Just as the People's Army's overseas Chinese fleet left Java, Zhang Zhenxun, the head of the Zhang family, also came to Qingdao from Shanghai.

During the period of protecting overseas Chinese in Java, Zhang Zhenxun basically lived in Qingdao all the time, paying attention to the development of the situation in Java, and at the same time remotely commanding his son Zhang Zhijun in Java to support the actions of the People's Army in Java and provide manpower and material support.

It was not until the People's Army won the Battle of Java that the situation in Java was irreversible, and Zhang Zhenxun was completely relieved, and then rushed to Guangzhou to deal with the affairs of the Austro-Han Railway. After the signing of the [Batavia Treaty], Zhang Zhenxun got the content of the treaty for the first time, and he was also very excited, to be honest, the content of the treaty exceeded his expectations, it turned out that he just wanted to write the clause to ensure the security and rights of the Javanese Chinese into the treaty, and he knew that the Javanese Chinese could officially participate in the political power of Java, which was something that had never been done for hundreds of years.

However, Zhang Zhenxun also knew that although the treaty was signed, in order for the treaty to be implemented smoothly, it still had to be backed by strength, and the current Javanese Chinese obviously did not have enough strength for the Dutch colonial government to fulfill the treaty, and they still had to rely on the East China government. Of course, Zhang Zhenxun also thought that there was nothing bad about relying on the East China government, at least it was much more reliable than the Qing court, and with this strong reinforcement, the Javanese Chinese would not be afraid of being bullied again, so Zhang Zhenxun immediately returned to Qingdao and wanted to negotiate with the East China government for the next step of development.

It was still Qin Zheng who met Zhang Zhenxun, because among the main leaders of the East China government, only Qin Zheng had relatively little work and could spare enough time for detailed consultations with Zhang Zhenxun.

Because they are very familiar with each other, after the two met, Zhang Zhenxun was not polite, and said: "This time, the overseas Chinese in Java have all been helped by the nobles, not only to be spared, but also to participate in Javanese government affairs in the future. ”

Qin Zheng smiled and said: "Mr. Zhang is too awarded, these are what we should do, Nanyang Chinese are all Chinese compatriots, we are now a government, so it is our obligation to protect our compatriots, so we dare not take credit, Mr. Zhang is just a businessman, but for the safety of overseas Chinese in Nanyang, and do not hesitate to spend a lot of money, this is admirable, to be honest this time without Mr. Zhang's help, we could not have succeeded." ”

Zhang Zhenxun said: "Or the nobles are too humble, this time Javanese to protect the overseas Chinese, the nobles have a huge waste, and they have raised 3 million taels of silver, although they can't completely make up for the consumption of the nobles, but they are also a little heartfelt, and please accept them." ”

Qin Zheng shook his head and said with a smile: "No, no, we protect foreigners to fulfill our national obligations, which cannot be exchanged for any amount of money, and the Dutch colonial government compensated us 6.5 million pounds, which is enough to offset our expenses, and Mr. Zhang also contributed a lot of money for this overseas Chinese movement, although Mr. Zhang's family has a big business, but it is not easy to make money, so Mr. Zhang should take back this money, we will not accept anything." ”

Zhang Zhenxun listened, and his heart was quite emotional, of course he knew that the East China government had received compensation from the Dutch colonial government, but the 3 million taels of silver he gave was not a small amount, he stayed in Qingdao for almost two months, and he also had a certain understanding of the financial situation of the East China government. Roads and wharves, as well as military construction, all require a lot of funds, so the financial situation is not very easy, with these 3 million taels of silver, you can still do a lot of things, and the other party actually said that you don't want it. This bearing is indeed admirable.

Of course, Zhang Zhenxun is willing to pay this money, not only to thank the East China government, but after this overseas Chinese protection action, the Zhang family has been tied up with the East China government, and through these two months of contact, Zhang Zhenxun also has a more comprehensive understanding of the East China government, it can be said that no matter in that aspect, the East China government can completely blow up the Qing court, by which it is this overseas Chinese protection action, but also shows that the military strength of the East China government, the only deficiency is that the time for their return is too short, the foundation is insufficient, but over time, it will definitely be able to replace the Qing court, so Zhang Zhenxun also decided to officially join the East China government, the 3 million taels of silver, is the head of Zhang's family hand。

But the East China government didn't want this money, which made Zhang Zhenxun quite embarrassed, and said: "Compared with the indemnity of the Netherlands, a mere 3 million taels of silver is naturally nothing, but I see that there are many places where you want to use money, and I have already said before inviting you to send troops that all the expenses will be borne by my Zhang family, and how can I recover it if I have already exported, not to mention that I have already raised the silver, and this time it has been transported to Shanghai with the ship, so I can't let me drag it back." ”

Qin Zheng also smiled and said, "We appreciate Mr. Zhang's kindness. But we will definitely not accept this money, but if Mr. Zhang is interested, it is better to invest this money in Shandong to stimulate the economic development of Shandong, which can be regarded as a great help to us, and Mr. Zhang can take advantage of the investment to set up factories and enterprises in Shandong, make more money, kill two birds with one stone, isn't it good for everyone?"

