Put up the recruitment flag, and have their own food eaters. Anhui and Jiangxi have erected the banner of recruiting troops everywhere, and the recruitment offices of the Jianghuai Army are very busy. The source of soldiers is definitely not a problem, Jiangxi is full of displaced people in the year of the catastrophe, and it is their biggest dream to have a place to eat, not to mention that the Jianghuai Army still has a military salary of five yuan a month. In addition to the homeless people, young students have become the main force who have signed up to join the army, and the enthusiasm of young people has been stirred up like boiling water under the slogan of protecting the family and defending the country. So much so that the patrol caused the government office to issue a proclamation prohibiting students and teachers from signing up for the army.

The Jianghuai Army's logistics office and the Anhui Chamber of Commerce bought mules and horses everywhere, and small steamers flowed up the Yangtze River, transporting shiploads of Siamese rice and American flour to Anqing. Anqing's grain store put up signs to buy oats, miscellaneous beans and other horse materials at a high price. Merchants made eleven profits, and merchants from several nearby provinces bought them locally and trafficked them to Anhui over long distances. Military training began in all schools and factories, and weapons such as Mauser Baba and Baba, which were sealed in the armory, were distributed, and platoon leaders of the Jianghuai Army served as military instructors to conduct regular military training for students and workers. The whole of Anhui and Jiangxi has almost become a large barracks, full of people who participated in assassination and shooting training, and everywhere there are convoys transporting war materials.

On the streets of Anqing, a foreigner wearing a top hat sat on a rickshaw, observing everything with great interest.

"Where are you going, sir?"

"Carry me, around, around, around the whole city, all the lively places to see." The foreigner said in broken Chinese.

Just as Chai Dongliang was about to use Jiangxi's tungsten ore as collateral in exchange for a loan from the Bethlehem Company, the American minister Jia Leheng sent a piece of good news. The Harriman family, the railroad tycoon, was willing to provide an unsecured loan of $5 million, of course, on the condition that once the Jianghuai army gained a foothold in Manchuria, it would be fully open in the economic field, especially the neutrality of the railways in the three eastern provinces. The Harriman family sent a representative to discuss the loan with Chai Dongliang in detail.

The tall, lanky man named Nelson, forty-three, was Harriman Railroad's senior commercial representative in Asia. From the moment he disembarked in Shanghai, he found that all the cities along the route had launched a vigorous boycott of the goods. Everywhere there were burned goods, and the students went from house to house, mobilizing the merchants not to distribute the goods and not to do business with the people themselves. On the one hand, he believes that a boycott of goods will bring a market for American goods, and on the other hand, he believes that politics and business are unrelated matters, and that differences in the political field should not be brought to the business field.

The first impression of Anqing City on Nelson is that it is clean, with wide concrete pavements running through the city, horse-drawn carriages and pedestrians going their own way, and traffic is well organized. Autumn chrysanthemums and osmanthus bloom in the flower beds on the side of the road, and the faint fragrance in the air is refreshing.

Nelson immediately developed a crush on the city, and even Shanghai, the largest city in the Far East, was stinking with sewage, not to mention other small and medium-sized cities. From his observations, it can be seen that the common people of Anqing are not rich, but at least they can eat enough and wear warm, and although the clothes are not new, they are clean and clean. Especially for scholars in long robes, even if their clothes are washed and white, they don't even have a single wrinkle. The best way to observe the ruler of a country or region is to observe the mental state of the people under his rule.

There is no doubt that the spirit of the people of Anqing is quite good, and it can be seen from the sparkle in their eyes that they are full of hope for their future life.

The Harriman family has coveted the Manchuria Railway for a long time, and during the Russo-Russian War, they planned to build a railway in Manchuria to complete the ambitious world railway project. As a result, it was boycotted by Russia and Russia, and the US political axe did not want to make more troubles and smoke Harriman's anger. Chai Dongliang's proposal to internationalize Manchuria suddenly gave Harriman hope. As long as he does not exclude American capital, he has enough confidence to suppress Ben and Russian enterprises. The wealth of the Harriman family is incomparable to that of Ben and Russia. With the gradual expansion of President Taft's "golden dollar diplomacy", the overly exuberant American capital is also full of enthusiasm for the far East. The comprehensive cooperation between Chai Dongliang and Bethlehem Iron and Steel Company made the Harriman family set their sights on Anqing in the middle reaches of the Yangtze River. An important partner of Bethlehem Steel Company is undoubtedly more qualified to cooperate with Harriman than Yuan Shikai, the big president.

