Since he was going abroad again, Zuo Zongtang sent Hu Chuyuan some other things by the way, asking him to order a batch of arms for the Hunan army abroad.

Hu Chuyuan has always been paying attention to this matter, and the last time he left Europe, he instructed Ye Bojun and Huang Jianxun, who were studying at the Royal Army College in the United Kingdom, to pay attention to the renewal of army equipment in Europe, especially France and Germany.

Recently, France has begun to introduce new rear-loading repeating rifles, and Germany is making slower progress, but it is also catching up.

A few months ago, Hu Chuyuan set out to rectify the batteries in Mawei and Keelung, and let Ye Bojun take charge of this matter, and purchased 42 180 mm caliber tube annealed guns from Armstrong, the price was a bit high, but the increase in the rate of fire was not obvious, but the long barrel and brown powder technology were used, and the firing range was increased.

That night, Hu Chuyuan stayed in the Humble Administrator's Garden in Suzhou and returned to Shanghai the next day.

Returning to Yongyuan, which really belonged to him, Hu Chuyuan asked Chen Shanyuan to invite Pfister-Delano over, and sent a telegram to Rong Hong by the way to confirm the recent specific situation.

At this time, Wanqi Foreign Company had already invested in the merger of the Danish Great Northern Telegraph Company, and laid a North Pacific main line from San Francisco to Alaska, Vladivostok, Nagasaki, Lushun and Tianjin, crossing the Benhai Sea, and connecting with the main line around the sea of the Danish Great Northern Telegraph.

Through the new Wanqi Telegraph Company, it was much easier to communicate with the United States.

After Pfister-Delano arrived, Hu Chuyuan carefully asked him about the situation in the United States, and he was not particularly clear about Pfister-Delano being in China for a long time, but he promised to contact some people for Hu Chuyuan to see if he could reconcile the matter.

He wanted to leave, but Hu Chuyuan told him not to be in such a hurry and left him for lunch.

Halfway through the meal, Hu Chuyuan asked him, "Pfister, have you ever thought about returning to China to run a business?" ”

Pfister-Delano asked with a slight curiosity, "Why?" ”

Hu Chuyuan put down his chopsticks, took a sip of tea, and said: "Our recent total capital is very abundant, although the business volume of Wanqi Foreign Bank in Shanghai is large, but in the United States, the market space is larger, I plan to let Wanqi Foreign Bank shift the focus back to the United States, and use our current capital scale to make a big investment in the San Francisco Bay area." ”

Pfister-Delano thought about it seriously and was noncommittal for a moment.

After a while, he and Hu Chuyuan asked, "How about investment?" ”

Hu Chuyuan immediately asked Chen Shanyuan to come over and get a map of the United States and the San Francisco Bay Area, especially on the latter map, on which Hu Chuyuan had already drawn many traces with a pencil.

He showed the map to Pfister-Delano and said, "I want to build a heavy industrial metropolis in the western United States, especially in Oakland, along the San Francisco Bay, where I want to build new steel mills, shipyards, and textile mills to transport to Oakland by rail." ”

Pfister-Delano thought carefully for a moment and said: "It seems to be possible, the problem is that there is a lack of advantages, the population in the west is still insufficient, and the east not only has a market, but also a ready-made industrial system to use. ”

Hu Chuyuan said: "The value of the San Francisco Bay Industrial Zone is not for the U.S. domestic market, but for the entire Pacific and Southeast Asia, including the capital. ”

Pfister-Delano sighed and said, "That's still very promising, and maybe worth our investment." ”

Seeing that he roughly agreed, Hu Chuyuan briefly explained his plan, his idea was to first purchase a large amount of land in the Auckland area, build a port, build railways and infrastructure, invest in steel mills, shipyards, and textile factories by himself, and then take out a large amount of port land and lease it to those who want to invest in the establishment of factories free of charge, and provide financial support.

Through this series of measures, Auckland will be established as a city, and then commercial centers and residential buildings will be developed in the surrounding areas for rental and sales, and continue to raise funds for education and increase the quality of education of the population, so that Auckland has a more long-term development space.

Hearing him say this, Pfister Delano agreed even more.

