Unconsciously, almost two hours had passed since this meeting, and Roosevelt had Li Sanjie and the others for lunch. Although this was not arranged in the itinerary before departure, Li Sanjie still happily obeyed.

As a matter of fact, in the initial arrangements for the meeting, there was no such thing as lunch, but first, it was time for lunch, and the content of the meeting had not yet been completed, and the matter of the tripartite talks had been discussed all morning, while the East China Government's other matter, the matter of attracting investment, had not yet been discussed, so Li Sanjie and his group could not be allowed to go back to the talks after lunch; second, they were also like the East China Government's negotiating delegation; although Roosevelt repeatedly stated that the United States would remain neutral in this negotiation, it was obvious that it sided with Japan in the talks just now, Russia's position, so inviting Li Sanjie and his entourage to lunch is also a kind of goodwill.

Of course, through the morning's conversation, Roosevelt had a good impression of Li Sanjie, his words were reasonable, his attitude was neither humble nor arrogant, and his reaction was quick-witted. Although Roosevelt had long known the names of overseas Chinese, and the East China government had set up two offices in the United States, this was the first time that Roosevelt had formal contact with overseas Chinese, and Bi Jing's position in the East China government at the moment was a little awkward, and the office was also non-official and non-private, both business and political, so Roosevelt had not yet met with Gu Kai or Zhou Fengshan, but was contacted by lower-level officials and then reported to Roosevelt.

Judging from today's talks, if the officials of the East China Government are of the same level as Li Sanjie, then the potential of this political entity should not be underestimated; although the United States does not want the East China Government to sit in the Far East, if this trend is unavoidable, then it is also necessary for the United States to seriously consider whether it will be a friend or an enemy of the East China Government if it establishes relations with the East China Government in the future. Therefore, this lunch is also the first to establish a certain personal relationship with the officials of the East China government.

The lunch dishes are not complicated, because they were not arranged in advance, so they are mainly pure American food, mainly bread, butter, barbecue, roast chicken, eggs, fruits, coffee, etc., fortunately, Li Sanjie and others are not exclusive to Western dishes, and the atmosphere of lunch is also good, because everyone also avoids talking about this negotiation, but some light topics.

After lunch, the group visited Roosevelt's villa, and at 2 p.m., the two sides began to talk again, but this time mainly with US Commerce Secretaries Oscar Strauss and Ho Handong, while Roosevelt and Li Sanjie did not speak. Of course, the atmosphere of this meeting was also relatively relaxed, after all, the United States was founded on commerce, and there was a joke in the old time and space that the United States was actually a giant consortium disguised as a state. Moreover, after the establishment of the East China Government, it attaches great importance to foreign trade, because its trade with the United States has developed rapidly, and the internal management of the East China Government is also quite standardized, and the efficiency of the administrative department is also very high, so the United States also uses the East China Government as a window to expand to the Chinese mainland, and the trade in China is expanding rapidly, which also makes many business giants and industrial giants in the United States have a good impression of the East China Government, and hope to deepen cooperation with the East China Government.

Gu Kai, the representative of the East China Government to the United States, established good personal relations with many entrepreneurs in the United States, and at this time he was quite famous in the industrial and commercial circles of the United States. Although he did not meet Roosevelt, he did know Strauss on several faces.

He Handong first introduced the importance that the East China Government attaches to US trade, and said that the East China Government will carry out large-scale construction in the northeast region, mainly railways, highways, electric power, and ports, and will also set up a series of large and medium-sized light and heavy industrial enterprises, and hopes that relevant US enterprises will vigorously participate in investment, joint ventures, and joint ventures.

Strauss listened and was also very interested, because in 1902-1903, an economic crisis broke out in the United States, although this economic crisis was not long, but it still had a considerable impact on the American economy, during this crisis, the production of pig iron in the United States fell by 8.4%, and steel production fell by 7.3%. In 1904, the number of railways built was 36.4 percent lower than in 1902, and locomotive production was 33.2 percent smaller. In 1904 the unemployment rate was as high as 10.1 per cent, and wages were reduced by 10 to 20 per cent.

However, the United States still relies on the rise of some new industries such as electricity, automobiles, chemicals, as well as the construction of railways and heavy industry, quickly ended the economic crisis, and entered a period of rapid growth. In addition, the price of cement and other companies has risen rapidly, and in addition, a large amount of world capital has poured into the United States, stocks have soared, and stock market speculators have also increased significantly, and the financial bubble has also continued to expand. Therefore, many people of insight are aware that a new round of economic crisis is brewing. Financial magnate John Pierpont Morgan once reminded the Roosevelt administration to strengthen financial supervision, establish a central bank, and manage the currency in a unified manner to prevent economic crises.

