassing. The open-door policy that has been called for many years has been restrained by the principle of unified action of all countries in China proposed by the United Kingdom. The most profitable military industry is monopolized by Germany and Japan. The shipbuilding industry is dominated by the United Kingdom. It finally obtained an order for a training cruiser.  It is very possible to face the embarrassment of being unable to pay the final payment, and a huge amount of American goods have not poured into the Far East as imagined. Therefore, when I heard that Yang Qiu had placed a large order that could feed tens of thousands of workers not long ago, I had been hoping to complete it.  Set it down.

    The purchase order was very detailed and marked in Chinese and English. Henry could see it clearly even without a translator. It included a complete steel plant, 50,000 tons of scrap steel, hundreds of industrial equipment, and a tractor factory.  and a large number of high-strength steel pipes of unknown purpose, etc.  The most important thing is that at the end of the purchase document, there is an agreement of intent, that is, the United States will manufacture 50,000 rifles, 0 million rounds of ammunition, and a 70mm gun barrel!

    The total value is 16 million silver dollars, which is approximately v8 million US dollars!

    Although Henry couldn¡¯t wait to take it into his arms, he was not a greedy and reckless businessman after all.  In addition to seeking benefits for the United States, he also needed to consider the political factors behind each business. He deliberately pointed at the list and said one by one: "Steel plant? Am I right? Dear Commander, there are currently only  An iron ore, Hanyang Steel Plant is of little use to the Japanese, but Mining Area 1. Are you sure you can get enough ore to start the steel plant? Oh 1. You purchased a blast furnace to resmelt scrap steel. So many machine tools and equipment  , which requires enough workers and a lot of money! Tractor Factory 1. Are you sure it is not a car factory? Two thousand five-meter 120 mm and 80 mm steel pipes, do you need such high strength? This pipe wall thickness is used to make cannons  Is it too thin? Arms 1. God! This violates the principle of neutrality of all countries."

    Yang Qiu watched Henry¡¯s performance with a squinted smile. Another person might have been worried, but he firmly believed that American Car would sit back and watch this contract slip away!  Open Door Policy 1. Haha, Americans are very hungry these days. Otherwise, why would the United States angrily withdraw from the Four-Nation Banking Group two years later and go it alone?  So he waited patiently for him to finish talking one by one, and then deliberately frowned: "Mr. Minister, I am an impatient soldier. Can't the United States manufacture these things?"

    "No!" Henry would never allow others to doubt the industrial capabilities of the United States, and said with certainty: "The United States has the most powerful manufacturing capabilities in the world. If necessary, we can complete all the above purchase lists within another six months, but our country must abide by neutrality.  In principle, your country is currently at war, and selling arms violates international law."

    Yang Qiu picked up the coffee and enjoyed the bitter smile of this era: "Mr. Minister, do you think we can still fight? To be honest, yesterday I reached an agreement with the North on the exchange of prisoners of war. I believe you should know that this is the end of any war.  signs.¡±

    "Oh? Is this true?" Henry's head turned rapidly to record this important news. If it is true, it means that South China's currently strongest National Defense Force will probably give up the Northern Expedition, so he asked: "Your Excellency, Commander, according to  I know that Nanjing and Shanghai are discussing the Northern Expedition, and the troops from Guangzhou have even reached the front line. Are you going to give up?"

    Yang Qiu immediately said: "Of course I will not give up. It is our responsibility to overthrow the Manchu Qing government! No matter how difficult the future is, I will not give up. But As a pacifist, I do not want to see the country fall into war for a long time. Your Excellency Yuan Shikai has already  Promise me that he will persuade the Qing Dynasty to abdicate as soon as possible. If he can do that, why should he let the soldiers bleed?"

    Pacifist?  Henry's eyes twitched, and he had the urge to throw coffee in his face.  Yang Qiucai didn't care about him, and waved to the guard to bring a brand new rifle: "This is a new rifle designed by myself. Yesterday I handed over the sample gun and drawings to Germany, and they have promised to send the gun to Mauser."  The company will conduct follow-up testing and modifications, and I expect it will be finalized in two months at the latest. Unfortunately, our country's industrial capabilities are too poor to meet the needs of the troops, so we need some help."

