~《》~    Chapter 26 Lian Yunming Concession Kedingsi Black Gold (please give me monthly tickets!)

"Prime Minister, from the boycott of US goods in the late Qing Dynasty to the "Jiaoao Incident" on the Japanese side, the top American officials were still scared 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. Moreover, since the products imported by the United States now mainly include high-end products such as automobiles and machines, with fewer audiences, raising tariff rates not only has little impact, but also can easily win the favor of the Chinese people. At the same time, due to my country's performance during the Jiaoao Incident, the US government decided to support our country in order to curb Japan's momentum of dominating China and thus stabilize the Far East international order. Therefore, we maintain a tough attitude and adhere to the existing position of tariff autonomy and extraterritorial legal power, which has achieved good results now."

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

"Although the Prime Minister has convinced Jurden to explain his interests, force him to recognize the reality and negotiate with our country, he wants to maintain his position as the leader of China. If he wants to force him to submit, he must negotiate with the great powers one by one to isolate Britain. Therefore, after consultation with Shaochuan, we will interrupt negotiations with him after making breakthroughs in tariffs, thereby isolating Britain and creating a tough appearance."

Although he had already colluded with the Prime Minister, he knew the intention of "signing a contract quickly", 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 Commission" is under the direct leadership of the Prime Minister. As a diplomat, Lu Zhengxiang knew very well that if there was no Prime Minister's support, the revision of the New Testament might face a grand opening and a bleak end.

"The negotiations with Britain are temporarily put on hold. This is the diplomatic strategy we decided before. We first negotiate with France, then negotiate with Italy, Belgium, and the Netherlands. When we conquer all these countries, the British will be anxious! They will naturally make concessions at that time."

In the office, listening to Lu Zhengxiang's report, although he was a little anxious about the current progress of the negotiations, Li Zicheng still did not look like he was forced. Although he urgently needed the results of re-constitution of the new contract to increase the reputation of the State Council in order to establish his reputation in a series of major moves in the future, some things are unhurried.

There have been some mistakes in the United States, but that is the first one. Now, let’s hand them over to the Special Foreign Affairs Committee!

"Son, re-create the new contract. You just need to abide by one principle. The power we need to reclaim must be taken back a lot. As for the bottom line of extraterritorial legal power, as long as it does not exceed the United States, it can be accepted, and in the concession..."

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

"The Prime Minister, in the initial unequal treaty signed by China and abroad, there is no such thing as a concession. Its appearance is just the result of a transaction between a British consul and a Chinese local official."

At this time, Gu Weijun gave an appropriate reminder. In response to Gu Weijun's reminder, Li Zicheng just smiled and had conducted sufficient research on the Treaty Section of the Foreign Affairs Office of the State Council's Privileged State Council in China. As for the concession, they also compared the laws and regulations of various countries, so they also had some understanding.

"For the concession, we must adhere to judicial jurisdiction, police power, military power, and tax power. These four rights must be revoked. As for the concession..."

With a sneer, Li Zicheng didn't say anything. He took back the hard power first. As long as the hard power is taken back, the next thing will be easier.

"In the concession, the interests of the British are of great importance, and the interests of the French are not far behind. We must ensure that these four rights are taken back. As for the others, don't worry, the mountain people have their own tricks!"

While talking, Li Zicheng picked up a note from the table, wrote a few words casually, and pressed the electric bell leading to the outside of the office. A few seconds later, Zhang Yilin walked in.

"Prime Minister, what are your instructions?"

"There is a confidential telegram here. You can send it to Ouchu now. He will send it to the company confidential news. He knows what to do!"

As he said that, Li Zicheng handed out the note. Although he was very curious about the content on the note, he heard from the Prime Minister that it was a company's confidentiality, and neither Lu Zhengxiang nor Gu Weijun knew it was convenient to ask.

Although the Prime Minister is the Prime Minister of the State Council, as the chairman of ** Company, he also needs to inquire about the company's affairs while handling state affairs. His contact with the company is through a dedicated radio station set up by the State Council.

Seeing that they seemed a little curious, Li Zicheng smiled and said nothing, just reminding them.

"You continue to negotiate with countries according to this bottom line. As for other matters, I will leave them to me. In short, the same sentence is still the case. I will give you what you need, and I will leave them to me if you have any problems. As for the accusations from the outside world, I will bear it!"

Half an hour later, in the ** Building in Lianyungang, in the office on the 16th floor of ** Company, Mu Xiangyue, the general manager of the sixth company, sat in a leather armchair. He glanced at the secret message that had just been sent a minute ago. When he saw the sealing of the secret message, he knew that this was a telegram sent by the Prime Minister and the chairman of the company. Since the chairman came to Beijing to serve, he has passed the telegrams for the company. On average, there are dozens of telegrams every day. Fortunately, the company has a radio station there, otherwise it would be a considerable expense for just telegrams.

When he opened the secret, Mu Xiangyue, who thought the chairman was doing some advice in business, was stunned. He looked at the contents of the letter repeatedly and then said softly after a while:

"Oh My God!"