However, one of the founding ideas of the United States was "freedom", and the liberal economic theory was in vogue in this era, so Morgan's proposal was destined to be impossible to realize in the United States at this time. In addition, according to the rules of the economic crisis, the general interval is about 10 years, and now it is less than 5 years since the last economic crisis, and a new economic crisis is coming so soon. However, Morgan is not an ordinary person, not only an American financial giant, but also the founder of the Morgan consortium, and his warning also made Roosevelt dare not underestimate it.

However, although the United States cannot strengthen financial supervision and control, after all, it has experienced so many economic crises and has some experience, so long as it finds a new economic growth point and enables funds to have a direction for investment, it will be able to avoid or delay the occurrence of an economic crisis. Moreover, it must be investment in railways, heavy industry, electricity, automobiles, chemicals, etc., so that American capital can find the direction of investment and avoid financial bubbles.

But now that the world is largely carved up, there are not many places that can accept such large-scale investment. European countries can do it themselves, and other places either have no money, or they are already colonies of other countries, and only the East China government has this condition, because after the East China government occupied the northeast, the territory has expanded by nearly one million square kilometers, and the East China government also attaches great importance to the construction of railways, heavy industry, and new industries, and if it can really reach an investment agreement with the East China government, it will have huge benefits for the development of American capital.

In fact, the United States has been trying to let capital go abroad, this time to support Japan against Russia, in addition to other reasons, there is another important reason, that is, I hope that after Japan defeats Russia, the United States will gain the right to build railways in Northeast China, and now that the East China government has won, the United States not only still has the opportunity to build railways in Northeast China, but also has a series of physical investment opportunities, which can support the economic development of the United States for more than 10 years. Therefore, Strauss looked at He Handong's expression as if he saw a bunch of green dollars and soaring stock signs.

However, when Strauss looked at Roosevelt, he found that Roosevelt's face was calm, and he couldn't help but feel a pang in his heart, and then he remembered that the United States was supporting Japan and Russia this time, so he hurriedly reined in his mind and said that the U.S. government would provide convenient conditions for the East China government to attract investment.

After an hour of talks in the afternoon, Roosevelt said: "Mr. Commissioner, you only arrived in New York yesterday, so you will have a good rest tomorrow, and the tripartite meeting will be held the day after tomorrow, which is also a preparatory meeting for this tripartite negotiation to determine all matters for the negotiations." ”

Li Sanjie also nodded and said, "Okay, thank you Mr. President for your arrangement, it's not early today, and we have delayed the president too much, so we'll leave." ”

Roosevelt said, "Okay, at 8 a.m. the day after tomorrow, I'll arrange for someone to pick you up at the hotel." ”

So Li Sanjie and others got up to say goodbye, Roosevelt and Rutte and Strauss sent them to the door all the time, and when they all got in the car and left, they returned to the room, and the three of them sat down again, Roosevelt said, "What do you think?"

Root said: "I am pessimistic about the outcome of this negotiation, the East China government is unlikely to make concessions on reparations, and Japan and Russia have the commitments of Britain and France, and will not compromise on the issue of negotiations, so unless there is a miracle, this negotiation will not be fruitful." ”

Roosevelt also nodded and said, "Yes, it seems that a new war is inevitable, and we must be prepared for the failure of negotiations." ”

Strauss said: "Is it difficult that after the negotiation fails, will Britain and France really send troops to the war?"

"Although it is not absolutely certain before Britain and France officially send troops, I think the possibility is very large, after all, Japan, Russia and they are all countries with military alliances, so it is impossible for Britain and France to really ignore them," said Rutte. ”

Strauss sighed and did not speak. Once the war resumes, economic exchanges with the East China government will be greatly affected, and large-scale capital exports will be impossible.

Roosevelt glanced at him and said, "Oscar, I understand your feelings, economic interests are important, but not the most important, we must distinguish between the important and the important." ”

Strauss said: "But what about the economic crisis? According to the statistics of the Ministry of Commerce, our economy is indeed in a dangerous position right now. ”

Roosevelt said: "If the war starts again, although Britain and France can provide funds to Japan and Russia to alleviate their domestic crises, only funds are not available, and there must be sufficient supply of goods and materials, and this can only be provided by the United States, which should alleviate the domestic situation." ”

Strauss sighed and said, "That's all there is to it." He knew very well in his heart that the supply of materials was only a commodity to be exported, and it had little effect on capital, so its ability to alleviate the domestic crisis was limited, and what the United States needed most now was the export of capital.