The Harriman family began to study the warlords whose rule was limited to the provinces of Jiangxi and Anhui, and they were surprised to find the results.

Chai Dongliang's Guanghua Machinery Factory produces ball mills, vertical kilns, and vertical crushers, which have almost occupied half of Europe and the United States. Now it is rapidly occupying the American and European markets at a rate of 200 units per month, and the cement plants and concentrators in European and American countries armed with these equipment are wantonly slaughtering their peers with their huge advantages in output and cost, and unceremoniously excluding those enterprises with outdated equipment from the ranks of competitors.

Chai Dongliang's Rolls-Royce has improved the eight-cylinder engine after receiving 80,000 pounds in funding, and has become the largest supplier of automobile engines in the United Kingdom, and the Rolls-Royce Silver Wraith has become the most high-end luxury car brand in Europe.

Guanghua company's three-core socket monopolized the European and American markets, with a low price of 99 cents to make all competitors unprofitable, and the perfect agent grading system, but also made each level have obtained rich returns, and also strangled the internal evil surname competition in the cradle.

Guanghua Shipyard won the order for four 10,000-ton US transport ships at a low price of $500,000, equivalent to 1.3 million taels of Chinese silver. In cooperation with Bethlehem Steel, it is producing two 4,000-ton heavy cruisers for the Chilean Navy. Of course, with the wisdom of the Harriman family, they would not have guessed that this was just a pretense, and the actual owner of the warship must be Chai Dongliang, who owns the Yangtze River fleet.

The young governor of China had much more potential than he had shown, and he was very bold in his use of foreigners. His own guard was made up of Gurkhas, and in his army there were a large number of British instructors who could speak Chinese, and he even made them vice principals of the Anqing Army Academy, giving them a high degree of trust.

To the surprise of the Harriman family, after having such a strong strength by Chinese standards, Chai Dongliang did not expand the army on a large scale, but only trained three new army divisions according to the requirements of the War Department of the Republic of China, and he did not even form his own political party like other warlords. Chai Dongliang took control of the Provincial Council of Justice, exchanged land bonds and industrial stocks for the landlords' land, moderately and forcefully implemented comprehensive land reform, extinguished the seeds of violent revolution in the bud, coldly attacked the Huai Shangjun and other anti-Qing revolutionary allies in the area he ruled, and at the same time suppressed the Anhui Council Bureau, which had played a huge role in overthrowing the rule of the Qing Dynasty, and attacked the provincial councils while vigorously promoting the reform of the parliaments at the county and district levels. He introduced direct elections at the district level in Anqing and Wuhu, teaching the people how to vote for district mayors and district councilors, and instructing the people how to use their powers. Vocational education was promoted, and businessmen were encouraged to set up enterprises, but at the same time workers were helped to organize trade unions against capitalists, to distribute land to each peasant, and to organize cooperatives to form individual peasants into groups.

He did not hesitate to use a lot of money to support Sun Wen's revolutionary party to carry out the anti-Qing revolution, and at the same time did not hesitate to hand over the most valuable Lianghuai salt government in Anhui to Yuan Shikai's central political axe. Now both the northern and southern camps can accept Chai Dongliang and acquiesce to the expansion of his strength.

The use of so many seemingly contradictory means, but acceptable to all strata, although reluctantly accepted by many, did not lead to a huge bloody conflict, and the end result was that all strata gained a certain degree of benefit.

Western-style institutional management methods and Eastern-style power schemes coexist, enthusiasm and ruthlessness are the two sides of his surname, ambitious and calm and low-key, this is a difficult guy to deal with, but also a qualified partner??? This is the final conclusion that the Harriman family gave to Chai Dongliang.