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

More than ten minutes later, Mu Xiangyue once again strode back to her desk, sat on the luxurious leather chair next to the table, and glanced at the confidential telegram on the table. The content of the telegram was very simple, it was a "operating" telegram. The telegram asked him to acquire land for concessions nationwide, of course, not to "rental land" from the concession authorities, but to acquire land for leased from the concession from the original landowners.

Perhaps for others, they don’t seem to see any intention behind this. When those concessions were rented to the people, the earliest Shanghai concessions were only 1,500 cigarettes a year, while the higher ones were only 100 taels of silver per year. For any businessman, it seems that there is no benefit in purchasing those concessions, and it will only occupy a large amount of funds.

"Spend a lot of money to buy a "hard-core crop" that can ensure profits from drought and flood!"

At most, that's it.

But for Mu Xiangyue sitting on the chair, he saw the deep meaning behind this, especially the Prime Minister's instructions were very clear. Don't go directly through the company, but through other people as much as possible, especially those nouveau riche who attracts "profits" to come forward. If the Prime Minister just likes "hard-core crops to ensure harvests", it would be ridiculous.

“Concession!”

Combined with the ongoing negotiations, Mu Xiangyue wrote two words on the note book. He could guess what the Prime Minister did. He wanted to use his "commercial" skills to take back the concession, so that he would not cause any diplomatic storm!

During the process of land acquisition for Longhai Railway, the company had long accumulated a set of "land acquisition" methods, and there was also a talent who could skillfully use any legal means to obtain land within the commercial scope. The Prime Minister handed over this matter to the company, which was considered as the right person. Even in the concession, there were probably not as many problems that the company encountered during land acquisition.

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

"As it takes so much money?"

Perhaps the rents seem low, or the scope of the concession seems not wide, but like all acquisitions, each thing has its own price. For the land used in the concession, which is "hard-core crops that are guaranteed to obtain when they are drought and flood" in the eyes of the people, if you want to successfully acquire them, you need to give a suitable price. After a slight calculation, Mu Xiangyue was still shocked by the acquisition expenses of the concession across the country.

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

"Secretary Fang, send this telegram to the Prime Minister, and you are waiting for the telegram yourself."

20 minutes later, Secretary Fang came back. He was holding a telegram he had just received, and the contents of the telegram were very simple.

"Agree with your plan, the required funds will be temporarily paid by the company!"

Looking at the content on the telegram, Mu Xiangyue was stunned at first, then smiled. At this moment, the chairman stood in his "position", so he picked up his pen and wrote it directly on the telegram.

"The company requires 40% of the total revenue as a handling fee!"

Then he handed the telegram to Secretary Fang.

"After sending the telegram, please come here by Manager Chen of ** Real Estate Company."

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

"Also, please invite Minister Wei from the company's security department!"

This matter cannot be relied on the company to acquire through normal channels. For some businesses, it requires some other means to cooperate.

From Yangshupu to Nan Wharf, along the Huangpu River, there are docks of various countries. A long list of foreign ships floated with various national flags, which almost makes people forget that this is on China's land. Almost every Chinese with a little conscience always stands on the wharf, and can only shake their heads secretly.

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

However, foresight can always make people succeed. Before that, the entire lower reaches of the Yangtze River used Kaiping coal or Japanese coal. Kaiping coal delivered 6 taels per ton of silver in Qinhuangdao, with a freight cost of 3-4 taels, and a cost of 9-10 taels to Shanghai, with a sales price of about 14 taels. Lieshan coal delivered at Lianyungang, with a freight cost of about 1 taels, and a cost of about 1 taels to Shanghai. Huainan coal delivered at Huaihe River wharf, with a freight cost of about 5 taels per ton and a freight cost of about 1.5 taels. Compared with Kaiping coal, even if the sales cost at a low price, the profit per ton is far greater than Kaiping coal.

However, for Liu Hongsheng, what made him most proud was that in the past two years, not in just two years, he earned more than 2 million taels of silver for himself, but successfully squeezed Japanese coal out of the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River market.

A day when natural resources are scarce

However, the coal storage capacity is quite abundant. As early as the beginning of the Meiji Restoration

The Japanese government's coal industry has developed rapidly as an important part of "investing industry and developing industries". The Meijishima, which has not yet been formed in the domestic mature coal consumption market.

Japanese coal is mainly sold to East Asia such as Shanghai, Hong Kong, Singapore, etc. The output of coal in Japan is second only to raw silk and cotton silk, but in the first battle

Coal is one of the important strategic exports used by the Japanese government to earn foreign exchange.

And it is also a major coal storage country

The development of the coal industry slowed down in the second half of the century

Domestic coal needs mainly rely on

Especially coal from Japan. It is traded in the five ports

Overseas coal began to be imported into various coastal cities in China. In the 1950s and 1960s, the main imports of the coal market in China were British coal and Australian coal. 1866

Japanese coal appeared in the Shanghai coal market for the first time.

