At the same time, in the Wenyang Building of the Eighth Hutong, several officials of the Republic of China government were also listening to a ditty. It turned out that Zhou Qitong, the former acting deputy minister for industry and commerce and now the China Silk Industry Investigation Commissioner, came back from the south and invited a few friends to have a small gathering. . Among the seven or eight people who came, there were Zhang Zongxiang, chairman of the China Delta Bank, and Jin Bangping, the industrial department of the Ministry of Industry and Commerce. Of course, the most important guest was Zhao Binghe, the deputy minister of culture.
Several people listened to the ditty and chatted about the customs and customs of various places. Zhou Qitong was very eloquent, and his memory was outstanding when talking about what he had seen and heard in Jiangnan. What he saw and heard was actually accurate, which shows that this person has a strong memory. Zhou Qitong said: "The Chinese silk industry cannot beat the Japanese silk industry. Don't rush to deny me. There is a reason why I say this." Seeing everyone's objections, he smiled and said: "Although the Chinese silk industry has a history of thousands of years, However, after modern modern industry, a business annexation model emerged where large groups and large chaebols annexed and killed small-scale small workshops. The Japanese silk industry was spearheaded by the state and controlled by financial oligarchs. In order to grow mulberry leaves, the Japanese government even forced farmers to Convert farmland to cultivate mulberry trees - Do you remember the rice riots in Japan two years ago? How could there be less rice in Japan? Because in order to eliminate China's silk industry, the Japanese government required locals to reduce the amount of land. And after investigating the four provinces of Jiangnan, I got a What makes me very disappointed is that Chinese people are willing to sell silk to Japanese silk reeling buyers who pay higher prices. Japanese silk reeling buyers have monopolized China's silk reeling for two consecutive years, forcing a large number of silk workshops to close down. Japanese businessmen in When China's silk industry was in recession, Chinese silkworm farmers were encouraged to plant mulberry and raise silkworms, resulting in a large backlog of silk reeling. So Japanese businessmen began to purchase at low prices, causing Chinese silkworm farmers to suffer huge losses. Over time, China's silkworm farmers and silk business were The Japanese oligarchs are so hurt that they have lost their confidence." He sighed and said with a wry smile: "The Chinese love to take advantage and take advantage of small things. In order to make dozens of dollars more, they would rather reel up silk and sell it to Japanese buyers, which will ultimately harm themselves. Bankruptcy. This time I counted more than thirty silkworm farmers who committed suicide in Jiangnan. Take a look"
Qiu Lu, general manager of Dahua Industrial, said: "This is also the fault of Chinese silk merchants. Why don't they raise the purchase price?"
Zhou Qitong said with a wry smile: "It's easier said than done. Japan is controlled by an oligarch and the state invests funds to strangle China's silk industry. They would rather lose tens of millions of yen than destroy China's silk industry." . From silkworm farmers to silk workshops, how do you deal with this economic problem? You tell the people that this is a trap by Japanese businessmen, and the people don¡¯t care about you. Not to mention how proud the country is now, for ordinary people, the country is Become a foreign colony. They are still them - the national concept is easy to say, but it takes twenty or thirty years to cultivate the national concept."
Zhang Zongxiang said: "This time the Japanese thugs are persecuting the Chinese, it is a good opportunity."
Zhou Qitong shook his head and said: "Otherwise, otherwise, I have contacted ordinary people, and only 30% are willing to sell to domestic silk merchants at low prices. Seventy-percent means that the one with the highest price will get it. Selling to the Chinese or selling to the Japanese does not matter to them. relation."
"Is this anti-Japanese demonstration useless?" Zhang Zongxiang asked again.
Zhou Qitong said: "The main force of the anti-Japanese demonstrations were young students and patriotic farmers who knew nothing about it, and it was just a wave of enthusiasm. In business, very few businessmen boycotted Japanese goods. Patriotic businessmen are admirable when they say it, but But there are very few. Businessmen are profit-seeking, and small farmers are also profit-oriented. Alas. What should we do with this country? What should we do?"
"According to you, China's silk industry is hopeless?" Zhang Zongxiang asked.
Zhou Qitong said: "It's not that there is no hope of salvation." He said with a strange smile, "You don't know, all Chinese silkworm farmers get are yen. If the Chinese government directly announces the appreciation of the RMB, the result will be yen in the hands of silkworm farmers. It has depreciated in exchange for RMB and silver dollars! Well, these silkworm farmers no longer dare to sell anything to the Japanese."
"No, no," Zhang Zongxiang said. "How can the silver dollar be appreciated or depreciated at will? It's too much for a daughter-in-law."
Zhou Qitong laughed and said: "I was just joking. I guess the presidents of the three major banks are not willing to let the RMB silver dollar appreciate."
Zhang Zongxiang said: "Speaking of which, if the RMB appreciates, our bank will benefit." His China Banking Industry Bank has now opened ten branches in Zhili, Shanxi, Henan, and Shandong, which shows how much he earned last year. Since retiring from politics, Zhang Zongxiang has shown his talents in the financial industry and has become a rare northern financial industry talent.
¡°If the RMB appreciates or depreciates, your bank will only make profits and not lose money.¡± Qiu Lu joked.
"That's true. Bankers will lose money unless the country is in turmoil." Zhang Zongxiang said with a smile.
