After Tao Chengzhang left the room, Li Zhigao continued to call the Japanese woman named Miko over and continued to let her fiddle with the Japanese tea ceremony for herself.

Li Zhigao has a limited understanding of the tea ceremony, and in the past, he only felt that it was a waste of time, and that the rich were showing off blindly, but after seeing this woman named Meizi fiddling with the tea ceremony, he had a lot of changes in the tea ceremony, not to mention anything else, just watching the process of people fiddling with the tea ceremony was a kind of pleasing to the eye, and his heart immediately calmed down a lot.

This Miko's Japanese woman, formerly known as Miyuki Nakagawa, whose stage name is Miko, is only seventeen years old this year, white and beautiful, one meter seven tall, proficient in piano and chess calligraphy and painting, especially good at tea ceremony, and can also speak Chinese, Japanese, and English Chinese, not to mention that in this era, even in the modern society of later generations, such people are high-end people.

Obviously, such a woman is definitely not an ordinary person, even if everyone is beautiful, there are few women with such excellent legs, it can't be an ordinary geisha. In fact, she is a woman carefully cultivated by the Mitsui Foundation of Japan since she was a child, specially used to give away, and to put it bluntly, she is a kind of female spy.

Since Li Zhigao's rise, he has always been lukewarm to the Japanese, and because most of the focus of the Japanese in the past was on the Alliance, and Li Zhigao had been very low-key in Taiping Mansion before, so he did not pay enough attention to Li Zhigao. After that, Li Zhigao rose strongly, and in one fell swoop took control of the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River, the most prosperous and wealthy region in China, and his strength was so powerful that the Japanese had to re-examine their relationship with Li Zhigao.

At this time, the Japanese were limited by their strength, and there were still many sober-minded people in the government, who were not as aggressive as they were later, and they were the most flexible in their China policy. After discovering that Li Zhigao's grasp of the Yangtze River basin was unshakable. And after he had the strength to sweep the whole country, he sent someone to contact him as soon as possible, and the person who contacted him was Jotaro Yamamoto, who had lived in China for a long time.

Jotaro Yamamoto arrived in China as early as 1888 and worked at the Shanghai branch of the Mitsui & Co. Company, specializing in the soybean business in northeastern China. Since then, he has been a good manager. In 1901, he was promoted to branch manager. In 1908, he returned to Japan and became the managing director of the Tokyo head office, and the speed of his promotion can be said to be quite astonishing.

In fact, the reason why Jotaro Yamamoto was promoted so quickly was not because of how strong his ability was, but mainly because his identity was not so simple. He was not a simple business person, but a man with an official background. The reason why he was promoted so quickly within the Mitsui Foundation was mainly because he had always supported the rebellion of the League in the front office on behalf of the Mitsui Foundation.

In the original history, at the beginning of the Xinhai Revolution. After obtaining the approval of the cabinet of the Senators such as Saionji Gongwang and Hara Kei, Masuda Takashi, the chief of the Mitsui Foundation at that time, provided 3 million yen to the revolutionary army through Yamamoto Jotaro, the head of the Mitsui branch in Shanghai at the time, and concluded a secret treaty stipulating that if the revolution succeeded, Japan would obtain the joint right to establish the Hanyeping Coal and Iron Company as a reward.

Other words. Jotaro Yamamoto has always represented the Mitsui consortium, or directly the Japanese government, in supporting revolutionaries within China. In the past, he mainly supported the Alliance, but later, after the sudden change in the situation, especially the important middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River was almost controlled by Li Zhigao's Jiangnan Army, he decisively abandoned the Alliance and began to contact Li Zhigao.

Although the Japanese had some unhappiness with Li Zhigao's Taiping regime in the past, it was mainly because the Japanese could not obtain privileges in Taiping Province. The geisha Japanese consul could not visit the secret weapons in Li Zhigao's army with the consuls of other powers.

As for why the Japanese consul could not visit the legendary cannon with a long range, the outside world generally believed that it was because the Japanese consul who went to Taiping at that time was arrogant and used to it, and his words offended the Taiping regime at that time.