The Harriman family told Nelson that they could lend Chai Dongliang $5 million in unsecured loans, and they believed that Chai Dongliang would have enough ability to pay off the money. And it's not just a business loan, it's an emotional investment. If the Jianghuai Army succeeds in establishing a foothold in Manchuria, opening the door to Manchuria in its entirety, and promoting the neutralization process of the Northeast Railway, it will be of great significance to the Harriman family. Harriman Railroad's move to borrow $5 million would be a very risky investment, and it wouldn't be too risky.

The arrival of Nielsen made Chai Dongliang very happy, and it is certainly a good thing to be able to get an unsecured loan. Jiangxi's tungsten ore is an important strategic resource, but also the fist product of export earnings, unless the last resort, Chai Dongliang is really reluctant to use it as collateral for loans.

"Your Excellency, the Bethlehem Steel Company has obtained from you the most advanced technology in the smelting of special alloys in the world, and they will completely monopolize the steel industry in the United States, and in return you will receive much-needed capital and the military industry. So, what are you going to give back to our friendship when we at Harriman Railroad lend you five million dollars to help you and your army? "Nelson gets straight to the point.

Although the "Treaty of Bethlehem" is a secret contract, there must be a way to obtain information about what the Harriman family wants to know. Chai Dongliang was not surprised that Harriman Railway Company knew about the existence and content of this secret agreement.

Chai Dongliang said flatly: "I am the largest shareholder of Shanghai Guanghua Company, and now I will talk about the cooperation between us as a businessman." Buying and selling is something that is beneficial to both parties, not about friendship, let alone how you can help us??? I need this money, you need to get the power to build railways in Manchuria and set your own freight rates, that's all. ”

Nelson shook his head and said, "No, no, my dear general, it is the American political axe that wants to get the power to set its own freight rates in Manchuria, not the Harriman Railroad." Cooperation between businessmen is only about money, not about friendship and not about politics. ”

They had the power to set their own freight rates, and they charged low fees for their own export commodities while levying high freight rates on goods from other countries, which caused the prices of goods in Britain and the United States to remain high, and objectively excluded the goods of Britain and the United States from Manchuria. This is absolutely intolerable to the American political axe, but it is not something that the Harriman family should care about. As a large conglomerate, they only focus on the interests of their shareholders.

"And what do you want? In terms of interest, I can only accept 5%, and the commission is discounted by up to 6%, beyond which I don't want this money. Chai Dongliang put on a casual look.

"Your Excellency, dear general, I know that you need these five million dollars very much, and you are preparing to start a war, and war is a very expensive business, and of course the benefits will be great after winning. You know, we're taking a huge risk by lending to you, and if you lose, we're going to lose all your money," Nelson said slylyly.

Chai Dongliang laughed and said: "Yes, I need this money, but even if I am defeated, the profitability of Guanghua Group is enough to ensure the smooth repayment of the loan, you don't have to worry about it??? In addition, your Chinese is not standard enough. ”

This sentence was said in English, and Chai Dongliang really couldn't stand his broken Chinese level.

Nelson was surprised: "Have you ever lived in London?" I can hear the Thames from your voice. ”

Foreigners always speak so exaggeratedly, Chai Dongliang has long been used to it, he smiled perfunctorily and said: "My English teacher is a Londoner. ”

At that time, Chai Dongliang relied on a standard London accent to successfully put down a schoolgirl whose English pronunciation was not standard enough, and the two studied English pronunciation all the way from school to bed.

Chai Dongliang smiled and asked, "What to drink?" Black tea, coffee, or wine? ”

"I've seen the tea ceremony performed by myself, and it's very elegant, but it is said that the tea ceremony originated in China, can you show me the real Chinese tea ceremony?"

Chai Dongliang smiled and said, "No problem." But does it have anything to do with our business? ”

Nelson laughed: "As an Englishman, you can't drink a good cup of tea, and you're not in the mood to talk about business." ”

Chai Dongliang asked curiously, "Aren't you an American?" ”

Nelson laughed: "My nationality is American, but that doesn't change the fact that I'm an Irish who grew up in London, just as I went to the United States with a Chinese doesn't change the fact that he's Chinese." "Growing up in London, an American-Irishman, sounds like a tongue twister, this guy's identity is quite complicated!

(To be continued)