Duncan is trying to figure out his options: Qin Lang's plan is so big and full of uncertainties, will he still join it and take the initiative to take on most of the responsibility? He didn't want to let go of an opportunity, but he was afraid that he would not be able to complete it, and his heart was full of contradictions. Pen @ fun @ pavilion wWw. ｂｉｑUｇE。 ｉｎｆｏ

It is undoubtedly extremely difficult to make a clear decision now.

Thankfully, he didn't need to take a position right away, and Qin Lang was still elaborating on his plan, and he hadn't mentioned who would be in charge of it — or, as in the case of Union Carbide, handing over the management of the new company to the Chicago and Cleveland consortiums.

But it still left Duncan feeling conflicted, and he didn't know whether he should be happy or depressed if things did turn out the way he had guessed. But at this moment, the only thing he could do was listen carefully, trying his best to grasp every detail of the plan.

“…… In short, monopoly, or maximum control of the cotton trade between the United States and China, and the raw silk trade, is what we need to achieve in the end, and it is a dangerous goal, and there will be many dangers before we get there. After a pause for a few seconds, Qin Lang continued: "But at the very beginning of the plan, we will be very safe, just with some troubles. ”

"What's the trouble?" Now, because Duncan was contemplating, the questioner became O'Connor. Of course, he was slightly excited: there were very few things that could be called troublesome in the face of dollars and heavily armed mercenaries, so they were very much to watch.

"In addition to the Japanese, we also have competitors from other countries. Of particular note are the British, whose customs are now in their hands, and we need to beware of the British using this force. Rachel replied first.

"Still, Hurd and the Chinese customs he controls are not the biggest problem, not even the conservative Chinese officials." Qin Lang went on to say, "The biggest trouble comes from the Chinese people, who are generally hostile to Westerners and Western goods. ”

"That's a nuisance." O'Connor thought about it. Indeed it is.

The cotton and raw silk trade was primarily aimed at ordinary people, and if they were visibly hostile, it would be difficult for the trade to continue. The bayonet is useless at such times, except to make things worse, and other currencies can do what the dollar can do.

What a big hassle.

"In the first few years of our business, hostility from the population can be a big problem." "While hostility towards Westerners and Western goods is not severe in the southern coastal areas, northern China and inland provinces are the hardest hit areas," Qin said. ”

He thought of the Boxers. Reluctantly, there can be no doubt that the organization and the movement it has set off will be an obstacle to his plans, and that this obstruction will last not so short - a great trouble, too serious for him to bear.

Therefore, he can only regard the Boxers as enemies - of course, this is ridiculous, ridiculous, and has a bit of black humor. Qin Lang still remembered that he had been taught in the past that the Boxer Rebellion was an "anti-imperialist patriotic movement", but now, he was on the side of the enemies of the patriots.

The misalignment of positions is really very thorough.

But now is not the time to sigh, O'Connor and Duncan are still listening, waiting for his follow-up speech. Qin Lang smiled self-deprecatingly and continued: "In addition to the boycotts carried out spontaneously by the people or organized by Chinese merchants, we must also guard against the Japanese taking advantage of this hostility. There is no doubt that they are likely to succeed. ”

"But how is that possible?" O'Connor disagreed, "Japan only forced China to cede Formosa through war last year and pay huge reparations—"

"And the Japanese army also killed many Chinese. But it doesn't make much sense, Sean. ”

"Why?"

Rachel first offered an explanation: "Sean, the Japanese look a lot like the Chinese, and some of them can also speak Chinese, so it is easy for Japanese spies to sneak into the Chinese community and carry out some covert activities." ”

"What's more, despite the serious damage to China's national interests, the Chinese people have not shown much hostility towards Japan." Qin Lang explains, "Because of their very different appearance from the Easterners, Westerners have always played the role of devils in folk tales, so it is easy to arouse hostility in whatever they do, while Japanese people are easily seen as friends or their own people." ”

"Damn racism." O'Connor furrowed his eyebrows almost imperceptibly.

"It must be admitted that the opium dealers of Great Britain did not play a good role in China's initial contact with the Western world." Rachel's unceremonious accusation almost made Qin Lang laugh: another misplaced position.

