In the laughter of everyone, the businessman sat down a little embarrassed, he really didn't mean to make trouble, but he was really interested in these projects, but he was afraid that the risk was too great, so he wanted to ask a little more clearly.

At this time, another merchant stood up and said: "Mr. Wang, we do not doubt that you are dealing with the question of the rule of Tientsin, but it is always true that you are now in a state of war with other countries. ”

Wang Yunpeng had been prepared for this question for a long time, and said with a smile: "This gentleman's question is very good, and I also believe that everyone present should have similar questions, I remember that there is a proverb in Europe, which is called God to God, and Caesar to Caesar, so let's deal with war and business separately." ”

The people present immediately had another discussion, "God to God, Caesar to Caesar" originally meant to refer to the relationship between religious power and secular power, and was later quoted as a European proverb, which generally refers to the separation of things of different natures and not to mix them together, and Wang Yunpeng's quotation of this proverb could not help but show that he was very familiar with European habits, and it was also very appropriate.

Wang Yunpeng said: "Actually, we don't mind doing business with you while fighting a war, because there is always an end to the war, and as long as everyone cooperates happily, business can be cooperated for a long time." Besides, what is the purpose of war, isn't it just to do business better? ”

In a sense, this sentence is not wrong at all, European countries are based on commerce, so it is common to launch wars for trade, just like the Opium War that opened China's door, simply put, it is to force China to do business by force, so that British industrial products can be sold to China, and obtain cheap resources from China, and the "Black Ship Incident" that happened in this book is essentially the same. Of course, even if the outcome of the war was that the British won, it was only natural that they would enjoy some preferential benefits when doing business, hence the unequal treaties of reparations, land cession, and reduced tariffs.

The businessmen were concerned about economic interests, and the consuls of various countries had a much more sensitive sense of smell, and they heard another meaning from Wang Yunpeng's speech, and this group of overseas Chinese seemed to release a signal that they were not willing to fight with other countries, and also wanted to establish long-term economic cooperation with other countries, which was obviously a positive signal.

And from the three projects of the overseas Chinese bidding, it can indeed bring huge and long-term economic benefits to the countries and enterprises that won the bid, although the salvage of the shipwreck is a short-term behavior, but the purchase of machinery and equipment, it requires personnel training, equipment maintenance, replacement of accessories, regular overhaul, including future upgrades, is definitely a long-term benefit, and the shipyard is not to mention, itself is a long-term project, maybe it will be as long as more than ten years.

Of course, the premise is that this group of overseas Chinese will continue to exist in Tianjin for a long time, and at the same time, they must gradually stop the war with other countries. The former is not difficult to do with the strength of this group of overseas Chinese, and the latter overseas Chinese have also released a positive signal, which can only be responded to by other countries.

Consuls in all countries should be better informed and aware that the possibility of stopping the war is increasing. This is because the current consultations between various countries on the handling of the China issue are not going well. In countries such as Britain, France, and the United States, which have already established democratic electoral systems, the opposition parties have seized this opportunity to attack the ruling party's reckless war initiation, and the voices of the people against the war have gradually risen.

Tsar Nicholas II of Russia even said that he would send 100,000 more troops to the Chinese battlefield within a month, and that he would defeat the overseas Chinese.

And Germany, Both Japan and Japan also hope to continue the war, but these two countries are now lacking in strength, and the fiasco of the German fleet has made Kaiser Wilhelm II feel sorry for himself, and at the same time he has lingering palpitations, and without the support of other countries, he does not dare to rashly invest more troops in the Chinese battlefield; and the Japanese still have the strength to spare, but first, the fiasco of the German fleet has also raised Japan's vigilance, after all, Japan's naval strength may not be stronger than the German fleet, and Japan's small strength is weak, and it is not easy to save these few warships, and they cannot all be buried in China。 In addition, Japan is also full of vigilance against Russia, knowing that the Russians are drunkards who do not mean to drink, and on the surface they want to attack overseas Chinese, but in fact they want to take the opportunity to invade and occupy China's northeastern region, and even get involved in the Korean Peninsula.

Now Britain is mired in the boer war in South Africa, and it is impossible to launch another large-scale military operation, while France's main energy is to prevent Germany from attacking Germany, and neither country can invest too much force in the Chinese battlefield, but both countries also understand that in the current situation, it is easy to negotiate with overseas Chinese, and it is better to expand the armies of various countries, but not to carry out large-scale wars, as long as it is to put considerable pressure on overseas Chinese, so as to obtain greater benefits at the negotiating table。 However, the two countries also understand that once they expand their armies, the war will be out of their control, and at least the polar bear will not be a safe winner, so the two countries are now in a dilemma.

Only the United States has made it clear that it wants to negotiate with overseas Chinese and strive to end the war as soon as possible. Because the United States advocates a policy of opening the door and equalizing interests, their interests in China do not rely on traditional colonies or spheres of influence, but rely on the forces of other countries, as well as the strong economic strength and manufacturing strength of the United States itself.

As for Italy, Austria-Hungary, and the Netherlands, Belgium, Portugal and other countries that joined later, they all played the role of soy sauce, and their interests in China were not great, so they were naturally reluctant to invest more. When China is weak and can be bullied, it might as well mix with a few old empires and get a piece of the pie, but when you find yourself kicking the steel plate, you immediately retreat. It's just that these countries also know that no one listens to what they say, so they don't express their opinions, but in their hearts, they also hope to negotiate with overseas Chinese as soon as possible to end the war.

As a result, although the telegram traveled like snowflakes between countries, the countries were talking and arguing, but they never reached an agreement.

The consuls of various countries are naturally well aware of this situation, so they are less and less hopeful of resolving it by force. Now that the overseas Chinese have released a signal of reconciliation, the consuls of various countries will naturally not let go of this opportunity, and the British consul in Tianjin, Jin Zhang, immediately said: "Mr. Wang, do you mean that you hope to be able to peacefully resolve the state of war with other countries?"

In fact, Wang Yunpeng is waiting for this sentence, the British Empire is worthy of being an old imperialist, and its reaction is more sensitive than others, and he said with a smile: "Mr. Consul, I can only say that everything is possible for your question. ”

Jin Zhang listened and thought about it, but the other consuls were at a loss for a while, what did Wang Yunpeng mean by this, so the German consul in Tianjin Qin Mo said: "Mr. Wang, can you make your words clearer, are you willing to negotiate with other countries?"

In the old time and space, China's press spokesmen always said ambiguous things, but the quality of foreigners in the old time and space was much higher, and they were stunned to be able to clarify China's true attitude from ambiguous words. But he had to give a further explanation: "We Chinese have always loved peace and opposed war. However, peace can only be achieved through the joint efforts of both sides, and it is impossible to have real peace by relying on the efforts of one side alone. ”

At this point, if there are still people who don't understand, they are stupid, and the attitude of overseas Chinese has been very clear, they are obviously willing to negotiate with other countries, but they need all countries to first show the sincerity of willing to negotiate. Of course, there is nothing wrong with the overseas Chinese's approach, after all, they are now the victorious side, and there is no reason to take the initiative to ask for negotiations in the first place.

However, the consuls present also made a note of this in their hearts, and prepared to rush back to the consulate immediately after the bidding conference was over and send this new news back to China.

Wang Yunpeng saw that he had achieved it, so he said: "Okay, gentlemen, we have gone off topic just now, now let's get down to business, and then talk about the project we are going to bid for this time." ”

Now that everyone knows that the overseas Chinese intend to negotiate with other countries, they can't help but be in high spirits, because once the negotiations are successful and the war is over, then there will be no more risks in doing business with this group of overseas Chinese.