Shanghai in December attracted the attention of the whole of China, and conspiracy, disputes, and transactions were going on every day, and at this time, Yang Qiu's sudden arrival poured a barrel of oil on this restlessness ().

In particular, after Yang Du, the representative of the north, took the car back to his temporary residence with him, and the photo with a smile on his face when he got off the bus was captured by reporters, many people began to speculate whether the two families had reached any agreement. You must know that when the Beiyang Army withdrew to Hubei, the Wehrmacht did not even hit a single bullet! At this moment when Nanjing began to embark on the Northern Expedition and Sun Wen was about to return, the actions of the national defense forces of the three provinces did affect many people. Because everyone understands that if Yang Qiu did not participate in the Northern Expedition, it would be empty talk to overthrow the Manchus by force.

So early the next morning, Wu Tingfang, the chief representative of the south, took Cai Yuanpei and went straight to the mansion where Yang Qiu temporarily lived. He is a veteran diplomat, and he knows how much uncertainty it will be brought about by the sudden appearance of a heavyweight before the peace talks are reached, and he is still very worried when he sits in the car, and asks Cai Yuanpei on the side: "Heqing, what do you say Yang Qiu has in mind?" At this time, I came to Shanghai. ”

Cai Yuanpei had been in Europe before, and after he hurried back, he was brought in as a representative, and these geniuses sorted out the matter from Wuchang Shouyi Night to the present, and said worriedly: "Keqiang sent me a telegram, he thinks that Yang Qiu is likely to come to run for office!" Now he holds the military power of the three provinces, but in fact, the civil power falls into the hands of Tang Hualong and others, so taking back the power must be his most urgent. ”

"What do they mean?" Wu Tingfang asked.

Cai Yuanpei scratched his eyebrows and said with a worried face: "Keqiang means that he can't be given civil rights, and he must be confined to the army ()." But the situation you do know the concubine, if you can't satisfy his side, I guess. As soon as Tang Shaoyi and Yang Du can return to Beijing in advance. ”

Wu Tingfang was also worried, and sighed: "Yes! That's what worries me the most. Give, he will definitely completely control the three provinces, if he doesn't give it, he will fall to Yuan Shikai and our side will be more passive. Xuzhou has been occupied by Beiyang, Sun Baoqi on the Shandong side has also changed his tune, and more than 20,000 Beiyang troops have been dragged in Wushengguan and Xinyang, if they reach an agreement, the Beiyang army will be able to turn around and go south to Hefei and Nanjing within three days! ”

"Keqiang this time one. I'm afraid that there is some ambition, no matter what, Yang Qiu and his national defense army are still revolutionary forces. If it weren't for him, Hubei wouldn't know what would happen now. Cai Yuanpei thought for a while and said: "Mr. Sun and Hu Hanmin have already set off from Hong Kong and can go to Shanghai in five days at most. A three-province patrol envoy will always take it out. ”

Wu Tingfang knew that this was probably the best way, so he closed his mouth and stopped talking.

Yang Qiu's temporary residence is just across the road from the public concession, and everyone originally suggested that he live directly in the concession, but because the concession does not allow soldiers to even wear military uniforms, he refuses to enter the concession.

After the car drove into the mansion, the two found that there were three steps, one post, five steps and one sentry here, and before they could laugh at Yang Qiu's timidity, they suddenly found a car with an American flag parked in front of them, and hurriedly asked Wang Zhengting, who came to greet him: "Ru Tang, this is..." ”

Wang Zhengting and Cai Yuanpei knew each other, and Wu Tingfang was also an old league, and said: "The two gentlemen are going to wait, the commander is receiving the American minister." ”

"The American Minister?" Wu Tingfang and Cai Yuanpei glanced at each other, and they both saw each other's shock. First came on a German ** ship, and now the American minister has taken the initiative to come to the door, where is this Yang Qiu? Didn't he say that his parents were both dead and he had only one uncle who was in the kerosene business in Shanghai? How can it be so deeply involved?! Wang Zhengting smiled and didn't continue, he avoided the topic, and the two of them couldn't continue to ask, so they could only sit down and wait patiently.

Henry. Murphy was the U.S. minister to Shanghai, and unlike the British and French legations, he came from an ordinary family of British immigrants in Wisconsin, and he had a typically American optimistic face under a simple American suit, but only those who dealt with him knew that he was a big Americanist and actively supported the American open door policy ().

