The year 1905 was an important turning point in the history of the Far East and the world, as well as an important turning point for China. Pen | fun | pavilion www. ｂｉｑｕｇｅ。 info That summer, the Japanese triumphed over the Russians, and this happened at a time when China was exploring its future. For all Chinese, Japan's experience seems to point to a new path.

The Chinese were far more envious of the Japanese model than what Japan had done to China. In the eyes of the Chinese, Japan has become a modern country and a world power in an instant. It has dramatically changed international relations, and it deserves admiration.

In the eyes of the Manchu government in Beijing, Japan had completed its rise, but it had not abandoned its previous traditions. They were very interested in Japan's constitutional form of government and were ready to do the same.

In the eyes of the revolutionaries, they learned more from the Japanese experience. The nationalists saw that the Asians could finally triumph over the Westerners. The premise is that we must work together to forge the national spirit.

Next, the United States passed the Chinese Exclusion Act, which gave the Chinese a channel for catharsis, and businessmen rose up first, showing great power.

Previously, in the eyes of the Qing government, the United States did not have imperialist corruption and degeneration, and the Americans' intentions were honest and just, and they were always ready to help China. They have long sought to solve China's international problems through the Americans.

However, the reality is the opposite, and when the Chinese government finds itself in need of international assistance from Americans, it has always taken a negative attitude. America's rhetorical friendship does not bring China any benefits. The government's subtle attitude seemed untraceable at the time, but it was manifested in young people, but it turned away from the previous American dream to a more practical imitation.

Anyone with a discerning eye can see that the United States has lost China in this year. So, this year, Shanghai businessmen called for a boycott of American goods. It quickly won the broad support of the Chinese.

President Roosevelt did not know the truth about the Chinese's resistance before his daughter Alice traveled to China. At first, Roosevelt only took some routine steps to stop the abuse of Chinese in the United States on the one hand, and to suppress anti-American sentiment among the Chinese on the other. He felt that American prestige was in danger in China, and he did not want to see the Chinese deal with American businessmen in ways that they did not dare to impose on the British, Japanese, and Russians.

But at this time. Boycott fervor is sweeping China. U.S. Minister to China Rou Keyi met with Foreign Minister Prince Qing in Beijing and demanded that the government he represented make it clear that the boycott campaign against the Americans would be stopped. Yi Liang is the last powerful minister who has little insight into domestic and foreign affairs, and he is helpless about what is happening in this country. The attitude of the Qing government was ambiguous, and on the one hand, they tried to use this boiling patriotic sentiment to put pressure on the Americans; On the other hand, they lack confidence and fear of such bottom-up movements.

In July, in China's major commercial ports, especially in Central, East and South China. The boycott of American goods has reached a climax. The development of events has heightened unease in the United States. Textile owners in New England have complained that China's boycott will cost them $20 million a year; Mobil Oil also exclaimed that the boycott would be a disaster for the U.S. oil industry, with an estimated monthly loss of up to $25,000; British American Tobacco sales fell by 50 percent; U.S. flour has also lost buyers in China.

Roosevelt was sensible at this point, admitting that the boycott was "to blame for our own wrongdoings and folly." He even received a confidential report that Britain and Germany had deliberately created anti-American sentiment in China to squeeze out American influence in order to reap the benefits of fishermen. He feared a worse situation. But he had no other way but to continue to force the Qing government to intervene in the crackdown.

However, the Qing government not only ignored the demands of the United States. Instead, new treaties were sought. This attitude made Roosevelt "very dissatisfied," saying that he had a tougher attitude toward Americans than any president in history, but still could not get Congress to agree to "fair treatment of the Chinese."

However, what is surprising is that by the end of July, when the vigorous boycott of American goods was launched, there was a split in Shanghai, where the movement was first launched.

At the beginning of the boycott, the enthusiasm of the masses to arrive at the goods was unprecedentedly high. Even women and children joined the movement, many shops and citizens pledged not to buy or sell American goods, and some small retail stores stocking American goods also expressed their willingness to temporarily put their stocks on hold. But soon, the real problem came out. The strong patriotic fervor made all the participants lose their estimation of the cost of the boycott. After a long time, the contradiction became apparent.