After a pause, Qin Zheng said again: "To be honest, we are not very satisfied with the result of this time to protect overseas Chinese, the original plan was at least to allow the Javanese Chinese to achieve autonomy, but our current comprehensive national strength is limited, and there is British interference, so we have to retreat to the second." However, in order to develop our comprehensive national strength, we need to invest more in businessmen like Mr. Zhang to promote the economic development of Shandong, and of course we will also provide investors with a good investment environment and various convenient conditions, so that you cannot make money in vain. In short, we welcome businessmen to do business in Shandong, and hope that businessmen who come to Shandong to do business will make money and make a fortune, the more money you make, the greater the help to us. ”

Zhang Zhenxun also nodded, in fact, he had decided to make a big investment in Shandong, this time he returned to Guangzhou, and actually raised a total of 5 million silver, ready to hand over 3 million to the East China government, and the other 2 million was intended to invest in industry in Shandong. And now the East China government doesn't want his 3 million silver, so the actual investable capital is as high as 5 million silver, which is much larger than Zhang Zhenxun's estimate.

More than 10 years ago, I heard a Frenchman say that the climate and environment in Yantai, Shandong Province are suitable for grape growth, and the grapes there can be used to make high-quality wines, so I hope to learn about the local grape production in Yantai, and then decide to open a grape winery to make the world's best wine." "In fact, the wine industry is the main industry of Zhang Zhenxun in Java, initially to operate the wine industry, and then simply brewed his own wine, now the Zhang family's wine industry occupies nearly half of the share of Java, is one of the main industries of the Zhang family in Java, and Zhang Zhenxun returned to China to start a business, has always hoped to build a winery in China. Now I plan to invest in Shandong, and Yantai is suitable for growing grapes, so I naturally thought of starting a winery in Yantai.

Qin Zheng nodded, this is probably the origin of Changyu wine, and running a winery is not only a matter of the factory, but also a large number of grapes, so the scale is definitely not small, so he smiled: "This is easy to do, when does Mr. Zhang plan to go to Yantai for inspection? I can notify the relevant departments to arrange." ”

Zhang Zhenxun was also very happy to hear it, after all, his wish for many years was finally coming true, but it would take less than 5 million silver to invest in the winery, so Zhang Zhenxun said: "I don't know what kind of investment you still need, as long as my financial resources allow, I will definitely fully support it." ”

Qin Zheng said with a smile: "We invited Mr. Zhang to invest, we hope that Mr. Zhang can make a profit, Mr. Zhang is good at operating those industries, and the time of investment, the cycle of returns, and whether it can be profitable also need to be evaluated by Mr. Zhang himself, of course, we can give Mr. Zhang some suggestions, but in the end it is up to Mr. Zhang to decide." If Mr. Zhang opens a winery and wants to grow grapes, he will have to negotiate with the Committee of Agriculture, and I can arrange it for Mr. Zhang. ”

Zhang Zhenxun sighed softly, the biggest difference between overseas Chinese and the Qing court is not in honesty and efficiency, Zhang Zhenxun has returned to China to start a business for more than 10 years, and he is also accustomed to the atmosphere of Chunting officialdom, anyway, these problems can be solved with money, and it will not be a problem, and the best thing about overseas Chinese is that they respect people, and can stand in each other's point of view. So he said, "Thank you, Speaker Qin." ”

Qin Zheng said: "What is there to thank for this, we should thank Mr. Zhang, but there are two more things, we want to ask Mr. Zhang for help." ”

Zhang Zhenxun hurriedly said: "Please say, I will do my best to help in the future." ”

Qin Zheng said: "Now that the [Batavia Treaty] has been signed, overseas Chinese in Java can participate in the government affairs of Java, and overseas Chinese trade unions will be established, but I think the Dutch will not be reconciled, although they may not dare to use force again, but they will definitely find ways to sow discord. Mr. Zhang is well-known and prestigious in Java, and I hope that Mr. Zhang can come forward more, unite the Chinese, and work as one, so that the Dutch can take advantage of it, and our office in Java will also fully support Mr. Zhang. ”

Zhang Zhenxun listened, and nodded again and again, in fact, Zhang Zhenxun also has a deep understanding of the situation that overseas Chinese are not united enough, and Zhang Zhenxun also has a deep understanding of the insidious and cunning of the Dutch colonists, and now the East China government has created such a good situation for the overseas Chinese in Java, the Dutch colonists will definitely try their best to destroy it, if the weakness of the overseas Chinese is not united enough to be seized and used by the Dutch colonists, it can indeed cause heavy losses to the overseas Chinese in Java, and even bury the current good situation, so Zhang Zhenxun said: " Please rest assured that Speaker Qin will definitely do his best to unite the overseas Chinese in Java and will never give the Dutch a chance to take advantage of it. ”