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Chapter 26 Lianyun¡¯s Concession and Keding¡¯s Black Gold

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    "Prime Minister, from the time of the boycott of American goods in the late Qing Dynasty to the "Jiao'ao Incident" and the annihilation of Japan, senior American officials have been fearful of the wave of China's national revolution. They were worried that if they were unwilling to make appropriate concessions, they would be forced to make concessions./ /www.//And since the products currently imported from the United States to my country are mainly high-end products such as automobiles and machinery, with a smaller audience, raising the tariff rate will not only have little impact, but will easily win the favor of the Chinese people. At the same time, because our country is in Jiao'ao During the incident, the U.S. government has just decided to support my country in order to curb Japan's dominance of China and thereby stabilize the international order in the Far East. Therefore, we have maintained a tough attitude and adhered to our existing stance of tariff independence and extraterritoriality, and we have achieved the current good situation Effective."

    Looking at the Prime Minister sitting behind the desk, Lu Zhengxiang explained softly, and then lowered his voice slightly.

    "Although the Prime Minister has persuaded Zhu Erdian, told him his interests, forced him to admit the reality and start negotiations with our country, he still wants to maintain his status as the boss in China. If he wants to force him to submit, he must negotiate with the great powers individually.  Therefore, after discussions with Shaochuan, we will interrupt negotiations with Shaochuan after a breakthrough in tariffs, thereby isolating the UK and creating a tough appearance."

    Although he had already colluded with the Prime Minister, he was well aware of the Prime Minister's intention to "quickly sign a contract", so he rushed to the State Council to explain clearly to the Prime Minister as soon as the negotiations were suspended to avoid misunderstandings. Now the "Special Foreign Affairs Committee" is in  It was carried out under the direct leadership of the Prime Minister. As a diplomat, Lu Zhengxiang knew that without the support of the Prime Minister, the revision of the New Testament might start with a bang and end in a dismal way.

    "Putting aside the negotiations with the United Kingdom for the time being is the diplomatic strategy we have decided on before. Negotiate with France first, then negotiate with Italy, Belgium, and the Netherlands, and wait until we have captured these countries. The British also  It¡¯s time to hurry up! They will naturally make concessions when the time comes.¡±

    In the office, listening to Lu Zhengxiang's report, although Li Zicheng was a little anxious about the progress of the current negotiations, Li Zicheng still did not show any pressure, even though he urgently needed the results of the new contract to increase the prestige of the State Council so that he could win in the future.  The series is building its reputation through big moves, but some things can't be rushed.

    There have been some mistakes in the United States, but that was the first one, now.  Leave it to the Special Foreign Affairs Committee!

    "Zi Ci, make a new contract. You only need to abide by one principle. We need to take back a lot of the power we need to take back. As for the bottom line of extraterritoriality, as long as it does not exceed the United States, it is acceptable. And in the concession"

    There was a moment of silence.  Li Zicheng, who knew that this matter involved a lot, knew that it would be very difficult to take it back directly, unless

    "Prime Minister. In the unequal treaties originally signed between China and foreign countries, there was no such term as a concession. Its appearance was only the result of a transaction between a British consul and a Chinese local official."

    At this time, Gu Weijun gave an appropriate reminder. Faced with Gu Weijun's reminder, Li Zicheng just smiled.  The Treaty Section of the Foreign Affairs Office of the State Council has conducted thorough research on the privileges of various countries in China. As for concessions, they have also compared them based on the legal provisions of various countries, so they can be considered to have some understanding.

    "For the concession, we must insist on judicial jurisdiction, police power, military power, and taxation power. These four powers must be recovered. As for the concession"

    ?????????????????????????????????????????????????????: Li Zicheng didn¡¯t say anything, but first took back the hard power. As long as the hard power is taken back, the next thing will be easier to handle.

    "In the concession, the interests of the British are great, and the interests of the French are not far behind. We must ensure that these four rights are recovered. As for the rest, don't worry, the mountain people have a clever plan!"

    While he was talking, Li Zicheng picked up a note from the table and scribbled a few sentences. After he finished writing, he pressed the bell leading to the outside of the office. Zhang Yilin walked in a few seconds later.

    "Prime Minister, what are your orders?"

    "There is a confidential telegram here. Send it to Ou Chu now. Send it as a company secret. He knows what to do!"