Qiu Lu asked Zhao Binghe, who had been silent, "Brother Zedong, why are you so preoccupied? Today is the day to take care of Brother Guangyin."Zhao Binghe raised his glass and said, "Come on, let's have a drink together."
Everyone drank a toast, and Zhou Qitong said: "Brother Zedong, your Ministry of Culture is now making more and more efforts. In the future, I will definitely make further progress."
"Brother Zedong, we really have to count on you in the future."
"It is estimated that in a few years, Brother Zedong will soon become a candidate for minister."
"Yes, brother Zedong is young, strong, and promising. He is still from the north, and he will surely have great success in the future."
"Come on, come on, let's raise a glass to Brother Zedong and catch up with him in the future." Zhou Qitong suggested.
Everyone toasted together. Zhao Binghe drank it down and felt proud, but with a humble expression on his face he said: "Brother Guangyin, thank you for the award, thank you for the award. Zedong is not as talented as you said. I just want to be mediocre." He can safely serve as deputy minister immediately. Besides, even if he is ambitious, he can only help the president to share the burden. It all depends on fate. It depends on fate." He looked at the faces of everyone who were humble to him, and he drank too much. , there were some unanswered questions in his mouth, and he whispered: "Everyone, I would like to advise you to stock up on some supplies recently."
Everyone was surprised and stretched their necks to look. Zhao Binghe said in a low voice: "This time the Chinese are suffering in Japan, why is the president so uncharacteristically resolute?"
"Why?"
Zhao Binghe said: "On the surface, it seems to be national justice, but in fact, the president is" He lowered his voice lower, and everyone stretched out their ears, while Qiu Lu waved to the singing female officer, a female Yingying Yanyan went out with a wink, and Zhao Binghe said: "Through this national righteousness movement, we will further control power."
Zhou Qitong said: "What do you mean"
"Whenever a country is strong, there must be a powerful and uncompromising monarch." Zhao Binghe said, "China is a huge country. Although it has been unified and the president controls the military and government, but nowthe president's ability to unify China is not absolute. It is not about force, but force plus political skills." He smiled, took a sip of wine, and said: "The president originally had an army of 500,000 people, but there are two million troops in the country. If we don't rely on skill and means, how can we unify? The army is unified The country has been unified, but now many gentry and local governments still go their own way, the sky is high and the emperor is far away."
Several people looked at each other, as if they wanted to get some more information from Zhao Binghe, but Zhao Binghe stopped talking. After finishing the meal, Jin Bangping took Zhou Qitong's car back on the pretext that he did not have a car. After seeing everyone off, the two of them got into the car. Jin Bangping then said: "The death of Yang Xiuzhi in the past is vivid in my mind. Brother Guangyin, please take this as a warning."
Zhou Qitong immediately understood that he had something to say. Zhao Binghe, who was a little drunk today and was talking arrogantly, smiled and cupped his hands and said, "Brother Boping, Guangyin knows."
Jin Bangping sighed and said: "I have experienced six governments, and I know that the most dangerous thing about officials who are promoted quickly like Brother Zedong is that they are lax in their speech. You should take this as a warning." After that, he opened the door. The door opened and a car came around the corner and picked him up.
Zhou Qitong was thinking about the meaning of Zhao Binghe's words, but what did he mean? What does it mean that the sky is high and the emperor is far away?
Early the next morning, Presidential Palace Guard Captain Uresong came to the General Shangwu Palace to take Wang Maoru to the Presidential Palace. Secretary-General Zhang Kui'an reported that the fleet and airships could be assembled today and could set off early tomorrow morning. Then Zhang Kui'an asked hesitantly: "Do you really not care about the Japanese government's attitude?"
Wang Maoru twitched the corner of his mouth and said, "No matter what, if it's a national war, let's let it be a national war."
In the morning, after Wang Maoru dealt with some urgent matters, he asked the Minister of Foreign Affairs Chen Yi to issue an ultimatum to Japan. If the Japanese government does not give a clear answer, the Chinese rescue fleet will no longer pay attention to the Japanese government's attitude tomorrow. Later, Silk Investigation Commissioner Zhou Qitong reported to Wang Maoru the situation of the Jiangnan silk industry. After a concise introduction for half an hour, Wang Maoru said: "Okay, your investigation is very important. Now I need you to do one thing. Create a national silk textile industry." Group. Our purpose in establishing this head office is not to compete for profits with the people, but because Japan has begun to adopt a swallowing method to eliminate China's silk and textile industries, and it is too difficult for private capital to fight against Japanese chaebols, so we want to establish a national textile group . Guangyin, the first general manager of China Silk Textile Group, will be your responsibility."
Zhou Qitong was immediately excited and said: "Yes, President, I will certainly live up to my humble position."
Secretary-General Zhang Kui'an knocked on the door and came in, saying: "Deputy Minister of National Defense Zhang Zuolin and Chief of Staff of the Ministry of National Defense Wu Peifu are here. It's time to go to Weihai. The plane is ready."
"Yeah." Wang Maoru nodded, wrote a note and handed it toQitong said: "This is my personal approval note. Your group can borrow money from Huaxia Bank with no limit on the amount. The future of China's silk industry will be left to you."
"Yes." Zhou Qitong jumped up and said, making Wang Maoru smile.