By the way. In fact, the kind of cannon with a long range, that is, a 130-millimeter cannon, although the consuls of the four countries who visited it all said that they could accurately hit 30 kilometers away, and the governments of their respective countries should pay more attention to it, and even asked for the purchase of this weapon technology, but unfortunately the outside world generally believes that it is bragging, and it is the Chinese who have planted explosives in advance to put on a show, and it is only because the consuls of the four countries do not know much about military affairs that they were deceived.

In other words, after hearing the reports of the consuls of the four countries, the great powers did not believe that there was a 130-mm land cannon with a range of more than 30 kilometers, which was very accurate, and weighed no more than 9 tons, because they could not make it themselves, so they thought it was a fraud. However, from this incident, they also saw Li Zhigao's determination to dare to break with the foreign powers, and out of their own interests, especially Britain and the United States, out of their own interests, they did not excessively stimulate Li Zhigao's Taiping regime at that time, thinking that it was impossible to do it at all.

After all, although Li Zhigao stipulated that all foreigners in Taiping Mansion at that time must obey the rules of Taiping Mansion and must not have privileges, there is no big problem with that kind of regulation itself, after all, Taiping Mansion was not leased at that time, but was still under the jurisdiction of the Qing government, and in the Wuhu Concession, Li Zhigao did not interfere too much, right? Besides, businessmen from Britain, the United States, France, Germany and other countries also need Li Zhigao's special drugs and other best-selling goods, which does not excessively stimulate Li Zhigao's "proud and ridiculous" self-esteem.

In short, the Japanese didn't think it was a big deal about the unpleasant incident before, and later the Taiping Mansion deliberately targeted the Japanese, and thought that it was because of the consequences of the improper remarks of the Japanese consul in China, so this time, not only did the Japanese remove the Japanese consul from his post a long time ago, but as soon as Jotaro Yamamoto came, he first gave gifts in the name of visiting, and the gifts were some high-quality women.

During this period, the majority of foreigners in China, both in terms of quantity and quality, were Japanese, and intelligence collection on China also began early, so although Li Zhigao is usually very low-key, it is not clear what his real hobby is, but because Li Zhigao usually goes out with a team of female bodyguards, it is generally believed that he likes women.

Because of this, as soon as the Japanese came, they first asked to meet Li Zhigao in the name of cultural exchanges, and after meeting, they showed Li Zhigao the Japanese geisha culture, which is nothing more than singing and dancing, tea ceremony, and so on. Later, he found out that Li Zhigao was really interested in these geisha, so he generously gave them to Li Zhigao.

The geisha named Miko that Yamamoto gave to Li Zhigao was carefully selected by the Mitsui Foundation, and being able to sing and dance is a basic skill, knowing Chinese, Japanese and English is a minimum skill, and being good at tea ceremony is a special skill. And what makes this Meizi different is that she usually doesn't smile and is serious, giving people a very upright appearance, without any frivolity, whether it's taken out or something else, she is absolutely generous, and it can definitely stimulate a man's desire to conquer.

As for why Li Zhigao accepted it, it was mainly because Li Zhigao felt that the appearance and temperament of this beautiful child were a bit like Matsushima Kaede in later generations, and he also wanted to pit the Japanese. That's why I accepted this woman. After all, in this day and age, accepting gifts means sincerity and goodwill, and it is much more convenient to talk about things later.

Sure enough, after seeing Li Zhigao accept this woman at that time, Yamamoto Jotaro's attitude obviously relaxed a lot, and after that, Yamamoto Jotaro began to say his conditions.

What the Japanese wanted was nothing more than the Hanyeping Company and the Maanshan Iron and Steel Company controlled by Li Zhigao. I want to invest in these two companies and engage in a Sino-Japanese joint venture. If not. At worst, Li Zhigao should admit the past Japanese loans of Han Yeping Company, or simply turn this loan into Japanese investment. In other words, what Yamamoto came to ask for was mainly for the Han Yeping Company, and the Ma'anshan Iron and Steel Company, which was wholly owned by Li Zhigao, was just asking for a sky-high price.

You know, Hanyeping Iron and Steel Company. It is composed of three parts: Hanyang Iron Works, Daye Iron Mine and Jiangxi Pingxiang Coal Mine, which is the first new iron and steel complex in modern China, and is also the largest iron and steel company in the Qing government, or China.

