Just when Song Biao felt that the development of the railways in the three eastern provinces might be slower than he expected, a very good news came. Vanderbilt II finally decided to visit the three eastern provinces to inspect the emerging market.

Everyone loves to meet celebrities.

Connes. The reason why Vanderbilt decided to come to China in person was not only to discuss business, but also to take the opportunity to meet "Beo. Vladimir. Song: "General.

In addition to the huge commercial and military assets worth 100 million silver, the Russo-Russian War brought Song Biao an incalculable reputation, which is another kind of wealth, the best reputation, compared to those who are unknown, people are willing to cooperate with famous people.

After several telegram communications, Conns. Vanderbilt hurriedly arrived in Dalian on a giant cruise ship of the family business, and Song Biao arrived at the Kanto Hotel in Dalian by train three days earlier, and would meet the railway tycoon here, accompanied by American Minister Rockhill, and Song Biao's accompanying interpreter and adviser Zhang Kangren, as well as Miss Shu Xuan. Vanderbilt brought his family over with the intention of spending a holiday in Dalian and the three eastern provinces.

For Song Biao, this is a very good thing.

On July 24, 1906, Connes. Vanderbilt and his wife arrived at the port of Dalian, and accompanied by the American envoys Rockhill, Rong Xingqiao, and Zhang Kangren, they took a horse-drawn carriage all the way to the Kanto Hotel under the name of Far Eastern Commercial Bank.

At this time, the Kanto Hotel was a four-story red brick building with a traditional cornice, which was an exotic building for foreigners, and the old hotel was transformed into a more oriental garden-style hotel for guests who were willing to spend money to enjoy it.

Song Biao was here to greet Conens. Vanderbilt and the American Minister Mr. Rockhill waited until the other party's motorvoy gradually drove into the garden and stopped in front of a royal welcome building, and then Song Biao took Miss Shu Xuan and hurriedly walked out of the welcome building, accompanied by the soldiers of the guard battalion.

Among the people who stepped out of the carriage, Minister Rokehill was an old friend that Song Biao was already familiar with, and the foreign gentleman in his thirties with his wife with brown hair and blue eyes who walked out of the carriage with his wife was unknown to Song Biao.

Zhang Kangren and Li Enfu, who have lived in the United States for many years, also accompanied these people, and the American couple, who were well-dressed and slightly arrogant, walked all the way to the front of the welcome building, accompanied by Minister Rockhill and Zhang Kangren.

As a friend of both sides, Minister Rockhill stepped forward and took off his hat and saluted Song Biao first: "Your Excellency the Governor, please allow me to introduce this guest from the United States, Conns. Mr. Vanderbilt, and his beautiful wife, Mercedesieline. Mrs. Vanderbilt. ”

Song Biao roughly observed the Conens in front of him. Mr. Vanderbilt, who doesn't look very special, is not tall, and looks a little bloated and clumsy because of his fortune, but he is indeed a fake billionaire, with huge assets of more than 100 million US dollars, in other words, he is actually about three times richer than Song Biao.

Song Biao stretched out his hand and Conns. Vanderbilt shook hands, shook hands with his wife, bowed his head and saluted, and did not deliberately apply Western etiquette, he still seemed very reserved on the whole, after all, he was the governor of the three eastern provinces.

Connes. The same goes for Vanderbilt.

In fact, they both have a strong interest in each other, Connes is interested in Song Biao's military deeds, as well as his rights and status as the governor of the three eastern provinces, while Song Biao is interested in Conns. Vanderbilt's huge bills.

After a brief but friendly conversation, Song Biao invited Mr. and Mrs. Vanderbilt and Minister Rockhill into the Welcome Building, where he had prepared a room and a welcome dinner.

Song Biao's English level at this time was not enough to deal with business and political conversations, so he had to rely on Shu Xuan as a translator, and Zhang Kangren, Li Enfu, and Rong Xingqiao were also accompanied.

When Song Biao introduced the current development status of the New Deal in the three eastern provinces, as well as the future development potential and space, Minister Rockhill and Vanderbilt listened attentively.

