It seems that Tim Raymond has not yet figured out the situation, and he does not know how popular the canal project is right now.

Of course, maybe it's because Tim Raymond has always been like this, after all, Tim Raymond's identity is an investor, and such a person will be welcomed and sought after wherever he goes, so it's normal to be proud.

But this Li Mu here, it is obvious that Tim Raymond's set is not good, Li Mu is not a hillbilly who has never seen money, and it is almost impossible to use money to "ston" Li Mu to death.

"Mr. Tim, raising funds from the public is a collective decision of the entire canal management committee, and the price of the stock is the same, and individuals have no right to change it, I personally thank you and your family for being willing to participate in the canal project, and I hope you can get what you want and get what you want." Li Mu casually snorted and didn't talk about the price at all.

There is indeed no room for negotiation on the price, although the current canal management committee is just an empty shell, there is not a penny on the books, it is waiting for the rice to be cooked, and even the cost of renting the site of Castle Clinton has not been paid, but because Li Mu and they have already divided 20% of the shares, there is a huge hole that needs to be filled, so this price will definitely not change.

"If you are so persistent, then I think, you will have big trouble next, think about it, the economic crisis has just passed, and there are not many families who can come up with $50 million at once." Tim Raymond was also confident that the canal management committee would give in in the end.

It seems that it is either Li Mu or Tim Raymond, and one of them must have miscalculated the situation.

To be honest, this person is unlikely to be Li Mu, there are still several visitors queuing up at Li Mu's door, and the other committee members must be as busy as Li Mu, so Li Mu is not worried that this business will not be negotiated.

"There's tens of millions of dollars involved, and I think you'd better think about it, Mr. Ream." Tim Raymond probably didn't expect Li Mu to be so tough, so he was a little overwhelmed now.

"Mr. Tim, think about it again, the Panama Canal shares are still very sought-after, the current price is $100 a share, but maybe tomorrow the price will become $150 or $200 a share, so when the opportunity comes, be sure to seize it, or I promise, you will regret it." Li Mu is also talking ruthlessly, at this time, it depends on who has more patience.

This time, the Canal Management Commission gave 10 percent of the shares, a total of 5 million shares, with a par value of $100 per share, and the Canal Management Committee hopes to raise $500 million.

Not surprisingly, the first meeting with Tim Raymond did not come of anything.

Li Mu had been prepared for this result for a long time, involving tens of millions of dollars in funds, and it was impossible to reach an agreement after a simple meeting or two, which would be too child's play.

On this day, Li Mu had a brief meeting with a total of 11 people, who basically came for the Bama Canal, and all their funds added up to more than 300 million US dollars, if they can suck this money in, then the Panama Canal can start construction now.

When he got off work in the evening, Li Mu made a simple summary, considering the situation of the other seven committee members, Li Mu knew that this time he would win, maybe there would be unexpected surprises.

"You wouldn't think that Tim Raymond represents the Hohenzollerns, no wonder they're so rich." Later, Yan Shun reported the results of the investigation to Li Mu.

Li Mu never fights unprepared battles, and when facing an opponent, at least he must know who the opponent is.

50 million US dollars is not a small number, can it be that the family that can come up with this money is definitely not a small nobleman with no name, after Tim Raymond left in the morning, Li Mu arranged for Yan Shun to investigate Tim Raymond's background, and it seems that Yan Shun's efficiency is not bad.

"After Tim Raymond left Clinton Castle, he went to the telegraph office and sent six telegrams to Germany in a row, although the messages were encrypted and cannot be deciphered, but we can still be sure that Tim Raymond represents the Hohenzollerns." The method Yan Shun uses is stupid, but it is very effective.

Germany had just won the Franco-Prussian War and received a large amount of war reparations from France, Li Mu remembered that he also bought a French national bond for this, no wonder the Germans were so rich, if the Germans before the Franco-Prussian War, it is estimated that they may not be able to take it out.

