"Please, two of you!" Marion came in with her own hand-ground coffee. Pen | fun | pavilion www. ｂｉｑｕｇｅ。 ｉｎｆｏ

"Thank you." Zhang Leyi took the coffee, but her eyes always stayed on Zhou Hexuan, she wanted to know how Zhou Hexuan persuaded the French consul.

Elway leaned sideways, tilted his head towards Zhou Hexuan, and asked in a somewhat inquiring tone, "Mr. Zhou, where does the money come from?" ”

"Issuance of public bonds." Zhou Hexuan said.

"Haha!" Elway laughed with mockery, he thought that Zhou Hexuan would have a good way, but he didn't expect it to be a bad idea, and immediately asked, "In whose name will the public debt be issued?" And who wants to pay it back? ”

"The Tianjin tariff," Zhou Hexuan explained, "is the most reasonable way to pay for the dredging of the port of Tianjin and the Haihe River." ”

Elway looked at Zhou Hexuan with a smile and said sarcastically: "Mr. Zhou, you don't have a cold and fever, right?" Why can't I understand a word? ”

China's tariffs are too complex, and the highest body is the General Department of Taxation of China's Customs, headquartered in Shanghai, and now headed by the Briton Yi Yunshi. Tariffs are all collected by foreigners, and then each country divides it up according to the specific situation.

If you want to use Tianjin's tariff bonds to manage the waterway, you must report to the Shanghai General Taxation Department for approval, and you must also obtain the approval of various countries. The difficulty in this is far more difficult than convincing Chu Yupu to allocate funds, who is willing to spit out the fat that eats in his mouth?

Zhou Hexuan didn't speak, just took out an American newspaper from his briefcase. It was an out-of-date newspaper from the beginning of the year, and it was reported that on January 27, U.S. Secretary of State Kellogg's declaration of dialogue: "Since the Washington Conference, the United States has prepared, and is now preparing, to negotiate with any Chinese government or any representative who can speak on behalf of or on behalf of China, not only to negotiate the implementation of the 25-year surcharge that Washington has jumped, but also to negotiate the complete renunciation of tariff controls, that is, the restoration of China's full tariff autonomy." ”

Elway's face changed slightly, and he asked in a deep voice, "What exactly do you want to say?" ”

Zhou Hexuan put down the newspaper and said, "Let me analyze the situation first." Due to the rapid expansion of the United States' national strength, the United States actively pursued a strategy of foreign expansion, but it was contained by Britain, France, Japan, and other countries. At the Paris Peace Conference a few years ago, the United States, like China, failed in diplomatic negotiations and did not achieve the desired goals. Therefore, it shifted its expansion to the Far East and the Pacific, and made the monopoly of China an important goal. If the United States wants to expand its influence in China, it will have to confront Britain and Japan. In the final analysis, the Washington Conference was a new international conference for the United States to resist Japan's monopoly of China, dismantle the Anglo-Japanese alliance, and redeem the losses of the Paris Peace Conference. Mr. Consul, am I right? ”

As the consul general of Tianjin in France, Hervé was naturally very clear about the Washington meeting, and he nodded and smiled: "You summed it up well, and it was more concise than the speeches of the French parliamentarians." ”

Zhou continued: "In order to further expand its influence in China, the United States has tried to support China in reclaiming the privileges of some great powers in China, so as to suppress the interests of Britain and Japan and other countries in China. Supporting the Chinese government to withdraw tariffs is a good opportunity. The US Secretary of State's declaration on China is not just talking, and substantive measures will certainly be taken next year at the latest. And the governments of the South are desperate for international recognition, and they will be absolutely ecstatic if the United States throws an olive branch. In this way, the United States will become the most friendly international partner of the Southern government, and the interests of Britain, France, and Japan in China will inevitably be damaged. ”

Herway was silent, in fact, he had already set off a monstrous wave in his heart, shocked by Zhou Hexuan's keen international perspective. He, the French consul general in Tianjin, only learned about it half a month ago that the domestic parliament was discussing the issue of withdrawing the customs privilege for dialogue.

And Zhou Hexuan just read American newspapers, plus some of his own analysis, and completely saw through the complex form.

He is worthy of a scholar who can write "The Rise of a Great Power"!

Herway put away his contemptuous thoughts and spoke to Zhou Hexuan as an equal, he said: "With all due respect, China's tariff autonomy is the trend of the times, but the biggest obstacle is Japan, and they will never agree to it." ”

Zhou Hexuan said with a smile: "If Britain, France and the United States all support China's tariff independence, Japan has to agree if it doesn't agree." ”

"That's right," Elway said with a joke, "but that's all in the next few years, what does it have to do with the current dredging of Tianjin Port?" ”

Zhou Hexuan's eyes were full of treachery, and he said: "My proposal is to use the Tianjin Customs tariff in three years to issue public bonds. Take the money of the future Chinese government to help the current powers do good deeds. Not only will you not pay a penny, but you will also get practical benefits and win the goodwill of the Chinese government and people. ”

"Hahahaha," Elway laughed, "Mr. Zhou, I have to admit that your idea is very genius. But the question is, are you sure that in three years China's tariffs will be autonomous? ”

"I'm pretty sure," Mr. Zhou said, "that the Americans are already doing it, that the British can't sit idly by, and that the French government won't sit idly by." ”

"I have reservations about it, but I'll help contact the General Department of Customs and Excise in Shanghai," Elway said. ”

Zhou Hexuan continued to analyze: "In fact, it doesn't cost much money to govern the waterway, at most 1 million Chinese silver dollars can be done, and the powers don't care about this money. From the perspective of the international situation, the current overall situation is the confrontation between capitalism and GCISM, and the north and south of China are purging the CCP together, which belongs to the vanguard of resistance to GCISM, and the great powers will inevitably give up their customs privileges in order to win over China. As far as I know, at the beginning of the year, when the Soviet Union was still supporting the southern government, the great powers spent a lot of money to support Zhang Zuolin. The Japanese Manchurian Company contributed 3 million yen, British businessmen in Hong Kong and Shanghai contributed 5 million pounds, and the US Government sold Zhang Zuolin 100 planes and military supplies worth 10 million US dollars. At this time, the Nanjing Nationalist Government changed its stance, and Britain, the United States, France, Japan, and other countries were already actively negotiating and contacting, and it was not a problem at all to take out a little customs money to issue public bonds. ”

Elway was still skeptical, but now he was completely persuaded by Zhou Hexuan, and he sighed: "Mr. Zhou, you really should be a diplomat." ”

Zhou Hexuan continued: "The sooner this matter is done, the better, and now that Tianjin is full of refugees, it is a good time to carry out a big project. Using refugees as cheap labor would save a lot of money on construction costs and help refugees get through the storm. This not only saves money, but also does good deeds, and can also gain the favor of the Chinese people, the best of all three! Even if the national position is aside, charity should be supported, and I don't think Mr. Consul wants to see people starve to death every day. ”

Elway shook hands with Zhou Hexuan and said, "Mr. Zhou, you have successfully convinced me, I will inform the British and Japanese consuls, and inform the customs side of the situation." ”

"Then I will take my leave first, and wait for the good news of Mr. Consul." Zhou Hexuan smiled.

When Zhou Hexuan left with Zhang Leyi, Elway said to his wife: "China is really a magical country, and there will always be some fascinating guys." ”

The Chinese government allocated 100,000 taels of silver, and the British Ministry of Industry issued 150,000 taels of public bonds