Historically, on the eve of the Xinhai Revolution. The company employs more than 7,000 people and produces nearly 70,000 tons of steel, 500,000 tons of iron ore and 600,000 tons of coal annually, accounting for more than 90% of the annual steel output of the Qing government. Among them, especially Daye Iron Mine, the quality of iron ore is quite good, with an iron content of 55%, which is an absolute rich ore in this era.

It is precisely because of the advanced nature and importance of this company that the Japanese have long coveted Han Yeping Company, and they have invested a lot of effort in it for a long time, trying to plot this company for not a year or two.

At first, Daye Iron Mine and Hanyang Iron Works were both government-run, but after 1895, the Qing government allowed factories and mines to be supervised by officials due to financial constraints.

At that time, it was Sheng Xuanhuai who took over the Hanyang Iron Works, and at first he expected to recruit 15 million yuan in commercial shares, but only 1 million yuan was raised, so he later relied on borrowing foreign debts to maintain and expand.

In the process of borrowing, Sheng Xuanhuai borrowed the most from Japanese businessmen, starting to borrow for the first time in 1896, and in 1898, when he opened the Pingxiang Coal Mine, he borrowed from Japanese businessmen for the first time. From 1902 to 1906, he borrowed more than 3 million taels of silver (equivalent to 4.25 million yen at the time) from Japanese merchants.

In 1908, after the merger of the three factories, it was difficult to recruit merchant shares, and they continued to borrow money from Japanese merchants. Japan demanded a part of the management rights, but Yuan Shikai wanted to nationalize the company, but the agreement could not be reached.

Historically, from 1908 to the eve of the Xinhai Revolution, Hanyeping Company borrowed foreign debts 12 times, of which 6 were borrowed from the Japanese. By 1911, the company used a total of 32 million taels of silver, and in addition to the principal of 10 million taels, the remaining 22 million taels were loans, of which Japanese merchants accounted for the majority, about 20 million taels.

If Li Zhigao had not intervened, the company's Japanese loans would have turned into investments and would have been taken over by the Japanese.

However, in this time and space, due to Li Zhigao's forcible rise and his early attention to Han Yeping, after Zhou Daqiang's troops invaded Wuhan, they quickly sent people to take over the Han Yeping Company and reorganized it, in other words, the new Han Yeping Company, which did not recognize all the foreign debts borrowed during the reign of the Qing government.

Although on the surface, he does not admit to borrowing, but in fact, in private, Li Zhigao treats him differently. Specifically, it means that certain economic compensation has been given to those non-Japanese foreign investors, plus they have been allowed to invest in Li Zhigao's territory with preferential measures, and coupled with Li Zhigao's current strength, those non-Japanese foreign investors have made a fortune quietly, and they will no longer pursue the so-called non-recognition of foreign debts, and their investment will not be large anyway.

However, the Japanese are different, the Japanese have spent a lot of effort before and after, and they see that Han Yeping is about to get their hands on it, at least they must get their hands on Daye's high-quality iron ore. Who knew that Li Zhigao would stick in such a jar and take over Han Yeping, so that the plans of the Japanese were all in vain.

Moreover, not only did the new Hanyeping Company not admit to borrowing, but even the iron ore, which had been supplied at a low price in the past, stopped supplying to the Japanese, which was simply unbearable. You must know that Japan's Yawata Iron Works mainly uses Daye's iron ore, and now they have cut off the supply, which makes the Yawata Iron Works lose a large source of iron ore raw materials.

If it weren't for Li Zhigao's strength, Japan's current financial situation would not be good, and it would not be able to carry out large-scale armed intervention at all, and it would be unpredictable whether it would win or lose in a war, and even if it did, the gains would outweigh the losses.

Originally, Jotaro Yamamoto came over to save a temptation. Originally, I didn't have much hope, but after finding that Li Zhigao was very talkative and accepted the gift, he made those requests.

Obviously, Li Zhigao could not agree to these things, whether it was his bad feelings towards the Japanese or for the sake of economic interests, he could not agree to recognize the Japanese debts. It will not continue to supply iron ore to the Japanese at ultra-low prices.

