On the same day that De Xuanlin announced his resignation as director of the Tianjin Customs Department, the consuls and major businessmen of various countries in Tianjin received a letter of invitation to bid in the name of the Tianjin New Area People's Government, stating that the Tianjin New Area Government would invite bids from all the businessmen and the state in Tianjin.

There are three projects in this tender: The first project is to salvage the warship that sank at the Dagukou wharf; the second project is the procurement list of the new district government, and the items that need to be purchased this time are divided into five categories, including a total of more than 300 units of various machinery and equipment, as well as a large number of other materials; and the third project is the repair and upgrading project of the Tianjin Shipyard, which will be upgraded into a large shipyard with two 10,000-ton dry docks for repairing dry ships in the future.

If you are interested in these three projects, you can come to Gordon Hall to participate in the bidding conference held by the Tianjin New Area Government to learn about the details of the bidding, and if you have the intention to bid, you can also purchase the bidding plan of the project and bid according to the requirements on the plan. The price of each tender proposal is 120 taels of silver or 20 pounds.

It turned out that while dealing with the Kaiping Coal Mine, the traversers were not idle, although the Kaiping Coal Mine was very important, but for the traversers, only one Kaiping Coal Mine was not enough, and there were other projects that had to be carried out at the same time. The three projects that were tendered this time are all projects that the traverser urgently needs to carry out now. On the other hand, it is also a means to divide and disintegrate the forces of the Eight-Nation Alliance. Because such a major project is by no means something that ordinary businessmen can afford, only with the support of the national forces, in this way, the winning country will inevitably consider ending the war as soon as possible, and the Eight-Nation Alliance will begin to collapse from within.

The invitation to bid was issued, which immediately caused great interest in the consuls and businessmen of various countries in Tianjin, although there was no modern bidding code of conduct in this era, but similar activities were very common in European countries. After all, the bidding behavior is originally a kind of commercial competition and transaction behavior formed with the development of business. However, there are various forms, and there is no uniform standard. But no one expected that this group of overseas Chinese would actually come to this hand, and they would also bid in the name of the government.

Although businessmen from all over the world are deeply disgusted by the Tianjin New Area Government's establishment of customs and raising tax rates, how dare they not bow their heads when they are under the low eaves, so they can only pinch their noses and admit it. Some small businessmen are even ready to withdraw their capital and leave Tianjin to find another way out, but some large businessmen and commercial banks cannot leave at will, after all, they have made a large amount of investment in Tianjin, and they have been operating for decades, and have established an extensive business network.

In addition, speaking from the heart, the practice of overseas Chinese is actually not excessive, raising import tariffs in order to protect their own national industry, which is the pillar industry of their own country, which is really normal in European countries and backward European countries. At present, the tariffs of European countries are generally around 20%, which even includes late-developing industrial powers such as the United States and Germany. Every year, European countries will conduct a lot of consultations and negotiations on the issue of tariffs, even in order to obtain a 1% float adjustment, they will fight for it, and all countries are accustomed to this.

The traverser raised the tariff of Tianjin Customs to about 16%, which is actually a little lower than the general tariff in Europe, mainly because they are worried that the tariff will be too high and it will easily scare away capital. In addition, China's roads are long and transportation costs are high, so it is not advisable to raise tariffs too high all at once. It's just that in the past, countries doing business in China have always enjoyed preferential policies with low tax rates, which has made all countries develop a habit and can't adapt to it for a while.

In addition, when the new tax rate was announced, the traveler also announced some incentives for tax reduction, such as the import of grain, iron, medicinal materials, cloth, wood and other bulk daily necessities, or commodities with strategic value, not only the tariff itself is very low, but also other goods imported at the same time, can also enjoy certain tax reductions, in addition to participating in government investment or investment projects, you can also get some tax reductions, although the tax reduction is not large, generally between 2-5%, but can be reduced a little bit.

If the preferential tax reduction is added, although the Tianjin tariff has been raised, it is still within the range that countries can bear, so most of the businessmen still choose to stay and continue to operate, of course, there are also some people who hold the hope that the Eight-Nation Alliance will fight back and turn over again.

The three projects tendered by the Tianjin New Area Government are all government investment or investment projects, which can obtain certain tax concessions, and the three projects themselves also have great commercial value, and once they can win the bid, they can indeed bring huge economic benefits to the participating countries and businessmen. Businessmen are all chasing profits, as long as they are profitable, they can naturally arouse their interest, and the consuls of various countries themselves have the mission of opening up markets and fighting for interests for their own countries, and they will not miss such opportunities.

