"Mr. Chen, I'm sorry Yulian bothered you. Pen "Fun" Pavilion www.biquge.info" Ah Xuan bowed slightly and said politely: "I told her that Lili hasn't come back yet, but she doesn't give up and always comes to see secretly." ”

"It's okay." Chen Wenqiang made a gesture of invitation and said, "It's because I've been so busy lately that I forgot the letter and gift that Lili carried." If I hadn't seen Yulian, I wouldn't have remembered! Miss Dong, please come in, the things are in the house, just bring them back for Yulian. ”

Ah Xuan nodded, did not mean to refuse, led Yulian, and walked into the house generously. When she passed by Chen Wenqiang's side, a glimmer of light flashed in her eyes.

Beautiful conch, shells, Li people's native cloth, cashew nuts, beef jerky...... Play, wear, eat, you name it. There are also photos of Lili and Yazhou scenery, as well as a correspondence between children.

Yulian was immediately intrigued, staring at this with wide eyes, touching this, tasting that, and asking some childish and strange questions.

Chen Wenqiang answered casually, and asked the maid to bring coffee and asked Ah Xuan to sit down and talk. As he spoke, he unconsciously talked about the question he had just been thinking about.

Bankruptcy in the rural areas is gradually intensifying, and if we do not change our investment channels, we will definitely not be able to live a comfortable life by collecting land rents alone.

Therefore, from a long time ago, the more discerning landlords and gentry in Jiangnan have put their investment channels in a metropolis like Shanghai, operating finance, commerce, industry, real estate, and so on, in order to seek higher returns. And the flow of wealth from the countryside to the city was also the general trend of that era. While the rural economy as a whole is declining, it is accompanied by the abnormal prosperity of some coastal cities.

"After settling in the city to run a business, our family did not rely on land to make a living, but just left a way back for ourselves." Ah Xuan didn't know why Chen Wenqiang suddenly wanted to understand the lives of landlords and peasants, but he still narrated it based on his own experience and opinions. "The land in the countryside is handed over to the 'second landlord' (agent) to take care of, and I don't care too much about the excess of rent and taxes. Because the income from the land is too meager, I have the impression that I can only get one or two silver dollars per mu of land every year. ”

One acre of land is one silver dollar, and one hundred acres is only one hundred silver dollars! A hundred acres of land can be regarded as a small and medium-sized landlord, with an income of more than 100 silver dollars a year. It's really not much. According to an estimate, the average salary of workers in Shanghai is estimated to be four or five yuan a month, which is equivalent to owning fifty or sixty acres of land in the countryside.

Of course, the land income that Ah Xuan mentioned should be after deducting the heavy tax burden, plus the commissions of the "second landlords" and their helpers. If you are a pure yeoman farmer, you can double your income. If I reduce the tax again......

Chen Wenqiang is thoughtful, he is in the bustling city of Shanghai, and he is engaged in the industrial and commercial industry. He even somewhat ignored that China should still be an agrarian society, and the peasants are the vast majority.

"Mr. Chen-" Ah Xuan secretly glanced at Chen Wenqiang who was contemplative, and asked tentatively, "Is it good over there in Qiongzhou?" ”

"Oh?" Chen Wenqiang came to his senses, nodded, and said: "It's already deserted, but now it's much more popular, less noisy and more quiet than Shanghai." Well. I love it there anyway. ”

"If yes, if I go there. Is there a job to do? Ah Xuan was a little conflicted, which damaged her quiet expression, but she was really excited to wait for Chen Wenqiang's reply, and her face showed some bright light, adding a lot of charm.

What is in the eyes of the young girl this time? Implore. Trust, questioning and obedience. Chen Wenqiang wanted to continue to capture, but Ah Xuan had already lowered his eyes, twisted the buttons on his sleeves hard, and whispered, "My father is going to marry me off." But, I don't like that, that dandy. Because of this, my father and my mother had a big quarrel, and they almost did it. ”

That's it! Chen Wenqiang didn't have to bother to find out, because Ah Xuan was telling the truth. He immediately nodded and agreed, "It's good to go to Qiongzhou, where development and construction have just begun, and there is a need for knowledgeable and educated young people." If you go, you can work as a manager in a factory or as a teacher in a small school, there are many jobs to choose from! Hehe, if you can bring Yulian there, then Lili doesn't know how happy she is? ”

Ah Xuan's eyes under the thick eyelashes blinked twice quickly, and she raised her head happily to meet Chen Wenqiang's gaze. This time, she didn't dodge, a suppressed anger streaming over her face, between her sparkling eyes and the slight smile that curled her lips.