However, it looks like the Japanese are so sincere. With such a good attitude, especially for the sake of sending women, Li Zhigao didn't mind pit them again, and proposed a new plan.

Specifically, Li Zhigao's new plan is to borrow from the original Han Yeping Company and sell low-priced iron ore. There is nothing to talk about, but Li Zhigao has recently had some financial problems, and he hopes to borrow a low-interest loan of 100 million yen with the Japanese for 10 years, and the collateral is the Han Yeping Company and the Maanshan Iron and Steel Company.

Plainly. It is just that the Japanese will pay another sum of money to Li Zhigao, and Li Zhigao will repay the money after ten years, and if he can't pay back the money, he will take away the Han Yeping Company that could have been obtained.

Obviously, Li Zhigao wanted to cheat the Japanese and ask them to give money for their own use, as for repayment, he didn't think about it at all, anyway, according to the practice at this time, once the two countries are at war, the past loan will be automatically eliminated, so as long as Li Zhigao has a bad relationship with the Japanese within another ten years, this money can be justified and does not have to be repaid.

At this time, the yen was still the gold standard system, and it was all hard currency with real gold, and one yen contained 0.75 grams of gold, so 100 million yen was definitely not a small amount, and you must know that Japan's fiscal revenue in 1910 was only 1.37 billion yen, so the 100 million yen that Li Zhigao wanted was definitely not a small amount, and it belonged to the lion's big mouth, and the Japanese could not agree to it at all.

In fact, Li Zhigao also opened his mouth, and finally bargained, and finally preliminarily stipulated that in the name of Li Zhigao himself, he would borrow 50 million yen from Mitsui Bank with an interest rate of 4% and a loan term of 10 years with the Han Yeping Company, the Ma'anshan Iron and Steel Company, plus the pharmaceutical factory under Li Zhigao's name, and the full set of production technology of special anti-inflammatory drugs mastered by Li Zhigao.

Similarly, this loan was accompanied by a series of additional economic conditions, such as the opening of markets between Li Zhigao's control area and Japan, the mutual exemption of tariffs on exports from both sides, and the promise to provide Japanese businessmen with special anti-inflammatory drugs at market prices. The reason why the medicine article was added was because Li Zhigao did not sell drugs to the Japanese before, but the Japanese could only buy them from businessmen from other countries at a high price, and they were stabbed in vain.

This secret agreement is the so-called "Mitsui Secret Treaty", in this secret agreement, the reason why Li Zhigao used his personal name to take out loans, and the content was all commercial things, and it did not involve politics, because even if he did not repay the money in the future, let this secret agreement be made public, the impact would not be too great. After all, he took out a loan in his personal name with Mitsui Bank, a commercial company, which is a commercial act between private individuals, not in the name of the state or the government, so that if Li Zhigao does not repay the money, he will also have a reason, and it will not be raised to the point of betraying the country.

As for the economic conditions in the additional treaties, such as mutual market opening and tariff exemption, although they involve politics, these conditions were not signed with the Japanese side in the name of Li Zhigao himself, but in the name of the Jiangnan government.

The contents of the additional treaty seem to be unfavorable to China at this time, but in fact they are beneficial to China, because Li Zhigao will inevitably explode industry in the future and dump industrial products on Japan, and if they are exempted from tariffs, the pressure on Japan will be greater, but the impact on China will be relatively small.

The best thing is that although this additional condition is clearly an additional clause for Li Zhigao's loan, the signatory is not Li Zhigao. Therefore, it can also be said that the additional clause has nothing to do with Li Zhigao's private loans, and even if it is exposed in the future, it can also be said that it is the government's behavior at that time, and Li Zhigao is not involved, even if he actually knows what is going on, but sometimes a fig leaf is still needed.

Opposite. As far as the Japanese side is concerned, Li Zhigao's use of the enterprise under his name as collateral to take out loans in his personal name is even more sincere. You must know that Li Zhigao will inevitably become a big man in the future, and he will engage in this loan in his private name, and once he breaks the contract, the impact will be too bad, and under normal circumstances, it is impossible for him to break the contract regardless of his personal influence. And Li Zhigao's private control of a lot of wealth is coveted by the Japanese. Therefore, in a sense, Li Zhigao's personal credit is even higher than that of the Jiangnan government. After all, the Jiangnan government can collapse and be replaced, and as long as Li Zhigao does not die, that is the hardest guarantee.