Of course, businessmen from various countries are not stupid people, and of course they can take into account the risks involved; first, it is not known what the business reputation of these overseas Chinese is; second, they need to implement these three projects, which are the repair and upgrading projects of the shipyard, and it is necessary for these overseas Chinese to maintain their dominant position in the Tianjin area for a long time; and third, there is still a hostile relationship between the overseas Chinese and other countries.

However, these risks are not insurmountable, and after the overseas Chinese occupied Tianjin, they generally behaved more civilized than the Qing Dynasty. It is much more modern, so their business reputation will not be too bad; and now that overseas Chinese have been stationed in Tianjin, this is already a fact, so it is not impossible to stay in Tianjin for a long time; as for the hostile relations between overseas Chinese and other countries, it is not impossible to change, and well-informed people have learned that there is indeed an intention among various countries to negotiate with overseas Chinese, and if the two sides succeed in negotiations, will they no longer be hostile?

In any case, everyone has the idea of going to see what is going on first, and they are not worried about what tricks overseas Chinese will play, after all, they have the final say in Tianjin now, can they play any tricks again?

So the very next day, consuls from all over the world, including the Russian consul who had lost its consulate, and businessmen from all over the world came to Gordon Hall to participate in the tender launch, which also packed the conference room.

The press conference was presided over by Wang Yunpeng, which should have been a matter of the Ministry of Commerce, but now the Tianjin New Area Government has not yet established the Ministry of Commerce, and this is the first time that the crosser has carried out large-scale procurement and investment, so it is presided over by the standing executive committee, which also shows the importance of the crosser to this bidding behavior.

At nine o'clock in the morning, the bidding conference officially began, although the people in the conference room, but the traverser installed a set of audio equipment in the conference room, so Wang Yunpeng did not need to shout, everyone could hear it very clearly.

Wang Yunpeng, on behalf of the Provisional Executive Committee and the Provisional Government of Tianjin New Area, expressed his gratitude to the consuls and businessmen of various countries for coming to participate in the bidding conference in their busy schedules, and at the same time expressed that the Provisional Government of Tianjin New Area is willing to carry out extensive cooperative relations with any country, enterprise and individual on the basis of equality, mutual benefit and win-win cooperation, and sincerely hopes that everyone present can actively participate in the bidding competition.

After Wang Yunpeng finished speaking, it immediately caused a whisper of discussion among everyone, because before this, this group of overseas Chinese played the banner of returning to China, and Wang Yunpeng's words were said in the tone of a government, and at this time, the ruler of the real sense of the Chinese land, the Dachun Empire, was completely ignored by them. When I think of a few days ago, this group of overseas Chinese set up an army, set up customs, and set tax rates in Tianjin, and at this time, the personnel of various countries still did not understand that the so-called return to China was just a pretense for this group of overseas Chinese, and the real goal of this group of overseas Chinese was probably to divide one side of China's land and, like other countries, also share a piece of the pie to the Qing Dynasty.

Some people realize that their country will have another strong competitor in China, but some people are relieved that this group of overseas Chinese is planning to settle down in Tianjin, so that the risk of their investment promotion will be greatly reduced, or they can really participate in the competition.

At this time, a businessman spoke and asked: "Mr. Wang, what you just said, as well as the project tendered by the Tianjin New Area Provisional Government, all require the Tianjin New Area Provisional Government to exist in Tianjin for a long time and maintain its dominant position in Tianjin, but legally speaking, Tianjin is a territory belonging to the Qing State, and you are not yet the ministers of the Qing State, and even in front of your organization, there are the words 'temporary', so once we succeed in the bidding, how can you ensure our interests." ”

Wang Yunpeng said: "This is very simple, we are confident to ensure the legitimate interests of every collaborator, as for the legal issues we lead in Tianjin, we also have full confidence that we can handle it well, you can rest assured." ”

The merchant then asked, "Then what are you going to do to reassure us, and to deal with the legal question of your rule in Tientsin?" will you declare your independence in Tientsin?" ”

Wang Yunpeng glared at him, a little skeptical that this guy was deliberately making trouble, and said: "We naturally have our methods, if this gentleman lacks confidence in us, or if there are other people who have the same idea as this gentleman, you can not participate in the bidding, the principle of this bidding is fairness, impartiality and voluntariness, and we will never force you to participate." In addition, you also know that shopping malls are like battlefields, so any business behavior is risky, that there is a business that is sure to make money and not lose money, but the greater the risk, the greater the benefit, I hope that when you decide whether to participate in the bidding, you will first do a good job of risk assessment. ”