After Song Biao gave a general introduction to the situation in the three eastern provinces, Conns. Vanderbilt asked Song Biao more seriously: "Your Excellency the Governor, I personally express my great admiration for the grand plan of the railway of the three eastern provinces, and it is a pity that I have been too worried about this business, so that I have missed the best opportunity to intervene, from the current market division, the most commercially valuable railways are almost all in the hands of the French, followed by the German company, and finally the British company may obtain the railway in Heilongjiang Province, The United States is currently allocated only the Dandong to Golden State railway, and even this section of the railway, which lacks commercial value, American merchants have to face competition from the British at the same time. From a purely capital return perspective, I find it hard to believe that there would be a big investor involved in the construction of the railway in this area. ”

Song Biao nodded slightly, and did not deny this. Minister Vanderbilt and Rockhill explained: "The first phase of the railway plan in the three eastern provinces is very large, and at this stage it can be officially divided into Jinzhou-Shenyang Jinfeng Railway, Jinzhou-Chifeng Railway, Shenyang-Dandong Fengdan Railway, Shenyang-Fuzhou Fengfu Railway, Shenyang-Jilin Fengji Railway, Dandong-Jinzhou Danjin Railway, Jilin-Tonghua Jitong-Jilin-Jilin-Yanji-Yanji, and Harbin-Jiamusi, Yichun, Qiqihar-Xing'anmeng, and Shenyang's Qifeng Railway. Changchun-Jilin Changji-Ji Railway. The railways are expected to be completed and opened to traffic within five years, with a total investment of £37 million, and the rest of the expenses are entirely covered by tickets, which means at least 300 million Kanto silver yuan, except for the purchase of railway trains from foreign countries. With the large-scale opening of the railway, the total population of the three eastern provinces will increase from the current 15 million to 30 million within five years, and the main new population will come from the Guannai Zhili, Shandong, Shanxi, Shaanxi, Henan, Jiangsu, Zhejiang, and Huguang regions, as well as foreign populations. We currently expect that the number of foreign citizens in the three eastern provinces may increase to 1.5 million within five years. In this five-year plan, the economy of the three eastern provinces will face very rapid development, including the three eastern provinces and the volume of maritime shipping trade at home and abroad will also increase greatly. At that point, we will see a very prosperous and huge new market. ”

Speaking of this, Song Biao paused slightly, and only then did he officially answer Connes. Vanderbilt's question: "Personally, I think the United States will be the real biggest beneficiary of the development of the three eastern provinces, mainly because of the convenience and cheapness of Pacific transportation, as well as the low price and moderate quality of American goods." For example, we are currently considering the unified procurement of trains, which may be a unified bidding for the international market, and now there are American businessmen investing in the train industry in the three eastern provinces, importing some important spare parts from the United States and assembling the trains locally. Including the question you raised about the Danjin Railway not making money, in the long run, it will definitely make money, and the return on investment is not too high, but it is a real problem. The main reason why we have handed over the main railway sections and works to France and Germany is that the return rate of the railways is not very high, and no one really pins all their hopes on these railways, and we are concerned with the development of the whole surname and more related interests. The French and German railway companies are both state agencies that focus on long-term interests, and British and American companies suffer comparatively more in the competition for railways in the three eastern provinces. Including a very practical issue, although the United Kingdom provided a loan to the Far Eastern Railway Corporation through Standard Chartered Bank, it did not have a favorable loan, and the total amount was not large, compared to the conditions offered by Deutsche French Bank. ”

Finally, Song Biao and Connes. Vanderbilt concluded: "Human beings live in pursuit of profit, and you may think that the opportunities I have given to British and American railway companies are poor, but the real fact is that France and Germany have offered me more advantages." In terms of overall interests, we are more willing to cooperate with the United States, and I have had many in-depth conversations with Minister Rockhill on this point, but the reality is cruel, the United States cannot unite as a whole to provide more help to the three eastern provinces, so it can only be left behind by France and Germany. The interests are always mutual, and when you can't provide me with what I need, I can't provide you with what you need, that's the reality, and I can only deeply regret it. ”

Song Biao said a lot of things, and it took Shu Xuan a long time to translate for him to three Americans.

After Shu Xuan's translation was finished, Minister Rockhill said: "We are working hard to make regret a thing of the past. The reason Vanderbilt is here. ”

To be honest, Song Biao really hopes that the Vanderbilt family's railway company will participate in the construction of the railway in the three eastern provinces, but one of his more embarrassing things is that he has no cards to play.