What to do with existing American goods? What about the incoming stream of pre-ordered goods? The cost of the boycott was not a small amount, with the U.S. consul in Shanghai estimating that the value of inventory in Shanghai alone was as high as $8 million. It is conceivable that the disposal of these inventories will have a direct impact on the enthusiasm of the merchants.

For big merchants, they are the direct owners of these stocks. If they don't, they will pay a heavy price, especially those big businessmen who specialize in American goods, and they are at risk of bankruptcy. As a result, the movement continued to grow by the end of July, and at a gathering of merchants, there was a disagreement among the merchants on the means of counterpayment.

Some of the big businessmen asked for help from the government and the chamber of commerce to sell the inventory in their hands and asked for "unblocking". The so-called "dredging" is to sell existing American goods, which is obviously contradictory to the original intention of boycotting and not using American goods. Unlike the big businessmen, the small businessmen have a clear attitude of resistance and a firm stand. They clearly pointed out that circulation is to sabotage and resist, and it is to reverse the current situation.

The opinions of the two sides could not be agreed at all, and the enthusiasm for resistance in society was getting higher and higher; And in the business world, the interests of big businessmen cannot be compensated. As a result, there are signs of a split in the strata involved in the movement.

Obviously, the emergence of such a phenomenon is something that Chen Wenqiang does not want to see, and it is not in his interests. Although the coal chemical plant is already capable of producing a certain amount of kerosene, the Yazhou petrochemical plant is still under construction and will not be operational until three months away. In other words, he needs time, he needs to drive Mobil Oil out of the Chinese market and replace it. In addition, there are textile companies, squeezing the market share of American goods in China, which is also beneficial and harmless.

Moreover, the exercise lasted only three months. Far from the power of the awakening of Chinese nationalism was felt by the United States and other powers. It has not made the domestic people realize that a non-violent boycott of foreign goods is a more sophisticated and mature weapon, and it will be tried again and again in the future.

"Shanghai's inventory is about eight million dollars, and the other commercial ports add up to about this amount, that is, fifteen or six million." Chen Wenqiang first consulted with the shareholders of Sino-overseas Joint Venture Bank. "I think the joint venture banks should come forward in this movement, conform to the will of the people, and contribute to the purchase of half of the inventory, so that the big businessmen can solve the capital turnover first and make this movement continue." At the same time, this is also an opportunity for banks to expand their business outlets again. ”

"Half of the total inventory in various places? Seven or eight million dollars. It's just too much. ”

"Wen Qiang, this move is indeed too big, and the risk is not small. I think it's better to choose the key areas and make a gesture. ”

"I agree with Adego. In key areas, Guangzhou is good, the enthusiasm for resistance is the highest, and we have established a branch there, which should conform to the will of the people. ”

Chen Wenqiang shook his head. said: "The money is big, but the risk is not big. The boycott will not be forever. More than a year, less than half a year, the bought inventory will circulate sooner or later, but it does pressure a lot of money. I don't think so, Guangzhou is not only enthusiastic, but there are no big businessmen who have retreated. Let's focus on Shanghai first. After all, Shanghai was the first initiator, and it was not good to retreat so quickly, and its reputation was not good. ”

"Even in Shanghai, the required funds are overwhelming for banks!" Neumann, the consultant, estimated it. said: "Two million US dollars, this is the limit that can be used after the capital increase and share expansion." Excluding other uses, the bank can only come up with a maximum of 1 million. ”

"A million?" Chen Wenqiang thought about it, glanced at the shareholders, and said with a smile: "Then one million, and I'll figure out the rest." What do you think? ”

"Wen Qiang's face is not worth this million?" Yu Qiaqing was the first to raise her hand with a smile, and the others glanced at each other and agreed one after another.

Chen Wenqiang has made great contributions to the development of the Sino-overseas Joint Venture Bank, and the capital injection of overseas Chinese businessmen in Nanyang and the establishment of Guangzhou Branch, Kunming Branch, and Qiongzhou Branch are all his contributions. Moreover, Chen Wenqiang's fame and miraculous rise always make people feel a sense of trust and admiration.

What's more, Chen Wenqiang is still a person, the boss of the Qinghong Gang! In fact, it controls Xingyitang and has great influence in Shanghai. If he is in favor of a boycott, the big businessmen who want to divide themselves should be careful, because the gang members are enough to make them fearful.