    With that said, Li Zicheng handed over the note. Although he was very curious about the content on the note, after hearing that the Prime Minister mentioned that it was a company secret, neither Lu Zhengxiang nor Gu Weijun knew that it was inconvenient to intervene.

    Although the Prime Minister is now the Prime Minister, as the chairman of Liuhe Company, while handling state affairs, he also needs to intervene in the company's affairs, and his contact with the company is through the dedicated radio station established by the State Council.

    ??Looking at the two of them, they seemed a little curious, but Li Zicheng smiled and said nothing, and just told them.

    "You continue to negotiate with other countries according to this bottom line. As for other matters, leave it to me. In short, it is still the same sentence. I will give you whatever you need. If you have any problems, leave it to me. As for foreign affairs,I will bear the blame!  "

    Half an hour later, in the Liuhe Building in Lianyungang, in the office on the 16th floor of Liuhe Company, Mu Xiangyue, the general manager of Company Six, sat on a leather armchair. He glanced at the secret document that had just been sent a minute ago.  , looking at the seal of the confidential document, he knew that it was a telegram sent by the Prime Minister who was also the chairman of the company. Since the chairman came to the capital to take office, his command of the company has been through telegrams. On average, there are more than ten telegrams exchanged every day.  Fortunately, the company there has an in-house radio station, otherwise just telegraph exchanges would be a huge expense.

    Opening the secret letter, Mu Xiangyue, who originally thought the chairman was giving some instructions on business operations, was stunned. He read the contents of the letter repeatedly, and after a while he said softly:

    "Oh My God!"

    But no one promised him, he was the only one in this office.

    Ten minutes later, Mu Xiangyue once again strode back to his desk, sat on the luxurious leather chair next to the desk, and glanced at the confidential telegram on the desk.  The content of the telegram was very simple. It was a "commercial" telegram. The telegram asked him to acquire land in concessions across the country. Of course, it was not "renting land" from the concession authorities, but acquiring leased land from the original landowners.  land.

    ??Perhaps for other people, it seems that they cannot see the intention behind this, and when the concession land was rented to the people, the earliest Shanghai concession was only 1,500 yuan a year.  The highest cost is only a dozen taels of silver per year, which is enough for any businessman to acquire the land in the concession.  It seems that there is really no benefit and it will only take up a lot of money.

    "Spend a lot of money to buy a "hardcore crop" that guarantees harvest despite droughts and floods!"

    That¡¯s it at most.

    But for Mu Xiangyue, who was sitting on the chair, he saw the deep meaning behind this, especially since the Prime Minister's instructions were very clear. Do not go through the company directly, but try to come forward through other people as much as possible, especially those who attract "property buyers".  "The nouveau riche came forward. It would be really ridiculous to say that the Prime Minister is only interested in "guaranteing harvests from droughts and floods for hardcore crops."

    "Concession!"

    Combined with the ongoing negotiations.  Mu Xiangyue casually wrote two words on the note pad. He could guess what the Prime Minister would do. He wanted to use "commercial" means to take back the concession, so as not to cause any diplomatic turmoil!

    In the process of land acquisition for the Longhai Railway, the company has long accumulated a set of "land acquisition" methods, and also has a team of talents who can skillfully use any legal means to obtain land within the commercial scope.  The Prime Minister left this matter to the company, which can be regarded as handing over to the right person.  Even in the concession, I'm afraid there won't be as many problems as the company encountered during land acquisition.

    ?? So if all the concessions across the country are completely acquired, there will still be silently calculating the expenses on paper.  Mu Xiangyue leaned back on the chair again and frowned slightly.

    "Do you really need so much expenditure?"

    Maybe the rent doesn¡¯t seem high, maybe the area of ??the concession doesn¡¯t seem wide, but like all acquisitions, everything has its own price.  As for the concession land, in the eyes of the people, "hard-core crops that can guarantee harvests despite droughts and floods."  In order to make a smooth acquisition, a suitable price needs to be given. After just a little calculation, Mu Xiangyue was still shocked by the nationwide expenditure on concession acquisitions.

    After calculating a basic number, he leaned forward and pressed the bell. The secretary outside the door quickly walked in.

    "Secretary Fang, send this telegram to the Prime Minister. You will wait for the telegram in person."

    After 20 minutes, the secretary came back.  In his hand he held a telegram he had just received. The content of the telegram was simple.

    "I agree with your plan, the required funds will be temporarily advanced by the company!"