At this time, Pfister-Delano nodded in agreement: "Yes, if it is for such a huge business project, I am willing to return to the United States to deal with these things." ”

Hu Chuyuan said: "My plan is to merge several banks in the western United States, open a professional investment bank, and then set up a joint venture with Wanqi Foreign Bank to set up a San Francisco Gulf Investment Company, I want you to be the general manager of this investment bank, and you will find a very suitable person to be a partner of the Gulf Investment Company, so that he will be in charge of the Oakland project." ”

"So?"

Pfister Delano is not stupid either, he understands what Hu Chuyuan meant...... Hu Chuyuan was preparing to take out funds to invest in the U.S. market, but the problem was that there was a lack of suitable candidates, so he was asked to return to China and handle the San Francisco Bay Investment Project by the way.

He weighed in his heart, based on Hu Chuyuan's current financial resources, being a partner for Hu Chuyuan was actually far more promising than working for the Russell family.

People are not the same.

Pfister-Delano has watched Hu Chuyuan's rapid expansion in recent years, and the momentum is almost unprecedented, and in the United States, it seems that only JP Morgan, Rockefeller and others can match.

Thinking of this, he decided, and said, "Okay, I'm glad you chose me to run these businesses." ”

Hu Chuyuan laughed and said, "The scale of this business will be very large, in addition to the initial start-up capital, I will continue to invest millions of dollars in additional investment every year. So, I can't give you a fixed partnership share for the time being, I'm thinking about giving you a salary of $200,000 a year and an additional 5% year-end bonus from the investment bank, what do you think? ”

Pfister-Delano smiled with satisfaction: "This is already very generous, how can I not be satisfied?" ”

"That's good!"

Hu Chuyuan raised his glass happily, clinked glasses with Pfister Delano and said, "Then I wish us a happy cooperation!" ”

"It will certainly be very pleasant, Mr. Chairman of the Investment Bank!"

Pfister-Delano is also particularly happy, he owns 5.7% of the shares of Wanqi Bank, which is a fixed income, as long as Hu Chuyuan supports the bank, this part of the shares will continue to receive very generous dividends.

If Hu Chuyuan's new job offer is added, his income can at least double, and he himself can calmly return to the United States.

After confirming the matter, Pfister-Delano returned to the consulate and contacted the U.S. ambassador to China to confirm the current situation.

In the evening, Rong Hong sent a long reply to Hu Chuyuan, confirming the progress of the whole thing, he was also very anxious, but he had already prepared, and the countermeasures discussed with Hu Chuyuan before had been carried out for two years, and everything was ready.

Hu Chuyuan immediately transferred a huge sum of $2 million to Rong Hong through Wanqi Bank, asking him to speed up the establishment of an American United Newspaper Company in the United States through the name of Wanqi Foreign Bank, and strive to acquire several newspapers in the near future.

It is estimated that it will take a long time to go to the United States this time, and before the Qing court issued a formal order, Hu Chuyuan asked Hu Weiyuan to speed up the cashing out of Shanghai real estate, so that others could also work a little harder, and try their best to withdraw some of the funds, while Gu Shouzang and Miao Quansun were responsible for other things.

He himself took the time to go to Fuzhou to take care of the affairs of the Fuzhou shipyard.

With the transfer of Tu Renshou to the Shanghai Banking Bureau, at present, Zhang Baixi, Wu Zhengbing, and Zheng Qinglian are mainly responsible for the affairs of the shipbuilding, and the Keelung Railway has also been opened, and the Jiangnan Mining Bureau has taken the Keelung Coal Mine as a starting point to vigorously invest in the establishment of a new mining farm.

In Fuzhou, Quanzhou and central Fujian, the Mining Bureau, with the help of the Wanqi Technology Bureau, is doing its best to explore new ore sites and is preparing a new railway line.

After handling some official business in Fuzhou, Hu Chuyuan also went to the Fuzhou shipyard, a joint venture between the Jiangnan Commercial Bank and the Fuzhou Shipbuilding, to have a look, and the situation was also smooth, and it was estimated that the ship production would begin by the end of the year, and the models and technologies were also imported from the British side, but they were just waiting for the supporting steel mills and turbine factories to take shape.

Although the situation was good, Hu Chuyuan did not feel really reassured, and he instructed Wu Zhengbing to secretly prepare for the construction of two new docks in Luoyuan Bay, which were specially used for the construction of gunboats and torpedo boats.