He is a person who doesn't like nonsense very much, and having said so much nonsense today, it is a little unrealistic to hope that someone else's investment will be exchanged for a small price.

Unfortunately, there is always a return on investment.

Song Biao's statement obviously can't make Conens. Vanderbilt is satisfied, of course, these are very big businesses, and a single decision can affect the company's growth for decades to come. Vanderbilt is also in no hurry to decide.

Song Biao's idea of the five-year plan for the railway of the three eastern provinces made Connes. Vanderbilt was even more interested, and he had a hunch that if the five-year plan was successfully implemented, there would be many business opportunities in the three eastern provinces in the future.

After a brief period of thought, Connes. Vanderbilt and Song Biao asked: "As far as I know, you have implemented a financial policy similar to that of the United States in the three eastern provinces, allowing private banks to issue currency in accordance with the requirements of the political axe of the three eastern provinces, and I have very special interests and shares in the Bank of New York, if you allow it, I am happy to support the operation of the Bank of New York in the three eastern provinces, which will help the three eastern provinces to further develop in the financial market." And, with the support of the Bank of New York, we will be able to successfully complete the construction of many railroads according to your plan, even if they make little money. ”

Song Biao seemed to think seriously for a moment, and then replied: "The financial policies implemented by the three eastern provinces are still quite different from those of the United States. At present, only two commercial banks have such qualifications, and in the future, we will consider increasing to four, or five, or even six. However, the six commercial banks have the right to issue banknotes at the limit, and it is impossible to increase further. Generally speaking, we require that this is a bank that has been open in China for a long time and has rich management experience, and secondly, we require that the bank has very high registered assets and reputation. I'm very new to what you're talking about New York banks, and obviously don't meet either of these conditions yet. I would suggest that you invest more in the shipping trade of the three eastern provinces and at home and abroad, which will be a very promising market. Another suggestion I make is that it is really difficult to make money by investing only in railways in the three eastern provinces, and what is needed is a complex variety of investments to participate in the construction of the entire three eastern provinces, such as expansion in the fields of finance and shipping. I do consider allowing a U.S. commercial bank to issue notes in the three eastern provinces, but for now, Deutsche Wharf, Crédit Agricole CIB, Standard Chartered and HSBC are all relatively close to the remaining two spots, and even if we increase the number of note-issuing banks in the three eastern provinces to six, and consider retaining an additional local Chinese bank, the Bank of New York will face competition from more than six foreign banks at the same time. ”

The problem with the banknote issuer is definitely Connes. Vanderbilt could not reverse the fact that the financial control of the three eastern provinces was superior to the right of the railways, and in view of the special value of the Northeast Bank and the Far Eastern Bank to Song Biao, the governor of the three eastern provinces, the ministers and financial oligarchs of various countries did not have much dissent, but were generally more satisfied with the existing vested interests.

Taking advantage of today's opportunity, Minister Rokehill and Song Biao suggested: "I think that the more commercial banks with the right to issue banknotes, the power of each commercial bank is too dispersed, which is more beneficial to the Northeast Bank's monitoring and management of the banking system of the entire three eastern provinces!" ”

Song Biao insisted on his idea, waved his hand, and said: "Too much is not good, I think the more reasonable way is to only have four commercial banks." One of my suggestions now is for France and Russia to negotiate an equity stake in the Sino-Russian Daosheng Bank, instead of giving Crédit Agricole CIB the right to issue notes, adding only one British bank, and Deutsch-Hua Bank and the local Chinese financial industry to run a new bank. If my current proposal does not work, or if it does not achieve good results, it will have to be increased to six note-issuing banks, and this competition will actually be more complicated; at present, the Bank of Yokohama, Deutsch-China Bank, Crédit Agricole CIB, Standard Chartered Bank, and HSBC are all quite inevitable in this regard, and the problem in the United States is still the same as before, and there is no unified situation of long-term development in the three eastern provinces. Personally, I am considering the establishment of an East American Business Joint Investment Association between the three eastern provinces and the United States to coordinate this matter and reverse the situation in which American business capital is weak in the three eastern provinces. This is an important matter for the United States, and it is also very important to me and the three eastern provinces. ”