When it comes to telegram encryption, it is really not a troublesome thing, and the Landmark Group is now in contact with the Landmark branch on the east coast, and it is also using encrypted telegrams.

Li Mu's choice of encryption is very simple, at the earliest, Li Mu's choice of the codebook is the most ordinary "Thousand Character Text", so that only need to send numbers to complete the information encryption, ordinary people really can't understand it.

Although Tim Raymond's contact with Germany also uses encrypted telegrams, it is estimated that the encryption method is not too complicated, so Li Mu plans to transfer a few engineers from Junma Telecom to try to see if he can decipher Tim Raymond's code.

If it can be deciphered, then this may be the first password war in the history of mankind.

"But there is one question I don't understand, if the Hohenzollerns want to contact us, wouldn't it be more convenient to go through the Krupp family?" Yan Shun still doesn't quite understand the twists and turns in this, but he can bravely ask questions, which is a lot of progress.

Li Mu is now gradually consciously burdening Yan Shun, hoping that Yan Shun can go further and take a higher leadership position, instead of following Li Mu as a secretary all the time.

The relationship between the ZAMA Group and Krupp is very close, not only in the European joint venture arsenal, but also in the joint research and development of more powerful and long-range artillery.

"Hohenzollern is Hohenzollern, Krupp is Krupp, although we have a good relationship with Krupp, but the Hohenzollern family is unlikely to get in touch with us through Krupp, there is a problem of monarchs and ministers, and the relationship between primary and secondary must not be confused." Li Mu didn't know what the people of the Hohenzollern family thought, and thinking that not being able to wipe off face was only one of the reasons, and there might be other reasons, but this was not within Li Mu's concern.

"Tell Lao Lei to go on the road as soon as possible, we have to rush ahead of the others and scoop the fattest fat into our own bowl first." Li Mu's mind has drifted to Panama, if possible, Li Mu even wants to personally lead someone to Panama and go there to have a look, so that there will be a more intuitive impression.

Lao Lei is the chief engineer of Junma Construction Company, a descendant of style Lei from the Qing Empire, and in Li Mu, Lao Lei found a suitable platform to really give full play to his talents.

The Williamsburg Bridge, which has already started, is from the hands of Lao Lei.

"Okay, Mr. Lei is waiting for the drawings, as long as the drawings arrive, Mr. Lei can set off immediately." Yan Shun knew how urgent Li Mu's mood was.

The start of the Panama Canal also has a hidden advantage for the Junma Group, that is, Li Mu can unscrupulously increase the intensity of immigration from the Qing Empire.

Now all the tycoons in the United States have a consensus that the work efficiency of Chinese workers is much higher than that of workers of other races, even white people, so immigrating from the Qing Empire has not only practical benefits for Li Mu, but also economic benefits.

Golden Horse Construction Company is the company with the largest number of workers in the entire Junma Group, now with about 12,000 workers, and by building the Panama Canal, Li Mu can easily increase the total number to more than 50,000 without causing any suspicion.

50,000 people sounds like a lot, but in reality, for the Panama Canal, it is not enough, according to the Canal Commission's calculations, another tenfold increase is about the same.

Even if the canal project is finished in the future, it is actually necessary for Li Mu to retain a construction team of this size, and even if New York City cannot accommodate so many construction workers by then, you can disperse more construction workers to other cities.

The Senate and the House of Representatives decided to start the Panama Canal plan is not groundless, in fact, the scale of the canal has already formed a drawing, and now the management committee is stepping up the copying of the drawings, as long as the drawings are copied, Li Mu can start construction.

Just put the canal is located on the Isthmus of Panama, which is about 65 kilometers long.

With such a long distance, there must be some lots that are easy to construct, and some lots that are difficult to build, and the delicate balance between cost and construction period is very much to be done.