Now, Chen Wenqiang does not want to use the power of Xingyitang, but is planning to use more formal means to solve the problem. Of course, there is a cunning arrangement behind this formal method, and there is a more long-term plan.

As far as the main U.S. exports to China at that time were foreign cloth, flour, and kerosene, Chen Wenqiang formulated a separate plan.

First of all, foreign cloth: he plans to contact industrialists in the domestic textile industry to raise funds to buy part of the foreign cloth in stock, and increase productivity to occupy more domestic markets. After all, the boycott of American foreign cloth is a good thing for the domestic textile industry to reduce the pressure of competition.

Then there is kerosene: Chen Wenqiang has to use his own funds to buy it, then transport it to Yazhou Petrochemical, change the packaging, brand it with his own trademark, and then transfer it back to China for sale. After stealing beams and changing pillars in this way, although it is a toss in vain, it not only relieves the financial pressure, but also enables its own brand to occupy the market, and also wins time for the petrochemical plant to be put into production.

The more difficult thing to do is the foreign noodles, which are imported at a cheaper price than the domestic rice and soil noodles -- because of the backward agricultural technology and the heavy taxes and miscellaneous taxes, the peasants' production costs are much higher than those of their Western counterparts. When Chen Wenqiang met Cen Chunxuan, he heard Cen Chunxuan talk about it. What Cen Chunxuan is talking about is that the price of foreign rice and noodles is low, and Guangdong imports a lot of it, even if there is a disaster, the people are not hungry.

At that time, Chen Wenqiang didn't care, but now that it appeared as a problem and needed to be solved, he realized the harm of this situation.

Although Chen Wenqiang has not read Mr. Ye Shengtao's famous short story "Three or Five Buckets Overcharged", he does not know that it tells the tragedy of a group of farmers in the south of the Yangtze River who had to endure the pain of losing money because of the dumping of foreign rice and foreign noodles to hit the market, and they were even more in debt in a good year than in a disaster year. But in Shanghai, however, he saw the influx of thousands of bankrupt peasants, and he knew the economic crisis and the extent to which the dumping of capital and commodities could hurt a country.

Poor harvest will starve to death; As for the bumper harvest, it is possible to grow and eat by yourself, but to sell it, it is not as competitive as foreign rice and noodles; If you sell it at a low price to pay taxes, you will lose money; If the farm tools are bought with debts, the situation is even more serious, and the debts will never be paid off, and the more you carry them, the heavier you will be.

However, the Manchu government and the governments after the Xinhai Revolution in history did not have any agricultural protection and subsidy policies at all, and I am afraid that they were not aware of this serious economic problem. On the contrary, it has also imposed heavy taxes on agriculture, raised the peasants' production costs, and destroyed the market competitiveness of the country's agricultural products. In the end, the country's agricultural products were unable to maintain both foreign markets and domestic markets, and there was no way to improve varieties, and the trend of rural bankruptcy eventually intensified until it became incorrigible.

That's not right! The more Chen Wenqiang studied and analyzed, the more he felt that this seemed to be a dead end, difficult to solve. He couldn't help frowning, threw down the pen and paper, and looked out the window, hoping that the bright sunshine and green courtyard would bring him new ideas.

The fatigue of the eyes is relieved, but the train of thought is still missing. Suddenly, Chen Wenqiang caught a glimpse of a small figure flashing at the courtyard gate.

It's been a few days since I returned to Shanghai, and I forgot what Lili had explained. Chen Wenqiang smiled bitterly, got up and went downstairs, came to the courtyard, and shouted: "Yulian, I saw you, come in, Lili has a gift for you!" ”

In the middle of the night, Yulian's little head with two pigtails poked out from the courtyard gate, blinked, looked at Chen Wenqiang timidly and expectantly, and asked in a low voice, "Hasn't Lili come back yet?" ”

"She wrote you a letter and brought you a gift." Chen Wenqiang didn't answer directly, beckoned with a smile, and said, "Come in, don't you want to see Lili's photo?" ”

Yulian hesitated to step out, and to Chen Wenqiang's relief, her feet were obviously not wrapped. Just as Yulian pushed open the courtyard door and walked into the courtyard, a voice called for her came from behind her.

It's Ah Xuan. Soon appeared in Chen Wenqiang's sight, Yulian held her sleeve and tilted her head sideways to say something to her. Then, Ah Xuan walked over with an apologetic smile. (To be continued.) )