    Looking at the contents of the telegram, Mu Xiangyue was stunned at first, and then smiled. Now the chairman stood in his "position" again, so he picked up the pen and wrote directly on the telegram.

    ¡°The company requires 40% of the total revenue as handling fee!¡±

    Then he handed the telegram to Secretary Fang.

    "After sending the telegram, please ask Manager Chen from Liuhe Real Estate Company to come over."

    When Secretary Fang was about to walk out, Mu Xiangyue added another sentence.

    ¡°Also, please invite Director Wei from the company¡¯s security department!¡±

    This matter cannot only rely on the company to acquire through normal channels. For some businesses, it requires the cooperation of some other means.

    From Yangshupu to South Pier, along the Huangpu River are the terminals of various countries. A long list of foreign warships flying various national flags almost makes people forget that this is on Chinese soil.  Almost every Chinese with any sense of conscience feels gloomy every time he stands on the dock and can only shake his head secretly.

    Liu Hongsheng alsoSo, perhaps, it was for this reason that he resigned from his position as comprador of the Kaiping Mining Bureau three years ago and went to Lianyungang to discuss with Longhai Railway Company the agency rights to sell Lianghuai coal. At that time,  The Lieshan Coal Mine in Huaibei has just produced coal, and the Jiulonggang Coal Mine in Huainan has not even started construction.

    However, foresight can always lead to success. Before that, the entire lower reaches of the Yangtze River used Kaiping coal or Japanese coal. Kaiping coal was delivered at 6 taels of silver per ton in Qinhuangdao, with a freight of 34 taels, and the cost to Shanghai was 910 taels.  The selling price is about 14 taels.  The delivery price of Lieshan coal in Lianyungang is 6 taels, and the freight is about 1 tael. The cost to Shanghai is only 7 taels. The Huainan coal is delivered at the wharf along the Huaihe River, the price is 5 taels per ton, and the freight is about 1.5 taels.  Compared with Kaiping Coal, even if it is sold at a low price, the profit per ton is far higher than that of Kaiping Coal.

    But for Liu Hongsheng, what makes him most proud is that in the past two years, not only did he earn more than two million taels of silver for himself in just two years, but he successfully squeezed Japanese coal out of the Yangtze River  mid and downstream markets.

    Japan, which has scarce natural resources, has abundant coal reserves.  As early as the early days of the Meiji Restoration, the Japanese government's coal industry developed rapidly as an important part of the "property and development of industry".  During the Meiji period when a mature domestic coal consumption market had not yet formed, Japanese coal was mainly sold to Shanghai, Hong Kong, Singapore and other East Asian regions.  The export volume of coal in Japan is second only to raw silk and cotton silk. Before World War I, coal was one of the important strategic exports used by the Japanese government to earn foreign exchange.

    ??????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????? out of China, the coal industry developed slowly in the second half of the 19th century, and the domestic demand for coal mainly relied on imported coal, especially coal from Japan.  After the opening of the Five Ports for Trade, overseas coal began to be imported into various coastal cities in China.  In the 1850s and 1860s, British coal and Australian coal were mainly imported into the Chinese coal market.  In 1866, Japanese coal first appeared in the Shanghai coal market.

    In the 1970s, with the development of Japan's coal industry, Japanese coal began to be sold in large quantities to coastal areas of China, mainly Shanghai, in addition to meeting domestic demand.  With the rapid increase in the input of Japanese coal, Japanese coal surpassed British coal and Australian coal in the Shanghai market in 1870 and 1873 respectively.  In 1874, the import volume of Japanese coal was close to 60,000 tons, and Japanese coal established its dominant position in the Shanghai coal market.  In the 1980s, the import of Japanese coal continued to increase. Within 30 years from 1880 to 1910, the import of Japanese coal always accounted for more than 80% of the total coal in Shanghai. In 1890, the import of Japanese coal even reached 90% of the total.  , Japanese coal completely monopolized the Shanghai market.  The importance of Japanese coal in the Chinese market is far beyond that of other countries.  Japanese coal accounts for eight-tenths of Shanghai's coal demand.

    Almost as soon as Liu Hongsheng shipped the first batch of 3,000 tons of coal to Shanghai, the Japanese Coal Industry Corporation, which monopolized Shanghai's coal supply, realized the impact of Lieshan coal on its business. Those Japanese businessmen competed for Shanghai and the lower reaches of the Yangtze River as many as two times a year.  Million tons of coal market.  Then a desperate competition began with the "Liu's Coal Company" founded by Liu Hongsheng.