    Henry had been a soldier when he was young and picked up a gun and started playing with it.  From the appearance, it looks a bit like a British short rifle, with a traditional five-round fixed magazine. The bullet has changed from the German standard that is currently more common in China, using 7625 rimless bullet (the bullet has been changed based on everyone's opinions).  Of course, he doesn't care whether this gun was designed by Yang Qiu, because a rifle will not change the current situation in China.  What really surprised him was that Yang Qiu was able to convince Germany to let the famous Mauser company serve him!  Reminiscing about his previous trip on a German cruiser, it means that they may have established some kind of connection!

    Putting down the gun, he tried and said: "I heard that the construction of the Hanchuan Railway has begun. Why did your Excellency, Commander, hand over this artery connecting the three provinces to a private company with insufficient technical capabilities? I think we, the United States, should be involved, becauseThe country has the best railway technology in the world.  "

    They are all helping the evil wolf. Yang Qiu secretly sneered in his heart and said: "Is a railway really that important? Upstream, there are nearly a quarter of China's population. This is an extremely huge market! It's a pity that as an old country  , the British way there is very unreasonable, they only think of skimming resources but forget to cultivate the market.

    I think your Excellency the Minister should know this better than I do, what a stable and densely populated area with a certain purchasing power will bring.  "

    "Yes, Your Majesty the Commander and I have thought about this together, but how do you ensure that the people have enough purchasing power?" Henry picked up the cup and waited quietly for the next step.

    Yang Qiu stood up, looked at the people waiting downstairs, and spoke slowly: "This is a complicated process. It involves many aspects including tax reform, land resource allocation, and getting rural surplus labor out of the land.  , it will take a certain amount of time. But I think I am already doing it! This time the procurement plan equipment can build four large factories, absorbing tens of thousands of laborers. In addition, I am also preparing to establish a free economic bonded zone in Hankou, and use this bonded zone  We can transform resources from the three provinces into commodities for the center, which is much cheaper than transporting them by ship.¡±

    "Free Economic Bonded Zone? Do you mean to establish a new concession?" Henry almost jumped up.  This is big news!  You must know that because it rose too late, the world has been carved up by Britain and France, so the United States has to enjoy second-class treatment. Many consulates in China must also be parasitic in the British or public concessions. If it can promote a new great American concession, then he even  Can enter the White House.

    Yang Qiu shook his head and said with a smile: "Your Excellency, Minister, do you think this old method of concession can bring anything besides arousing public anger?"

    Amidst Henry's doubts, Yang Qiu explained the idea of ??a future bonded area. The novel concept interested him very much.  Although they still need to abide by local laws and pay some taxes, if there is such a bonded zone, then American companies can continue to enter the Chinese market in large numbers and use the resources of the three provinces to manufacture more goods.  God!  How did he come up with this novel idea?  Moreover, Yang Qiu took two steps forward and pretended to be mysterious: "I believe your Excellency the Minister is very clear that our country is on the verge of an anxious and uneasy anti-foreign movement. The people do not like foreign goods very much. If there is a bonded zone, then some companies will completely  You can use joint ventures. As long as people can see that the origin of the goods is shown to be domestic, their acceptance will definitely increase a lot."

    There is no doubt that these suggestions from Yang Qiu are tempting, but Henry still has one final doubt: "Your Excellency, Commander, how do you ensure that your dream comes true?"

    Yang Qiu took out a 762mm bullet from his pocket and placed it on the table: "Right and one. It."

    Henry left, taking the purchase contract with him as expected, and promised to work hard to facilitate the trade. He also expressed his willingness to send technicians to assist in the construction of Hanyang Steel and Tractor Factory.  Of course, the free bonded zone plan may be the biggest benefit he took away.

    Looking at the car slowly driving out of the gate and quickly integrating into the huge Shanghai concession area, Yang Qiu didn't know whether his approach would work or whether he would be labeled a traitor, but he insisted on his own path, and the practice of later generations proved that the bonded area  In promoting industrial development, a bonded zone factory can drive a large number of small spare parts factories.  China has lagged too far behind, and the long model of transitioning from traditional handicrafts to industry can no longer help the country.

    Of course before these dreams, there is one more thing to do - rights!  . ·Ä

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