What Li Mu wants to grab now is those simple construction, but expensive lots, even if the cost is not expensive, Li Mu can find a way to pile up the cost, anyway, the last to pay is the European consortium, Li Mu does not need to worry about this.

The plan was good, but the reality was not satisfactory, and the next day, Li Mu's office suddenly became deserted, and there were no guests from Europe for a whole day.

This made Li Mu feel very bad.

In the evening, an emergency meeting of the canal management committee was held.

"Just last night, a company called the Interoceanic Canal Company was established in Paris, and the chairman of this company is familiar to everyone, that is, the famous Fernand Resai Department, I will not introduce this person, and I hope that everyone can fully understand the seriousness of this matter." Chairman of the Committee, J. P. Morgan's expression was ugly, and from the moment he walked into the conference room, he smoked cigars one after another, causing a miasma of smoke in the whole conference room.

Fernand Reseb was a well-known French diplomat, a man who deserved to leave his name in the history of mankind by planning and organizing the construction of the Suez Canal.

The Suez Canal had been completed seven years earlier, in 1869, and it was for this reason that Europeans had the energy to shift their attention from Egypt to Panama.

It was also on the Suez Canal that they tasted the sweetness, so the European funds were so impatient, and Li Mu and they also had to thank Fernand Resebu.

Of course, the current Li Mu will definitely not thank Fernand Reseb, but will hate it to the core, the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives have just decided to start the Panama Plan, and Fernand Reseb has come up with this Rausch Interoceanic Canal Company, which is a blatant smashing the field to grab jobs, which is really tolerable, which is unbearable.

"The French almost lost their underwear some time ago in order to pay off their debts, do they have the money to build the canal?" William Vanderbilt asked a stupid question.

"The lack of money in the state does not mean that the individual has no money..." P. Morgan snorted, but explained simply.

This is true, just like the current United States, the US government does not have money, but this does not mean that the United States has no money, otherwise the US government will not have the confidence to start the Panama Canal project.

"What does the Panamanian government mean?" Li Mu was also carried away by this unexpected news, and also asked a stupid question.

Although the Panama Canal is located on the Isthmus of Panama, it is not under the jurisdiction of the Panamanian government, but is under the jurisdiction of the Colombian government...

No, the current Colombian government is not called the Colombian government, but the new Granada government.

Isn't it a bit messy, yes, South Americans are so capricious.

The willfulness of the government of New Granada is not only reflected in the arbitrary change of the name of the country, but also in the case of the Panama Canal.

The Panama Canal can be described as twists and turns, at first the French approached the Colombian government at that time, and proposed to build the Panama Canal, but the Colombian government refused, and then the British and Americans successively approached the Colombian government to make the same request, and the Colombian government decided to hand over the canal construction rights to the United States, for which the United States signed agreements with the Colombian government and the British government respectively.

It is worth mentioning that the agreement signed in 1848 was valid for 20 years, and shortly after the signing of the agreement, the Civil War broke out in the United States, and the construction of the Panama Canal was put on hold.

This has been on hold for more than 20 years, and this year the US government finally put the construction of the Panama Canal on the agenda, and the validity of the previous contract has expired, and it seems that the government of New Granada has other ideas.

"Hmph, the Panama Canal can only be dug by us, and no one else wants to interfere, whoever dares to stretch out his hand, I will let his head bleed." Rockefeller domineering side leakage, this is the true face of American tycoons at this time.

For the Panama Canal, the Americans have indeed paid a lot of price, the Civil War was in full swing, and the Americans also built a railroad on the Panama Isthmus to prepare for the digging of the Panama Canal.

If the right to dig the canal were to be handed over to the French now, all the preparations of the Americans would be in vain, which would be unacceptable to anyone.

"We don't know the attitude of the government in New Granada yet, so I think we need to be sure." In this regard, Li Mu's heart is also dark, if the New Granada government does not cooperate, then Li Mu does not mind letting the New Granada government become the Colombian government again.