    Before that competition began, the most fundamental reason why Japanese companies were able to monopolize China¡¯s coal market was that they were the closest to China and generally used mechanical mining with low costs, so they could ship large quantities to China for dumping.  The reason why the Japanese Coal Industry Corporation is wary of Longhai Coal is not only because it is the closest to Shanghai, but also because it uses coal mining machinery imported from the United States for mechanical coal mining. On the other hand, the five-year development of its Lianghuai Coal Mine  The planned industry exceeds 10 million tons.

    In order to ensure that the Shanghai market, the largest overseas market for Japanese coal, is not lost.  Almost as soon as Liu Hongsheng transported coal from Lieshan Coal Mine to Shanghai, they made a desperate move to lower the price.  The FOB price of Japanese coal in Japan is 5.6 taels of silver per ton, and the freight to China is 3.5 taels of silver per ton, but they sell it at 8 taels of silver per ton, which means that for every ton sold,  You will lose 1 tael of silver.  This is a commercial war without the sight of swords, blood, or shouting.

    At that time, Liu Hongsheng was dealing with competition.  He went to Lianyungang in person to seek support from the company.  Although the Lianghuai Coal Mine had just been put into operation at that time and was far from reaching the designed production capacity, the company decided to compete with Japanese companies for the Shanghai market and the lower reaches of the Yangtze River.  Subsequently, measures were taken in a timely manner, reducing the original selling price of Huaibei anthracite coal from 12.5 taels of silver per ton to 7.5 taels of silver, and the selling price of Huainan bituminous coal from 11.5 taels to 6.2 taels.

    Because the quality of Huaibei anthracite coal and Huainan bituminous coal is much better than Japanese coal, coupled with the price advantage, and with the continuous expansion of coal mines.  As a result, the quality of production continued to decline, and the original "micro-profit competition" turned into "profit competition." So in the end, the suicidal dumping by Japanese businessmen ended up shooting themselves in the foot. Even though the Japanese businessmen received government subsidies during the dumping period,  But after a year of competition, facing losses of millions of yen every year, both Japanese businessmen and their governments had no choice but to give up on the Shanghai market and the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River market.

    It was in this competition that Liu Hongsheng became the leader of Shanghai and even the middle and lower Yangtze River.The famous "Coal King" accumulated as much as two to three million taels of wealth in just three years.

    "After the European War, domestic industry emerged, industry flourished, and power was strong. Now domestic coal demand is rising day by day. Last month, Niuzhuang imported 115,000 tons of Japanese coal, and Zhifu imported 150,000 tons. Now, the country needs at least 115,000 tons of Japanese coal a year.  Import 3 million tons of Japanese coal, and if Japanese coal prospers, Chinese coal will decline!¡±

    In the top-floor office of "Hongsheng Coal Company", Liu Hongsheng poured tea for Cheng Pengnian while expressing his thoughts.

    "You know, when the Shanghai business community mentioned the competition with Japanese businessmen back then, they all said that I, Liu Hongsheng, was courageous, but they didn't know that without the support of the Prime Minister, how could I, Liu Hongsheng, have been able to sustain the several thousand taels of silver?  ?The Prime Minister told me at that time that as Japan's coal industry prospered, so did its machinery industry. They exported coal to China, exporting millions of tons a year, with profits reaching tens of millions of taels. The profits of tens of millions were used to purchase machinery for their own industries, further promoting  Japan's development, so no matter what, we must cut off their coal exports to China. After all, China's industry is just starting to emerge. Not only is it in urgent need of the development of basic industries such as coal, although it cannot be exported, it must replace exports to save money.  Silver FX.¡±

    While speaking, Liu Hongsheng couldn't help but look at the portrait of the Prime Minister hanging in his office. Because his wealth comes from the Prime Minister, in Shanghai, Liu Hongsheng is not only an important supporter of the National Socialist Party, but also a die-hard supporter of the Prime Minister.  , and what he admires most is also the Prime Minister who is several years younger than him.

    ¡°The Prime Minister¡¯s vision is far beyond what we can match. I am a businessman, and when I am making money, I must keep the country in mind!¡±

    As he spoke, he looked towards Cheng Pengnian.

    "Chairman, what do you mean"

    Putting down the teacup in his hand, Cheng Pengnian asked a probing question.

    "Black gold, black gold, coal turns into gold, we want to sell the coal from Lianghuai to the whole of China!"
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