Entering 70 years

With the development of Japan's coal industry

In addition to meeting domestic demand, Japanese coal has begun to be sold to China's coastal areas mainly in Shanghai. With the rapid increase in the import volume of Japanese coal

In the Shanghai market, Japanese coal surpassed British coal and Australian coal in 1870 and 1873 respectively.1874

The input volume of Japanese coal is close to 60,000

Japanese coal has established its dominant position in the Shanghai coal market. It has entered 80 years

Japan's coal imports continue to increase

1880 to 1910 30 years

The input of Japanese coal always accounts for 80% of the total amount of Shanghai coal

In 1890, the import volume of Japanese coal even reached 90% of the total, and Japanese coal completely monopolized the Shanghai market. The importance of Japanese coal in the Chinese market is far beyond what other countries can compare with. Japanese coal accounts for 80% of Shanghai's coal demand.

Almost when Liu Hongsheng transported the first batch of 3,000 tons of coal to Shanghai, the Japanese Coal Industry Association, which monopolized the supply of Shanghai's coal, realized the impact of Lieshan coal on its business. In order to compete for the coal market of up to 2 million tons per year in Shanghai and the lower reaches of the Yangtze River, the Japanese businessmen started a desperate competition war with the "Liu Coal Shopping" run by Liu Hongsheng.

Before that competition began, the most fundamental reason why Japanese businessmen were able to monopolize the Chinese coal market was that they were closest to China, generally used mechanical mining, and had low costs, so they could be transported to China for dumping. The reason why Japanese Coal Industry was wary of Longhai Coal Industry was not only that it was closest to Shanghai, but also that it used imported coal mining machinery from the United States for mechanical coal mining. On the one hand, its five-year planned industry of Lianghuai coal mines exceeded 10 million tons.

In order to ensure the Shanghai market, the largest overseas market for Japanese coal is not lost. Almost the first time Liu Hongsheng transported the coal from Lieshan Coal Mine to Shanghai, they made every effort to lower the price. The off-FOB price of Japanese coal in Japan was 5.6 taels of silver per ton, and the freight cost to China was 3.5 taels of silver per ton, but they sold it at a price of 8 taels of silver per ton, which means that for every ton sold, they would lose 1 tael of silver. This was a commercial war without any trace of blood and no shouts.

At that time, while Liu Hongsheng was coping with the competition, he went to Lianyungang to seek the company's support. Although Lianghuai Coal Mine had just started production and was far from the designed production capacity, the company decided to compete with Japanese merchants for the Shanghai market and the lower reaches of the Yangtze River. He then took timely measures to reduce the original price of 12.5 taels of silver per ton of Huaibei Anthracite to 7.5 taels of silver, and Huainan bituminous coal from 11.5 taels to 6.2 taels.

Due to Huaibei anthracite and Huainan bituminous coal quality, coupled with price advantages, and with the continuous expansion of coal mines, the production quality has continued to decline. The original "small profit competition" has become "profit competition". In the end, the suicide dumping of Japanese merchants eventually shot themselves in the foot. Although Japanese merchants received government subsidies during the dumping period, the competition lasted for a year, facing losses of up to millions of yen per year, whether it was Japanese merchants or their government, they could only give up the Shanghai market and the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River market.

It was in this competition that Liu Hongsheng, a famous "coal king" in Shanghai and even the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River, accumulated as much as two or three million taels of wealth in just three years.

"After the European War, domestic industry emerged, and industry was booming, and the momentum was booming. Now domestic coal needs to rise every day. Last month, Niuzhuang imported 115,000 tons of Japanese coal and 150,000 tons of Zhifu imported. Now, the country needs to import at least 3 million tons of Japanese coal in one year. If Japan's coal flourishes, then China's coal declines!"

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

"You know, when Shanghai business community mentioned competing with Japanese businessmen back then, they said that I, Liu Hongsheng, had the courage, but they knew that if I, Liu Hongsheng, had no support from the Prime Minister, how could I, Liu Hongsheng, be able to hold on? At that time, the Prime Minister told me that Japan's coal industry was booming, and the machinery industry was booming. They exported coal to China, exported millions of tons a year, and the profit reached tens of millions of taels. Tens of millions of millions of profits were purchased by them for their own industries, further promoting Japan's development. Therefore, no matter what, we must cut off their exports of coal in China. After all, now that China's industry is booming, not only is it urgently needed to develop basic industries such as coal, but although it cannot be exported, it has to replace exports to save gold, silver and foreign exchange."

While speaking, Liu Hongsheng couldn't help but look at the prime minister's portrait hanging in the office. Because wealth originated from the prime minister, in Shanghai, Liu Hongsheng is not only an important supporter of the Kuomintang Party, but also a hardcore supporter of the prime minister. What he admires most is also the prime minister who is a few years younger than him.

"The Prime Minister can see far beyond our reach. I am a businessman. When making money, I must take care of the country more!

As he said that, he looked at Cheng Pengnian.

"Chairman, what you mean is..."

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

"Black gold, black gold, coal is made of gold. We want to sell coal from Lianghuai to all over China!"

~《》~


Chapter completed!