Chapter Seventy-Three: The Harvest of the Trip to the South Seas
The walrus is an endless verdant grassland with a dark green color. Pen @ fun @ pavilion wWw. ļ½ļ½ļ½Uļ½Eć infoThe wind is not strong, and there are silvery white waves. Chen Wenqiang raised his head, and all the moving places in the sky were revealed. There are high cirrus clouds hanging in the sky, which appear high, vast and deep, with eternal confusion, and they all collect the clouds, clouds, rain, frost and snow, wind and thunder in their own bosom.
In the course of the confrontation with the foreign powers and the suppression of the Taiping Rebellion, the Qing government realized the advanced nature of Western ordnance and embarked on the road of purchasing foreign arms, which has since become one of the important sources of new equipment for the Qing army. In the face of China's huge arms market, the great powers have launched fierce competition.
In the early days of the Qing government's arms procurement, Britain and France were in an advantageous position, especially Britain, which almost monopolized the purchase of ships. At this time, Germany had just completed national reunification and did not have the energy and strength to participate in the competition. In fact, just after the end of the first ** war, German businessmen had already begun to pay attention to the huge arms market in China. In its position on trade with China, the Cologne Chamber of Commerce stressed the importance of the Chinese market, in which Germany can compete in many ways, including arms.
When Britain embargoed arms against China, the Qing government turned to Germany. Germany finally got a good opportunity, and they reacted quickly, with the help of the Chinese minister in Germany, and soon obtained huge orders. The Krupp cannon was an important magic weapon for German arms sales advantage. With the continuous import of Krupp guns into China, Germany gradually established its dominant position in the sale of arms in China. By the end of the 19th century, Germany was in the third and fourth place in the export of rifles, and the barrel of the gun was in the first place.
The success of German arms sales in China seriously threatened the economic interests of other powers, thus triggering fierce competition among the powers for the Chinese arms market. In Shanghai, the main foreign companies that sell arms are: Dias & Co., Maddens & Co., Xintailai & Co., Na Neng & Co., Madelung & Co., Joan Kee & Co., Swire & Co., Tai Lai & Co., Tak & Son & Co., Hong Kong Nanli & Co., and Lammington Manufacturing Plant in New York, etc.; In Tianjin, German foreign companies are mainly engaged in arms trade, such as Lihe Foreign Company, Chanchen Foreign Company, Shichang Foreign Company, Zengmao Foreign Company, Xinglong Foreign Company, and so on.
In order to consolidate the market, the German side actively established contacts within the Qing court. Before the Boxer Rebellion, the German government had a good relationship with the successive Qing Dynasty ministers in Germany, and kept the arms sales channels open.
The arms trade, which is supported by various governments, is only one aspect, but the civilian arms trade between foreign foreign banks to China is another. From the time of the Shanghai Xiaodaohui uprising, the arms trade between foreign merchants and the rebel army can be regarded as the abuse of civilian arms in modern Shanghai.
Obviously, mercenary interests are the essence of foreign businessmen, and arms transactions with the rebel army cannot of course be motivated by good motives and righteous purposes. The foreign merchants in the "middle" position not only sold arms to the rebel army, but also sold them to the Qing army, and they sat on the ground and raised the price, making huge profits from it.
During the war between the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom and the Manchu Qing Dynasty, many foreign merchants even ventured into the arms trade and sold arms to the Taiping Army, earning ten times the high return. Among these foreign businessmen, there are ordinary "self-employed (foreign vagrants)", there are large foreign companies with deep financial resources, and even diplomatic personnel stationed in Shanghai (American merchants and vice consul in Shanghai, Ke Ninghan). It can be seen that under the huge profits, how many people will be driven by it.
Against such a historical background, it is not very difficult to get a gun. However, in order to start an incident, it is not a small amount of weapons and ammunition that is needed, which is very difficult to purchase, transport, and hoard, and it is also very easy to be exposed.
Therefore, Chen Wenqiang adopts a multi-channel, multi-method, multi-batch, and multi-target approach and method. There are ants moving, there are those that spread nets and purchase from multiple parties and then slowly concentrate, and there are also large quantities of direct transportation by ocean-going ships.
Kars, a German, was only one of the procurement targets, and compradors, foreign merchants, brokers, and foreign firms were all the targets of the Renaissance Society's arms procurement. Trickle down the river, ten or twenty branches here, seven or eight branches there, after buying in installments many times, the total number is also a lot.
The canneries in Wanzhou have been set up, and the guns and ammunition dismantled into parts are disguised as various mechanical parts and transported ashore and secretly buried. So far, there have been more than 300 guns.
"It's been more than five months." Chen Wenqiang sighed, although he also kept in touch with the headquarters of the Revival Association during this trip to Nanyang, but it was not so timely and detailed, and he really wanted to return to Shanghai as soon as possible to get a more comprehensive and detailed situation report.
"I'm going home soon." Xu Xiaoshi replied lightly, he has already adapted to sea voyages, not to mention that it is only a short distance, from Balikpapan to Bandar Seri Begawan.
From these two place names, many people may guess that Chen Wenqiang's purpose was not just to receive these dozens of weapons. That's right, oil, both of which are rich in oil. At that time, the value of oil was not as valued as coal. When it comes to extracting and exploiting oil, Mobil Oil is only a few decades old, while Shell Oil is not yet established.
Even so, the American company Mobil Oil is not having a good time. A reform movement against unfair competition and corruption in the United States forced the dissolution of the Mobil Oil Trust. Rockefeller was the first to be criticized as a representative of "fraud, coercion, and privilege", and Senator Roosevelt (who was not yet president) even proposed to completely eradicate the Mobil Oil Company, which monopolized the market and colluded with the railroads.
Although in fact, Rockefeller's oil empire still exists, the disbanded branches are still in lockstep and working together; The revenues of each company are still managed by trustees centered on Rockefeller, but the grim situation should not be taken lightly. This also enabled Chen Wenqiang to recruit some exploration technicians from the former Mobil Company through intermediaries such as Luo Mai and Linna, and began oil exploration in Balikpapan and Brunei. Some wealthy Chinese businessmen in Nanyang, encouraged by Chen Wenqiang's underwriting and fortune dealing, invested in the emerging Sino-US oil joint company, and some invested in rubber plantations.
The raising of bank funds, the investment layout of oil and rubber, coupled with the joint shipping company with the Zhang brothers in Sumatra, and the establishment of contacts with overseas Chinese in Nanyang are the main gains of Chen Wenqiang's trip to Nanyang.
With the smooth operation in the future, as well as relying on Chen Wenqiang's foresight and prescient cheating, the overseas Chinese and Chinese businessmen who have made a fortune will gather more closely around Chen Wenqiang, forming a powerful force and becoming a powerful consortium.
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