Frightened, shy, and shy, which makes it even more charming. This kind of direct gaze is rare, perhaps because of the relaxation and courage brought about by the resolution of the heart.

Chen Wenqiang smiled, this smile can't be explained in a special way, but a taste like ants crawling seeped into Ah Xuan's heart, and she suddenly remembered how her mother dressed her up in advance when she first met, and how she worked hard to sell, hoping that she could establish an intimate relationship with Chen Wenqiang.

Ah Xuan suddenly felt that her lips were dry, and on her snow-white forehead, sweat gushed out like dewdrops, her cheeks were hot, and she lowered her head again.

"Uncle Chen, is this a car?" Yulian came over with the photo, which was considered to relieve Ah Xuan's embarrassment, "Lili is on it, will she open it?" ”

"She's still young, you're young, when you grow up, you should all be able to open, it's very simple." Chen Wenqiang looked at the photo of Lili pretending to hold the steering wheel, and also felt funny.

"Moreover, your sister will lead you to her, and you can study and play together again." Chen Wenqiang turned his gaze to Ah Xuan.

Ah Xuan bit her lip, nodded at Chen Wenqiang's inquiring gaze, and said softly, "I will convince my mother." During the quarrel, the father threatened to send the mother to the countryside. You know, it was painful, it was a shame. ”

"I'll let that be arranged over there." Chen Wenqiang said: "You can go, don't have other worries. As for the boat, take the Shunhang company, which is direct, convenient and safe. ”

"Thank you, Mr. Chen." Ah Xuan blinked, pursed her lips and smiled.

……………

From a deeper point of view, the Chinese' boycott of American goods is actually against broader imperialism, and they want to defend China's dignity. It's just that at that time, there were not many ways in the hands of the Chinese. And the boxer-style xenophobia. The serious consequences are only paid by the Chinese themselves.

Therefore, the Chinese need a more sophisticated and mature method than the Boxer exclusion. They were prepared for a modest victory, even a modest economic boycott, to encourage a surge of patriotic fervor at home at the time, and the boycott of American goods was opportune.

At a time when the boycott movement was facing fragmentation and disintegration, Chen Wenqiang led the Shanghai Chamber of Commerce to carry it deeper and more durably. newspaper media. There is a "fisherman" who is analyzing the situation and guiding the direction; In actual operation, there are Chen Wenqiang's long-sleeved dancing and tongue blooming lotus.

First of all, the Chinese businessmen in North America who asked for help from China, after receiving a telegram from the Shanghai Chamber of Commerce, raised millions of dollars to support the boycott movement; Secondly, the Sino-overseas Joint Venture Bank and the Zhang brothers' Hyuga Bank in Sumatra achieved a strategic cooperation, jointly investing US$1.5 million to purchase the inventory in the hands of large businessmen; Chen Wenqiang borrowed 500,000 yuan from Wang Hongtu, raised 500,000 yuan from the members of the Shanghai Chamber of Commerce, and contributed another 500,000 yuan himself.

A total of four million dollars invested. It was a temporary solution to the financial problem of the big stockholders, so that the boycott movement could continue in Shanghai, the first place of the start. Besides, Chen Wenqiang still secretly said that if there are difficulties, they can raise them, and everyone will find a way to solve them. But if he quits the boycott movement without authorization, or even secretly sabotages, then he will not want to gain a foothold in Shanghai in the future.

Half of the inventory can be sold, and the government acquiesces in it. With Chen Wenqiang's naked threat, there is really no one in Shanghai's big American businessmen who dare to quit halfway. Signs of disintegration are just emerging. was eliminated by Chen Wenqiang's operation.

"The United States treats the Chinese people extremely unjustly and seriously violates the rights of the Chinese."

"You can't expect to be treated justly if you treat people unjustly."

"It's going to be a non-violent boycott, not a hilarious bloodshed."

"Don't think about whether there is any hope for success, but use it to arouse the feelings of national love for compatriots and foreign forces."

"Continuous enthusiasm and sincere unity will be the two weapons for the Chinese people to rise up. Right now. It was the time to show the powers of two weapons. Stick to it, let them take it as a warning, and don't insult the people again. ”

The fisherman's loud drumming and shouting in the newspapers became the mouthpiece and weather vane of the boycott, and he became famous for it. Political capital is real.