Minister Rockhill agreed: "I fully support your point of view, would you consider having the Bank of New York, or other U.S. banks and local Chinese financial institutions, run a bank in a joint venture and have the right to issue notes in the three eastern provinces?" ”

After a pause, he continued: "Your Excellency, I assure you that if you are willing to accept this proposal, and consider the threat posed to the United States by this navy in the Pacific, and the special momentum of Russian expansion in the three eastern provinces, the United States will give you and your new policy in the northeast, especially in the areas of financial rights and railroad rights, and we will give you very important support. As far as I know, the vast majority of the officials you have appointed in the three eastern provinces, as well as a large number of managers within the Far East consortium, have received modern education in the United States, and this is an important basis for us to deepen our cooperation. ”

For such a proposal, Song Biao must consider it.

Song Biao thought about it for a while and realized the mutual benefit of this cooperation, but he was not in a hurry to give an answer.

Song Biao was not in a hurry to achieve such a major cooperation and investment, especially the Vanderbilt family's investment in railways, shipping, and finance in the three eastern provinces, which would not be resolved in one or two meetings and meetings.

It's useless to be in a hurry.

During this period, the American capital and the German capital are both domestic demand, and the domestic investment can not be taken care of, who will invest in foreign countries to set up factories, the countries that are really willing to invest abroad are Britain and France, and it is difficult to adjust the proportion of the share capital of Russia and France within the Sino-Russian Daosheng Bank.

Among the British-funded banks, although Standard Chartered Bank has given Far Eastern Railway a loan first, the amount of this loan is still small, let alone preferential terms, and it is far inferior to Crédit Agricole CIB in terms of total amount, and the preferential surnames such as interest and repayment period are far inferior to Deutsch-Hua Bank, so it may not have more advantages than HSBC.

Domestic national capital definitely needs a place, even if it is half a place, as well as an important surname for cooperation between the three eastern provinces and Germany, which means that it is a fixed matter for China and Germany to continue to occupy a place in joint ventures.

In addition to the Far Eastern Bank, Sino-Russian Daosheng Bank, Crédit Agricole CIB, and Standard Chartered/HSBC, it is the general trend for Deutsch-Hua Bank and private capital to jointly run a bank, that is, the so-called top five commercial note-issuing banks.

These things have long been well known, and the decision is in the hands of Song Biao alone, and now it is not the US Minister Rokehill who is actively fighting for it, but the ministers of other countries in China are fighting for it.

It is a very difficult thing to deal with Song Biao, sending the navy to blockade the three eastern provinces will definitely offend the anger of the people, I am afraid of the army, and if I send too much, it will still anger Russia, France and other countries, and if I send less, I can't beat Song Biao, a magical general like a military god, maybe even if I send 100,000 troops to rush to the three eastern provinces, I still haven't beaten anyone else in the end.

Besides, if Song Biao is really defeated, Russia will directly send a Russian governor to steal the entire three eastern provinces, or the Qing government axe will send a weak and incompetent governor to let Russia bully him, resulting in complete chaos in the situation, which will not meet the expectations of all countries.

Now, even in the best case, Song Biao has been able to control the situation in the three eastern provinces, but at the same time maintain a very open and positive momentum, allowing capital from all countries to pour in.

Although Shanghai is good, it is still too small for the capital of various countries, the land price is too expensive, and the resources are scarce, so it is not suitable for the development of industry at all; even the blind now know that once a stable capital industry of various countries is established in the three eastern provinces, it will be possible to truly bypass tariffs and export industrial products to China on a large scale, and make local use of China's resources and labor to create wealth.

Especially for the Jewish consortia behind the economies of various countries, this kind of business has long been familiar to them, just as it was when it invested in German industry and Russia and the United States, and this is how capital is constantly expanding.

As a shrewd capitalist, when Connes. When Vanderbilt saw in the New York Times advertisements for attracting investment and foreigners to start businesses and jobs in the three eastern provinces, as well as a number of related comments and reports, he knew that the development of the three eastern provinces would be difficult to contain.

Now it's all about ROI.

Consider Conns. In addition to discussing the economic development and railway planning of the three eastern provinces, they also talked about a lot of topics beyond politics and economics. Whitman's "Leaves of Grass", and education in the United States, among others.