After Hu Chuyuan left Fuzhou, he went to Hangzhou to talk with Mei Qizhao all night, so that Mei Qizhao could also secretly prepare and try his best to turn the Fubiao battalion in his hands into Jiangxi, and the Ningbo Fort should continue to be strengthened.

Money, not a problem.

On the third day of the ninth month of the seventh year of Guangxu, Hu Chuyuan was officially appointed by the Qing court to go to the United States in the name of the imperial court's minister.

The message that Prince Su received from the Empress Dowager Cixi was that "if there is nothing to discuss, it should also be kept in the national body and avoided being insulted by outsiders."

To put it simply, if you can't do it, forget it, you have to save some face, and don't let other foreigners laugh at it.

Hu Chuyuan already has his own armed merchant ship, the Tengchong, which is converted from a second-class ironclad ship with a displacement of 3,777 tons, which is the same class of warship as the first ironclad ship Fusang.

According to Hu Chuyuan's needs, Tengchong has been specially modified and renovated, with complete built-in facilities and luxurious living space.

Because of the large tonnage, not all ports can dock, and this ship also carried two diesel-powered wooden hulls, each capable of carrying twenty people.

The speed of the Tengchong was not very fast, the cruising speed was only 11 knots, which was slower than that of the new merchant ships, and it was already half a month later when it arrived in the United States all the way.

October 9, 1881.

Hu Chuyuan's privately armed merchant ship, the Tengchong, docked in San Francisco.

Pfister-Delano and Wu Shuzhen had worked as the chief accountant of a foreign bank, and Ye Tongguang, the shopkeeper who was proficient in English, arrived half a month earlier than him and had already booked a hotel for him in San Francisco.

After staying in the hotel, Hu Chuyuan asked Pfister Delano about the latest situation...... Overall it's a bit of a hassle.

After all, Pfister Delano is the consul general in Shanghai, and he knows many people in the political axe apparatus and the Republican Party, and as far as he knows, the current trend of the US economy is very good, and it still needs a large number of workers and labor.

The key to the current anti-Chinese scandal is the issue raised by the party, and the media has also played a role in fueling the flames.

After the Yellow Peril theory was introduced by the British, this view quickly spread to the United States, especially in San Francisco, where the number of Chinese was already equivalent to 20% of the local population, and the low wages and hard work of Chinese laborers were very popular, and the merchants were particularly keen to hire Chinese laborers.

As a result, the local discontent of San Francisco's citizens grew, and as the Western Railroad continued to be built, most of the coolie work was occupied by Chinese laborers.

At the wharves of San Francisco, a large number of Chinese laborers can already be seen.

The media and many politicians vowed that if this trend was allowed to spread, the western part of the United States would be occupied by the Chinese, and even the United States would be seized by the Chinese.

Beginning in 1873, under the influence of the economic crisis, the Benjamins re-emerged from the shadow of the civil war and became the masters of the House of Representatives, and their restraint on the policy of the whole country became particularly apparent.

There are also various factions within the Republican Party, with President James Garfield leading the centrists who are more cautious about this issue and advocating a solution through negotiations between the two countries, while the hardliners led by Secretary of State James Bryan demand that they join hands with the Myoke Party to pass a bill to completely expel the Chinese from the United States, even at the cost of using force, just like the political axe Indians did in the first place.

There is a third party within the Republican Party, the moderates led by Civil War heroes and former President Grant who don't see this as a problem.

Constrained by centrists and moderates, the Chinese Exclusion Act may not pass Congress for the time being, but once James Bryan and other hardliners join forces with Myoke Party lawmakers, the bill will definitely pass.

In addition, since James Garfield was assassinated in September, the centrist also lacked a new leader, a unified coordinator, and the new president, former Vice President Chester Arthur, was too junior to convince the public.

This is a key issue in the midst of the chaos.

In the face of this series of problems, Hu Chuyuan did not feel flustered, although it is difficult to reverse this situation, but there are still ways to prevent the bill from passing.

He continued to follow the plan he had designed in advance, and asked everyone to do their own things, all according to his instructions, and not to worry too much about the current situation.

Since San Francisco's largest local newspapers, the San Francisco Chronicle and the San Francisco Evening News, were both strongly anti-Chinese and did their best to scandalize the Chinese, Hu Chuyuan asked First Delano to come forward and buy a relatively pertinent tabloid "San Francisco Citizen Times" in the name of Wanqi & Co., and changed the name to "San Francisco Bay News".

(To be continued)