Of course, something like this involves a huge loan, although it can't be done right away. But because Li Zhigao himself and the Mitsui Consortium are very sincere, they are waiting for the Mitsui Consortium to send someone to come over for formal contact. And came over with the money. And obviously, this Meizi is not only a gift to Li Zhigao, but also a Japanese liaison or monitor, well, this hand of the Japanese is playing very smoothly, which is equivalent to treating Li Zhigao as a treatment with Brother Cannon. And even higher.

Just when Li Zhigao was watching Meizi cooking tea and wandering around the world, Meizi suddenly bowed her head and knelt down, and when she arrived in front of Li Zhigao, she continued to bend down and bow her head. At the same time, he handed a cup of fragrant tea with hot air in both hands, and said softly in an authentic Wu Nong: "Sir, please use tea." ”

"Oh?" When the other party said this, Li Zhigao reacted, looked at Miko who was kneeling in front of him with low eyebrows, Li Zhigao only felt a surge in his throat, nodded, picked up the cup of tea, smelled it first, and then drank it in one gulp.

Hot but not hot, fragrant but not glamorous, after drinking, the lips and teeth are fragrant, the whole body is comfortable, it is really a good cup of tea!

"Good tea!" Li Zhigao couldn't help but praise, "The tea is good, the people are better, Miko, your tea ceremony is really good, I, a layman, am almost fascinated by your methods." ”

"Praise Mr. Xie!" Meizi put her hands on the ground, and first bowed to Li Zhigao, then straightened up slightly, and replied with a dignified face, "Mr. likes it, which is the greatest praise for Meizi." ”

"Roar Woo Woo See!" Li Zhigao couldn't help nodding and quipping, and then, looking at Meizi who was kneeling and sitting in front of him, Li Zhigao thought about it, simply threw the cup, and then gently stretched out his hand, and pulled Meiko into his arms, and Meiko just exhaled softly when she was pulled by Li Zhigao, which made Li Zhigao full of conquering **.

After pulling it into his arms, Li Zhigao lowered his head and looked at Meizi, who was staring at a pair of innocent big eyes, biting his lip lightly, and seemed to be still trembling.

is worthy of a Japanese woman, this expression, movements, even if you know in your heart that the other party is pretending, but you can still feel a unique pleasure of conquest.

Thinking of all the things in the future, Li Zhigao suddenly realized that the Japanese nation was indeed a terrible nation, and if this nation could not be killed with a stick at the beginning, or completely conquered, there would only be endless troubles in the future.

Thinking of this, Li Zhigao's eyes narrowed, and while rubbing the other party's chest with his hand, he asked softly, "What, are you afraid of me?" ”

"I, I'm ......" Miko continued to bite her lip, and then she turned her face slightly, so that Li Zhigao could see the most beautiful oblique part of her, and as if she was very shy.

"Sir is a hero." Miko, who had been tested, said softly, "Miko is just a little woman, so she is naturally afraid. However, although she is afraid, Miko is also very happy, because, if a big hero like Mr. wants Miko, then Miko will become the happiest woman in the world. ”

"Awesome!" Li Zhigao nodded and sighed.

This woman is really smart, what she said just now not only showed her softness, but also praised herself indiscriminately, as long as she is a normal man, she can't stand it.

Smiling slightly, Li Zhigao continued to caress the other party's body with his hand and said, "What you said is true?" ”

"Of course it's true." Meizi trembled a few times, and her mouth opened and closed gently, making meaningless sounds such as um, ah and so on from time to time, and it seemed that she had been touched by Li Zhigao.

Also, don't look at Miko wearing a rigorous kimono, but in fact, in this kimono, she didn't wear anything, which is also the official way to wear a kimono.

Seeing Miko's trembling appearance, Li Zhigao only felt that he couldn't hold back an evil fire, so he didn't play any tricks, just took a deep breath, pushed Miko to the ground, and then pounced on it. (To be continued......)