However, this has nothing to do with Yi Shui. Rachel, whose ancestry was Irish and Catholic, did not bother her by condemning the vile actions of the British heretical enemies, but rather gave her a sense of vengeful pleasure - but she would never condemn the opium dealers in France and the United States, much less the Catholic missionaries, even if their actions were as despicable as the British.

The same is true of O'Connor. Only Duncan, as a Scotsman, could not appear indifferent when others accused Great Britain, and although he could not refute Rachel, the muscles in his face twitched.

Qin Lang saw it, but just smiled, didn't say anything, and then directly bypassed the topic. "It is precisely because of the different attitudes of the Chinese people towards Japan that they do not hate Japan because of the defeat and the massacre carried out by the Japanese army during the war, but instead see Japan as an example to learn from and try to imitate the way it has risen. The younger generation will soon make it fashionable to study abroad in Japan. ”

"It's outrageous."

But O'Connor's comment came too soon, and he should have done it later, because Qin Lang continued: "And some Han Chinese nationalists who opposed the Manchu regime saw last year's war as a signal to realize their political ideals, and they would try to cooperate with the Japanese government to overthrow the current government and restore Han rule over China -- Sean, who would side with Japan, as long as the Japanese government showed a gesture of cooperation with them." ”

"It's just too complicated." O'Connor reluctantly admitted, Duncan looked dumbfounded, and Rachel was a little surprised. Manchu, Han, what are these? "I always thought that Chinese were Chinese." O'Connor scratched his scalp in embarrassment.

Qin Lang shrugged. It was obviously too complicated to get a few foreigners who had never been to China to figure out the ethnic question in China, and it would take time and more effort to explain it, but it had nothing to do with today's meeting, so he skipped it again.

"We don't need to dwell too much on these issues." He announced, "Going back to our original topic, the cotton and raw silk trade, the result of my discussions with several families in the Chicago Consortium and the Cleveland Consortium was that we would build a yarn mill and a silk reeling mill in Canton Bay, taking into account the advantages of labor costs. ”

"Of course, we already have the land we need to build the factory and the warehouse, and the dock is not a problem, so we just need to build the factory and recruit enough workers." Rachel added.

"Two factories at the same time?"

Qin Lang turned his gaze to Duncan. "You can also build a yarn mill first, and then build a silk reeling factory, although I prefer to start at the same time."

"And what about the distribution of shares?"

Qin Lang glanced at O'Connor, but still turned his gaze to Duncan. "We own 40 percent, and the two consortia each have 30 percent. But it should be noted that our partners do not invest cash, the Chicago consortium is responsible for providing cotton, the Cleveland consortium is responsible for providing machinery, and we are responsible for production and sales. ”

"Sounds like we're at a loss." O'Connor said.

"I'm afraid so. But unlike Union Carbide, where we actually only contributed money and land, but we didn't have the technical advantage, and it was good to be able to reach such a distribution agreement. ”

Moreover, the Chicago Consortium and the Cleveland Consortium are not super conglomerates like Morgan or Rockefeller, and their relationship with Qin Lang is not particularly close.

Even that is enough, though. In fact, everyone knows that if it was not Qin Lang who proposed cooperation but someone else, the two consortia would not be involved at all.

"We're lucky." O'Connor said from the bottom of his heart.

Rachel let out a shout of approval.

"So we have to do the best we can." Qin Lang finally said, his eyes still focused on Duncan.

This made Duncan confused, not understanding why Qin Lang kept staring at him, as if these explanations were specially prepared for him.

The answer was soon revealed, and it was.

"Mr. Sandy, are you ready?" Qin Lang asked suddenly.

"Prepare what?" Duncan was at a loss for a moment, but he realized that Qin Lang seemed to want him to put him in charge of the cotton and raw silk trading company—perhaps the yarn mill and silk reeling factory in Guangzhou Bay would also be handed over to him. This was news that Duncan had not expected at all, and although he was intrigued, he felt that he was not quite ready.

And more importantly, how could Qin Lang hand over such a very important company to him? "You're putting me in charge of managing the new company? Are you kidding, Qin? ”

It's incredible, but it does happen. "No, I'm serious, Duncan." (To be continued, if you want to know what will happen next, please log in to the www.qidian.com, more chapters, support the author, support genuine reading!) (To be continued.) )