Chen Wenqiang operated secretly, one was to replace barrels of Mobil kerosene with the Hualong trademark in Yazhou and sell them back to China, using real and fake domestic products to encroach on the market; the second is to unite the big and small bosses of the light industry and textile industry to take the opportunity to expand production and make up for the market shortage caused by the boycott of American foreign cloth; The third is to contact Chinese businessmen in Thailand, Vietnam, and other Southeast Asian countries to purchase rice and replace flour with rice, so that grain prices in the market will not skyrocket.

Obviously, sensible Chinese can understand that even if there is strong resistance, there is weak resistance to the Americans' anti-Chinese policy. Even Chen Wenqiang, a staunch supporter of the movement, acknowledged that the arrival might not force the United States to repeal the embargo. However, first, it is for the sake of future economic interests, and secondly, it is also a test and rehearsal of the results that can be achieved by such non-violent means. If the US economy toward China is greatly affected by this, other powers will also be afraid and will no longer dare to look at no one.

Napoleon once said that China is a sleeping lion. But he didn't see that the powers of the Western Continent were wielding advanced artillery weapons after the Industrial Revolution to show off their might against this lion. The hunters' minds are contradictory, on the one hand, of course, they want to make the whole of China their dinner; On the other hand, no country has the strength to annex and rule all of China. And don't forget, there is more than just a hunter staring at this lion.

As the great powers advance and retreat, the interests of the great powers in China have common ground, but they also crowd out and compete with each other, and contradictions and conflicts are inevitable.

And Chen Wenqiang used his connections and the boiling emotions of the Chinese people to continue to raise the banner of the boycott of American goods. The enduring fervor of the boycott came as a surprise not only to the Americans, but also to the Manchu government and the great powers.

At the end of August, the wall-riding faction of the Manchu government stopped watching. They reached a tacit agreement with the United States, with the former promising to quickly extinguish the anti-American movement, and the United States promising to revise the Chinese Exclusion Act.

As a matter of common sense, the government's clear stance is undoubtedly a big blow to the boycott movement. After all, the development of the movement is easily influenced by the general political climate. Moreover, if there is little hope of success, the average person will no longer have the enthusiasm to participate.

But the boycott has not changed because of the government's attitude. Moreover, the nature of this boycott movement was spontaneous and not government-directed, and the government's repression was not implemented. The big businessmen who are most prone to division and disintegration do not dare to withdraw, and the enthusiasm of small businessmen and citizens is still the same. In Guangzhou, in particular, since Guangdong is the main export area of immigrants from the Americas, the local people feel more directly about the Chinese Exclusion Act, and they are more active in resisting it.

Roosevelt asked Vice President Taft, who was on a visit to East Asia, to visit Guangdong with his daughter to negotiate with the local government to quell the boycott there. But Taft's trip to Canton was not only fruitless, but his daughter Iris also brought Roosevelt bad news: Cantonese were very unfriendly to Americans.

The fact that the scattered Chinese can be so united not only surprised the United States, but also the great powers that have always thought so.

Morrison, the chief correspondent of The Times in China, pointed out more soberly: Whether this boycott of American goods is successful or not, the duration and intensity of this boycott of American goods, and the enthusiasm of the whole people to participate, have proved the awakening of Chinese nationalism, and a weapon that can be used against any country that is unfavorable to China is being mastered by the Chinese. This will not be the first time, nor will it be the last, such a movement will be used by the Chinese with more and more sophistication as a powerful means for the weak to resist the strong.

By September, Roosevelt had convened several successive cabinet meetings to discuss the issue of Chinese exclusion. He is not prepared to fundamentally abolish the Chinese Exclusion Law, but only intends to make a fuss about law enforcement. He suggested that Congress should make minor changes to the original ordinance to stipulate that all Chinese except laborers could enter the country, and that Chinese businessmen and travelers to the United States should be given preferential treatment.

The Manchu government also sent officials to Shanghai to negotiate with the Shanghai General Chamber of Commerce, asking them to take the lead in ending the boycott and to send telegrams to all commercial ports across the country, but they did not receive a positive answer. Chen Wenqiang, a staunch supporter of the boycott movement and campaigning to raise funds for it, was not in Shanghai, but had already traveled to Qiongzhou to guide Yazhou Petrochemical's final commissioning.

…………… (To be continued.) )