Minister Rockhill, who tried in vain to use such a small fulcrum of the Vanderbilt family to pry the entire three eastern provinces into cooperation with the United States, has been accompanying them to talk eloquently, with Li Enfu, who has a certain reputation in the United States, serving as an interpreter, while Miss Shu Xuan accompanied Mrs. Vanderbilt to drink tea and chat in the garden.

It was only then that Minister Rockhill suddenly realized that General Song's girlfriend was a poetess who graduated from Connecticut Women's College in the United States, which obviously meant more information, which also made Minister Rockhill feel more hopeful.

This kind of chatter continued until the midnight tea party after the dinner, until the end, when it felt that every gentleman and lady should go back to rest, Song Biao sighed and Connes. Vanderbilt said: "Mr. Connes, for a special family like Vanderbilt, please take my advice and move more funds to the three eastern provinces of China, and by virtue of our personal and family friendship alone, I will guarantee the safety of your investment and property in the three eastern provinces, and I am sure that there will be many opportunities for your company." For example, we are looking to expand support for the industrial, mining and textile industries, expand support for the chemical and dye industries, in the metallurgical and mechanical sectors, we need more efforts, we need capital and financial institutions to improve our financial environment, and similarly, we need a lot of new forces in the areas of transportation, railways and shipping. As a great investment, it shouldn't be tied to a particular area of expertise, and it's unrealistic to simply expect huge returns on the railways, especially in the three eastern provinces where everything is just starting to get started. As part of the friendship, we should understand and support each other, this is also valid in the relationship between the three eastern provinces and the United States, and I want to finally make one point, then the three eastern provinces may still be very poor and weak, but its development will be very rapid, we now know a few points, Liaoyang alone coal and iron ore reserves as high as hundreds of millions of tons, Fushun, Fuzhou coal mines will add up to billions of tons, we have also found large-scale coal and iron reserves in Chifeng and other places, for now, Among the mining resources explored by the Far East Coal and Iron Corporation, iron, coal, magnesium are hundreds of millions of tons of reserves, even tens of billions of tons, manganese, molybdenum, nickel, copper, lead, zinc, chromium these commonly used metals, as well as pyrite, phosphate rock, limestone, bentonite, talc, kaolin, dolomite, potassium feldspar and other industrial common raw materials are not lacking, the three eastern provinces have vast and fertile land, huge forestry area, as long as there is a continuous influx of capital, it will eventually become the most important industrial area in the world, The key question now is whether the Americans will invest in it, or the Russians, or the French, or the British, or the Germans. The massive influx of French capital is already a fait accompli, and in the last six months it has been so rapid that it has been almost as fast as all other foreign capital combined. ”

Speaking of which, Song Biao continued to talk to Connes. Vanderbilt added: "Opportunity is important, and the timing of your arrival is very good, and you don't have to lament that you are one step too late to be robbed of good railroads, because this is the most important investment market in the first three decades of the 20th century, and it is never too late to step in, but the first investment is more profitable." If I were you, I would not hesitate to put all my capital into the three eastern provinces, because if you put in one dollar at this time, it will become ten dollars in ten years, and if you invest one hundred million dollars, it will become one billion dollars in ten years, or even three billion dollars. It's a simple truth. ”

Song Biao's words seemed unflat, and he was not particularly eager for the other party's investment, but it was this attitude that made Connes. Vanderbilt felt so excited that he had drunk the most intense cocktail, and he was eager to put all his capital into the three eastern provinces at once.

In the midst of this intense emotion, Conns. Vanderbilt tried to keep himself calm and thoughtful.

All of his wealth came from his father, William. Henry. Vanderbilt's estate, and his father's fortune, came from his grandfather, Cannelius. Vanderbilt's legacy, the death of his father, made him one of the three richest people in the United States at a very young age.

He wanted to make a difference, but he didn't know if he would be able to handle such a complex investment, for he knew he didn't have the shrewdness of his grandfather and father, and he couldn't even handle the frequent challenges that Mr. Morgan had brought to the Vanderbilt family in the railroad and shipping business.

As a particularly wealthy man, he couldn't find a sense of direction in life most of the time. (To be continued)