"Your Excellency, Honorable Commander, don't you need to entertain your comrades first?" Henry glanced at Wu Tingfang and the two of them chatting with Wang Zhengting in the garden, knocking on the side, in fact, no matter which side wanted to find out Yang Qiu's final position at the moment.

Yang Qiu smiled without moving: "The revolution is to pursue democracy and freedom, but in addition to these, we also need enough bread and need to make the people prosperous. Just like the United States. His English was good, so he didn't use any translation, and took out a list of purchases that had been prepared: "Your Excellency, my representative should have discussed this matter with you before, and today I hope to implement it." ”

Henry's purpose today is this big business.

The political position of the United States in the Far East is very embarrassing, and the open door policy that has been shouted for many years is tied up because of the principle of unanimous action of all countries in China proposed by Britain, the most profitable military industry is monopolized by Germany and Japan, and the shipbuilding industry is dominated by Britain, and it is difficult to obtain an order for a training cruiser, and it is very likely to face the embarrassment of not being able to pay the final payment, and a huge number of American goods have not poured into the Far East as expected, so when I heard not long ago that Yang Qiu threw out a large order that was enough to feed tens of thousands of workers, I've been hoping to settle down completely.

The purchase order was very detailed, marked in Chinese and English, and could be seen clearly even without translation, including a complete steel plant, 50,000 tons of scrap steel, hundreds of industrial equipment, a tractor factory, and a large number of high-strength steel pipes of unknown purpose. The most important thing is that at the end of the purchase letter, there is also an agreement of intent, that is, the United States will manufacture 50,000 rifles, 00000 rounds of ammunition and a 70mm barrel!

The total value is 16 million silver dollars, which is about $8 million!

An order that is enough to make people blush, and even cause disputes in various countries, although Henry can't wait to get into his arms, but he is not a greedy and reckless businessman after all. In addition to seeking benefits for the United States, he also needs to take into account the political factors behind each transaction, deliberately pointing to the list one by one and saying: "Steel mills? Am I right? Your Excellency Dear Commander, there is currently only one iron mine in your area of control, and the Hanyang Iron and Steel Plant is of little use to the Japanese, but the mining area is one. Are you sure you can get enough sand to get your steel plant up and running? Oh one. You have purchased a blast furnace that can be rerefined from scrap (). With so many machines and equipment, it takes enough workers and a lot of money! Tractor Factory One. Are you sure it's not a car factory? Two thousand five-meter 120 mm and 80 mm steel pipes, still need that high strength? Isn't this thickness of the tube wall too thin for the manufacture of a cannon? Arms One. Oh, God! This is contrary to the principle of neutrality of States. ”

Yang Qiu squinted and watched Henry's performance, and he might be worried if he was another person, but he firmly believed that the American car would sit back and watch this contract slip away! Open Door Policy I. Hehe, the Yankees are very hungry these days, otherwise why would the United States be angry and withdraw from the four-country banking group two years later? So he patiently waited for him to finish speaking one by one, and then deliberately frowned: "Your Excellency, I am an impatient soldier, can't the United States make these things?" ”

"No!" Henry would not allow anyone to doubt the industrial capacity of the United States, and said with certainty: "The United States has the most powerful manufacturing capacity in the world, and we can complete all the above procurement lists in another six months if needed, but our country must abide by the principle of neutrality, and your country is currently at war, and the sale of arms is contrary to international law." ”

Yang Qiu picked up his coffee and enjoyed the bitterness of this era and said with a smile: "Your Excellency the Minister thinks that we can still fight?" To tell you the truth, yesterday I have reached an agreement with the North on the exchange of prisoners of war, and I believe you should know that this is a sign of the end of any war. ”

"Oh? Is this true? Henry's head turned rapidly to record this important news, if it is true, it means that the strongest national defense force in South China will most likely give up the Northern Expedition, so he asked: "Your Excellency Commander, as far as I know, Nanjing and Shanghai are discussing the Northern Expedition, and the troops in Guangzhou have even reached the front line, do you want to give up?" ”

Yang Qiu immediately said: "Of course we will not give up, it is our responsibility to overthrow the Manchu government!" No matter how difficult the future is, I will not give up. But.. As a pacifist, I don't want to see the country fall into war for a long time, His Excellency Yuan Shikai has promised me that he will persuade the Qing family to abdicate as soon as possible, if he can do it, why should he let the soldiers bleed? ”

