Yang Chao did not mention to Krupp that he was going to build a new arsenal in Laiwu, but temporarily changed the Qingdao arsenal issue, which was completely a temporary decision, intending to use the profits of the Qingdao arsenal as bait because of the cooperation of the Germans. Pen "Fun" Pavilion www.biquge.info

At that time, he will build a completely autonomous arsenal, and if the Germans want to oppose it, they will have to consider the loss of the Qingdao arsenal.

In fact, to let the Qingdao Arsenal out, Yang Chao was also forced by me to be helpless, this arsenal is in the hands of the Germans, the Germans can play how they want, and it is not impossible to toss for a few years and only end up in a factory.

As for dragging the emperor into the water, it was Yang Chao who was a little annoyed by the strange temper of this disabled emperor, not to mention Yang Chao, the whole world had a headache about the temper of this emperor, otherwise the first war would not have broken out all at once, if the emperor did not agree, the two arsenals would be a mess, and it would be really difficult to unravel.

The interests of this large arsenal will obviously make the Kaiser happy, and above all take care of his self-esteem, make him feel that he is not being thrown aside, and let him know that he has the right to decide.

Even if the Germans are really opposed, Yang Chao even plans to introduce German capital in Laiwu, and when the time comes, the United States will be drawn together, and the same three will be divided, and when the First World War is over, the Germans will kick the German emperor away.

It's just that it's not easy to kick out the Americans, World War I and World War II are both victorious countries, and the more they fight, the stronger they get.

It's just that the introduction of Americans is Yang Chao's last resort, he plans to use American technology, after all, although German-style weapons are good, but the Germans really hurt his heart, he doesn't want to be subject to the Germans, Laiwu uses American-style words, so giving Americans shares is also forced to helpless, so that they can operate with their hearts.

As for China's weapons and equipment, it would be good to have an American style and a German style, anyway, the American-style rifle is actually a Mauser rifle that was bought, but the rifle cartridge is different, and when the time comes, let the Americans change it, and even the bullet can be universal.

After staying in Qingdao for three days, Gustav quickly communicated with China and preliminarily agreed to Yang Chao's plan.

The Krupp family agreed to Yang Chao's share division, and it was too cost-effective for them to get 30% of the shares of a large arsenal with only half of the operating expenses, and the Kaiser got back 10% of the shares, and from the emperor's point of view, he also got 30% for Krupp, Mauser, and his own subjects, and got 40% back, which is equivalent to only paying half of the money to get Yang Chao's big diamond, which is really cost-effective.

In this way, the shares of Qingdao Arsenal were decided, Yang Chao accounted for 30%, the imperial court accounted for 30%, the Kaiser accounted for 10%, Mauser and Krupp accounted for 30%, as for how to divide between them, it is not about Yang Chao's business, in the end it is likely that Krupp will take the big head, Mauser will take the small head, one is two percent, and one achievement is very reasonable.

At this time, Yang Chao brought up the matter of the Laiwu Arsenal, and as Yang Chao expected, Gustav strongly objected.

But Yang Chao insisted: "Do you think that in a country as big as China, it is enough to build only one arsenal." ”

Gustav shook his head and said, "Just let the Americans help build it, I believe the German government will not agree." Of course, I don't have a problem with this at all. And I have a personal suggestion, if your country wants to build a new arsenal, why not choose Krupp and Mauser, I believe that with the good foundation of cooperation in Qingdao, we will also cooperate happily in Laiwu. ”

Yang Chao couldn't help but slander in his heart, if Qingdao hadn't let Yang Chao eat flies, he wouldn't have been interested in building two arsenals for a while, and Yang Chao would not have expanded the second one before training Chinese technicians.

Knowing that the Germans would oppose it, Yang Chao came prepared: "Sure enough, the hero sees the same thing, and this official is planning to be the same as Qingdao, and there are also three branches in Laiwu." I welcome Krupp investment, but the difference is that it is operated by the United States, and you and I act as oversight. As for the equity, the United States and Germany each have a three-third. ”

"Do you occupy forty percent?"

Gustav asked.

Yang Chao smiled: "Krupp has an opinion? ”

Gustav laughed: "I have no opinion at all, but I myself cannot make decisions on behalf of Krupp." ”

Gustav, the Krupp son-in-law, still needs to be reciprocated and wait for the Krupp family to make a decision.

And Gustav thinks that things are very complicated, an arsenal, with a joint stake between China, the United States and Germany, no matter how he looks at it, he thinks it is a bit of a problem, and he thinks that the German government must intervene, and if Krupp wants to get a piece of the pie, he must settle the German government, it seems that this is the reason why they introduced Krupp.

But just as Gustav said, he himself has no opinion at all, and he himself believes that one arsenal in China is not enough, and two will be absolutely enough in a short time, that is to say, these two arsenals will occupy China's arms market, and I believe that if the Chinese want to build a new army, this market is very considerable, and it may be the world's largest market for a long time in the future.

And Krupp will occupy a large stake in the two arsenals, which will be beneficial to the development of Krupp.

It's just that the German government will feel that the Americans are involved too much, and feel threatened to intervene, Gustav thinks that is certain.

As for whether Krupp can settle the German government, Gustav himself is not very sure, after all, Germany attaches too much importance to Qingdao.