Pacifist? The corners of Henry's eyes twitched, and he had the idea of spilling coffee in his face. Yang Qiucai didn't care so much about him, beckoned the guard to bring a brand-new rifle: "This is a new rifle of my own design, yesterday I have already handed over the sample gun and drawings to Germany, they have promised to send the gun to the Mauser company for follow-up testing and modification, I expect it to be finalized in two months at the latest." It's a pity that China's industrial capacity is too poor to meet the needs of the troops, so we need some help. ”

Henry served as a soldier in his youth, and picked up a gun pendulum. Got it. In terms of appearance, it is somewhat like a British short rifle, with a traditional five-round fixed magazine, and the bullet has changed the German system that is more common in China at present, using the 7625 bottomless bullet (the bullet has been changed, using everyone's opinion). Of course, he doesn't care whether this gun was designed by Yang Qiu or not, because a rifle will not change the current situation in China. What really surprised him was that Yang Qiu was able to convince Germany to let the famous Mauser company serve him! Thinking of his previous trip on a German cruiser, it means that some kind of connection may have been established between them!

He put down his gun and said tentatively: "I heard that the construction of the Hanchuan Railway has begun, why did Your Excellency Commander hand over this main artery connecting the three provinces to a private company with insufficient technical capabilities?" I feel like we should be involved in the United States, because we have the best rail technology in the world. ”

It's all about helping the evil wolf one. Yang Qiu secretly sneered in his heart and said, "Is a railway really that important? Upstream, home to nearly a quarter of China's population, this is an incredibly large market! It's a pity that as an old country, the British way there is very unreasonable, they only think of plundering resources and forget to cultivate the market.

I think Your Excellency knows better than I do what a stable, densely populated region with some purchasing power will bring. ”

"Yes, Your Excellency Commander and I have thought of this, but how do you make sure that the people have enough purchasing power?" Henry picked up his cup and waited for the next step.

Yang Qiu stood up, looked at the few people waiting downstairs, and spoke slowly: "This is a complicated process, which involves many aspects, including tax reform, land resource distribution, and getting the rural surplus labor out of the land, and it will take a certain amount of time. But I think I'm already doing it! In addition, I plan to establish a free economic bonded zone in Hankow, and use this free trade zone as the center to convert the resources of the three provinces into goods, which is much cheaper than shipping by ship. ”

"Free Economic Bonded Zone? You mean, to create a new concession? "Henry almost jumped (). That's big news! You must know that because the rise is too late, the world has been divided between Britain and France, so the United States has to enjoy second-class treatment, and many consulates in China must also parasitize in Britain or the public concession, if it can promote a new great American concession, then he can even enter the White House.

Yang Qiu shook his head and smiled: "Your Excellency, do you think that the old way of the concession can bring anything besides arousing public anger?" ”

In Henry's doubts, Yang Qiu told him about the idea of the bonded zone in the future, and the novel concept made him very interested. Although there are still local laws to comply with and some taxes to pay, if such a free trade zone exists, then American companies can continue to enter the Chinese market in large quantities and use the resources of the three provinces to make more goods. Oh, God! How did he come up with such a novel idea? And ̈ Yang Qiu walked into two steps, pretending to be mysterious: "I believe that Your Excellency the Minister is very clear that our country is on the verge of an anxious and restless xenophobic movement, and the people do not like foreign goods very much. ”

There was no doubt that Yang Qiu's suggestions were all tempting, but Henry had one last doubt: "Your Excellency, how do you ensure that your dream comes true?" ”

Yang Qiu took out a 762 mm bullet from his pocket and put it on the table: "Right and one. It. ”

Henry left, taking the purchase contract with him, promising to do everything in his power to facilitate the trade, and offering to send technicians to assist in the construction of the Hanyang Iron and Steel and Tractor Factory. Of course, the Free Trade Zone scheme may be the best benefit he will take away.

Looking at the car that slowly drove out of the gate and quickly integrated into the huge Shanghai concession area, Yang Qiu didn't know if his set would work, whether he would be called a traitor, but he insisted on his own path, and later practice proved the role of the free trade zone in promoting industrial development, and a free trade zone factory can drive a large number of small spare parts factories. China has fallen far behind, and the long model of traditional manual transition to industry is no longer helping the country.

Of course, there is another thing to do before these dreams. Clear