Gustav exchanged telegrams with Germany continuously, and it took a week to finally get an accurate reply, the Krupp family did not object to Yang Chao's cooperation method, and did not mind the Americans taking a piece of the pie, but it was difficult for them to convince the government that even if the Kaiser's work was done, the Foreign Ministry still had opinions.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs, in the hindrance of the Kaiser, finally put forward a request, that is, Yang Chao's cooperation with the Americans was nothing more.

That is, the borders they allowed the Americans to expand in China were a steel mill in Yantai and an arsenal in Laiwu.

Of course, Krupp himself and the Kaiser also had demands, and they demanded that Yang Chao ensure that all new Chinese armies in the future would use German weapons and equipment.

But it was too difficult, and Gustav really wanted to make the deal happen, so he sold the Kaiser.

The Kaiser intends to monopolize China's arms supply and thus achieve the goal of controlling the Chinese government, but Gustav hopes to obtain economic benefits; he believes that it is very unrealistic to control China with weapons; as long as the Chinese have money, there are many people who want to sell them weapons, not to mention Britain and the United States, even Japan, and even Russia are eyeing the Chinese arms market, and Krupp does not seize this opportunity to monopolize the Chinese market, and it will be difficult to get such an opportunity in the future.

So he sold the emperor and told Yang Chao the emperor's bottom line, that is, the emperor's bottom line is the new army in Shandong, as well as the new army of the Qing Dynasty.

But although Gustav had sold the Kaiser, he still had his own idea, that is, he thought that since Yang Chao himself had an interest in the arsenal, he would definitely handle the sales pitch and use his official background in China to make a deal.

It's just that Gustav didn't dare to rest assured, and he himself asked Yang Chao for a guarantee: "I hope that Lord Daotai can guarantee that you will do your best to sell the weapons of Qingdao Arsenal and Laiwu Arsenal to the Chinese military!" ”

Yang Chao did not hesitate at this point: "Of course, I also want to earn this money!" ”

As soon as the Germans are confirmed, Yang Chao can go to an American to talk.

A steel plant, the Americans originally wanted to be wholly owned, but Yang Chao told them that if they wanted to make money in China, they would not be able to move an inch without an official background, and finally persuaded the Americans to give up 30% of the shares to Yang Chao, which means that out of the total investment of 5 million US dollars, Yang Chao will contribute 1.5 million US dollars, a total of two and a half tons of gold!

Second, Yang Chao invited the Americans to participate in the construction and operation of the Laiwu Arsenal, which made them overjoyed, the arms trade, who doesn't want to do it, too much appetite for American capitalists, of course, the most important thing, Yang Chao said that he would try his best to ensure the sales of the arsenal, and at the same time exaggerated the potential of the Chinese market, which left a deep impression on the Americans.

With a situation like China, where foreign enemies are all around, and Japan and Russia are both army powers, the Americans have no doubt that China has a huge demand for arms.

Mobil Oil and American Steel were naturally willing to take over the deal, jointly contributing 30 percent of the capital to hire engineers and technicians from the United States, the Germans contributing 30 percent and sending a team to supervise the construction, and Yang Chao, with 40 percent as the largest shareholder, would have the right to inquire about any accounts.

But Yang Chao did not agree to the assurances of the American Iron and Steel Company, Yang Chao said that the railway interests in Shandong had been ceded to Germany, but Yang Chao assured that when the Yanji Railway was extended out of Shandong, he would give priority to the Yantai Iron and Steel Plant, and Yang Chao did not shy away from saying that he himself was very willing to continue to build railways in China.

At the same time, it also makes the Americans fantasize about the scene of railways all over China, and the Americans also have their own judgment on this, and at this time, Zhang Zhidong is in charge of overhauling the railway, which does give the Americans the illusion that China is being railwayized.

However, the Americans were still not worried about Yang Chao's verbal assurances, and they hoped that the Chinese government would give them a guarantee that they would give priority to the procurement of products from the Yantai Iron and Steel Plant in the future railway.

Yang Chao flatly refused this, and then told the Americans that the United States should focus on China's investment opportunities when investing in Yantai, and if the Americans are not optimistic about China, Yang Chao said that the Germans are very willing to build a joint venture with him to build a steel plant.

The Germans can get information from the Americans, and the Americans can also get the information from the Germans, and the Americans know very well what Yang Chao talked to Krupp in Qingdao, and they know that the Germans also intend to cooperate with Yang Chao to set up a steel plant, so as to squeeze out the United States.

The attitude of the Germans made the Americans think that Germany was also optimistic about the Chinese market and felt that it was profitable to invest in steel plants in China, so they did not dare to stubbornly argue with Yang Chao on this issue, and only got Yang Chao's guarantee that the Laiwu Arsenal would use the steel of Yantai Iron and Steel, so they were eager to sign a commercial contract with Yang Chao.

Yang Chao did not agree at this time, he said that it is not so easy to invest in China, the Chinese government has the final right to interpret, he has to consult the imperial court first, such a large project has to assess national security issues, so that the Americans are stunned, it is not clear whether Yang Chao wants to set up a steel plant, or does not want to run a steel plant.

Yang Chao said seriously, he really can't be the master, everything has to be decided by the imperial court, and the imperial court has the final say, that is, Zhang Zhidong, Zaifeng and Yuan Shikai, to put it bluntly, they represent the diehards, the Western-style Hunan faction and the Western-style Huai faction.

So I didn't stay in Yantai and went directly to Beijing.